Cologne Mani codex

The first and last leaves of the codex are missing. Koenen (1986) stresses that the compiling method of the Cologne Mani Codex shows similarities with the one of Tatian’s Diatessaron (ca. 170), with which the compiler must therefore have been familiar. Both texts are compilations of texts, put into a chronological order. Sundermann (1986) highlights how the structure of the Cologne Mani Codex text, a continuing compilation of excerpts presented under the name of their author, looks like the structure of the 'Coptic church history'. In the light of a likely division of an east- and a west-Manichean literary tradition and the absence of this kind of text in the east-Manichean tradition, Sundermann suggests that these texts belong to a sort of western Manichean church history. The original text was probably written in Aramaic, as suggested by some lexical and syntactic features.