Narratives of Monastic Genealogy in Coptic Inscriptions
Year: 2015
Type: article
Abstract: Among the many Coptic inscriptions from late antique Egypt which preserve monastic funerary and commemorative texts, a subset present a type of monastic genealogy. These emplot the commemorated monk within the wider narrative of monasticism, as part of a lineage stretching from the contemporary community back to God. This paper surveys these texts, noting regional and formulaic variations, and explores the manner in which monastic communities express their collective identity and relationships with other communities though these inscriptions. It examines how these texts act to generate and maintain the collective memory of the community, and compares the traditions which lie behind these texts with the narratives constructed in various literary genres, to see how these parallel expressions of monastic memory illuminate the translocal construction and maintenance of Egyptian monastic identity.
Source: Religion in the Roman Empire
Author: Malcolm Choat
Language: English
Subfield: Classics
Field: Arts and Humanities
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: hybrid
OpenAlex ID: W2916399674