Cologne Mani Code

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Fragment of the late antique biography of Mani in the Cologne Mani Codex

The Cologne Mani Codex (Latin Codex Manichaicus Coloniensis = CMC), P. Köln inv. No. 4780, is a 3.5 × 4.5 cm miniature codex made of parchment . It is written in the Greek language and script and was made according to the palaeographic determination in the late 4th or 5th century. On 192 pages it contains a biography of the founder of the religion Mani , the founder of Manichaeism , under the title "About becoming his body". It is one of the most important sources for Mani's life and also describes Manichaean teaching content.

Content and research history

The Cologne Mani Codex is a very valuable source for early Manichaeism, as it contains autobiographical information from Mani and reports from his disciples, which the anonymous author compiled from earlier works . The text was probably translated from Eastern Aramaic into Greek.

The code was made known by antique dealers in Cairo . In 1969 it was bought by the Institute for Classical Studies at the University of Cologne . Anton Fackelmann separated the individual layers. Two Cologne scientists, Albert Henrichs and Ludwig Koenen , published the first report in 1970 and 1975–1982 the first edition of the manuscript in four articles in the Zeitschrift für Papyrologie und Epigraphik . Many additions and changes were proposed over the next decade. Therefore, Ludwig Koenen and Cornelia Römer published a second edition in 1988.

Two conferences on the code were held and their contributions were published: 1984 in Rende (Calabria) and 1988 in Cosenza .

The Cologne Mani Codex is the smallest-format book of antiquity . This strikingly small book format may be due to the fact that Manichaeism was persecuted by the Church. So you had to be able to hide and transport the valuable Mani code well. It is more likely, however, that the book should be worn on the body as an amulet .

Photographic reproduction of the Code

  • Ludwig Koenen, Cornelia Römer: The Cologne Mani Codex. Illustrations and diplomatic text . Habelt, Bonn 1985, ISBN 3-7749-2146-6 (contains photographs of all pages of the codex)

Text editions and translations

  • Ron Cameron, Arthur J. Dewey (Eds.): The Cologne Mani Codex (P. Colon. Inv. No. 4780). Concerning the Origin of His Body. Scholars Press, Missoula (MT) 1979 (Edition with English translation; Society of Biblical Literature Texts and Translations Series 15 )
  • Ludwig Koenen, Cornelia Römer (Ed.): The Cologne Mani Codex. About the becoming of his body . Westdeutscher Verlag, Opladen 1988, ISBN 3-531-09924-8 (critical edition with translation)
  • Ludwig Koenen, Cornelia Römer: Mani. On the trail of a lost religion . Herder, Freiburg im Breisgau et al. 1993, ISBN 3-451-23090-9 (translation with introduction)
  • Cornelia Römer: Mani's early mission trips based on the Cologne manibiography. Critical commentary and explanations on p. 121-p. 192 of the Cologne Mani Code . Westdeutscher Verl., Opladen 1994, ISBN 3-531-09938-8

Web links

Remarks

  1. ↑ a b Encyclopædia Iranica , article "Cologne Mani Codex" ( online ).
  2. ^ Albert Henrichs: The Cologne Mani Codex Reconsidered , in: Harvard Studies in Classical Philology 83, 1979, pp. 339-367.