Re: Persians, Essenes, and Biconsonantal Roots

At 22:22 02.8.2000 +0000, Leo Caesius wrote:
>(did the Jews, in fact, escape
>Kerdir's clutches?  I don't think so, although BP Jonsson might know better
>than I).
Nobody did.  Manichaeans were possibly worse off than others, sice they
were generally regarded (with some truth) as Zandiks -- heretic Zians.  It
is notable that neither Jews Xians or Muslims are ever called Zandiks.  One
would have thought that the story of the adoration of the Magi should have
laid Xians open to the accusation, but AFAIK it never happened.  BTW Kerdir
was probably successful at one point: he establlished the unorthodoxy of
Zurvanism.  Later attempts at toning down dualism (in order to make Zianism
more palatable to Muslims rather put Ahriman/Angra Mainiiu on a par with
Bahman/Vohu Manah -- which of course looks good considering the Pehlevi
forms of the names! -- as twin sons of Ohrmazd.  That interpretation is
fairly standard among Muslim Iranians, altho Parsis of course would reject
it as a Zandik position.

/BP 8^)>
--
  B.Philip Jonsson mailto:bpX@netg.se mailto:melrochX@mail.com (delete X)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Truth, Sir, is a cow which will give [skeptics] no more milk,
and so they are gone to milk the bull."
                                    -- Sam. Johnson (no rel. ;)