From the preface to the 3172 edition of NOMAD
The New Omnibus Mandaean Almagest and Dataset (NOMAD) is a comprehensive digital database of the known astrographic, social, and historical data in the Local Bubble. It is continuously updated as the Empire of Humanity discovers new systems and rediscovers systems lost during the Great Disintegration. The database is a distributed chain, with copies on dispersed planets which are synchronized on a regular schedule by the Imperial Navy. For historical reasons, the primary database and related support and administrative staff are located on the planet Hemman, NOMAD 100.100.200.101.A. The database is named for the astronomical treatise by Ptolemy from the first century CE and for the Mandaean religious order on Hemman which was instrumental in preserving this knowledge during the Great Disintegration.
The Mandaeans are a small, separate, and intensely private monotheistic religious order, located almost exclusively on the isolated island Elymais on the planet Hemman. The Mandaeans arrived on Hemman sometime in the twenty-third century, but the origin of the order on Old Home Earth dates to at least the second century CE, and possibly earlier. Residents of Elymais speak Svenska, the main language of Hemman, but acolytes use Aramaic for ceremonial purposes. The Mandaean religion centers on the concept of Gnosis, an Aramaic word which roughly translates as knowledge. During the Great Disintigration, the Mandaeans of Elymais dedicated themselves to preserving the knowledge the Grand Alliance had gathered on habitable worlds in the Local Bubble. They named their project the Omnibus Mandaean Almagest.
The diligent work of those early Mandaean acolytes preserved much of what we know about the history of humans in the Local Bubble. Their contributions in preserving this heritage cannot be overstated. Today, out of respect for their desire for privacy, access to their home island Elymais is only by permission of the Rashama, the island’s local magistrate. Mandaean acolytes on Elymais continue to provide staff and administrative support for the current distributed database.
