Patriarch and Bishops in Greek Papyri with Prayers

A category of texts that is widely documented by findings of papyri is that of prayers, which appear in many types and on many media, written in many occasions. The use made of these texts can be placed in a sphere ranging from liturgical to private usage. Among the large number of texts from Egypt that can be classified as prayers, some present invocations in favour of the patriarch of Alexandria and the bishops. They were not only written in the liturgical books, but at times they were also copied onto objects for a more limited use than the elegant and precious codices that contained the whole liturgy: a single sheet of papyrus or parchment, a wooden tablet, or an ostrakon were suitable for writing a specific prayer or series of prayers.