PREFACE

The original texts published here, which are the property of the German Academy of Sciences in Berlin (original: "Deutsche Akademie der Wissenschaften zu Berlin"), were among the materials brought back from Chinese Turkestan by German archaeological expeditions in the early years of this century. Some of these specific texts soon attracted attention, as they represent work or works of great interest for the general understanding of Manichaeism A dualistic religious movement founded by the Iranian prophet Mani in the 3rd century AD.. However, the fragmentary nature of the material delayed its comprehensive study. Notable progress in the reconstruction of the texts was made later by Professor W. B. Henning, who was, however, unable to find the time to pursue this work himself. I have been privileged to incorporate, with appropriate acknowledgments, the material collected by him in this present edition. For the preparation of this work, he generously gave me free access to his collection of photographs of the Berlin manuscripts. This collection, although large, is not complete, but I have been able to compare its contents with the descriptive catalogue made by Dr. Lentz of the Academy collection. It seems unlikely that any important Parthian Parthian: an extinct Western Iranian language used in the Manichaean texts of Turfan strophic material is missing. The present edition was ready for the printer before it proved possible to get in touch with the Academy again; I am grateful to them for raising no objection to its immediate publication. Nevertheless, I very much regret that the manuscripts themselves were not accessible when this study was made, since photographs are in many cases a poor substitute for the originals. Care has been taken, however, to indicate all uncertain readings. When reference to the originals is possible, many of these will undoubtedly be clarified.

The basis of the present work was approved by the University of Cambridge for the degree of Ph.D. in 1952. Professor Henning acted as supervisor of my research, and I am deeply indebted to him for the advice and help that he gave unstintingly. My thanks are also due to Dr. Arthur Waley for his kindness in sparing the time to study the Chinese version of a part of these hymn-cycles, and to Dr. Wolfgang Lentz for his helpful criticisms, offered with a characteristic generosity. Professor Henning very kindly read one set of proofs, and Dr. Gershevitch helped with advice and with a part of the proofs. I am further very grateful to my friend Mrs. Maria