Le thA]me gA(c)nA(c)ral de ce livre est reprA(c)sentA(c) par le problA]me complexe de l''identitA(c) du monachisme antique. Une A(c)volution du mouvement monastique partant des frictions plus accentuA(c)es dans la phase initiale et du dA(c)tachement des institutions ecclA(c)siastiques perAues comme autre aboutissait A une institutionnalisation. Cette derniA]re engendra un rapprochement progressif entre les moines et les clercs. Le monastA]re devient un point de stabilisation pour les moines, mais aussi pour le clergA(c) et les laAcs. L''analyse de la structure sociale de l''Egypte A...

As senders of letters, copyists of literary texts, compilers of accounts, readers, and teachers, the monks of late antique Egypt articulated their interactions with their ascetic and secular environments via their role as authors, scribes, and owners of written text. This volume edited by Malcolm Choat and Maria Chiara Giorda examines the presence and practice of writing, modes of written communication, and the symbolic and spiritual value of the written word in monastic communities. Contributions cover evidence from papyri and inscriptions to literature transmitted in manuscripts, positioned...