In the third century CE, Mani, an inhabitant of the highly syncretistic region of Mesopotamia, claimed to receive heavenly revelations. These revelations he laid down in holy writings for his disciples, who were gathered in a ‘church’ which eventually developed into a religion, Manichaeism, that came to be spread over a vast area reaching from the Mediterranean basin to China. Everywhere, the Manichaeans translated their texts into new languages, but the Manichaeans were hated for their syncretism and extreme asceticism and were severely persecuted by Roman, Persian, Arab, and Chinese authorities. Eventually, Manichaeism became extinct, only lingering on until the 17th century in Southern China, and Manichaean literature disappeared. Only citations and summaries of this literature were formerly known from the anti-heretical writings of Augustine, of Greek and Syriac Church Fathers like Titus of Bostra and Ephrem the Syrian, and of Persian, Arab and Chinese authors. However, the study of Manichaeism has made remarkable progress since the beginning of the 20th century thanks to a series of archaeological finds of Manichaean texts and of religious buildings, paintings, and inscriptions from Central Asia, Egypt, North Africa, and Southern 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Many of the texts recovered from Central Asia and Egypt are in fragmentary condition and some are still unpublished or published only in facsimile form, and the empirical basis of Manichaean studies is therefore being extended continually. During the long period of its existence, Manichaeism interacted with many different cultures, thus being relevant for many different fields of scholarship, e.g., Patristics (especially Augustinian studies), the history of the Sassanian Empire, early Islam, the history of Central Asia and China, and several philologies and history of arts linked to these areas.
