Between the bull rushes growing thickly along the banks of the Tigris river that flows through the Iraqi capital, Sabeans are taking a baptismal dip to mark the creation of the world.

The scene is Biblical.

Dozens of men and women dressed in five pieces of fine white cloth inch their way barefoot into the muddy waters in ancient rites of purification.

They are joyously celebrating the "five white days" when Al-Rab or God created earth - the biggest festival in the Sabean religious calendar.

Also known as Mandaeans, the Sabeans traditionally speak a variety of Aramaic, the language of Christ.

They call Adam their prophet and revere John the Baptist - "saba" is Aramaic for baptise, "manda" means knowledge.

They trace their roots to pre-Christian times and some scholars believe the sect was a heretical branch of Judaism that spread south through the land of the two rivers or Mesopotamia in the second century AD.

However, today the reality is post-invasion modern Baghdad and a fight to survive persecution, war and hardship.

The Sabeans are a dying community in Iraq. Their numbers have dwindled from 35,000 before the US-led war of 2003 to just between 7,000 and 8,000, says the sect's leader Sheikh Sattar Jabbar al-Hulu. "It has been a disaster for the community," the "rais" or chief tells AFP. While many have been killed in the sectarian bloodshed that swept the country, most have fled into exile. The diaspora today numbers between 32,000 and 33,000.

Even Mr Hulu's own seven children have gone to Syria for safety.

"We don't have anyone to protect us. We wish the government would take care of the community and grant us our rights," he says.

The Sabeans have no militia to defend them, no schools to teach Aramaic and want to be able to practise their religion freely without fear. Contacts with the US authorities in Iraq and the UN have proved fruitless, Mr Hulu adds.