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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.

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posted on 2014-11-01, 00:00 authored by dlambert
O.CrumST 156

Fragmentary list of churches and their clergy from the region of Jeme, mentioning the village Pallas.
Line 3 reads as follows:

[ⲡⲇⲓⲁ]ⲕ(ⲟⲛⲟⲥ) ⲉⲧⲉⲕⲕ(ⲗⲏⲥⲓⲁ) ⲛⲁⲡⲁ ⲟⲛⲟⲫⲣⲓⲟⲥ

'the deacon for the church of Apa Onophrios'

(Text and translation: W. E. Crum, modified)

History

Evidence ID

E00125

Saint Name

Onnophrios, Egyptian Anchorite : S00055

Saint Name in Source

ⲁⲡⲁ ⲟⲛⲟⲫⲣⲓⲟⲥ

Type of Evidence

Documentary texts - List

Language

  • Coptic

Evidence not before

600

Evidence not after

799

Activity not before

600

Activity not after

799

Place of Evidence - Region

Egypt and Cyrenaica Egypt and Cyrenaica

Place of Evidence - City, village, etc

Pallas Djeme

Place of evidence - City name in other Language(s)

Pallas Hermopolis ϣⲙⲟⲩⲛ Ashmunein Hermopolis Djeme Hermopolis ϣⲙⲟⲩⲛ Ashmunein Hermopolis

Cult activities - Liturgical Activity

  • Ceremony of dedication

Cult activities - Places

Cult building - independent (church)

Source

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.

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    Evidence -  The Cult of Saints in Late Antiquity

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