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Manichaean priests, writing at their desks, with panel inscription in Uyghur. Manuscript from Khocho, Tarim Basin.

Manichaeism (in Modern Persian آیین مانی Āyin e Māni) was one of the major Iranian Gnostic and dualist religions. Originally, it came from commoners in the Sassanid Empire. Most of the original writings of the founding prophet Mani (Syriac, ܡܐܢܝ, c. AD 210–276) have been lost, but many translations and fragmentary texts have survived. Manichaeism was big between the third and seventh centuries. At its height, it was one of the most widespread religions in the world. Manichaean churches and scriptures existed as far east as China and as far west as the Roman Empire. Manichaeism appears to have died out before the sixteenth century in southern China.