Periodic Reporting for period 1 - MonasByz (The Making of the Byzantine Ascetical Canon: Monastic Networks, Literacy and Religious Authority in Palestine and Sinai (7th-11th centuries))
Reporting period: 2020-09-01 to 2022-08-31
Palestine and Sinai played a key role in the development of the monastic and ascetic tradition in Eastern Christianity in late antiquity and the Middle Ages. After a demographic and cultural peak during the early Byzantine period (fifth-sixth century), Palestinian monasticism was deeply affected by the seventh-century Islamic conquests, which brought about radical changes in the region. Nevertheless, monastic life and literature continued to flourish in the new political context of the early caliphate. Together with the on-going literary activity in Greek, this period witnessed the emergence of a Melkite Syriac and Arabic literature. Monasteries such as St Catherine’s on Sinai or Mar Saba near Jerusalem became important cultural centers fostering multilingual monastic communities.
The aim of this research project was to investigate the role played by these communities in the formation of the Byzantine literary canon of ascetic works. Throughout the medieval period, monastic audiences across the Mediterranean relied on the late antique ascetic writings of the fourth-seventh centuries CE as their main source of religious authority. Although the reception of these ‘classics’ had far-reaching consequences for the religious and intellectual history of the Mediterranean, key questions regarding the processes of transmission, reception, and adaptation of these texts are still open: How did a canon of ascetic literature emerge, who carried out the selection of authors and works, and how were these selections disseminated? Based on a detailed study of the ascetic manuscripts from Palestine and Sinai, the project argues that the large monastic centers in these regions played a pivotal role in this development.
The first objective of the project was to identify and analyze the Greek, Syriac, and Arabic ascetic manuscripts copied in the region between the 7th and 11th centuries. The descriptions of the relevant manuscripts will be published in the on-line database e-Sketikon, which has been developed as part of the project. The second objective was to study the most important features and textual practices in these ascetic collections (translation techniques, selection criteria, etc.). Moreover, the identification of the scribes and users of these manuscripts allowed for a reconstruction of the institutional and personal networks that worked as channels for transmitting ascetic knowledge in the Eastern Mediterranean during the early Islamic period. Based on these insights, the final objective of the project was to explain how a canon of monastic and ascetic literature, mainly consisting of late antique authors, was formed in the middle and later Byzantine period, and to assess the role played by the Palestinian monastic centers in this process.
The aim of this research project was to investigate the role played by these communities in the formation of the Byzantine literary canon of ascetic works. Throughout the medieval period, monastic audiences across the Mediterranean relied on the late antique ascetic writings of the fourth-seventh centuries CE as their main source of religious authority. Although the reception of these ‘classics’ had far-reaching consequences for the religious and intellectual history of the Mediterranean, key questions regarding the processes of transmission, reception, and adaptation of these texts are still open: How did a canon of ascetic literature emerge, who carried out the selection of authors and works, and how were these selections disseminated? Based on a detailed study of the ascetic manuscripts from Palestine and Sinai, the project argues that the large monastic centers in these regions played a pivotal role in this development.
The first objective of the project was to identify and analyze the Greek, Syriac, and Arabic ascetic manuscripts copied in the region between the 7th and 11th centuries. The descriptions of the relevant manuscripts will be published in the on-line database e-Sketikon, which has been developed as part of the project. The second objective was to study the most important features and textual practices in these ascetic collections (translation techniques, selection criteria, etc.). Moreover, the identification of the scribes and users of these manuscripts allowed for a reconstruction of the institutional and personal networks that worked as channels for transmitting ascetic knowledge in the Eastern Mediterranean during the early Islamic period. Based on these insights, the final objective of the project was to explain how a canon of monastic and ascetic literature, mainly consisting of late antique authors, was formed in the middle and later Byzantine period, and to assess the role played by the Palestinian monastic centers in this process.
The project was divided into four work packages (WPs). WP1 consisted of the identification and analysis of the Greek, Syriac and Arabic manuscripts with ascetic content copied in the area of Syria-Palestine and Sinai (7th-11th centuries). The Researcher has studied 275 relevant manuscripts (including fragments), mostly via digital reproductions. The aim of WP2 was to set up an online database containing these manuscript descriptions. The database "e-Sketikon" was designed using the web-application Srophé in collaboration with Syriaca.org. The Researcher has developed an optimized XML/TEI schema for the encoded description of the relevant manuscripts. WP3 focused on the textual practices characterizing these ascetic manuscripts, such as selective translations, censoring problematic ascetic authors and texts. Another aim was to study a few ideas and concepts central for ascetic theory and practice. The final WP aimed at reconstructing the social and historical context in which these activities took place. Among other things, these neglected manuscripts emerge as essential sources for understanding major social changes in the Abbasid caliphate, such as the formation of a distinct Syriac Melkite (Rum Orthodox) identity and the Arabization of the Christian population of Syria-Palestine.
In terms of knowledge transfer, the Researcher has participated in a series of training seminars on (1) research data management, and (2) on research funding and proposal writing, as well as a course on literary Georgian. The Fellow has taught an undergraduate course on the history of asceticism and monasticism at the host institution and has shared his experience as a MSCA Fellow at a training session for early-career researchers.
The results of the project have been disseminated at twelve international conferences and lecture series. The Researcher has also organized a workshop at the University of Vienna (online), with the participation of twelve leading scholars in the field (Image 1). The workshop attracted over 180 registered participants and its proceedings will be published in a peer-reviewed academic journal. Eight scientific articles and an edited volume resulting from the project are either submitted for publication or are at an advanced stage of preparation. The project was featured in a newsletter article, the Researcher has delivered three public lectures and has maintained a blog and a social media presence, which highlighted the relevance of medieval manuscripts as unique cultural artefacts and to explain the role of Palestinian monasteries in preserving this endangered heritage.
In terms of knowledge transfer, the Researcher has participated in a series of training seminars on (1) research data management, and (2) on research funding and proposal writing, as well as a course on literary Georgian. The Fellow has taught an undergraduate course on the history of asceticism and monasticism at the host institution and has shared his experience as a MSCA Fellow at a training session for early-career researchers.
The results of the project have been disseminated at twelve international conferences and lecture series. The Researcher has also organized a workshop at the University of Vienna (online), with the participation of twelve leading scholars in the field (Image 1). The workshop attracted over 180 registered participants and its proceedings will be published in a peer-reviewed academic journal. Eight scientific articles and an edited volume resulting from the project are either submitted for publication or are at an advanced stage of preparation. The project was featured in a newsletter article, the Researcher has delivered three public lectures and has maintained a blog and a social media presence, which highlighted the relevance of medieval manuscripts as unique cultural artefacts and to explain the role of Palestinian monasteries in preserving this endangered heritage.
The systematic study of the ascetic manuscripts from Sinai and other collections and libraries has brought to light a series of hitherto unidentified or unknown ascetic texts in Syriac and Arabic. These identifications contribute to a better understanding of the intellectual activities in the monastic centers of Palestine and Sinai, but also illustrate the channels through which late antique ascetic authors were transmitted and read in later periods. Other significant advances were made regarding the complex textual history of the Apophthegmata Patrum ("Sayings of the Desert Fathers"). The ‘canonical’ form of these anthologies have replaced several older, non-standard collections, which only survive in early Syriac and Arabic translations. Palestinian and Sinaitic monks played a central role in the transmission, selection, but also censorship of these ascetic collections. This is best exemplified by the writings attributed to Macarius of Egypt and Evagrius of Pontus, two of the most influential ascetic writers of the fourth century.
The study of the manuscripts from Palestine and Sinai has wider implications for the history of the Christian communities of the region. The selection of texts in some manuscripts can clarify the process of confessional identity formation among Syriac Rum-Orthodox (Melkite) Christians and their dissociation from other Christian groups. Likewise, the efforts to translate the ascetic heritage of late antiquity from Greek into Syriac and then into Arabic are important indicators of the gradual Arabization of the local population. Finally, a few areas where further research is needed have been singled out by the project, such as the necessity to create a standardized technical vocabulary for describing manuscripts or the usefulness of Linked Open Data. Beyond the main research objectives formulated above, the project has also highlighted the prime cultural significance of the manuscript heritage preserved at St Catherine’s Monastery, which is the oldest continually operating library in the world (Image 2).
The study of the manuscripts from Palestine and Sinai has wider implications for the history of the Christian communities of the region. The selection of texts in some manuscripts can clarify the process of confessional identity formation among Syriac Rum-Orthodox (Melkite) Christians and their dissociation from other Christian groups. Likewise, the efforts to translate the ascetic heritage of late antiquity from Greek into Syriac and then into Arabic are important indicators of the gradual Arabization of the local population. Finally, a few areas where further research is needed have been singled out by the project, such as the necessity to create a standardized technical vocabulary for describing manuscripts or the usefulness of Linked Open Data. Beyond the main research objectives formulated above, the project has also highlighted the prime cultural significance of the manuscript heritage preserved at St Catherine’s Monastery, which is the oldest continually operating library in the world (Image 2).