Season 3, Episode 5
In this third of our five-episode series in partnership with the Department of Near Eastern and Judaic Studies at Brandeis University, we continue to explore the diverse interests of the NEJS Department by looking at a text from the beginnings of Christian monasticism in the Byzantine period. The Sayings of the Desert Fathers and Mothers is a collection of short stories and sayings from and about monks centered in Northern Egypt in the fourth century CE that were recorded in the fifth and sixth centuries.
Dr. Darlene Brooks Hedstrom, the Myra and Robert Kraft and Jacob Hiatt Associate Professor of Christian Studies, takes us through the ways in which the collection was developed, the influence it has had, and its intersections with various faith traditions.
Read the transcription for "The Sayings of the Desert Fathers and Mothers."
THE TEAM
Hosted by Aaron Henne
Scholarship provided by Darlene Brooks Hedstrom, PhD
Edited by Mark McClain Wilson
Story editing by Julie A. Lockhart with Aaron Henne
Featuring the voices of Joe Jordan, Julie A. Lockhart, Diana Tanaka, and Mark McClain Wilson
Theme music composed by Michael Skloff and produced by Sam K.S.
Transcription by Dylan Southard
"The Sayings of the Desert Fathers and Mothers" Learning Resources
Learn more about:
The Alphabetical Collection translated by Benedicta Ward
The Anonymous Sayings translated by John Wortley
The Systematic Collection translated by John Wortley
The Byzantine Empire
Referenced in the episode:
The Ancient Monastic Cells of Saint Anthony Monastery
Athanasius of Alexandria
Philo of Alexandria
The Therapeutae
Watch with captions on YouTube:
ABOUT OUR EPISODE PARTNER
One of the largest and most diverse departments of its kind, the Department of Near Eastern and Judaic Studies at Brandeis University (NEJS) is dedicated to the critical investigation of the history, literature, and religion of Jews and Judaism, as well as adjacent cultures in the ancient and modern world (the ancient Near East, Christianity, Islam and modern Israel).