Record | The Cult of Saints

Two Greek documents from the Dioskoros Archive in Aphrodito (Upper Egypt), a land lease and an account, refer to the cult of *Onnophrios (Egyptian anchorite, 4th c., S00055), mention a cult topos (in 532), and expenses for the saint’s feast day, dated prior to 547/548.

Evidence ID

E00113

Type of Evidence

Documentary texts - Lease or rental document

P.Cair.Masp. 1.67105,20
In a land lease from Aphrodito of the year 532 a topos of Apa Onnophrios is mentioned.

ἐκ βορρᾶ το(ῦ) τόπο(υ) Ἄπα Ὀννοφρίο(υ)

'north of the topos of Apa Onnophrios'

Full text and image available under: http://papyri.info/ddbdp/p.cair.masp;1;67105

P.Cair.Masp. 2.67141 Fol. 5r, 24
An account relating to the administration of private land in Aphrodito offers a list of various different kinds of expenses in lentils, dated before 547/548. The expense for the feast day of saint Onnophrios is given on 16 Pauni (10 June).

Παῦνι ιϛ, εἰς ἡμέρ(αν) το(ῦ) ἁγίο(υ) Ὀννοφρ[ίο(υ) φ]ακ[(ῶν) (ἀρτάβ ) ̣], ι̣(*)φ̣( ) α̣

'Pauni 16: For the day of saint Onnophrios: … amount of lentils.'

Full text and image available under: http://papyri.info/ddbdp/p.cair.masp;2;67141

Translation: Gesa Schenke

Festivals

Saint’s feast

Cult Places

Cult building - independent (church)

Source

P.Cair.Masp. 1.67105 is a fragmentary papyrus leaf; P.Cair.Masp. 2.67141 consists of seven fragmentary papyrus leaves.

Discussion

Both a cult building dedicated to Onnophrios, as well as a certain amount of expenses mentioned for the saint’s feast day indicate that a cult of Onnophrios was active in the village of Aphrodito in the first half of the 6th century. Payments in kind, such as in corn, wine, oil, and the like were not uncommon.

Bibliography

Edition:
Maspero, J, Catalogue général des antiquités égyptiennes du Musée du Caire. Papyrus grecs d’ époque byzantine, I–III (Cairo: 1911–1916). = P.Cair.Masp.

Further reading:
Papaconstantinou, A., Le culte des saints en Égypte des Byzantins aux Abbassides (Paris: CNRS, 2001), 161.

Record Created By

Gesa Schenke

Date of Entry

5/11/2014

Related Saint Records

ID	Name	Name in Source	Identity
S00055	Onnophrios, Egyptian anchorite, 4th c.	Ἄπα Ὀννόφριος	Certain

Please quote this record referring to its author, database name, number, and, if possible, stable URL:
Gesa Schenke, Cult of Saints, E00113 - http://csla.history.ox.ac.uk/record.php?recid=E00113

The Cult of Saints in Late Antiquity

from its origins to circa AD 700, across the entire Christian world