Late Antique Monasticism in Egypt: Between the Traditional Paradigm and Contemporary Research

Abstract

Despite the fact that the phenomenon of late antique monasticism in Egypt represents a fruitful area of research that testifies to modern systematized historical approaches, the scholarship in Croatia remained deprived of the fruits of that work. Therefore, this paper seeks to fill the vacuum and present the modern approaches to the study of late antique monasticism to Croatian scholars. It seeks to do that by contrasting these modern approaches with the traditional paradigm whose influence extended through the first part of the 20th century. Since the traditional paradigm is not characterized by one feature, this paper presents the most important elements using mainly the examples of St. Anthony and St. Pachomius. According to the traditional paradigm, these figures are closely associated with two separate models of monasticism (eremitic and cenobitic). By looking at the primary and secondary sources, the paper builds up the basic notions of the contemporary approaches. To be more precise, the paper shows the importance of historicizing monasticism (and all aspects thereof) instead of making it an entity that is shaped and subsequently sails through history unchanged and unharmed. This is done by analyzing particular aspects of Egyptian monasticism in late antiquity (e.g. terminology and fluidity). Moreover, looking at the narrative and normative texts integrally and as programs (accepting the historical-critical method and the “Sitz im Leben” approach), and reading them as theological texts but also with an eye to structures, rhetorical techniques, semantics, ideology, the paper presents a particular way of looking at the meaning of one significant episode from Pachomius’ life. Finally, instead of a classic conclusion, the paper considers new directions of research that represent potentially fertile ground for contemporary historians and other scholars interested in the phenomenon of late antique monasticism.