Coptic Life of *Onnophrios, the Anchorite (Egyptian anchorite, 4th c., S00055), written probably in the 5th/6th century in the Sketis (Lower Egypt), describes the physical appearance of the saint.
Evidence ID
E00088
Type of Evidence
Literary - Hagiographical - Lives of saint
Late antique original manuscripts - Papyrus codex
Late antique original manuscripts - Parchment codex
Major author/Major anonymous work
Paphnoutios of Sketis
Paphnoutios of Sketis, Life of Onnophrios, the Anchorite
ⲉⲣⲉⲡⲉϥϥⲱ ⲡⲟⲣϣ ⲉⲃⲟⲗ ⲉϫⲙ ⲡⲉϥⲥⲱⲙⲁ ⲛⲑⲉ ⲙⲡⲁ ⲛⲉⲓⲡⲁⲣⲇⲁⲗⲏⲥ ⲛⲉϥⲕⲏⲕ ⲁϩⲏⲩ ⲅⲁⲣ ⲡⲉ ⲉⲣⲉϩⲉⲛϭⲱⲱⲃⲉ ϩⲱⲃⲥ ⲙⲡⲉϥⲥⲙⲟⲧ ⲛϩⲟⲟⲩⲧ
'His hair was spread out over his body just as one of these panthers, for he was naked with leaves covering his manhood.'
Text: Budge 1914, p. 210, fol. 6b
Translation: Gesa Schenke
Cult PlacesComposing and translating saint-related texts
Protagonists in Cult and Narratives
Cult building - monastic
Use of ImagesVerbal images of saints
Non Liturgical ActivityComposing and translating saint-related texts
Transmission, copying and reading saint-related texts
Protagonists in Cult and NarrativesEcclesiastics - monks/nuns/hermits
Source
The Coptic Life of Onnophrios, the Anchorite is known through three complete manuscripts, two in Sahidic: British Library, London, Oriental 7027, fols. 1–21v, from Edfu, with a colophon giving the year 1004/5 (ed. Budge, Coptic Martyrdoms) and Pierpont Morgan Library, New York, M580, fol. 1–36, from Hamuli in the Fayum, dated to the year 889/890 (unpublished), one in Bohairic (Vatican Library, Coptic 65, fols. 99–120v, dated to the year 978/979). There are also codex fragments: a papyrus leaf dated on palaeographical grounds to the 7th century (ed. Lefort, 1945, 97–100), a fragmentary papyrus leaf from the end of the story, dated on palaeographical grounds to the 6th/7th century (ed. Orlandi), and two parchment leaves of a codex from the so-called White Monastery (ed. Till). There are therefore good reasons to think that the text is 6th century or earlier.Discussion
Paphnoutios describes the physical appearance of Onnophrios after sixty years in the remote desert. With this description, a visual image is created, that seems to have been influential on the iconography of Onnophrios.Bibliography
Editions:Budge, E.A.W., Coptic Martyrdoms etc. in the Dialect of Upper Egypt (Coptic Texts 4; London: British Museum, 1914), 205–224.
Lefort, L.T., “Fragments coptes,” Le Muséon 58 (1945), 97–120.
Orlandi, T., Papiri copti di contenuto teologico (Vienna: In Kommission bei Verlag Brüder Hollinek, 1974), 158–161.
Till, W.C., Koptische Heiligen- und Martyrlegenden. Vol. 1 (Rome: Pont. institutum orientalium studiorum, 1935), 14–19.
Translation
Vivian, T., Paphnutius, Histories of the Monks of Upper Egypt and the Life of Onnophrius (Cistercian Studies 140; Kalamazoo: Cistercian Publications, 1993). [With an introduction and evaluation of the text, as well as an English translation, all three of rather questionable value].
Further reading:
Coquin, R.-G., “Onophrius, Saint,” in: A.S. Atiya (ed.), The Coptic Encyclopedia. 8 vols. (New York: Macmillan, 1991), vol. 6, 1841–1842.
O'Leary, De L., Saints of Egypt (London: SPCK, 1937), 210.
Sauget, J.-M., “S. Onofrio anacoreta in Tebaide,” Bibliotheca Sanctorum 9 (1987), 1187–1197.
Williams, C.A., Oriental Affinities of the Legend of the Hairy Anchorite. Part II: Christian (University of Illinois Studies in Language and Literature 11/4; Urbana IL: University of Illinois Press, 1926).
For a full range of the documentary evidence on Onnophrios:
Papaconstantinou, A., Le culte des saints en Égypte des Byzantins aux Abbassides (Paris: CNRS, 2001), 161-162.
Record Created By
Gesa Schenke
Date of Entry
4/11/2014
| ID | Name | Name in Source | Identity | S00055 | Onnophrios, Egyptian anchorite, 4th c. | ⲟⲛⲛⲟⲫⲣⲓⲟⲥ | Certain |
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