The era of the martyrs : : remembering the great persecution in late antique Egypt / / Aaltje Hidding.

• Superior document: Millennium-Studien = Millennium Studies ; Band 87
• VerfasserIn: Hidding, Aaltje,
• Place / Publishing House: Berlin ;, Boston : : De Gruyter,, 2020.
• Year of Publication: 2020
• Edition: First edition.
• Language: English
• Series: Millennium-Studien ; Band 87.
• Physical Description: 1 online resource (x, 224 pages) :; illustrations.

One of the most traumatic experiences of Late Antique Christians was the Great Persecution, begun by Emperor Diocletian and his Tetrarchic colleagues in 303 CE. Here Aaltje Hidding unites research of traditional memory studies with work done by cognitive scientists to examine how they remembered the Persecution. The resulting methodological framework, the 'cognitive ecology', systemically studies all what can be covered by this term - social surroundings, cognitive artefacts and the physical environment - and bridges the gap between individual and collective memory. The author analyses the remembrance of the Persecution in three different regions along the Nile river. In Oxyrhynchus, the thousands of papyrus fragments found at the city's rubbish dump give a vivid image of the martyrs in the daily lives of the Oxyrhynchites. In Antinoopolis, known for the cult of the physician saint Colluthus, she zooms in on the rituals and practices at a martyr's sanctuary. Finally, in Dandara, the rich hagiographical dossier of the anchorite Paphnutius shows how old memories of the Persecution became mixed with new monastic experiences. The Bohairic and Greek Passion of Paphnutius appear in their first complete English translations.

Table of Contents

Preface -- Abbreviations -- 1 General Introduction -- 2 The Martyrs of Oxyrhynchus. Remembering the Great Persecution in the City of the Sharp-Nosed Fish -- 3 Physician, Martyr, Miracle Worker. Remembering the Great Persecution at the Sanctuary of Saint Colluthus -- 4 Paphnutius of Dendara. A Monastic Martyr and the Memories of the Great Persecution -- 5 General Conclusion -- Appendix 1. The Greek Passion of Paphnutius: Text and translation -- Appendix 2. The Bohairic Passion of Paphnutius: Text and translation -- Bibliography -- Index of Written Sources -- Index -- Figures.