Coptic letter from Kellis (Dakhleh Oasis) mentioning a kingdom of the saints (unnamed); datable to the 4th century.
Evidence ID
E04408
Type of Evidence
Late antique original manuscripts - Papyrus sheet
Documentary texts - Letter
P.KellisCopt. 34
As one of the private Manichean letters from Kellis, this fragmentary papyrus document makes a mention to the kingdom of the saints in line 14.
Lines 13–15 read as follows:
ⲧⲇⲓⲁⲕⲟⲛⲓⲁ ⲙⲡⲛⲟⲩⲧⲉ ⲉⲧⲁⲩⲧⲉⲥ ⲁⲧⲟⲧⲕ ϩⲛ ⲟ̣[ⲩ . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ⲧⲙ]ⲛⲧⲣⲣⲟ ⲛⲛⲉⲧⲟⲩⲁⲃⲉ ϣⲁ ⲁ̣ⲛⲏϩⲉ·
‘…] the service of God, which was laid out in your hands by […] the kingdom of the saints forever.’
(Text and trans.: I. Gardner, A. Alcock and W.-P. Funk)
Non Liturgical Activity
Prayer/supplication/invocation
Protagonists in Cult and NarrativesHeretics
Source
The papyrus document was found in House 3, room 13a2, deposit 3 + room 11, deposit 2. It has been reconstructed from various fragments, but still remains incomplete.Bibliography
Text and Translation:Gardner, I., Alcock, A., and Funk, W.-P., Coptic Documentary Texts from Kellis I, with a contribution by C.A. Hope and G.E. Bowen, Papyri from Kellis V, 1999. (Dakhleh Oasis Project: Monograph No. 9), 220–223.
Record Created By
Gesa Schenke
Date of Entry
27/11/2017
| ID | Name | Name in Source | Identity | S00518 | Saints, unnamed | Certain | S01151 | All Saints | Certain |
|---|
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Gesa Schenke, Cult of Saints, E04408 - http://csla.history.ox.ac.uk/record.php?recid=E04408