Villagers and Holy Men in the Holy Mountain of Jeme
Dr.Matthias Müller worked in the Postdoc project “Villagers and Holy Men in the Holy Mountain of Jeme” dealing extensively on monastic communities dwelling in the Theban mountains on the West bank of the Nile in modern-day Luxor. He is currently preparing new editions of textual evidence from various modern excavations, as well as from material stored in Museums in Europe and North America. Noteworthy is material from a monastery of Luxor that flourished during the first two centuries after the Arab invasion and was probably inhabited by monks adhering to the Chalcedonian confession of faith, whereas the majority of the monasteries and semi-anchorites subscribed to the Miaphysite dogma. Both parties had strong connection to the nearby town of Jême and from the letters sent to the people dwelling in the monasteries, it can be seen that the concept of the Holy Person worked, not unexpectedly, in the same ways for Miaphysites and Chalcedonians alike. In addition, he recently has been contacted to edit the written material from Elephantine excavated by a Swiss-German team. Although the occupation of that site starts earlier than the period which the project Change and Continuities covered, the transition from a military settlement via a craftsmen’s quarter to a monastic installment offered many interesting insights for various other members of the team.