The Manichaean Church at Kellis : : Social Networks and Religious Identity in Late Antique Egypt / / Håkon Fiane Teigen.

• Superior document: Nag Hammadi and Manichaean studies
• VerfasserIn: Teigen, Håkon Fiane,
• Place / Publishing House: Leiden : : BRILL,, 2021.; ©2021
• Year of Publication: 2021
• Edition: 1st ed.
• Language: English
• Series: Nag Hammadi and Manichaean studies.
• Physical Description: 1 online resource (xx, 345 pages)

The Manichaean Church in Kellis presents an in-depth study of social organisation within the religious movement known as Manichaeism in Roman Egypt. In particular, it employs papyri from Kellis (Ismant el-Kharab), a village in the Dakhleh Oasis, to explore the socio-religious world of lay Manichaeans in the fourth century CE. Manichaeism has often been perceived as an elitist, esoteric religion. Challenging this view, Teigen draws on social network theory and cultural sociology, and engages with the study of lived ancient religion, in order to apprehend how laypeople in Kellis appropriated Manichaean identity and practice in their everyday lives. This perspective, he argues, not only provides a better understanding of Manichaeism: it also has wider implications for how we understand late antique ‘religion’ as a social phenomenon Readership: All interested in the history of Manichaeism, in late antique religion and religious change in the Roman Empire, the application of sociological theory to papyri, and the archaeology of Kellis.

Table of Contents

Introduction: Mani's Church and Social Life -- Life in Kellis: Society and Religion in an Oasis Town -- The Pamour Family: Familial and Economic Networks -- Village Networks: The Small World of Fourth-Century Kellis -- Manichaean Cues: Religious Identity in Everyday Life -- Manichaean Networks: The Social Networks of the Laity at Kellis -- Manichaean Books: Textual Practices, Community, and the Literary Texts -- Manichaean Rituals: Elect and Laity at Kellis -- The Manichaean Church: Elect Organisation -- Conclusion: A Church in the World.