Desmond Durkin-Meisterernst
Desmond Durkin-Meisterernst works in Berlin on the edition of
Iranian fragments in the Berlin Turfan Collection at the Berlin Brandenburg Academy of Sciences
and Humanities. The project is called ‘Turfanforschung’ (Turfan Studies) and is an IDP partner.
His chosen item isM
4a.
Desmond Durkin-Meisterernst writes:
One of my favourite items in the Berlin Turfan Collection is the
bifolio M
4a and in particular the right-hand side on which a small
hymn is preserved entirely. The bifolio is an exquisite example of
Manichaean book art. The scribe used an elaborate headline and
initial letter extending into the upper right margin to create a
very pleasing design. The short text is framed within rubrics in red
that identify its beginning and end. It is in Parthian, a language
from the north of Iran which probably died out in the seventh
century but which has survived because it was still used by
Manichaeans in far-away Turfan on the Silk Road in the tenth
century.
Link to original post on IDP blog.