The writings of Shenoute form the largest corpus of early monastic texts by a single author from one of the cradles of Christian monasticism, Egypt. These manuscripts open an important window onto the development of monasticism in Egypt, shedding light on the inner workings of an early monastery outside of the more famous Pachomian system.
As at the monasteries of Pachomius, the monks abided by a shared collection of monastic rules composed by the early leadership. Shenoute built his monastic rules upon a prior rule written by Pcol, the founder of Shenoute’s Monastery (also known as the White Monastery).
A fragment of this early rule (“Pcol’s Rule”) has survived, quoted inside the very first letter Shenoute wrote and included in his monastic corpus.
My print edition has been accepted for publication in Le Muséon, and I hope to produce a digital edition here or on the Coptic SCRIPTORIUM site. Stay tuned!
Slides of my SBL 2012 Presentation in the Oriental Manuscripts session about technology and the challenges of creating digital editions for Coptic literary manuscripts are available here: SchroederSBL2012Presentation111712B.
