Abstract

In this article, four unpublished Manichaean manuscripts of the Turfan collection
(M1571a, M409b, M1206 and M7380) preserved in Berlin-Brandenburg Academy of
Sciences and Humanities (BBAW) are read, translated and interpreted. The pieces
containing the Manichaean alphabet in the abecedarian order had been in fact a type of
educational handbook for the Sogdian beginners who intended to compose an
abecedarian versified text. The article deals with the abecedarian system of the
Manichaean texts as well as the reason/s for the presence of some non-abecedarian
characters, particularly the letter (after qršt) in the alphabetic lists. The techniques
which a Manichaean Sogdian scribe could apply as an option to teach the students are
also analyzed. In the appendix, a newly-found Manichaean manuscript from Neyšābūr,
which was likewise used as an educational handbook, is studied.