DOI Seite / Zitierlink:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.4689#0045
COPTIC GRAFFITI, ETC.
Kali
RX-Kf
bouring monastery of Moses however, as the Dair to
the West of the temple appears to be now named,1
recalls the saint so prominently invoked in the
graffiti [v. especially 19, 36, B. n). This Moses is
called by Makrizi 3 a native of Belyana. Presumably
he is identical with the monastic hero who, with his
brethren, wrecked the still surviving heathen temple
at Abydos 3 (Ebot) and whose career is made to fall
somewhere between the death of Shenoute (451) and
the accession of the patriarch Theodosius (536).4
But whether this person is the same with the archi-
mandrite—likewise subsequent to Shenoute5—who
addressed epistles to a community of nunsG and
composed a ' canon,' 7 has not been demonstrated.
The fact that our graffiti name various female
officials of a convent, points at any rate to a
nun's community in the neighbourhood. But to
what period the texts should be assigned it is not
easy to determine. Moses indeed is often referred
to as an already recognized saint. But only one
text allows of precise determination : B. 11 records
Gabriel as the archbishop, thus in all probability
indicating the beginning of the 10th century. B. 13
perhaps mentions a visit of Pesynthius of Coptos,
which would be in about the years 600—620 ; this,
however, is quite uncertain. Arguments drawn
from the palasographical features of such rough
inscriptions can not at present have much value.
The sequence of the graffiti in the plates is due to
considerations of size and space. According to
contents they can be grouped and are here described
as followss: Scriptural quotations (protective
charms), invocations &c, proper names with
accompanying prayers, names only, texts referring
to the rise of the river.9 The last of these groups is
especially interesting but not wholly intelligible.
[1, 2, 23, 26, 3, 14, 27, 10, 31, 24, 12, 11, 32, 25, 7,
1 Murray, Handbook9, 747. The Syna.xarhtm, 7th Bermudah,
speaks of the nion. of Belyana as that ot Moses.
2 No. 59 in list of monasteries. Abu Salih f. 8lffl places it to
the W. of Belyana, which would suit the present monastery.
:l Missio?i franq. iv. 686. Cf. ? ' Moses and his brethren,'
invoked on some stelae [Rev. eg. iv. 7, Rec. v. 63).
4 The former, dying, foretells M.'s fame [Miss. iv. 682),
while M. in turn prophecies of Theodosius, Severus and
Anthimus {I.e. 688).
5 M. quotes him (I.e. 695 &c.).
<"> L.c. 693 ff.
-' Paris MS. copte 129'-, 14 (title only, so perhaps = the
epistles, as sometimes with Shenoute).
8 B. = texts published by Bouriant, l.c. and not copied by
Miss Murray. The stelae, wine-jar and ostracon published
here likewise come from Abydos.
s Other documents recording the river's rise : Krall, Rechts-
urk. No. I. 25, Rainer Fuhrer 1894, No. 61S.
8, 9, 20, 30, 16, 18, 4, 5, 29, 39, 28, 36, 48, 33, 37,
B. 12, 19, 43, 41, 49, 35, 40, 21, 34, B. 3, B. 4, B. 11,
42, 13, 6, 44, 38, 47, B. 13, B. 15, B. 17, B. 16, 22,
T-7, 15, 45> 45-]
1.— Z, E. Wall (= B. 2, 8, 9, 10). The 2 11. in
small characters above are the first and last verses
of St. Matthew (i. 1, xxviii. 20) and St. Luke (i. 1,
xxiv. 50, 51). The next 2 11., continued in the
broken text on right, show St. Mark i. 1 and xiv.
18/7, 19, 20. The short 11., following the cross
(anok eis), are the beginning of Christ's letter to
Abgar. These texts were all familiar in Christian
Egypt as protective charms and are often found
written upon the walls of dwellings.10
2.—Z, W. Wall. (= B. 7). The names (tiaine
nran) of the Apostles and the beginnings and ends
of the Gospels of Matthew and Luke, as in No. 1.
The rough ' orans ' above the text bears the name
' MartJia the little'; in the blank below the text
are Tsabina, Tamanne and other, illegible names.
23.—Z, E. Wall. (= B. 6). Invokes God the
Father, the ' seven holy angels ' (five archangels
are named) and enumerates the twelve Apostles
(= Mt. x. 2, omitting Thomas). LI. 16 ff. perhaps
a prayer that ' the people of our . . .' (nrome
mpc\_nnetll~\) may be preserved 'from all ill'
{eppcthoou nim).
26.—Z, N. Wall. (= B. 5). List of women's
names (11. 1—9) followed by a prayer. ' Mekalon1- the
little of Perth,13 Ttenthotrakeli of Pertes, Patrckou 15
the little, her sister, Georgia her mother, Anastou 16
the little, her sister, Metreiore x7 the little, their sister,
Marou 1S their mother, [the la]dy (? Kvpd) Louie 19 the
little, . . . nia, her mother. Lord God Almighty
{ttuvtok.), watch (= roeis) thou over all the people of
Pertes, small and great, within and without. Jesus
have mercy on them all. Mckalou.''
3.—Z, broken pillar. (= B. 1 cf. B. 17). A
Prayer. ' I . . . thee, . . , I bless thee, Father,
I bless thee, Son, I bl[ess] thee, Holy Ghost. I
glorify thee and [I] give thee thanks {ev-^aptaTelv).
lea, lea, 16, Adon[ai], Ab[ras]a[x], Eloei, Sabaoth,
10 Cf. Expl. Fund, Arch. Report, 1897-98, pp. 63, 67.
11 V. No. 25.
12 = MeyaAoi/s' or MeyaXw.
13 =r Today Bardis, about 8 mi. N. of Abydos.
14 Lit. ' The daughter of Theodorakios.'
15 ? Fern, of Patiicius.
10 ? Fem. of Anastasius.
l' zzz. 'Wij]rpodapa.
18 Cf. Mapois, 13GU. 232.
" Loula, Loulou, AuXovs is generally masculine.
i of s
Kali
RX-Kf
bouring monastery of Moses however, as the Dair to
the West of the temple appears to be now named,1
recalls the saint so prominently invoked in the
graffiti [v. especially 19, 36, B. n). This Moses is
called by Makrizi 3 a native of Belyana. Presumably
he is identical with the monastic hero who, with his
brethren, wrecked the still surviving heathen temple
at Abydos 3 (Ebot) and whose career is made to fall
somewhere between the death of Shenoute (451) and
the accession of the patriarch Theodosius (536).4
But whether this person is the same with the archi-
mandrite—likewise subsequent to Shenoute5—who
addressed epistles to a community of nunsG and
composed a ' canon,' 7 has not been demonstrated.
The fact that our graffiti name various female
officials of a convent, points at any rate to a
nun's community in the neighbourhood. But to
what period the texts should be assigned it is not
easy to determine. Moses indeed is often referred
to as an already recognized saint. But only one
text allows of precise determination : B. 11 records
Gabriel as the archbishop, thus in all probability
indicating the beginning of the 10th century. B. 13
perhaps mentions a visit of Pesynthius of Coptos,
which would be in about the years 600—620 ; this,
however, is quite uncertain. Arguments drawn
from the palasographical features of such rough
inscriptions can not at present have much value.
The sequence of the graffiti in the plates is due to
considerations of size and space. According to
contents they can be grouped and are here described
as followss: Scriptural quotations (protective
charms), invocations &c, proper names with
accompanying prayers, names only, texts referring
to the rise of the river.9 The last of these groups is
especially interesting but not wholly intelligible.
[1, 2, 23, 26, 3, 14, 27, 10, 31, 24, 12, 11, 32, 25, 7,
1 Murray, Handbook9, 747. The Syna.xarhtm, 7th Bermudah,
speaks of the nion. of Belyana as that ot Moses.
2 No. 59 in list of monasteries. Abu Salih f. 8lffl places it to
the W. of Belyana, which would suit the present monastery.
:l Missio?i franq. iv. 686. Cf. ? ' Moses and his brethren,'
invoked on some stelae [Rev. eg. iv. 7, Rec. v. 63).
4 The former, dying, foretells M.'s fame [Miss. iv. 682),
while M. in turn prophecies of Theodosius, Severus and
Anthimus {I.e. 688).
5 M. quotes him (I.e. 695 &c.).
<"> L.c. 693 ff.
-' Paris MS. copte 129'-, 14 (title only, so perhaps = the
epistles, as sometimes with Shenoute).
8 B. = texts published by Bouriant, l.c. and not copied by
Miss Murray. The stelae, wine-jar and ostracon published
here likewise come from Abydos.
s Other documents recording the river's rise : Krall, Rechts-
urk. No. I. 25, Rainer Fuhrer 1894, No. 61S.
8, 9, 20, 30, 16, 18, 4, 5, 29, 39, 28, 36, 48, 33, 37,
B. 12, 19, 43, 41, 49, 35, 40, 21, 34, B. 3, B. 4, B. 11,
42, 13, 6, 44, 38, 47, B. 13, B. 15, B. 17, B. 16, 22,
T-7, 15, 45> 45-]
1.— Z, E. Wall (= B. 2, 8, 9, 10). The 2 11. in
small characters above are the first and last verses
of St. Matthew (i. 1, xxviii. 20) and St. Luke (i. 1,
xxiv. 50, 51). The next 2 11., continued in the
broken text on right, show St. Mark i. 1 and xiv.
18/7, 19, 20. The short 11., following the cross
(anok eis), are the beginning of Christ's letter to
Abgar. These texts were all familiar in Christian
Egypt as protective charms and are often found
written upon the walls of dwellings.10
2.—Z, W. Wall. (= B. 7). The names (tiaine
nran) of the Apostles and the beginnings and ends
of the Gospels of Matthew and Luke, as in No. 1.
The rough ' orans ' above the text bears the name
' MartJia the little'; in the blank below the text
are Tsabina, Tamanne and other, illegible names.
23.—Z, E. Wall. (= B. 6). Invokes God the
Father, the ' seven holy angels ' (five archangels
are named) and enumerates the twelve Apostles
(= Mt. x. 2, omitting Thomas). LI. 16 ff. perhaps
a prayer that ' the people of our . . .' (nrome
mpc\_nnetll~\) may be preserved 'from all ill'
{eppcthoou nim).
26.—Z, N. Wall. (= B. 5). List of women's
names (11. 1—9) followed by a prayer. ' Mekalon1- the
little of Perth,13 Ttenthotrakeli of Pertes, Patrckou 15
the little, her sister, Georgia her mother, Anastou 16
the little, her sister, Metreiore x7 the little, their sister,
Marou 1S their mother, [the la]dy (? Kvpd) Louie 19 the
little, . . . nia, her mother. Lord God Almighty
{ttuvtok.), watch (= roeis) thou over all the people of
Pertes, small and great, within and without. Jesus
have mercy on them all. Mckalou.''
3.—Z, broken pillar. (= B. 1 cf. B. 17). A
Prayer. ' I . . . thee, . . , I bless thee, Father,
I bless thee, Son, I bl[ess] thee, Holy Ghost. I
glorify thee and [I] give thee thanks {ev-^aptaTelv).
lea, lea, 16, Adon[ai], Ab[ras]a[x], Eloei, Sabaoth,
10 Cf. Expl. Fund, Arch. Report, 1897-98, pp. 63, 67.
11 V. No. 25.
12 = MeyaAoi/s' or MeyaXw.
13 =r Today Bardis, about 8 mi. N. of Abydos.
14 Lit. ' The daughter of Theodorakios.'
15 ? Fern, of Patiicius.
10 ? Fem. of Anastasius.
l' zzz. 'Wij]rpodapa.
18 Cf. Mapois, 13GU. 232.
" Loula, Loulou, AuXovs is generally masculine.
i of s