Coptic ostracon from Edfu/Apollonopolis (Upper Egypt) with a letter mentioning a saint (unnamed, S00518); datable to the 7th century.
Evidence ID
E04143
Type of Evidence
Documentary texts - Letter
Late antique original manuscripts - Ostracon/Pot-sherd
O.EdfouIFAO (= O. EdfouCopte) 26
The fragmentary letter seems to refer to the addressees as beloved ones in or of a saint.
Lines 1–2 read as follows:
ⲛ̣ⲁ̣ⲙ̣[ⲉ]ⲣⲁⲧⲉ ⲙⲡⲉⲧⲟⲩⲁⲁⲃ ϫⲉ
‘… my] beloved ones in the saint.’
(Text: S. Bacot; trans.: G. Schenke)
Cult PlacesPrayer/supplication/invocation
Cult building - unspecified
Non Liturgical ActivityPrayer/supplication/invocation
Saint as patron - of an individual
Source
The potsherd inv. 190 is currently kept at the IFAO in Cairo. Its dating is based on context, as the ostracon was found together with many others, one of them being a liturgical calendar giving entries for the years 643–648.Bibliography
Text and French translation:Bacot, S., Ostraca grecs et coptes des fouilles franco-polonaises sur le site de Tell Edfou. O. EdfouCopte 1-145 (Bibliothèque d'Études Coptes 19; Cairo, 2009), 50–51.
Record Created By
Gesa Schenke
Date of Entry
12/10/2017
| ID | Name | Name in Source | Identity | S00518 | Saints, unnamed | ⲡⲉⲧⲟⲩⲁⲁⲃ | Certain |
|---|
Please quote this record referring to its author, database name, number, and, if possible, stable URL:
Gesa Schenke, Cult of Saints, E04143 - http://csla.history.ox.ac.uk/record.php?recid=E04143