E03661: Fragments from one or more ecclesiastical document(s) in Greek on papyrus, probably mentioning a church dedicated to *Mary (Mother of Christ, S00033), likely to be the cathedral of Petra, and, probably, a monastic establishment named after a certain 'Theodoros'. Found in Petra (Roman province of Palaestina III). Dated c. 561.

Fragment 1

Entry 48 in the fourth volume of the Petra papyri contains fragments extracted from one of two poorly preserved chunks of papyrus. The two chunks consist of more than 500 fragments, but within the first chunk only 27 were identified as bearing intelligible text, preserving a total of 55 lines. Some of the fragments were conjoining, but it is not clear whether they all belong to the same document, as the chunk could have been a bundle of several rolls. Matias Buchholz and Traianos Gagos offered an edition following the order in which the fragments were extracted from the chunk. Therefore, their text does not mirror the order of the contents of the document(s). The second fragment (Fragment Ba 6V) says:

τῆ]ς ἁγίας Μαρία[ς

'] of the Holy Mary ['

The editors associate it with a fragment from the other chunk (P.Petra IV 49) which mentions 'the most holy church of the metropolis of the Petraeans' (τῆς ἁγι]ωτ(άτης) ἐκκλ̣ησ(ίας) τῆς Πετρα[ίων] ̣μ̣η[τροπόλεως) and argue that this is the church where the papyri were found, and that it was dedicated to Mary.

Fragments 2 and 3

In addition, fragment Ba21V [+Bb 17R] says τ]ῷ ὄρει τοῦ ὁσιωτ(άτου) Θεοδώρου/'on the mount of the most reverend Thedoros' and fragment Bba 2R καὶ διακονίαν ὄρῃ ἱερῷ | [τοῦ ὁσιωτ(άτου) Θεοδώρου]/'and service on the holy mount [of the most reverend Theodoros]' (the completion of this second line being, of course, hypothetical). The editors probably rightly argue that this is 'an institution, probably a religious one'. This could be a monastery named after its founder. The designation ὄρος/'mountain' was often associated with monasteries or desolate places (in the context of Egyptian papyri it often means 'desert'). The epithet ὁσιώτατος suggests that the eponym was a monk rather than *Theodore, the soldier and martyr of Euchaita in Pontus (S00136).

The document(s) touch(es) upon the following issues: 'daily wages of ministers', 'lighting the candles', 'service' or 'ministration', 'rent', 'lease', probably some cultivated property. 'Public dues', taxes, and gold coins/carats of gold may also be mentioned. Thus the entire document(s) appear(s) to have dealt with financial issues of the church. Theodoros, son of Obodianos, the key figure in the entire archive, is mentioned here probably as acting on behalf of the church in the capacity of his office. Bishop Ioannes, one Leontios, possibly Stephanos, son of Leontios, and Kyra are also mentioned.

Dating: By chance a fragment (Ba 9V + Bb 15R) with a date, the month of Loos, the year 456 of the era of the province of Arabia, convertible to 20 July - 18 August AD 561, was preserved in the lot.

Text: P.Petra IV 48.