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Saint / historical person
Saints & Martyrs
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Psote of Psoi, Saint

Psote, also called Psate or Bisadah, was bishop of Psoi and a martyr under Diocletian, about 305. His feast day is 27 Kiyahk.[^1]

Also known as: Psote · Psote of Psoi · Psote of Ptolemais · Psate · Bisadah · Anba Bisadah · Saint Psote

Published 10/2/2026Updated 3 revisionsPage history

Identity and commemoration

Psote of [[Psoi]], also known as Psate or Bisadah, was a bishop martyred under Diocletian, about 305; his feast day is 27 Kiyahk.1 His episcopal town, Psoi, was known in Greek as Ptolemais Hermiou and is identified with modern al-Minshah, on the west bank of the Nile south of Akhmim.2

Account of his martyrdom

According to his Passion, Diocletian’s messenger arrived while Psote was celebrating Saturday night services. Psote obtained permission to complete the services, then addressed the faithful with final recommendations and a prediction of his death.3

The following morning he was brought before the prefect Arianus, who unsuccessfully attempted to persuade him to offer pagan sacrifices. Arianus confined him in a walled cell for several days, expecting him to die, and ordered his decapitation when he remained alive.3

Literary sources

The Greek text of the early Passion, perhaps written near the end of the fourth century, is lost. Translations survive in Coptic, Latin, and Ethiopic; the Coptic version is preserved in a tenth-century Sahidic codex from Hamuli, now Pierpont Morgan Library M583, folios 17–23.4

This Passion is ancient and apparently based on a factual memory of events at Psoi, while distinct both from conventional epic passions and from other reliable trial accounts. It has similarities with the Passion of Peter I of Alexandria, but which text might have served as a model for the other remains unresolved.5

Later writings considerably expanded Psote’s story. A longer Passion and an Encomium belong to a literary milieu associated with seventh- and eighth-century hagiography; they transmit the legend that Diocletian was born in Egypt as Agrippida and raised as a shepherd by Psote’s parents.8 An Oratio attributed to Psote survives in a Sahidic codex from Idfu and contains recommendations and predictions of his death; the Arabic Synaxarion summarizes the extended Passion.9

Relics and monastery

Dayr Anba Bisadah, at al-Ahaywah Sharq on the east bank of the Nile, about 18 kilometres south of Akhmim, preserves Psote’s memory and relics. His burial was east of Psoi, and the monastery was probably built over his tomb.6

A panegyric of Saint Claudius attributed to Severus of Antioch mentions Psote’s monastery. Although preserved in ninth-century manuscripts, it transmits an older tradition; the monastery’s foundation date cannot be established with certainty.7 Psote’s tomb at Dayr Anba Bisadah was an important pilgrimage site.2

References

Sources

  1. 1.The Coptic Encyclopedia, Volume 6 — Aziz S. Atiya (Editor in Chief) (p. 830)
    PSOTE OF PSOI, SAINT, or Psate or Bisadah, martyr under DIOCLETIAN, about 305 (feast day: 27 Kiyahk).
  2. 2.The Coptic Encyclopedia, Volume 6 — Aziz S. Atiya (Editor in Chief) (p. 828)
    PSOÏ, the Coptic name of the town that was known in Greek as Ptolemais Hermiou (so named by the pharaoh Ptolemy I) and called al-Minshah today. The town is located on the west bank of the Nile in Upper Egypt some 7 miles (11 km) south of Akhmim. In the Roman and the Byzantine periods, this town grew rapidly, and its bishop seems to have played an important role, if we may judge from the story of the martyrdom, preserved in Latin and in Coptic, of one of its bishops named PSOTE. He died under the emperor DIOCLETIAN. His tomb, included in a monastery on the bank opposite the town, is still an im
  3. 3.The Coptic Encyclopedia, Volume 6 — Aziz S. Atiya (Editor in Chief) (p. 830)
    According to this work, the messenger of Diocletian comes to Psoi (Ptolemais) while Bishop Psote is in the midst of celebrating Saturday night services. After begging to be allowed to complete the services, Psote then discourses to the faithful, giving them his last recommendations and even predicting his own death. Next morning the messenger leads him before ARIANUS, the prefect, who vainly tries to persuade Psote to make pagan sacrifices. Upon failing in his efforts, Arianus locks Psote in a walled cell for several days, expecting him to die. When he finds his victim still alive, Arianus has
  4. 4.The Coptic Encyclopedia, Volume 6 — Aziz S. Atiya (Editor in Chief) (p. 830)
    Information about him can be gleaned only from the account of his Passion, for which the Greek text, written perhaps near the end of the fourth century, is now lost. However, there is a Coptic translation, in a Sahidic codex from Hamuli, dating from the tenth century (Pierpont Morgan Library M583, fols. 17-23, ed. Orlandi, 1978), as well as a Latin (Delehaye, 1922) and an Ethiopic translation (Budge, 1915).
  5. 5.The Coptic Encyclopedia, Volume 6 — Aziz S. Atiya (Editor in Chief) (p. 830)
    The text of this particular Passion strays rather far from the usual epic passions (see HAGIOGRAPHY) and is quite unlike other reliable accounts of trials. It appears to be not only very ancient but also based on someone's factual memory of the events at Psoi. Some of the circumstances herein are also verified in the Passion of PETER I, patriarch of Alexandria, and it is probable that both texts were produced in the same milieu. However, we cannot determine which one served as a model for the other.
  6. 6.The Coptic Encyclopedia, Volume 3 — Aziz S. Atiya (Editor in Chief) (p. 176)
    This monastery, on the right bank of the Nile in the village of al-Ahaywah Sharq, about 11 miles (18 km) south of Akhmim, preserves the memory and the relics of a martyr bishop in the fourth century, PSOTE. ... The life of this bishop has come down to us in Latin, a rare thing, and this text, which does not present the embellishments of too many saints' lives, says that he was buried to the east of the town of Psoi. There is every reason to believe that the present monastery was built over the tomb of this bishop
  7. 7.The Coptic Encyclopedia, Volume 3 — Aziz S. Atiya (Editor in Chief) (p. 176)
    A panegyric of Saint Claudius, attributed to the patriarch SEVERUS OF ANTIOCH, mentions on the right bank and to the south of Abydos the monastery of the martyr bishop Psote. If the manuscripts that have handed down this text are of the ninth century, the tradition that they transmit is certainly older, but the date of the foundation of this monastery cannot be fixed with certainty (Godron, PO 35, p. 500).
  8. 8.The Coptic Encyclopedia, Volume 6 — Aziz S. Atiya (Editor in Chief) (p. 830)
    One Passion, much longer than the one just described (Orlandi, 1978), and an Encomium of Psote, whose author's name is in a lacuna of the text, belong to the source that produced so many homilies and hagiographies dating from the seventh and eighth centuries. Both these works testify to the creation of the legend that purports that Diocletian was born in Egypt—where he was called Agrippida—and reared as a shepherd by Psote's
  9. 9.The Coptic Encyclopedia, Volume 6 — Aziz S. Atiya (Editor in Chief) (p. 831)
    parents. ... From a much earlier era, we also have an Oratio attributed to Psote, but it is connected only indirectly to the rest of the Psote tradition. ... The text has survived in a Sahidic codex from Idfu (British Library, Or. 7597, fols. 1-8, ed. Budge, 1915, and Orlandi, 1978), and it, like the Passion, contains a long series of recommendations and predictions by Psote of his own death. In the Arabic tradition, the Arabic SYNAXARION summarizes the extended Passion (Forget, 1905, pp. 282-85).

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This article was drafted from the sources listed above with AI assistance and reviewed by an editor before publication.