Fragment from the beginning of a Coptic Martyrdom of *Besamon (soldier and martyr of Egypt, S00938), who refuses to serve any longer and to act according to the imperial edict; composed probably in the 5th/7th c., preserved in a manuscript of the 9th/11th c.
E01849
Literary - Hagiographical - Accounts of martyrdom
K 09508
The parchment fragment preserves the publication of the imperial edict ordering everyone to sacrifice at the palace, most likely in Alexandria. The soldier Besamon acts immediately and takes off his uniform, confronting the emperor in order to become a soldier of Christ.
ⲛⲉⲩⲛ ⲟⲩϣⲏⲣⲉ ϣⲏⲙ ⲇⲉ · ⲉⲡⲉϥⲣⲁⲛ ⲡⲉ ⲃⲏⲥⲁⲙⲱⲛ ⲉⲡϣⲏⲣⲉ ⲡⲉ · ⲛⲟⲩⲥⲧⲣⲁⲧⲩⲗⲁⲧⲏⲥ ⲉⲡⲉϥⲣⲁⲛ ⲡⲉ ⲃⲁⲥⲗⲓⲧⲏⲥ · ⲁϥⲛⲁⲩ ⲉⲡⲉⲥϩⲁ
ⲉⲩⲧⲏϭ ⲉⲃⲟⲗ ϩⲙ ⲡⲡ[ⲁ]ⲗⲗⲁⲧⲓⲟⲛ · ⲁϥ[ⲱϣ] ⲉⲃⲟⲗ ⲉϥⲣⲓⲙⲉ ⲉϥϫⲱ ⲙⲙⲟⲥ · ϫⲉ ⲡⲁϫⲟⲉⲓⲥ ⲓⲥ ⲡⲉⲭⲥ ⲃⲟⲏⲑⲉⲓ ⲉⲣⲟ ·
'There was a youth, whose name was Besamon, the son of a general named Basilides. He saw the letter fixed to the palace. He [cried] out weeping, saying: "My Lord Jesus Christ, help me!"'
Asked by the emperor why he had taken off his uniform, the youth firmly states his intention.
ⲡⲉϫⲉ ⲡϣⲏⲣⲉ ϣⲏⲙ ⲛⲁϥ · ϫⲉ ⲛϯⲛⲁⲉⲣ ⲙⲁⲧⲟ ⲛⲁⲕ ⲁⲛ ⲛϫⲓⲛ ⲉⲡⲉⲓⲛⲁⲩ · ϫⲉ ⲁⲡⲙⲉⲉⲩⲉ ⲙⲡⲇⲓⲁⲃⲟⲗⲟⲥ · ϫⲉⲛⲟⲩⲛⲉ ⲉⲃⲟⲗ ⲛϩⲏⲧⲕ ·:·
ⲁⲗⲗⲁ· ⲉⲛⲁⲉⲣ ⲙⲁⲧⲟ ⲛⲓⲥ ⲡⲉⲭⲥ ·
'The youth said to him: "From now on I will no longer be a soldier for you, since the mind of the devil has taken root in you. But I will be a soldier for Jesus Christ."'
Text: W.C. Till
Translation: Gesa Schenke
Composing and translating saint-related texts
Transmission, copying and reading saint-related texts
Protagonists in Cult and NarrativesSoldiers
Source
K 09508 is a parchment leaf from a former codex, and is housed at the Papyrus Collection in Vienna. The manuscript is datable to the 9th–11th century.For more information on this parchment fragment visit: http://data.onb.ac.at/rec/RZ00013706
Discussion
Besamon does not occur in the Synaxarium of the Coptic Church and so far is unattested elsewhere.It is difficult to say whether this might be the same Egyptian martyr as the one named Besas in a letter from Dionysios, bishop of Alexandria, who, in 250/1, informs Phabios, bishop of Antioch, about martyrdoms in Egypt during the recent Decian persecution. This information is quoted by Eusebius of Caesarea, listing 27 martyrs, in his Ecclesiastical History, written in Palestine in AD 311/325. See S00220 and E00277.
Bibliography
Text and German translation:Till, W.C., Koptische Heiligen- und Martyrlegenden. Vol. 1 (Rome: Pont. institutum orientalium studiorum, 1935), 42–44.
Gesa Schenke
21/9/2016
| ID | Name | Name in Source | Identity | S00220 | Besas, Decian martyr of Egypt | Uncertain | S00938 | Besamon, soldier and martyr of Egypt | ⲃⲏⲥⲁⲙⲱⲛ | Certain |
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