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 NarrativesEcclesiastics - 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
| ID | Name | Name in Source | Identity | S00073 | Menas, soldier and martyr buried at Abu Mena | ἄπα 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