Lettered Christians New Testament Tools, Studies and Documents
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Lettered Christians New Testament Tools, Studies and Documents New Testament Tools, Studies, and Documents (NTTSD) combines two series, New Testament Tools and Studies (NTTS) and Studies and Documents (SD). The former was founded by Bruce M. Metzger in 1965 and edited by him until 1993, when Bart D. Ehrman joined him as co-editor. The latter series was founded by Kirsopp and Silva Lake in 1935, edited by them until the death of Kirsopp Lake in 1946, then briey by Silva Lake and Carsten Høeg (1955), followed by Jacob Geerlings (until 1969), by Irving Alan Sparks (until 1993), and nally by Eldon Jay Epp (until 2007). The new series will promote the publication of primary sources, reference tools, and critical studies that advance the understanding of the New Testament and other early Christian writings and writers into the fourth century. Emphases of the two predecessor series will be retained, including the textual history and transmission of the New Testament and related literature, relevant manuscripts in various languages, methodologies for research in early Christianity. The series will also publish a broader range of studies pertinent to early Christianity and its writings. Editors Bart D. Ehrman, Ph.D., James A. Gray Distinguished Professor of Religious Studies University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Eldon J. Epp, Ph.D., Harkness Professor of Biblical Literature Emeritus and Dean of Humanities and Social Sciences Emeritus, Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, Ohio VOLUME 39 The titles published in this series are listed at brill.nl/ntts Lettered Christians Christians, Letters, and Late Antique Oxyrhynchus By Lincoln H. Blumell LEIDEN • BOSTON 2012 Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Blumell, Lincoln H. (Lincoln Harris), 1975- Lettered Christians : Christians, letters, and late antique Oxyrhynchus / by Lincoln H. Blumell. p. cm. – (New Testament tools, studies, and documents, ISSN 0077-8842 ; v. 39) Revision of the author's thesis (doctoral)–University of Toronto, 2009. Includes bibliographical references (p. ) and indexes. ISBN 978-90-04-18095-6 (hardback : alk. paper) 1. Christian literature, Early. 2. Oxyrhynchus papyri. I. Title. BR67.B58 2012 276.2'201–dc23 2011045891 This publication has been typeset in the multilingual “Brill” typeface. With over 5,100 characters covering Latin, IPA, Greek, and Cyrillic, this typeface is especially suitable for use in the humanities. For more information, please see www.brill.nl/brill-typeface. ISSN 0077-8842 ISBN 978 90 04 18095 6 (hardback) ISBN 978 90 04 18098 7 (e-book) Copyright 2012 by Koninklijke Brill NV, Leiden, The Netherlands. Koninklijke Brill NV incorporates the imprints Brill, Global Oriental, Hotei Publishing, IDC Publishers, Martinus Nijhof Publishers and VSP. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, translated, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without prior written permission from the publisher. Authorization to photocopy items for internal or personal use is granted by Koninklijke Brill NV provided that the appropriate fees are paid directly to The Copyright Clearance Center, 222 Rosewood Drive, Suite 910, Danvers, MA 01923, USA. Fees are subject to change. This book is printed on acid-free paper. uxori et liis meis CONTENTS Acknowledgements. ix Abbreviations. xi Editing Sigla . xv Colour Plates . following xv 1. Introduction . 1 I. Scholarship and the Christian Remains from Oxyrhynchus . 8 II. The Study: Argument and Structure . 12 III. Caveats . 16 2. Writing Christian . 27 I. Scholarship and Papyrus Letters Written by Christians. 32 II. Markers of Christian Identity within Letters . 36 i. The Nomen Christianum and Self-Identi cation . 37 ii. Crosses and Monograms. 43 iii. Isopsephisms and Acrostics . 46 iv. Nomina Sacra ................................................ 49 v. Monotheistic Terminology and Phraseology . 52 a. Invocations and Obeisances . 53 b. Greetings and Farewells . 55 c. Monotheistic Epithets . 57 d. Monotheistic Phrases . 61 vi. Familial Language and the Use of ἀγαπητός ................. 68 vii. Miscellaneous Markers . 70 viii. Conclusions . 78 ix. Postscript . 85 3. Mapping Christians: Travel and Epistolary Networks in Christian Letters from Oxyrhynchus . 89 I. Travel and Communication in Roman and Byzantine Egypt . 90 II. Detectable Travel Motives in the Letters . 103 III. Patterns of Travel and Epistolary Networks. 120 IV. Conclusions . 154 viii contents 4. Christians of the Book? . 163 I. Christians and Their Texts . 166 II. Learned Christians?. 183 III. The Use of “Scripture” in the Letters . 208 i. Scriptural Citations . 210 ii. Scriptural Quotations. 218 iii. Scriptural Echoes and Reminiscences . 220 IV. Conclusions . 232 5. What’s in a Name? . 237 I. Onomastic Data and Religious Adherence in Antiquity . 240 II. Nomina Christiana ............................................... 249 i. Biblical Names . 249 ii. Names of Martyrs and Saints . 250 iii. Names Carrying Christian Connotations . 260 III. Nomina Christiana in Epistulae .................................. 262 i. Biblical Names . 263 ii. Names of Martyrs and Saints . 265 iii. Names Carrying Christian Connotations . 267 iv. Female Names . 269 IV. Nomina Pagana .................................................. 272 V. Conclusions . 275 6. Reading Someone Else’s Mail . 281 Epilogue. The Demise of Christian Oxyrhynchus . 295 Appendix . 301 Bibliography . 371 Index of Ancient Authors . 399 Index of Biblical References . 401 Index of Select Greek Terms and Phrases . 406 Index of Modern Authors . 408 Index of Papyri and Inscriptions . 415 Index of Subjects . 426 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS The present study is a revised version of my doctoral dissertation, which was submitted to the Department and Centre for the Study of Religion at the University of Toronto in July 2009. First, I owe many thanks to my supervi- sor, Prof. John S. Kloppenborg, whose constant encouragement, advice, and direction was indispensable to this project. Similarly, I also owe thanks to the other members of my committee, Dr. Nick Everett and Prof. Paul Swar- ney, as well as to my two external examiners, Dr. Michel Cottier and Prof. Eldon J. Epp, for providing me with many valuable insights and directives. I also owe a debt of gratitude to Dr. Peter van Minnen, who was not o - cially involved with my dissertation but who has been profoundly helpful and extremely generous with ofering advice and direction when solicited. I also want to thank Stephen Brown, Alex MacDonnell, and Prof. Wayne O. McCready for the constant support and encouragement they provided during the writing of this dissertation and to Joseph Antley and Erik Yin- gling for reading over drafts and checking footnotes. I want to thank Prof. Bart D. Ehrman and Prof. Eldon J. Epp for accepting this study as part of the New Testament Tools, Studies, and Documents series. I feel it a genuine honour to have my work associated with this excellent series. Likewise, I want to thank Mattie Kuiper and the editorial board at Brill for their patience as I was revising my dissertation and for their exemplary work on this volume. Lastly, I owe a profound debt of gratitude to my family. To my par- ents, Bruce and Jean Blumell, words cannot adequately express how much I thank you for your overwhelming support and encouragement at every step in this process. Likewise, to my wife, Melissa, and to my four chil- dren, Luke, Grace, Charlotte, and Claire, I sincerely thank you for your sustained patience, support, encouragement, and love, without such this project would have been impossible. ABBREVIATIONS For journal abbreviations and abbreviations of other standard works I have followed Patrick H. Alexander et al., eds., The SBL Handbook of Style: For Ancient Near Eastern, Biblical, and Early Christian Studies (Peabody, MA: Hendrickson, 1999). For editions of papyri I have followed the abbreviations given in John F. Oates et al, eds., Checklist of Editions of Greek and Latin Papyri, Ostraca and Tablets, 5th ed. (BASP Suppl. 9, 2001). The online version is available at http://scriptorium.lib.duke.edu/papyrus/texts/clist.html. For Arabic Papyri I have followed the abbreviations given in Petra M. Sijpesteijn et al., eds., “Checklist of Arabic Papyri” BASP 42 (2005): 127–166. Abbreviations not in the SBL Handbook of Style or those used frequently are as follows. APD The Arabic Papyrology Database (http://orientw.uzh.ch/apd/ project.jsp) APF Archiv für Papyrusforschung und verwandte Gebiete AS/EA Asiatische Studien/Études Asiatiques BASP The Bulletin of the American Society of Papyrologists BCD Brussels Coptic Database (http://dev.ulb.ac.be/philo/bad/copte/baseuk.php ?page=accueiluk.php) BL Berichtigungsliste der griechischen Papyrusurkunden aus Ägypten. Ed. F. Preisigke (Vol. I). Berlin/Leipzig 1922. Ed. F. Bilabel (Vol. II). Heidelberg 1929, 1933. Eds. M. David, B.A. van Groningen and E. Kiessling (Vol. III–IV). Leiden 1958, 1964. Eds. E. Boswinkel, M. David, B.A. van Groningen and E. Kiessling (Vol. V). Leiden 1969. Ed. E. Boswinkel, P.W. Pestman and H.-A. Rupprecht (Vol. VI). Leiden 1976. Eds. E. Boswinkel, W. Clarysse, P.W. Pestman and H.-A. Rupprecht (Vol. VII). Leiden 1986. Eds. P.W. Pestman and H.- A. Rupprecht (Vols. VIII–X, 1992–1998). CE The Coptic Encyclopedia. Ed. Aziz Suryal Atiya (8 vols.). New York: Macmillan, 1991. DDBDP Duke Databank of Documentary Papyri (http://scriptorium.lib.duke.edu/papyrus/texts/DDBDP.html) Diz. Dizionario dei nomi geograci e topograci dell’Egitto greco-romano, ed. A. Calderini and S. Daris. I pt. 1, ed. A. Calderini. Cairo 1935. [Rp. CG 1972]; pt. 2, ed. A. Calderini. Madrid 1966; II, ed. S. Daris in 4 pts. Milan 1973–1977; III, ed. idem in 4 parts. Milan 1978–1983; IV, ed. idem in 4 pts. Milan 1983–1986; V, ed. idem. Milan 1987. Supplemento 1 xii abbreviations (1935–1986), ed. idem. Milan 1988. Supplemento 2.