About this objectIn 309 Menas was a young soldier in the Roman army who left to become a Christian hermit, for which he was martyed by being set on fire. However, his body remained unburned. An angel told Pope Athanasius of Alexandria to take the body into the desert and to bury it where the two camels carrying his body stopped. By the 6th century, the tomb—at Abu Mena in northwest Egypt—had developed into a pilgrimage site. Pilgrims could buy holy oil in flasks such as these.
The stamped image shows St Menas with two camels.
The other side shows Saint Thelca, a saint whose story is told in The Acts of Paul and Thecla. A noblewoman from Iconium, she chose to leave her fiancé so she could convert to Christianity and follow Paul. She survived several attempts to kill her.
Date Made5th-7th c.
PeriodLate Roman
Place MadeEgypt
Subject and Association KeywordsPilgrimage
Subject and Association DescriptionLearn More: Friedman 1989; Pelling 2024;
