Record | The Cult of Saints

Coptic letter, from the monastery of Epiphanius at Thebes (Upper Egypt), mentioning an oath sworn to *John (presumably either the Baptist, S00020, or the Apostle and Evangelist, S00042); datable to the end of the 6th/beginning of the 7th century.

Evidence ID

E02438

Type of Evidence

Documentary texts - Letter

Late antique original manuscripts - Papyrus sheet

P.Mon.Epiph. 162

In this letter from an archdeacon named Joseph to Apa Epiphanius, 'the prophet and anchorite', Joseph explains that he cannot come to visit, because he is terribly ill and bedridden. He hopes that Apa Epiphanius, his addressee, will pray for him.

Lines 13 reads as follows:

ⲉⲁⲓⲱⲣⲕ ⲙⲡϩⲁⲅⲓⲟⲥ ⲱϩⲁⲛⲛⲏⲥ ϫⲉ ⲙⲁⲃⲱⲕ ⲉⲡϣⲙⲙⲟ

'I was swearing by saint John, that I am unable to go abroad.'

Text and translation: W. E. Crum, lightly modified

Non Liturgical Activity

Oath

Source

This papyrus was found in a rubbish hole at the monastery of Epiphanius and is now housed at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, MMA 12.180.270. The text has been dated on palaeographical grounds.

Bibliography

Edition and translation:
Crum, W.E., and Evelyn White, H.G., The Monastery of Epiphanius at Thebes, Part II (The Metropolitan Museum of Art Egyptian Expedition; New York, 1926), p. 45 (text), p. 194–195 (trans.).

Record Created By

Gesa Schenke

Date of Entry

3/3/2017

Related Saint Records

ID	Name	Name in Source	Identity
S00020	John the Baptist	ⲡϩⲁⲅⲓⲟⲥ ⲱϩⲁⲛⲛⲏⲥ	Uncertain
S00042	John, the Apostle and Evangelist	ⲡϩⲁⲅⲓⲟⲥ ⲱϩⲁⲛⲛⲏⲥ	Uncertain

Please quote this record referring to its author, database name, number, and, if possible, stable URL:
Gesa Schenke, Cult of Saints, E02438 - http://csla.history.ox.ac.uk/record.php?recid=E02438

The Cult of Saints in Late Antiquity

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