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E04143: Coptic ostracon from Edfu/Apollonopolis (Upper Egypt) with a letter mentioning a saint (unnamed, S00518); datable to the 7th century.

online resource

posted on 2017-10-12, 00:00 authored by gschenke

O.EdfouIFAO (= O. EdfouCopte) 26

The fragmentary letter seems to refer to the addressees as beloved ones in or of a saint.
Lines 1–2 read as follows:

ⲛ̣ⲁ̣ⲙ̣[ⲉ]ⲣⲁⲧⲉ ⲙⲡⲉⲧⲟⲩⲁⲁⲃ ϫⲉ

‘… my] beloved ones in the saint.’

(Text: S. Bacot; trans.: G. Schenke)

History

Evidence ID

E04143

Saint Name

Unnamed saints (or name lost) : S00518

Saint Name in Source

ⲡⲉⲧⲟⲩⲁⲁⲃ

Related Saint Records

https://oxford.figshare.com/articles/Saints_unnamed/13738717

Type of Evidence

Documentary texts - Letter Late antique original manuscripts - Ostracon/Pot-sherd

Language

Coptic

Evidence not before

600

Evidence not after

699

Activity not before

600

Activity not after

699

Place of Evidence - Region

Egypt and Cyrenaica

Place of Evidence - City, village, etc

Edfu

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

Edfu Hermopolis ϣⲙⲟⲩⲛ Ashmunein Hermopolis

Cult activities - Places

Cult building - unspecified

Cult activities - Non Liturgical Practices and Customs

Prayer/supplication/invocation

Source

The potsherd inv. 190 is currently kept at the IFAO in Cairo. Its dating is based on context, as the ostracon was found together with many others, one of them being a liturgical calendar giving entries for the years 643–648.

Bibliography

Text and French translation: Bacot, S., Ostraca grecs et coptes des fouilles franco-polonaises sur le site de Tell Edfou. O. EdfouCopte 1-145 (Bibliothèque d'Études Coptes 19; Cairo, 2009), 50–51.