Coptic document from Deir el-Bahari (Upper Egypt) relating the details of a contract to train and work with a camel for one year, from the feast of *Papnouthios (Egyptian saint of uncertain identity, S00882) to the same feast the following year; datable around the year 600.
Evidence ID
E05969
Type of Evidence
Documentary texts - Other private document
Late antique original manuscripts - Ostracon/Pot-sherd
O.Crum 221
The Theban document acknowledges the arrangement of a man named Joseph to work with the camel of the presbyter Apa Viktor for the duration of one year, starting from the feast of Apa Papnoute (Papnouthios) to the next.
Lines 7–12 read as follows:
ⲛⲧⲁⲣϩⲱⲃ ⲇⲉ ϩⲓⲱⲱϥ ϫⲓⲛ ⲥⲟⲩ ⲁ ⲛⲁⲡⲁ ⲡⲁⲡⲛⲟⲩⲧⲉ ϣⲁ ⲥⲟⲩ ⲁ̣ ⲛⲁⲡⲁ ⲡⲁⲡⲛⲟⲩⲧⲉ ⲉⲕⲟⲩⲣⲟⲙⲡⲉ
“… and I will work with it from day one of (the feast of) Apa Papnoute until the first day of (the feast of) Apa Papnoute the following year.”
Text: W. E. Crum
Translation: G. Schenke
Festivals
Saint’s feast
Cult PlacesCult building - unspecified
Source
The ostracon is kept at the British Museum in London, BM inv. 33062.Discussion
There are a number of Egyptian saints, primarily monks, bearing the name Paphnoutios: see Papaconstantinou 2001, 166-8 for a full discussion. In many cases, as here, it is impossible to identify with any confidence which Paphnoutios is being mentioned.The feast of Apa Papnoute mentioned here evidently lasted longer than just one day.
Bibliography
Text and translation:Crum, W.E., Coptic Ostraca from the Collections of the Egypt Exploration Fund (London, 1902), p. 32 and 41. = O.Crum
German translation:
Till, W.C., Die Koptischen Rechtsurkunden aus Theben (Vienna, 1964), 58.
Further reading:
Papaconstantinou, A., Le culte des saints en Égypte des Byzantins aux Abbassides (Paris: CNRS, 2001).
Record Created By
Gesa Schenke
Date of Entry
17/7/2018
| ID | Name | Name in Source | Identity | S00882 | Paphnoutios, Egyptian saint (precise identity uncertain) | ⲡⲁⲡⲛⲟⲩⲧⲉ | Certain |
|---|
Please quote this record referring to its author, database name, number, and, if possible, stable URL:
Gesa Schenke, Cult of Saints, E05969 - http://csla.history.ox.ac.uk/record.php?recid=E05969