MANICHAICA ARAMAICA? ADAM AND THE MAGICAL DELIVERANCE OF SETH.

• Author: REEVES, JOHN C.

Ibn al-Nadim's tenth-century Fihrist, long recognized as the purveyor of much valuable Manichaean lore, includes a Manichaean exposition of Genesis 2-4 that exhibits numerous affinities with both Jewish aggadic and gnostic exegetical traditions. One of the more intriguing episodes featured in the exposition involves the deliverance of the infant Seth from demonic assault by a magically adept Adam. Some parallels to this specific narrative episode were subsequently discovered within the gradually expanding corpus of Middle Iranian Manichaean literature. The present essay seeks to direct attention to a heretofore unrecognized reflex of this mytheme within an Aramaic incantation stemming from lower Mesopotamia. The implications of this correspondence are explored.

ONE OF OUR MOST valuable witnesses to authentic traditions surrounding the life and teachings of Mani, as well as to the subsequent history of Manichaeism within the Islamicate cultural sphere, is contained in the ninth chapter of the kitab al-Fihrist, or "Bibliographic Compendium," of Ibn al-Nadim, a book merchant and encyclopaedist who lived and wrote in Baghdad during the late tenth century of the Common Era. [1] His lengthy, detailed report on Manichaeism was first made available to Western scholars in 1862 by Gustav Flugel in a special monograph that featured an initial edition of the Arabic text, a translation, and a detailed commentary. [2] Subsequent discoveries and studies of oriental sources pertaining to Manichaeism (Arabic, Syriac, and Persian), coupled with the fortunate recovery of genuine Manichaean manuscripts from Central Asia and Egypt, have gradually confirmed the general reliability of Ibn al-Nadim's information about Mani and his religion. [3]

A MANICHAEAN VERSION OF THE STORY OF ADAM AND EVE

One of the more intriguing passages contained within Ibn [al.sub.7] Nadim's entry is a Manichaean exposition of Genesis 2-4 which exhibits numerous affinities with Jewish aggadic and gnostic exegetical traditions. [4] Astonishingly, this version of the story of Adam and Eve has attracted little attention from students of the history of biblical interpretation, a circumstance perhaps more indicative of the exposition's relative obscurity than of a program of deliberate neglect. [5] While the entire narrative is worthy of extensive discussion, the section of particular relevance to the present investigation occurs near the end of this passage. It deals with the events surrounding the birth of Seth, the biological son of Adam the protoplast. The passage reads as follows:

Mani said: "Then those archons and this al-Sindid [6] and Eve were troubled at (the behavior) they saw (exhibited) by Cain. [7] Al-Sindid then taught Eve magical syllables in order that she might infatuate Adam. [8] She proceeded to act (by) presenting him with a garland from a flowering tree, and when Adam saw her, he lustfully united with her, and she became pregnant and gave birth to a handsome male child of radiant appearance. When al-Sindid learned about this, he was distressed and fell ill, and said to Eve, 'This infant is not one of us; he is a stranger.' Then she wished to kill him, but Adam seized him and said to Eve, 'I will feed him cow's milk and the fruit of trees!' Thus taking him he departed. But al-Sindid sent the archons to carry off the trees and cattle, moving them away from Adam. [9] When Adam saw this, he took the infant and encircled him within three rings. He pronounced over the first (ring) the name of the King of the Gardens, over the second the name of Primal Man, and over the third the name of the Living Spirit. He spoke to and implored God, may His name be glorified, saying, 'Even though I have sinned before you, what offense has this infant committed?' Then one of the three (invoked deities) hurried (to Adam bearing) a crown of radiance, [10] extending it in his hand to Adam. When al-Sindid and the archons saw this, they departed (and went) away."

He [Mani] said, "Then there appeared to Adam a tree called the lotus, and milk flowed from it, and he fed the boy with it. He named him [the boy] after its name, but sometime later he renamed him Shathil [i.e., Seth]. [11] Then that al-Sindid declared enmity against Adam and those who were born ... [12]

A close reading of this passage reveals a number of interesting structural motifs. Some of these motifs derive directly from the passage's biblical prototype, while others display distinctively Manichaean interests, but all of them represent creative exegesis of the highest order. This portion of the narrative exhibits a carefully balanced structure which juxtaposes the magical praxis of Eve with that of Adam, the efficacious powers associated with two types of trees, and Adam's receipt of two kinds of headgear, one baleful and the other auspicious, both of which are termed "crown(s)" ([ARABIC CHARACTERS NOT REPRODUCIBLE IN ASCII TEXT]).

Of especial interest for the present study is the final portion of the episode. Therein Adam rescues a young Seth from imminent demonic assault via the expeditious employment of concentric magic circles in conjunction with an invocation of the deity (or dieties). [13] There is, of course, no biblical precedent for this particular narrative event, nor does there appear to be an exegetical "trigger" within the terse biblical narrative, regardless of version, for the generation of such a scene. [14] Traditional commentators and collections of midrash, whether Jewish or Christian, provide no parallels. The extant extrabiblical Adamschriften, as well as other apocryphal or pseudepigraphical compositions that include discussion of the protoplasts and their progeny, are likewise innocent of this narrative event.[15] It would thus appear to be a unique development of the Genesis legend that is distinctively Manichaean in provenance.

The mortal threat posed to the infant Seth by one of his biological parents is remotely paralleled by the Mazdean legends surrounding the birth and infancy of Zoroaster.[16] Demons and malevolent wizards vainly attempt to murder the newborn child, aided in several instances by the boy's father. Interestingly, it is Zoroaster's mother who sometimes functions as an agent of deliverance during these successive assaults. [17] According to certain versions of these traditions, the prenatal formation of the Persian prophet was also associated with a marvelous tree (the hom-stalk) and cow's milk. A convenient exposition of this latter material occurs within al-Shahrastani's discussion of Zoroastrianism in his Kitab al-milal wa-al-nihal, a treatment which, despite its heresiographical context, displays an accurate knowledge of its subject: [18]

Then he [i.e., God] placed the spirit of Zardust in a tree (which) he made grow higher than the heavenly heights, [19] and surrounded it with seventy noble angels. He planted it at the top of one of the mountains of Azarbaijan, the one known as Asmavidh-khar. [20] Then he mixed the bodily nature of Zardust with cow's milk. The father of Zardust drank it, and it formed sperm (and) then a fetus in the womb of his mother. Then Satan approached her and made her sick, but his mother heard a voice from heaven relaying instructions regarding her recovery, and she became well. [21]

It is intriguing that the prenatal protection of Zoroaster involves, like the postpartum protection of Seth, an analogous manipulation of a miraculous tree and the consumption of cow's milk. This structural similarity may not be coincidental. From the perspective of Manichaean prophetology, Seth and Zoroaster are ultimately the same heavenly entity (the Apostle of Light) cloaked in two divergent bodily forms, and hence their respective "hagiographies" may have invited reverberative harmonization by creative tradents. [22]

MIDDLE IRANIAN EVIDENCE

Independent confirmation for the reliability of Ibn alNadim's report concerning the Manichaean version of the seduction of Adam and his subsequent defense of Seth against demonic assault first surfaced in a Manichaean Sogdian fragment recovered from Turfan during the early part of the present century. The fragment, published by W. B. Henning in 1936 as an appendix to his "Ein manichaisches Bet- und Beichtbuch." consists of the bottom portion of a single manuscript leaf (M 528 Fragment II), with approximately five lines surviving on the recto and verso sides. The passage reads as follows:

(R). . [lacuna of approximately 14 lines] ... he appeared before Saqlon, and addressed him thusly: "Command that she give him milk immediately!" Then Saqlon sought to make Adam an apostate from the (correct) religion (V) ... [lacuna of approximately 20 lines] ... he saw the demons. He then quickly laid the child on the ground, and drew (around him) seven times a very wide circle, and prayed to the gods... [23]

Despite its damaged condition, it is apparent that this Sogdian fragment once presented a parallel version of Ibn al-Nadim's "Manichaean" story about Adam and the birth of Seth, who clearly correspond to the "he" and "the child" featured in this fragmentary vignette. [24] Yet it is also clear that the Arabic and Sogdian versions are not simply duplicate renditions of an earlier textual...