Manichaeism in Mesopotamia and the Roman East (Religions in the Graeco-Roman World) [Hardcover]

Samuel N. C. Lieu (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: August 1997 | ISBN-10: 9004097422 | ISBN-13: 978-9004097421

The study of Manichaeism, the first Gnostic world religion, has made major advances in the last few decades thanks to the continuing discovery and decipherment of genuine Manichaean texts from Egypt and Central Asia. This work brings together a number of articles by the author published between 1981 and 1992 on the history of the sect in Mesopotamia and the Roman Empire. The studies have all been updated in the light of newly published material.

Editorial Reviews

Review

'"Lieu's presentation of the subject is largely narrative, well-told and often entertaining in the best sense, at the same time compiling a huge amount of information and displaying an impressive knowledge of literature on Manichaeism or written by the mnichaeans.'
Werner Sundermann, "Bulletin of the SOAS, 1995.
'..".a considerable success, evidencing Lieu's learning and firm grasp of often higly technical and diverse material.'
Iain Gardner, "Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society.
'"Un double index onomastique et des textes citis complhtent agriablement cet instrument de travail; il montre combien le chantier des itudes manichiennes est l'heure actuelle en plein essor.'
Jean-Daniel Dubois, "Archives de Sciences Sociales des Religions, 1994.
'"This collection of studies will be of indispensable value to all Manichaeologists and, not less, to the many other students of religion in Antiquity and in the Byzantine.'
J. van Oort, "Vigiliae Christianae, 1998.
'"rend compte de la puissance du manichiisme en tant que religion missionnaire'
Madeleine Scopello, "Bulletin Critique, AnTard, 1999.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 325 pages
• Publisher: Brill Academic Pub (August 1997)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 9004097422
• ISBN-13: 978-9004097421
• Product Dimensions: 9.5 x 6.4 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.7 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #4,851,608 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Informative and accessible, July 3, 2009

By 

Paul Stevenson "Linguist" (Duhok, Iraq) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Manichaeism in Mesopotamia and the Roman East (Religions in the Graeco-Roman World) (Hardcover)

Manichaeism is one of the vast range of religions associated with the Judeo-Christian group of traditions. It is commonly noted for its dualist view of the world. It was founded in the 3rd century CE by a native of southern Mesopotamia named Mani, who identified himself as an apostle of Jesus Christ. He seems to have thought of himself as the true interpreter of the message of Christ, rather than as the founder of a sect or "heresy." The name Manichaean came to be applied to his followers as a derogatory term some time after his death (rather like "Christian" came to be applied to the followers of this religion as a derogatory term some time after the death of Christ). Manichaeism was a vigorously missionary religion, and it soon spread to the Roman Empire in the west to China in the East. Although the Manichaeans were quite peaceful and worked by holding public debates and going door-to-door to spread their beliefs, their religion became feared and hated in the Persian and Roman Empires; but it had adherents as late as the 14th century in China, where it found a warmer welcome.

Some facts about Manichaeism were known before the 20th century, but they were almost all from sources written to combat the religion as a "heresy." The 20th century, though, saw the discovery of a considerable number of documents written by Manichaeans themselves. This made it possible to at last see what the believers had to say about themselves. Samuel N. C. Lieu is one of the major modern scholars studying Manichaeism. Over the course of many years, he has written numerous important articles and books about it. The present book is a collection of several articles and conference papers, including one long and very important study not previously published.

These articles are insightful and well written. They are:

I. Mani and the Magians
II. From Mesopotamia to the Roman East - The Diffusion of Manichaeism in the Eastern Roman Empire
III. Fact and Fiction in the Acta Archelai
IV. "Felix conversus ex Manichaeis" - a case of mistaken identity?
V. Some themes in later Roman anti-Manichaean polemics
VI. An early Byzantine Formula for the renunciation of Manichaeism - The Capita VII Contra Manichaeos of <Zachrias of Mitylene>. Introduction, text, translation and commentary

Article II is a gold mine of information taken from documents discovered in the 20th century. It has extensive extracts from texts in Greek, Latin, Syriac, Coptic, Chinese, Sogdian and Middle Iranian. English translations are given in the body of the article, while the texts in the original languages (sometimes rather lengthy passages) are given in footnotes. The first five languages are given in their own scripts, while the last two are given in transliteration. This approach is highly commendable, since it allows the English-speaking reader immediate access to the sense of the text, while it allows the specialist to see the actual wording of the original. This last aspect is crucial, since it is impossible to convey every nuance of one language when translating into another language, and often the exact wording of the original text is essential for establishing certain points. By giving all the original language texts right in the article, Lieu has saved the reader a great deal of labor in obtaining these, as they are often in hard-to-find books or articles.

This book is not designed for casual reading by the general public, but for serious students of comparative religions or the history of religion, it is a very helpful collection of recent information about Manichaeism by a leading scholar. For an important social-anthropological approach to how the Manichaeans conceived themselves in the scheme of things, I recommend the very readable recent study The Manichaean Body: In Discipline and Ritual, by Jason David BeDuhn. Between these two books, one can gain a considerable breadth of perspective on the Manichaeans.

2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Leiu Is The Best, September 29, 2005

By 

Eric Cason (Citizen of the World!) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Manichaeism in Mesopotamia and the Roman East (Religions in the Graeco-Roman World) (Hardcover)

All of his major books are exceptional reading and extremely informative. They aren't for someone who wants a casual understanding of Manichaeism, but they are never unreadably obtuse or so loaded with jargon as to be incomprehensible. I used them extensively in university and was sad when I had to return them to the library.