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The Cult of Saints in Late Antiquity


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


Greek sale of wine with deferred delivery, from Oxyrhynchos (Middle Egypt), mentioning a jar measure named either after *Epimachos (of Pelusium, martyr of Alexandria, S00222) or *Epima (martyr buried at Pankoleeis, in the region of Oxyrhynchos, S01331); dated 2 May 619.

Evidence ID

E00662

Type of Evidence

Documentary texts - Sale document

Late antique original manuscripts - Papyrus sheet

P.Oxy. 61 4132

In this contract the wine was sold at a certain price and to be delivered later. Though fragmentary, lines 20–25 of the contract seem to refer to wine measures of a church or monastery of Epimachos:

οἴνου πε̣νταξε̣σ̣τι\αίω(ν)/
σ̣ηκωμά̣των̣ ὀκτακο̣σ̣ίων
ἐν̣ τῇ τρύγῃ το̣ῦ̣ Μ̣εσο̣[ρὴ] μ̣η̣ν̣ὸς̣
τ̣ῆ̣ς̣ παρούσ̣η̣[ς ζ ἰνδ(ικτίωνος) οἴνου]
ῥύσ̣ε̣ως ὀ̣γ̣δ̣[όης ἐπινε(μήσεως)   ̣  ̣  ̣  ̣  ̣]
25
τοῦ̣ ἁγίου Ἐπ̣ι̣  ̣[  ̣  ̣  ̣]υ̣

'…eight hundred five-
sextarii jars of wine in the vintage of the month Mesore of the present 7th indiction from the wine yield of the eighth indiction (by the measure?) of the saint Epimachos (?) …'


Text and translation: T. Gagos


A complete record of the document with images can be found under: http://papyri.info/ddbdp/p.oxy;61;4132

Cult Places

Cult building - unspecified

Places Named after Saint

Other

Source

The papyrus document 389/1 is housed in Oxford, Sackler Library, Papyrology Rooms.


Discussion

The wine measures mentioned here seem to refer to jars of a church or a monastery. For similar circumstances see E01918.

The editor of this text reconstructed the fragmentary saint's name as 'Epimachos', so presumably Epimachos of Pelusium, a martyr of Alexandria (S00222), who may have had cult at Oxyrhynchos, since a feast of Epimachos is recorded here in a document of 535/536 (E00164), though apparently without his own church at that date. It is, however, possible that our document, and the 535/536 record of a feast, referred to another martyr, Epima
(S01331), who was buried at Pankoleeis, a village in the region of Oxyrhynchos. It is interesting to note that in the Coptic Martyrdom of Apa *Epima (E02843), the saint is presented as a very rich and well-known owner of numerous vineyards before becoming a martyr.


Bibliography

Edition:
Gagos, T., "4132. Sale of Wine with Deferred Delivery," in: T. Gagos, M.W. Haslam and N. Lewis (eds.), The Oxyrhynchus Papyri, vol. 61 (London, 1995), 137–141.

Further reading:
Papaconstantinou, A., Le Culte des Saints en Égypte des Byzantins aux Abbassides (Paris, 2001), 79–80 and 448.


Record Created By

Gesa Schenke

Date of Entry

18/1/2017

Related Saint Records
IDNameName in SourceIdentity
S00222Epimachos, of Pelusium, martyr of Alexandria Ἐπ̣ι̣  ̣[  ̣  ̣  ̣]υ̣Uncertain
S01331Epima, martyr buried at Pankoleeis, in the region of Oxyrhynchos Ἐπ̣ι̣  ̣[  ̣  ̣  ̣]υ̣Uncertain


Please quote this record referring to its author, database name, number, and, if possible, stable URL:
Gesa Schenke, Cult of Saints, E00662 - http://csla.history.ox.ac.uk/record.php?recid=E00662