Die Rede der Lebendigen Seele
Subtitle: ein manichäischer Hymnenzyklus in mittelpersischer und soghdischer Sprache
By: herausgegeben von Werner Sundermann ; unter Mitarbeit von Desmond Durkin-Meisterernst
Series: Berliner Turfantexte -- XXX; Berliner Turfantexte -- 30
Publisher: Brepols
Published: 2012
Place of publication: Turnhout
Language: ger; peo; eng
Translated from: peo
Number of pages: 230
ISBN-13: 9782503546278
Subjects: Pahlavi language; Texts; Manichaeism; Hymns; History and criticism; Sogdian language; Persian Religious poetry; Early works to 1800; Translations into English; Persian Manuscripts; History; Manichaens; Songs and music
Other titles: Manichäischer Hymnenzyklus in mittelpersischer und soghdischer Sprache
Description: The 'Speech of the Living Soul' is the only Middle Persian verse-cycle extensively preserved in the Turfan Collection in Berlin. It constitutes an important Manichaean text dedicated to the central Manichaean concept of the Living Soul, the light trapped in the material world which desires to return to its proper place in the paradise of light and which the Manichaeans have a duty to save. The fact that the language of the text is Middle Persian rather than Parthian suggests that it may have been made during Mani's lifetime though perhaps not by Mani himself. A small part of a Sogdian translation is also preserved. This edition presents 252 verses of the text on the basis of 54 fragments, some of which have never been published before.
Notes: Includes bibliographical references.

Editorial matter, introduction and commentaries in German; hymns in Old Persian and Sogdian translated into English