E02181: Greek list of offerings for the feast of Apa *Sion (S01177), from the area of the Fayum (Lower Egypt), datable to the 6th century.

online resource

posted on 2016-12-27, 00:00 authored by gschenke

P.Prag. 1 91

☧ τῷ μεγαλοπ[ρ]ε(πεστάτῳ) κόμε(τι) Μην[ᾷ]
οἴνου λαγ(ύνους) ϛ
ἄρτους ρ
δελφάκιον α
5
λαχάνια
γνάφαλ(λα) πέταλ(α) δ
☧ εὐλογία τοῦ ἁγίου
Ἄπα Σίωνος †

’To the most magnificent comes Menas:
six wine jars,
one-hundred (loaves of) bread,
one piglet,
vegetables,
four large cushions.
Benediction of saint Apa Sion.‘

Text and Italian translation: R. Pintaudi. English translation: G. Schenke

A full record of this document is available at:

http://papyri.info/ddbdp/p.prag;1;91

History

Evidence ID

E02181

Saint Name

Sion or Apasion : S01177

Saint Name in Source

Σίων

Related Saint Records

https://oxford.figshare.com/articles/Sion_or_Apasion_possibly_a_local_Arsinoite_Fayum_saint/13732297

Type of Evidence

Documentary texts - List

Language

Greek

Evidence not before

500

Evidence not after

599

Activity not before

500

Activity not after

599

Place of Evidence - Region

Egypt and Cyrenaica

Place of Evidence - City, village, etc

Arsinoites (Fayum)

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

Arsinoites (Fayum) Hermopolis ϣⲙⲟⲩⲛ Ashmunein Hermopolis

Cult activities - Festivals

Saint’s feast

Cult activities - Places

Cult building - unspecified

Cult activities - Non Liturgical Practices and Customs

Bequests, donations, gifts and offerings

Source

This papyrus document Gr. II 116 belongs to the state library at Prague and has been dated on palaeographical grounds.

Discussion

The list is a bit puzzling, especially as it is addressed to a comes, a civic rather than a religious authority. Nonetheless, the items listed here seem to be donations to the saint in return for a desired blessing. A monastery of Apa Sion is referred to in E02180.

Bibliography

Editon: Pintaudi, R., "Elenco di generi (per la festa di S. Apa Sion?)," Papyri Graecae Wessely Pragenses (P.Prag. I), Papyrologica Florentina vol. 16 (Florence, 1988), 181–182. Mention: Papaconstantinou, A., Le culte des saints en Égypte des Byzantins aux Abbassides (Paris: CNRS, 2001), 424.