Darlene L. Brooks Hedstrom offers a new history of the field of Egyptian monastic archaeology. It is the first study in English to trace how scholars identified a space or site as monastic within the Egyptian landscape and how such identifications impacted perceptions of monasticism. Brooks Hedstrom then provides an ecohistory of Egypt's tripartite landscape to offer a reorientation of the perception of the physical landscape. She analyzes late-antique documentary evidence, early monastic literature, and ecclesiastical history before turning to the extensive archaeological evidence of Christian monastic settlements. In doing so, she illustrates the stark differences between idealized monastic landscape and the actual monastic landscape that was urbanized through monastic constructions. Drawing upon critical theories in landscape studies, materiality and phenomenology, Brooks Hedstrom looks at domestic settlements of non-monastic and monastic settlements to posit what features makes monastic settlements unique, thus offering a new history of monasticism in Egypt.

In The Cross in the Visual Culture of Late Antique Egypt Gillian Spalding-Stracey brings the design of crosses in monastic and ecclesiastical settings to the fore. Visual representations of the Holy Cross are often so ubiquitous in Christian art that they are often overlooked as artistic devices themselves. This volume offers an exploration of the variety of designs and associated imagery by which the Cross was expressed across the Egyptian landscape in late antiquity. A survey of locations and images leads to an analysis of artistic influences, possible symbolism, variance across time and place and the contextual use of the motif. Gillian Spalding-Stracey provides the reader with an art-historical perspective of the socio-cultural situation in Egypt at the time.

The book presents the results of my in-depth researches on late antique Egyptian monasticism. In fact, it is my third book dealing with this fascinating phenomenon. Here, like in my two earlier books on the subject, I have reworked some of the previously published ideas or texts of mine and in effect my own understanding of the topic has evolved and changed owing to the discoveries of both textual and archaeo­logical sources and to new interpretations of the already known data. The first book, Moines et communautés monastiques en Égypte (ive-viiie siècles), was published in 2009 and focused primarily on the physical aspects of monastic life, the geographical conditions of monastic communities and on their economic activity. In it, I dedicated ample space to the questions of terminology, particularly to the terms referred to monastic groupings, their leaders and members responsible for performing specific duties. While writing that book, I perused a vast number of literary texts available in various languages, but pride of place was given to documentary evidence preserved in the form of papyri, ostraca, and limestone or wooden writing tablets. My intention was also to provide readers with information on places with surviving remnants of monasteries or hermitages and thus expand the ''database'' (for want of a better word) of Egyptian monasticism by taking into account this particular category of archaeological evidence. The second book owes its origin to the request I received from the publishing house of the Benedictine Abbey of Tyniec to write a volume on Egyptian monasticism in Polish. It was partly based on chapters contained in the French book, but a substantial portion of the Polish book consisted of new material dealing in a greater detail with the foundational monastic texts such as the apophthegms, the Life of Antony by Athanasius of Alexandria, Historia Lausiaca by Palladius, the writings of John Cassian, the invaluable and extensive dossier of the Pachomian congregation, and the works written by Shenoute. The book includes a presentation of ascetic doctrines, a topic which was only tangentially addressed in Moines et communautés monastiques. Heedful of the usual rigours of research work, I nevertheless reduced the reference apparatus (the footnotes specifically) so as not to discourage the non-specialist readers interested in the topic. It was released in 2014 with the title Drugi dar Nilu, czyli o mnichach i klasztorach w późno­antycznym Egipcie (''The Second Gift of the Nile: Monks and Monasteries in Late Antique Egypt''; the first part of the title was proposed by the Benedictines, while the other was added, slightly pedantically, by myself). Once the work on that book was completed, I was more happy with the result than was the case with its predecessor: it seemed to me that the Polish book provided the reader with a greater wealth of information interpreted in a much more mature manner, even in spite of the fact that I had to leave out some material (especially my discussions of archaeological sources, as this time I could not include any illustrations). This particular book has emanated from the Tyniec book, much in the same way as the Tyniec one did from the volume written in French. It is largely composed of English translations of rearranged, reworked, revised and enriched individual chapters of its Polish predecessor. More attention is given here to the first congregation of Pachomian monasteries and the federation of three monastic establishments governed by Shenoute. The part on monastic economy has been expanded, which reflects my belief that this aspect of the phenomenon in question can usher us into the ''real reality'' of the communities as opposed to the reality depicted in monastic literature or in theoretical writings on asceticism. It goes without saying that I have also added references to newly published studies on the subject, all the while respecting the principle of keeping the biblio­graphy selective and resisting the temptation of excessively expanding the footnotes. The chronological scope of the book extends to the mid-eighth century or thereabouts. The Arab conquest had an immense impact on life in Egypt in a multitude of aspects, but on the whole its monastic circles were not significantly affected. One cannot escape this impression while reading the letters written in Coptic in the first half of the eighth century found in Western Thebes, particularly the dossier of Frange. In my view at least, the image of life in Egyptian monasteries which emerges from those documents is not significantly different from what can be inferred from texts written a hundred years earlier. (from the Author''s Foreword)

An authoritative and multidisciplinary Companion to Egypt during the Greco‐Roman and Late Antique period With contributions from noted authorities in the field, A Companion to Greco-Roman and Late Antique Egypt offers a comprehensive resource that covers almost 1000 years of Egyptian history, starting with the liberation of Egypt from Persian rule by Alexander the Great in 332 BC and ending in AD 642, when Arab rule started in the Nile country. The Companion takes a largely sociological perspective and includes a section on life portraits at the end of each part. The theme of identity in a multicultural environment and a chapter on the quality of life of Egypt's inhabitants clearly illustrate this objective. The authors put the emphasis on the changes that occurred in the Greco-Roman and Late Antique periods, as illustrated by such topics as: Traditional religious life challenged; Governing a country with a past: between tradition and innovation; and Creative minds in theory and praxis. This important resource: Discusses how Egypt became part of a globalizing world in Hellenistic, Roman and Byzantine times Explores notable innovations by the Ptolemies and Romans Puts the focus on the longue durée development Offers a thematic and multidisciplinary approach to the subject, bringing together scholars of different disciplines Contains life portraits in which various aspects and themes of people’s daily life in Egypt are discussed Written for academics and students of the Greco-Roman and Late Antique Egypt period, this Companion offers a guide that is useful for students in the areas of Hellenistic, Roman, Byzantine and New Testament studies.

Shenoute of Atripe: stern abbot, loquacious preacher, patron of the poor and scourge of pagans in fifth-century Egypt. This book studies his numerous Coptic writings and finds them to be the most important literary source for the study of society, economy and religion in late antique Egypt. The issues and concerns Shenoute grappled with on a daily basis, Ariel Lopez argues, were not local problems, unique to one small corner of the ancient world. Rather, they are crucial to interpreting late antiquity as a historical period—rural patronage, religious intolerance, the Christian care of the poor and the local impact of the late Roman state. His little known writings provide us not only with a rare opportunity to see the life of a holy man as he himself saw it, but also with a privileged window into his world. Lopez brings Shenoute to prominence as witness of and participant in the major transformations of his time.

A complex picture of differing regional trajectories emerges, whilst cultural change is everywhere apparent, in phenomena such as Christianisation, settlement nucleation and fortification."--BOOK JACKET.