Evidence ID
E07510
Type of Evidence
Inscriptions
On one edge of the slab:
Me(n)sa m[arturum]
On the top of the slab:
Ic benerande relyquie beat(orum) mart(y)r(u)m Moen[ae?]
et Sebastiani, d(e)p(o)s(i)t(e) in pace sub die III id(uum)
n[ovem]brium ind(i)ct(ione) III (or: IIII?) per manus b(ea)t(i)s(si)mi
Reb (or d) .... ant[is]titis. Iulian[us presb(yter)?]
et Victor mon(a)c(u)s b[ot]um D(e)o bo[verunt?]
'The table of the martyrs'
'Here [are] venerable relics of the blessed martyrs Menas and Sebastian, deposited in peace on the 3rd day before the Ides of November [11 November], in the 3rd (or 4th?) indiction, by the hand of the most blessed bishop Reb (?).
The presbyter(?) Iulianus and monk Victor made this vow to God'.
Text: Y. Duval 1982, no. 21.
Translation: Stanisław Adamiak.
Activities accompanying CultUnspecified relic
Feasting (eating, drinking, dancing, singing, bathing)
Non Liturgical ActivityVow
RelicsUnspecified relic
Transfer/presence of relics from distant countries
Transfer, translation and deposition of relics
Source
A marble slab, 75 x 40.5 x 8,5 cm, reconstructed from one large and seventeen smaller fragments found in 1896 in Henchir Fallous. 'Mensa marturym' is written on the edge of the slab, the longer inscription on its upper face. The inscriptions are not in the same hand, and so not necessarily contemporary.Currently in the Musée du Louvre in Paris (inv. no. 3338).
Discussion
The first inscription identifies this as a table used for oblations near the tombs or relics of saints. The second one commemorates the deposition of relics in Byzantine times (proven by the use of the indiction in the date).The saints in question are from outside Africa. Menas is the famous Egyptian saint, and 11 November is his usual feast day. The mention of Sebastian, martyr of Rome, is unique evidence of his cult in Africa.
Bibliography
Edition and discussion:Duval, Y., Loca sanctorum Africae: Le culte des martyrs en Afrique du IVe au VIIe siècle (Rome: École Francaise de Rome, 1982), vol. 1, 44-48, no. 21.
Record Created By
Stanisław Adamiak
Date of Entry
21/05/2019
ID | Name | Name in Source | Identity | S00073 | Menas, soldier and martyr buried at Abu Mena | Moena | Uncertain | S00400 | Sebastianus, martyr of Rome | Sebastianus | Certain |
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Please quote this record referring to its author, database name, number, and, if possible, stable URL:
Stanisław Adamiak, Cult of Saints, E07510 - http://csla.history.ox.ac.uk/record.php?recid=E07510