Saint Shenute of Bahnasa

Overview

Saint Shenute of Bahnasa is named as a martyr in two brief references in the supplied material: a calendar notice recording the “Martyrdom of Saint Shenute of Bahnasa,” and an encyclopedia index entry identifying “Shenute of Bahnasa (martyr).” Together, these establish the name under which he is remembered and his designation as a martyr.¹²

The geographical designation “of Bahnasa” belongs to both references, but neither explains whether it indicates his birthplace, residence, place of martyrdom, or another association with the town. The notices therefore support retaining that designation without constructing a more specific account of his connection to Bahnasa.¹²

Sources and historical identification

The calendar notice is commemorative rather than biographical: it names Shenute and his martyrdom without supplying a ruler, persecutor, date of death, or account of his suffering. The index likewise supplies a name, the classification “martyr,” and a reference to encyclopedia page 1558, rather than a summary of his life.¹²

The index reference is a useful lead for further research, but the text of the referenced page is not among the supplied passages. Consequently, the available evidence supports a short reference entry rather than a reconstruction of his origins, ministry, or final days.²

Liturgical commemoration

The calendar places Shenute’s martyrdom under the paired numerical heading “14—10.” Under that same heading it also lists Anba Kyrillos, or Cyril, the seventy-fifth patriarch of Alexandria, and the martyrdom of Saints Eugenius, Agathodorus, and Elpidius.¹

These are separate entries beneath a common calendar heading; the passage does not describe the other named saints as Shenute’s companions or connect their deaths with his. Its evidence concerns their placement in the calendar, not a shared historical episode.¹

Because the excerpt does not preserve a month heading or labels explaining the paired numbers, the notation “14—10” cannot, from this passage alone, be expanded into a complete named feast date.¹

Distinction from Shenute of the White Monastery

The encyclopedia’s index distinguishes Shenute of Bahnasa from the figure called Shenute the [[Archimandrite]]. It directs readers from the latter title to “Shenute, Saint,” while giving “Shenute of Bahnasa (martyr)” a separate entry.²

The supplied article headed “Shenute, Saint” describes a fourth–fifth-century reforming abbot of the White Monastery near the ancient village of Atrib, near Suhaj in the region of Akhmim, whose feast day is 7 Abib. Those biographical and commemorative details belong to the abbot identified in that article, not to the separate index entry for the martyr of Bahnasa.²³

This distinction is essential when using the supplied material: the substantial biography of the White Monastery’s abbot cannot fill the gaps in the much shorter notices concerning Saint Shenute of Bahnasa.²³