Unicode Block - Manichaean

Manichaean is a script used to write the Manichaean religion’s sacred texts, primarily in Middle Persian, Parthian, Sogdian, and Old Uyghur languages, originating from the 3rd century CE in Mesopotamia. The block encodes its distinct cursive letters, which derive from Aramaic but feature unique ligatures and a right‑to‑left direction, along with a set of punctuation marks and a special abbreviation sign. Its characters are historically significant for preserving Manichaean liturgical and doctrinal manuscripts, many of which were discovered in Central Asian oases like Turfan, and the script’s formal, angular forms differ notably from other contemporary Aramaic‑derived writing systems.