Manichaeism (in Modern Persian "Āyin e Māni") was one of the major Iranian Gnostic religions. Originally it came from Sassanid Persia. Most of the original writings of the founding prophet Mani (Syriac, , c. AD 210–276) have been lost, but many translations and fragmentary texts have survived. Manichaeism was big between the third and seventh centuries. At its height it was one of the most widespread religions in the world. Manichaean churches and scriptures existed as far east as China and as far west as the Roman Empire. Manichaeism appears to have died out before the sixteenth century in southern China.