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10 - Distinguishing Offerings from Blessings in Early Byzantine Monasticism: The Significance of P.Ness. III 79 (ca. 600 AD)

from III. - Monastic Encounters: Travel, Pilgrimage, and Donations

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  14 April 2023

By
Daniel F. Caner
Edited by
Louise Blanke  and
Jennifer Cromwell
Louise Blanke
Affiliation:
University of Edinburgh
Jennifer Cromwell
Affiliation:
Manchester Metropolitan University
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Summary

The early seventh-century papyrus from the St Sergius Monastery at Nessana in Roman Third Palestine (Negev desert, Israel) illustrates how early byzantine monastic stewards categorized and handled lay donations. Called an ‘Account of Church Offerings’, P.Ness. III 79 preserves registers that formally separate gifts called ‘blessings’ (eulogiai) from ‘offerings’ (prosphorai). Though unique in the papyrus record, such categorical distinctions are also implied by contemporary hagiography; P.Ness III 79 confirms that monks formally recognized a categorical difference between these two types of gifts, as implied by hagiography. Moreover, hagiography indicates that blessings were considered gifts that did not oblige their recipients to give anything in return, while offerings expected recipients to provide some sort of service. Marks placed next to entries of offerings in P.Ness III 79 suggest that concern for obligation guided monastic stewardship practices. Such monastic practices and concerns may be illuminated by distinctions drawn between restricted and unrestricted gifts by modern non-profits.

Keywords

giftsrestricted giftsstewardshipdonationsMonastery of St SergiusNessanablessingsofferings
Type
Chapter
Information
Monastic Economies in Late Antique Egypt and Palestine , pp. 271 - 297
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2023

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