Mani and Manichaeism in Sassanid Iran

Press TV, Wed, 28 May 2008

By Hedieh Ghavidel

Statue of Mani, china

Manichaeism, presumably an offshoot of Zoroastrianism, was not only an inspiration for various heretical movements in Christianity but also dominated the religious life of Central and Eastern Asia for centuries.

Through the four centuries of Sassanid rule over Persia (224-651 CE) Zoroastrianism was the official state religion. Historians, however, have spoken of several heretical sects. One such cult was that of the Manicheans, founded by Mani at the beginning of the Sassanid era.

The founder of the new religion believed to have been the culmination of Zoroastrianism, Christianity and Buddhism was born in 216 CE in southern Babylonia of noble Persian stock.

He grew up under the careful guidance of his father who was a religious leader of a Jewish-Christian baptizing sect. At the age of twelve, Mani claimed that an angel named The Twin had instructed him in a vision to withdraw from the sect and purify himself through asceticism. The Angel later returned to young Mani, this time calling upon him to preach a new religion.

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The Sassanid founding father Ardashir came from a long line of priests and successfully united the nation under the call of religion, the restoration of which he believed to be the only means to establish a stable rule.

After his death in 242 CE, his son Shapur I inherited the new empire built on the solid foundation of faith.

In their struggle to achieve solidarity through the uniformity of belief, the Sassanids naturally favored the priesthood of one particular religion and placed special importance on its beliefs which gave rise to intolerance for other faiths.

It was at this time that Mani proclaimed a new syncretic religion which combined Christianity, Zoroastrianism, and Buddhism along with elements of Greek philosophy and Indian Jainism, at the court of the Persian monarch Shapur I in 242 CE. He was not well received and was forced to flee the country.

Continued . . .