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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
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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).

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

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  • 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
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  • 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
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  • 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
×