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The Cult of Saints in Late Antiquity


from its origins to circa AD 700, across the entire Christian world


Name

All Saints

Saint ID

S01151

Gender
Male
Female
Type of Saint
Related Evidence Records
IDTitle
E00720Inscription with prayer in Greek, from a church in Kasossos near Mylasa (Caria, western Asia Minor). Refers to saints and other holy figures: *Abraham (Old Testament patriarch, S00275), *Jacob (Old Testament patriarch, S00280), *Moses (Old Testament prophet and lawgiver, S00241), *Elijah (Old Testament prophet, S00217), *Elisha (Old Testament prophet, S00239), the Apostles *Peter (S00036) and *Paul (S00008), other unnamed Apostles (S00084), unnamed Confessors (S00184), *George (soldier and martyr, S00259), *Stephen (the First Martyr, S00030), and a virgin *Eirene (possibly the martyr of Magedon, S02162). Probably late antique (6th/8th c.) or later.
E01670Greek inscription, commemorating the construction probably of a room or chapel, at a church dedicated to 'All Martyrs'. Found at Ḫarāb aš-Šams in the Limestone Massif (north Syria, between Antioch on the Orontes and Beroia/Aleppo). Probably late antique.
E01885Greek inscription invoking the protection of God for a tower, through the intercession of *Mary (Mother of Christ, S00033) and of *All Saints (S01151). Found at Qaṣr el-Mouḥarram near Apamea on the Orontes (central Syria). Dated 551.
E02051Floor-mosaics with Greek inscriptions commemorating the completion and paving of a church (naos) dedicated to *Mary (Mother of Christ, S00033) in 533, and the restoration of the mosaics in 582. Also the help of the God of Mary and of *All Saints (S01151) is invoked. Found at Riḥāb, between Bostra and Gerasa/Jerash (Jordan/the Roman province of Arabia).
E02285Greek amulet from Oxyrhynchos (Middle Egypt), invoking the help of *Mary (Μother of Christ, S00033), *John (the Apostle and Εvangelist, S00042), *Serenos/Sirenos (saint with martyr shrine at Oxyrhynchos, S00134), *Philoxenos (saint with cult at Oxyrhynchos, S00443), *Viktor (presumably the martyr of Egypt, son of Romanos, S00749), *Ioustos/Justus (saint with martyr shrine at Oxyrrhynchos, S01172), and all saints; datable to the 5th century.
E02888The Church Calendar of Ioane Zosime, compiled in Georgian in the 10th century, based however on 5th-7th c. prototypes from Jerusalem, commemorates on 22 January *all martyrs (S01151) and *Timothy (the disciple of Paul the Apostle, S00466).
E02953The early seventh-century Georgian version of the Lectionary of Jerusalem commemorates on 22 January, at the church of *Stephen (the First Martyr, S00030), *All Martyrs (S01151) from Stephen to the present.
E04120Three floor-mosaics with Greek inscriptions invoking the intercession of unnamed saints and 'All Saints'. Found at the monastery on Tell Iztabba at Beit She'an/Skythopolis (Roman province of Palaestina II). Probably second half of the 6th c.
E04343Greek inscriptions/graffiti invoking the God of *All Saints, the intercession of *Mary (Mother of Christ, S00033), *Sergios (soldier and martyr of Rusafa, S00023), *Stephen (the First Martyr, S00030), probably the *Forty Martyrs (of Sebasteia, S00103, or of the Sinai Desert, S01620), and saints whose names are lost. Found in Room 7 at the North Church at Nessana/Auja Hafir in the Negev desert (Roman province of Palaestina III). Probably 5th-7th c.
E04371Greek fragmentary account of a desert trading company/caravan (koinotes), containing a prayer for the intercession of *Mary (Mother of Christ, S00033), *John (the Baptist, S00020), and 'all the holy martyrs'. Written on papyrus. Found at Nessana/Auja Hafir in the Negev desert (Roman province of Palaestina III). P.Nessana 89, probably late 6th/early 7th c.
E04408Coptic letter from Kellis (Dakhleh Oasis) mentioning a kingdom of the saints (unnamed); datable to the 4th century.
E04409Coptic fragment of a hortatory sermon from Bala’izah (Upper Egypt), claiming that the death of the saints (S00518) is a precious incident; the text also suggests resting at their (burial) ‘place’ to commemorate them; datable to the 6th century.
E04738Greek graffito expressing a wish that a certain Pontianos would ‘live in God' and probably with 'All the Saints.' Once wrongly identified with *Pontianus (bishop and martyr of Rome, S00169). Found in the lower part of the Cemetery of Callixtus, via Appia, Rome. Probably first half of the 4th c.
E05005The 6th/7th c. recension of the Latin Martyrologium Hieronymianum, as transmitted in 8th c. manuscripts, records the feasts of a number of saints on 1 November.
E05440Coptic inscription from Wadi Sarga (Upper Egypt), with an invocation of all the *Saints (S01151); datable to the 7th/8th century.
E05456Proclus of Constantinople composes his Homily 34, On All the Saints (S01151), which he delivers during a night vigil celebrated on a feast day in Constantinople. Written in Greek in the early 5th c.
E05708Coptic document from the Theban area (Upper Egypt) mentioning all the *saints (S01151) as well as Apa *Epiphanios (S00093) the anchorite and abbot of the Theban monastery; datable to the 6th/7th century.
E05768Coptic letter from the Arsinoites (Fayum) wishing for the intercession of *Mark (the Evangelist, S00293) and of the full choir of *Saints (All Saints, S01151); datable to the 8th century.
E05924The Latin Life of the Jura Fathers recounts how a demon was expelled from a girl through a letter from *Eugendus (ascetic in the Jura mountains, ob. 512/515, S02182); 495/515 in Gaul. Written at Condat in the Jura mountains (modern Saint-Claude in eastern Gaul), c. 515/520.
E06281Fragmentary Greek epitaph on a marble slab mentioning *Mary (Mother of Christ, S00033) and invoking God to grant the deceased rest together with *All Saints (S01151). Found in the Basilica of St Kodratos at Corinth (northeastern Peloponnese). Probably 5th-6th c.
E07183A literary fragment from a palimpsest in Latin mentions a group of scholars dedicating themselves to the cult of saints and the creation of a new martyrology. Probably 6th century.