نگاهی به درون‌مایه‌هایِ همسان در: حماسۀ گیل‌گمش، سرودِ مروارید و متن‌هایِ مانوی

حماسۀ گیل‌گمش و سرودِ مروارید دو میراثِ بزرگِ بشری هستند که اثرِ نخستین در 2100 پیش از میلادِ مسیح و دومین اثر در نیمۀ دومِ سدۀ نخستِ میلادی (میانِ 50 تا 70) به نگارش درآمده است. به نظر می‌رسد این دو اثر که یکی قالبی حماسی و دیگر عرفانی دارد و ظاهراً متفاوت می‌نمایند، از درون‌مایه‌هایی همسان بهره‌مندند و هر دو در شکل‌دهیِ اندیشه‌ها و باورهایِ مانی و مانویان تاثیرگذار بوده‌ است؛ به این معنا که مادری تاثیرگذار (مادرِ حیات)، شاهزاده‌ای به فراموشی گرفتار آمده، وجودِ همزادی چون نَرْجَمیگ، قهرمانی مانندِ هرمزدبغ که به سرزمینِ تاریکی می‌تازد، وجودِ شیرچهر اژدهایی اهریمنی، لباسِ رزم برکَندن و تاج بر سر نهادن پس از رهایی از تن و جهان، وجودِ مادینه‌ای گُمراه‌کُننده و همین‌طور پدر و دختری اهریمنی (اَشَقْلون و مُردیانگ) که در پیِ گمراه‌ساختنِ سرنمونِ انسان‌ها هستند، وجودِ کشتی‌رانی رستگارکننده و آگاهی‌بخشی دلسوز (عیسایِ درخشان)، انسان‌ایزدی خورشیدگونه (مانی) و مقولۀ آزار نرساندن به حیوانات در مانویّت، همگی مقوله‌هایی است که در حماسۀ گیل‌گمش و سرودِ مروارید یافت می‌شود. نتایجِ پژوهش نشان می‌دهد که مانی و مانویان از این دو اثر که یکی به میان‌رودان تعلّق دارد و در پیوند با نژادِ سامی و دیگر به فرهنگِ پارتی اشکانی متعلّق است، تاثیر پذیرفته‌اند و در این همسانی و الگوپذیری، می‌توانیم آمیزش و تعاملِ فرهنگِ ایرانی را با دیگر فرهنگ‌ها و باورها ببینیم.

a look at the similarities of the epic of gilgamesh, the pearl song and manichaeantexts

abstract introduction the epic of gilgamesh (2100 bc) and the anthem of pearls (between 50 and 70 ad) are two precious human works that seem to have many similarities, although one is a form of epic literature and the other contains gnostic (mystical) content. in this research, these two ancient texts, namely the epic of gilgamesh and the hymn gnostic of the pearl, have been chosen for comparison. the first text belongs to mesopotamia and the other text basically belongs to the parthian-iranians; but the main concept raised in these two works is the concern that has occupied the minds of all the people of the world and that is the desire for immortality. if we think about these two works, we can see that gilgamesh makes a difficult journey for himself in order to escape death, and the prince of the pearl anthem party also goes on a very difficult journey to get the pearl (immortal soul). the same view prevails in manichaean texts. in the belief of the manichaeans, we face hormazdbagh (the fate of humans) who must travel to the darkness or the land of the devil and intermingle with it to provide the means for the ultimate defeat of the devil and bring the immortality of the soul that is trapped by the minoy (soul) of darkness.among these (epic of gilgamesh, anthem of pearls and manichaeism), there are several commonalities that connect them: the existence of the mother goddess, le double, going to darkness, a misleading female, a deceptive father and daughter, rescuing sailors, awakeners and... that we try let’s report these cases and thus reveal this point: mani, who himself lived in mesopotamia, on the one hand inherited the ancient ideas of this geography, especially gnostic beliefs, and on the other hand, apparently through his mother, who was a parthian princess, with parties and their intellectual heritage are connected. so, it is obvious that his thoughts and beliefs are connected with the epic of gilgamshe bin al-nahrin and with the anthem of the pearl, which basically belonged to the parthians. we should not forget that, especially during the arsacids era, there were very close cultural connections (religious, linguistic, commercial, art and architecture) between the parthians and mesopotamia (cf. wiedengren, 2017); therefore, it is natural for mani, raised in the parthian era, to be influenced by this integrated culture and benefit from it.  methodologyin this comparative-analytical research, we will first compare two texts, one with an epic structure, gilgamesh, and the other, the anthem of pearls, which is a gnostic (mystical) text, and we will try to find the common themes of these two texts, which are different in form; but they have similarities in content, let’s describe. after that, we will find these common features in the beliefs and thoughts of the manichaeans, paying attention to the manichaean texts, and analyze them.  discussion3-1. the fullness of the role of the mother: a short review in the epic of gilgamesh, the anthem of pearls and manichaean texts will show us that mother has an impressive and outstanding role in these texts. rishat, gilgamesh’s mother, is the one who gives gilgamesh the good news of enkidu’s arrival. also, he ensures the safety of gilgamesh and enkidu before they both go to the cedar forest. he asks the titan to protect gilgamesh. in the anthem of pearl, before the prince goes to egypt, his mother (queen of the east) sends him away. in manichaean texts, before the first human being (hormazdebagh) goes to the land of darkness, the mother of life/umm-e-hayat/bahjat (mādar ī zīndagān) puts her hand on his head and sends him to war.3.2. the anthropomorphism of the princes: gilgamesh, the prince, is a hero like a god, which is only one-third of his being is suitable for humans; but it is this small part of humanity that prevents gilgamesh from reaching immortality. just when utnapishtim asks him not to sleep for six days and six nights, he puts him to sleep. even after they give him the plant of immortality, he is unable to keep it. he sees a piece of earth just when he should be protecting the life-giving plant. there, he indulges in pleasure and immersion in water, and the snake, steals the plant that gives immortality. the parthian prince of the anthem of the pearl, is also similar to the gods. like gilgamesh, he is a human god. partian prince can be compared to gilgamesh, who both fall into sleep, drunkenness and forgetfulness and forget their godly origin. in manichaeism, there is also talk about the soul in the prison of a person, which is reminiscent of gilgamesh and the prince of parthia. this trapped spirit in the manichaean texts, like those two, is a prince who falls into darkness. he is a representation of a human being who, despite his precious soul, is trapped in the body and the world.3.3. the outstanding role of le double: one of the similar aspects of le double in the epic of gilgamesh and the anthem of pearls is the presence of le double, which attracts attention in manichaeism. in the epic of gilgamesh, we see that enkidu appears next to gilgamesh as a twin and helps him. the parthian prince also speaks of a great-grandson who is his own and has joined him. it seems that he is the twin who keeps the prince away from the material world and the impure people in the world. mani also claims that at the age of twelve, an angel named at-taûm, which in aramaic means companion and comrade, was sent to him for the first time, and after he appeared to mani at the age of twenty-four he has fought with greed and devil. it is obvious that after getting to know and meeting his le double, mani basically undergoes a transformation in his life that makes him different from before.3.4. rushing to the land of darkness: after meeting enkidu, the first thing gilgamesh does, is rush to the cedar forest, where enlil, the god of the soil and the land, has placed khumbaba, a scary demon, as a guard. gilgamesh and enkidu attack the land of demonic khumbaba and after enduring many sufferings, they finally kill khumbaba. the parthian prince also goes from the east (the place of light) to the west (the land of darkness).