The Ante-Nicene Church · AD 180–313
Sotas of Oxyrhynchus
fl. c. AD 260–290 (death unrecorded) · Bishop of Oxyrhynchus · Earliest documentarily attested Egyptian bishop · Oxyrhynchus, Egypt
The Ante-Nicene Church
Who Sotas of Oxyrhynchus was
The third-century bishop known not from any chronicle but from the papyri themselves: a dossier of letters of recommendation in his name — 'receive our brother in peace' — carried by travelling Christians up and down the Nile. The earliest bishop of Egypt to survive in his own paperwork, glimpsed doing the unglamorous daily work of a see: vouching for people.
Documentary papyri only (P.Alex. 29; PSI III 208, IX 1041) — no literary text names him.
Also listed in bishops beyond the great sees.
Common questions
When was Sotas active?
Sotas of Oxyrhynchus is dated fl. c. AD 260–290 (death unrecorded) in the archive, which places Sotas in the Ante-Nicene Church (AD 180–313). The dating is traditional and approximate; the archive marks it as uncertain rather than fixing a year the sources do not give.
Which early sources mention Sotas?
Sotas of Oxyrhynchus is named in 1 primary-source passage catalogued here, drawn from Documentary papyri of Oxyrhynchus. Every passage is quoted from a named public-domain translation, earliest first.
Where was Sotas from?
The archive associates Sotas of Oxyrhynchus with Oxyrhynchus, Egypt. The sources record more than one location, so the places are listed in the order the record moves through them.
Who were Sotas’ contemporaries?
The archive links Sotas of Oxyrhynchus to 1 other figure, including Dionysius the Great. Each connection is drawn from a source that places them together, not from inference.
Primary-source mentions (1)
Every passage below is quoted from a named public-domain translation, earliest first.
The Sotas dossier (P.Alex. 29; PSI III 208, IX 1041)
c. AD 300Receive in peace our brother Heracles, through whom we greet you and all the brethren with you — I pray for your health in the Lord, beloved papa.Documentary papyri of Oxyrhynchus · source text
Connected in the archive
People
Events in this lifetime
- AD 235 · Maximinus Thrax targets the clergy, AD 235
- AD 250 · The Decian persecution, AD 250
- AD 251 · The Novatianist schism, AD 251
- AD 257 · The Valerian persecution, AD 257
- AD 260 · Gallienus’ edict of toleration, AD 260
- AD 268 · Antioch deposes Paul of Samosata, AD 268
- AD 272 · Aurelian awards the Antioch church, AD 272
Place
Places served
The 2 places the sources put Sotas, in the order the record moves through them. This is what the sources attest, not a reconstructed route.
- 1Oxyrhynchus
- 2Egyptprovince only