This volume in the series Corpus Fontium Manichaeorum contains a selection of the papers presented at the eighth symposium of the International Association of Manichaean Studies held at the School of Oriental and African Studies in London in September 2013. The title of the volume conveys the current breadth of research on Manichaeism: the geographical terms themselves offering a starting-point for appreciating the historical, linguistic and social diversity of Manichaeism, a diversity that is evident in the collection of papers printed in the current volume. In the presidential address delivered during the symposium (which is included here, ‘Manichaeism East and West’, pp. 144–58), Samuel Lieu isolates the turning-points in the emergence of Manichaean studies over the last forty or so years, through a series of autobiographical reflections on his own development as a scholar of the religion. As Lieu highlights, the confluence over the years of specialists in late Roman history, patristics, Iranian history and languages, and Central Asian history, has contributed to a greater appreciation of Manichaeism's long and fertile contribution to world cultures, and has led commentators to the awareness that ‘Manichaeism was a Silk Road religion par excellence’ (p. 148).
The range of topics covered by the contributions in the volume very neatly illustrate Lieu's observation. The papers are arranged alphabetically according to the surnames of the authors: a perfectly acceptable way of managing the contents of the volume, although a more thematic approach to its organisation could have reinforced some of the now established ways of approaching the study of the religion as outlined by Lieu in his own contribution. The volume opens with an insightful paper by Dilâ Baran Tekin, ‘Mani and his teachings according to Islamic sources: an introductory study’ (pp. 1–9). Baran Tekin's chapter complements recent research on testimony in Islamic sources concerning the dualism and cosmology of Mani's religion, and makes a number of valuable points with regard to the perception of Manichaeism's novelty among Islamic writers. This is followed by a contribution from Jason BeDuhn and Greg Hodgins, ‘The date of the Manichaean codices from Medinet Madi, and its significance’ (pp. 10–28). A largely scientific report on attempts to establish date(s) for these important codices, the paper concludes by reinforcing prior estimates for their production. Adam Benkato (‘Incipits and explicits in Iranian Manichaean texts’, pp. 29–42) offers a fascinating insight into the Manichaean practice of incorporating paratextual material in their religious writings. Following an examination of some important Iranian witnesses, Benkato concludes by hinting at a long-established and continuous scribal practice on the part of Manichaeans with the suggestion that earlier Coptic Manichaean writings (Homilies) employed similar incipit and explicit formulae. Fernando Bermejo-Rubio's sophisticated contribution, ‘Violence and myth: some reflections on an aspect of Manichaean proctology and eschatology’ (pp. 43–55), analyses the episodes of violence that are intrinsic to the narrative of Manichaean mythology, and offers a reading of these episodes that ramifies their significance and their relationship to the practical commitment to non-violence on the part of the religion's followers. Iris Colditz (‘On the names of “donors” in Middle Iranian Manichaean texts’, pp. 56–67) offers an incisive review of research into the inclusion of personal names as acknowledgements to patrons in the concluding portions of Manichaean hymns from Turfan. Colditz advances the hypothesis that their inclusion may also have served a ritualised, funerary-memorial role in recalling to mind privileged members of the Manichaean community. In his ‘The Coptic Manichaean psalm to Jesus (no. 245)’ (pp. 68–75), Jean-Daniel Dubois presents a model exegesis of one of the ‘Psalms to Jesus’, in which he makes a highly important point about the familiarity of Egyptian Manichaean translators of the Psalms with Old Egyptian as used by Egyptian priests in temples in the second half of the third century ce. Majella Franzmann's brief yet insightful chapter (‘The elect cosmic body and Manichaeism as an exclusive religion’, pp. 76–81) extends her ideas regarding the centrality of the Elect to the Manichaean religion, and their role at the forefront of realising the soteriological ambitions of Mani's teachings. In ‘Patīg and Pattikios in the Manichaean sources’ (pp. 82–100), Iain Gardner and Leyla Rasouli-Narimani survey the sources conveying the names Patīg/Pattikios, and propose a number of startling revisions to established ideas about Mani's origins and lineage. Matthew Goff (‘Wild cannibals or repentant sinners? The value of the Manichaean Book of giants for understanding the Qumran Book of giants’, pp. 101–10) presents an important analysis of the Manichaean Book of giants and its relationship to the Book of giants from Qumran. Goff expertly traces the development of traditions regarding the portrayal of the giants in these textual remains, in addition to highlighting the broader importance of utilising comparative approaches to understanding the transmission of theological literature from late antiquity. Zsuzsanna Gulácsi (‘Exploring the relic function of Mani's seal stone in the Bibliothèque Nationale de France’, pp. 111–17) presents a compelling argument for viewing the history of the famous seal pendant of Mani as the preservation of a religious relic, whose transfer to individuals and communities marked the transmission of authority to the new head of the Manichaean Church. Gábor Kósa's chapter, ‘Adamas of Light in the cosmology painting’ (pp. 118–29) offers an important reading of the recently identified Cosmology Painting by Chinese Manichaeans, in particular its depiction of the Adamas of Light, alongside a discussion of textual references to the role of this mythical warrior figure in Manichaean cosmology. Claudia Leurini (‘The Messiah in Iranian Manichaean texts’, pp. 131–43) examines the complex issues surrounding the development of Mani's ideas regarding the identity of Jesus via a semantic study of the term ‘Messiah’ in Middle Persian and Parthian Manichaean writings. Leurini valuably highlights Mani's attentiveness in this instance to the adaptation of his Christology to his early Zoroastrian audience. Following this is Lieu's address. Lieu's chapter concludes with a valuable reiteration of historic ideas regarding the religious origins of Mani's early teachings. Rea Matsangou (‘Real and imagined Manichaeans in Greek Patristic anti-Manichaica, 4th–6th centuries’, pp. 159–70) discusses an important although oft-neglected period of Manichaeism's history, its place in the Byzantine empire and its legal status during the reign of Justinian. Matsangou's analysis reinforces established ideas about the typological role of ‘Manichaean’ as a kind of heresiological ‘bogey-man’, although the chapter also leaves open the possibility of a genuine Manichaean presence during this period. Enrico Morano's chapter (‘Manichaean Sogdian poems’, pp. 171–84) performs a remarkable service to Manichaean studies by presenting editions and English translations of three Manichaean Sogdian hymns – M137/II, M5264 and M280/II (deemed by Walter Bruno Henning as ‘difficult to read’, as noted by Morano). Morano's contribution represents a valuable addition to our developing knowledge of Manichaean hymnology. Nils Arne Pedersen (‘Observations on the Book of giants from Coptic and Syriac sources’, pp. 185–202), presents a detailed investigation of the complex representation of the Book of giants traditions in Syriac and Coptic sources, and includes some valuable observations on the evolution and character of Manichaean kephalaic literature. Flavia Ruani provides a valuable discussion of the Syriac author John of Dara's entry on the Manichaeans, in his Against heretics from the ninth century. Ruani supplies a translation of these portions from John's work, and offers a meticulous source-critical study of his material. Jonathan Smith (‘Persia, sun, fire, execution, and mercy: Jean Baudrillard's postmodern reception of Charles Allberry's A Manichaean psalm-book, part two (1938)’, pp. 223–31) offers an insightful case study in the reception of Charles Allberry's edition of the Psalm-Book in the philosophical thought and autobiographical musings of Jean Baudrillard. Smith valuably contextualises his discussion with reference to the Albigensian/neo-Manichaean revival among French intellectuals during World War Two. Christos Theodorou (‘Heavenly garment and Christology in western Manichaean sources’, pp. 232–41), supplies an important reading of the symbolism of the heavenly robe of Jesus in Gnostic and Manichaean literature, and in so doing makes a number of interesting observations with regard to the Judeo-Christian influences acting on (western) Manichaean Christology. Satoshi Toda's contribution, ‘Some observations on Greek words in Coptic Manichaean texts’ (pp. 242–8), offers a cautious yet meticulous study of aspects of the translation process behind the production of Coptic Manichaean literature. Yutaka Yoshida's contribution (‘Middle Iranian terms in the Xiapu Chinese texts: four aspects of the Father of Greatness in Parthian’, pp. 249–56), the final paper in the collection, dissects the transmission of transliterated Parthian terminology in the Chinese Manichaean texts from the Xiapu district of Fuijan. The chapter demonstrates the care and attention paid by Manichaeans across time periods and regions in preserving the language and terminology of textual prototypes.
As this brief survey indicates, Manichaeism East and West offers a collection of high-quality papers dealing with both historic and current themes in the study of Manichaeism. It makes an important contribution to Manichaean scholarship, as well to emergent academic concerns with the origins of global histories, and highlights the important contribution made by the followers of Mani to this field.
