Coptic papyrus letter sent to the monastery of Apa *Apollo (monk and monastic founder, S00774) at Bawit (Middle Egypt), written in the 8th c., containing a request to remember the sender, with a gift to an unnamed saint.
Evidence ID
E00346
Type of Evidence
Documentary texts - Donation document
Late antique original manuscripts - Papyrus sheet
P.Köln ägypt. II 41:
This fragmentary papyrus letter from the monk Pamoun to Apa Enoch of the same monastery primarily concerns agricultural matters, with expectations of the harvest and payments connected with it.
Line six of the verso reads:
ⲁⲣ ⲡⲉⲛⲙⲉⲉⲩⲉ ϩⲓϫⲛ ϯ ⲉⲙⲁ ⲛⲡⲉⲧⲟⲩⲁⲁⲃ
'Remember us through a gift to the place (topos) of the saint.'
Text and translation: G. Schenke
Cult PlacesCult building - unspecified
Non Liturgical Activity
Cult building - unspecified
Cult building - monastic
Non Liturgical ActivityBequests, donations, gifts and offerings
Protagonists in Cult and NarrativesEcclesiastics - monks/nuns/hermits
Source
The text P.Köln ägypt. II 41, located at the Institute for African Studies and Egyptology in Cologne under the inventory number 10302, is written on papyrus and can be dated by its script to the 8th century.Discussion
The monk Pamoun, sending a letter to Apa Enoch at his own monastery of Apa Apollo at Bawit, seems to be away from the monastery on agricultural business. He informs the addressee of how things are going and asks to be remembered with a gift 'to the saint', presumably Apa Apollo, the monastery’s founder.Bibliography
Edition:Schenke, G., Kölner ägyptische Papyri (P.Köln ägypt.) II: Koptische Urkunden der früharabischen Zeit (Papyrologica Coloniensia IX/2; Paderborn: Ferdinand Schöningh, 2016), 87–90.
For a full range of the documentary evidence on Apollo:
Papaconstantinou, A., Le culte des saints en Égypte des Byzantins aux Abbassides (Paris: CNRS, 2001), 53–56.
Record Created By
Gesa Schenke
Date of Entry
16/4/2015
| ID | Name | Name in Source | Identity | S00518 | Saints, unnamed | Certain | S00774 | Apollo, Phib, and Anoup, monks and monastic founders | Certain |
|---|
Please quote this record referring to its author, database name, number, and, if possible, stable URL:
Gesa Schenke, Cult of Saints, E00346 - http://csla.history.ox.ac.uk/record.php?recid=E00346