The development and usage of the Greek and Coptic term papa in ecclesiastical and monastic contexts

Abstract

This article examines the use of the title papa in the Greek and Coptic papyri, ostraca, and inscriptions of the third–ninth centuries, refuting previous claims that it was primarily used as a ‘priestly title’. The main grammatical features of the term are sketched out, before delineating the use of papa as both noun and honorific to mean ‘bishop’ over the third–seventh centuries, and then as an honorific for monastic administrators after the sixth century. Some brief observations are then made on how the title appears to develop over the ninth–thirteenth centuries.