| Corpus Fontium Manichaeorum
Introduction:
Corpus Fontium Manichaeorum (A corpus of sources of Manichaeism) is an international research and publication project. It is sponsored by the International Association for Manichaean Studies and is solely published by Brepols of Turnhout (Belgium). It is also sponsored by a number of leading academies and is Research Project 59 of the International Union of Academies (UAI).
Project Outline:
In the third century of our era, Mani, a Gnostic prophet living in the highly syncretistic region of Babylonia, inaugurated the first world religion which contains elements of Judaeo-Christianity, Zoroastrianism and Buddhism. This highly missionary religion had followers from the Atlantic to the Pacific before the emergence of Islam and survived in
South China until the time of Marco Polo. However, severe persecution of this arch-heretical sect by Christian, Zoroastrian, Islamic and Confucian
authorities has led to the virtual disappearance of their writings and, until the beginning of this century, only citations of
their texts were known to scholars from the anti-heretical writings of Augustine, of Greek and Syriac Fathers, and of Persian, Arabic and
Chinese authors. However, the study of the history of this first Gnostic world religion has made enormous progress in this century thanks to a
series of remarkable archaeological finds of genuine Manichean texts and of religious buildings, paintings and inscriptions from Central
Asia, Egypt, N. Africa and S. China.
Many of the texts recovered from Central Asia and Egypt are in fragmentary condition and some are still unpublished or published only
in facsimile form. The plan of the new Corpus Fontium Manichaeorum is to make all this material, hitherto diversely published, available in a
series which can be easily consulted by historians of religion, theologians, ancient and medieval historians, orientalists as well as by specialists in the languages in which the documents were composed.
The Corpus Fontium Manichaeorum is divided into nine series along linguistic lines (see below). It also has a Series Subsidia comprising
the important Bibliographica Manichaica and the Dictionary of Manichaean Texts. The project was adopted by the IUA in 1998 as a Category C
project.
Responsible and sponsoring Academies:
British Academy (for the entire project)
Australian Academy of the Humanities (for the entire project)
Göttingen Academy (for Series Turkica only)
Reporter to the UAI: Professor Samuel N.C. Lieu, Fellow of the Australian Academy of the Humanities.
Editorial Committee (as at 16 Sept. 2009):
Professor Samuel N.C. Lieu FAHA (Editor and Director)
Professor Johannes Van Oort (Editor and Director)
Series Directors (as at 16 Sept. 2009):
Series Arabica: A. van Tongerloo
Series Archaeologica: Zsuzsanna Gulácsi
Series Coptica: Martin Krause (See note 2)
Series Graeca: Luigi Cirillo and Sam Lieu
Series Iranica: Enrico Morano
Series Latina: Johannes Van Oort
Series Sinica: Gunner Mikkelsen and Sam Lieu
Series Syriaca: Erica Hunter
Series Turkica: A. van Tongerloo
Major funders:
Australian Research Council (to end of 2009)
The British Academy (to ca. 2006)
Arts and Humanities Research Council UK (to ca. 2006)
School of Oriental and African Studies (London) (to ca. 2007)
Chiang Ching Kuo Foundation (to June, 2009)
Not listed are institutions and universities which have paid or are paying salaries of staff who have edited volumes already published or who are currently actively engaged in editing volumes still to appear in
the series.
Volumes published since 1996:
Series Archaeologica
1. Z. Gulácsi, Manichaean Art in Berlin Collections CCLXXXVIII+350 p., + ill., 210 x 297 mm, 2001, ISBN 978-2-503-50649-4 (English text)
Series Coptica
1. G. Wurst (ed.) The Manichaean Coptic Papyri in the Chester Beatty Library Psalm Book Part II, 1, Die Bema-Psalmen, 140 p., + 8 Plates, 210
x 297 mm, 1996, ISBN 978-2-503-50526-8 (German text)
2. S. Richter (ed.) The Manichaean Coptic Papyri in the Chester Beatty Library. Psalm Book Part II, 2 Die Herakleides-Psalmen. 134 p., + 4 plates, 210 x 297 mm, 1999 (German text)
3. N.A. Pedersen (ed.) Manichaean Homilies 260 p., 210 x 297 mm, 2006,ISBN 978-2-503-51045-3 (English text).
Series Latina
1. H.G. Schipper, J. Van Oort (eds.) Sancti Leonis Magni Romani Pontificis, Sermones et Epistolae. Fragmenta selecta, 210 p., 210 x 297 mm, 2001, ISBN 978-2-503-51160-3 (English text)
2. Augustinus, Contra Fortunatum, F. Decret and J. van Oort (eds.)VIII+124 p., 210 x 297 mm, 2005, ISBN 978-2-503-51324-9 (French text)
Series Subsidia
1. G. Mikkelsen (ed.) Bibliographia Manichaica. A Comprehensive Bibliography of Manichaeism through 1996, 360 p., 210 x 297 mm, 1997, ISBN 978-2-503-50653-1
2. S. N. C. Lieu, S. Clackson, E. Hunter (eds.) Dictionary of Manichaean Texts. Volume I: Texts from the Roman Empire(Texts in Syriac, Greek,Coptic and Latin) 262 p., 210 x 297 mm, 1999, ISBN 978-2-503-50819-1 (English text)
3. D. Durkin-Meisterernst (ed.) Dictionary of Manichaean Texts. Volume III,1: Texts from Central Asia and China (Texts in Middle Persian and Parthian) XXX+428 p., 210 x 297 mm, 2004, ISBN 978-2-503-51776-6
(English text)
4. F. de Blois, N. Sims-Williams, E.C.D. Hunter (eds.) Dictionary of Manichaean Texts. Volume II: Texts from Iraq and Iran (Texts in Syriac, Arabic, Persian and Zoroastrian Middle Persian) XIV+157 p., 210 x 297 mm, 2006, ISBN 978-2-503-51862-6 (English text)
5. G. Mikkelsen, Dictionary of Manichaean Texts in Chinese = Dictionary of Manichaean Texts III/4, XXXV+193p. 210 x 297 mm, 2006 (2007), ISBN 978-2-503-51863-3 (English text)
Volume submitted for assessment or in preparation:
A considerable number of volumes are currently under consideration and at various stages of completion. These include for the Series Latina: Augustinus, Contra Adimantum, Contra Epistulam Fundamenti, and De Moribus Manichaeorum, for the Series Graeca (or Subsidia) Greek and Latin Sources on Manichaean Cosmogony and Ethics,
for the Series Turkica: 3 vols. Theological, Ecclesiastical and Liturgical Texts, and for the Series Archaeologica (or Sinica) Manichaean and Nestorian Remains in Medieval Zayton.
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