KYP T-1481

KYPRIANOS DATABASE OF ANCIENT RITUAL TEXTS

KYPRIANOS T1481

Manuscript:	M171
Sigla:	PCM 1 11 PCM I 11 Leiden Anastasi 9 Leiden Anastasy 9 P. Leiden I 385 AMS 9 Anastasy 9 (1828)
Text no. Position of the text within the manuscript.	7
Coptic Scriptorium:
Date:	551 – 800

Text position:	p. 29 ll. 1-22
Type of text:	Healing/protection (magical, formulary)

Original title:	ⲡⲉϩⲙⲉ ⲙ̅ⲙⲁⲣⲧⲏⲣⲟⲥ [ⲛⲥⲉ]ⲃⲁⲥⲏⲧⲏⲧⲡⲟⲗⲓⲥ
Original title (translated):	The 40 martyrs of the city of Sebaste
Conventional title:	Names of the 40 Martyrs of Sebaste

Language:	Egyptian (Coptic)
Dialect:	Sahidic
Script:	Coptic
Image:	https://hdl.handle.net/21.12126/21319

Text:

Translation:

p. 29 (15r)
→
-: ⲅ̅ :-

—— · —— ·——·——·——
1. ⲡⲉϩⲙⲉ ⲙ̅ⲙⲁⲣⲧⲏⲣⲟⲥ ⲛ̣[ⲥⲉ-]
2. ⲃⲁⲥⲏⲧⲏ ⲧⲡⲟⲗⲓⲥ :-
—— · —— ·——·——·——
3. ⲇⲟⲙⲏⲇⲓ̅ⲁⲛⲟⲥ ‧ ⲟⲩⲁⲗⲗⲏⲥ :
4. ⲏⲥⲏⲭⲓ̅ⲟⲥ : ⲥⲙⲁⲣⲁⲕⲧⲟⲥ :
5. ⲥⲓ̅ⲥⲓ̅ⲛⲛⲓ̅ⲟⲥ : ⲥⲉⲩⲏⲣⲓ̅ⲁⲛⲟⲥ :-
6. ⲫⲓ̅ⲗⲟⲕⲧⲏⲙⲱⲛ : ⲏ̅ⲗⲁⲕⲗⲓ̅ⲟⲥ
7. ⲕⲩⲣⲓ̈ⲱⲛ : ⲁⲗⲉⲝⲁⲛⲇⲣⲟⲥ :
8. ⲟⲩⲁⲗⲗⲉⲣⲓ̅ⲟⲥ ‧ ⲉⲩⲧⲏⲭⲓ̅ⲟⲥ
9. ⲃⲉⲃⲓ̅ⲁⲛⲟⲥ : ⲗⲉⲥⲓ̅ⲙⲁⲭⲟⲥ
10. ⲕⲩⲣⲓ̅ⲗⲗⲟⲥ ‧ ⲉⲩⲧⲩⲭⲓ̅ⲟⲥ :
11. ⲉⲩⲛⲟⲉⲓ̅ⲕⲟⲥ : ⲫⲗⲁⲩⲉⲓ̈ⲟⲥ
12. ⲝⲁⲛⲑⲓ̅ⲁⲥ : ⲗⲉⲟⲛⲧⲓ̈ⲟⲥ :
13. ⲙⲉⲧⲱⲛ ‧ ⲏⲅⲓ̅ⲁⲥ :
14. ⲉⲕⲇⲓ̅ⲕⲁⲓ̅ⲟⲥ : ⲁⲕⲁⲕⲓ̅ⲟⲥ
15. ⲁⲉⲇⲓ̅ⲟⲥ : ⲛⲓ̅ⲕⲟⲗⲁⲟⲥ : –
16. ⲓ̈ⲱϩⲁⲛⲛⲏⲥ ‧ ⲭⲟⲩⲇⲓ̈ⲱⲛ : –
17. ⲕⲁⲓ̅ⲟⲥ ‧ ⲕ̅ⲗⲁⲩⲇⲓ̅ⲟⲥ : –
18. ⲩⲗⲓ̅ⲧⲟⲙⲛⲟⲥ : ⲁⲑⲁⲛⲁⲥⲓ̅ⲟⲥ :
19. ⲡⲣⲓ̅ⲥⲕⲟⲥ : ⲕⲁⲛⲧⲓ̅ⲧⲟⲥ :
20. ⲥⲁⲕⲉⲣⲧⲱⲛ : ⲕⲟⲣⲕⲟⲛⲓ̅ⲟⲥ :
21. ⲑⲉⲟⲇⲟⲩⲗⲟⲥ : ⲑⲉⲟⲫⲓ̅ⲗⲟⲥ :-
22. ⲧⲟⲙⲛⲟⲥ : ⲁⲕⲗⲁⲉⲓ̅ⲕⲟⲥ :-
—— ··· —— ··· —— ··· —— ··· ——

[p. 29 l. 1] The Forty Martyrs of [2] the city of Sebaste: [3] Domitian, Valens, [5] Hesychius, Smaragdus, [5] Sisinnius, Severianus, [6] Philoctimon, Heraclius, [7] Cyrion, Alexander, [8] Valerius, Eutyhius, [9] Vibianus, Lysimachus, [10] Cyril, Eutychius, [11] Eunoicus, Flavius, [12] Xantheas, Leontius, [13] Meton, Aggius, [14] Ecdicius, Acacius, [15] Aetius, Nicholas, [16] John, Chudion, [17] Gaius, Claudius, [18] Ulitomnos, Athanasius, [19] Priscus, Candidus, [20] Sacerdon, Gorgonius, [21] Theodulus, Theophilus, [22] Domnus, Aglaius.

Tableau:
Tracing by:

Apparatus:

1. ⲙⲁⲣⲧⲏⲣⲟⲥ i.e. Greek μάρτυρος
1-2. ⲛ̣[ⲥⲉ]ⲃⲁⲥⲏⲧⲏ : [ⲛⲥⲉ]ⲃⲁⲥⲏⲧⲏ Pleyte/Boeser
2. ⲡⲟⲗⲓⲥ i.e. Greek πολίς

Notes:

p. 29 ll. 1–22. The Forty Martyrs of Sebaste: The Martyrs of Sebaste were forty Christian soldiers belonging to the Legio XII Fulminata said to have been martyred by Licinius around the year 320 by being abandoned on a frozen lake. The earliest mention of the Martyrs is in the homily on them by Basil of Caesarea dating to 373 CE (PG XXXI: 508–525); see Karlin-Hayter 1991. Their names appear in several contexts as amulets; in addition to the hermitage at Pachora (see note to p. 28 ll. 22–27), they are found in three manuscripts belonging to the ‘Berlin Library’ (KYP A14; VIII CE)—BKU I 8, 19 front, & 20—as well as O.Eleph. Wagner 322 (KYP M1122; IV–V CE); P.Lat.Bat. XIII 25 (KYP M1072); P.Ryl.Copt. 101 (KYP M323), SB VI 9615 (KYP M1056), SB XXVIII 17249 (KYP M1076); none of these seems to preserve the same sequence of names as that present here. Cf. de Bruyn 2017: 218–220; Dosoo 2023b: 75–76.
3. ⲟⲩⲁⲗⲗⲏⲥ : “Valens” Smith misreads as “Onalles.”
5. ⲥⲉⲩⲏⲣⲓ̅ⲁⲛⲟⲥ : “Severianus” Smith misreads as “Seuepianos.”
8. ⲟⲩⲁⲗⲗⲉⲣⲓ̅ⲟⲥ : “Valerius” Smith misreads as “Onallerios.”
Pleyte/Boeser use the sign = to indicate words which continue over multiple lines, but these are found in the codex. Due to the complexity of this text, we do not note minor divergences between our reading and that of Pleyte and Boeser, e.g., letters dotted in only one edition, a supralinear stroke marked in place of diaeresis, etc.; we do however note where letters are restored in one edition but not the other, or where punctuation is noted for a letter in one edition but not the other.

Bibliography:

de Bruyn, Theodore S. Making Amulets Christian: Artefacts, Scribes, and Contexts. Oxford Early Christian Studies 101. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2017.

Dosoo, Korshi. “Horus, Sabaoth, Satanas: La ‘Bibliothèque de Berlin’ et autres fonds d’archives magiques de l’Égypte romaine et les premiers siècles de la période islamique.” In La magie et les sciences occultes dans le monde islamique, edited by Jean-Charles Coulon, 28–125. Marseille: Diacritiques Éditions, 2023b

Dosoo, Korshi & Preininger, Markéta. Papyri Copticae Magicae. Coptic Magical Text, Volume 1. Formularies, Archiv für Papyrusforschung Beihefte, Berlin/Boston: De Gruyter, 2024, p. 168–169.

Karlin-Hayter, Patricia. “Passio of the XL Martyrs of Sebasteia: The Greek Tradition; The Earliest Account (BHG 1201).” Analecta Bollandiana 109, no. 3–4 (1991): 249–304

Pleyte, Willem, and Pieter A. A. Boeser. Manuscrits coptes du Musée d’Antiquités des Pays-Bas à Leide. Leiden: E. T. Brill, 1897, p. 441-479, no. 38.

Kropp, Angelicus. Ausgewählte koptische Zaubertexte. Übersetzungen und Anmerkungen. Vol. 2. Bruxelles: Édition de la Fondation Égyptologique Reine Élisabeth, 1931, no. 63 B, p. 220-221.

Meyer, Marvin W., and Richard Smith. Ancient Christian Magic: Coptic Texts of Ritual Power. Princeton (New Jersey): Princeton University Press, 1999, p. 322, no. 134.

Editor:

EL’s edition (16/4/20) from the transcript in Pleyte and Boser, entered by KD (29/1/2020); minor edits by KD (correction of line numbering) (16/10/2020); MPS and KD edition (9/6/2022); updated to PCM version by SG + KD (22/7/2026); JS (9/1/2023)

How to cite:

[Editor names]. "KYP T1481: Names of the 40 Martyrs of Sebaste," Kyprianos Database of Ancient Ritual Texts and Objects, Korshi Dosoo, Markéta Preininger, & Roxanne Bélanger Sarrazin (principal editors), www.coptic-magic.phil.uni-wuerzburg.de/index.php/text/kyp-t-1481. Accessed on 09/10/2026
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