92510313 tardieu michel manichaeism

8/14/2019 92510313 Tardieu Michel Manichaeism

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Manichaeism

Translated from the French

by M. B. DeBevoise

Universi of Illinois P essrbana and Chicag


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vrage p b ave e n o rs d M n s re fran


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Int du ti n Pau ir cki ii

anslat s N t xi

ani

2 B ks 33 C un ty 7

anth n 75

Ch n y f ani ha s a ani91

aps

Bibl aphy 3

Ind x 7


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r d cP l re k

t is en sa d and ri ht y s , that the dern study f an haeis

e an with " in ani Fund that is, w th the pu i at n in1933 f anarti le y Hans a l ts a d Carl S h idt entitled " in ani Fundypten: Ori na s hri en des an und seiner S h er ' This arti le

f used n the sensati na dis ery f se era f urth entury C ptian haean di es at Nar uthis dern edinet ad ) n pt s

Fa yu rst attested t ha e een seen ypt in1929. lth u h sn ant ani haean anus ripts in Latin, ranian, ur i , and Chinese

had een dis ered pre i us y the st i p rtant eastern anus riptshad een f und in Central sia y . n Le C q and . Gr nwedel in904-14and y . Stei in1905 7;in the West, the Lat n fra ents f nd

near e essa, eria, were pu shed yH.O nt in 19 8the sa e yearas their dis ery), the C pti papyr dis ussed y l ts and S h idtwere t exert an i ediate, si ni ant, and l n lastin in luen e nthe h st ry f an haean resear h n the se nd ha f f the twent eth

entury and ey ndWith n a few years, pri ary C p an haean texts n trans r pti n

and dern trans ati n were ade a aila le y l ts(1934)C R.C.erry 1938)and . B h i and ts 940)and pu ished in f l

editi ns yW K hlha er er a n Stutt art. F r the rst ti e s h larsuld ana yze the see n ly plex and little n wn ani haean re i

i n n its wn ter s rather than n the iased a unts f the an ientand edie al heres l ists.

T e war years uld n t ha e helped ut ha e a sti lin e e t n thestly ur pean ased ani haean s h larsh p f the ti e, wh h suf

fered the ss f a nu er f pr is n resear hers, n ludin er yh ms f b nt yo n B h opto of d


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Vlll N T R O D U T O N

Royal Air Force mission over Nedeweert, Holl nd, onApril194 (he was later memorialized by his friend, the scientis and author C.Snow, in his novels e ight and the Dark [194 and e asters [1951 )During the chaos that engulfed Europe following the war some of the precioManichaean papyri housed in Germany wer lost; others survived, bu with their identities confused. Some were eve temporarily housed wit other antiquities in one of the three large antiaircra towers in wartimeBerlin speci cally, the tower located at the erlin Zoo.

But from the1950 to the 1970 with the rapidly growing interest in the so called gnostic library discovered in945 near Nag HammadiEgypt, scholars t ed their attention to the new Coptic collection (whichcontained dozens of texts with intriguing titles such as the Gospel ofTomas, the Gospel of Philip, the Dialogue o the Savior, and the SecretBook ofJohn), to the d sadvantage of the Cop icManichaean texts. Evenso, the enormous amount of scholarly commentary on the Nag Hammadi texts, together with the interest aroused by nu erous international con ferences provided a model for the developm nt of Coptic Manichaea

studies and soon an entire eld of Manichae n research Although thclose relationship between the Nag Hammadi and Medinet Madi col lections was on the whole positive, prompting many scholars to work in both elds, it had the unfortunate result of c using Manichaeism to beclassi ed as ust another form of gnosticism a modern cat g y tha t neither collection very well.

Research in Manichaeism nonetheless received fresh impetus fro

A. Henrichs andL Koenen, who announced in1970 that they had suc-ceeded in deciphering a sma l Greek ellum butter y codex acquirin Eg pt, published in19 1and known toda as the Cologne Mani Codex Scholars now refer to its fragmentary te t as On the Origin of HBody (i.e , on the origins ofMani's church his is a modern quotatio from the text, since the original tit e has been lost , an ear y antholo based primarily on Mani's own statements about his life that presented researchers with new information about the crucia early period ofMani' ministry and its interpretation by his disciples Te codex drew a greatdeal of attention from scholars of late antiqui y, as much for its unusua form in miniature as for its intended purpose then unclear.

Michel ardieu's short introductory volu e, which rst appeared in


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N T R O U T O N x

1981 as par o he popular "Que Sais Je? ser es, publ shed n Par s bPresses Univers aires de France, made curren research n he scholarlys udy o Manichaeism accessible o a ne genera ion o s uden s andscholars In he mean me, he In erna onal Associa ion o Man chaea

S udies had been ounded and n 1987 hos ed i s rs in erna ional con gress in Lund, S eden; he ollo ing year a research group called heMan chaean Consu a ion (no he Manichaean S udies Sem nar) as ounded n Nor h America under he auspices o he Soc e y o B blicL era u e. Bo h groups con nue o sponsor in erna ional con erencand issue publica ons on a regular bas s oday. ardieu s book here orecame ou a a mos imely momen indeed, and in 1997 i appeared in

a second, revised edi ion ev dence bo h o he arm recep ion i had rece ved n academic c rcles and o he accelera ing pace o research. Evenso, i s aud ence remained lim ed o hose ho could read French. ssi ua on has no changed i h he appearance o an excellen English ransla ion by M. B eBevoise under he imprin o he Universi y oI ino s Press.

Manichaean research in he en e h cen ury as necessarilydomina ed by cod colog cal and philolog cal ork ha sough o clari he na ure o he ne ly discovered ex s by produc ng and publ sh g long a ai ed cr ical edi ons, modern transla ons, and pho ographic acsim les. Tis ac ivi y also nvolved he long and di cul process o res or ng and conserving o en heav ly damaged papyrus manuscrip s ork ha s con nues or much o he ex an ma erial.

Wi h he gro t o Man chaean s udies n the 1980s, ho ever, and he resul ng ava labilit o Manichaean primary ex s in cri cal edi ions and ransla ons, research qu ckly moved rom i s ini ial preoccupa ion philological issues and descrip ive h s ory o relig ons models o headop on o ne , syn he ic me hodologies pioneered in he humani ies

nd soc al sciences hese me hods have cas ligh on he diverse aysin hich Mani s church in erac ed th the various social and rel gious rad ons ha ormed he cul ural con ex rom h ch Manichaearose and in erms o h ch i de ned i sel oday one nds exanalysis be ng carr ed ou rom he novel perspec ives o gender s ud eand ri ua studies, as ell as hose o the more radit onal d scipl nes, such


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X N T R D U C T N

asart histo y sinceMani and his discip es we e a so evange istic painter wo ing in a recognizab e Manichaean st e) e en the ea y conce n the basic phi o ogica issues of estab ishing tex s and producing criti editions and trans ations has been extended to inc ude an examination

of the broader contextua evidence these texts p ovide with espect to the dia ects and idio ects of individua Manich ean scribes.Recent research has ed scho ars to cha en e the c aims of forme

dominant pat istic and other he esio ogica ou ces by exposing tstrong biases whether Buddhist, Christian, Mus im, or Zoroastrian) of

their authors. Reeva uation of these sources h s given ise to the view that such "outside tex s te us more about the heresio ogists themse

than about their Manichaean opponents. Both the medieva concep- tion of Manichaeism as a heresyand its more ecent interpretation asa form of gnosticism, as we as the very notio of orthodox , now themse ves subject to intense scrutiny by scho a s Indeed, it has beesuggested that the study of Manichaeism cons itutes a test case for thedeconstruction of ecei ed o cia histories in gene a

In contrast to he counte pa ts a cen u y ago to day s st den s oMan-ichaeism enjoy a ich se ection of prima y and secondary Manichaeansources f om a broad variet of ancient cu ture extending from A ge to sou heast China, in addition to an abundance of pub ished studies, n- tho ogies, and reference wo s Mo eove , the growth in the nu_ mber of universit courses and graduate seminars on M nichaeism over the past t enty years e ects a coincident ncrease he n mber of teaching fac who are fam iar ithManichaeism, or actua y s ecia izing in it, with h resu t that more doctora disse tations o Mani haean studies are beingsubmi ed universit esEurope and North America eve y year.

Modern scho ars, in examining the wor s of the ear y heresio ogists have arg ed that the great wea ness of Manic aeism was not on y theintense ascetica demands it made on its fo ower but a so the comp ex of its mytho ogy. In this boo , Miche ardieu p sents one of the c ear

and most accessib e accounts of this m ho og as we as of Mani his writings and those of his discip es, and the st ucture and nature of theManichaean Chu ch Its p ace as e uired readi g for future generation of students and scho a s s therefore assured.


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W rks Cited

N T O U T O N xi

Kl mkeit, H.-J. Gnos s on h S lk Road Gnos c Par bl s ymns and Pfrom n ral As aSan Fran is o Har erCol ins,1993.

D r K In r Man Kod x b r das W rd n s n s L b s.Kritis he Edition.Ed Koenen and C R mer Pa ColonXIV O aden Westdeuts heerlag, 988.

Lieu S C Man cha sm n n ral As a and h na.Leiden Bril ,998.Mire k , and J BeDuhn, edsEm r n from Darkn ss S ud s n h R c

ry of Man cha an Sourc sLe den B ll99Ro nson, J M The Fate of the Man haean Codi es o Medinet Mad929-

1989:' In S ud a Man cha ca,ed G Wie ner and H J. Klimke t,9 6 .Wies aden Ha assow tz,992.

S hm dt and H J. Po otsk . Ein Man-F nd in gy ten O iginals hr endes Mani und se ner S h er ' Sitz ngs e hte der De ts hen Akademder W ssens ha en (SDAW)4-90 Be in,1933.


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Tr l r' N

In t e ranslat on o extrac s rom pr mary sources I ave o owed aut or s render n s or t e ost part, w le ak n care o compare t e to ot er vers ons. An En l s ranslat on by a n ardner o muc o tCopt cKepha aia s now ava lab e ase Kepha aia of the eacher (Leden, 995 . Severa mpor ant commen ar es a e appeared s nce t pub cat on o t e second ed on o t e Frenc text. e recent vo ume by Gardner and Samue N. C. L eu,anichaean ext from the oman

mpire (Cambr d e, 2004) conta ns a ood deal o ma er al trans ate om eo ogne ani odex at takes R me s su es ed ev s on

nto accoun On Syro Mesopotam an nos s and ew s trad t ons, o n C Reeves,era d of at ood ea m(Le d n, 996 En l s ver-

s ons o a number o t e Iran an and urk s tex s c ted, nclud n Man c aean commandments, can be ound n Hans Joac m K ke t

no i on the i k oad(San Franc sco, 993 e C nese Man c aean er a e s treated n cons derab e de a n L eu,anichaei m in entr

ia and hina (Le den, 998).Here and ere I ave nser ed br e losses, e e to exp a n erm

o erw se wou d be am ar on y o spec a sts n e story o re ons (suc asencr ti m, ynaxi ,and e ke r to make t eas er to o ow e some mes e p c l expos t on o t e Fre c ext. AddI ave expanded t e b b o rap c n orma on embedded n t e texsl tly added o t e c ronolo ca accoun t at o lows t

e au or s sys em o s mpl ed ranscr pt o as been re t ou var ants are occas ona ly no ed and am ar En l s rendn s subs tu ed or place names( erv, or examp e, rat er anerw;

Karaba gha un rat er t anQa ba gha un)and p oper names( hapur rat er t an habuhr or apore ) w ere ese are eneral y used n e


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T R A N S AT O R ' S N O

scholarly l terature of the anc e t ear East. In transl terat ng fore gnterms I have fol owed the French text both n forgo ng the d acr t calmarks customar ly employed to d st ngu sh s mple from emphat c pho-nemes ong from short vowels, and the vo ced from the unvo cedh and

n us ng the groupsth, kh (orx) dh,the palato alveolar fr cat vesh, andgh to transcr be the letterstha', kha ,and so on;tch and zh to transcr bethe and zof Pers an and urk sh; andsh, h, j, c,and t to transcr bethe s x demot c etters pecu ar to Copt c On the other hand, I havetended to subst tutev for the w found n certa n Sogd an transl terat ons(thus, for examp e, vastvane rather than wastwene or the str ctread ng stv n )and made m arly m nor changes where conven-t onal Anglo Amer can pract ce departs from the French. F na ly, thereader w l note that the author s use of the Wade G les (rather than thep ny n) system for transcr b ng Ch nese names has been preserved.

e follow ng acronyms and abbrev at ons have been brought overfrom the French ed t on as well: ArArab c; Aram Arama c; c common to all sources; ca about (c rca)Ch n Ch nese odex

an cha cus o on ens sCopt Copt c GrGreek H Heg ran yearLat Lat n; MP M ddle Pers an; Parth Parth an Sogd Sogd an;Syr Syr ac; Old urk sh or U ghur)


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Manichaeism


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I

,


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A TE

Man

a e a d Place o Ma 's B th

Man h mself nd cated he da e and place of h s b th In thehabuhr gan(composed n M ddle Pe s an n hono of Shapu [Shabuh I whencets le), n he chap e led "On he Com ng of the P ophe Man

tha he was bo n n Babylon a, n he yea527of he e a of he as onome sof Babe , fou yea s a e the beg nn ng of the e gn of the Pa th an k ngAdha ban, wh ch s o say A a an (A tabanus)V las so e e gn of the Asac d Dynas y, n a ownqarya ca led Ma d nu on he nah Ku ha (Nah

Kuta) e e sat e Khwa azm an w e and compu s a B un (d ed442/A 1050) fe s tw ce o h s passage om thehabuhr gan n h sKitab a athar a baqiyaVa ous n ec and compos te sou ces, on theothe hand, among hem wo ks by the Mesopotam an eodo e ba Kona(e ghth cen u y) and he A ab Ibn al ad m (d ed ca. 380/990),conta nl t le mo e than hea say e dence Any a temp o squa e these accoun sw th he de a ls n shed by al B un seems doomed o fa lu e

e comp e of the Cop cKepha aiad ew he b og aph cal de a sg en the e om hehabuhragan as well InKeph 1,ent tled "OntheCom ng of the Apost e he places he e en n he Eg p an month ofPha mouth du ng he e gn of A abanus. e Ch neseompendium,w en by a Man chaen d gn ta y n 731on he o de of he mpe alchance le y, also con ms tha Man was bo n n he yea527of the e ago e ned by he twel h cons ellat on(mo sieh)on he e ghth day ofthe second mon h of the th eenth yeaof he Ch en an pe od of heEmpe o s en of he (las ) an Dynasty. e computa ons of a ousca enda s (Baby on an, I an an, Ch nese, Egyp an) the efo e g e thsame date he yea527of he una Se euc d (o Ale and an) e a, o


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2 M A N A S M

216o our era. As or the ment on o the day and t e month(8N sanApr l) ound n several non Arab sour es, t ha no h stor al va

serv ng only to allow Man haeans to establ sh the alendar o the r es

t vals.Man ame nto the world n a rural ommun ty on the banks o theupper ourse o the Nahr Kuta, wh h ows rom po nt northeast oBabylon southward to N ppur (Nu ar) The Akka an pla e name, orwh h the Arama name o Mard nu has been sub t tuted as the b rthpla e o Man , has not been dent ed.

Mani' s ParentsOnly the name o the head o he am ly, Man 's ather, s known w th ta n y. e Man haean omp at on "On the Or g n H s Body ' wr

n Greek n a small par hment manus r pt volume( .5 3.5 ent meters)and onserved at the n vers ty o Cologne hen the a ronym( odex anichaicus o oniensis o ogne ani dex)used to re er to

t a ls Man 's ather Patt k os, a Hellen zed orm the Iran an Paor Patteg (Pat q n Syr a )

Man haean trad on ater embe shed the or g ns ts ounder ngapologet s, on the one hand, ast Pa teg as a es endant o an_ old

Parth an am ly, the Haskan ya, whose roots were n the Med an ap talHamadan. Pers an Man haeans attr buted many names to Man 's mother(Mays, Karussa, takh m, aqsh t, Nush t), asso at g her w th he Kamsaragan am ly, tse related to the royal house o the Arsa ds. One na d st ngu shed neage as r bed to the ounder o a r g on n he Buddh sm and Chr st an ty as we l.

As a result o Chr st an z ng apologet s, on the other hand, Man 'smother was also g ven the name o Jesus' mother Maryam (Mar am).Eastern Man haeans made h s ather an em grant d de e tor who had

e Hamadan or al Mada n and al Mada n or the reg on o Nahr Kun m tat on o a ounts o Jesus' h ldhood, wh h relate the departuo Joseph o Nazareth or Jerusalem, and rom there o Eg pt ke JesuMan was sa d to have been an on y son. And l ke h s hr st an pre urso

a medas the des endant o an an ent pr n ely am ly o Israel, Man


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MAN 3

the ramaean was sa d to be descended from an anc ent pr ncely fam lyofIran.

T e Rel g ons of ani s Fa herWhat was Patteg's rel g on? The rab encyc oped st Ibn al Nad m suppl esus w th a few h nts n theKitab a ihristor "Catalogue (H 77/990

s elate ha at a Ma a i[ Ctesi ho ] the e was a house o i olsha Fa iq [Pa eg] was the ha i o eque t g i e ma y o he ele Now o e ay he e esou e o him om the e sa tum o

hehouse o i ols h s y0Fatt q ea o meat k o wi e a staom a se ual e a o s! Fat q hea h s a ma y t mes o th ee Ha i g u e stoo the message he asso iate h msel w h a g ou o

eo e ea Das umisa ow as the C ea se sal mu h asilaE e ou t me some o hem st l su e i these egio s a he Bata ihT ey o owe the el gious aw[al madhhab o wh h Fatt q ha eeo e e to a he e wh e his w e was eg a w th Ma i

In transferr ng to the father the v s ons of the son (for the sanct t of thelatter mpl es that of the former , the trad t on from wh ch Ibn a Nad m ssource der ved represents an l um nat ng ep sode n Man chaean hag0graphy all the more so s nce t tells us that Patteg was a pagan, that h sconvers on preceded or sl ghtly followed the b rth of Man , and that therel g ous commun ty he jo ned professed Babylon an Mughtas l sm.

The express ons house of dols and "shr ne of the house of the dols

attest that the temple frequented by Patteg was not a temple of re.fo ows that the rel g ous m l eu n wh ch Man was brought up was notZoroastr an. may be further supposed that Patteg s pagan sm was whatKeph 121calls the "sect ofnobe e tabl shed " n the m dst of the land ofBabylon ' ccord ng to the Copt c text, the pr est of th s rel g on, w thwhom Man was to engage n controversy, was an dolaterrefshmsheeid on JIf one assumes that the wordnobe unknown n Copt c, comesfrom the Sem t c, then Man 's father would have been, before becom nga Mughtas la, a worsh per of the god Nabu that s, a follower of thetrad t onal rel g on st l current n Babylon a and northern Mesopotam a(Harran).


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4 M A N A S M

e three commandments whose call Patteg hea d rom the shr neo the do s show that the mot vat on or h s conve s on was essentpract cal Patteg abandoned one way o l e or ano he . And by submt ng to a ule ounded on abst nence and cont nenc , he le one re g owhose Ha ran an orm known by Arab wr te s was removed rom ascet cp act ces to adhere to a el g ous tendency dom nated by enc at smdoct ne that abom nated matte and enjo ned ts ollowers to absta n

om ca nal pleasure] Inasmuch as the pr ests o the t ad t ona relg on we e ast o ogers accustomed to d spens ng v s ons and evelatPatteg, n becom ng a bapt st only exchanged one var ety o revelat o

o another.

e Mugh asi a

e g oup that Patteg jo ned wh e h s w e was p e nant w th Man wcalled by Ibn al Nad ma mughta i a("those who wash themselves ), theArab c counte part to the G eek wo dbapti tai(bapt sts). In the n n h and

tenth centur es, emnants o these bapt st commun t es were st oun these pa ts o Babylon a, and n part cula n th Bata h a techte m o geography des gnat ng the marshy expanses o the Mesopotam anlow country, be ween Was t and a Basra " ese people a e nume ous

nthe Bata h repeats Ibn a Nad m n the account he g ves concernthem n the ihri t

e a e he Sabaeans of he Ba a ih. The a i e bl ions and eve h ngha he ea . T e eade is al ed al-K asa h [= GCMCAl hasaios mss a Hasa h) t s he who gave he omm n iT e asse ha he o elds of be ng [ - a e male and femaleedible he bs a e ha of he male dodde a ea es a asi i lashai of he female, and he ees a e hei veins T e e o n mons

ales whi h ake he fo m of fables. The dis e of a -Khasa h was Sham n The ag eed wi h the Mani haeans on he o P in i es e

omm nit la e b oke awa [f om he Man haeans The e a e samong hem s il oda who vene a e he s a s

A Nad m goes on to echo anothe t ad t on conc n ng the Sabaeao the Bata h


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M A N 5

These eo e u ho d the n ient do t ine of the N b t e ns the venete the st s nd h ve im ges nd idols T e o din S b e ns e ed

H ni ns lthough it is s id the e not identi l to them eithe s g ou o s individu s [A e the en h nsl tion b G Monno

e geograp al a d deolog al proxim ty of t e Mug tas la Sa aea sa d t e sta wors p g Sa aea s of Ha ra led t e Ara stor a togroup t em toget e . Eve f, as we ave see , t ese two forms of "Sa

ae s are lose var a ts of a s gle system of revelat o , t ey must ote o fused, s e t was y pass g from o e to t e ot e t at Ma 's

fat e s sa d to ave a ged s rel g o , t at s, s way of l fe.The esse t al aspe t of t e el g ous pra t e of t ese Mug tas la o -

s sted tual a lut o s, ot o po eal a d d etary. Th s s w y Theodore a Ko a a ed t em y the Sy a amemnaqqede ("t ose w opur t emselves a ord g to ar Ko a , t ey alled t emselvesha eheware ( w te garme ts , w te lot g e g t e s g of t e r stateof pur ty W t egard to a lut o s ot g d st gu s es Mug tas l smf om ot er apt st se ts, w et er Palest a o Ba ylo a

W at appea s to ave ee spe to eught sil o ent is itsode of d eta y o se va e. I add t o to pro t g t e o sumpt o

of fe me ted everages a d meat, t d v ded foods to two atego esased o so al te a. ew s ead (t at s, t e lo ally made ead of

t e poor was pe m tted, ut Greek read (t e read of fore g ers a dt e r was for dde . Vegeta les from t e garde s of t e ommu ty,regarded as e g esse t ally male, were allowed t e same vegeta les

om g f om outs de t e ommu ty, a d so o s de ed to e esse allyfemale, were d sallowed. Eve y male vegeta le ad to e apt zedwas ed a d tually lessed efo e e g eate

Th s system of lass at o a d ex lus o eeds to e kept m d ft e sto y of t e o ts t at we e to ma k t e stages of Ma 's developme ta d s aware ess of mself as a p op et s to e u derstood.As a mem er of t e Mug tas la ommu ty, Ma was to alle ge a d

ult mately to re e t t s system later, as t e fou der of a u , e wasto mpose s ow d etary ode, d aw g sp at o from t e o e t ate ad g ow up w t a d t at e ad eje ted.


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6 M A N A E S M

E chasaAccord ng to Ibn al Nad m the person who had c nst tuted the Mughta-s acommun ty n terms of aw n other words the ch ef founder of th

re g on was ca led al Khasayh (mss al Hasayh) He s thereforAlkhasa os of the and the Elchasa of the Chr st an heres o og stsAl Nad m follow ng the examp e not only of Man chaean trad t on balso of the Fathers ofthe Church spoke ofE chas as someone who hadactua yl ved. It s more ke y that we are dea ng here w th the h stc zat onof a my h cal gure who was cred ted w th authorsh p of a bookof revelat ons that was w dely known n udeo C r st an c rcles n Pest ne and Mesopotam a at the beg nn ng of the Chr st an era e term

E chasa w ll be used n what follows to refer no to a h stor ca per but to the anonymous author of the book that g e b rth to E chasa t cMughtas sm and to the book tself

A Greek vers on of th s ook was brought to Rome at the beg nn ngof the th rd century by a certa n Alc b ades of Apamea. Its contents areknown from a Chr st an po em c s who subseq ently d scussed t an encycloped a of the errors of h s t me ent tledenchos.Accord ngto th s source A c b ades related that Elchasa l ng n the land oParth ans had rece ved th s book from an ange o g gant c s ze and transm tted t to h s mmed ate d sc ple one Sob a . Th s event wto have occurred n the th rd year of raja s re n ' or the year100ofour era.

Elchasa whom Ep phan us declared to be a ew by both b rth andrel g ous upbr ng ng had become head of a new commun ty by rejectng the forms of worsh p and the soc al bas s of the Hebrew rel g on

namely the b oody sacr ce nst tuted by the patr archs and perpetuatn Passover pract ce n the course ofwh ch the sacr c al an mal's throat

was cut and ts carcass roasted on the altar. As a consequence allformsof meat were excluded from the Elchasa t c d et

Wh le reject ng the nst tut on and pract ce of sacr ce E chasacalledh mself just scrupu ous y observed the letter of the [ ew sh ] la

n o her matters c rcumc s on and str ct monothe sm as we as though the heres olog sts cla med otherw se) reject on of d v nat on aastrology respect for the sacerdotal nst tut on a d for erusalem as t e


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MAN 7

d rect on of prayerqib observance of the Sabbath and of fasts, exp c tapprova of marr age, and d stru t of the var ous forms of cont nencepract ced n other Jew sh sects

Ho d ng re to be a d abo ca nstrument of the v gar trad t ons ofthe o d re g on, E chasa made water a thaumaturg c nstrument of thenew re g on, say ng

M hi d en do no go nea o he appea an e of e les o be led in oe o , fo e is onl w ongdoing You see i igh in f on of o wheni is ve fa awa ake a e hen no o go nea i s appea an e followins ead he voi e of he wa e

E chasa t c ega sm cons sted, then, n subst tut ng for the sacr c a

and dead y re of Juda sm he fe g v ng water of Pa est n an bapt stcommun t es The r te of n t at on nto the re g on nvo ved bapt sm fthe forg veness of s ns, the catechumen be ng p unged fu y dressed ntothe runn ng waters of an outdoor stream Th s bapt sma ep c es s wasaccompan ed by the nvocat on of e ements endowed w th therapeut cpropert es water, earth, w nd o , and sa t (the ast two occupy ng thep ace e vacant by re

The r te automat ca y enta ed the pardon of a s ns and consecratedthe n t ate s repentance, n other words, h s convers on and h s changeof fe. But t a so, and abov a , had a d rect, curat ve e ect on the bodyFor the mora pur ty that t conferred was tse f on y a consequence ofthe essent a y phys ca and corporea e ect of word and gesture Thepurpose of the r te was therefore to c ean the body and to hea t of tsma ad es by de ver ng t from the ev demons that had possessed t "If

a man, a woman or a ch d s b tten by a rab d dog dec ares a fragmentpreserved n the encho ," et m at that very moment run toward ar ver or an abundant spr ng, et h m mmerse h mse f n t fu y dressedand con dent y nvoke great and most h gh God! Consumpt ves and thedemon ca y possessed were prescr bed a treatment cons st ng of bathsto be taken n co d water "forty t mes n seven days

The reg me of corporea ab ut ons whether these were performed on

a da y bas s or n accordance w th the turg ca ca endar, was supp e-mented by a second bapt sma code, kew se very str ct hat ca ed fora author zed foods (com ng exc us ve y om the ovens and gardens of


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8 M A N A E S M

the commun ty) to be bapt zed, o c eansed by m e s on n wate , bfo e be ng consumed. Pagan foods, by cont ast, w e pu ely and s mpltaboo.

G a ed onto th s essent a y ew sh ega st c p act ce, and com

w th t, we e the p opheto ogy of the apocalypt c an and the ch sto oof the say ngs[ og aof esus. hough the fact of E chasa t c Ch st an-

ty, wh ch ega ded esus as the last of a se es of C sts o mess ahsscended f om Adam, s unden able, t d e ed p of und y f om the onthat Paul of a sus succeeded n mpos ng. Fo whe eas Pau b oke wthe wo d of ew sh obse vances fo tact ca eason , Elchasa emaa udeo Ch st an n the st ct sense a Ch st an p act c ng the k

ew sh l fe that had been ed once and fo al by the p esc pt ons the o ah.

Bythe beg nn ng of the second centu y of ou e a, Elchasa t c udeoCh st an ty was m y establ shed n ansjo da and ve y actA ab a. At the beg nn ng of the th d centu y, whe Man 's fathe jo none of ts Baby on an commun t es, A c b ades of Apamea became p oponent n ome n the m dd e of the same centu y, O gen noted

ts " ecent p og ess n Palest ne unde Ph l p the ab(244 49 .In thefollow ng centu y, Ep phan s, an autho ty on el g ous movements Pa est ne and Sy a, noted t at the bapt st comm n t es of o dan ha most eve ywhe e been ass m lated by Elchasa t sm.was the ef apowe l movement. Some s x hund ed yea s late , I na N ad m, w t ng

n the fou th centu y of the Heg a, con med ts cont nu ng p esen

unde the name Mughtas la n the ma sh ands of Mesopotam a.

Ca f the Ange

Fo the st twenty ve yea s of h s fe, Man was an adhe ent of Esa t c bapt sm. When Man was fou h s fathe b ought h m to the ucommun ty of Dastum san One of Man 's st d c ples, Sa ma o

po ted 1 12that h s maste had con ded h m the follow ngt was then at the age of fo that ente ed the eli on of the ba tistsn wh h was b ought u Ow ng to the o th of bod I was

te ted b thest eng hof the ange s of l ght and he e migh owe s


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M N 9

who we e cha ged by Jes s [ Jesus he Splendo ] wi h watch ng oveme . . us t was that f om he o h yea n i he moment whenI

eached the mat ity of my body was ep safe in the hands of the mosholy ange s and powe s of holines .

This testimony is no doubt an idealized reconstruction. Having be-come a member o the E chasaitic baptist communit in ea y ch ldhoodMani is said to have been raised by a convert his father who awakenedhis religious sensitivit to the da ly practices of the sect and to the marve ous sayings that were recounted about Jesus. Everything suggests thatMani's childhood was modeled on that of Jesus.

Inthe thar a Biruni t ice rms hat the chapter of thehabuhragan entitled On the Coming of the Prophet ' Mani says that revelation[a wahycame to him during his thirteenth year. A Biruni concludes

om this that it was in the year539of the astronomers of Baby onia twoyears a er the beginning of the reign o Ardashir king o ings IbnNadim for his part declares in the hr st When he had attained twe veyears o age there came to him the revelation it was according to himfrom the ing of the paradise o ight. T e angel bearing his evelationwas cal ed al awm a Nabataean word meaning companion

T e event would there ore have occurred in228 o our era inthesecond year o the reign of Ardashir as al Biruni says more correct yinanother passage of his chronology.Keph. 1places the event in "the sameyear when Artaxoos [Ardashir] was to receive the crown T e name ofthe heaven y messenger is Aramaictawma r suzug s [ sa "sh

in the Coptic texts)].Keph. ca ls himparac t s( T e living parac etecame down to me and conversed with me ) reca ing the language ofJohn 4:26.

In connection with the training of the uture prophet one encountersthe egendary accounts o Syriac Christianity concerning the apostleThomas whose name signi es the "twin (he was or passed for the twin brother o Jesus) and toward whom a orms o piety were nourished

by the various ospels and Acts current in the East during this period.Onto the traditiona schema Parac ete Jesusx T omas the son ofPatteg was to gra the secret of his vision Paraclete Jesusx ThomasMani.


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0 M A N A M

For twel e years Mani allowed his se re to ripen or rather the serets[musteria re ealed to him by his hea enly ompanion and l ttle

by it le entered into on l t w th his earth y o panions he Elsaites T is nit al per od of on t on luded a ording o the litua ount of Man haean tradi ion wi h a se ond a d so emn si frothe angel al awm T e rela es the e ent in hese terms

A the t me when my body had eached ts de elopmen , unexpec edthe e descended and appea ed befo e me h s e y b au ful and subm o of mysel When I was twen y fou yea s o d, he yea when Dadaxa A dash ] the k ng of e s a subdued he c ty of At a [ a awhen he ng Sapo es [Shapu ] h s son was c owned w h he e y gd adem, n he month of ha mou h on he e ghth day of he moon, thmost b essed Lo d ook p ty upon me and ca ed me to h s g ace. e sme f om the e my tw n[suzu on mou]. . . . When he efo e [my w n]came, he e eased me and took me away f om the wo ld of ha aw nwh ch I had been b ough p Thus s ha the o d] ca ed, chossepa ated me f om he m dst of those peop e

Here again t e desired on ordan e of dates ser ed Mani s theologi aland missionary purpose. T e se ond epiphany o the angel o n idedw thin the spa e ofa few days with three su es i e e ents: the in es

tureof Shapur I as oregent w th his fa her rdash r INisan inthe Seleu id alendar 2 pril 240) he moo that o urred onthth rteen h day of he same month; and Mani's twe ty fourth birthday8N san 4 pril). Man was therefore entering his twenty h year as he

extra t from he hom ly of Baraies onser ed in the on rms.T s on ordan e sa is ed an apologeti need to demonstrate healignmen of hree wor ds as rologi al pol ti a and prophe :

me a new king a new prophet. nderlying th s oin iden e was no attery at eas a dis reet appeal addressed to the newshahanshahIf Mani wro e the message of the re e ation he had re ei ed in the language of the king and for he king it is be ause h hoped that he re gn

tha had just begun would be p a ed n the ser i e of he new rel g on


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Anti -E c asa C ntr v rs s

M N 11

Man was to develop s plans fo a new e g on n a manne cons stenw t e el g on of s t me and place and, a e same me, n cont a

d ct on to t. But e e aga n one needs to ake n o accoun e deal za-on o s l fe, w c was p omoted no less by Man mself an bys b og ap e s. Just as Man was po t ayed n c ld ood as copy nge c ld Jesus so Man as a young man d sput ng w t t e aut o t es

o s commun ty m ta ed t e ole of Jesus as a young man n t e antJuda z ng cont ove s es epo ted by t e synop c Gospels. Nonet eless,

s pa t of t e b og ap y, even allow ng fo embel s ent, s ands out

as t e s o cally most ecen and most ce a n element cont buted bye .

Man s d sputes w e E c asa tes bo e no only on t e bap smalp ac ces appl ed o f u s and vegetables bu on all t e obse vances andp esc p ons of t e el g on. "I quest oned t em abou t e way of GodMan decla es n a say ng asc bed to t e aut o ty of Ba a es (t e Ab a-

aya o A ab ad on "and t e ommandmen s o t e Sav oe Elc asa e custom of bapt z ng foods p omp ed t e futu e p op et

to eso t to ony. Man s a gument was one of s mple common sense.o sub ect food to bap smal cleans ng el m nates ne t e blood no b le

no gas no exc ement only abst nence can d m n s t e quan ofwaste [apedumata "Let someone pa take of food at as been ua ywas ed and pu ed, and t en pa take of w a as no been so was ed,

s pla n t at t e e ec on e beau and st eng of t e body s t esame. S m a ly, t e exc ement and es due of e two so s o food can-not be pe ce ved o d e n any way om one anot e e efo e, foodt at as been tua ly was ed, w c e body evacuates and expels, doesnot d e f om any ot e unbapt zed ood 82).

Man expla ned to s nte locu o s t a bat ng and ablut ons con eno pu ty w a eve . He s owed em t a t e Sav o , Jesus, d d no saya wo d about suc p act ces n s "commandmen s t a e body, by

ts natu e mpu e, cannot be cleansed by wate . " e pu ty of w ce Sc ptu e[= Jesus] speaks s t at pu ty w c comes om know ng

ow to sepa a e l g f om da ness, dea f om l fe, clea wate s f om


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M A N A S M

clouded wate s . . . s s the most ghteous pu ty that you ha e beencommanded to p act ce( 84 85)

Such ema ks a oused mu mu s and susp c o n ce ta n qua teothe s, espect and adm at on. Some of h s suppo te s cons de ed ha el g ous leade ; othe s, a p ophet; st ll othe s, a s ona y fa o ea sec et e elat on. H s opponents ega ded h m as the ant Ch st the false p ophet announced by t ad t on, a fomente of sch sms whodese ed to be put to death: "He s the enemy of u Law He w shes tgo among the pagans and eat [G eek] b ead. Fo we ha e hea d h m say

s ght to pa take of [G eek] b ead( 87). a o able and unfa oable eact ons al ke d ew nsp at on f om New estament accounts the dent t of Jesus and the counts of nd ctment b ought aga nst h m by the Jews of Palest ne

e d stu bances and sc sms caused by Man zealousness as an ant establ shment p eache fo ced the commun t s l g ous leade , Sto con ene the counc l of elde s, wh ch dec ded o ask Man s fathee pla n the beha o of h s son. Patteg l stened to h s so s accuse sthen, decl n ng all espons b l ty, answe ed n the ash on of the paof the man n he gospel who had been bo n bl nd John 9:2 ) "Summh m you sel es and t y to make h m see eason!( 90).

When Man appea ed n h s tu n befo e the p esb e al assembh s judges p a sed st h s tues: "S nce you ch dhood you ha eamong us and you ha e t elessly pe se e ed n he p esc pt ons obse ances of ou Law. What has happened to ou now, what s on

ha e you had? Fo you oppose you self to ou Law, you o e tu n andabol sh ou el g on [ . e path you take d e ent f om ou( 90 9 ). Man was then accused of eject ng the tes of pu ct on, the commandments of the Sa o , the d eta p oh b t ons agawheat b ead and egetables, and ag cultu al labo .

Man s esponse was, st, to show that n all h s wo ds and act ons was only follow ng the e ample of Jesus, who ha blessed b ead, eaten

w th publ cans and s nne s, sha ed meals w th Ma tha and Ma y, andsent h s d sc ples on m ss ons equ pped w h ne the m llstone no bd sh, only a s ngle a t cle of cloth ng "Obse e then that he d sc plthe Sa o ate b ead that came f om women and olate s and that heymade no d st nct on betwee th s and that b ead,m e than between


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M N

t s and t at vegetable, and n o de to eat t ey d d not on e n t emselves w t e t e abo ng w t t e ands o wo k ng t e land, as youdo today ( 93).

Hav ng po nted out t e ont ad t on between t e p a t e of t e bap-t sts and t e a t ons of Jesus, Man went on to say t at bapt sts ont a-d ted t e own t ad t on. H s st apot egms llust ated t e onduof El asa mse f, t e founde of t e aw.

Go ng out one day to bat e, E asa saw n t e wate s a uman gu eand ea d t moan and say t at t ad been n u ed by t e da ly bat s ofan ma s and men. E asa went away, and t en anot e day, w en esoug t to was s body n a puddle of wate , on e aga n t e uman mage appeared to m, say ng "We and t e wate s of t e sea a e one. You

ave ome to omm t n t s ve y pla e a s n and to n u e us ' El asawas pe suaded by t ese wo ds and, t e text adds, let "t e mud d y on

s ead ( 96).Just as e d d not p a t e ablut ons, E asa d d not devote mse f

to ag ultu al abo . One day w en e was ea n ng to use a p oug towo k t e and, e ea d t e ea t g oan. He t en took a od of t e ea tt at ad spoken to m, wept k ssed t, and p a ed t on s b east, say ng"He e s t e es and blood of my Lo d ( 97). On anot e o as on,w en s d s ples we e ook ng b ead, El asa ea d t e b ead speakto m and t en o de ed s d s ples to ease t e ook ng

Even fMan 's d at be aga nst El asa sm n t e names ofJesus and ofE asa mse f, as elated by t e was a p e e of se f ust at o

omposed a e t e fa t f om p osel a ne ess ty t nonet e ess g veus a good sense of t e tense atmosp e e t at e gned n t e bapt st om-mun ty at t e t me w en Man a med to ave been v s ted by s elest al

ompan on.

e Seal of he rophe s

T e se ond appea an e of t e angel a awm n t e deal zed b og ap yofMan marks bot a uptu e w t E asa sm andt e e es ast a b tof Man ae sm. Ibn al N ad m epo ts t e event n t ese te ms n t e

ihrist "W en e ad n s ed s twent fou t yea , a awm ameto m, say ng: e t me as now ome fo you to man fest you self


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M C E M

[kharaja in order to announ e your power ' T e Muslim ompiler thenites a logion, no doubt extra ted by his sour e from thehabuhragan, in

w i h the angel solemnly pro laims Mani's epiph y and ommands himto undertake a mission "Pea e unto you, Mani, rom me and from theLord w o sent me to you. e has ele ted you to is apostolate, and so itis your mission to all the peoples]to your truth. You shall pro laim thegospel of truth [bushra a haqqin his name and devote yourself to thistask wit all your streng h ' The end of Mani's atta hment to t e religionof his ildhood and the beginning of his apostolate as the founder ofa new religion were formulated in t e language of visions popularized by the apo al pti style of the day. Su h language provided the sole possible s riptural basisfor asserting the authenti y of religious reformduring this period

On t e t eologi al ontent of Mani's apostolate, al Biruni reports inthe thar a logion taken from t e rst part of t e habuhragan

Wisdom[ ] and know edge [ n the ma usc p co eead ] a e wha the apos es of God cons an ng in one

a e anothe Thus [these things] appea ed n one of the [pas cen uth ough the apost e ca ed a -B dada [Buddha in he ands ofInd ain anothe th ough Za adash [Zo oas e ] in the ands of e s a, anano he h ough Isa [Jesus] n he ands of he Wes T en n then centu y the e came down th s eve a ion and appea ed his p ophth oughme, Man , sen y the God of t uth in the ands of Ba e .

Following the example of the heroes of the apo al pses read in JudeoChristian ir les, Mani presented hi self as the xe utor of a heavenlyrevelat on He went on to lari t e ob e t of t is revelation namely,his de ision to found a new religion employing the es hatologi al language of the Gospels: nearness of t e end of tim , manifestation of thisend t rough the announ ement of good news, and ele tion to the apostolate, that is, the gathering into a hur h of those w o are preparedto wel ome the good news transmitted by the osen apostle. On allthese points Mani imitated Jesus' ons iously mes iani de ision to travelthroug out Palestine, spreading t e good news o the imminent omingof the kingdom of God and sending forth twelve d s iples in his turn ew ore eives you re eives me, and e who re eivesmere eives im who


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Figur is o he Prophe s o Apostles o H ma y

> gc V 2: ::

N " ' ; N" ' t ' N wAdam Ad m Ad Ad m Ad m Ad m Ad mSeth Set Se S em/Sem Set Set Set Set

Enos E os E os E os Enos

Enoc Enoc Sem Sem NoNo No No No Enoc Enoc Sem

Sem Enoc

Ab m

Zo o ster Budd B dd Budd Z t s r L o-tz Z t s B dd Jesus

Budd Zo o s er Zo o ster Zo o s er B dd B dd B dd Zoro ste P l

Jes s Jesus e Messi Jesus C rist Jesus Jes s Zo o s er Jes sP l P P B dd P l

M n M i M i M i M n M n M n M i

Mu mm d


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16 M A N A I S M

sent me [Matthew 10 0]The undertak ngs o Man and o Jesus wdent cal prophet c awareness s nherently m ss onaryNonethe ess the prophet c acts o the two were pro oundly d er

o d st ngu sh h msel rom John the Bapt st who announced repe by a bapt sm o water the Jesus o the Gospel preached the good o a "bapt sm o re through the d spatch oparaclete or ntercessorthe Holy Ghost The good news that Man c a ed to have been assthe m ss on o spread ng (he was the same age as Jesus was accordthe Gospe s when Jesus rece ved h s call ng) was no onger to anna hope but to say that th s hope was ul lled that the hope announce byJesus had been rea zed n h m Man . Indeed n theos e wh ch hecomposed us ng the t ent two etters o the Arama c alphabet Mexpressly sa d (accord g to al B run n thethar) that "he s the Para-clete announced by Chr st and that he s the sea o the prophets

Thedoctr ne o the seal o prophecy s a undamental aspect o JuChr st an ty n the str ct sense o the term and the young Man w

am l ar w th t as the young Jesus was am ar w th Jew sh mthought.

But Man d d not take h s propheto og ca doctr ne rom Elchaalone. In act Judeo Chr st an zed bapt sm recogn zed Jes

u llment o the prophecy and o the sa vat on heralded by the eapost es and sages o human ty that s by t e heroes o th yethnoh story o the Jews (essent ally Adam and the major Seth tescontrast w th the Ca n tes makers o tools and sowers o d sord

thereby restr cted ts theology o the h story salvat on so ely towas conta ned n the Jew sh egends rom Adam to Shem son oThe pro ound alterat on that Man made to th rece ved propheto ogschema ol owed rom h s re usal to nterpret t rom e ther the or Judeo Chr st an po nt o v ew. On the one hand he extendedschema to the ent re nhab ted earth[oi oum J;on the other he made

t converge upon h msel

The prev ous table ( g.1) st ng the prophets recordedn the Manchaean terature and n Musl m heres ography needs to be suppleme

by a d agram ( g. 2 show ng Man s own pos t on n re at oto theseprophets at the t me o h s break w th E chas sm


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M A N

dam

Se h

Noah

JesusPa es ne/E / Zo oas e B ddha

ee e/Rome Pe s a/Baby on a nd a/Ch na

AN

/I:Wes of he Wo d Eas

Figure

Man expressed the sp r of s ch an arrangemen for he rs me nhe abu aga ,and a er e exp c y referred o n heoo of i

a ts. If the egendary names ransm ted by Genes s go nmen oned nhe abu aga h s was a ac ca om ss on mo a ed by the fac hahe monarch o whom Man had ded ca ed h s book was nacq a n ed

w th Jew sh c re Moreo er, n res r c ng h mse f o he fo nders of t

hree grea wor d re g ons, he prophe so gh o s gges o he k ng Iran tha h s new re gn, de o ed o he po ca dom na on of the worco nc dedwit and wo d be fac a ed the ns on of a n ersre g on fo nded by one of Shap r s own s bjec s, he sp r a he r B ddha, Zoroas er, and Jes s Th s prophe o ogy, carry ng w h a hw sdom and know edge of the wor d MPx d ud da is , ha s, of hesethree sages of he anc en ora rad on, was a he ery hear of Man 's

doc r ne The or g na y of Man chae sm s no d a sm as a dogmacons r ct on h s was o be he ach e emen of h s d sc p es b he factha e abora ed an ecc es o ogy based on a n ersa s prophe o ogy

7


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M A N A S M

The resolute y anti Elc asaitic (and there ore anti Judaic) character such a prophetology can e seen rst in the e clus on o all the representat es o h storical Jewish nat ona is ro its s ate ent o ecclesiaspurpose. The ention o A raha (as o Muha ad) in the ist gi en

y al Shahrastan [ nKitab a i a was plain y due to the Mus i her-es ologist h se in uenced as he sure y was by the Koranic list o

essengers o God the title o seal o the prophets eing at ributed the Koran to the ounder o Isla

Anti Elchasais is also and especially app rent in the rejection oritual and belie as nor s o sal at on. In theabu aga Man aysdown as he criterion o decision in atters o nal judg ent the sa ecriter on a d down y Jesus (the te t o Matthew2 1-46s literally and

lly adopted in the abu aga )Sal ation d d not depend upon theobser ance o a particular practice or upon con or it to an or hodo

ro this was to co e the dog at c a eab lit o cultural Manichaeiswhich in all places was Christ an ut a so just as uch depending on tharea Zoroastrian Marcionite Buddhist or ao st; the sa at on o

person whether Manichaean or non Man chae n (Mani was addressinh sel let us not orget to Shapur) was a consequence o the acercy shown toward the "rel gious ' na ely t e aith u o the chur

"I was naked and you clothed e. I was sick an you cared or e. I wasound and you unt ed e I was capti e and you reed e. d was

e iled and wandering and you we co ed e nto your ho ese ant Elchasait s (and there ore the anti udais ) o Man chae

ecc es olog ay be seen nal y in the ention by oth Jesus and Manthe apost e Paul. is detail s quite o iously absent ro theabuga , ut the d rect Manichaean sourcesKe a aia, , omi yIII [

om. 42.9-8 4Psa Book) co p led o owing Man 's death a l tion the na e o Pau . s certa n that Mani h s con onted at the eno h s li e by he erce repression ordered y the Mazdean (Zoroastriaauthor ties and appro ed y the i perial court l kened his own ate tthat o all the persecuted prophets Jesus o course ut also h s discipin particular Paul and he rst Chr stian art rs (the Manichaean PsalBook gi es the na es o se era o hese)

would e a istake howe er to el e e that Man s Pau ine spathies were elated or n any way secondary. The youth ul protago


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MAN 9

n s of he ant El hasa e on rovers es was unable o gnore someonewhom h s orel g on s s espe ally de es ed as a des royer of he lawand whose le ers and wr ngs hey had, for h s reason, e luded from

he r own anon of wr ngss probable, herefore, ha Man be ame

fas na ed a a very young age w h he personal ty of a man whose wr -ngs au hen and nau hen a ke, anon al and e ra anonre oun ed a leng h h s sudden onvers on on he road o Damas us,the rap ure of he h rd heaven, and he m ss onary a h evemen s n

he Wes was n Paul's s hool ha Man forged h s vo a on as a vs onary and apos le. As for he ve messengers Adam, Se h, Enosh,Shem, Eno h whose names pre ede ha of Paul n he l s g ven by

Bara es( 48- 9) hey have n ommon he e per en e of hav ng been, l ke Paul, favored w h v s ons, appar ons, and rap ures ha , asn he ase of Paul, were re orded n wr ngs of revela on apo alypses)

asso a ed w h he r names, one or more e ra s from ea h of wh hare quo ed n heomi ies

In sum, he de s ve reasons ha made Man he founder of a newrel g on are of wo nds

Re e on n he name of esus of an unbearable pra e, namely,ew sh legal sm, wh h was perpe ua ed n s own fash on by El hasa e bap sm, and as aonsequen e of h s, reje on of a do r ne narrowly

on erned w h he s r ma n enan e of a pra e ha had be ome"fore gn o he ommandmen s of he Sav or '

2.In luen e of he Paul ne model known hrough he New es amennd he apo r phal era ure asso a ed w h h s name. W h Man h

latter n luen e led o a horough rework ng of he rs udeo Chr s anprophe ology n he d re on of a rad ally e umen al do r ne.

rave s and ss ons

av ng broken w h El hasa sm n he name of esus and Paul, Man be-ame an a ve apostle a er he manner of Paul, apos le of esus Chr s .

No per od of rans on separa ed he break om he apos ola e. Mand d no rs on e ve, n he se re y of some re rea , a grand ose pro efor a new me aphys s or a new heology nor d d he seek o found anew rel g on by rs dra ng s a u es When he broke w h he bap s s


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M A N A M

of Babylonia, he set out at once on the oads and the seas, fo his eligionp opelled him fo wa d

Yet the e a e di e ences between the apostol tes of Paul and ManiOn the one hand, the e we e d e ences of substance: Paul p eached the

message of a dead and living Ch ist, that is, Jesus as he was wo shiped by the st Ch istian communityofJe usalem M i, howeve , p eachthe message of Mani, fo as p ophet and seal of the p ophets, he identi

ed himself with the Pa aclete, o Holy Ghost, which constituted thefaith and hope of the Jesus of the Gospels. On the othe hand, the ewe e di e ences of envi onment as well Paul of a sus, a Jew of G eekcultu e and Roman citizenship, jou neyed to the West and in his ea liest missions made a point of int oducing himse f, at each town alongthe way, to the Jews of the local diaspo a befo e going to meet the local G eeks Mani, a Babylonian of Judeo Ch isti n cultu e and I aniancitizenship, set out to the East in sea ch of the I a ian wo ld, seeking toestablish himself in the Judeo Ch istian commun ties scatte ed betweenthe Caucasus and India.

Ma i, a m n f om the count y, discove ed the ci ies and the g eat comme cial tho ou fa es of the land. Depa ting f om Seleucia Ctesiphon,whe e he was unable to c oss the ig is on account of ising wate s, Manitook e ge togethe w th two companions at Nas Nasi , nea Sippa . Ithis, the place whe e he founded his eligion, he announced to his fathethat the law of the baptists was no longe his law. T e small g oup thenc ossed the ive and made thei way no thwest towa d the mountainsof Media, passing th ough Diyala. F om the e they eached the miningcou t y of Ganazak Ganzak , south of Lake U miya in Aze baijan T eM ni healed the daughte of a wealthy man and conceived the institu-tiona emb yo of his chu ch in the fo m of messenge spresbeutaiandaposto oi whom he succeeded in sending into the Caucasus A meniaand Geo gia . In the centu ies that followed, the o cial histo iog aphy ofthese two egions' conve sion to Ch istianity took ove f om local Man-

ichaean p opaganda its cha acte istic themes and accounts oyal convesionsobtained du ing a hunting expedition, heali gs of membe s of theoyal family, cont ove sies with the pagans.As fo Mani himself he t aveled onwa d w th his fathe along the com-

me cial oute ove which Aze baija i tin was ca ied going f om Ganaza


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M A N 21

where his mineral was ex rac ed and re ned as ar as Phara he por oMesene on he Persian Gul whence Arab merchan s carried i o "India '

ha is Deb Daybul) in he es uary o he Indus River.is i inerary was said o be he one ha had been aken abou wo

cen uries previous y by he apos e omas Small Chris ian communiies had been es ab ished along his rou e up o and beyond he S rai o Hormuz According o egend omas had been reluc an a rs o under ake he mission ordered by Jesus: "How can I who am Jewish goamong he Indians? Mani who new he marve ous a es surround-ing he voyages o omas desired o his own ree will and or his own reasons o ollow he rou e aken by his illus rious predecessor I was

here ore members o hese Chris ian communi ies sca ered be weenFars and uran and c a ming o o ow he eaching o omas whomMani me in he course o his rs missionary voyage. Making con ac wi h hese communi ies no he s udy o Buddhism was he ob ec and purpose o his voyage

Jus as he Ac s o omas credi ed omas w h grea success amonghe local princes and chie ains Ma ichaean hagiog aphy was o c n rive

an ana ogous missiology or Mani A Par hian ragmen (M4 ) recoun sMani's success in conver ing he Buddhis king o uran. Having publicly per ormed a ea o levi a ion w ich ed he king o ac now edge he rue wisdom Mani revealed his issionary purpose "When e uranshah and

he no ab esazada heard his hey re oiced. ey accep ed he ai h andshowed hemse ves avorab e o he apos le o he re igion A ew members o he ami y and o he roya cour conver ed n heir urn A he sigh o Mani rising again in o he air o ake leave o him he ing el on his ees bu Mani ca led o him. he uranshah hen wen o mee him in

he and kissed Mani declaring o him "You are he Buddha!e brie dura ion o his Indian mission a mos wo years e cludes

any possibility o prose tism or in egra ion in Buddhis circles. I i cou d hard y have ed o he spec acular conversions a ribu ed o him by Manichaean egend i none he ess en oyed a cer a n success in Chris ian circlessince according o ano her Par hian agmen M457 ), on his re urn oRew Ardaxshir ani sen his a her Pa eg one o his rs conver s and his bro her John Hanni) o look a er he communi y he had jus ounded

here.


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M A N H A M

On the da ng of th s rst m ss on and the act v ty that followed, tessen al deta ls come from the Copt cKepha aia ( 6)

I he las years of Ar axoos [Ar ash r] he g se o o prereache by sea ] he co ry of he I a s I preache o

he hope of fe, elec e[ o p] h s place a goo elec o commy, ch rch] Ye he year whe Ar axoos he g e a S

[Shap r h s so became g, I we bac by sea fr m he co ry ofheI a s o he a of he ers a s, a aga from he la of ereache he a of Babylo , Mese e, a he reg o ofS sa. I presemyse f o Sapores e g He rece ve me w h grea ho or a gameperm ss o o ravel hro gh h s err or es a o preach here h

of fe spe some years he roya re e[komi a onsome years ers s, he co ry of he ar h a s, a as far [ or h] as Aa e bor er a s of he g om of he Roma s

Kepha aia 76on the voyages of Man descr be he c cumstances oh smeet ng w th Shapu I and g ves a summary account ofhem ss onsd ected by Man

F r her, happe e o e ay, wh e o r mas er a m o s e gMa was v g he c y of C es pho , ha Sapo es he ga er h m a s mmo e h m o come O r mas e se o a weSapores he g, he came bac a we o h s c rch Whe hebee here for o q e a ho r, w ho e ay g a y lo ger Sa

he g q re a er h m aga , s mmo e h m o come, amas er] se o aga o ce aga he we o Sapores he g spoh m, procla me he wor of Go o h m, a he re r e a w

o h s ch rch. Ye a h r me Sapores e g re a er hba e h m o come, a [o r mas er] re e o he g o ce more [T e Ma h mse f eclare A he mome whe I sa le poseaby boa . . .I s rre he who e la of he a s [per o of s ccfollowe by se bac s e o oppos o from he pol ca a hor

oo o he sea o ce more. I e he a of he I a s a reachela of ers s . [s ccess he se bac s] I came from h

ers s a reache he c y of Mese e, wh ch . [ here s a gap here s ccess o ce aga fo owe by reverses] from h s p ace ca

he a of Babylo e c y of he Assyr a s s ccess fose bac s e ma ly o he a hor es of he " og a a ' ha s,


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MA N 23

oas ian and Ch st an cle gies} This co nt y waged againstme ahosof st ggles T s s why i he Assy ans and wen into he land of heMedes and Pa thians. n splace played the ha p of w sdom.

Compar ng these two texts w th what s known from other sources,

a few observat ons can be made. It was very probably at the beg nn ngof A 243 that the Ind an m ss on came to an end n uran. There asever where else Man knew success as well as reverses but nonethelessmanaged to establ sh a commun ty elect an elect on at Deb The Par-th an fragment M4575 )and K ph agree on th s po nt. Man came backfrom uran by sea follow ng the same route he took n sett ng out. Onh s ret rn he settled at Rew Ardaxsh r n the prov nce of Pers s Fars .

From there he made many voyages through Pers s, cr sscross ng Susana, Mesene, Babylon a, and the C es Seleuc a Ctes phon . Intheseplaces he entered nto controvers es w th h s former bapt st core g on sts.H s new recru ts, Ammo, Adda, and S s, were educated Aramaeans andpolyglot c ty dwellers. They were to become h s closest co laborators Oncehe had establ shed contacts w th Iran an and Zoroastr an d gn tar es andw th the roya p nces and prov nc al governors nthei lands, the Prophet

d d not record spectacular convers ons, as later Man chaean h stor ographyrecounts, but formed nstead relat onsh ps based upon trust One suchrelat onsh p was w th Peroz, a brother of the k ng, through whom Manobta ned an aud ence at the palace and, n253, a guarantee of safe passagefor h m and h s d c ples. The meet ng w th the k ng of k ngs was nterpreted by the Man chaeans, wrongly, as const tut ng o c al recogn t onof the r rel g on one such trad t on, recorded by Ibn al Nad m, descr bes

the entry of the prophet nto the recept on hall as that ofa rad ant Buddhathere were on h s shoulders two l ghts l ke l mps .

Hav ng now settled on the west bank of the gr s at Veh Ardaxsh r, apart of Ctes phon, Man composed for the k ng a summary of the pr nc ples of h s rel g on thehabuhragan) drew up the de n t ve statutes ofh s church, and organ zed the m ss ons of h s d sc ples to the four reg onsofthe world o the West that s, to Palmyra and Eg pt, the st stages

on the road to Rome he sent Adda and Patteg; to the Northeast Parth aand Khurasan he sent Ammo, who was to reach Abarshahr N shapur ,Merv, and the terr tory of the Kushans Other m ss ons must have been


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2 M A N H A M

d spatched at th s t me, accou ts of wh ch ha e ot come dow to usto ortheast Arab a Hatta) but also to the cara a settleme ts of the

Southwest as far as the e d of the Arab a Pe s la.Ma h mself assumed respo s b l ty for the Nor hwest He we t

to Bet h) arma a d Ad abe e, where he ga e e courageme t to thealready ex st g commu ty fou ded by Adda a d Abzakhuya Abzax a)the Pers a at Kar uk, a d w th other brethre he e tabl shed se eral ewcommu t es the reg o of Mosul, the go g o to Bet h) Arabayea d ur Abd , that s the words ofKeph 1) to the borderla ds ofthe k gdom of the Roma s ' From264to 270Ma fou d h mself the ery heart of Syr ac Chr st a ty.

By270Ma s rel g o was establ shed throughout Ira ; outs de thcou try the etwork of m ss o s exte ded, as Ma says Keph. 1 "fromEast to West ' a d he adds "My hopee p s sy o ym for church hasreached as far as the su r se of the world a d all parts o the hab

ted la ds to the cl me of the North a d to the South. Not o e of theapostles [who preceded me] d d e er ach e e such a th g By rtue oth s, Ma who Keph. 6declares hat he had tra eled throughoutthe world "ru g l terally, o the t ps of h s toes) may be co s dered to ha e succeeded th rty years of peregr at o s carry g outo the letter Jesus's comma d " o to the four reg o s[k mataof theworld

e m ss ology of the fourk mata,wh ch formed the co clus o tothe collect o s of e a gel cal per copes a d he ba s for the apocrypha

trad t o s of the apostles from wh ch Ma der ed t, s the eccles ascal a d pract cal s de of Ma chaea prophetology the ery heart ofMa chae sm as Ma co ce ed t, formulated t, a d exper e ced ta fragme t Pahla M 4Ma la d out a ser es of te reaso s therel g o that he had "elected[w z danwas super o , a d to be preferred,to the o es that had come before. e rst of th se reaso s, wh ch Maco t ually emphas zed to h s d sc ples s of card al mporta ce: "

preced g rel g o s were [spread ] a s gle la d a d a s gle la g aBut my rel g o s such that t s ma festpaydag e ery la d a d e ery la g age a d s taught d sta t la ds

s s ot a solated text A passage the Copt cKepha a a 15 )


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M N 25

adm rably summar zes Man s eccles ast cal and m ss onary purpose ns m ar terms:

H u ] who l c h chu ch n h W h chu ch ha no h Ea . H [Bu ha] who l c h chu ch n h Ea h

[ ] ha no com o h W My hop o a m n [my chn uch a way ha ach h W an ha may b ca aam m o h Ead h vo c of p ach ng w l b h a nv y languag an w b announc n v y c y My chu ch

p o n h p ma y p c o p c ng chu ch fo h pchu ch w l c only fo pa cula p ac an pa cu a ca m n my chu ch n uch a way ha com o al c an

goo n w ach all coun

e Last Years

W en S apur Id ed (ca.272 7), Man made t e Sassan d cap tal t ee o s rel g on and establ s ed a network o commun t es not on y n

t e c t es o t e emp re but n ts most remote reg ons. In pr nc p e, Iran

m g t wake up one morn ng to nd tsel Man c aean t e k ng o k ngss ou d so dec de. But t s d d not n act come to pass, or rdas r sson and son nlaw ad rema ned Zoroastr an, w c s to say t at t eyma nta ned t e state rel g on under t e contro o t e pr ests o re

Man , ke al rel g ous leaders, recogn zed t at t e success o a m ss onand t e ture o a c urc depend on pol t cal w . W t t e access ono Horm zd (O rm zd) I to t e t rone o s at er, S apur, e astened

to make s way to t e cap tals unl kely t at Man wa ted or events to deve op most certa n y

e devoted msel at once to ntr gues at court, and t s a l t e moreeas y as e was close to members o t e royal am y and pa ace o c als.In t a y e wou d ave been reassured o t e new k ng s good ntent onstoward m, Horm zd av ng pledged to cont nue s at er s pol cy otolerance. But Horm zd s re gn sudden y came to an end a er on y a ewmont s (late n27 ?),w t out t e dec s ve c ange o status Man soug t

or s rel g on be ng approved n t e nterval.e status quo was ma nta ned dur ng t e rst mont s o t e re gn o


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26 M A N I H A I M

Hor izd's brot er and successor, Ba ra (Va ra ) I w o A. C ristensen as depicted as "greedy for power and irr so ute ' Litt e by li tleBa ra et real power pass into t e ands of t e o cia clergy, in particular, one of its leading gures, a Zoroastrian relate na ed Karder

(also Kirdir or Karter).Ka der ad not awaited Ba ra s reign in order o udge Mani t e anand is work. Priest and teac er of t e Zoroastria re igion in t ecomitatus (court) of S apur I, Karder would ave been in an ideal positionto assist t e birt and expansion of t is new relig on, w ic clai ed to bring toget er under its banner Zoroaster, Budd a, and Jesus. Sure y it

ust very quickly ave aroused is suspicions, as t e ead priest of re

[her ed in t e Persis region, to see Mani wooing t e king, successfullyrallying to is cause so e of t e royal princes and provincial governors,and in ltrating t e i peria ad inistration in s ort, sc e ing witt e evident purpose of one day supp anting t e traditional religion and beco ing t e so e inister of an o cia cu t aving no rivals t at adco e, in t e nal analysis, fro abroad.

Ka de 's insc ip ion, found on "Ka ba i Zardus at aqs i ustanear t e site of ancient Persepolis, expressly notes t at e was pro oted(or rat er pro oted i se f) fro her edto mo ed t at is, to a posi-tion at t e su it of t e Zoroastrian ierarc y, w ic under t e reignsof Ardas ir's grandsons laid clai to t e status of ort odoxy Karder

entioned, a ong is any self professed services to religion, t e fol-lowing

I c u ed m ny re re emp end m gi o pro per in he coun ry ofr n and ewi e, in the l nd of Aniran, [c e to pro perthe rend m gi who were in the nd of Anir n, whither c me hor e nd me

of he king of king from he ci of Antioch, n he coun ry of Syrind wh i beyond Syri , he ci of r u nd he co n ry of C

wh t i beyond he coun ry of Cilici , nd beyond C pp doci , towardhe co n ry of G l ti nd he co n ry of Armen , beri = mod

Georgi ] , b , and Ba n, f r the borde of Alb Sh pking of k ng , by hi hor e nd hi men, pill ged, burned, nd wro ghdev tion, even here, I my elf, on he order of the k ng of king , ganized he re nd m gi who were in he e coun r e . I forb de o

nd he boo h h d been eized I re ored to the countrie . T e


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M A N 2

whowe e good I g ve nk nd utho ty n the count y. As fo he etic lo degene te men n the body of he m gi who ed n unsu t b e ife Im de them submit opunishmen nd ep m nd. T ey mended thew ys nd I d ew up ch te s nd p tentsfor m ny es nd m gi. T nksto the suppo t of the gods nd of the k ng of k ngs, foundedinI nsh hm ny es, nd I m de m ny m ges be ween b ood e tions m nymen who did not p ofess [the f th p ofessed it, nd m ny ofthose whoheld the doct ine of the demons th nks to my ct on, b ndoned thedoct ne of the demons nd dopted the doct ine of the gods [A e thet ns t on byJ. de Men sce]

Accompanying Shapur to the borderlands of the empire and beyondKarder reestab ished oroastrian orthodo and strict lawin all the areas paci ed by the soldiers. In the same places during the same periodin the same circumstances in the same roya entourage Mani too hadoccasion to pro t from paci cation in order to preach his "hope andto estab ish h s own institutions. The Sassanid conquest seems then toha e been followed by a dua mission in o posite directions: on the onehand a centripetal mo ement Karder's reform aimed at shoring up

an orthodo that cou d only decay and crumble under the in uence offoreign contact; and on the other the centrifuga force of"heresyMani's propheto ogy hat co d on y be strengthened by foreign contact.In the ideological combat in which the two isionaries engaged duringShapur's time it was Karder who gradua y achie ed control of politicalpower nder the reign of Bahram I this control seemed ery nearlytota .

Mani's only alternati e at this point was to quit the stage where thepol cy of the great actors of the Iranian world was destined to play itse fout without him and against him. He knew now that he had lost in amerciless game and moreo er that his ife was lost. It is in the conte tof this painfu period that the pessimistic and dualistic radicalization ofManichaean lyric poetry and homiletics ought in my iew to be situatedas well as the composition of Mani's own ersion of theBook of Giants

In this narrati e behind the eil of the language of a biblica tale popularized by the most celebrated of the apoca pses(Enoch),he recountedthe misdeeds of t rants[kawan and prophesied their decline and fa l.

Mani's ast tra els were to bring him back to the places of his chi d


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28 M A N I H A M

hood, his youth, and the birth of his church. Thu he is ted rst thecommun t es of Babylonia and welcomed back from the r missions t e brethren of h s fa th, g ng em etters, documen s, and instructions.By sma stages he reached ormizd Arda shir (S q al Ahwaz), in thepro nce of Susiana (K uzistan), w t the ntent on t e testimony of theCopticHomilies s de nite on th s point) of undertaking a long oyage toKhurasan T is would a e broug t h m to the Kushan terr tory, whereAmmo ad gone pre iously as a scout and whose many Manichaean

nst tutions had made a ef of the fait . But h s pl n cou d not be carried out. Mani was stopped y the mperial pol ce and forbidden fromgo ng fart er. e returned to Mesene and tra eled upri er by boat toCtesip on.

e went on to Kholassar Artemita), hal ay between Baghdad andDastagerd, about y e m les from Se eucia A m or prince ofK osar by the name of Bat was one of h s recent con erts. It was there that theorder reac ed Mani to go to Beth Lapat (a so Belap t or Gundeshabuhr)in Susiana to appear before t e kingW B. enning p ausibly sees t econ ersion of Bat, one of Bahra s assals, as the dir ct cause of the ng sanger and of t e dec s on to summon Mani

Bat accompan ed Mani at least unt Gaukhai (a so Jukh or Jukha),home to an mportant Manic aean commun ty, Bet Deraye. A local popular tradit on, recorded by Ibn a Nadim, ater made Gau hathe prophet s birthp ace, no doubt in memory of s farewe s t madethere.

Man arri ed nally at Beth Lapat n t e comp ny of his dragomanNuhzadag (bar Nuh), Abzakhuya (Abza a) the Pers an, and Kusta . T epol ce led the group at once to t e roya res dence arned of Mani s arri al, Karder n h s turn nformed t e king s a de d camp, who warnedBahram, now dining on h s return from a unt ng arty: "Man s ere;he waits at t e door Bahram had h m instruct Man to wa t a momentMan ret rned to the guard ouse at the entrance to t e build ng a ng

n s ed h s mea , Bahram got up from the table and, arm in arm witt e queen of Sakas and Karder, jo ned Man . A d a ogue ensued

BAH AM:Yo e no wel ome!AN Wh w ong h ve I done?


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M A N 2

BAH AM[ s y):swo not to t you nt th s nd. T n, n ood o wo ds ( s th Coptomili ss y h s tw st d w th n

g and ont mpt, h ont nu d Ah wh t you good o ? You n th so d no hunt h ps you n d d to dm n st d ugs nd m d n s But you a not p b n o th t!AN I h don noth ng w ong.I h a w ys t d w tow d youand you am y. M ny you s nts whomI h d d om d mons nd b w t hm nts; m ny thos whomh h d os kn ss m ny thos om whomI h d sp d so ts o m ny hos who w d ng and whomI sto d to h a th

BAH AMgo ng st ght to h po nt]s now th who y s th tyou h w k d w h B t Wh t s th s g onnomos]th t you h

t ught h th t h shou d nd p b ndon ng ou p sts[= thZo o st n gy] and o ow you s How do you xp n th t? Why d d you not go w th h m wh I h d o d d you to go?

n 's o v s o fo nd n s n Fo nd s n s of o s s onv s on s n ol l . Fo d no o l d s n n of o s s

s v n o n d to h on s n f o o zd

d s o s on o ly so n s O n no oss l s of s o n nd s v y do f l d on olo ss s ns d s oof n w n n oHom l e (Hom 42. 50.17)o ld

v on l no lon v n y n o os n k d

d s ood n on d on o of s f S o

s o n s lf n o n s v y n d nd v n v d nof s s fo P oof o nd n d l S dd ss d o s w s oo n s n ons on F

d o n on nd d o nds of ns-on n o nds n o nd s nk s nd o o nd s w s sd j s no s ng o s d s l s nd on d o t

n l ss E s d f d ys of d n on d d

non on of n s ss on on" o d d n o Hom l e s s n on of od of n s n nv n dy d on fo d ys of l s nty s of d n on no


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30 M A N A S M

able historical chronology oreo er it is di cult to know what becameof Mani s corpse. Was it dismembered? Flayed? Stu ed with straw andpublicly displayed? orn apart by wild beasts? Deca itated and the headstuck atop one of the gates to the c ty? Cut in two and then nai ed to both

gates? Al these detai s may be found in anichaean hagiography whichm es together all known facts and hearsay concerning the great martyrA-Biruni ordinar ly so forthcoming n the matter of dates and calendarsis mute with regard to the date of Man s death embarrassed perhaps bythe si ence or disagreement of his sources e references to months daysand hours contained in the documents that ha e come down to us fromcentra Asia constitute no ore than a calendar for iturg cal use eyear ofMani s death rema ns a disputed question. A Uighur Manichaeanchrono ogy based on the Sino urkic Ca endar of the wel e An mals

es "the departure of the Buddha Mani for his c lestia p ace n theyear of the p g that is2 4of the Christian era. eoretica y possiblelater dates 2 6or 277 can be obtained by attempting to reconcile localor international calendars with Manichaean con ent ons for des gnating

feast days Man was n any case about s ty years old when he d ed


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A TE

e Books

a Mani Read

As a consequence o he religious raining cus omari y undergone bysomeone o his social background, Mani had access a a very early ageo he New es amen wri ings he our Gospels and he Epis les o

Pau hrough an eas ern Aramaic ransla ion e a so knew he ourGospe s in a dia essaria , or harmonized, orm Gospe ragmen s ci edin La in by he A rican doc ors o he Manichaean Church during heirexege ical ous s wi h Augus ine, as well as ragmen s o Jesus parabo ic

narra ives ound a ur an, show ha a harmonized orm o he Gospelswas also used by disciples a he wo ex remi ies o Manichaeis s geo-graphica expanse. Analysis o ese ragmen s reveals ha his harmonydid no derive rom a ia sDiatessaron and, moreover, ha i exis edin several versions

Owing o his Elchasai ic background, Mani had also become am liarwi h he wri ings ha were read in he bap is communi y, no only he

book o revela ions ha had been con ded o Elchasa , bu also, as hegrew older, he various books o revela ons and visions ascribed o heau hori y o he rs messengers o God ha were hen very much in vogue in Judeo Chris ian circles ( he Apoca ypses o Adam, Se h, Enoch,and Noah).

Mani s ascina ion wi h missionary adven ure was also due o proonged exposure o he novelis ic accoun s, lled in he r urn wi h vi

sions, voyages, and dramas, ha he Aramaean Chris ians had bui uparound heir avori e apos es he apocryphal Ac s o John, Pe er, Paul,Andrew, and Thomas he a e o his las apos e made a par icu ar m-pression upon he young Mani or a leas hree reasons Firs , radi ion


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3 M A N A S M

had made omas, as h s ery name would ha e had t, the tw[tawmofJesus second, t was to th s Thomas, h s t n, tha Jesus had communcatedh s secret words (Gospe of Thomas and t as to omas, nallythat Jesus had entrusted the m ss on of go ng farthest to the East, as far

as Ind a, to con ert the k ngs and the r peoples (Acts of omas . elegend of omas may be sa d to ha e determ ned Man s career ndeedthe ocat on of the latter ap ears to ha e been the d rect product of the bel ef of eastern Chr st an ty n the except ona dest ny of the former somuch so that understand ng Man depends n arge part on exam n ng thetrad t ons assoc ated w th the terary ct on of th apost e omas.

Ha ng founded h s own rel g on, Man read and ass m lated (as thcontents of theBoo of ysteries test the ph o oph cal treat ses andcol ect ons of the sacred poems and songs ofBardes nesseems unl kelythat he h mself knew the qu te recent re elat ons wr tten n Greek andascr bed by the "Hellen zed mag to the Chaldean prophets: the Apoca-

pses ofN cotheos, Zoroaster, Zostr anos, Allogenes, and Messos. On theother hand, we know that he used the Apoca ypse f Hystaspes to wr tethe second sect on of h syste ie o a l these t ngs t s necessaryto add other m nor wr t ngs attr buted to some p rson or other n theOld or New estament (cyc es of egends, prayers, hymn c e ocat ons ,as well as br ef but terar ly autonomous p eces (cat lenas, laments, andcant cles from the Chr st an commun t es ofIran

Man seems almost surely not to ha e known (orto ha e sought tok ow the text of the Jew sh B ble, not e en throughts argum c nter

pretat on What was Jew sh not only d d not nterest h m t was a sourofprofound personal rr tat on as well. He abhorred the Pentateuch s ncet cont nued to gu de h s bapt st brethren, who therefore rema ned subju-

gated by Jew sh law wh le profess ng to be Chr st a s!was the grow ngawareness of th s contrad ct on that led to h s rupture w th Elchasa sm.The only sect ons of the Jew sh B ble that he thought worthy of not ce, the

rst chapters of Genes s, he knew through the apo r phal trad t ons

From books Man learned to re ere the knowledg that they conta ned,and he passed along h s o e of ne books to h s d sc p es. A pa ntergreat d st nct on (h s name n the culture of Is a cIran has come tosymbol ze beauty of the most re ned k nd , Man was recogn zed as master n the art of draw ng etters, to wh ch he brought the same pre


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O O K S

isi n and e p yed the sa e ha ny as painte s d in de in theint i ate inte p ay f ines and sis t en f t en that ani haeis was a s an aestheti , and its f unde , an a tist.

F b ks f e elati n w it enu si e easte n a a s ipt ani

ea ned t use his the t n ue and t ake f it a t pe fe t y suitedt the t ans issi n f his d t ine But in de f his wn w ks, w itten in Sy ia , t be a essib e t an I anian speak n audien e they hadt be t ans ated N I anian idi neithe ah a i, the an ua e f thes uthwest, de i ed f O d e sian, n a th an, the an ua e f then theast, de i ed f edian was su ient t the task n the nehand, be ause in ea h ase the w itten an ua e was fa e ed f the

sp ken an ua e, n a unt f the e y s a nu be f si ns e p yedthi teen), whi h ed t eat nfusi n and a bi ui in the inte p etati n f anus ipts and the pyin f texts n the the hand, be ausethe nstant p esen e in I anian texts f def ed a ai w ds f the

st n n ti ns the s a led ide aphi syste ) t ansf edthe si p est tex int a e itab e ebus ani the ef e unde t k a d asti

ef f idi ati anian w itin , st by substitut n the easte n S ia

a phabet twenty t ette s with se i we s) f ah a i s ipt se nd by aband nin the syste f ide a s and, with it, the a hai izin bias

f ial py sts In sh t, he s u ht t enab e t e i n an ua e t etake the hie ati , s that I anian w u d be w i en as it was p n un ed.The inst u ent that esu ted f this ef ust a i y a ed the" ani haean a phabet was s p a ti a and s ea that it n t n y be a e an indispensab e t f ani haean issi ns th u h ut theI anian d ain but was a s ad pted by n n ani haeans S dians and

u ks) t t ans ibe and t ans ate the Indian and Buddhist s iptu esF the sa e eas n as we l, ani upies a ent a p a e in I anian

ul e and, e ene a y, in the hist y f w itin In astin h s p phe y in a de n and ea ly w i en an ua e, he es ute y u ned his ba

n the ust dians f in uisti hie ati is wh se ed the state e i i na ha izin an ua e bein the si n f ut ded e i i us p a ti e) and

p epa ed the way f the ad pti n f the ab s ipt in I an f l win thead ent fIs a e p phe ies f ani and uhm ad ea h nsti teda e i n f t e b k. Su h a e i i n, in de t i e i e t G d, usp ssess a ity f an ua e and w itin .


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34 M A N A M

e Works of ManiT e works o Man are n ne n number:Shabuhr gan the Gospel theTreasure M steries Legends Image Giants Lettersand Psalms andPra ers.

Shabuhragane earl est o Man 's works s a text composed d ectly n Pahlav an

ded cated to Shapur I Substant al p eces o the or g nal work have su v vedthanks to the manuscr pts ound at ur an and have been rearranged (w th the add t on o a good number o new p eces), transl terated, translated, and annotated by D. MacKenz e ("Man 'sbuhrag 'I and II,Bulletin of the S hool of Oriental and Afri an Studies42 [1979500-534; 43 [1980 288 3 0

In wr t ng theShabuhragan Man 's purpose was to ormulate someo the undamental ntu t ons o the new rel g on nd to help h s royded catee understand ts ma n aspects These ntu t ons, or cosm c

s ghts, belong to two doma ns that o ntly de ne he p an o the worprophetology and apocalypt c sm.e prophetology, w th wh ch the book opens a d o wh ch al B run

preserved an essent al ragment, a rmed the cont nu ty o the proclamat on o "w sdom and knowledge rom Adam to Man Com ng tend o th s success on Man procla med h msel " eal o the prophthat s, the one who, n be ng h stor cally and absolutely the last one, put

an end to h story and prepared the advent o a new aeonThe theology o the "seal o the prophet led d ectly to the descr p

t on o a metah story whose l terary orm was at th s t me apocal pt c construct the scenar o o h s eschatolog cal hope, Man once more drewabundantly, and espec ally on ew estament wr t ngs (synopt c percopes on the end o the world and udgment and Pa l ne accounts o theParous a, that s ant c pat on o the Second Com ng o the Son o Mas well as on a more spec al zed l terature, ch e y t eEno hwr t ngs

A er a br e rem nder o the two pr nc ples cons dered rom a cosmlog calpo nt o v ew (here one nds the ragment rom Abd al Jabbar [ nal Mughni]cop ed by al Shahrastan[ al-Milal]), an comes r ght awayto h s apoca t cal purpose. e portents o the end o t me are descr bed


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K S 35

in the c l rs f a "great war ' an era f c n icts and upheavals in empires, religi ns, and the stars Tese prem nit ry s mpt ms pen the way t the messianic era marked by the Sec nd C ming f the S n fMan, herec ed Xradeshahryazd "G d f the W rld f Wisd ), namely, Jesus the

Splend r, wh attends t the judgment f the g d f ll wers f the true religi n) and the w cked enemies f religi n). describe this judgment,Mani repr duces w rd f r w rd the wh le tex fr m the G spel acc rd-

ng t Ma hew re ating t the last judgment25 31 46 .Te separati n fant n mic w rlds that f l ws this udgment marks a ret rn t beginn ngs, just as the entry nt the last age f radeshahryazd, under the aegis f the pr phet wh had br ught the chain f the pr phets t its end, marked a ret rn t the rst pr phecy sealed in the Adamic revelati n and t a state

f paradise With this ret rn c mmences the ap catastasis [MPfrashegirinaugurated by the appearance fMihryaz the Liv ng Spirit, descending t earth fr m the chari t f the sun. Mihryazd then unleashes the greatcataclysmic re f the w rlds and s causes the particles f light trapped

n ea th t be reassembled n heaven and the elect t reign in a renewedcelestial rea m, the new paradise[wahisht i n g

Te pening secti n f the Shabuhr gan pr phet l gy) served as a the retical framew rk f r the auth r fKeph 1 entitled "On the C ming f the Ap st e the na secti n ap cal pticism) was c mmented

n by Kustai in "Te Serm n f the Great War Hom.7 8-42 8 .

e GospelPlaced at the head f the c rpus by Mani's immediate success rs, theGospel wh se c mplete title wase Living Gospel and which Manichaean traditi n nicknamed "Te Great Living G spel and als "Te G spel f the Very H ly H pe ) was written by Mani in Syriac and divided by himint twenty tw secti ns, c rresp nding t the twenty tw le ters f theAramaic alphabet, fr malef taw the C pticHomiliessay fr malpha t omega using the rst and last let ers f the Greek alphabet).

Tree fragments f this Gospelare c nserved in theCMC. Te rst, a preamble, is f und n page66 4 68 5"I, Mani, ap stle fJesus Christ by thew f G d the Father f ruth. . . ' In the sec nd, n page68 6-698 Mani declares that his missi n c nsists in revealing t the w rld that is, declaring bef re the false religi ns and pagan nat ns the secrets


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36 M A N C A E S M

[aporreta that we e on ded to h m by means of e elat ons. In the ththese evelat ons a e sa d to have taken p a e at the moment when Manwas st l an adhe ent of the aw, that s, a bapt st and e e ved the v sthe ange , h s " w n

A o d ng to the su n t but nvaluable summa y of theGo pelsup-pl ed by al B un (who possessed a opy n h s l b a y) nal-AtharMan p ofessed that he was "the pa a lete he ald d by Ch st and thesea of the p ophets ' It s h ghly p obab e that n t s wo k the founexpanded upon the la ms of

92510313 tardieu michel manichaeism

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