Turfan
The Silk Road oasis where German expeditions found Manichaean fragments of the Book of Giants in Middle Persian, Sogdian and Uyghur.
- Location
- Turpan Depression, Xinjiang
- Modern country
- China
- Type
- Silk Road oasis; Uyghur Manichaean center (9th–11th centuries)
- Expeditions
- Four German Turfan expeditions, 1902–1914 (Grünwedel, von Le Coq)
- Finds
- Manuscripts in many languages, including Manichaean texts
- Key text
- Fragments of the Manichaean Book of Giants, published by W. B. Henning (1943)
What is Turfan known for?
Turfan, or Turpan, is an oasis in a deep basin in Xinjiang, northwest China, on the northern branch of the Silk Road. From the 9th to the 11th centuries it was a center of the Uyghur kingdom whose rulers favored Manichaeism, the religion founded by the prophet Mani in 3rd-century Persia.
Between 1902 and 1914, four German expeditions led by Albert Grünwedel and Albert von Le Coq removed thousands of manuscript fragments, wall paintings and other objects from the ruined cities and cave temples around Turfan. The texts are in many languages and scripts and are now mainly in Berlin.
Among them were fragments of Mani's Book of Giants in Middle Persian, Sogdian and Uyghur. W. B. Henning published them in 1943. Later, J. T. Milik identified Aramaic fragments of an older Jewish Book of Giants among the Dead Sea Scrolls, showing that Mani had adapted an Enochic work.
Manichaean fragments of the Book of Giants were found here by German expeditions.
Mentioned on these pages
- Rabbit holeBook of Giants
- PersonFuxi
- PersonMani
Sources
- Encyclopaedia Iranica, 'Turfan Expeditions'Reference
- Berlin-Brandenburg Academy of Sciences, 'Turfan Studies'Reference
- Wikipedia, 'German Turfan expeditions'Reference
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