I. Gardiner, J. Beduhn, P.Dilley, Mani at the Court of the Persian Kings

Studies on the Chester Beatty Kephalaia Codex

Iain Gardner, University of Sydney,
Jason BeDuhn Northern Arizona University and
Paul Dilley, University of Iowa

In Mani at the Court of the Persian Kings the authors explore evidence arising from their project to edit the Chester Beatty Kephalaia codex. This new text presents Mani at the heart of Sasanian Iran in dialogue with its sages and nobles, acting as a cultural mediator between East and West and interpreter of Christian, Iranian, and Indian traditions. Nine chapters study Mani’s appropriation of the ‘law of Zarades’ and of Iranian epic; suggest a new understanding of his last days; and analyse his formative role in the history of late antique religions.
These interdisciplinary studies advance research in several fields and will be of interest to scholars of Manichaeism, Sasanian Iran, and the development of religions in Late Antiquity.

Brill
ISBN13: 9789004234703
E-ISBN: 9789004282629
Publication Date:  November 2014
Copyright Year:  2015
Format:  Hardback
Main Series:
Nag Hammadi and Manichaean Studies
ISSN: 0929-2470
Volume: 87
Iain Gardner, An Introduction to the Chester Beatty Kephalaia Codex

PART A: Studies on the Manichaean Kephalaia
Paul Dilley, Mani’s Wisdom at the Court of the Persian Kings: The Genre and Context of the Chester Beatty Kephalaia
Jason David BeDuhn, Parallels between Coptic and Iranian Kephalaia: Goundesh and the King of Touran
Iain Gardner, The Final Ten Chapters

PART B: New Sources from the Chester Beatty Codex
Paul Dilley, Also Schrieb Zarathustra? Mani as Interpreter of the ‘Law of Zarades’
Jason David BeDuhn, Iranian Epic in the Chester Beatty Kephalaia
Iain Gardner, Mani’s Last Days.
Map and Table of Place Names

PART C: Manichaeism and the History of Religions
Paul Dilley, ‘Hell Exists, and We have Seen the Place Where It Is’: Rapture and Religious Competition in Sasanian Iran
Jason David BeDuhn, Mani and the Crystallization of the Concept of ‘Religion’ in Third Century Iran