TheAthinganoi (Ancient Greek:Ἀθίγγανοι, singularAthinganos,Ἀθίγγανος, Atsinganoi) were aManichaean sect[1] regarded[by whom?] asJudaizing heretics who lived in Phrygia andLycaonia but were neitherHebrews norgentiles. They kept theSabbath but were notcircumcised. They wereshomer negiah.[2]
Other sources[specify] indicate that the Athinganoi were associated with theSimonians and had no connection to the Manichaean orPaulician sects. They settled inByzantium in 1054: the year of theEast-West Schism. The Athinganoi married Byzantine women, adoptedGreek Orthodox Christianity, and eventually assimilated into the Slavic and Greek populations.[3] In some studies, the Athinganoi are described as remnants of theIndo-Greeks who left India in 400 AD during theMigration period.[4]
The etymology of the word is not certain, but a common determination is a derivation in Greek for "(the) untouchables"derived from aprivative alpha prefix and the verbthingano (θιγγάνειν,thinganein, "to touch"). The Manichean sect is mentioned in Soghdian sources.[5]
The nameAthinganoi, a later variant form of which isAtsinganoi (ἀτσίγγανοι), came to be associated with theRoma who first appeared in theByzantine Empire at the time.Atsinganoi is the root word for the racial slurs "cigano", "çingene", "cigány", "zigeuner", "tzigan", "țigan", and "zingaro", words used to describe members of the Roma in various European languages. Today many of these words are still used in a derogatory sense, albeit others are the most common exonym for them in a given language. The idea of Roma as sorcerers also plays a part in the apparent confusion between theAtzinganos (the Roma), and theAthinganoi.[6]
The exact relationship between theAthinganoi and the Roma remains uncertain. Historians, such as Rochow, have suggested three different explanations for the association:[7]
An earlier and probably quite distinct sect with the same name is refuted byMarcus Eremita, who seems to have been a disciple ofJohn Chrysostom.
They were regarded[by whom?] as "Judaizing heretics". About AD 600,Timothy of Constantinople,Presbyter of Constantinople, in his bookDe receptione Haereticorum[8][9] adds at the end of his list of heretics who need rebaptism the Mandopolini, "now calledAthingani. They live inPhrygia, and are neither Hebrews nor Gentiles. They keep theSabbath, but are not circumcised. They will not touch any man. If food is offered to them, they ask for it to be placed on the ground; then they come and take it. They give to others with the same precautions".[9]
One or more of the preceding sentences incorporates text from a publication now in thepublic domain: Herbermann, Charles, ed. (1913). "Melchisedechians".Catholic Encyclopedia. New York: Robert Appleton Company.
