Skip to main content Accessibility help

We use cookies to distinguish you from other users and to provide you with a better experience on our websites. Close this message to accept cookies or find out how to manage your cookie settings.

Close cookie message
×
Hostname: page-component-848d4c4894-mwx4w Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-06-15T18:37:34.363Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

2 - The life of Mani

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  10 December 2009

By
Iain Gardner  and
Samuel Nan-Chiang Lieu
Edited by
Iain Gardner  and
Samuel N. C. Lieu
Iain Gardner
Affiliation:
Chair and Senior Lecturer, Department of Studies in Religion, Sydney University
Samuel Nan-Chiang Lieu
Affiliation:
Professor of Ancient History and Co-Director of the Ancient History Documentary Research Centre, Macquarie University
Iain Gardner
Affiliation:
University of Sydney
Samuel N. C. Lieu
Affiliation:
Macquarie University, Sydney
Get access

Summary

On the life of Mani see Introduction (pp. 3–8). The following excerpts are primarily taken from the Greek Cologne Mani-Codex and Coptic sources from Medinet Madi, supplemented by texts in Arabic and Middle Iranian (especially Parthian) which are clearly derived from Manichaean sources ultimately belonging to the same original literary (Syriac?) tradition.

CHILDHOOD, YOUTH AND CALLING

Mani's parentage, birth, childhood and adolescence

This extract, taken from the section devoted to the teaching of the Manichaeans in the Fihrist (Catalogue) of Ibn an-Nadīm (composed towards the end of the tenth century ad in Baghdad), draws material from the writings of Abū 'Isā al-Warraq who lived a century earlier and had access to genuine Manichaean writings. It supplies information not yet found in Manichaean texts from the Roman Empire.

Muḥammad bin Isḥaq said: 'Mānī bin Fatiq Bābak bin Abī Barzām was of the Ḥaskāniyya. His mother's name was Mays, but she was also called Awtāẖīm or Marmaryam of the Ašġāniyya. It was said that Mānī was the Bishop (usquf) of Qunnī and of the kinsmen of (328) the Ḥūḥī, the Bādarāyā and the Baksāyā nearby. He had a deformed foot. It was said that his father was originally from Hamadān and had moved to Babylon, settling in al-Madā’in in the place called Ṭīsfūn (Ctesiphon) which had a temple (a house of idols).

Type
Chapter
Information
Manichaean Texts from the Roman Empire , pp. 46 - 108
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2004

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

Save book to Kindle

To save this book to your Kindle, first ensure coreplatform@cambridge.org is added to your Approved Personal Document E-mail List under your Personal Document Settings on the Manage Your Content and Devices page of your Amazon account. Then enter the ‘name’ part of your Kindle email address below. Find out more about saving to your Kindle.

Note you can select to save to either the @free.kindle.com or @kindle.com variations. ‘@free.kindle.com’ emails are free but can only be saved to your device when it is connected to wi-fi. ‘@kindle.com’ emails can be delivered even when you are not connected to wi-fi, but note that service fees apply.

Find out more about the Kindle Personal Document Service.

  • The life of Mani
    • By Iain Gardner, Chair and Senior Lecturer, Department of Studies in Religion, Sydney University, Samuel Nan-Chiang Lieu, Professor of Ancient History and Co-Director of the Ancient History Documentary Research Centre, Macquarie University
  • Edited by Iain Gardner, University of Sydney, Samuel N. C. Lieu, Macquarie University, Sydney
  • Book: Manichaean Texts from the Roman Empire
  • Online publication: 10 December 2009
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511616891.006
Available formats
×

Save book to Dropbox

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Dropbox.

  • The life of Mani
    • By Iain Gardner, Chair and Senior Lecturer, Department of Studies in Religion, Sydney University, Samuel Nan-Chiang Lieu, Professor of Ancient History and Co-Director of the Ancient History Documentary Research Centre, Macquarie University
  • Edited by Iain Gardner, University of Sydney, Samuel N. C. Lieu, Macquarie University, Sydney
  • Book: Manichaean Texts from the Roman Empire
  • Online publication: 10 December 2009
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511616891.006
Available formats
×

Save book to Google Drive

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

  • The life of Mani
    • By Iain Gardner, Chair and Senior Lecturer, Department of Studies in Religion, Sydney University, Samuel Nan-Chiang Lieu, Professor of Ancient History and Co-Director of the Ancient History Documentary Research Centre, Macquarie University
  • Edited by Iain Gardner, University of Sydney, Samuel N. C. Lieu, Macquarie University, Sydney
  • Book: Manichaean Texts from the Roman Empire
  • Online publication: 10 December 2009
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511616891.006
Available formats
×