Monasticism

…excellent… * Patricia Rumsey, Modern Believing *… the book of Stephen J. Davis deserves to be read, understood and used not only by the curious people who want to find more about the approached topic, but also by the specialists in their future scientific enterprises. * Iuliu-Marius Morariu, Studia Monastica *This pocket-size text is concise without sacrificing necessary illustrations, expert but free from pedantry, and skilfully arranged by significant themes. * Patrick Horn, Reading Religion *

Stephen J. Davis is Professor of Religious Studies, History, and Near Eastern Languages and Civilizations at Yale University, specializing in the history of ancient and medieval Christianity, with a special focus on the eastern Mediterranean and the Near East. Since 2013, he has served as Head of Pierson College, one of the fourteen residential colleges at Yale. He is the author of several books, including The Cult of St. Thecla: A Tradition of Women’s Piety inLate Antiquity (OUP, 2001), and Coptic Christology in Practice: Incarnation and Divine Participation in Late Antique and Medieval Egypt (OUP, 2008). His most recent book, Christ Child: Cultural Memoriesof a Young Jesus, was published by Yale University Press in 2014. For over a decade (since 2006), Stephen has directed the Yale Monastic Archaeology Project, sponsoring archaeological and archival work at several ancient and medieval monastic sites in Egypt.