Inquiry about the Monks in Egypt

by Tyrannius Rufinus, Andrew Cain (Translation)

From September 394 to early January 395, seven monks from Rufinus of Aquileia's monastery on the Mount of Olives made a pilgrimage to Egypt to visit locally renowned monks and monastic communities. Shortly after their return to Jerusalem, one of the party, whose identity remains a mystery, wrote an engaging account of this trip. Although he cast it in the form of a first-person travelogue, it reads more like a book of miracles that depicts the great fourth-century Egyptian monks as prophets and apostles similar to those in the Bible. This work was composed in Greek, yet it is best known today as Historia monachorum in Aegypto (Inquiry about the Monks in Egypt), the title of the Latin translation of this work made by Rufinus, the pilgrim-monks' abbot.

The Historia monachorum is one of the most fascinating, fantastical, and enigmatic pieces of literature to survive from the patristic period. In both its Greek original and Rufinus's Latin translation it was one of the most popular and widely disseminated works of monastic hagiography during Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages. Modern scholars value it not only for its intrinsic literary merits but also for its status, alongside Athanasius's Life of Antony , the Pachomian dossier, and other texts of this ilk, as one of the most important primary sources for monasticism in fourth-century Egypt.

Rufinus's Historia monachorum is presented here in English translation in its entirety. The introduction and annotations situate the work in its literary, historical, religious, and theological contexts.

256 pages, Hardcover

Published December 30, 2019

Reviews

[Oleksandr Fediienko · Rating 4 out of 5]

Наполовину тревелог, наполовину збірка біографій святих. Цей агіографічний твір відрізняється якраз тим, що подає замітки подорожнього. Решта - вже звична: чесноти, побожність, дива, зцілення і вічна слава.

[Mina · Rating 4 out of 5]

Being an Egyptian Christian, I enjoyed reading about my ancestors.I picked that book for spiritual guidance and inspiration. But, I learned more about the history and geography of the Nile Delta in Egypt during the 4th century than spirituality. The synopsis was based on the journey of 7 monks from Palestine to the monks who lived in Egypt. I think the writer wrote in retrospect after returning from the journey. Rufinus translated and edited the Greek version to Latin. The translator Andrew Cain mentions that the book was written by people living in the Western Empire who have not been to Egypt.

I found the translation easy to follow, and the author adds explanatory footnotes for locations, people and practices.