Zur Sozialterminologie der iranischen Manichaer: Eine semantische Analyse im Vergleich zu den nichtmanichaischen iranischen Quellen.

• Author: Skjaervo, Prods Oktor
• Position: Book Review

Zur Sozialterminologie der iranischen Manichaer: Eine semantische Analyse im Vergleich zu den nichtmanichaischen iranischen Quellen. By IRIS COLDITZ. Iranica, vol. 5. Wiesbaden: HARRASSOWITZ VERLAG, 2000. Pp. xiii + 454.

This is the revised and expanded version of the author's Inauguraldissertation at the Freie Universitat Berlin 1994. The central problem of the book is the question to what extent literature with religious contents or background--in this instance, the Middle Iranian literature of the Manichean communities in Turfan (Chinese Turkestan)--can be a source for studies of the social structure of ancient societies. For this purpose, the author has chosen a limited set of terms found both in Manichean and other sources, such as the Zoroastrian literature of the Sasanian period (the Pahlavi texts) and the original inscriptions of the Sasanian kings and high officials, the use of which she discusses from four angles; (1) on the social level, as applied to actual social groups; (2) on the didactic-moral level, as applied to characterize certain behavior and qualities; (3) on the religious level, as applied to the divine-demonic sphere; (4) on a generic level, as applied otherwise. To permit the reader better to follow her argumentation, all the Manichean passages involved are cited, but only a section of non-Manichean ones. Several indexes and a comprehensive bibliography complete the book.

The introduction, in addition to the general description of the work summarized above, also contains a detailed description of the sources (pp. 9-25), which amounts to nothing less than a history and description of the Manichean literature, not only in Middle Iranian languages (Middle Persian, Parthian, Sogdian), but also Coptic, Greek, Arabic, etc., as well as of the Sasanian inscriptions and the Pahlavi literature. Since editions and secondary literature are quoted extensively, this is a very useful survey for anyone who wants to get his bearings in this literature.

The study of the individual terms is preceded by a chapter on the historical and social context of the Manichean literature (pp. 29-52). In this chapter Colditz discusses the social contacts of the Manicheans and the groups targeted by their proselytizing. She shows that the social behavior of the Manicheans is predicated on their world-view and on the Manichean understanding of the position of man in the cosmos.

The terms selected for study are: azad "free," bannag/bandag, approx...