Monastic Economies in Late Antique Egypt and Palestine

Produces a new picture of monastic economies in Egypt and Palestine using current research and crossing traditional disciplinary divides.

Louise Blanke (Edited by), Jennifer Cromwell (Edited by)

9781009278973, Cambridge University Press

Hardback, published 20 April 2023

400 pages, 37 colour illus. 13 maps 8 tables
25 x 17.7 x 2.7 cm, 0.89 kg

This book situates discussions of Christian monasticism in Egypt and Palestine within the socio-economic world of the long Late Antiquity, from the golden age of monasticism into and well beyond the Arab conquest (fifth to tenth century). Its thirteen chapters present new research into the rich corpus of textual sources and archaeological remains and move beyond traditional studies that have treated monastic communities as religious entities in physical seclusion from society. The volume brings together scholars working across traditional boundaries of subject and geography and explores a diverse range of topics from the production of food and wine to networks of scribes, patronage, and monastic visitation. As such, it paints a vivid picture of busy monastic lives dependent on and led in tandem with the non-monastic world.

Introduction: the monastic economies in late antique Egypt and Palestine: past, present and future Louise Blanke and Jennifer Cromwell
Part I. The Monastic Estate: 2. Monastic estates in Byzantine Arabia and Palaestina (Fourth–Ninth Centuries) Basema Hamarneh
3. Monastic estates in transition from Byzantine to Islamic Egypt: evidence from Aphrodito Isabelle Marthot-Santaniello
4. The naqlun fathers and their business affairs: private assets and activities of the monks in a semi-anchorite community in the late antique fayum Tomasz Derda and Joanna Wegner
Part II. Production and Consumption of Food and Material Goods: 5. Monastic vintages: the economic role of wine in Egyptian monasteries in the sixth-eighth centuries Dorota Dzierzbicka
6. Cooking, baking and serving: a window into the kitchen of Egyptian monastic households and the archaeology of cooking Darlene L. Brooks Hedstrom
7. The refectory and the kitchen in the early Byzantine monastery of tell bi'a (Syria): the Egyptian and Palestinian connections Gábor Kalla
8. It's a dung job: exploring fuel disc production in Egyptian monasteries Mennat-Allah El Dorry
9. Illuminating the scriptorium: monastic book production at the medieval monastery of St Michael Andrea Myers Achi
Part III. Monastic Encounters: Travel, Pilgrimage, and Donations: 10. Distinguishing offerings from blessings in early Byzantine Monasticism: The significance of P. Ness. III 79 (c. 600 CE) Daniel F. Caner
11. Staple for body and soul working at and visiting the upper Egyptian monastery deir anba hadra Lena Sophie Krastel, Sebastian Olschok and Tonio Sebastian Richter
12. The monastic landscape of mount Nebo: an economic pattern in the province of Arabia Davide Bianchi
13. Travel in the texts: monastic journeys in late antique Egypt Paula Tutty.

Subject Areas: Ancient history: to c 500 CE [HBLA]