E03576: Coptic fragment of the Martyrdom of *Thekla (virgin and martyr of Egypt, S00777), daughter of Kyros, from Assiut (Upper Egypt), mentioning Apa *Pamoun (S00775 or S00776) and Apa *Klaudios (S01470) invoking God, Christ, all the saints, and the archangels at the trial under the governor Arianos, possibly at Antinoopolis (Middle Egypt); written most likely in the 6th/7th century.
online resource
posted on 2017-08-18, 00:00authored bygschenke
The scene seems to be one at the trial of a number of martyrs by Arianos, possibly at Antinoopolis (Middle Egypt). The text starts with Apa Pamoun and Apa Klaudios singing and invoking the power of God, Christ, all the saints, and the archangels Michael, Gabriel and Raphael.
The governor Arianos then turns to the virgin Thekla and asks for her name and that of her parents. She answers that she has a father named Kyros.
‘The governor (hegemon) wrote her name onto a (piece of) papyrus, saying: “Thekla, the daughter of Kyros, the councillor (politeuomenos) of Assiut, since she ventured by herself and came to the court, she despised the gods of the emperor and followed the magic of the Christians, I command to have her head taken off.”’
(Text: W. C. Till, KHML 2, 129–132; summary and trans. G. Schenke)
History
Evidence ID
E03576
Saint Name
Pamoun and his monastic brother Sarmata : S00776
Pamoun : S00775
Thekla, virgin martyr from Assiut : S00777
Klaudios, Apa Klaudius, martyr with Apa Pamoun and Thekla of Assiut, possibly at Antinooplis : S01470
Literary - Hagiographical - Accounts of martyrdom
Late antique original manuscripts - Parchment codex
Language
Coptic
Evidence not before
500
Evidence not after
900
Activity not before
304
Activity not after
900
Place of Evidence - Region
Egypt and Cyrenaica
Place of evidence - City name in other Language(s)
Hermopolis
ϣⲙⲟⲩⲛ
Ashmunein
Hermopolis
Cult activities - Non Liturgical Practices and Customs
Composing and translating saint-related texts
Source
One leaf of a former parchment codex preserved in the papyrus collection in Vienna, K 9503. Layout and script suggest a date of production somewhere in the 9th–11th century.
Bibliography
Text and German translation:
Till, W.C., Koptische Heiligen- und Martyrlegenden. Vol. 2 (Rome: Pont. institutum orientalium studiorum, 1936), 129–132.