The Personality of Mani, the Founder of Manichaeism A. V. Williams Jackson Journal of the American Oriental Society, Vol. 58, No. 2 (Jun., 1938), 235-240, Stable URL: bttp//links jstor.org/sici?sict=0003-0279% 28 193806%2958%3A2%3C235%3ATPOMTP%3E2,0,CO%3B2-D Journal of the American Oriental Society is currently published by American Oriental Society. ‘Your use of the ISTOR archive indicates your acceptance of JSTOR’s Terms and Conditions of Use, available at hhup:/www.jstororg/about/terms.hml. JSTOR’s Terms and Conditions of Use provides, in part, that unless you have obtained prior permission, you may not download an entire issue of a journal or multiple copies of articles, and you may use content in the JSTOR archive only for your personal, non-commercial use. Please contact the publisher regarding any further use of this work. Publisher contact information may be obtained at hup:/www jstor.org/journals/aos.himl Each copy of any part of a JSTOR transmission must contain the same copyright notice that appears on the sereen or printed page of such transmission, STOR is an independent not-for-profit organization dedicated to creating and preserving a digital archive of scholarly journals, For more information regarding JSTOR, please contact support @jstor.org. hupswww jstor.org/ Tue Mar 22 15:11:17 2005THE PERSONALITY OF MANI, THE FOUNDER OF MANICHABISM, tA. V. Winuraxs Jacksox Consents, Unsvensire (Purunawany Nore.—Professor Jackson presented this paper by title at the meeting of the American Philological Association, December 21:20, 1928, Dut it was not published in the Transactions, being reserved for “hia forth: coming book on Manichasism,” as stated in TAPA 69 (1028), p. iv 2. 8— 4.01 Ir 1s aLways interesting to have some idea of the personality of 1 famous religious leader, and the purpose of this paper is to throw possible light upon that of Mant, the founder of Manichaeism in the third century of the Christ ‘With regard to portraiture it is thought that we may perhaps have a representation of Mfant’s head in profile on some coins from Characene in southern Mesopotamia, which bear Mandacan legends (one presumed to read “Mani the appointed of Mithra”), and apparently on a couple of coins of the Kushin king Pérdz (3d cent. 4.D.), who was favorably disposed towards Manichaeism.* The * Regarding the Characene coins see the interesting article by M. Tide. barski, “Die Manson der Characene,” in Zt. fur Numismatik (1082) 39. 85-06 (with Plate), ef, especially pp. 01:06. In a postscript (p. 96) Lidebarski refers to an article in The London Numismatic Chronicte, 1920, part 2, pp. 122-140, by J. de Morgan, allotte de la Fuge, and G. ¥. Hill, “"asal de lecture des ligendes sémitiques dee monnaies charactniennes” dealing with the same coins. Lidsbarski observes that de la Fuge reads the name on the reverse of a special coin as “ 3famu,” instead of * Ms and sees init the name of an unknown man. (Addendum. After consulting the article in The London Numismatic Chronicle, Professor Jackson noted “1 feel that the legend here is to be read MANT. ASTAD. AI.MIHRA, “tant the appointed of Mithra The form AI — 7 isthe familiar ‘of. ‘The reading and interpretation of dstad ‘appointed’ are assured; both Andreas and Lidzbarski (op. eit, p. 92) reject the idea of uted * Meister, For the meaning of dstad, compare the Avestan root d-4t@ ‘anstellen, (amtlich) bestellen,’ Bartholomae, AérWb. 1602. We know well the high prestige of Mithra in Manichaeism, including the Turfan Fragments, in fone of which (M88.12—Moller, Handsohriften-Reste, 2p. 77) he is invoked just before Jesus and Mant.”) or the name “Mant” on the reverte side of two Kushin coins of Ptrdz, consult 0. G. von Wesendonk, “Zam Ursprung des Manichaelsmus,” in Ephemerides Orientales, No. 30, p. 3, September, 1026, publ. by Otto Harrassowitz, Leipsigy also idem, Urmerach und Seele,p. 116, Hannover, 1024; he refer likewise to Freiman, in Rocenit Orjent. vol. 2 (not available), 285236 A.V. Williams Jackson hhead on the reproductions of these coins faces to the right and i crowned by rich wavy hair that flows down to the back of the neck; the beerd is somewhat pointed, and the straight nose rather hand- some. Both Lidzbarski and Wesendonk, and I believe Herzfeld likewise, are inclined to accept the portrait as representing the founder of Manichaeism. I am not enough of a numismatist to ‘give an opinion, but judging from the evidence in favor of it, the attribution seems to be reasonable. Tt has furthermore been suggested that we may possibly have @ fanciful representation of Mini on a fragment of large mural painting which was brought back by A. von Le Coq from Khojo in the Turfan Oasis” ‘The painting, though much broken, portrays the figure of a man of tall stature, his head surrounded by a large hhalo, made with the sun and moon, the face here being wholly ‘Mongolian in type; while behind him stands a group of figures, male and fomale, but all much smaller in size. ‘The style of the picture is entirely East-Asiatic, as Le Coq points out, and he him- self showed hesitation when he placed in parentheses beneath it, with a question mark, the sub-title “(Portrit, des Mani?).” ‘To Lidebarski (op. cit. p. 95) the attribution seemed very doubtful. While there appears to be no inherent reason against regarding the aureoled figure as a fanciful representation of Mani, it may be merely the picture of some noted high-priest. ‘Thus much con- cerning the question of the portraiture of Man!.* ‘See furthermore, az important, the noted work by E. Herafeld, Paihult, 1.4641, ef. pp. 41, 47, Berlin, 1024. Herzfeld is inclinod to accept the reading “Min,” which he anys was fret recognized by Marko * See Le Coq, Die budddietisohe Spdtantike in Mittelvien: Zweiter Teil, Die manichacischen Miniaturen, Plate 1a, and ef, Text p. 34-96, Berlin, 1929, Cf. also the small reproductions in F. C. Burkitt, The Religion of the Maniohoes, Cambridge, 1925, facing pp. 1 and 69. "Designedly I refrain from hazarding a suggestion that we might per haps seek a representation of Mant in a email Turfan painting (LeCog, op. cit, Plate 8b, miniature d, ef Text p. 61). It represents a human pair, young man and woman, partly maked and both abashed at having been discovered together. Before them threateningly stands a stern person, with stat in the right hand and with the first fager of the left hand raised in reprimand of their guilty act, ‘This menacing chastiaer wears a long red ferment oF coat, with striped undersleoves of a greenish blue hue and belt to match, but the lower part of the figure has been destroyed. While we know Mit’s doctrines and commandments on the subject, we have no story or legend preserved which would help to identify him as represented in the Stone. We may therefore best explain the admonishing austere figure asThe Personality of Mant, the Founder of Manichacism 287 We may now present a curious description of Man's appearance and dress as given in the Acta Archelai, chap. 14 (12), by its Christian author, Hegemonius.t The pascage is familiar to very one interested in’ Manichacism, but it is worth while to reproduce it here. ‘The scene is laid in the house of the wealthy Marcellus. He and Bishop Archelaus had already listened to a brief exposition of Mant’s tenets given by his disciple Turbo before the arrival of the Master himself, who made a long journey in order to meet Marcellus and to engage ina disputation with Archelaus, the Christian bishop. ‘The description of Mani’s appetrance is quite vivid, and seemingly drawn from life or from tradition. “On the selfsame day, moreover, Manes (Mant) arrived, bringing along with him lect youths and virgins, to the number of twenty-two in all. And first of all he sought ‘Turbo at the house of Marcellus, and when he did not find him there, he went in to pay his respects to Marcellus, On seeing him, Marcellus at first was struck with astonishment at the habiliments of his attire, For he wore a kind of shoe that is wont to be called ‘trisole’* in common parlance, he had also a parti-colored cloak of a sky-blue" appearance as it some ecclesiastical judge imposing upon the eulpr of reprobation in the case. “See the edition of the Latin text (the Greek being lost from here onward) by C. H. Beeson, Hegemoniue, Acte Arckela, pp. 22-23, Leip, 1900; ef. also the English translation by 8. D. F. Salmond, in The Ante. ‘Nicene Fathers, 8. 180, New York, 1800 (American reprint of the Edinburgh edition) "Salmond (op. cit.) notes that the Codex Boblensis gives the number uodecim * twelve.” “Thus the text of Beeson, who records the manuscript variants quadri- sole C, tresote M. Salmond, following the former reading, translates as quadtisole.” The allusion is to the sole of the shoe having three or four lifts of leather. This atyle of footgeer (though not thus exaggerated) may perhaps be illustrated from the shoes in the large broken stetue of the Sasanian King Shihpar I, near Neksh-i Shapur, in southern Persia; see the dravings by Texier, C. FM. Texier, Deseription de U'Arménie, a Perse, Plates 149,150, the former of which is reproduced pp. 00-62, Bombey, 1889. Tt allusion to the thickness of Mant’s sole, something relating to the tradition about his being lame, which is discussed below, but the text itself here makes no such mention, * For this meaning of aérinus as denoting a bluish color, see the Theeourue Linguae Lotinae, Vol. 1, eal. 108), linen 69-60, of also aérie, col. 1062, 2 ‘he Manichacan sentence238 A.V. Williams Jackson were; in his hand he held a very stout staff of ebony wood; he carried a Babylonian * book under his left arm; he also had his legs covered with trousers, each of a different color, the ‘one being red, the other a sort of leck-green color; and his countenance was like that of an elderly Persian physician and ‘war-lord.”* Certainly the bizarre color-scheme and fantastic effect of this description lend an element of grotesqueness, which it was probably not without intention to emphasize. In the delineation, however, there may be preserved certain features of truth. With all his religious austerity, Mint, famed also as a painter and artistic calligrapher (see below), possessed an aosthetic sense for color, as we may judge from the Manichacan miniatures and illuminated manuscript Fragments found in Turfan. ‘The Acta, it will be observed, makes no allusion to any physical defect in Mani, nor do other Christian writers. This leads us to a discussion of the tradition of Man?’s lameness. ‘Tradition has it that Mant was lame, according to two passages in the Fihrist of an-Nadim (writing in 987 4.p.). ‘This Arab compiler, whose general accuracy in recording from Manichaean sources is fully recognized, states in the first of these allusions, de- scriptive of Mant’s boyhood, that “he suffered from a crooked leg” (ahnaf ar-rijl).!° In a second passage, much farther on, an-Nadim reverts again to MinY’s lemeness in even more precise terms: “some say he was crooked in both legs; it is also said (only) the right leg.” * numerous quotations; also Du Cange, Gloss. med. et infmac Latinitatis, Vol. 1, p. 119. The kindred adjective aiviue in the Vulgnte, Exth. 1.6; 8.16, in rendered by “sky coloured” in the Dousi Version, ‘and by “blue” in the Authorized Version. Perhaps simply “blue” would ‘be a better translation above, since the Persian color for clothing is gen- rally e dark blue, although lightish blue is also (if somewhat less frequently) worn. " Recall that Mant, though « Persian by blood, was born in Babylonia. ‘For artifes = medious, se Thesaurus, Vol. 2, col, 606, lines 58-70; of. lao Beeson, op. eit, p- 115, 3, with references to other occurrences in the ‘Acta, “See Flige, Mant (1862) p. 89, Vines 7-8, “Iitt an einem einwartage- Arehten Beine "; iid, text p. 49, ine 6 = large edition, Pubrat,p. 928, 1 See Fldgel, op. cit, tx. p- 100 top, with n. 282, and text p. 09, Tnes 10.11; of. idem, large ed. Fike, p. 385, 5. For help in checking up ren- Tot, wi‘The Personality of Mant, the Founder of Manichacism 239 ‘The explicitness of these two traditional statements seems con- vincing, despite the attempt of Kessler, Mani (1889), pp. 382-333, cf, also p. 383 n. 4, to explain them otherwise. Kessler (p. 333) sought to interpret the Arabic phrase through the medium of a Syriac form, and translates “er war der verruchteste der ‘Minner;” repeating in similar manner (p. 983) “dass er der grésste Irrgliubige (Ketzer) unter den Menschen gewesen sei.’ He did, however, acknowledge (p. 333 mid.) that in this second passage an-Nadim does refer definitely to the right foot, but he ‘maintains that this was due to the continuation of an old misunder- standing (“Missverstindnis”). ‘The incorrectness of Kessler’s view was promptly pointed out by Noldeke, in ZDMG (1889) 43. 547, who showed that the proposed rendering and interpretation hhad no value. With Néldeke’s judgment we may fully agree, and accept an-Nadim’s statement that Mant was lame in one or in both legs. ‘This fact leads me to an entirely new point, namely, to recon- sider the meaning of the Pahlavi epithet astak or zastak (as it may be reed), which is constantly applied to MAnt in a rather long pas- sage in one of the Sasanian Pablavi books that anathematize his teachings. ‘The passage in question is found in the Dénkart, 3. 200, 1-13, in a section relating to the so-called “Injunctions of Mani,” which I have translated with comments, in JRAS 1924, pp. 213- 227.8 In each successive paragraph the Zoroastrian priestly writer execrates Mini as a “Fiend” (druj), always adding the oppro- brious epithet referred to above, in whichever of the two ways the word may be transliterated and accordingly rendered. Thad previously (op. cit., p. 218 n, 2) read and translated the pprobrious designation of Mant as being druj astak, “the Fiend ‘ing reasons, which at that time seemed satisfactory, ering the Phi. adjective as astak and thus rendering by “incarnate.” After studying the whole matter anew, however, my ‘view has changed. I am now inclined to adopt the alternate trans- literation (formerly rejected, op. cit., p. 219 top) for the Fiends epithet and to read it as zastat, lit, “broken,” cf. NP. zastan erings from the Arabie T was indebted to my assistant Dr. A. Yohannan (now deceased) ; Inter also for help from Dr. N. N. Martinoviteh, (Reprinted, with some additions and a few slight changes, in Jackson, Researches in Manichaciem, pp. 205-217, See expecially p. 200, where the “Postscript, 1080” adopts the view here eet forth —O, J. 0.]240 A.V. Williams Jackson “to break” (cf. Av. root zad-), this attribute to be given in Min?’s case @ more significant interpretation. In the light of what has ‘been adduced above from the Fihrist, the Pahlavi epithet zastak ‘throughout the Dénkart passage means not simply “broken, broken down” or “wounded, sick, infirm,” ** but is to be more precisely defined as meaning in this case “crippled.” ‘Thus the oft-repeated druj zastak Mant is really “the crippled fiend Mani”—in other words, that devil of a cripple Mani. ‘The Pablavi Dénkart would in this way lend new support to the twice-repeated statement in Arabie by an-Nadim that Mani was lame. Recall also the refer- ‘ence in the Acts to the “ trisole,” as noted above (n. 6). If this deduction be correct (as to me it seems), namely, that Mini was somewhat crippled, it might help towards throwing further light upon his personality, his imaginative and refined nature. We know, of course, that Mint had the exalted fervor of a religious leader and founder of « faith that was once a rival of Christianity and Zoroastrianism, opposition from which latter led him to suffer a martyr’s death as an adjudged heretic, ‘Throughout in his make-up, especially if born with « physical weakness, we can see a peculiar idealism and refinement, combined with rare vision Tt has always been recognized that he had a poetic imagination as shown in his cosmogonic fantasies, and also in a few hymmic stanz that have been preserved, ‘Tradition assigns to him exquisite ski as an artist, so that his name became in Persia a synonym for painter. His master hand as an adapter of a revised alphabet and a presumed pioneer in calligraphy—the latter art being espe- cially cultivated by his followers—all bespeak a highly ideal and creative mind, He cared particularly for music and allowed to his followers the enjoyment of perfumes as something refined. It would not be hard to guess that Iameness, apparently con- genital, may have contributed to his sensitive and spiritual nature, which was above all religiously 60 creative. Voila tout! See West, SBE. 31.978, and ef. J. N. Unvala, in Bull. School of Or. ‘Studie, 2.048 note ¢ (lines 12), London, 1923. Full references to Mint as a painter and to his skill In drawing an absolutely straight line or a perfect circle have been collected, but are ‘reserved for trentment elaewhere. So lkewise are further details as to the Hens mentioned below. For remarks on Mints reformed seript ave H. H. Schaeder, Urform a. Fortbitdungen des manichdischen Syetems, pp. 147-160, Leipzig, 1927.