The Gardens of Light

The Gardens of Light tells the life story of Mani, painter, doctor, and prophet born in Mesopotamia--modern day Iraq--in the early third century of the Christian era. He advocated "The Gospel of Light"--a religious system which was a mixture of Gnostic Christian beliefs, ancient Persian Zoroastrianism, Buddhism and some pagan elements. This came to be known as Manichaeism and attracted vast numbers of disciples. The mystic exercised a powerful attraction over his disciples--rulers and scholars, itinerant merchants, shippers, baptists and sages who inhabited the shores of the Tigris--and was hated by the Magi, the high priests of Zoroastrianism who felt threatened and eventually had him imprisoned, tortured and killed in 276 AD. Amin Maalouf brings life and color to the character and times of Mani. In the pages of The Gardens of Light, Mani's cry for tolerance can be heard echoing across the centuries of our times.

Binding Type: Hardcover
Publisher: Interlink Books
Published: 11/01/1998
ISBN: 9781566562478
Pages: 272
Weight: 0.97lbs
Size: 8.36h x 5.57w x 0.95d

Review Citations: Publishers Weekly 12/07/1998 pg. 50
Kirkus Reviews 02/01/1999 pg. 177
Booklist 02/15/1999 pg. 1040
New York Times 03/14/1999 pg. 23