Greek supply order from the Oxyrhynchite nome (Middle Egypt) concerning wheat and vegetable seed for the shrine of a local martyr (martyria), perhaps Apa *Taurine (saint with cult in Hermopolis, S02678), with a precise date on the document, 14 August 398.
Evidence ID
E00731
Type of Evidence
Documentary texts - Other private document
Late antique original manuscripts - Papyrus sheet
P.Haun. 3 67, lines 1–3:
Φιλέας.
παράσχου εἰς τὰ ἅγια μαρτυρα ἄπα Τ̣[ ̣] ̣ ̣ ̣ ̣ σίτου ἀρτάβας ὀκτώ, λαχανο-
σπέρμου ἀρτάβας δύο, (γίνονται) σίτ(ου) (ἀρτάβας) η, λαχ(ανοσπέρμου) (ἀρτάβας) β. μ(όνας)
(r.2. l. μαρτύρ<ι>α)
'(Order from) Phileas:
Deliver to the holy martyr shrine of Apa T … eight artabas of wheat (and) two artabas of vegetable seed. (Makes in total) 8 artabas of wheat, 2 artabas of vegetable seed.'
Translation: G. Schenke
The full record is available online at: http://papyri.info/ddbdp/p.haun;3;67
Cult PlacesCult building - unspecified
Non Liturgical ActivityBequests, donations, gifts and offerings
Cult building - unspecified
Martyr shrine (martyrion, bet sāhedwātā, etc.)
Non Liturgical ActivityBequests, donations, gifts and offerings
Distribution of alms
Source
P.Haun. 3 67, the papyrus is in Copenhagen, Institute for Greek and Latin, inv. no. P. Haun. 63.Discussion
This document presents so far the earliest dated evidence from Egypt for the use of the term martyrion/martyria (martyr shrine). Since the delivery ordered here does not include a list of how to distribute the amount of goods among several martyr shrines, one needs to assume that the plural form used refers to just one shrine dedicated to a saint named Apa T… If the reading of the first letter of the saint’s name is correct, then Apa Taurine/Taurinos would spring to mind, for whom a shrine (εὐκτήριον) is known from Hermopolis.One artaba of wheat equals roughly 30kg. Similarly large amounts were left to a martyr shrine in Hipponon in the Herakleopolite nome, very near to Oxyrhynchos, see E00734.
What exactly was the intended use of these 'donations' remains a matter of speculation. The supplies might well have been for the distribution of alms, but may also have fed the clergy responsible for the shrine, or even constituted payments of produce from land owned by the shrine.
Bibliography
Edition:Larsen, T. and Bülow-Jacobsen, A., Papyri Graecae Haunienses, fasciculus tertius. Subliterary texts and Byzantine documents from Egypt (Papyrologische Texte und Abhandlungen 36; Bonn, 1985).
Record Created By
Gesa Schenke
Date of Entry
22/9/2015
| ID | Name | Name in Source | Identity | S01744 | Saints, name lost or very partially preserved | Certain | S02678 | Taurinos, saint with cult in Hermopolis | Uncertain |
|---|
Please quote this record referring to its author, database name, number, and, if possible, stable URL:
Gesa Schenke, Cult of Saints, E00731 - http://csla.history.ox.ac.uk/record.php?recid=E00731