File:Mandaean priest initiation 17.png

English: Ganzibra Salam, with other priests and Shkandi, is in charge of preparing meals for the candidates and other priests. The meals need to be prepared according to religious dietary requirements. In religious rituals and in everyday life, Mandaean priests use only utensils purified through baptism. They cannot be made from plastic. Only pure metal vessels may be used and purified. Mandaean priests take their own purified vessels when they travel and cannot share their meals with others. Some priests in Iraq use the water from the tap water system while some others still use the water directly from the river. Photograph from the initiation of Anmar al-Zuhairi, Baghdad, 2008. This process is long and complex, comprising many rituals, some of which are performed differently from other occasions.