Lamp from Egypt with a Greek inscription (6th–7th c.) mentioning a saint Ioulitta, probably *Ioulitta/Julitta (martyr of Tarsus, mother of Kyrikos/Cyricus, S00007); exact Egyptian provenance unknown.
Evidence ID
E00695
Type of Evidence
Inscriptions - Inscribed objects
Images and objects - Lamps, ampullae and tokens
ἡ ἁγία αμ(α) Ἰουλίττα
'Saint Ama Ioulitta'
Cult Related Objects
Oil lamps/candles
Source
Lampes MB 12022 located at the Benaki Museum in Athens.Discussion
Although the inscription does not mention Kyrikos, with whom the Ioulitta of Tarsos is almost invariably linked, this lamp probably refers to her cult, which had much the widest diffusion of the cults of saints of the same name. It is however just possible that the inscription refers to *Ioulitta of Kaisareia/Caesarea in Cappadocia, a martyr known through a homily by Basil of Caesarea given in the 360s or 370s on her feast day (E00670).Many lamps with inscriptions to saints were produced in Elephantine; see, for instance, the moulds for such lamps with an inscription to Onnophrios (E00112).
Bibliography
E. M. Husselman, "The Martyrdom of Cyriacus and Julitta in Coptic," Journal of the American Research Center in Egypt 4 (1965), 79–86.K. Loverdou-Tsigarida, “Ἐνεπίγραφοι κοπτικοὶ λύχνοι τοῦ Μουσείου Μπενάκη”, Δελτίον τῆς χριστιανικῆς ἀρχαιολογικῆς ἑταιρείας (1970–1972), 130–145.
De L. O’Leary, The Saints of Egypt (London, 1937), 174.
T. Orlandi, "Cyriacus and Julitta, saints," in: A. S. Atiya (eds.), The Coptic Encyclopedia, vol. 3 (New York and Toronto, 1991), 671.
A. Papaconstantinou, Le culte des saints en Égypte des Byzantins aux Abbassides (Paris, 2001), 107.
H.-M. Schenke, "Mittelägyptische "Nachlese" III. Neue Fragmente zum Martyrium des Cyri(a)cus und seiner Mutter Julitta im mittelägyptischen Dialekt des Koptischen,"Zeitschrift für ägyptische Sprache und Altertumskunde (ZÄS) 126 (1999), 149–172, pl. 14–22.
Record Created By
Gesa Schenke
Date of Entry
7/9/2015
| ID | Name | Name in Source | Identity | S00007 | Kyrikos/Cyricus and Ioulitta/Julitta, child and his mother, martyrs of Tarsus | Ἰουλίττα | Uncertain | S00416 | Ioulitta/Julitta, martyr of Kaisareia/Caesarea of Cappadocia | Ἰουλίττα | Uncertain |
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Please quote this record referring to its author, database name, number, and, if possible, stable URL:
Gesa Schenke, Cult of Saints, E00695 - http://csla.history.ox.ac.uk/record.php?recid=E00695