SOUS LE HAUT PATRONAGE DE S.M.I. LE SHAHINSHAH ARYAMEHR ACTA IRANICA ENCYCLOPEDIE PERMANENTE DES ETUDES IRANIENNES: FONDEE A LOCCASION DU 2500" ANNIVERSAIRE DE LA FONDATION DE L'EMPIRE PERSE PAR CYRUS LE GRAND TROISIEME SERIE TEXTES ET MEMOIRES Acta Iranica 9 BIBLIOTHEQUE PAHLAVI EJ. BRILL TEHERAN-LIEGE LEIDENTEXTES ET MEMOIRES A READER IN MANICHAEAN MIDDLE PERSIAN AND PARTHIAN TEXTS WITH NOTES by MARY BOYCE mn Si 1975 DIFFUSION. orion EJ. BRILL BIBLIOTHEQUE PAHLAVI LEIDEN TEHERAN-LIEGE,COMITE INTERNATIONAL Prof. Sir Harold Battey (Grande-Bretagne); Prof. George CAmeRON (EU): S. Exe. Prof. Enrico Cervitt (Italie); + S. Exc. Dr Tard Cuano (Inde); Prof, Henri Corsiw’ (France); Prof. Jacques Duciesne-Guituemin (Belgique); Prof. Namio EGAMt (Japon); Prof. Dr. Wilhelm Eiters (Allemagne); Prof. S. Bainan Enzi (Turquie); Prof. Richard ETniNGHAUSEN (EU); Acad, B.G. Garurov (U.RSS.); Prof Roman GHIRSHMAN (France); S, Exe, Prof. Garcia Gomez (Espagne); Prof. Hinos HAarMArta (Hongrie); Prof. Dr. Walther Hinz (Allemagne); Prof. Yahya AL-Kuaswan (Egypte); S. Em. Card Dr. Franz KONtG (Autriche); Prof. Georg Morcensrierne (Norvége); + Prof. Henrik S. NyoeRa (Suéde); Pir Husamuddin Rastr (Pakistan). DIRECTION Le Conseil Culturet Impérial de tran, S.E. Shodjacddin SHAFA, Vice-ministre de la Cour Impériale, Directeur de la Bibliotheque Pahlavi REDACTEUR EN CHEF J. Duchesne-GuiLemin, professeur ordinaire & TUniversité de Lidge, assisté de Pierre Lecog, docteur en histoire et littératures orientales, et de Jean KELLENS, assistant Université Johannes Gutenberg, Mayence. Université de Litge, Place du 20 aot 16, B 4000 Ligge ISBN 90 04 03902 3 90 04 04394 2 © 1975 by Bibliotheque Pahlavi, Tehran-Lidge All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or translated in any form, by print, photoprint, microfilm, microfiche for any other means without written permission from the publisherDEDICATED. to E, BENVENISTECONTENTS. Preface Introduction Sketch of Mani’ life and the growth of his church The further history of the Manichaean church in Iran and the east Mani’s teachings Themyth The creation of the world The process of redemption The creation of man Individual salvation Fate of the individual soul at death End of the world The gods of the Manichaean pantheon Jesus in Manichaeism The Manichaean ethic The community The cult The Manichaean scriptures, canoni ‘The manuscripts . The alphabet and orthography Abbreviations, punctuation and transliteration Restorations in the texts Order of the texts List of fragments reproduced Brief bibliography of general works Reference works for grammar and syntax Abbreviations of authors’ names and of titles used in the notes and general ‘The texts I Prose texts concerning Mani and the history of his church, a-s II Precepts for Hearers. t-w . _ III Prose texts from Mani’s works, on cosmogony and eschatology. x-ae Saawssaneaw 10 ut I 12 13 la 19 20 20 22 4 » 34vil Iv v VI vu vill IX XL xi Xi XIV XV XVI XVI XVIII ‘Table of contents Prose texts from Mani’s works, on the soul and salvation, ad-ae foe Hymns to the Father of Greatness. af-aka Hymns on cosmogony and eschatology. al - as Hymns to the Living Self. at-bf Hymns to the Third Messenger. bg-bq Hymns to Jesus the Splendour. br-by Texts concerning Jesus the Messiah. bw-byd Texts concerning the Twelve Dominions. bz-cd . Hymns in honour of Mani and individual church-leaders. ce-cla Hymns for the church hierarchy and church digni em-et . Liturgical texts. cu-ev Verses from the Parthian hymn-cy Miscellaneous verse-texts. da-dge : Parables and miscellaneous prose-texts. dh-ds Prayers and invocations. dt-dz les. ew-e7, 88 OL 96 104 15 122 126 132 136 144 153 163 169 178 190\ | PREFACE This Reader has evolved slowly during the course of teaching at the School of Oriental and African Studies, London, It had its origin in the study of Turfan material with Iranian and Parsi students, who found the early German editions, with the texts transliterated in Hebrew characters, hard to use. Once these particular texts had been trans- literated afresh with the Roman alphabet, the usefulness became apparent of bringing together other texts from scattered publications, and grouping them according to subject-matter for reading in class; and gradually the collection came to include almost all published texts of any length, as well as some small fragments of particular interest. Fortunately an arrangement by subject-matter also meant setting together pieces in the same style, and so it has been possible to begin the Reader with those texts (namely the historical ones) which are simplest in both content and manner, thus ensuring that a student has some grasp of the language before he encounters Mani’s own writings (which in their Iranian versions make involved and difficult reading), or verse-texts (whose syntax is naturally more flexible than that of prose). A number of the texts reproduced here have not been republished since the first editions by the pioneer in these fields, the great F.W.K. Miiller, and those of C. Salemann, who introduced the use of precise transliteration, A number of emendations to these early works, made chiefly by F.C. Andreas and W.B. Henning, have been recorded in A Catalogue of the Iranian manuscripts in’ Manichean script in the German Turfan collection, and are incorporated in this Reader. In almost all cases it has been possible to recheck the ms.-readings from photographs of the original fragments, thanks to the generosity of the Akademie der Wissenschaften der DDR. After the selection of texts for the Reader had been made, the Akademie, through its Zentra institut fiir Alte Geschichte und Archdologie, published in 1973 a new and important edition of fragments, namely Dr. W. Sunder- mann’s Mittelpersische und parthische kosmogonische und Parabeltexte der Manichier (Berliner Turfantexte IV). A glossary is planned as an accompanying volume to the Reader. This again has been of slow growth, originating in a card-index of words begun in the writer’s own student days. When I was preparing this for publication, I decided in the interests of general useful-x Preface ness to include all words from published texts, even those not given in the Reader. It was almost finished when, in response to an inquiry, my friend Mrs, Maria Henning very generously sent me six notebooks containing her late husband’s own word-list of the Western Middle Iranian material from Turfan, This, though not quite complete, is almost so, and contains gems of readings and translations from unpublished fragments, It was plainly desirable to make these generally known; and accordingly 1 sought the assent of Dr. Sunderman in Berlin for expanding the planned glossary to include, as far as possible, all words from unpublished as well as published fragments, This meant including the vocabulary of texts on which he himself would be working (as well as those whose publication is planned by the writer). Dr. Sundermann magnanimously agreed, on the grounds that Professor Henning’s invaluable work should not be lost, and also accepted an invitation to collaborate by reading the glossary in typescript, and making any necessary additions. It is hoped, therefore, that the second volume will in fact be an almost complete dictionary of the Western Middle franian texts in Manichaean script. Probably com- pleteness will not be attained until the last tiny scraps of manuscript have been finally studied. Dr. Sundermann further most kindly went through almost all the texts of this Reader, and was able, in checking doubtful readings from the manuscripts themselves, to provide some admirable emendations, which are duly indicated in the notes. My debt to Professor Henning, as my teacher, goes far beyond that incurred through the use of his word-list, and is given inadequate expression throughout the notes to the Reader. I am grateful to my colleague, Dr. D.N. MacKenzie, for valuable discussions over points of transcription, and for his kindness in reading proofs of the introduction. I also owe warm thanks to Dr. R. Zwanziger of Vienna University for sparing time amid many other tasks to read the whole work in proof. To Professor J. Duchesne-Guillemin | am indebted for encouragement to publish, and to ‘Acta Iranica’ for the means to do so, The texts, regrettably rebarbative in transliteration, have received admirable skill and care from Imprimerie Orientaliste of Louvain.INTRODUCTION Sketch of Mani’s life and the growth of his church Mani was born on 14 April, A.€. 216, in northern Babylonia, which then formed part of the province of AsGristin, in the Parthian empire. His father, Pattég or Pattig, is said to have come from Hamadan. His mother, Maryam, was of the family of the Kamsaragan, who claimed kinship with the Parthian royal house, the Arsacids. Mani’s own name, a fairly common one, is Aramaic and not Iranian. According to Ibn an-Nadim, Pattég left Hamadan for al-Madain in Babylonia. One day, in a temple which he frequented there, he heard a voice from the sanctuary summoning him to renounce wine, meat, and intercourse with women. Obeying this call, he left al-Madain to join a sect known as the “Mughtasila” (“those who bathe them- selves"). The Mughtasila appear to have been baptizing gnostics, probably followers of Elchasaios. Mani himself was apparently brought by his father as a child of four to live among them. According to his own account, preserved by Ibn an-Nadim and al-Biriini, Mani received, while still a boy, a revelation from a spirit whom he called the Twin, who taught him the divine truths of his religion (see text b, below), This was probably in 228, early in the reign of the Persian Ardagir, who had overthrown the Parthians. During the last years of Ardagir’s reign, some twelve years later, the Twin appeared again to Mani and summoned him to preach the truths he had learnt to mankind. Mani first expounded these to his own father and the elders of his family (text b); and thereafter set out by sea on a missionary journey to India, that is, to Taran and Makran (modern Baluchistan and Sind), Here he met with success in that he converted the king of Taran and a number of his subjects (text €). Probably in 242, the year of the accession of Ardasir’s son. Sabuhr I, Mani returned by sea to Pars, and travelled through it on foot, preaching but meeting with hostility. From Pars he reached Mesene, the little kingdom at the mouth of the Tigris, and thence returned home to Babylonia. He travelled through Babylon preaching, and back to Pars, and into Media, arousing much opposition; but at some point he succeeded in converting to his faith2 Introduction Péroz, brother of Sabuhr, who, according to Ibn an-Nadim, procured. him audience with the king. According to the Manichaean Kephalaia, Sabuhr summoned Mani thrice from Ctesiphon, and on the third occasion accepted him as a member of his own court and gave him leave to preach his religion without hindrance throughout his realms According to Alexander of Lycopolis, Mani, as a member of Sabubr’s court, accompanied the king on one of his Roman campaigns, either against Gordian II (242-44) or against Valerian (256-60). According, to the Kephalaia, Mani spent many years in attendance on Sabuhr, and many years preaching “with good harvest” in Persia and Parthia, and up to Adiabene and the lands bordering on the frontier with Rome. It appears that, as well as preaching, the prophet practised medicine and healed the sick. At some time before A.C. 262 he converted another of Sabuhr’s brothers, namely MihrSah, king of Mesene (text 6) Between 244 and 261, at a time when Mani himself was in Weh- Ardaxiir (a part of al-Madain), he sent a mission to Egypt under Adda and Pattég, who had earlier been to “Rome”. (It seems probable that this Pattég was Mani’s own father.) This mission, which met with considerable success, reached as far as Alexandria (text hy. Another mission, sent out by the prophet from Hulwan (on the highway from Babylon to Hamadan) was led by Ammo, who was accompanied by an Arsacid prince. Amm® penetrated to the far north-east of the empire, to Parthia and Marv and beyond (text hh), ‘There he founded communities, and converted the ruler of Warué (modern Gharch) (text j). A thitd mission, led by Adda and Abzaxya, in 261-62, made converts among the Christians in Karkik. There were doubtless many other missions of which no record survives. By the time of Sabuhr’s death, probably in A.C. 273, Manichaeism appears to have been well established in his realms, although the state religion continued to be Zoroastrianism. Mani withdrew to Babylonia during the brief reign, lasting one year, of Sabuhr’s son Hormizd 1; but some time after the succession of Hormizd’s brother, Vahram I, he travelled down the Tigris, visiting his communities, and having reached Hormizd-Ardasir (Ahwaz), intended to set out for the north-eastern provinces of the empire. This was forbidden him, and he turned back to Mesene, whence he travelled up the Tigris again to Ctesiphon. From there he visited Kholassar, where he was joined by the vassal-king Bat, another of his royal converts (text k). There a summons came to him to attend Vahram’s court at Béth-Lapat (GundeSabuhr). Here he encountered the hostility of ZoroastrianIntroduction 3 priests (text m), and after a harsh audience with the king (text n) ‘was imprisoned, in heavy chains. He died after 26 days in captivity, probably in A.C. 277 (texts o and p). ‘The further history of the Manichaean church in Iran and the east After Mani’s death, the leadership of his church was in dispute between two of his followers, Sisinnios and Gabriabos. The former was success- ful, and led the community until his martyrdom in 291/2. His successor, Innaios, appears to have won tolerance for the Manichaeans, which lasted until new persecutions broke out under Hormizd II. Little is known of the church during the rest of the Sasanian period, except that it endured many bloody persecutions at the hands of the Zoro- astrians, and that its main strength gradually became concentrated beyond the Oxus, over the north-eastern border of Iran, Towards the end of the 6th century the transOxian community claimed independence, under Sad-Ohrmizd, ftom the Babylonian Leader. Under the name of the Dénawars (see text h), they maintained their autonomy until the early 8th century, when this administrative schism was healed, the rule of the Babylonian Leader Mihr (c.710-40) being accepted in Central Asia Although the Manichaean community beyond the Oxus was re- inforced by refugees (Persians and Parthians) from within the borders of Iran, most of its members were Sogdians, an eastern Iranian people inhabiting those regions, The Arab conquest of Persia in the 7th century gave a brief respite from persecution to the Manichaeans there, and some even returned from beyond the Oxus to their homes. Under the “Abbasids harsh persecutions began again. Nevertheless the church maintained itself in Bagdad until the 10th century, when the seat of the Leader was trans- ferred to Samarkand. After this century the Manichaeans virtually disappear from Iranian records. From at least 692 (when, after a troubled period, the Chinese re- ‘opened the silk-routes across Central Asia), Manichacism penetrated eastward through Sogdian merchant-colonies, strung out along the caravan-roads between the Sogdian city of Samarkand and China. A Manichaean missionary reached the Chinese court in 694; and in 732 an imperial edict gave permission for foreigners resident in China to practise this religion there. In the 8th century a vast area of Central Asia was conquered by the4 Introduction Uigur Turks; and in 762 one of their rulers adopted Manichaeism, which became the state religion of this huge kingdom until its overthrow by the Kirghiz in 840, Manichaeism probably survived in Eastern ‘Turkistan till the Mongol invasion in the 13th century, maintaining itself most strongly in and around Qoéo (near modern Turfan), which remained a petty Uigur principality. In China the religion was proscribed in 863, but although persecuted it survived there at least until the 14th century, Mani’s teachings Mani taught a strict dualism of spirit and matter. He held that good and evil are in essence and in origin separate and opposed, and that they became mixed in this world through the act of the evil principle (Matter or Darkness). Salvation lies in the release of goodness (Spirit or Light) from Matter, and its return to its original state of separation. This teaching Mani set out in an elaborate mythology, harmonized deliberate- ly from different elements. ‘The myth: In the beginning the Paradise of Light stretched unbounded upwards and to left and right (or, northwards and to east and west). Below, or southwards, lay the Hell of Darkness. The land of Paradise is uncreated and eternal. Its substance is the Five Light Elements: Ether, Air, Light, Water, and Fire, It is ruled over by the Father of Greatness, and is inhabited by countless Aeons. A goddess, the Great Spirit, is as it were the Father’s consort, Hell is divided into five kingdoms, each of the substance of one of the Five Dark Elements. These are sometimes given the same names asthe corresponding Light Elements (i.e. Air standing also for Dark Air) or sometimes the exact opposite (i.e. Darkness for Light). Sometimes, however, they are given other names, i.e. instead of Water, Poison, or Brine. The five infernal kingdoms are inhabited by five kinds of devils, two-legged, four-legged, winged, swimming, and crawling. Each kind is divided into two sexes, znd lives in perpetual lust and strife, The Devil, or Prince of Darkness, king over all, combines in himself features of all five species of devil, namely demon, lion, eagle, fish and dragon. He is treated sometimes as the personification of Matter, sometimes as its chief manifestation. By chance the Devil came to the boundary between hell and heaven, and saw, desired, and invaded the Light. To protect his realm, and to preserve its eternal peace, the Father of Greatness evoked by word Emanations of himself, to do battle with the powers of Darkness. These