E00125: Coptic list of churches and their clergy, possibly from Pallas in the Coptite nome (Upper Egypt), mentioning a deacon of the church of Apa *Onnophrios (Egyptian Anchorite, 4th c., S00055), datable to the 7th/8th c.
online resource
posted on 2014-11-01, 00:00authored bydlambert
O.CrumST 156
Fragmentary list of churches and their clergy from the region of Jeme, mentioning the village Pallas. Line 3 reads as follows:
O.CrumST 156 is a very small fragment of a papyrus document at Cheltenham, Phillipps Library.
Discussion
Since a deacon is mentioned in connection with a church of Onnophrios, this is clear evidence of an active church in the Theban area, a site at which some form of cult of Onnophrios is expected to have take place in the 7th/8th century.
Documentary evidence for church buildings dedicated to Onnophrios also comes from Theagenis (Arsinoites), Lykopolis, and Aphrodito. So far no such evidence is found in a city.
Bibliography
Text and translation:
Crum, W.E., Short Texts from Coptic Ostraca and Papyri (London: Oxford University Press, 1921), 40 (O.CrumST 156).
Further reading:
Papaconstantinou, A., Le culte des saints en Égypte des Byzantins aux Abbassides (Paris: CNRS, 2001), 161.