IFAO

This ostracon, belonging to the Ifao collections, is a loan agreement drawn up for Apa John, "the Father of the hospital" of the monastery of Apa Mena, south of Assiut. The writer, Apa Victor, son of Baruch, lives in the neighbourhood of Sbeht. Not far from the well-known monasteries of Wadi-Sarga and Bala’izah, this long forgotten town was once the main city of the Apollonopolite Parva nome and a bishop see. This monastery is termed a "petra", a community clusterd in a peculiar lanscape of caves running far up the limestone cliffs overhanging the Nile. The pilgrims, especially the sickmen, crowded the "petra" on the feast day of Saint Mena. This text contributes to our understanding of everyday life in Coptic Egypt.