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E00346: Coptic papyrus letter sent to the monastery at Bawit (Middle Egypt) of Apa *Apollo (founder of the monastery at Bawit, 4th c., S00160), written in the 8th c., containing a request to remember the sender with a gift to the saint (unnamed, S00518).

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posted on 2015-03-17, 00:00 authored by Bryan

P.Köln ägypt. II 41:

This fragmentary papyrus letter from the monk Pamoun to Apa Enoch of the same monastery primarily concerns agricultural matters, with expectations of the harvest and payments connected with it.

Line six of the verso reads:

ⲁⲣ ⲡⲉⲛⲙⲉⲉⲩⲉ ϩⲓϫⲛ ϯ ⲉⲙⲁ ⲛⲡⲉⲧⲟⲩⲁⲁⲃ

'Remember us through a gift to the place (topos) of the saint.'

Text and translation: Gesa Schenke

History

Evidence ID

E00346

Saint Name

Saints, unnamed or name lost : S00518 Apa Apollo, founder of the monastery at Bawit : S00160

Related Saint Records

Type of Evidence

Documentary texts - Donation document Late antique original manuscripts - Papyrus sheet

Language

Coptic

Evidence not before

700

Evidence not after

799

Activity not before

700

Activity not after

799

Place of Evidence - Region

Egypt and Cyrenaica

Place of Evidence - City, village, etc

Bawit

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

Bawit Hermopolis ϣⲙⲟⲩⲛ Ashmunein Hermopolis

Cult activities - Places

Cult building - unspecified

Cult activities - Non Liturgical Practices and Customs

Bequests, donations, gifts and offerings

Cult Activities - Protagonists in Cult and Narratives

Ecclesiastics - monks/nuns/hermits

Source

The text P.Köln ägypt. II 41, located at the Institute for African Studies and Egyptology in Cologne under the inventory number 10302, is written on papyrus and can be dated by its script to the 8th century.

Discussion

The monk Pamoun, sending a letter to Apa Enoch at his own monastery of Apa Apollo at Bawit, seems to be away from the monastery on agricultural business. He informs the addressee of how things are going and asks to be remembered with a gift 'to the saint', presumably Apa Apollo, the monastery’s founder.

Bibliography

Edition: Schenke, G., Kölner ägyptische Papyri (P.Köln ägypt.) II: Koptische Urkunden der früharabischen Zeit (Papyrologica Coloniensia IX/2; Paderborn: Ferdinand Schöningh, 2016), 87–90. For a full range of the documentary evidence on Apollo: Papaconstantinou, A., Le culte des saints en Égypte des Byzantins aux Abbassides (Paris: CNRS, 2001), 53–56.