The ''Manichaean Psalm Book'' or ''Manichaean Psalter'' is a
Manichaean
Manichaeism (;
in New Persian ; ) is a former major religionR. van den Broek, Wouter J. Hanegraaff ''Gnosis and Hermeticism from Antiquity to Modern Times''SUNY Press, 1998 p. 37 founded in the 3rd century AD by the Parthian Empire, Parthian ...
text written in Coptic. It is believed to have been compiled in the late 3rd century or the mid-4th century. Excavated in 1929 as part of the
Medinet Madi library
The Medinet Madi library is a collection of Manichaean scripture, Manichaean texts discovered at Medinet Madi in the Faiyum Oasis, Faiyum region of Egypt in 1929. There is a total of seven codices, some of which have been split up and held in diffe ...
, the ''Psalm Book'' is believed to contain remnants of some of the earliest extant Manichaean literature.
History
The ''Psalm Book'' was discovered at
Medinet Madi in Egypt. Like other works discovered at this site, it was written in a Coptic
dialect typical of the
Lycopolis region. After its discovery, it was edited and published by
Charles Allberry in 1938–9 from manuscripts in the
Chester Beatty collection
The Chester Beatty Library, now known as the Chester Beatty, is a museum and library in Dublin. It was established in Ireland in 1950, to house the collections of mining magnate, Sir Alfred Chester Beatty. The present museum, on the grounds of ...
[Theodor Harmsen (27 October 2005]
Mani and Manichaeism in the BPH
Bibliotheca Philosophica Hermetica/J. R. Ritman Library and in the
Prussian Academy of Sciences.
Contents
It contains references to
Old Testament apocrypha and references the ''
Acts of Thomas'', the ''
Acts of John'', and other
Acts of the Apostles
The Acts of the Apostles ( grc-koi, Πράξεις Ἀποστόλων, ''Práxeis Apostólōn''; la, Actūs Apostolōrum) is the fifth book of the New Testament; it tells of the founding of the Christian Church and the spread of its messag ...
approvingly. It refers to some events believed to be derived from the ''
Acts of Andrew''. One of the psalms draws a line of tradition from
Adam
Adam; el, Ἀδάμ, Adám; la, Adam is the name given in Genesis 1-5 to the first human. Beyond its use as the name of the first man, ''adam'' is also used in the Bible as a pronoun, individually as "a human" and in a collective sense as " ...
through
Seth
Seth,; el, Σήθ ''Sḗth''; ; "placed", "appointed") in Judaism, Christianity, Islam, Mandaeism, and Sethianism, was the third son of Adam and Eve and brother of Cain and Abel, their only other child mentioned by name in the Hebrew Bible. A ...
and
Enoch to
Mani. One author has described one of the hymns as containing a "deep love of Jesus".
Citations
References
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
{{Authority control
3rd-century books
Enoch (ancestor of Noah)
Manichaean texts
Reception of New Testament apocrypha
Seth
Texts in Coptic
Medinet Madi library