Mani

Mani (c. April AD 216–2 March AD 274 or 26 February AD 277), of Iranian origin, was the prophet and the founder of Manichaeism, a religion of late antiquity strongly influenced by Gnosticism which was widespread but no longer prevalent by name. Mani was born in or near Seleucia-Ctesiphon in Babylonia, at the time still part of the Parthian Empire. Six of his major works were written in Syriac, and the seventh, dedicated to the Sasanian emperor Shapur I, was written in Middle Persian. He died in Gundeshapur.