Site logo

The Cult of Saints in Late Antiquity


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


Greek petition from Aphrodito (Upper Egypt) of the year 547, including the signature of a presbyter of (the church of) *Menas (soldier and martyr buried at Abu Mena, S00073).

Evidence ID

E00207

Type of Evidence

Documentary texts - Papyri

P.Cair.Masp. 3.67283

A petition of the year 547 (before Nov. 10), from the inhabitants of Aphrodito to the empress Theodora concerning intrigues of the pagarch of Antaiopolis, written most likely by Dioskoros of Aphrodito and signed by many renowned people of the area, among them in line 7 of page 2:

☧ Βίκτωρ πρησβ(ύτερος) [ἐ]λ̣εεινὸς τοῦ ἁ[γ]ίου ἄπα Μηνᾶ μάρτυρος κώμης Ἀφροδίτης

'Viktor, the wretched presbyter of the holy Apa Mena the martyr, of the village of Aphrodito'


Translation: G. Schenke

Full text available under: http://papyri.info/ddbdp/p.cair.masp;3;67283

Cult Places

Cult building - unspecified

Protagonists in Cult and Narratives

Ecclesiastics - lesser clergy

Source

Papyrus document of three pages, located at the Egyptian Museum in Cairo, number 40455.


Discussion

It is not entirely clear whether the presbyter mentioned is of a church or a monastery, but since the document seems to be signed by the inhabitants from within the village, a church is more likely.


Bibliography

Edition:
Maspero, J., Catalogue général des antiquités égyptiennes du Musée du Caire. Papyrus grecs d’ époque byzantine, 3 vols (Cairo: Institut français d'archéologie orientale, 1911–1916). = P.Cair.Masp.

For a full range of the documentary evidence on Menas:
Papaconstantinou, A., Le culte des saints en Égypte des Byzantins aux Abbassides (Paris: CNRS, 2001), 146–154.


Record Created By

Gesa Schenke

Date of Entry

18/11/2014

Related Saint Records
IDNameName in SourceIdentity
S00073Menas, soldier and martyr buried at Abu Menaἄπα Μηνᾶς Certain


Please quote this record referring to its author, database name, number, and, if possible, stable URL:
Gesa Schenke, Cult of Saints, E00207 - http://csla.history.ox.ac.uk/record.php?recid=E00207