Religion and the Everyday Life of Manichaeans in Kellis: Beyond Light and Darkness (Nag Hammadi and Manichaean Studies, 102)

"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"-- Provided by publisher Contents Acknowledgments Figures and Tables Abbreviations and Translations Introduction: Religion and Everyday Groupness Introduction Introducing Manichaeism Manichaeans and the Transformation of Religion in Late Antiquity Classifying Manichaeans Theoretical Framework: Everyday Groupness The Quotidian Turn: Toward Everyday Life Practice Theories: From Groupism to Individuals and Families From Individual Practices to Emerging Group Styles 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 Traveling with the Teacher Manichaean Prayer Formulas Conclusions Appendix: 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 Kinship Language and Ethnic Reasoning “Catechumens” and “Elect” “Those Who Give Rest” Metaphors of Belonging Ascribed Virtues Religious and Institutional Titles Did Manichaeans Call Themselves Christians? Collectives: “Those of the Household” Summary: Reflecting Sectarianism? 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 Gifts to the Elect Economic Interaction Household-Support Structures Charity to Non-elect Patronage Summary: Gift Giving at a Distance The Agape, a Manichaean Ritual Meal? Conclusions 5 The Deacon’s Practice: Manichaean Gatherings with Prayer and Psalm Singing Manichaean Communal Gatherings Occasional Gatherings Daily Rituals Weekly Services Annual Celebrations 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 Manichaean Psalms and Hymns Making Manichaeism Real Conclusions 6 Matthaios’s Grief: Manichaean Death Rituals Death and the Deceased in Documentary Papyri Songs and Prayers for the Deceased Commemorating the Departed: Supporting the Soul Deathbed Rituals Christian and Manichaean Funerary Meals Burial Practices and Material Culture Differentiating Funerary Traditions in Kellis Funerary Churches Conclusions 7 Ision’s Books: Scribal Culture and Access to Manichaean Texts Copying and Circulating Books Local Reading Practices The Syriac Connection Materiality: The Use of the Codex and Wooden Tablets Identifying Manichaean Scribes Religious Knowledge Differentiation 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