Figure
Pachomius
Founder of communal monasticism
c. 292 – 348 CE
Approximate dates.
Biography
A former soldier from Upper Egypt who founded monasteries at Tabennese near Nag Hammadi where monks lived together under a written rule, where earlier monks had lived alone. His system spread east and west.
Key facts
Certainty: Established
In about the 320s Pachomius founded the first known communal monasteries governed by a written rule.
- Otto F. A. Meinardus (1999) “Two Thousand Years of Coptic Christianity” American University in Cairo Press
- Aziz S. Atiya (ed.) (1991) “The Coptic Encyclopedia, 8 vols.” Macmillan