What is this?
This is a pilgrim’s flask. It is about nine centimeters high, seven centimeters wide, and two centimeters from front to back—roughly the size of a softball that has been flattened to an inch thick. A pilgrim’s flask, or ampulla, was designed to carry water or oil that had been blessed by the relics of the saint.
This particular flask is associated with the cult of St. Menas. Menas was said to have been a Roman soldier of the late third century, who served in the army of the emperor Diocletian. After converting to Christianity, he was martyred for his faith. According to his later biography, the camel carrying his remains home from Phrygia arrived at Abu Mina in Egypt (south of the city of Alexandria), and refused to go any further. A spring arose at the spot, and the resulting oasis became the center of his cult.
Pilgrims who came to worship at the shrine of St. Menas purchased flasks like this one, and carried them home with them. This flask bears the image of the saint flanked by two kneeling camels, which are the symbols associated with the saint. A similar representation of Menas with his two camels can be found on the ivory box, or pyxis, seen here (London, British Museum no. 1879,1220.1). This object may have been produced in Alexandria around the same time as our flask, and features a series of images depicting the life and martyrdom of Menas.
