Book Title: Alphabet Key To History Of Mankind
Author(s): David Diringer
Publisher: Hutchinsons Scientific and Technical Publications
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THE ALPHABET On the other hand, it was carried into eastern Turkestar during the fourth century and into China at the end of the sixth century, and greatly enlarged its influence in the latter country during the seventh and eighth centuries. When the kings of the Turkish Uighurs (see the next chapter) adopted the Manichæan faith in 762, it became the official religion of that powerful empire. Even after the Uighur empire came to an end in 840, Manichæism continued to hold its own in the successor states until about the thirteenth century. In some parts of China it continued to have adherents, but later it completely disappeared. Generally speaking, the Uighur empire was the only territory where Manichism bad been favoured and not persecuted. Before the middle of the present millennium it had been utterly exterminated through the repressive measures of Christians, Mohammedans and Chinese alike.
Manes and his followers employed a clear, legible and very beautiful script known as the Manichæan alphabet(Fig. 136, col.9). A few inscriptions of magic texts on earthenware bowls are extant, but much more important are the Manichæan manuscripts of which many fragments have been found in ancient convents in eastern Turkestan (Fig. 137. 7)—and which are beautifully written on excellent paper in various coloured inks and are ornamented with surprisingly beautiful miniatures. These manuscripts are in different languages, especially in a number of Iranian dialects and in early Turki.
The origin of the Manichæan script is uncertain. It was considered by the adversaries of Manichæism to have been a secret script invented by Manes himself. This was obviously incorrect. It seems to have descended from a regional cursive variety of the Aramaic scripts, similar to the Palmyrene cursive and the parent script of the Estrangela, but it should be remembered that Manes was a great artist and undoubtedly contributed greatly to the standardization of the Manichæan alphabet P. Kokowtsov, in 1909, and J. A. Montgomery, in 1913, recognized the relationship between the Palmyrene cursive and the Manichæun script.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
W. Wright, Facsimiles of Manuscripts and Inscriptions, London, 1875-1883: A Short History of Syriac Literature, London, 1894.
Th. Naldeke, Mandeeische Grammatik, etc., Halle, 1875; Kurzgefasste syrische Grammatik, and ed., Leipsie, 1898: Beiträge zur semitischen Sprachtoissenschaft, and Neue Beitrage, etc., Strasbourg, 1904 and rgro.
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