This illuminated page from another Manichaean manuscript is separated into two registers, separated by a band of Uigur script. The painting shows rows upon rows of clerics, all clothed in the tall white hats and robes of the Manichaean priesthood. In fact, the only aspect that offers these figures any individuality is found in the style of their beards. (1) The priests are seated at low tables out of doors, each with a sheet of white paper before him. Most sit with pens grasped in their hands, concentrating on their writing, though what it is that they are so intent on recording we do not know.

(1) Along the Ancient Silk Routes: Central Asian Art from the West Berlin State Museums (New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art), p. 178.