Greek building inscription mentioning *Menas (soldier and martyr buried at Abu Mena, S00073). Found at Nazleh near Polydeukeia (Fayum, Egypt). Probably the end of the 7th/the beginning of the 8th c.
Evidence ID
E07308
Type of Evidence
Inscriptions - Formal inscriptions (stone, mosaic, etc.)
ἐγένετω τὸ καλὸν ἔργον τῆς πλακώσεως
τῆς ἁγίας ἐκκλησίας τοῦ ἁγίου Μηνᾶ,
ἐπὶ ἀββᾶ Πέτρου ἐπισκόπου, ἐν μηνὶ μεσορῆ
ιϛ’ ἀρχῇ πέντε καὶ δεκάτης ἰν(δικτιῶνος)· // Κ(ύρι)ε, βοήθη-
5 σον τῷ δούλῳ σου Μηνᾷ στρατηλάτῃ // καὶ τοῖς παισὶ[ν]
α[ὐ]τ̣ο̣ῦ̣. ἀ̣μ̣ὴ̣ν̣ // ...Ϥ̅Ⲑ̅...
'The beautiful work of the covering of the holy Church of Saint Menas with marble slabs took place under the episcopacy of Abba Peter, on the 16th of the month Mesore, at the beginning of the fifteenth year of indiction. O Lord, help your servant Menas, stratelates and his slaves. Amen.'
Text: SB I, no. 1449.
Source
Large stone block, found in 1910 at Nazleh near Polydeukeia (Fayum, Egypt). Preserved dimensions: H. 0.33 m; W. 0.87 m. The part intended to receive the inscription had been previously polished: it measures 0.55 m of length on 0.33 m of width. Last seen in the Museum of Cairo.Discussion
This text commemorate the καλὸν ἔργον τῆς πλακώσεως of a church dedicated to Saint Menas, which is not known to us, but which was to rise not far from the modern village of Nazleh, in the western part of Fayum province, somewhere near Polydeukeia (Qasr el Gebeli), or the Hamouli monastery (DACL, 2548-2549).Bibliography
Edition:Bernand, É., Recueil des inscriptions grecques du Fayoum, vol. 2: La «Meris» de Thémistos (Institut français d'archéologie orientale du Caire, Bibliothèque d'étude 79, Cairo, 1981), no. 131.
Cabrol, F. & H. Leclercq (eds.), Dictionnaire d’archéologie chrétienne et de liturgie 4/2 (Paris, 1921), 2546-2549 and fig. 4025 (facsimile).
Lefebvre, G., "Égypte chrétienne, IV”, Annales du Service des antiquités de l'Égypte 11 (1910), 245-247, no. 831 and plate.
Further Reading:
Papaconstantinou, A., Le culte des saints en Égypte des Byzantins aux Abbassides: L'apport des inscriptions et des papyrus grecs et coptes (Paris: CNRS Éditions, 2001), 148-149.
Wipszycka, E., Les ressources et les activités économiques des églises en Égypte du IVe au VIIIe siècle (Papyrologica Bruxellensia 10, Bruxelles, 1972), 109 and n. 1 (date).
Reference works:
Sammelbuch Griechischer Urkunden aus Ägypten, I (Straßburg, 1915), no. 1449.
Supplementum Epigraphicum Graecum 31, 1515.
Record Created By
Małgorzata Krawczyk
Date of Entry
31/12/2018
ID | Name | Name in Source | Identity | S00073 | Menas, soldier and martyr buried at Abu Mena | Μηνᾶς | Certain |
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Please quote this record referring to its author, database name, number, and, if possible, stable URL:
Małgorzata Krawczyk, Cult of Saints, E07308 - http://csla.history.ox.ac.uk/record.php?recid=E07308