Manichaeism, founded by the prophet Mani (216-274 CE), was once a major world religion, with followers stretching from the Roman Empire to southern China. Mani had sought to become the "seal of the prophets" and provide the final word, combining Abrahamic and pagan faiths into a final synthesis. His elaborate mythology and cosmology were influential, even if his faith did not survive, and I find it fascinating that a world religion inspired in part by the Watchers once existed but almost completely vanished. I figured that if I had difficulty finding primary source texts in English, then others likely have struggled as well. This section collects some of the major ancient and medieval sources for Manichaean cosmology available in the public domain as well as Franz Cumont's pioneering scholarship into the same.
Mani's Letters and Fragments
The Manichaean Book of Giants
Acta Archelai
Against the Fundamental Epistle (Augustine)
On the Nature of Good (Augustine)
Excerpt from the Cologne Mani Codex
Theodore Bar Konai on Heresies
The Fihrist on Manichaeans
Near Eastern Accounts of Mani
Anti-Manichaean Abjuration Formula
The Incomplete Scripture
The Xuastvanift
A Chinese Biography of Mani
The Manichaean Cosmology (Cumont)
The Seduction of the Archons (Cumont)
The Manichaean Book of Giants
Acta Archelai
Against the Fundamental Epistle (Augustine)
On the Nature of Good (Augustine)
Excerpt from the Cologne Mani Codex
Theodore Bar Konai on Heresies
The Fihrist on Manichaeans
Near Eastern Accounts of Mani
Anti-Manichaean Abjuration Formula
The Incomplete Scripture
The Xuastvanift
A Chinese Biography of Mani
The Manichaean Cosmology (Cumont)
The Seduction of the Archons (Cumont)
