ACADEMIA Letters

Artifacts of Early Christian Pilgrimage at the Hallie Ford

Museum of Art, Part 1 (Menas Flasks)
Ann M. Nicgorski, Willamette University

Beginning in the late third to fourth centuries CE, Christians began making pilgrimages to sites
related to the life of Jesus of Nazareth in the “Holy Land” (located in modern Israel/Palestine),
or to other places associated with later saints and miracles. Those who made these pilgrim-
ages often acquired some insignia of their journey, as well as bringing home some relic or
token (eulogies) from the sacred sites that they visited, which provided a tangible, material
connection to the divine, a sort of sacred contagion.[1] The significance of such artifacts of
Christian pilgrimage, which usually incorporate images of holy figures, is further elucidated
in this sermon by St. John of Damascas (676-749 CE):

“It is evident to all that flesh is matter, and that it is created. I reverence and
honour matter, and worship that which has brought about my salvation. I hon-
our it, not as God, but as a channel of divine strength and grace. Was not the
thrice blessed wood of the Cross matter? and the sacred and holy mountain of
Calvary? Was not the holy sepulchre matter, the life-giving stone the source of
our resurrection? Was not the book of the Gospels matter, and the holy table
which gives us the bread of life? Are not gold and silver matter, of which crosses,
and holy pictures, and chalices are made? And above all, is not the Lord’s Body
and Blood composed of matter? Either reject the honor and worship of all these
things, or conform to ecclesiastical tradition, sanctifying the worship of images
in the name of God and of God’s friends, and so obeying the grace of the Divine
Spirit.” (Oratio de imaginibus II).[2]

The Hallie Ford Museum of Art (HFMA) in Salem, Oregon (USA), is fortunate to have
several artifacts of early Christian pilgrimage in its collection. Two of these artifacts (Figures

Academia Letters, August 2021 ©2021 by the author — Open Access — Distributed under CC BY 4.0

Corresponding Author: Ann M. Nicgorski, anicgors@willamette.edu

Citation: Nicgorski, A.M. (2021). Artifacts of Early Christian Pilgrimage at the Hallie Ford Museum of Art,
Part 1 (Menas Flasks). Academia Letters, Article 3296. https://doi.org/10.20935/AL3296.

1
1 and 2) are related to the martyr Saint Menas (Abu Mena), a Roman soldier from Egypt
who was beheaded in Phrygia (modern Turkey) in the late third century CE for refusing to
repudiate his Christian faith. According to his early biographers, his cohort brought his body
back to Egypt by ship. While at sea, the ship was attacked by monsters with long necks and
camel-like heads, but flames from the coffin of Menas caused them to disperse. Upon arrival
in Egypt, the coffin assisted the cohort in routing some barbarians. As the cohort began their
journey back to Phrygia, the camels carrying the coffin came to a place in the Mareotis about
45 km southwest of Alexandria. Here the camels stopped and refused to move, an event that
was interpreted as a sign from God that this was to be Menas’s final resting place.[3]
In the fourth century, a church was built on the site, called Karm Abu Mena, or the House
of Saint Menas. During the subsequent centuries, pilgrimages to the site increased expo-
nentially, and an extensive ecclesiastical and commercial complex developed there, which
remained in use until the twelfth century CE.[4] This complex was again brought to light in
1905-1907 by the German archaeologist Carl Maria Kaufmann (1872-1951) who conducted
the first excavations at Abu Mina.[5] Among the finds were numerous unglazed terracotta
flasks (ampullae), which the pilgrims filled with sanctified oil or water from the saint’s shrine.
Because the source of this oil or water was proximate to the saint’s relics, it was understood to
function as a contact relic, which allowed the pilgrims to carry away the potentially miraculous
powers of the saint.
Thousands of these Menas flasks have been discovered throughout the Mediterranean re-
gion and beyond, from the west coast of Britain to Samarkand in central Asia, but the two
largest hoards come from Egypt at the sites of Abu Mina and Kom-el-Dikka.[6] At Abu Mina,
hundreds of Menas flasks were discovered together with the kilns and fragments of the molds
that were used to mass-produce them.[7] At Kom-el-Dikka in Alexandria, the port of entry
for the pilgrims, Polish excavations (1961-1981) uncovered numerous flasks and fragments
in stratified contexts. These were published by the Polish archaeologist, Zsolt Kiss (1942-),
who incorporated this new evidence with typological and stylistic considerations to establish
a chronology of production that consists of four periods spanning from ca. 400 to ca. 650
CE.[8]
The flasks were made from local clay that ranges from pale to light reddish brown. The
closed body was constructed by joining together the two halves, which were impressed in
separate molds. Then, the narrow neck and two handles were attached.[9] Most of the flasks
have a lenticular body shape, but some earlier ones are more bulbous. The iconography of the
flasks generally consists of a low relief medallion on each side with a border of plain rings,
chevrons, laurel leaves, and/or dots. The most ubiquitous motif is the full-length image of
St. Menas, beardless and with curly hair, and sometimes with a halo, standing with hands

Academia Letters, August 2021 ©2021 by the author — Open Access — Distributed under CC BY 4.0

Corresponding Author: Ann M. Nicgorski, anicgors@willamette.edu

Citation: Nicgorski, A.M. (2021). Artifacts of Early Christian Pilgrimage at the Hallie Ford Museum of Art,
Part 1 (Menas Flasks). Academia Letters, Article 3296. https://doi.org/10.20935/AL3296.

2
outstretched in the orans position. He wears a short tunic and a chlamys.[10] St. Menas is
flanked by two camel-like creatures, whose heads bow down toward his feet. A Greek cross
often appears on either side of his head, although sometimes there is an inscription instead.
Such inscriptions generally read “Holy Menas.” Similar inscriptions (e.g., “Praise to Saint
Menas”) and other motifs (e.g., ships, profile heads) sometimes appear on the opposite side,
but most often the standard image of St. Menas is simply repeated. The popularity of this
image may be due its derivation from a cult image of the saint displayed at Abu Mina, which
is also reflected in other media (see, e.g., Figure 5).[11]
Based on their size, shape, and iconography, the two hitherto unpublished HFMA flasks
appear to belong to Kom-el-Dikka Period II (ca. 560-610 CE) and III (ca. 610-650 CE)
respectively. The earlier one, SPG90.051 (Figure 1), has a less common semi-globular body,
but does feature the plain ring border that is most common on flasks from Period II. It also
features the typical motif of St. Menas with the camel-like creatures on both sides. Here the
saint has a halo (more common on earlier examples) as well as a short tunic, and he appears to
be in a slight contrapposto pose. Given the poor state of preservation, however, other details
are not discernable. The later HFMA flask, SPG90.052 (Figures 2 and 3), has the much
more common lenticular body as well as the typical St. Menas motif on one side. Here the
saint is wearing a short tunic and traces of a chlamys can be seen hanging down from his
arms on either side. In the field, on either side of his head, is a small Greek cross. On the
other side, the less common central motif is largely chipped away but, from what remains
and comparable examples, it can be identified as the head of a young man with tightly curled
hair and African facial features, in profile to the right and tilted slightly upward, with a bit of
clothing represented near the lower edge of his neck – a motif most often seen in Period III
flasks. Compare a close-up view of what remains of this motif on the HFMA flask (Figure
3) with the better preserved example inFigure 4. Note the remnants of identical curly hair at
the top and left sides of the central medallion, the same bits of clothing at the lower edge, as
well as the very similar borders. It is probable that this head also represents St. Menas, in a
manner that highlights his African identity, a source of local pride.[12] In her recent study of
the Menas flasks in the Berlin State Museums (2000), Janette Witt has also suggested that this
head type may likewise derive from the probable cult image at Karm-Abu-Mina.[13]
One important aspect of these Menas flasks, which has not been thoroughly addressed in
the vast scholarship on the topic, is the multivalent nature of their individual iconographic
motifs. For example, although St. Menas was a soldier, it is his identity as a Christian martyr
with miraculous powers that is emphasized by his orans position, halo, crosses and/or inscrip-
tions, as well as his lack of clear military attributes. The orans position, which was shared by
the pilgrims themselves at the shrine, also highlights his role as a powerful intercessor with

Academia Letters, August 2021 ©2021 by the author — Open Access — Distributed under CC BY 4.0

Corresponding Author: Ann M. Nicgorski, anicgors@willamette.edu

Citation: Nicgorski, A.M. (2021). Artifacts of Early Christian Pilgrimage at the Hallie Ford Museum of Art,
Part 1 (Menas Flasks). Academia Letters, Article 3296. https://doi.org/10.20935/AL3296.

3
healing powers that were believed to have been transferred to the sanctified oil or water within
the flasks. Similarly, the motif of the camel-like creatures also exhibits a semantic range from
the camel-headed sea monsters that were repelled by the flames from saint’s coffin, to the
camels who carried his body and then knowingly stopped at the site of Karm Abu Mina, and
even to the camels that brought the pilgrims themselves to the site.[14]
The ensembles of individual polysemous motifs featured on these Menas flasks are typical
of the way imagery functions in Late Antique Egyptian art as seen in mosaics, textiles, and
other media.[15] Indeed, the iconography of the Menas flasks functions more like a language
than a code, where the meaning of each motif is altered by the context in which it appears,
where meanings are transformed over time, and where the specificity and intensity of mean-
ings associated with specific motifs may vary considerably depending on the viewer’s own
experience.

Academia Letters, August 2021 ©2021 by the author — Open Access — Distributed under CC BY 4.0

Corresponding Author: Ann M. Nicgorski, anicgors@willamette.edu

Citation: Nicgorski, A.M. (2021). Artifacts of Early Christian Pilgrimage at the Hallie Ford Museum of Art,
Part 1 (Menas Flasks). Academia Letters, Article 3296. https://doi.org/10.20935/AL3296.

4
Figure 1: Ampulla with two images of a haloed Saint Menas as an orant, flanked by kneel-
ing camel-like creatures. From Abu Mina (Egypt), ca. 560-610 CE (Kom-el-Dikka Period
II). Mold-made from very pale brown clay (Munsell 10 YR 7/3 – 8/3). Height: 7.142 cm;
Maximum Width: 6.039 cm; Maximum Thickness: 3.79 cm. Gift of Mark and Janeth Hogue
Sponenburgh. Hallie Ford Museum of Art, SPG 90.051. Photo credit: Ann M. Nicgorski.

Academia Letters, August 2021 ©2021 by the author — Open Access — Distributed under CC BY 4.0

Corresponding Author: Ann M. Nicgorski, anicgors@willamette.edu

Citation: Nicgorski, A.M. (2021). Artifacts of Early Christian Pilgrimage at the Hallie Ford Museum of Art,
Part 1 (Menas Flasks). Academia Letters, Article 3296. https://doi.org/10.20935/AL3296.

5
Figure 2: Ampulla with one side featuring Saint Menas as an orant flanked by crosses above
and kneeling camel-like creatures below; the other side featured the head of Saint Menas in
profile to the right (only traces remain). From Abu Mina (Egypt), ca. 610-650 CE (Kom-el-
Dikka Period III). Mold-made from light red clay (Munsell 2.5 YR 7/6 – 6/6). Height: 10.564
cm; Maximum Width 7.53 cm; Maximum Thickness: 20.22. Gift of Mark and Janeth Hogue
Sponenburgh. Hallie Ford Museum of Art, SPG 90.052. Photo credit: Ann M. Nicgorski.

Academia Letters, August 2021 ©2021 by the author — Open Access — Distributed under CC BY 4.0

Corresponding Author: Ann M. Nicgorski, anicgors@willamette.edu

Citation: Nicgorski, A.M. (2021). Artifacts of Early Christian Pilgrimage at the Hallie Ford Museum of Art,
Part 1 (Menas Flasks). Academia Letters, Article 3296. https://doi.org/10.20935/AL3296.

6
Figure 3: Detail of Ampulla: Head of St. Menas in profile to the right (only traces remain).
Gift of Mark and Janeth Hogue Sponenburgh. Hallie Ford Museum of Art, SPG 90.052.
Photo credit: Ann M. Nicgorski.

Academia Letters, August 2021 ©2021 by the author — Open Access — Distributed under CC BY 4.0

Corresponding Author: Ann M. Nicgorski, anicgors@willamette.edu

Citation: Nicgorski, A.M. (2021). Artifacts of Early Christian Pilgrimage at the Hallie Ford Museum of Art,
Part 1 (Menas Flasks). Academia Letters, Article 3296. https://doi.org/10.20935/AL3296.

7
Figure 4: Ampulla with one side featuring the Head of Saint Menas in profile to the right.
From Abu Mina (Egypt), ca. 610-650 CE (Kom-el-Dikka Period III). Mold-made from light
red clay. Height: 10.2 cm; Maximum Width 7 cm. Bequest of Thomas Whittemore. Mu-
seum of Fine Arts, Boston, RES.57.15. Photo credit: Public Domain Image, Courtesy of the
Museum of Fine Arts, Boston (www.mfa.org).

Academia Letters, August 2021 ©2021 by the author — Open Access — Distributed under CC BY 4.0

Corresponding Author: Ann M. Nicgorski, anicgors@willamette.edu

Citation: Nicgorski, A.M. (2021). Artifacts of Early Christian Pilgrimage at the Hallie Ford Museum of Art,
Part 1 (Menas Flasks). Academia Letters, Article 3296. https://doi.org/10.20935/AL3296.

8
Figure 5: Relief of St. Menas, fifth or sixth century CE. Marble. Height: 64.8 cm; Maximum
Width: 34.3 cm. Founders Society Purchase, Antiquaries Fund, Hill Memorial Fund, William
H. Murphy Fund, and Dr. and Mrs. Arthur Bloom Fund. Detroit Institute of Arts, 1995.71.
Photo credit: Public Domain Image, Courtesy of the Detroit Institute of Arts (www.dia.org).

Academia Letters, August 2021 ©2021 by the author — Open Access — Distributed under CC BY 4.0

Corresponding Author: Ann M. Nicgorski, anicgors@willamette.edu

Citation: Nicgorski, A.M. (2021). Artifacts of Early Christian Pilgrimage at the Hallie Ford Museum of Art,
Part 1 (Menas Flasks). Academia Letters, Article 3296. https://doi.org/10.20935/AL3296.

9
References
[1] D. Freedberg, The Power of Images: Studies in the History and Theory of Response
(Chicago, 1989) 402.

[2] Saint John of Damascus, St. John Damascene on Holy Images Followed by Three Sermons
on the Assumption, trans. M.H. Allies (London, 1898) 72-73.

[3] For an excellent summary of the primary source material, see C. Walter, The Warrior
Saints in Byzantine Art and Tradition (New York, 2003), 181-184. For translations of
some key primary texts, see E.A.W. Budge, Texts Relating to Saint Mena of Egypt and
Canons of Nicaea in a Nubian Dialect (British Museum, 1909); and J. Drescher, Apa
Mena: A Selection of Coptic Texts Relating to St. Menas (Cairo, 1946).

[4] For the early history of Abu Mina, see J. Drescher, “More about St Menas,” Annales du
Service des antiquités de l’Egypte 12 (1942), 53-70.

[5] A complete list of Kaufmann’s publications on Abu Mina can be found in Z. Kiss, Les
ampoules de Saint Ménas dècouvertes à Kôm el-Dikka, 1961-1981, Alexandrie 5 (Warsaw,
1989) 6. For an account of the more recent archaeological work at Abu Mina, see P.
Grossmann, “The Pilgrimage Center of Abû Mînâ,” in Pilgrimage and Holy Space in Late
Antique Egypt, ed. D. Frankfurter (Leiden, 1998) 281-302.

[6] W. Andersen, “Menas Flasks in the West: Pilgrimage and Trade at the End of Antiquity,”
Ancient West and East, 6 (2007) 221f.

[7] C.M. Kaufmann, Zur Ikonographie der Menasampullen (Cairo, 1910); G. Kaminski-
Menssen, Bildwerke der Sammlung Kaufmann, Band III: Bildwerke aus Ton, Bein und
Metall (Kassel, 1996) 13-105.

[8] Kiss (Warsaw, 1989).

[9] Kiss, 12; N. Lapp, “Some Byzantine Pilgrim Flasks in the Pittsburgh Theological Semi-
nary Bible Lands Museum,” in The Archaeology of Jordan and Beyond: Essays in Honor
of James A. Sauer, eds. L.E. Stager, J.A. Greene, and M.D. Coogan (Harvard Semitic
Museum, 2000) 281.

[10] It is frequently claimed that the attire of St. Menas is “military.” See, e.g., Lapp, 279;
W.T. Woodfin, “An Officer and a Gentleman: Transformations in the Iconography of a
Warrior Saint,” Dumbarton Oaks Papers, 60 (2006) 111; Andersen, “Menas Flasks in the

Academia Letters, August 2021 ©2021 by the author — Open Access — Distributed under CC BY 4.0

Corresponding Author: Ann M. Nicgorski, anicgors@willamette.edu

Citation: Nicgorski, A.M. (2021). Artifacts of Early Christian Pilgrimage at the Hallie Ford Museum of Art,
Part 1 (Menas Flasks). Academia Letters, Article 3296. https://doi.org/10.20935/AL3296.

10
 West,” 225. However, as Walter has recently noted, his attire – a tunic and chlamys - is
not overtly military (186).

[11] J.T. Ward Perkins, “The Shrine of St. Menas in the Maryû,” Papers of the British School
at Rome, 17 (1949) 46 and 65; Woodfin, 114-115, n. 8.

[12] On the HFMA flask (SPG90.052), the combination of the motif of Saint Menas and the
camel-like creatures on one side, with the motif of the saint’s head in profile on the other
side, is very rare. One such flask was recently published by Kaminski-Menssen, 67 (Kat.-
Nr. I 44). For more typical combinations, see, e.g., Kaufmann, 121-128; J.W. Hayes,
Roman Pottery in the Royal Ontario Museum: A Catalogue (Toronto, 1976) 52-53, no.
272, pl. 32; M. Rassart-Debergh, Antiquités romaines et chrétiennes d’Égypte (Bruxelles:
Musées Royaux d’Art et d’Histoire, 1976) 48-19 (E4861); C. Metzger, Les ampoules à eu-
logie du musée du Louvre (Paris, 1981) 36, nos. 77-83, figs. 64-69; Kiss, 48-49, nos. 133-
134, figs. 212-213; J. Witt, Werke der Alltagskultur. Teil 1: Menasampullen. Staatliche
Museen zu Berlin – Prussischer Kulturbesitz Skulpturensammlung und Museum für Byzan-
tinische Kunst. Bestandskataloge, Band 2 (Wiesbaden, 2000), 163-168, nos. 53-58; and J.
Witt, “III.3 Pilgerflaschen” in Sammler, Pilger, Wegbereiter: Die Sammlung des Prinzen
Johann Georg von Sachsen: Katalog zur Ausstellung herausgegeben vom Landesmuseum
Mainz und dem Arbeitsbereich christliche Archäologie und byzantinische Kunstgeschichte
am Institut für Kunstgeschichte der Johannes Gutenberg‐Universität Mainz, eds. B. Heide
and A.Thiel (Mainz, 2004) 146, nos. III.3.25-26.

[13] Witt, Werke der Alltagskultur. Teil 1: Menasampullen, 48-49.

[14] Lapp, 279-280; Woodfin, 114-115.

[15] A.M. Nicgorski, “The Fate of Serapis: A Paradigm for Transformations in the Culture
and Art of Late Roman Egypt,” in Roman in the Provinces: Art on the Periphery of Empire,
eds. L. Brody and G. Hoffman (McMullen Museum of Art, Boston College, 2014) 153-
166.

Academia Letters, August 2021 ©2021 by the author — Open Access — Distributed under CC BY 4.0

Corresponding Author: Ann M. Nicgorski, anicgors@willamette.edu

Citation: Nicgorski, A.M. (2021). Artifacts of Early Christian Pilgrimage at the Hallie Ford Museum of Art,
Part 1 (Menas Flasks). Academia Letters, Article 3296. https://doi.org/10.20935/AL3296.

11