Apocalypses Real and Alleged in the Mani Codex

7/27/2019 Apocalypses Real and Alleged in the Mani Codex

1/15

Apocalypses Real and Alleged in the Mani Codex

Author(s): David FrankfurterSource: Numen, Vol. 44, Fasc. 1 (Jan., 1997), pp. 60-73Published by: BRILLStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/3270382.

Accessed: 15/09/2014 23:34

Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of the Terms & Conditions of Use, available at.http://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsp

.JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range of

content in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new formsof scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact [email protected].

.

BRILLis collaborating with JSTOR to digitize, preserve and extend access to Numen.

http://www.jstor.org

This content downloaded from 130.49.198.5 on Mon, 15 Sep 2014 23:34:04 PMAll use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions
http://www.jstor.org/action/showPublisher?publisherCode=baphttp://www.jstor.org/stable/3270382?origin=JSTOR-pdfhttp://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsphttp://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsphttp://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsphttp://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsphttp://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsphttp://www.jstor.org/stable/3270382?origin=JSTOR-pdfhttp://www.jstor.org/action/showPublisher?publisherCode=bap


2/15

APOCALYPSES

REAL AND

ALLEGED

IN THE MANI

CODEX1

DAVID

FRANKFURTER

Summary

The

florilegium

f

revelations

hatMani adduces s

proof

f

his

own

authority

n

theCologneMani Codexhas stimulatedesearchnto hecirculationnd nfluence

of

Jewish

pocalypses

mong

he various

Jewish-Christian

ects of late

antiquity.

But it

has also

proved

frustrating,

ince not

one of the

apocalyptic

texts hat

Mani

quotes

matches xtant

pocalypses

n the name of

Enoch, Adam,

Seth,

or

Enosh.

Considering

he breadth

f the Enoch iterature

ow

known rom

extual

and

patristic

ources,

ncluding

anichaean

iterature,

he

bsence

of a

parallel

or

Mani's

Enoch- quotation

ay

e

reason o

suspect

hatMani nventedhis

uotation

as well

as the

others.

This

paperproposes

n

interpretation

f Mani's

apocalyptic

florilegium

hat

epends

not

on the

historicalxistence f the

putative

exts uton

Mani's

own

distinctive

cheme f

propheticineage

nd

authority.

t is

argued

hat

Mani's universalist

iew

of mission nd

religion

ed him o revise

xisting

chemes

of

Jewish

evelatory

eroes hatwere raditionalo Jewishnd

Jewish-Christianects

and that

nvoked

he

patriarchs

onstitutivef Jewish

dentity,

ike

Abraham,

oses,

and

Elijah.

In

contrast,

ani

promotes

is

relevation's

cumenical

ppeal

by casting

himself

n

a line of biblical

figures

ho

in

the ate

antique

worldhad

especially

universalist

ignificance:

dam, Seth,

and Enoch

(all

antediluviannd

therefore

pre-covenantal)

nd Paul

(Mani's

model f an

ecumenical

missionary).

For those cholarsnterestedn the life-contextf Jewishpoca-

lypses

n

antiquity

ani's

odd ittle

utobiography,

On

the

Origin

f

His

Body,

as

proved

tself veritable indfall.2orhere

mong

he

various

eminiscences

f

Mani's ife

he

disciple

araies

uoted

Mani

explicitly

nvoking

apocalypses

f

Adam,

ethel, nosh, hem,

nd

Enoch.

If the

Mani codex

had

already

astly

xpanded

ur knowl-

edge

of

the ncient ewish-Christian

roup

he

Elchasaites,

hen

Mani

through

araies

revealed

heir

ibrary

atalogue.

Or

did he?

I would

ike

to

suggest

hat his

highly

esirable

s-

sumption

ay

be

premature

ndthat his

florilegium

f

apocalyptic

?

Koninklijke

rill,

eiden

1997)

NUMEN,

Vol.

44

This content downloaded from 130.49.198.5 on Mon, 15 Sep 2014 23:34:04 PM

All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions
http://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsphttp://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsphttp://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsp


3/15

Apocalypses

eal and

Alleged

n

theMani

Codex

61

incipits

ssembled

y

Mani

might

e

governed-at

east

n

part-by

an ideological cheme. want t leasttolayoutthepossibilityhat

the

florilegium's

lleged

sources

were

nvented

or

he

purpose

f

locating

Mani

in the

ineage

f

a

particularype

f

revelatory

ero.

I.

Problems

n the Sources

of

the

Florilegium

Let

us look first

t the

framing

aterial

n which

he

lleged poc-

alypses

ppear:

[Thus]

first

dam

...]

said

[in]

his

Apocalypse]:..

Likewise,

lso

Sethel,

his

son,

has writtenhus n

his

Apocalyps

,

saying:

I

opened

my yes

and beheld efore

my

face

an

angel],...

Again

n

the

Apocalypse

f

Enosh

t reads

hus:

In thethird

ear,

n the

tenth

month,

went ut for

walk nto

hedesert

and,...

Likewise,

lso,

Shem

poke

n this

way

n

his

Apocalypse:

..

Again

Enoch

spoke

n

this

way

n

his

Apocalypse:

..

Likewise

we know

hat he

apostle

Paul was

snatched

p

to thethird ea-

ven,

..

In

conclusion,

ll

themost lessed

postles,

aviors,

vangelists,

nd

prophets

of thetruth-each f them eheld nsofars the ivinghopewas revealed o

him

for

proclamation.

nd

they

wrote

own,

bequeathed,

nd stored

p

for

remembrance

or

the]

futureons of

the

divine]

pirit,

who will

understand

the

ense

of

[his]

voice.3

It

is

quite

obvious,

rom form-critical

erspective,

hat his

ist s

not

a

libraryatalogue.

ven

f

the

ntroductoryhrases

nd

the c-

curate

uotation

f

he

aulinematerial

ight

mply

he

rior

iterary

existence

f the

estimonies,

he

ext

owhere

ives

ny

xplicit

ndi-

cation fdocumentingooksreadamong heElchasaites rothers.4

The

ist

functions,ather,

o

ground

ani's

wn

oncept

f

author-

ity

n

a

sacred

ineage

f

predecessors.

his

function

merges

ost

vividly

n

the

reface

nd onclusion

othe

ist:

...

[E]ach

one

of

theforefathers

howed

is

own

pokalypsis

o his

elect,

which

he chose

and

brought

ogether

n that

eneration

n

which e

appeared,

ndhow

he

wrote

it)

and

bequeathed

it)

to

posterity

..

Also

in

this

way,

t

s

fitting

or

he

ll-praiseworthy

postle

Mani),

through

whom

nd from

whom

has

come

to us

the

hope

nd

nheritance

f

ife,

o

write

tous ...5




4/15

62

David

Frankfurter

The

ist

goesbeyond

mere

ineage

oreflecthe

ntrinsic

mportance

ofturningne's revelationsntotext.Morethan imply rivileged

to

meet

angels

and

tour

heaven,Adam,

Sethel,

nd

the

restwere

specifically

nstructedo write

own their

evelations.

n

a

world

replete

with

egends

f

prophets,

ral

teachings

f

prophets,

nd ru-

mors

f

new

prophets

ani

put pecial

mportance

n the

book

as

the

guarantee

f authentic

nd

authoritativeevelation.6

nd,

ince

Mani

criticized

oroaster,

he

Buddha,

nd

Jesus

or ot

writing

own

heir

ipsissima

erba,

Jewish

pocalypsesmay

have

nitially

tood

s

the

paradigmsfproperlyecordedeavenlyeachings.7heir motional

call-narratives

nd

glorious

upernatural

magery

choed

Mani's own

intense

eligious

xperiences

f

his

heavenly

win. But even

more,

their

elf-conscious

cribality

ith

ts ntrinsic

mplication

f

heav-

enly

uthority

resented

tself s the

uintessentialay

of

stablishing

one's

message

n

a

competitive

eligious

world.8

But

then,

rom

literary

erspective,

e are

talking

boutMani's

appeal

not o

particular

istoricalexts

ut athero

the dea

of

Jewish

apocalypses,

heir

ypical

tructuresnd

visions,

nd

their

onstruc-

tions

f

iterary

uthority.

Now,

when omeone

ays

thathe

is

quoting

omething

nd

gives

the

itle,

he

historian

ends

o

believe

hat

ook existed. he

Epistle

of

Jude,

fter

ll,

quotes

the Enochic

Book

of

the Watchers

1:9)

accurately

n

citing

what Enoch

prophesied

Jude 4).

Butthis

ind

of

assumption

an

in

many

ases be

highly

misleading.

hatfourth-

century

istoriographical

nigma

nown

s the

Historia

ugusta

ites

numerous

ooks

whose existence

s

highly

oubtful.9 nd

in

such

bibliolatrous ultures s theMiddleEast

produced,

mongwhom

themere

notion

f book or

source

arried

mythical

vertones,

he

citation f

books

could

be an

maginative

ct,

n

appeal

to the

notion

of

heavenly

r

secret

ooks

and one's

own authorial

ineage

o

such

books.'0

Why

n this

articular

ase should

we

be

skeptical

bout he

existence

f the

ited

books?

My

and

perhaps

thers'

uspicions

hat hese ooks

may

not

have

been

all

there

were

nitially

aised

y

the

uotation

rom he

apoc-

alypse of Enoch, which has no parallel in extantEnoch literature.




5/15

Apocalypses

eal and

Alleged

n

theMani

Codex

63

This

observation

ould

be

insignificant

ere

t not

for

he

normity

ofthe xtantorpus fEnochbooks ndfragments.11husonemight

begin

o

wonder,

as Mani

or

Baraies

coined

kind f

archetypal

Enoch

apocalypse,

heverisimilitude

f whichwould

be

guaranteed

by

its

similarity

o other

noch

apocalypses

f the ancient

world,

with

ome

of which

we know

Maniwas

acquainted?12

And

since

none

of theother

apocalypses,

f

Adam, Seth,

or

Enosh,

match

nown

seudepigrapha

ither,

ight

hey

oo

be made

up

along

he ame

ines-

pretending

o

be the

evelatory

estimonies

of antediluvianeroeswhom nyone f that eriodwouldhaveex-

pected

o issue

apocalypses?

At

this

point

one

needs

to

propose

ome kind

of rationale or

the

nvention

f

apocalypses

n these

figures'

ames. And this

ra-

tionale

must

ie in Mani's

selection

f antediluvian

igures.

The

scholar

of

early

Judaism,

or

example,

ould

hardly

void notic-

ing

that

fairly arge

corpus

of

pseudepigrapha

n

the names

of

post-diluvian

igures-Abraham,

oses, saiah,

Zephaniah,

aruch,

Ezra-thatwereprobablyirculatinguitewidely y

thethird

en-

tury

ave not

been

quoted

n

Mani's

florilegium.

hat

meaning

might

we infer

rom

selection

f revealers

ctive

efore

he

flood?

II.

Themes

n theConstruction

f

the

Florilegium:

he

Genealogy f

the

True

Prophet

One

must

egin

with

he

traditionf therevealer-list

tself,

pon

which

Mani's

apocalyptic

lorilegium

eems

o

be based.

Scholars

f

Mani andhisworldhavenoted hestrongnfluencef that ncient

Semitic

notion

f

the

True

Prophet,

divinemediator

igure

e-

lievedto

rest

upon

certain

igures

n

history

t intervals

ontinuing

up

through

he

nd

of theworld.14

he idea of

a chainof

especially

privileged

eers

ecame

articularly

opular

mong

ewish-Christians

of

the

Middle

East,

who

employed

t

to describe

he

nature

f

the

di-

vine

presence

n Jesus.

or

example,

iscussions

f theTrue

Prophet

in the

Pseudo-Clementine

exts ffer he

ist:

Adam,

Enoch,Noah,

Abraham,saac,

Jacob,

nd

Moses.15 mong

he

lchasaites

oothere




6/15

64

David

Frankfurter

was

the

view,

according

o

Hippolytus,

that here s one

[Christ]

aboveandthat e is infusedntomany odiesfrequentlynd now s

inJesus. 16

piphanius

dds that he

heavenly igure

oncerned

is a

spirit

nd

stands bove

the

ngels...

He

comes nto he

worldwhen

he

wishes,

forhe

came into

Adam and

appeared

o the

patriarchs

clothed

with

body.

He is the

same who went o

Abraham,

saac

and

Jacob

nd who came at the nd

of

the

imes

n

human orm

s

Jesus.

n

its

emphasis

n

Abraham

nd often

Moses,

n

its

echoes

of

the

peregrinations

f Wisdom

n Ben

Sira,

n

its

very

asis n the

BookofDeuteronomy,heTrueProphetradition ust e said to be

Jewish

n

essence.'8

The

prophet

lchasai

himself,

ounderfMani's

birth-community,

seems

o have

been

viewed

n

Elchasaite

raditions an

avatar f the

True

Prophet.

ndeed,

here

s

some

vidence

hat

he

lchasaites

ook

Mani as

theFalse

Prophet,

heTrue

Prophet's egative

ounterpart

in the

nd-times.19

o

in

one senseMani understoodis own

position

in the

hain

f

patriarchs

n

quite

raditional

erms: e s

the

ecipient

of

greatmysteries

nd

secrets

evealed

y

his

heavenly

Twin

just

as

the

antediluvian

eers had encountered

hem

with

ngels.20

And

here Mani's

development

f the True

Prophet

radition ade

a

crucial

addition:

the

revelatoryineage

consisted

ot

simply

f

legendary

appearances

as

in

thePseudo-Clementine

exts)

ut of

legendary

pocalypses,

exts n which

the seers had recorded

he

wisdom

hey

had

received,

tandingymbolically

s

monumentso

each

encounter

ith

he

heavenly

orld.21

By

the

hird

entury

E

the erm

pokalypsis

adcome

o

be reified

as a

category

f iteraryenre.We see this evelopmentn therefer-

ence

titles

f the

Nag

Hammadi

ibrary,

n

the

omplaint

f

Synesius

of

Cyrene

hat

eople

around

imwere

producing

dreams hat

hey

call

apocalypses,

hich

illed

im

with

read,

nd

n

the

witness f

Porphyry

o

apokalypseis

fZoroaster

ndZostrianus

ndNicotheus

and

Allogenes

nd

Messus

and other

eople

of

thekind. 22

ut this

reification

f

apokalypsis

id notrendert

as

some

mundane

pecies

of codex.

ForthePseudo-Clementine

omilies

he rue

pokalypsis

is what s untaught, ithout isions nddreams,what becomes




7/15

Apocalypses

eal

and

Alleged

n the

Mani

Codex

65

known ot

by

nstructionut

understanding,

nd which

hereby

is-

tinguisheshe ust andpurefrom heunjust nd impious ecipient

of

heavenly

nowledge.23

n Mani's

usage apokalypsis

onstitutes

model

for the disclosure f

heavenly

ecrets,

ringing

ogether

n

one

concept

heaffective

mpact

f

revelation

n

the

seer,

he

self-

authenticating

ature f the

lleged

xperience

nd the

nsuing

ext,

and

the

egendary

reparation

f

that

ext s a

sacred

bject

ransmit-

ted

amonggenerations.

The

mpact

f

his

dealized

ense

f

pokalypsis

merges

n

Mani's

other rucial hange o theTrueProphetineage.Deeply nfluenced

by

Marcionite

otions f

biblical

heology

nd

authority

ani

had

once

come nto

onflict ith he

lchasaites verhis

ppeal

o

Pauline

and

other Gentile

cripture,

here

he Elchasaites

ave

primary

authority

o

texts,

iblical

nd

extracanonical,

hat

were

firmly

ooted

in

Judaism

ndJewish-Christian

radition.24

uthow

hen ouldMani

reconcile

his fascination

ith he True

Prophet

raditionr

with

Jewish

pocalypticism

ith

is neo-Marcionite

deology?

Mani

must

have

understood ewish

pocalypses

nd their eers

ndependently

f

the

Jewish

iblical radition

in

its

broad

ense).25

And it

is in

this

separation

f

apocalypticism

rom

ts Jewish

asis that

he

essential

Jewish

atriarchs

f

the True

rophet

radition-and

ndeed f

most

extant

pocalypses-were

hoved

side

n favor f more

mysterious,

antediluvian

atriarchs

ike

Adam, eth,

nd Enoch.

IlL.

The

Significance

f

the

Antediluvianeer in the

Manichaean

Mission

Antediluvian

eroeshad

become,

n

early

Judaism,

he

putative

discoverers

nd

spokesmen

orwhatever reas of

knowledge

were

not

obviously

iblical

and

sometimes

atently

oreign:

strology,

alchemy,magic.26

n this

way by

Mani's era these

particular

e-

brew

igures

ad achieved

place

among

hemost

mportant

f

a vast

number

f

egendary

eers n the

Mediterranean

orld,

ike

Zoroaster,

Hermes

Trismegistos,

ystaspes,

stanes,

nd

such

namesas have

come

down

o us

only

n the

ncipits

o

magical

pells.27




8/15

66

David

Frankfurter

With

uch

ssociations,

ntediluvian

igures

and

their

lleged

writ-

ings)couldfunctionmuchbetters ecumenical-pan-Mediterrane-

an--culture-heroes

even

syncretizing

ith

ther

cumenical

ulture

heroes),

han he

patriarchs

nd

prophets,

hose

deep,

covenantal

links

o

Jewish

and

Jewish-Christian)

dentity

nd

religious

oncerns

constituted

n

integral

art

f

their

egends.

phraem yrus

nd

Au-

gustine

f

Hippo

make clear that

Manichaeans ad no

use forthe

Hebrew

rophets,

od,

or Bible

n

general

nd

that he ect

actually

put

much

higher

tore

n

Sibylline,

ermetic,

nd

Orphicwritings,

whichrepresentedkindofrevelatoryclecticism ndecumenism

that

was basic

to theManichaeanmovement.28

Certainly

brahamould

omeoff

s a

legendarystrologer,

oses

as a

legendary

agos.

Butfrom

n

ancient

ewish-Christian

erspec-

tive,

or

in

Mani's

particular

deological

world,

hese

figures

were

inseparable

rom

he

Jewish raditions

hrough

hich he

Babylonian

sects

defined

hemselves.29 ne

could

scarcely

magine

zra

being

credited

ith

n

ecumenical

message;

nd theHebrew

rophets,eg-

endary

rusaders

or he

worship

f the

one

god

YHWH,

were of-

ten

singled

ut fordisdain

n Manichaean

radition.30 ntediluvian

figures

ould,

to be

sure,

ppear

s Jewish

ulture

eroes--even

s

proto-priests-in

arly

Jewish

pocalypses

ike

Enoch ndJubilees.

But

their

iteraryntiquity

eems o haverendered

hem

afe

for

c-

umenical

ppropriation--even

agnetic

n

their

otential

or

pan-

Mediterranean

uthority.

hus

a

figure

ike

Enoch or Seth

could be

brought

ogether

ith he

Greco-Egyptian

ermes

Trismegistos;

n

Apocalypse

f Adam

from

ag

Hammadi

rounds particularly

c-

umenical ompendiumfsavior raditionsrom round heMediter-

ranean

world;

nd Seth

functions

s a

primary

nostic evealer

n

three

Nag

Hammadi

ractates

nd

as the

ole

object

f

a Manichaean

hymn

rom

gypt.3'

t is

precisely

his

cope

of

revelatory

uthority

that

Manichaeans

oth

njoyed

nd

promoted.32

We

must

lso

recognize

hat

ach antediluvian

atriarch

n Mani's

apocalyptic

lorilegium

s

cast

as

a kind of

apostle

to

outsiders.33




9/15

Apocalypses

eal and

Alleged

n

theMani

Codex

67

Indeed,

t was not

ust

Marcionite ttitudes hat

ed

Mani

to af-

filiate imselfwith lineageofpre-Jewishatriarchs.Mani's en-

tire

elf-image

as

as

missionary

o the

world,

s

one

spreading

a

religion

cross all

ethnic

oundaries. t is of

particular

mpor-

tance

hat

his

very

lorilegium

oncludeswith he

xample

f

Paul's

ascent,

for

Paul and his own

self-consciously

cumenical

mission

provided

Mani

with

his

greatest

model.34Mani

(and

consequently

Manichaeism)

onceived

imself s the

culminationf

all

religions,

an

apostle

o

thecosmos

at

large,

nd

thus

ranscendent

f

all

par-

ticular octrinesndreligions.5He would,ndeed, ignalhisfurther

shift

rom he

Elchasaites'

uasi-Jewish

rame f referencen

plac-

ing

himself

n

prophetic

uccession

with

oroaster nd

Buddha.36

In

all

these endeavorsMani

departed

rom he

essentially

ewish

Christianity

f the

Babylonian

ects,

rom

heir

pocalyptic

iterature

and

True

Prophet

ineages,

rom hat

ntire

enus

of Hebraistic

identity

hat

lsewhere

ought

evelatoryuthority

n

Testamentsf

Abraham,saac,

and

Jacob

r

apocalypses

f saiah or

Zephaniah.37

It

was, ronically,recisely

his Hebraistic

hristianity

hat eems

to

have

dominated

he

Egyptian

h6ra

ntowhich

Manichaeanmis-

sions

moved

n the

ater hird

entury

E;

and a

hymn

rom ne of

these

Egyptian

Manichaean

ommunities

rings

heManichaean

e-

jection

of

post-diluvian

iblical

heroes

nto tark elief.The

hymn

holds

up

the dentical

eries f antediluvianeroes s

appears

n

the

CMC's

apocalyptic

lorilegium-Adamhrough

noch-but now as

paragons

f

fortitudender

tress,

s

martyrs.38

he

significance

f

this

martyrologicalequence merges

gainst

he ontrast

f

contem-

poraneous

hristian

martyrological

iterature

particularly

hat iter-

ature

n circulation

n

Egypt

nd North

Africa),

which

ommonly

cast

theHebrew

rophets

s

proto-martyrs

nd derived

he ranscen-

dent

powers

of

martyrdom

rom,

specially, ost-diluvian

iblical

tradition.

ne

reads n such iterature

f

enthusiastic

artyrs

laim-

ing

the

names f

prophets,

egends

f

prophets'

martyrdoms,

isions

and ascents

redited

o

martyrs.39

he Manichaean

ymn,

hich x-

tendsfrom

he antediluvian

eroes o

a

series

of

apostolic

martyrs,




10/15

68

David

Frankfurter

thus

raws

pon

he

ypicallyhird-century

bsessionwith

martyrdom

while till efusingo exalt nybut ntediluvianeers.

IV

Conclusions

Perhaps

Mani's

most uccinct

xpression

f this

cumenical,

an-

religious cope

appears

t the nd

of

the

Kephalaia:

The

writings

ndthewisdom

nd the

pocalypses

ndthe

parables

ndthe

psalms

f ll

earlier

religions]

ere

athered

verywhere

nd

ame o

my

re-

ligion]

ndwere dded

o

hewisdom hich

revealed.

s

water ill

e

added

towaterndbecomesmuchwater,o were he ncientooks ugmentedy

mywritings

ndbecame

great

isdom,

he ike fwhich

as

not

roclaimed

(hitherto)

n

all

ancient

enerations.40

Ancient

ooks,

s

Mani conceives

hem,

re

precursors

o

his

own

revelation.

But

even

more,

heir

nternational

ature- of all

earlier

religions] -immediatelyositions

im

beyond

Judaism

r

Jewish-Christian

dentity.

ntediluvian

atriarchs

nd their

utative

writings

ould serve his

positioning;

ost-diluvian

atriarchs

ho

taughtbout ovenantndpriestlyurityorreceiveduch eachings

from

ngels)

wouldnot.

What

then

does

this

paper uggest

bout

Mani's

apocalypses?

t

offers

literary-or, eally,

deological--context

n which he

poca-

lyptic

lorilegium

ight

unctionven

without

eferring

o

historically

extant

exts.

That

s,

the

florilegium

ould

onstitute

nly

hemost

general

llusion

o

apocalyptic

exts

n

historicalirculation.

t

was

produced

ot o document

ibrary oldings

r

sources

onsulted ut

rather ith he sheer nterestsfself-promotionithin sacred in-

eage

of

revealers,

evealers

ho,

n

Mani's

view,

ppropriately

rote

down

heirwisdom.

Mani-through

araies-thus

chosenot he

pa-

triarchs

f the

True

Prophet

radition,

ewish

atriarchs

n

whose

names we

have numerous

xtant

pocalypses,

ut

an

antediluvian,

pre-Jewish

istof

patriarchs

ho

might ymbolize

is

ecumenical,

pan-religious

uthority.

This

s

no conclusive

rgumentgainst

hehistorical

xistence f

the

cited

textswithin

Mani's

own

literarymilieu;

but

it

is at the




11/15

Apocalypses

eal and

Alleged

n the

Mani

Codex

69

very

east

corrective

gainst iewing

he ist

uncritically

s

a

major

witness o theuse of apocalypsesn antiquity. ather, e maybe

looking

t

a more ubtle

oncept

f

apocalyptic

ext

n

ate

antiquity,

in

which

he

production

f

a

book

becomes

necessary

omponent

of

a seer's

egend.

University

f New

Hampshire

DAVID

RANKFURTER

Department

f

History

Durham,

H

03824-3586,

USA

1

A

previous

ersion f

this

aper

was

presented

o theManichaeism

roup

fthe

Society

f Biblical

Literature,

995 Annual

Meeting, hiladelphia

A.

am

grateful

for

he omments

f

Martha

immelfarb,

illiam

dler,

nd

specially

ohn

eeves,

whose

forthcoming

ook

Heralds

of

That

Good

Realm

Leiden:

Brill)

will

provide

the

most

omplete

nalysis

o date

of the ext nder

iscussion.

2 In

general

n the

Cologne

Mani Codex

nd ts

ignificance

ee Albert

enrichs

and

Ludwig

Koenen,

Ein

griechischer

ani-Codex

P.

Colon.

nv.

nr.

780),

ZPE

5

(1970):

97-217;

Albert

enrichs,

Mani and the

Babylonian aptists:

historical

confrontation,

SCP

77

(1973):

23-59;

Ludwig

Koenen,

From

Baptism

o the

GnosisofManichaeism, heRediscoveryfGnosticism,ed.Bentley aytonNu-

men

upp

41;

Leiden:

Brill,

981),

734-756;

thamar

ruenwald,

Manichaeismnd

Judaism

n

Light

f

the

Cologne

Mani

Codex,

PE 50

(1983):

29-45;

and

the on-

ference

olume

Codex

Manichaicus

oloniensis:

Atti el

Simposio

nternazionale,

ed.

Luigi

Cirillo

Cosenza:

Marra,

986).

3

CMC

48.16-18;

50.8-12; 52.8-13; 55.10-12;

58.6-8;

60.13-16,

d. &

tr.

Ron

Cameron

nd Arthur

.

Dewey,

The

Cologne

Mani Codex:

Concerning

he

Origin

of

His

Body ,

SBLTT 15

(Missoula

MT: Scholars

ress,

1979),

36-49

following

edition

f

Albert enrichs

nd

Ludwig

Koenen,

Der

K61ner

Mani-Kodex

P.

Colon.

inv.

nr.

780],

ZPE 19

[1975]: 1-85).

4

Compare,

.g.,

a

library

ist n theAshmolean

Museum,

Oxford:

P.

Ash.

nv.

3,

ed.

C.H.

Roberts,

Two Oxford

apyri,

NW

37

(1938):

185-188.

A

closer

analogue

o

Mani's

list

might

e that n

4

Macc 18:

10-19,

sp.

14-18,

n which

biblical

heroes

re listed

n their

apacities

s

authors.

am

indebted

o Pamela

Eisenbaum

or

his eference.

5

CMC

47.1-16;

62.9-63.7,

d. & tr.

Cameron/Dewey,

ologne

Mani

Codex,

36-37,

48-51.

6

This

privileging

f

thebook

certainly

ad

much roader

ate

antique

urrency:

see,

for

xample,

Geo

Widengren,

heAscension

f

the

Apostle

nd the

Heavenly

Book,UppsalaUniversitetsrsskrift950: 7 (Uppsala:Lundequistska,950).




12/15

70

David

Frankfurter

7

H.-J.

olotsky

nd Carl

Schmidt,

ephalaia

1

(Manichaische

andschriftener

staatlichen useen,Berlin1; Stuttgart940),7.27 ff. See also JesP. Asmussen,

Manichaean

iterature,

ersian

Heritage

eries

22

(repr.

elmar

NY:

Scholars'

Fac-

similes

nd

Reprints,

975),

12,

15-16.

8

Cf. Henri-Charles

uech,

Le

manichdisme:

on

fondateur,

a

doctrine

Paris:

Mus6e

Guimet,

949),

66-67;

Henrichs,

Mani

and

the

Babylonian

aptists,

8-

29,

and

L.J.R.

Ort,

Mani's

Conception

f

Gnosis,

e

Origini

ello

Gnosticismo

(Colloquio

di Messina 13-18

Aprile

966,)

ed.

Ugo

Bianchi

Numen

upp

12;

Lei-

den:

Brill,1970),

606-607;

John .

Reeves,

Jewish

seudepigrapha

n

Manichaean

Literature:

he

Influence f

the

Enochic

Library,

racing

he

Threads:Studies n

the

Vitality

f

Jewish

seudepigrapha,

d.

John . Reeves

Atlanta:

cholars

ress,

1994),173-184.

9

See

Sir Ronald

Syme,

Bogus

Authors,

onner

Historia-Augusta-Colloquium

1972/1974

1976):

311-321.

10

Note

thatMoses

de

L6on

deployed

umerous

seudo-citations

f

secret ooks

to

ground

is Zohar n

the

bibliophilic

raditionsf

thirteenth-century

udaism,

ra-

ditions

hat hemselves

erved o locate

any

new revelation

ccording

o archaic

authorities.

ee Daniel Chanan

Matt,

ohar: the

Book

of

Enlightenment

Ramsey

NJ:

Paulist,

983),

9,

25-27.

11

n the

Testaments

f

the Twelve

atriarchs

Books

of Enoch

are

repeatedly

citedas authoritesor schatologicaletail:T.Sim.5:4; T.Levi 10:5; 14:1; 16:1;

T.Jud.

8:1;

T.Zeb.

3:4;

T.Dan

5:6;

T.Naph.

4:1;

T.Ben. 9:1.

Some

citations

ecall

materials

n Enoch

e.g.,

T.Levi

16:1

=

1

En

89:59

ff),

while thers

re

so

vague

s

merely

o

appeal

to

Enoch

writings

or

uthority

n

eschatological redictions

e.g.,

T.Sim.

5:4;

T.Jud.

18:1).

One

thus

detects oth he

authors'

articular

egard

or

the extant

Enoch

texts nd their

roader evotion o a

general

myth

f

Enoch

scripture.

ee

R.H.

Charles,

he

Books

of

Enoch,

r

1

Enoch

Oxford:

Clarendon,

1912),

xxv-lxxvi,

n

intertextual

arallels,

nd

H.W. Hollander nd

M. De

Jonge,

The

Testaments

f

the Twelve

atriarchs:

Commentary

SVTP

8; Leiden:

Brill,

1985),

39-40,

on

thematic

onsistency

mong

he

Enoch

citations.

12On Mani'sknowledge f some Enochiana ee John . Reeves,Jewish ore

in Manichaean

Cosmogony:

tudies n theBook

of

GiantsTraditions

Cincinnati:

Hebrew

Union

College

Press,

1992).

13

Although

nce

having

roposed

a

library ontaining

ritingsllegedly

u-

thored

y

thesebiblical forefathers'

among

he

Elchasaites

Jewish

ore,

208),

John

eeves

now

approaches

onclusions imilar o mine n his

forthcoming

tudy

of

Mani's

florilegium,

eralds

f

That

GoodRealm:

Syro-Mesopotamian

nosis nd

Jewish

raditions,

ag

Hammadi

tudies

Leiden:

Brill,

1996),

especially

6-17.

14

See

esp.

Hans-Joachim

choeps,

ewish

hristianity:

actional

isputes

n

the

Early

Church,

r.

Douglas

R.A.

Hare

Philadelphia:

ortress,

969),

65-71;

and on




13/15

Apocalypses

eal and

Alleged

n

the

Mani

Codex

71

the

radition's

egacy

n Mani:

Puech,

e

manicheisme,1-62,

144-146

n.241;

Hen-

richs,Maniand theBabylonian aptists, 4-55;MichelTardieu, e manicheisme

(Paris:

Presses

universitaires

e

France,

1981),

19-25;

Jarl ossum,

The Name

of

God

and

the

Angel

of

the

Lord

(Tilbingen:

Mohr/Siebeck,

985),

158-162;

and

Reeves,

Pseudepigrapha,

74.

15

Ps-Cl

Hom

17.4.3;

Rec

2.47.

16

Hippolytus,

ef

10.29.2,

ed. & tr.

A.F.J.

Klijn

and G.J.

Reinink,

atristic

Evidence

or

Jewish-Christian

ects,

NovT

Supp

36

(Leiden:

Brill,

1973),

122-123.

Cf.

Ref

9.14.1.

17

Epiphanius,

an.

30.3.4-5,

d.

&

tr.

Klijn/Reinink,

atristic

vidence,

78-179.

18

See

Lucien

Cerfaux,

Le

vrai

prophite

es

Cl6mentines,

echerches

e sci-

encereligieuse 8 (1928): 160-162, ndesp.Fossum, he NameofGod, 111-159,

on

filiation

ith

Jewish

Prophet

fter

Moses.

In Ps-Cl

Rec 3.61 a

list

of ten

ux-

taposed

good

and

evil)

pairs

lso reflects basis

n

Jewish

radition:

xtending

from

Abel

(vs.

Cain)

to Christ

vs.

Antichrist),

he ist

ncludes

Abraham,saac,

Jacob,

nd

Moses before

heSon of

Man, Peter,

nd

the

sower

f

the

word. Han

Drijvers

rgues

hat,

more han

ust

Jewish-Christian,

heTrue

Prophet

iscourses

are

actually

nti-Marcionite

olemics,making

Mani's own

dependence

n this ra-

dition

ll

themore

ronic: Adam nd

theTrue

Prophet

n the

Pseudo-Clementines,

Loyalitdtskonflikte

n

der

Religionsgeschichte.

estschrift

iir

Carsten

Colpe,

ed.

C. Elsas andH.G. KippenbergWirzburg:K6nigshausen Neumann,990),314-

323

[=

Drijvers,

istory

nd

Religion

n Late

Antique

yria

London:

Variorum,

1994),

XIV].

19

Ludwig

Koenen,

Manichaean

Apocalypticism

t the

Crossroads f

Iranian,

Egyptian,

ewishnd

Christian

hought,

odexManichaicus

oloniensis,

86-291;

John

.

Reeves,

The

Elchasaite'

anhedrin f the

Cologne

Mani Codex n

Light

of

Second

Temple

Jewish ectarian

ources,

JS

2

(1991):

88-91.

20

Gedaliahu

troumsa,

Esotericismn Mani's

Thought

nd

Background,

odex

Manichaicus

oloniensis,

55.

21

The

subsequently

ore stablished

ist,

wherein ani follows

esus, oroaster,

andtheBuddha,will mplyMani'ssuperiorityyvirtue fhishaving ixed isactual

teachings

n

writing.

22

Synesius,

p.

54;

Porphyry,

Plotini 6. See in

general

Morton

mith,

On

the

History

f APOKALYPTQ

and

APOKALY,

IS,

Apocalypticism

n

theMediter-

ranean

World nd the

Near

East,

ed.

David

Hellholm

Tiibingen:

Mohr/Siebeck,

1983),

9-20.

23

Ps-Cl Hom.

17.14-18;

18.6-7

quotations

rom

7.18;

18.6).

I

am indebted o

William

Adler

for

his eference.

24

Henrichs,

Mani

and

the

Babylonian aptists,

1-53.




14/15

72

David

Frankfurter

25

That

s,

as it

encapsulated

otions f

purity,

eligious dentity

n time

and

space (including otions f covenant),nd otherworldlyediation,ll of which

might

e

appropriated

or,

occasionally

nherited)

y

Jewish-Christiansn

Syria

and Palestine

or

eligious

elf-definition.

26

As,

for

xample,

n Ps-Cl Rec 4.27

and the

Rabbinic

magical

pocalypse

Sefer

Ha-Razim.

Enoch

s

already

epresented

s such

a

culture ero

n

Jubilees

(4:17-18)

and

Pseudo-Eupolemus

apud

Eusebius,

raep.

Evang.

9.17.9);

see

James

C.

VanderKam,

noch

and

the

Growth

f

an

Apocalyptic

radition

CBQMS

16;

Washington

C: Catholic

iblical

Association,

984),

180-184.

27

See

in

general

Joseph

Bidez and Franz

Cumont,

es

mages

hellenises

-2

(Paris:

Les Belles

Lettres,

938;

repr.

New York:

Arno,

1975),

and Hans

Dieter

Betz, TheFormationfAuthoritativeraditionntheGreekMagicalPapyri, ewish

and Christian

elf-Definition

,

ed. Ben F.

Meyer

nd

E.P.

Sanders

Philadelphia:

Fortress,

982),

161-170,

36-238.

28

Augustine,

ontra

austum

3.1;

15.1;

Ephraem,

rose

Refutations

ed.

Mitch-

ell)

2.208.

See

in

general

eeves,

Heralds

of

ThatGood

Realm, -7,

12-14.

29

Abraham:

James

.

Bowley,

The

Compositions

f

Abraham,

n

Reeves

ed.),

Tracing

he

Treads,

31.

Abrahams ncluded

n

but ne

Manichaean

rophet-lineage

(out

of

twelve

xtant),

ecorded

y

the

chronographer

l-Shahrastani:ee

Tardieu,

Le

manicheisme,

2,

and

Reeves,

Heralds

of

that

Good

Realm,

11. Moses: John

G. Gager,Moses in Greco-Romanaganism, BLMS 16 (Nashville:Abingdon,

1972),

134-161,

argely

n

testimony

f

PGM. The

attempt

o

render he

patriarchs

as

ecumenical

ulture-heroes

ppears

most

prominently

mong

the

fragments

f

Judeo-Hellenistic

uthors

ike

Eupolemus

apud

Eusebius,

raep.

Evang.

9.26.1),

Pseudo-Eupolemusapud

Eusebius, bid.,

.17.2-9),

nd

Artapanus

apud

Eusebius,

ibid.,

.18.1;

9.23.1-4;

9.27.1-37).

30

On

the Manichaean

distastefor Hebrew

prophets

ee

Acta Archelai 11

(=

Epiphanius,

anarion

6.30.1-2);

bn

al-Nadim,

ihrist

.1

(tr.

Bayard

Dodge,

The Fihrist

f

l-Nadim

New

York nd London:

Columbia

University

ress,

1970],

2:794).

31ApocalypsefAdamNHCV,5) 77.26-82.28.OnEnoch-Hermesynthesesee

VanderKam,

noch

nd

the

Growth

f

n

Apocalyptic

radition,81-183,

nd

Fodor,

The

Origins

f theArabic

Legends

f

the

Pyramids,

cta

Orientalia

ungaricae

23

(1970):

340-341.

Enoch's

tatus

mong

he

Egyptian

nostic

roups

esponsible

for

he

Pistis

Sophia

and the

Books of Jeu

mplies

synthesis

ith hoth-Hermes:

see

J.T.

Milik,

The Books

of

Enoch

Oxford:

Clarendon,

976),

98-100.

Hymn

to Seth:

ed.

C.R.C.

Allberry,

Manichaean salm-Book

(Stuttgart,

938),

144-

146,

with iscussion

y

Andr6

Villey,

saumes

des

errants:

crits

maniche'ens

u

Fayyum

Sources

gnostiques

t

manicheennes: Paris:

Du

Cerf,

994),

237-246.

On

Seth-Thoth

yntheses

ee

Josephus,

nt.

1.69-71;

Gospel

of

the

Egyptians

NHC




15/15

Apocalypses

eal

and

Alleged

n

theMani

Codex

73

III.68);

Three

teles f Seth

NHC

VII,

5);

and

dditionalources

iscussedn

Walter

Scott, ermetica (Oxford:Oxford niversityress, 924-1936; epr. oulder O:

Shambhala,

985),

491-492;

Garth

owden,

The

Egyptian

ermes:

An

Historical

Approach

o the

Late

Pagan

Mind

Cambridge:

ambridge

niversity

ress,

1986),

29-31.

32

Samuel N.C.

Lieu,

Manichaeism

n

theLater Roman

Empire

nd Medieval

China:

A Historical

urvey

Manchester:

.P.,

1985),

51,

and

Koenen,

Manichaean

Apocalypticism,

88-291,

on Mani's use of a

Gnostic

Apocalypse f

Nikotheos.

Augustine

lsewhere

emarks hat

Manichaeans

nteponunt

onnullas

pocryphas

(De

Haeresibus

6.15,

CCSL

46:318).

33

A

crucial bservation

y

Martha

Himmelfarb,

Revelation nd

Rapture:

he

TransformationftheVisionaryn theAscentApocalypses, ysteriesnd Reve-

lations:

Apocalyptic

tudies ince the

Uppsala Colloquium

SPSS

9,

ed.

JohnJ.

Collins

nd

JamesH.

Charlesworth

Sheffield:

SOT

Press,

1991),

79-81.

34

See

Peter

Brown,

The

Diffusion

f

Manichaeism

n

the Roman

Empire,

Religion

nd

Society

n

the

Age

of

Saint

Augustine

London:

Faber&

Faber,

972),

94; Henrichs,

Mani

and the

Babylonian

aptists,

2-33;Tardieu,

e

manichdisme,

25-27;

and

Hans

Dieter

Betz,

Paul in the

Mani

Biography,

odex Manichaicus

Coloniensis,

15-234.

35 See CMC

104.12-105.8.

36

See Tardieu, e manichdisme,1-25.

37

Cf.

Puech,

Le

manichdisme,

2-63. On

Hebraistic

dentity

n

general

ee

Robert

Murray,

Jews,

Hebrews

nd

Christians: ome Needed

Distinctions,

ovT

24

(1982):

194-208,

sp.

205-207,

nd on its

nfluence

n

Coptic

radition,

avid

Frankfurter,

The

Legacy

of theJewish

pocalypse

n

Early

Chistian

ommunities:

Two

Regional

rajectories,

n TheJewish

pocalyptic

eritage

n

Early

Christian-

ity,

d.

by

James . VanderKam

nd WilliamAdler

Corpus

Rerum

udaicarum

d

Novum

Testamentum

11.4;Assen/Maastricht:

an

Gorcum;

Minneapolis:

ortress,

1996),

161-194.

38

Psalmof

Forebearance,

d.

Allberry,

anichaean salm-Book

, 142,

with

commentaryyVilley, saumesdeserrants,15-222.

39

On

the

nature

f

third-centuryartyrdom

deology

n

Egypt

ee David Frank-

furter,

The

Cult

of the

Martyrs

n

Egypt

efore onstantine:

he Evidence f

the

Coptic

Apocalypse

fElijah, VigChr

8

(1994):

25-47.

Compare,

n

North

frica,

Cyprian, pp.

31 and

32.

40

Kephalaia

154,

d. Carl Schmidt nd

H.J.

Polotsky,

Ein

Mani-Fund

n

Agyp-

ten,

PAW

Phil.-Hist,

1933):

86,

tr.

Kurt

Rudolph,

nosis

San

Francisco:

arper

&

Row,

1983),

335.

Documents

Apocalypses Real and Alleged in the Mani Codex