Institutionalized form of religious life, devoted to disciplined ascetic prayer practice. An ascetic form of Christian living, including vows of celibacy and poverty (or simplicity) in service of the church, had characterized early Syriac Christianity by the 2nd or 3rd cent. During the 4th cent., as for Christians elsewhere, this type of religious vocation began to organize in desert and wilderness areas apart from urban contexts. Yulyana Saba (d. 367) was one of the first to establish a community of disciples in the desert of Osrhoene. By the 5th cent., varieties of monasticism were flourishing in the Syrian Orient, and documents containing monastic rules indicate the efforts to institutionalize and order these under the supervision of bishops. In Syrian tradition, a ‘monastery’ was a community of two or more individuals pursuing a life of prayer. Individual hermits or ascetics were often loosely connected to monasteries, which then provided for their needs. Sometimes monasteries became very large and assumed roles such as landowners or providing schools. They were often centers of learning for both men and women and contained important ms. collections. Rich traditions of mysticism and prayer devotion flourished in late antique and medieval E. and W. Syr. monasteries. Syr. monasticism was notable for its close engagement with civic life (villages, towns, cities), and for constant, intimate interaction with lay people of every kind — a characteristic still apparent in the monasteries of Ṭur ʿAbdin in eastern Turkey, or the Monastery of Mor Ephrem in Glane-Losser, Holland.

See Fig. 80 and 81.