Description

Ampulla (flask) bearing the image of Saint Mina, dressed in roman military costume consisting of a tunic and cloak, with both arms raised as a sign of prayer. Above each arm is a Greek cross. Saint Mina is flanked by a pair of camels, who, as the story goes, returned his body to Egypt for burial after he was martyred.

Ampullae of Saint Mina

Ampullae, also known as pilgrim-flasks, are small holy-water flasks brought from pilgrimage places as a souvenir. Saint Mina ampullae were produced in the neighborhood of the sanctuary of Saint Mina (Abu Mina), about 50 km southwest of Alexandria, near New Borg El-Arab city. They were filled either with the sacred oil of the lamps suspended above the Saint’s tomb or with holy water of a spring at the site of Abu Mena. Their dating corresponds to the period when the sanctuary of Saint Mina flourished, from the beginning of the fifth century to the end of the first half of the seventh century.

Saint Mina ampullae are characterized by a lentoid body and a narrow neck with two handles, and are typically decorated with a standard depiction of Saint Mina standing between two kneeling camels. Other motifs included a rosette, a boat, or a basket of bread, as well as the identifying Greek inscription εὐλογία τοῦ ἁγίου Μηνᾶ (eulogia tou agiou mena) which means “blessing of Saint Mina”.
In about 600 CE, the output of ampullae increased, and the schema of representations on the medallions was restricted. The same medallion with the worshiping figure of Saint Mina venerated by the two camels within a circular milled border ordinary appeared on both sides of the belly. However, the representation has become more schematic and linear.

Saint Mina

Mina was an Egyptian soldier in the Roman army stationed in Phrygia, in the west-central part of Anatolia, in what is now the Asian portion of Turkey. After he abandoned his unit and withdrawn into wilderness, he confessed his Christian faith, and on 15 Hatūr 296 suffered a martyr’s death. Mina’s regiment was transferred to Egypt for the protection of Mareotis, and his body was taken along as a relic. On the march to Mareotis, his body was laid upon a camel. When the camel, and also other camels, on which the body was laid, refused to stand up, this was interpreted as the wish of the martyr to be laid to rest at Mareotis, where he was buried. After various miracles of Saint Mina, a tomb and a church complex were built on top of his burial site which became Egypt’s most famous pilgrimage center. The ancient site, now in ruins, was inscribed as a World Heritage Site, in 1979.

• Alexander Badawy, Coptic Art and Archaeology: The Art of the Christian Egyptians from the Late antique to the Middle Ages (Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, 1978): 346.
• Martin Krause, “Menas the Miracle Maker”, in The Coptic Encyclopedia, edited by Aziz Suryal Atiya, vol. 5 (New York, NY: Macmillan, 1991): 1589-1590.
• Nader Alfy Zekry, “The Iconography of St. Menas in the Coptic Art”, Journal of the Faculty of Tourism and Hotels-University of Sadat City 1, no. 2/2 (Dec 2017): 37-52.
• Nadja Tomoum, Sarah Marei and Philip Whitfield, eds., Coptic Art Revealed: Supreme Council of Antiquities Exhibition. Cairo: Supreme Council of Antiquities, [2010].
• Rodaina Mohamed Shideed, “Mar Mina: Miracle Performer”, BSU International Journal of Tourism, Archaeology and Hospitality 3, no. 2 (2023): 280-289.
• Susanne Bangert, “Menas Ampullae: A Case Study of Long-Distance Contacts”, Reading Medieval Studies 32 (2006): 27-33.
• William Anderson, “An Archaeology of Late Antique Pilgrim Flasks”, Anatolian Studies 54 (2004): 79-93.
• Zolt Kiss, “Ampulla”, in The Coptic Encyclopedia, edited by Aziz Suryal Atiya, vol. 1 (New York, NY: Macmillan, 1991): 116-118.