Anne Boud'hors

Ostraca Et Papyrus Coptes Du Topos de Saint-Marc a Thebes Anne Boud'hors

The topos of St. Mark, a religious institution located on the hill of Qurnet Murai in Western Thebes, was excavated by the Ifao in the early 1970. The material found during the excavations included approximately 1400 Coptic ostraca and several dozen fragments of Coptic papyri. The selection of 440 texts published here illustrates, from the economic and administrative point of view, the life of this ecclesiastical center between the early 7th and half of the 8th century. This documentation confirms the importance of the priest Mark, whose activities and influence are already known from other sites in the region. It also helps to understand the role of the topos in the network of hermitages, monasteries and churches that had developed in Western Thebes at that time.