Abdullah bar Sam

Sheikh Abdullah bar Sam (عبدالله ابن سام; born in Qal'at Saleh, Iraq; died 1981, Baghdad, Iraq) was an Iraqi Mandaean priest. He is known as the priestly initiator of Jabbar Choheili and Salah Choheili, as well as the father of physicist Abdul Jabbar Abdullah.

Life
Abdullah bar Sam was born into the Manduia and ‛Kuma families in Qal'at Saleh, Iraq, probably sometime just before the turn of the 20th century. His father's name was the Ganzibra Sam, son of Sheikh Jabbar. Abdullah bar Sam's Mandaean baptismal name was Adam Zihrun bar Sam.

Ganzibra Abdullah copied the Ginza Rabba by hand in 1928; as of 2010, that copy of the Ginza Rabba belonged to the Elmanahi family in New York state, United States.

In 1948, he initiated Jabbar Choheili from Ahvaz, Iran into the priesthood. In 1976, he initiated Jabbar Choheili's son Salah Choheili as a tarmida at the Mandi of Dora, Baghdad.

Family
His son Abdul Jabbar Abdullah (1911–1969) was a well-known physicist and meteorologist, while his grandson is Sinan Abdullah.