The Religious Terminology in the Nag Hammadi Texts and in Manichaean Literature

Paul Van Lindt

Alexandria, the city in the Nile Delta, founded offered as answers to the social problems of by Alexander the Great, is considered the cul­ late antiquity, the same basic interest can be ex­ tural centre of the Roman Near East in late an­ trapolated in the different roots and manners tiquity. It was renowned for its philosophical of exposition. In all three the accent is on the schools, and the main scholars of Late Antiquity effort to reach true life through personal per­ lived or studied there: Philo, Ammonius Sac- ception and on a clear distinction between cas, Plotinus, Clement, Origen: Alexandria was good and evil, light and darkness. It is incredi­ the focus of the ancient world. ble how such a small region could host all these Still, it was in the neighbourhood of the groups within such a short span of time, for the small town of Lycopolis - present-day Assyut - anti-Manichaean treatise dates from the end of in Upper Egypt that the major innovating the third century and the Medinet Madi and philosophical and theological texts of the third Nag Hammadi codices are from the fourth century were found. In Greek has been pre­ century. The problem of the dating of the texts served the anti-Manichaean treatise by Alexan­ will be enlarged upon later on. der of Lycopolis, the neo-platonist. It is one of Evidently, in such a limited space these dif­ the earliest neo-platonic writings. He tried to ferent groups would have met and interacted. defend his philosophical school against the un­ The only historical proof we have of this is the dermining work of Manichaean missionaries anti-Manichaean writing by Alexander in who seemed successfull in their conversion pol­ which he complains of the Manichaean mis­ icy. sionaries troubling his students. There must Although the Manichaean Coptic texts pre­ also have been contacts between the Nag Ham- sented on the Cairo antiquity market in 1929, madi-community and the Manichaeans, al­ were discovered in Medinet Madi the dialect of though these contacts have not yet been ac­ these texts clearly indicated that their prove­ counted for. nance - or at least the dialect of the scribe - Since is sometimes defined as could be traced back to the environs of Ly­ the ‘ultimate’ Gnostic religion2, it would be of copolis; the dialect has been classified by Kass­ interest to compare these local sources of the er as a form of Lycopolitan, L41. Sixteen years same period and in almost the same dialect. later in the same region the ‘Gnostic’ Nag However before making such a comparison, an Hammadi library was found. The major part of agreement must be found as to which elements which was written in the L6 dialect. are to be compared. As such the very title of In spite of the fact that clear differences can this paper involves a problem. The two pro­ be distinguished between the solutions, which posed elements, on the one hand the Nag Neo-Platonism, Gnosticism and Manichaeism Hammadi texts and on the other hand the 192 HfS 26

Manichaean literature, are situated on two dif­ Geographical aspects ferent levels: the Nag Hammadi texts are only a Another problem connected with the termino­ partial - and late - witness to the ‘Gnostic’ tra­ logical comparison is the geographical origin dition3, while the Manichaean literature repre­ of the texts. Already within the Medinet Madi sents a complete theological system with sources library different ‘terminological’ traditions can which have been found in such various places be observed. In my view, the differences be­ as France and China and which date from the tween the Psalm-book and the , al­ third until the fifteenth centuries. though the texts were translated into the same Two levels of comparison could be consid­ dialect, can only be explained by the fact that ered: one could either compare the basic sys­ the writings were composed in different com­ tems level of‘Gnosticism’ and Manichaeism or munities. focus on the Coptic tradition of both. Here we The Nag Hammadi library poses an even will focus on the Coptic Nag Hammadi texts greater problem: While some texts seem to be of and the Coptic Manichaica, giving considera­ Egyptian origin, others refer to Syria,Jordan and tion to the problems of dating, geography and other regions of the Near East. In most cases, language. however, a place of origin cannot be established.

Dating Language The fact that Manichaean literature was pro­ Both libraries consist mainly of translated texts: duced over a long span of time is not the only influences were possible either during the problem concerning the dating of the differ­ composition of the original texts, or during ent texts. A precise dating of the Coptic translation when terminology was borrowed Manichaica is not yet possible; perhaps the Kel- from either tradition. Especially in Manichae­ lis-texts will yield more information, but in the ism this technique of transliteration was used meantime we can only approximately date the for missionary activities7. We will elaborate this Medinet Madi texts to the fourth century4. As element later. The problem, however, is the dif­ they were composed at the end of the third ficulty in establishing the direction of the pos­ century5 at the earliest, the Coptic manuscripts sible influence during translation, as we lack were written only a short period after. information on the manuscripts. This is certainly not true for some of the Nag As regards the language of the libraries, the Hammadi texts. While these manuscripts also Coptic dialect of both the Nag Hammadi and can be said to date back to the fourth century, Medinet Madi texts has been studied and com­ the origin of most of the texts must be found in pared in detail by Kasser and Funk8. Both ex­ the second or third centuries or even as early as amined the phonological and morphological the first century B.C.6. The manuscripts thus data in particular. They reached, however, represent a long literary tradition. slightly different conclusions. According to In general we can state that both libraries Kasser, L6 and L4 are different evolutions of were copied in the same century. It can not yet the same dialect through several generations9. be determined which was the earlier. On the Funk is more radical: according to him, L6 and other hand most of the original Gnostic manu­ L4 are separate dialects, and L4 is not related scripts are earlier than the Manichaean, but any closer to L6 than it is to Akhmimic10. the possibility that some of them are contem­ Again, the Kellis texts will hopefully bring porary can not be excluded. some new information. HfS 26 193

A final element that complicates the com­ Rudolph discovers a resemblance of charac­ parison between the Nag Hammadi and ter between the Manichaean ‘Mother of Life’ Medinet Madi libraries is ’s marked Gnos- and Barbêlo in the “Apocryphon of John” and tic-Christian formation, caused by his being ed­ the “Three Steles of Seth”, the ‘Sophia-Zoe’ in ucated by the Elchasaites. Earlier research has the Sophia of and the heavenly Eve already established that Mani had knowledge in “On the Origin of the World” who is also of several ‘Gnostic’ works and that he bor­ called ‘Mother of the Living’. The Light-Maid­ rowed many elements from Jewish-Christian lit­ en resembles the Gnostic Sophia even more erature. Considering all the above aspects, it is and she is also called thus, as well as ‘Mother of clear that a comparison of the religious termi­ all the Living’18. nology in general is a hazardous project. From a terminological point of view one can observe that in the Coptic Manichaica the name “The Mother of Life” is predominantly Related terminology employed rather than “The Mother of the Liv­ The related elements between the Nag Ham­ ing” although the Syrian name ’m’ dhÿ’ can be madi library and Manichaeism have already translated both ways19. The former form is not been treated twice by Rudolph11. He pointed found in the Gnostica. As I have already point­ out that most links were found in the so-called ed out elsewhere, Mani might have been influ­ Sethian literature: “On the Origin of the enced by Gnosticism in his choice of the name, World”, “The Hypostasis of the Archons”, without favouring either the singular or plural “The Apocryphon of John”, “The Sophia of form, but the Egyptian Manichaeans certainly Jesus Christ”, “The Apocalypse of ”, wanted to establish their Goddess’s own identi­ “The Three Steles of Seth” and “The Para­ ty. The same goes for the relation between the phrase of Shem”12. He also commented on Mother-goddess and the Spirit which is found the similarity of terminology between Greek in the Gnostic as well as in the Manichaean and Coptic: ‘Auch die Gemeinsamkeit in der sources, but the terminology employed differs Verwendung der Terminologie ist auffällig, sei slightly20. Still, the few examples of the plural es im Griechischen oder sei es im Koptischen. form “The Mother of the Living”, can be a re­ Die benachbarten Ubersetzerschulen in Mit­ sult of Gnostic influence. The short form “The telägypten sind dafür nicht allein verant­ Mother”, which is often used in Gnostic texts wortlich zu machen’13. Rudolph then enumer­ for the Mother-goddess appears only in the ates the different common concepts. Here we Psalm-Book. will discuss only those of terminological signif­ Certainly of Gnostic origin is “The Maiden icance. of Light”, whose name also appears in the Pistis Although ‘The Father of Greatness’ is not at­ Sophia and the Books of Jeu21. In “On the Ori­ tested as such in the Nag Hammadi library, sev­ gin of the World” where “Eve is called the eral of his epithets are also found in the Gnos­ Mother of the Living” it is also said of her that tic texts. ‘The Father of Truth’ and ‘The God she “is the first virgin”22. of Truth’ appear in Eugnostos the Blessed14. Rudolph also compares the texts with regard The God of Truth is also mentioned in the to how vÀT|, or Darkness, functions as an ab­ Apocalypse of Adam15. ‘The Father, of stract or personified entity. He connects the the All’ is found in Asclepius16. The Hypostasis name of “Enthymesis of Death” in the Kephalaia of the Archons and the Teachings of Silvanus with the “Epithymia of Death” in the Apocry­ mention ‘The Father of the All’17. phon of John. In most of the Gnostic texts a 194 HfS 26 personified í5Xr| is absent. Still, although the directly attested in Parthian and Sogdian sqliun, Manichaean concept of vXr| is not very devel­ the Greek form is not found29. Saklas and Nam­ oped, a similar function can be found in the raël are also mentioned in the Chinese tractate Apocryphon of John: “the Mother of them all where their names are Lou-yi and Ye-lo-yang30. is the i)Ær|!”23 Pelliot could not explain the etymology of Lou- Giversen makes an interesting remark here: yi and is rather diffuse whether Ye-lo-yang Oddly enough, from this part of the text on­ comes from Nebroël or Namraël. According to wards the Apocryphon of John proceeds to re­ Bryder it is difficult to determine the origin, late, not about angels, but about but a derivation from Namraël would be more which rule over certain things; comparing this likely31. Thus no unmistakable examples of version with the other versions he concludes Saklas and Nebroël can be found in the eastern that it is particularly the second codex that sources. teaches about demons24. Besides the two testimonia in the Kephalaia, The link between the “Enthymesis of Death” as Saklas appears only in the Anti-Manichaean an epithet of vXr| in Manichaeism and Epithymia writings. Still the function of the Manichaean in the Apocryphon of John is not clear to me. ’sqlwn and Namraël is the same as that of the The relation between vÀr| and desire in the two Gnostic names. Instead of Saklas Satan ap­ Coptic Manichaica is still obscure but “The Fire pears more often in the Coptic Manichaica. He of Death”, lust and desire seem more a result of is the God of the Old Testament and the perse­ the activities of vXr| than nXr] itself. In the Apo­ cutor of the and the Manichaeans32. cryphon of John nXr| and desire are the same: The theme of the seduction of Eve by the Ar­ “matter, that is the ignorance of darkness and chons and the creation of Adam and Eve has desire”25. This desire is again related to the Tree been sufficiently treated elsewhere. Attention of death. In Manichaeism the bad tree is the must be drawn again, however, to the parallel vÀr|26. The relation between vXr| and desire and between the Apocalypse of Adam33 and the the related metaphor of the tree is part of the Kephalaia concerning the role of Eve34. In both longJewish-Christian tradition. it is through Eve that Adam receives knowl­ Rudolph naturally also draws attention to edge. Eve is, moreover, the mother of Seth35. Saklas, who figures in both libraries. He also The relation between the Gnostic Seth and mentions Saklas’s companion Namraël as a the Manichaean has been discussed by Stroum- misreading of Nebroël, found in the of sa and Pearson36. Although there can be no the Egyptians27. The question remains, how­ doubt that Mani referred to the ‘Gnostic’ liter­ ever, why Saklas is mentioned only twice in the ature on Seth, it remains remarkable that in Coptic Manichaica and Namraël not at all. the Manichaean corpus the name ch-ohà is Most times the general terms of ‘abortions’ or consistently used37, whereas in the Nag Ham- ‘archons’ are used when the creators of Adam madi literature cii-g is found. and Eve are mentioned. In ‘On the Origin of The concept of (Light-) Nonç in the Gnostic the World’ the term ‘abortion’ is used to desig­ and Manichaean literature has been exhaus­ nate Adam itself. tively treated on the occasion at the interna­ What is even more strange, as pointed out by tional symposium in Louvain38. However, two Sundermann: neither a derivation from the interesting terminological details are worth Greek name Saklas nor the Aramaic explana­ noting: the occurrence of ‘voepóv’ in the tion as ‘fool’28 can explain the Syrian form ’sql- Kephalaia and the equation of the Light-Noûç wn. In the eastern sources the Syrian form is in­ with Noah in the Psalmbook. Except for one HfS 26 195 occurrence the plural form ‘voepú’ is always corporating elements from Jewish apocalypti­ employed to designate the Sons of Primal Man. cism, Gnosticism and , Zoroastrism In the Apocryphon of John, vovç is used in a and Buddhism. parallel context and also here the singular A final observation: It is striking that the form vocpóv is found39. The identification of names of mythological figures found in the Syr­ Noah with the Light-Noûç is not found else­ ian texts and which are not translated in the where in Manichaean literature. Again a paral­ Coptic Manichaica are precisely those which lel is found in the Apocryphon of John40. are also found in Gnostic literature: Adamas, Rudolph rightly points out the Gnostic models Jesus, Adam, Eve, Saklas, Seth and "Yàt|. It can­ Mani used in his . Of special interest not be a coincidence that all are related to the is the liberation of Adam through Christ in the Gnostic interpretation of Genesis and the cre­ Apocryphon of John41, for the main function ation of Adam and Eve. Also the Maiden of of Jesus the Splendour in the Kephalaia is the Light is found in both libraries. The name has revelation of to Adam. The role of re­ not yet been found in any Syrian texts. Perhaps deemed is performed by Jesus the the Greek name was also used here? Child or Jesus Christ. When comparing the two libraries it seems One of the few cosmological figures in that it is in the Apocryphon of John and in the Manichaeism whose name occurs in the Gnos­ Apocalypse of Adam that we find a terminology tic codices is the ‘Adamas of Light’. A detailed most closely related to Manichaean terminolo­ discussion of this figure has already been given gy. However, also On the Origin of the World, elsewhere so we can limit ourselves to the con­ Eugnostos the Blessed, The Sophia of Jesus clusions42. Adamas generally fulfils different Christ, The Gospel of Truth and The Egyptian functions in both systems. But the most charac­ Gospel have a religious terminology in com­ teristic feature that one finds in the Gnostic mon with Manichaean literature. In the other Adamas - or Adaman - is his middle position texts there are more isolated cases of termino­ between the cosmological and the earthly logical similarity44. worlds. It was undoubtely for this reason that Mani adopted the name and changed it slightly into ‘the Adamas of Light’. Conclusions Very different is the concept of Sophia: while In the research on the relationship of Gnosti­ Sophia is a mythic personification within sever­ cism and Manichaeism the focus has mainly al Nag Hammadi texts, this is not the case with­ been on the fundamental influences of Gnosti­ in the Medinet Madi library. Stroumsa’s pre­ cism on Manichaeism. Mani adapted the Gnos­ sumption that ‘the Manichaean identification tic elements in a very cautious way: one could seems to have evolved from simpler (and there­ compare it - to a certain extent - to the Zoroas- fore possibly earlier) stages of Gnosticism, in trian and Buddhist transliteration of Manichae­ which a Sophia speculation was not known’43, ism: He used ‘existing’ mythological figures - oversimplifies the Manichaean system. It is and themes - that were suited to transmit his clear that Mani used Gnostic elements insofar own message, thus evoking a feeling of ‘déjà as they fitted within his own radical dualistic vu’ in his audience. system. This was not possible with the ‘Gnostic’ Still, also local contacts must have existed. Sophia. It is my opinion that the Manichaean Even Manichaean influences in the Gnostic system is not an evolution of the Gnostic myth, texts cannot be ruled out. From this point of but a radical new approach, combining and in­ view the rejection of baptism by the editor of 196 HfS 26 the Apocalypse of Adam is very interesting45. As a result we can conclude that the religious Another possible influence is the designation terminology used in the Coptic Nag Hammadi of Adamas in the Gospel of the Egyptians as texts and Manichaica for missionary purposes “the light that shines”46, a possible reference to belongs to the same vocabulary inherent in the the Manichaean ‘The Adamas of Light’. More­ theological-philosophical subject. Still, in most over, the construction “the light that shines” is instances Manichaeism deliberately avoided often found in the Kephalaia47. One should the existing names of mythological ‘Gnostic’ not forget the paragraph on uXr| and the figures and systems although using Gnostic demons in the Apocryphon of John. concepts. While it seems unlikely that there The problem remains: Due to the lack of would not have been any cross-fertilization of comparable material it is difficult to prove the the Manichaean and Gnostic communities, we interrelationship of the texts. The only way for­ shall have to wait for the results of the Kellis ex­ ward is to make a comparison of terminology cavations or the discovery of yet another li­ between texts of the same tradition and com­ brary to - perhaps - be able to prove this cross­ pare it with the terminology of the Eastern fertilization. sources of Manichaeism.

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Notes

1. Also Plotinus originated alledgedly from Lycopolis 10. Funk, 1985, 135. 2. Cf. Jonas, 1963, 206-209; Haardt, 1967, 328. 11. Rudolph, 1965 and 1988. On the relation between the 3. Within the Gnostic tradition a coherent system is non­ Nag Hammadi texts and Manichaeism cf. also Böhlig, existent, therefore the interpretation can differ be­ 1994, 113-242. tween the codices; on a definition of ‘Gnostic’ tradi­ 12. Rudolph, 1988, 195-196. tion, cf. now Gardner, 1994b, 225-246. 13. Rudolph, 1988, 196; a further elaboration can be 4. Giversen, 1986, XVI-XVII gives an overview on the dif­ found in Rudolph, 1965. ferent datings proposed for the Medinet Madi library, 14. NH III 73.2; 74.20-75.3. from second half fourth century till fifth century. The 15. NHV 65.13; 83.28-29. dating of the Manichaean community at Kellis, - be­ 16. NH VI 68.25. tween 301 and 390 A.D., cf. Gardner, 1994a, 80, seems 17. NH II 92.34 and NH VII 102.9. to favour an early dating. 18. “When he(=Adam) saw her(=Eve) he said, “You shall 5. In the Kephalaia, in the Homilies and in the Psalm-book be called ‘Mother of the Living.’ For it is you who have references are found to the passion of Mani who died given me life.” (NH II 89,15) (Layton, 1989, 67). in 273/274 A.D. The fragments of the other books 19. Only four occurences of “The Mother of the Living” from the Medinet Madi library, the so-called Synaxeis, are found against 32 testimonia of “The Mother of the Letters and a historical book, are too fragmentary to Life”, cf. Van Lindt, 1992, 39-44. be taken into account in this terminological compari­ 20. Van Lindt, 1992, 35-38. son. 21. Schmidt, 1978. 6. Eugnostos the Blessed, cf. Parr rot, 1991, 5. 22. NH II 114.4-5. Layton, 1989, 63. 7. Cf. Bryder, 1985. 23. NH II 18.5-6; Giversen, 1963, 81. 8. Funk, 1985 & 1988 and Kasser, 1984. 24. Giversen, 1963, 250. 9. Kasser, 1984, 274-275. 25. NH II, 21.7-9; Giversen, 1963, 87. 198 HfS 26

26. Van Lindt, 1992, 204. 38. Rudolph, 1995, 1-10 and Bianchi, 1995, 11-21. 27. On Saklas in the Gnostic sources: Stroumsa, 1984 and 39. NH II 8.28-9.5. cf. Van Lindt, 1995, 280. Bare, 1981, 123-150. 40. NH II 29.1-4. cf. Van Lindt, 1995, 271-272. 28. Layton, 1987, 36d. 4L Rudolph, 1988, 199. 29. In Parthian and Soghdian Namraël is named pysws. 42. Van Lindt, 1993. Sundermann offers no etymology for this name, cf. 43. Stroumsa, 1984, 163. Sundermann, 1979, 103. Could the Chinese form Ye- 44. On the Kellis excavations and the Coptic Manichaean lo-Yang be a derivation from the Iranian? documents: Gardner 1993, 1994a and 1995. The frag­ 30. Chavannes, 1911,525. ments published until now offer no new material con­ 31. dr. Peter Bryder, 1995, personal communication. cerning the religious terminology in relation to the 32. Van Lindt, 1992, 196-197. Nag Hammadi library. The hitherto published names 33. NHV 64,12-13. of mythological figures have already been found in the 34. Villey, 1993, 218 did not notice the difference between Medinet Madi library. the attitude towards Eve in the Psalm-Book and the at­ 45. Hedrick, 1980, 192-201 and 210. The similarity with the titude in the Kephalaia where parallels are found with Manichaeans was already pointed out by Françoise the Apocalypse of Adam, cf. Van Lindt, 1992, 188-189. Morard (Morard, 1977, 40) when considering - and re­ 35. In Manichaean literature very little information is jecting a Manichaean authorship of the apocalypse. found on the creation of Seth. It is only said that he is While indeed a Manichaean author is improbable, a the first son of Adam as in the Gnostic tradition (Keph. Manichaean influence cannot be ruled out. I, 12.10-11). 46. NH III 49.8-9. 36. Stroumsa, 1984, 146-152 and Pearson, 1988. 47. Keph. I, 37.10; 64.29; 106.15. 37. CHcoHA PsB. II, 142.4; 144.1; 144.4; 144.7; 146.13; 179.22. Hom. 61.23. Keph. I, 12.10; 42.26; 42.29; 43.11; 145.27.