Two fragmentary Coptic donation documents of the 8th c., one certifying the gift of tools for field work and irrigation, the other of unknown content, to the monastery of Apa *Phoibammon (soldier and martyr of Assiut, S00080) at Deir el-Bahari (Upper Egypt).
Evidence ID
E00232
Type of Evidence
Documentary texts - Donation document
Late antique original manuscripts - Papyrus sheet
P.KRU 113
In this document tools and irrigation equipment are donated to the monastery of Apa Phoibammon.
P.KRU 114
This document testifies to the donation made by a couple addressing the legal body (dikaion) of the monastery. It mentions a vow, that if help will be received, they will make a donation.
Summary: G. Schenke
Cult Places
Cult building - monastic
Places Named after SaintMonastery
Non Liturgical ActivityBequests, donations, gifts and offerings
Source
P.KRU 113 is a papyrus document housed in the Nicholson Museum of the University of Sidney (Australia).P.KRU 114 is a papyrus document privately owned in Lincolnshire.
Discussion
Both documents are very fragmentary, but one preserves the practical nature of the gift, essential tools for field work, so it is possible that the help granted by the saint to the donor had to do with agricultural prosperity or success (P.KRU 113).The second document (P.KRU 114) shows characteristics of a child donation document, a couple making a vow that, if God and the Saint grant them a child or his healing from a disease, they would donate the boy to the saint.
Bibliography
Edition:Crum, W.E., and Steindorff, G., Koptische Rechtsurkunden des achten Jahrhunderts aus Djeme (Theben) (Leipzig, 1971), 344-346 (P. KRU 113-114).
German Translations:
Till, W.C., Die Koptischen Rechtsurkunden aus Theben (Vienna: H. Böhlaus, 1964), 194-195.
Further reading:
Biedenkopf-Ziehner, A., Koptische Schenkungsurkunden aus Thebais: Formeln und Topoi der Urkunden, Aussagen der Urkunden, Indices (Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz, 2001).
Godlewski, W., Deir el-Bahari V: Le monastère de St. Phoibammon (Warsaw: PWN, 1986).
For a full range of the documentary evidence on Phoibammon:
Papaconstantinou, A., Le culte des saints en Égypte des Byzantins aux Abbassides (Paris: CNRS, 2001), 204–214.
Record Created By
Gesa Schenke
Date of Entry
17/12/2014
| ID | Name | Name in Source | Identity | S00080 | Phoibammon, soldier and martyr of Assiut | ⲁⲡⲁ ⲫⲓⲃⲁⲙⲱⲛ, ⲁⲡⲁ ⲫⲟⲓⲃⲁⲙⲱⲛ | Uncertain |
|---|
Please quote this record referring to its author, database name, number, and, if possible, stable URL:
Gesa Schenke, Cult of Saints, E00232 - http://csla.history.ox.ac.uk/record.php?recid=E00232