The Pachomian monasteries or the Koinonia of Upper Egypt were a group of Christian cenobitic monasteries founded by Pachomius the Great during the 4th century A.D. Altogether, by the mid-300s A.D., nine Pachomian monasteries formed a network or federation of monasteries known as the Koinonia. All of the nine historical Pachomian monasteries are now defunct. [1]
In 329 A.D., Pachomius founded the Koinonia (originally a Greek word from the New Testament meaning 'fellowship'), or network of monasteries, when he established the new monastery of Pbow and moved there from Tabennisi. [1]
From north to south, the nine monasteries of the Koinonia were Tse, Tkahšmin, Tsmine, Tbew, Tmoušons, Šeneset, Pbow, Tabennesi, and Phnoum. [2] : 160 Tse, Tkahšmin, and Tsmine, formed a cluster near Panopolis in the north, while Tbew, Tmoušons, Šeneset, Pbow, and Tabennesi made up the core nucleus of five monasteries near the modern-day town of Nag Hammadi. Phnoum was located much further to the south, near Latopolis. Pachomius also founded two nunneries in Tabennesi and Pbow. [1]
Each monastery was added to the Koinonia (monastic federation) in the following chronological order. Not all monasteries were newly founded or built by Pachomius when they were added to the koinonia; some were pre-existing monasteries. [2]
The leadership hierarchy of the Koinonia was as follows. [1] : 126
Pachomius was the first superior of the Koinonia. After Pachomius's death, Petronius became the superior of the Koinonia for three months until he also died, and was succeeded by Horsiesius. In 350, Horsiesius was succeeded by Theodorus when Horsiesius resigned. Horsiesius again became the superior of the Koinonia when Theodorus died in 368. [1] : 119 A timeline of the superiors of the Koinonia is given below.
According to John Cassian, there was a total of 5,000 monks in the Pachomian monasteries. Palladius gave a figure of 3,000 monks during Pachomius's time, and 7,000 monks by the end of the 4th century. Ammon gave a figure of 600 monks at Pbow when he resided there in 352 A.D. [1] : 123
Archaeological excavations of Pachomian monasteries have been conducted at Tabennesi, Pbow, and Sheneset-Chenoboskion.
Various manuscripts have been discovered near the locations of Pachomian monasteries, leading scholars to propose that they were likely part of Pachomian monastic libraries. Tbew, Tmoušons, Šeneset, Pbow, and Tabennesi are all located within a day's walk of each other, and so the texts were likely to have been borrowed and exchanged among the different monasteries. [3] : 220
Pachomius, also known as Saint Pachomius the Great, is generally recognized as the founder of Christian cenobitic monasticism. Coptic churches celebrate his feast day on 9 May, and Eastern Orthodox and Catholic churches mark his feast on 15 May or 28 May. In Lutheranism, he is remembered as a renewer of the church, along with his contemporary, Anthony of Egypt on 17 January.
A monastery is a building or complex of buildings comprising the domestic quarters and workplaces of monastics, monks or nuns, whether living in communities or alone (hermits). A monastery generally includes a place reserved for prayer which may be a chapel, church, or temple, and may also serve as an oratory, or in the case of communities anything from a single building housing only one senior and two or three junior monks or nuns, to vast complexes and estates housing tens or hundreds. A monastery complex typically comprises a number of buildings which include a church, dormitory, cloister, refectory, library, balneary and infirmary, and outlying granges. Depending on the location, the monastic order and the occupation of its inhabitants, the complex may also include a wide range of buildings that facilitate self-sufficiency and service to the community. These may include a hospice, a school, and a range of agricultural and manufacturing buildings such as a barn, a forge, or a brewery.
The Nag Hammadi library is a collection of early Christian and Gnostic texts discovered near the Upper Egyptian town of Nag Hammadi in 1945.
Christian monasticism is a religious way of life of Christians who live ascetic and typically cloistered lives that are dedicated to Christian worship. It began to develop early in the history of the Christian Church, modeled upon scriptural examples and ideals, including those in the Old Testament. It has come to be regulated by religious rules and, in modern times, the Canon law of the respective Christian denominations that have forms of monastic living. Those living the monastic life are known by the generic terms monks (men) and nuns (women). The word monk originated from the Greek μοναχός, itself from μόνος meaning 'alone'.
Cenobiticmonasticism is a monastic tradition that stresses community life. Often in the West the community belongs to a religious order, and the life of the cenobitic monk is regulated by a religious rule, a collection of precepts. The older style of monasticism, to live as a hermit, is called eremitic. A third form of monasticism, found primarily in Eastern Christianity, is the skete.
The Desert Fathers were early Christian hermits and ascetics, who lived primarily in the Scetes desert of the Roman province of Egypt, beginning around the third century AD. The Apophthegmata Patrum is a collection of the wisdom of some of the early desert monks and nuns, in print as Sayings of the Desert Fathers. The first Desert Father was Paul of Thebes, and the most well known was Anthony the Great, who moved to the desert in AD 270–271 and became known as both the father and founder of desert monasticism. By the time Anthony had died in AD 356, thousands of monks and nuns had been drawn to living in the desert following Anthony's example, leading his biographer, Athanasius of Alexandria, to write that "the desert had become a city." The Desert Fathers had a major influence on the development of Christianity.
Tabenna is a Christian community founded in Upper Egypt around 320 by Saint Pachomius. It was the motherhouse of a network of monasteries known as the Koinonia. At the time of Pachomius's death in 346, there were nine establishments for men and two for women, along with two or three thousand "Tabennesites". It is considered the first major model of cenobitic monasticism in early Christianity.
Eastern Christian monasticism is the life followed by monks and nuns of the Eastern Orthodox Church, Oriental Orthodoxy, the Church of the East and some Eastern Catholic Churches.
Abraham of Farshut was an abbot and is a saint of the Coptic Church, and by extension all of the Oriental Orthodox Churches. His feast day in the calendar of saints of the Coptic Church is February 12.
Coptic monasticism was a movement in the Coptic Orthodox Church to create a holy, separate class of person from layman Christians.
Theodorus of Tabennese, also known as Abba Theodorus and Theodore the Sanctified was the spiritual successor to Pachomius and played a crucial role in preventing the first Christian cenobitic monastic federation from collapsing after the death of its founder.
Monasticism is a way of life where a person lives outside of society, under religious vows.
al-Qasr wa as-Sayyad is a village in Nag Hammadi district of Qena Governorate, Egypt.
Pbow was a cenobitic monastery established by St. Pachomius in 336-337 AD. Pbow is about 100 km (62 mi) north of Luxor in modern Upper Egypt. It was one of the nine Pachomian monasteries.
Tbew was an Egyptian Coptic Orthodox monastery that was established in the mid-4th century. It was one of the Pachomian monasteries.
Phnoum was a cenobitic monastery established by Pachomius the Great during the 4th century A.D. Located near Latopolis in Upper Egypt, it was the southernmost of the nine Pachomian monasteries.
Tse was a cenobitic monastery established by Pachomius the Great during the 4th century A.D. It was one of the nine Pachomian monasteries.
Tsmine was a cenobitic monastery established by Pachomius the Great during the 4th century A.D. It was one of the nine Pachomian monasteries.
Tmoushons was a cenobitic monastery established by Pachomius the Great during the 4th century A.D. It was one of the nine Pachomian monasteries.
Horsiesius was a 4th-century Egyptian Christian monk who served as the head of the Pachomian monasteries from 346 to 350 AD, and again from 368 to 387 AD. He is canonized as a saint by the Coptic Orthodox Church.