DOCSLIB.ORG

Manichaean Art and Calligraphy Art and Calligraphy Played A

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
Manichaean Art and Calligraphy Art and Calligraphy Played A Manichaean Art and Calligraphy Art and calligraphyplayed a central role in Manichaeismfrom its inception in S. Baby- lonia in the third century until its final disappearancefrom South China in the sixteenth century. Mani, the founder of the sect, had anticipated the problems which his disciples might encounter in presenting his very graphic teaching on cosmogony to an average audienceby providing them with visual aids in the form of a picture book (Greek/Coptic: Ev'xwv,Middle Persia/Parthian:Ardahang, Chinese: Ta-men-ho-it'u).1 Since Mani had in- tended that the unique revelation he had receivedfrom his Divine Twin should be literally understood, an actual pictorial representationof the myth would serve to guard against al- legoricalinterpretation. The importancegiven to artisticendeavours in the early history of the sect is evident from accounts of its missionary activities. The first Manichaeanmis- sionariesto the Roman Empire were accompaniedby scribes (Middle Persian: dibtrin)and those who went with Mar Ammo to Abar.cahr(the Upper Lands) had among them scribes and a miniature painter / book illuminator (nibegan-nigär).2We also learn from a letter to Mar Ammo from Sisinnios,the archego.rof the sect after the death of Mani, that duplicate copies of the Ardahangwere being made at Merv in Khorasan.3The early Manichaeansalso devel- oped a special Estrangela script from the Aramaic script which was in use in and around Palmyra which gave the Manichaeantexts a unique appearance.This script was used for texts in Syriac, Middle Persian, Parthian, Sogdian and Old Turkish. No copies of the Ardahanghas survived the systematicdestruction of Manichaeanbooks by the sect's many opponents. One can, however, surmisefrom the sub-title of the work in Chinese: T'a erh-t.rungt'u (The drawing of the Two Great Principles)4that it contained graphic representations of the basic elements of the Manichaeancosmogonic myth. The work was also provided with an explanatory text or commentary (Parthian: Ardahang and from a publichsed fragment of the latter we learn that the Ardahangcontains a depiction of the Great Fire (ädurwuzurg) which would swallow up earth in the Final Mo- ment.5That the Ardahangcontains drawings detailing eschatologicalevents can also be in- ferred from a remark by one of Mani's disciplesin the Kephalaiawhich reminds his master that while the latter had describedeverything in full in pictures, especiallythe Final Judge- ment, he had not depicted the way of salvation for the catechumens.6 59 The importancegiven by the Manichaeansto artistic endeavourswas a hall mark of their reli- gion and one which impressed even their opponents. St. Ephraim of Nisibis (later deacon of Edessa) begrudged the Manichaeansof the artistic skills of their founder: "So also Mani painted in colours on a scroll ... the likenessof the wickednesswhich he created out of his mind ... as he said, I have written them in books and pictured them in colours; let him who hears them in words also see them in an image, and let him who is unable to learn them from words learn them from pictures.1117A high standard of production charac- terizes extant Manichaeanmanuscripts and codices and we know from Augustine that this was something which the Manichaeanswere proud of in Roman North Africa: "Haesitan- tibus vobis et quid respondeatisnon invenientibusconspiciuntur tam multi et tam grandes et tam pretiosi codices vestri et multum dolentur labores antiquariorum et saccellimise- rorum et panis deceptorum."8In Central Asia where Manichaeismwas the officialreligion of the Turkish Khaghan, Manichaeanart came into full flowering and it was from excava- tions at Koco (near modern Turfan) that we have come to possesssome of its finest speci- mens in the form of frescoes,temple flags and illuminated manuscripts.Art also played an important part in the religious life of the Manichaeansin China. Among the works seized by Confucianofficials from the Manichaeansof Wen-chou in 1120are: TheSutra (or Book) of Illustrations(T'u-ching = Ardahang?),The Portrait of the Buddhaof the First Thought(i. e. the Primal Man) (Hsien-i focheng), The Portrait of the BuddhaJesus (I-shu focheng), The Por- trait of Goodand Evil (Shan-o cbeno)and ThePortrait of the Four Kingsof Heaven(Ssu t'ien- wangcheng).`' Given the importance of art in the history of Manichaeism,it is indeed remarkablethat we have to wait so long for a general study of the subject. ManichaeanArt and Calligraphy (Iconography of Religions XX, Institute of Religious Iconography, State University of Groningen, Leiden, E. J. Brill, 1982,50pp.) by Prof. Hans-JoachimKlimkeit, an editor of this journal, fills a serious gap. It calls for comparison with the majesticwork of A. von Le Coq, Die buddhistischeSpa'tantike in MittelasienII: Die ManichdlscheMiniaturen (Berlin, 1923) but we must bear in mind from the outset that the latter is devoted solelyto the discoveries at Turfan and is limited to frescoes and miniatures whereas the new work gives a general coverage of nearly all known examples of Manichaean art from finds in Egypt and Tunhuang as well as Turfan. The slimnessof the newwork beliesits importance.For those especiallywho can not read German or have no easy accessto Le Coq's rare and very ex- pensive work (Reprinted in Graz in 1979) it will be their only guide to the subject. Al- though generai studies of Manichaeismare otten well illustrated,'" Klimkeit's work is the only one so far which attempts to interpret the miniaturesand paintings in the light of what we know about Manichaeantheology and ethics. Much more is now known about Man- ichaeandoctrines since the publication of Le Coq's work as our information on the subject has been greatly augmented by manuscriptalfinds from Tunhuang, Medinet Medi and Ly- copolis. Klimkeit is therefore in a much stronger position to attempt the work of inter- pretation than his predecessor. The introduction consists of succinct and informative chapters on the life of Mani and his teaching. This is then followed by a fascinatingdiscussion on Manichaeanartistic tech- niques, especiallythose employed in producing the frescoes and miniatures from Turfan. .
Load more

Recommended publications
  • The 'Teachers' of Mani in the Acta Archelai and Simon Magus
    THE ‘TEACHERS’ OF MANI IN THE ACTA ARCHELAI AND SIMON MAGUS 1 by ESZTER SPÄT Abstract: This paper aims to prove that the biography of Mani in the Acta Archelae of Hegemonius, which contains a great number of completely ctitious elements, was in fact drawn up on the le of Simon Magus, pater omnium haereticorum , using the works of heresiologists and the apocryphal acts, espe- cially the Pseudo-Clementine Recognitiones , as a model and source. There are a great number of elements in this Vita Manis that bear a strong resemblance to the well known motives of Simon’s life. Projecting Simon’s life over that of Mani serves as tool to reinforce the image of Mani that Hegemonius tried to convey: that of just another ‘run of the mill’ heretic, one in the long line of the disciples of Simon, and a fraud and devoid of any originality. The Acta Archelai of Hegemonius, 2 composed between 330 and 348 in Syria, 3 was the rst Christian work written against Manichaeans. The text of the Acta, as a whole, has survived only in the Latin translation, though a great part of its Greek text has been preserved in the Panarion (or ‘Medicine Chest’) of Epiphanius, who seems to have often copied his source almost word for word in the chapter on Manichaeism. 4 Besides being the rst it was also, in many respects, the most in uential. It was a source of mate- rial, both on Manichaean mythology and on the gure of Mani, for a long list of historians and theologians who engaged in polemics against the 1 I express my thanks to Professor J.
    [Show full text]
  • 2 Religions and Religious Movements
    ISBN 978-92-3-103654-5 Introduction 2 RELIGIONS AND RELIGIOUS MOVEMENTS H.-J. Klimkeit, R. Meserve, E. E. Karimov and C. Shackle Contents Introduction ....................................... 62 RELIGIONS IN THE CENTRAL ASIAN ENVIRONMENT ............. 67 Turkic and Mongol beliefs, the Tibetan Bon religion and shamanism ......... 67 Religion among the Uighurs, Kyrgyz, Kitan ...................... 69 MANICHAEISM AND NESTORIAN CHRISTIANITY ............... 71 Manichaeism ...................................... 71 Nestorian Christianity .................................. 75 Zoroastrianism ..................................... 78 Hinduism ........................................ 82 THE ADVENT OF ISLAM: EXTENT AND IMPACT ................ 83 NON-ISLAMIC MYSTIC MOVEMENTS IN HINDU SOCIETY .......... 88 The Hatha-yoga movement ............................... 89 The bhakti movement .................................. 90 Birth of the Sikh religion ................................ 91 Introduction (H.-J. Klimkeit) Although cultural and religious life along the Central Asian Silk Route was determined both by various indigenous traditions, including Zoroastrianism, and by the world 62 ISBN 978-92-3-103654-5 Introduction religions that expanded into this area from India and China as well as from Syria and Per- sia, we can detect certain basic patterns that recur in different areas and situations.1 Here we mainly wish to illustrate that there were often similar geopolitical and social conditions in various oasis towns. The duality of such towns and the surrounding deserts, steppes and mountains is characteristic of the basic situation. Nomads dwelling in the steppes had their own social structures and their own understanding of life, which was determined by tra- ditions that spoke of forefathers and heroes of the past who had created a state with its own divine orders and laws. The Old Turkic inscriptions on the Orkhon river in Mongolia are a good case in point.
    [Show full text]
  • ABSTRACT the Apostolic Tradition in the Ecclesiastical Histories Of
    ABSTRACT The Apostolic Tradition in the Ecclesiastical Histories of Socrates, Sozomen, and Theodoret Scott A. Rushing, Ph.D. Mentor: Daniel H. Williams, Ph.D. This dissertation analyzes the transposition of the apostolic tradition in the fifth-century ecclesiastical histories of Socrates, Sozomen, and Theodoret. In the early patristic era, the apostolic tradition was defined as the transmission of the apostles’ teachings through the forms of Scripture, the rule of faith, and episcopal succession. Early Christians, e.g., Irenaeus, Tertullian, and Origen, believed that these channels preserved the original apostolic doctrines, and that the Church had faithfully handed them to successive generations. The Greek historians located the quintessence of the apostolic tradition through these traditional channels. However, the content of the tradition became transposed as a result of three historical movements during the fourth century: (1) Constantine inaugurated an era of Christian emperors, (2) the Council of Nicaea promulgated a creed in 325 A.D., and (3) monasticism emerged as a counter-cultural movement. Due to the confluence of these sweeping historical developments, the historians assumed the Nicene creed, the monastics, and Christian emperors into their taxonomy of the apostolic tradition. For reasons that crystallize long after Nicaea, the historians concluded that pro-Nicene theology epitomized the apostolic message. They accepted the introduction of new vocabulary, e.g. homoousios, as the standard of orthodoxy. In addition, the historians commended the pro- Nicene monastics and emperors as orthodox exemplars responsible for defending the apostolic tradition against the attacks of heretical enemies. The second chapter of this dissertation surveys the development of the apostolic tradition.
    [Show full text]
  • Manichaean Imagery of Christ As God's Right Hand
    Manichaean Imagery of Christ as God’s Right Hand Johannes van Oort* University of Pretoria [email protected] Abstract The article examines the conspicuous references to God‘s ‗Right Hand‘ in Manichaeism by analysing texts from both Western and Eastern sources. The analysed texts prove that the eye-catching imagery (directly or indirectly) refers to Christ. Perhaps this imagery of Christ as God‘s Right Hand also had its place in Manichaean art. The article aims to function as background for a subsequent study of Augustine‘s portrayal of Christ as manus or dextera Dei in his Confessions. Keywords Manichaeism – Christology – God‘s Right Hand – imagery – metaphorical language – Manichaean Christian art Introduction The past years have seen an increasing number of studies on Christ in Manichaeism.1 One striking aspect, however, is still to be explored, sc. the * I would like to acknowledge Jason BeDuhn, Zsuzsanna Gulácsi and Anne-Maré Kotzé for their attentive reading of an earlier version of this article. The study was completed with the support of the National Research Foundation (NRF) in South Africa. 1 Apart from overviews in general publications on Manichaeism, the main topical studies include: I. Gardner, ‗The Docetic Jesus—Some Interconnections Between Marcionism, Manichaeism and Mandaeism‘, in: idem (ed.), Coptic Theological Papyri II: Edition, Commentary, Translation, Wien: In Kommission bei Verlag Brüder Hollinek 1988, 57-85; N.A. Pedersen, ‗Early Manichaean Christology, Primarily in Western Sources‘, in: P. Bryder (ed.), Manichaean Studies, Lund: Plus Ultra 1988, 157-190; Gardner, ‗The Manichaean Account of Jesus and the Passion of the Living Soul‘, in: A.
    [Show full text]
  • Manichaean Networks
    The Manichaean Church in Kellis Nag Hammadi and Manichaean Studies Editors Jason D. BeDuhn Dylan M. Burns Johannes van Oort Editorial Board A. D. Deconick – W.-P. Funk – I. Gardner S. N. C. Lieu – H. Lundhaug – A. Marjanen – L. Painchaud N. A. Pedersen – T. Rasimus – S. G. Richter M. Scopello – J. D. Turner† – F. Wursy Volume 100 The titles published in this series are listed at brill.com/nhms The Manichaean Church in Kellis By Håkon Fiane Teigen LEIDEN | BOSTON This is an open access title distributed under the terms of the CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 license, which permits any non-commercial use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided no alterations are made and the original author(s) and source are credited. Further information and the complete license text can be found at https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/ The terms of the CC license apply only to the original material. The use of material from other sources (indicated by a reference) such as diagrams, illustrations, photos and text samples may require further permission from the respective copyright holder. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Names: Teigen, Håkon Fiane, author. Title: The Manichaean church in Kellis / by Håkon Fiane Teigen. Description: Leiden ; Boston : Brill, [2021] | Series: Nag Hammadi and Manichaean studies, 0929–2470 ; volume 100 | Includes bibliographical references and index. Identifiers: LCCN 2021008227 (print) | LCCN 2021008228 (ebook) | ISBN 9789004459762 (hardback) | ISBN 9789004459779 (ebook) Subjects: LCSH: Manichaeism. | Manichaeans—Egypt—Kellis (Extinct city) | Kellis (Extinct city)—Civilization. Classification: LCC BT1410 .T45 2021 (print) | LCC BT1410 (ebook) | DDC 299/.932—dc23 LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2021008227 LC ebook record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2021008228 Typeface for the Latin, Greek, and Cyrillic scripts: “Brill”.
    [Show full text]
  • Augustine on Manichaeism and Charisma
    Religions 2012, 3, 808–816; doi:10.3390/rel3030808 OPEN ACCESS religions ISSN 2077-1444 www.mdpi.com/journal/religions Article Augustine on Manichaeism and Charisma Peter Iver Kaufman Jepson School, University of Richmond, Room 245, Jepson Hall, 28 Westhampton Way, Richmond, VA 23173, USA; E-Mail: [email protected] Received: 5 June 2012; in revised form: 28 July 2012 / Accepted: 1 August 2012 / Published: 3 September 2012 Abstract: Augustine was suspicious of charismatics‘ claims to superior righteousness, which supposedly authorized them to relay truths about creation and redemption. What follows finds the origins of that suspicion in his disenchantment with celebrities on whom Manichees relied, specialists whose impeccable behavior and intellectual virtuosity were taken as signs that they possessed insight into the meaning of Christianity‘s sacred texts. Augustine‘s struggles for self-identity and with his faith‘s intelligibility during the late 370s, 380s, and early 390s led him to prefer that his intermediaries between God and humanity be dead (martyred), rather than alive and charismatic. Keywords: arrogance; Augustine; charisma; esotericism; Faustus; Mani; Manichaeism; truth The Manichaean elite or elect adored publicity. Augustine wrote the first of his caustic treatises against them in 387, soon after he had been baptized in Milan and as he was planning passage back to Africa, where he was born, raised, and educated. Baptism marked his devotion to the emerging mainstream Christian orthodoxy and his disenchantment with the Manichees‘ increasingly marginalized Christian sect, in which, for nine or ten years, in North Africa and Italy, he listened to specialists—charismatic leaders and teachers.
    [Show full text]
  • A Church to Surpass All Churches Manichaeism As a Test Case for the Theory of Reception Timothy Pettipiece
    Document generated on 09/25/2021 6:59 a.m. Laval théologique et philosophique A Church to Surpass All Churches Manichaeism as a Test Case for the Theory of Reception Timothy Pettipiece La théorie de la réception Article abstract Volume 61, Number 2, juin 2005 In order to test the utility of the theory of reception for the study of Manichaeism, this paper examines how Manichaean efforts to establish URI: https://id.erudit.org/iderudit/011816ar cultural and linguistic continuities in their various missionary environments DOI: https://doi.org/10.7202/011816ar were not enough to sustain the Religion of Light. Instead, the fact that Mani considered his revelation as superior to others ultimately seems to have See table of contents hindered its reception by a variety of host cultures. Publisher(s) Faculté de philosophie, Université Laval Faculté de théologie et de sciences religieuses, Université Laval ISSN 0023-9054 (print) 1703-8804 (digital) Explore this journal Cite this article Pettipiece, T. (2005). A Church to Surpass All Churches : manichaeism as a Test Case for the Theory of Reception. Laval théologique et philosophique, 61(2), 247–260. https://doi.org/10.7202/011816ar Tous droits réservés © Laval théologique et philosophique, Université Laval, This document is protected by copyright law. Use of the services of Érudit 2005 (including reproduction) is subject to its terms and conditions, which can be viewed online. https://apropos.erudit.org/en/users/policy-on-use/ This article is disseminated and preserved by Érudit. Érudit is a non-profit inter-university consortium of the Université de Montréal, Université Laval, and the Université du Québec à Montréal.
    [Show full text]
  • Greg Goswell, “Early Readers of the Gospels: the KEPHALAIA and TITLOI of Codex Alexandrinus”
    [JGRChJ 6 (2009) 134-74] EARLY READERS OF THE GOSPELS: THE KEPHALAIA AND TITLOI OF CODEX ALEXANDRINUS Greg Goswell Presbyterian Theological College, Melbourne, Australia For the New Testament, the oldest system of capitulation (division into chapters) known to us is that preserved in Codex Vaticanus (B 03) of the fourth century.1 I will use the notation V1, V2 etc. to refer to chapters of Vaticanus. Even a cursory examination of Vaticanus is enough to reveal that the divisions represent an evaluation of what are the sense units of the biblical passages. Each successive chapter in the Gospels is numbered using Greek letters written in red ink to the left of the columns. Capitulation is further indicated by a space of (usually) two letters at the close of the preceding chapter, a short horizontal line (paragraphos) above the first letter of the first whole line of the new chapter marking the close of the preceding paragraph, and sometimes by a letter protruding into the left margin (ekthesis).2 The system of 1. H.K. McArthur, ‘The Earliest Divisions of the Gospels’, in Studia Evangelica, III. 2 (ed. F.L. Cross; Texte und Untersuchungen, 88; Berlin: Akademie Verlag, 1964), pp. 266-72. After rejecting three other possible explanations, McAr- thur suggests that the divisions were used for citation purposes, especially in aca- demic circles. For alternate systems of chapter division in Greek versions of the Old Testament, see Robert Devreesse, Introduction à l’étude des manuscrits grecs (Paris: Klincksieck, 1954), pp. 139-41. The major divisions in Vaticanus are called chapters, while those in Alexandrinus, which are the basis of the standard divisions used in Nestle-Aland (Novum Testamentum Graece [27th Edition] = NTG27) are called kephalaia.
    [Show full text]
  • Manichaeism As a Test Case for the Theory of Reception Timothy Pettipiece
    Document généré le 29 sept. 2021 15:02 Laval théologique et philosophique A Church to Surpass All Churches Manichaeism as a Test Case for the Theory of Reception Timothy Pettipiece La théorie de la réception Résumé de l'article Volume 61, numéro 2, juin 2005 En vue de tester la viabilité de la théorie de la réception pour l’étude du manichéisme, cette étude examine comment l’effort manichéen d’établir des URI : https://id.erudit.org/iderudit/011816ar liens culturels et linguistiques dans les milieux où s’exerça la mission DOI : https://doi.org/10.7202/011816ar manichéenne n’a pas suffi à assurer le maintien de la Religion de Lumière. Le fait que Mani considérait sa révélation comme supérieure aux autres a au Aller au sommaire du numéro contraire empêché sa réception par les cultures chez lesquelles elle voulait être accueillie. Éditeur(s) Faculté de philosophie, Université Laval Faculté de théologie et de sciences religieuses, Université Laval ISSN 0023-9054 (imprimé) 1703-8804 (numérique) Découvrir la revue Citer cet article Pettipiece, T. (2005). A Church to Surpass All Churches : manichaeism as a Test Case for the Theory of Reception. Laval théologique et philosophique, 61(2), 247–260. https://doi.org/10.7202/011816ar Tous droits réservés © Laval théologique et philosophique, Université Laval, Ce document est protégé par la loi sur le droit d’auteur. L’utilisation des 2005 services d’Érudit (y compris la reproduction) est assujettie à sa politique d’utilisation que vous pouvez consulter en ligne. https://apropos.erudit.org/fr/usagers/politique-dutilisation/ Cet article est diffusé et préservé par Érudit.
    [Show full text]
  • Mani's Book of Mysteries: Prolegomena to a New Look
    ARAM, 22 (2010) 321-334. doi: 10.2143/ARAM.22.0.2131043 MANI’S BOOK OF MYSTERIES: PROLEGOMENA TO A NEW LOOK AT MANI, THE ‘BAPTISTS’ AND THE MANDAEANS Prof. IAIN GARDNER (University of Sydney) Abstract Before the reading of the Cologne Mani Codex (from 1969 on) scholars such as E.S. Drower commonly assumed that Mani was brought up in a Mandaean community. However, the CMC appeared to identify the ‘baptists’ of Mani’s youth as Elchasaites, and the trajectory of research changed leaving the question of Mani’s relationship with the Mandaeans in limbo. This paper does not attempt to solve this problem, but recent reports of an otherwise unknown Mandaean scroll known as the Diwan d-Razia suggest a new avenue of approach: To study Mani’s own lost Book of Mysteries as a site for debate between the apostle and other religious communities of the time. A close analy- sis of all available evidence is made, including a tentative reconstruction of the lost work in outline, based on the chapter headings preserved by al-Nadim in his Fihrist. Whilst various important points of contact with Mandaean teachings are noted, the overall conclusion is that Mani’s Book of Mysteries would have focussed firstly on testimonies about Jesus, and thereafter on a telling of the crucial moments in cosmic and redemptive history. The work evidences dialogue with Bardaisan and his followers, and may well have accessed Sethian traditions. The problematic question of Mani’s relation to nascent Mandaeism is highlighted, but it is shown that this work is unlikely to have had much in common with a priestly scroll such as we imagine the Diwan d-Razia to be, despite any superficially similar esoteric purpose.
    [Show full text]
  • The Sea of Fire As a Chinese Manichaean Metaphor: Source Materials for Mapping an Unnoticed Image
    the chinese manichaean sea of fire gábor kósa The Sea of Fire as a Chinese Manichaean Metaphor: Source Materials for Mapping an Unnoticed Image n this essay I concentrate on what is merely a small part of a larger I Manichaean cosmogonical narrative. In order to understand this small part, it is useful first to summarize the turning points of the his- tory of Manichaeism, and then give a brief overview of the Manichaean sources used. In this first part, my presentation will provide general and simplified information in order to make some basic facts accessible to those who are not students of Manichaeism. The most substantial por- tion of the essay elaborates on a single image – the “Sea of Fire” – and associated concepts by collecting and comparing the available Chinese and non-Chinese Manichaean texts. The aim is to show how the Chinese Manichaean texts at our disposal derive in certain ways from a stock of Western-language forebears, and how certain themes and linguistic forms from the latter texts remained in the Chinese counterparts. An- other aim is to show how such themes are related to both Manichaean religious ideas and Chinese concepts. MANICHAEISM A Short History of the Religious Movement Mƒn… (216–ca. 277 ad), the founder of Manichaeism, was born not far from the capital of the Arsacid Empire (ca. 250 bc−226 ad), Seleucia-Ctesiphon, and was brought up in a Jewish-Christian baptismal community (Elchasaites) to which his father Patt…g brought the young The first version of this essay was written with the help of a postdoctoral scholarship from the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (FY2008); it was completed with a scholarship from the Chiang Ching-kuo Foundation for International Scholarly Exchange (PD003-U-09).
    [Show full text]
  • 5988 Aram 16 07 Durkin
    ARAM, 16 (2004) 95-107 D. DURKIN-MEISTERERNST 95 THE PARTHIAN mwqrˆnyg bˆsˆÌ (Turfan Collection, Berlin, M4a I V 3-16).1 DESMOND DURKIN-MEISTERERNST (Berlin-Brandenburgische Akademie der Wissenschaften) The Turfan fragment M4a I V 3-16 contains a hymn in Parthian. Though short it is preceded and followed by captions, which would suggest that it is complete. MÜLLER published it in 1904 and LIDZBARSKI 1918 conjectured on the basis of the metrics, the structure of the text and a particular play of words that it must have had an Aramaic original, which he reconstructed. The text poses a number of interesting problems and puzzles, which now, more than 80 years after Lidzbarski’s perspicacious article, we can view in the light of more material than was available then.2 But does this bring us nearer to solutions? We will here look at 1: the text, structure and meaning of the hymn, 2: the title, and 3: the speaker, the language and the possible origin of the text. 1. THE TEXT, STRUCTURE AND MEANING OF THE HYMN Transliteration of the text3: 3/ nysˆrˆd mwqrˆnyg bˆsˆ 4/ ˆbjyrwˆng {snwhrg hym 5/ cy ˆc bˆbyl zmyg 6/ wyspryxt hym °° wyspryxt 7/ hym ˆc zmyg bˆbyl ˆwd 8/ pd rˆstyft br ˆwystˆˆd 9/ hym °° °° srˆwg hym ˆbjyrwˆng 10/ cy ˆc bˆbyl zmyg frnft 11/ hym °° frnft hym ˆc zmyg 12/ bˆbyl kw xrwsˆn xrws pd 13/ zmbwdyg °° °° ˆw {smˆ yzdˆn 14/ pdwhˆm hrwyn bgˆn hyrzydw 15/ ˆw mn ˆstˆr pd ˆmwjdyf† °° 16/ hnjft mwqrˆnyg bˆsˆÌ 1 W.Sundermann kindly read a draft of this article and discussed many points with me.
    [Show full text]