This almost complete sheet contains the The Great Hymn to Mani that began an anthology originally comprising about twelve texts on fifty leaves. The recto, shown here, holds the frontispiece of the manuscript, a scene of an Elect in Paradise.The Elects were the priests of Manicheanism. They dressed in white and were brought vegetarian food by the 'hearers', lay-believers. In accordance to the rule of orientation of book paintings in Manichaean books, this image is featured sideways in relation to the direction of writing on the verso.
Ink, pigments on paper
Museum für Indische Kunst, SMPK, Berlin, MIK III 8260