Four small strips of papyrus, discovered within the Sancta Sanctorum of the Lateran church of San Lorenzo in Palatio (Rome), possibly relic labels for now-unidentifiable saints. Written in Latin(?) and in an unidentified language, perhaps at Rome, or at an earlier stage in their transmission, possibly before c. 700.
Evidence ID
E08362
Type of Evidence
Documentary texts - Relic label
Late antique original manuscripts - Papyrus sheet
Relic labels of the Sancta sanctorum (ed. Galland)
116.
Three papyri in an unknown language: Galland claims that this is 'without doubt Demotic,' but provides no transcription.
117.
Galland states that the papyrus is 'without inscription', but Petrucci and Tjäder propose the following (untranslatable) reading:
d o r t e[?] r e i b[?]
ri[?]g[?]f[?] s
Summary: B. Savill, from Gallard 2004 and Petrucci and Tjäder 1983.
RelicsUnspecified relic
Unspecified relic
Transfer, translation and deposition of relics
Source
These papyri were discovered in 1905 with the Sancta sanctorum collection of relic labels, for which see the full entry at E08361.Although it is currently impossible to determine the function of these four artefacts, their presence alongside the other Sancta sanctorum relic labels, and their comparable appearance and size to those documents, indicates that they once also served a similar purpose. The use of papyrus rather than parchment also suggests a comparatively early date, plausibly before c. 700.
Discussion
Galland's claim that the trio of papyri in an unknown language (no. 116) are written in a Demotic script is now disputed: see Smith 2014, p. 194, n. 59.Bibliography
Editions:Les authentiques de reliques du sancta sanctorum, ed. B. Galland (Vatican City, 2004).
Chartae Latinae Antiquiores XXII. Italy III, ed. A. Petrucci and J.-O. Tjäder (Dietikon-Zurich, 1983).
Further reading:
Smith, J.M.H., 'Care of Relics in Early Medieval Rome,' in V.L. Garver and O.M. Phelan, eds., Rome and Religion in the Medieval World: Studies in Honor of Thomas F.X. Noble (Farnham, 2014), 179-206.
Smith, J.M.H., 'The Remains of the Saints: the Evidence of Early Medieval Relic Collections,' Early Medieval Europe, 28 (2020), 388-424.
Images
)
no. 116: from Galland 2004
)
no. 117: from Galland 2004
Record Created By
Benjamin Savill
Date of Entry
18/11/2022
| ID | Name | Name in Source | Identity | S01744 | Saints, name lost or very partially preserved | Uncertain |
|---|
Please quote this record referring to its author, database name, number, and, if possible, stable URL:
Benjamin Savill, Cult of Saints, E08362 - http://csla.history.ox.ac.uk/record.php?recid=E08362