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The Cologne Mani-Codex (Codex Manichaicus Coloniensis) is a minuscule papyrus codex
Codex

A codex is a book in the format used for modern books, with separate pages normally bound together and given a cover. It was a Roman invention that replaced the scroll, which was the first form of book in all Eurasian cultures....
, dated on paleographical evidence to the fifth century CE, found near Asyut
Asyut

Asyut , is the capital of the modern Asyut Governorate, Egypt; there is an ancient city nearby. The modern city is located at: , while the ancient city is located at: ....
 (the ancient Lycopolis), Egypt; it contains a Greek text describing the life of Mani
Mani (prophet)

Mani was the founder of Manichaeism, an ancient gnostic religion that was once widespread but is now extinct. Mani was born of Iranian peoples parentage in Assuristan, located in modern-day Iraq, which was a part of the Persian Empire during Mani's life....
, the founder of the religious Manichaeism
Manichaeism

Manichaeism was one of the major Iranian Gnosticism religions, originating in Sassanid Persia. Although most of the original writings of the founding prophet Mani have been lost, numerous translations and fragmentary texts have survived....
. From this recent discovery, we know much more about the man who founded one of the most influential world religions of the past.

The codex became known via antique dealers in Cairo.






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The Cologne Mani-Codex (Codex Manichaicus Coloniensis) is a minuscule papyrus codex
Codex

A codex is a book in the format used for modern books, with separate pages normally bound together and given a cover. It was a Roman invention that replaced the scroll, which was the first form of book in all Eurasian cultures....
, dated on paleographical evidence to the fifth century CE, found near Asyut
Asyut

Asyut , is the capital of the modern Asyut Governorate, Egypt; there is an ancient city nearby. The modern city is located at: , while the ancient city is located at: ....
 (the ancient Lycopolis), Egypt; it contains a Greek text describing the life of Mani
Mani (prophet)

Mani was the founder of Manichaeism, an ancient gnostic religion that was once widespread but is now extinct. Mani was born of Iranian peoples parentage in Assuristan, located in modern-day Iraq, which was a part of the Persian Empire during Mani's life....
, the founder of the religious Manichaeism
Manichaeism

Manichaeism was one of the major Iranian Gnosticism religions, originating in Sassanid Persia. Although most of the original writings of the founding prophet Mani have been lost, numerous translations and fragmentary texts have survived....
. From this recent discovery, we know much more about the man who founded one of the most influential world religions of the past.

The codex became known via antique dealers in Cairo. It was purchased for the Institut für Altertumskunde at the University of Cologne
University of Cologne

The University of Cologne is one of the oldest University in Europe and, with over 44,000 students, one of the largest universities in Germany....
 in 1969, and two of its scientists Henrichs and Koenen produced a first report (1970) and the first edition of this ancient manuscript, hence known as the Cologne Mani-Codex, which they published in four articles in the Zeitschrift für Papyrologie und Epigraphik (1975-82). Many emendations and alternate readings were offered in the following decade, and it was found that some of the minute fragments associated with the codex could be successfully incorporated into the body of text. A second edition was published in 1988.

Two symposia have been devoted to the codex, and their papers published: in Rende, Calabri (1984) and in Cosenza (1988).

The text, which bears the ambiguous title "On the origin of his body", recounts Mani's introduction to the Jewish-Christian Elkesaite
Elcesaites

The Elcesaites, Elkasites, Helkesaites, Elchasai or Echasaites were an ancient Jewish Christianity sect, a subgroup of the Ebionites, in Sassanid southern Mesopotamia....
 baptising sect. Mani's teachings are revealed to him through his spiritual companion and celestial twin (his syzygos). The Greek text bears traces that shows it has been translated from an Eastern Aramaic or Old Syriac
Old Syriac

The term Old Syriac can refer to either* an early stage of the Syriac language* or the two Syriac manuscripts of the separate gospels that predate the standard Peshitta version:...
 original. The logoi
Logos

is an important term in philosophy, analytical psychology, rhetoric and religion.Heraclitus established the term in Western philosophy as meaning both the source and fundamental order of the cosmos....
 of Mani himself are repeatedly cited. That it is a compilation from earlier texts is suggested by the names, apparently of teachers. that head each section of the text.

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