Description
Book SynopsisPublished in Open Access with the support of the Swiss National Science Foundation. Winner of the Manfred Lautenschläger Award! Religion is never simply there. In Religion and the Everyday Life of Manichaeans in Kellis, Mattias Brand shows where and when ordinary individuals and families in Egypt practiced a Manichaean way of life. Rather than portraying this ancient religion as a well-structured, totalizing community, the fourth-century papyri sketch a dynamic image of lived religious practice, with all the contradictions, fuzzy boundaries, and limitations of everyday life. Following these microhistorical insights, this book demonstrates how family life, gift-giving, death rituals, communal gatherings, and book writing are connected to our larger academic debates about religious change in late antiquity.
Trade ReviewMattias Brand has produced a well-conceived and nuanced study of Manichean life in late antique Kellis that usefully brings theoretical insights to bear on textual, material, and visual evidence. I would strongly recommend this book to any historian or student interested in Manichaeism or lived religion in late antiquity. Joseph E. Sanzo, BMCR 2023
Table of ContentsAcknowledgments List of Figures and Tables Abbreviations and Translations Introduction Religion and Everyday Groupness Introduction Introducing Manichaeism Manichaeans and the Transformation of Religion in Late Antiquity Theoretical Framework: Everyday Groupness Sources and the Structure of the Book 1 Makarios’s Family: Manichaeans at Home in the Oasis Kellis in the Dakhleh Oasis Locating Makarios and Pamour: The Archaeological Context Makarios and Maria Pamour and His Brothers Other Clusters of Letters Indications of Manichaeanness Conclusions Documents Associated with the Various Family Clusters 2 Pamour’s Connections: Religion beyond a Conflict Model Egyptian Temple Religion Classical Traditions from the Greek and Roman World Celestial Power and Amulets Christian Institutions and Repertoire Manichaeans and the Roman Administration Conclusions 3 Orion’s Language: Manichaean Self-Designation in the Kellis Papyri Performing Personal Letters Self-Designation in Documentary Papyri Excursus: Coptic as a Community-Specific Language? Conclusions Appendix: List of Self-Designators in the Personal Letters 4 Tehat’s Gifts: Everyday Community Boundaries The Manichaean Ideology of Giving Five Types of Giving in the Kellis Letters The Agape, a Manichaean Ritual Meal? Conclusions 5 The Deacon’s Practice: Manichaean Gatherings with Prayer and Psalm Singing Manichaean Communal Gatherings Did Makarios Go to Church? On the Location of Manichaean Gatherings A Manichaean Monastery in the Oasis? Evoking Groupness: Teaching and Emotional Arousal through Song Conclusions 6 Matthaios’s Grief: Manichaean Death Rituals Death and the Deceased in Documentary Papyri Songs and Prayers for the Deceased Christian and Manichaean Funerary Meals Burial Practices and Material Culture Conclusions 7 Ision’s Books: Scribal Culture and Access to Manichaean Texts Copying and Circulating Books The Syriac Connection Materiality: The Ude of the Codex and Wooden Tablets Identifying Manichaean Scribes Conclusions Conclusion: Untidy History: Manichaeanness in Everyday Life Introduction When Did Manichaeism Matter? Modeling Late Antique Religion Abandoning Kellis Appendix 1: Outline of Published Documents from Kellis Appendix 2: Prosopography of Makarios’s and Pamour’s Relatives Bibliography Index of Sources Index of Names Subject Index
