The Desert a City: An Introduction to the Study of Egyptian and Palestian Monasticism Under the Christian Empire

This an academic yet passionate account of the Egyptian Desert and surrounding areas between the third and fifth century, when the desert became a city of monasteries. James Chitty has spent extended time in the deserts that he writes about, doing archaeological exploration. This time period and geography were the birth place of Christian monasticism. And here is an account of that period written by a native! -Amos Smith (author of Healing The Divide)

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"This making a City of the Wilderness was no mere flight...it was rooted in a stark realism of faith in God and acceptance of the battle which is not against flesh and blood." Dr. D. Chitty, PrologueThe Desert:"As a frequent traveler there once told me, 'In the desert you only have to worry about three things: beating the temperature, finding food and water, and not getting lost. But when you master these few things, a whole region of the world stands before you, unopened, ready to be explored," explains Dr. M. C. Steenberg, Fellow in Patristic Theology and Early Church History, University of Oxford, in his study on St. Antony of Egypt, whom Dr. Chitty considered the start point of the massive emergence of the monastic devotion, worldwide.Desert Asceticism:The word 'asceticism,' which generally indicates self-denial, derives from the Greek term askesis, originally meaning exercise, practice, or training. As practiced by the desert Fathers, and early Monastics, has sought solutions to the superficial religion of the newly Egyptian converts, mostly illiterate farmers. Based on a literal response to some of Jesus Christ's teachings (Mark 10:17-31), those novices deserted their families and gave up their possessions to live in the desert, in imitation to Christ, a life of chastity, fasting, and asceticism.Evolution of Monasticism:At the height of Christian asceticism in the Middle East, thousands of monks lived in monastic centers in Egypt, Nitria, Kellia, and Sketes in the West Delta, and Pachomian cenobitic communities in Upper Egypt. Later on the move moved into Palestine, and the Syrian deserts. Some lived in isolated caves, in real seclusion, rarely meeting other humans as did Abba Paul the first hermit. The cenobitic monks, gathered to form communities and build large fortress-like monasteries. Although they sought total isolation, most monks in sketes did not cut all ties with Christian laity. Some debated theological issues, during the early Church councils, some defended religious and administrative issues of their day, as was the case of the Tall Brothers. Other monastics focused on service, since Athanasius time, serving the sick, or burying the dead as was the case of the Philoponoi and Parabolani, which was copied by other Mediterranean cities.The desert a City:These lectures on early Christian monasticism, which Dr. Chitty claims to be no more than an introduction, has been described by Monastic scholar, and Pachomius expert Philip Rousseau, as "indispensable is Derwas J. Chitty, The desert a City. It is a gem, already proven a real classic. Few recent studies of this crucial period in the history of the monastic movement match it for its painstaking scholarship which combined well searched history, archeology and tradition with vivid and talented writing. This inspiring book has kept vivid in my Coptic conscience the great devotion underlying the monastic ideal in all ages. Dr. Chitty, one of the pioneer scholars of this period, deals with the golden age of Egyptian monasticism and describes the main founders of the movement Anthony, Athanasius, and Pachomius. He follows the development of monastic life in all its forms in Egypt to the end of the fourth century, when the movement migrated to Palestine. He gives a devoted accounts of St. Saba and the great ascetics of Palestine. As he mentioned in the prologue to his book, the study did not consider either Syria or Cappadocia (Asia Minor).

This is indeed a classic but it is by no means the first book you should read about early asceticism. As a true introduction I would recommend William Harmless's  Desert Christians: An Introduction to the Literature of Early Monasticism . Harmless very aptly says of Chitty's book: "[It is] a dense network of names and places and events -- too dense, I believe, for the real beginner. It is also full of brilliant passing insights and wonderful throwaway lines whose cogency is lost on most. And so I find Chitty's work not so much an introduction, but rather a wise road map for those who are already knee-deep in the literature."

This is the book on Desert Monasticism, a labour of love covering the emergence of the first desert fathers and the different worlds of Egypt, Syria and Palestine. It's a little old now, but still good. If you've read and appreciated the Desert Fathers, this is the background.Chitty has a few eccentric beliefs - he seems to think that the Holy Land possesses a mystical power which draws heretics there to orthodox christianity - but he is an excellent scholar.It's definitely a history, rather than a book designed to inspire, but there's still something quite powerful about reading about people with such a single-minded devotion to living for God.This is an 'introduction' in the academic sense - not the place to start for the normal reader, but for anyone with a little knowledge of early monasticism, very informative indeed. There is nothing that really rivals it for this purpose.