The Pempton ( Greek τὸ πέμπτον, "the fifth") was a complex of Christian monasteries in late Roman Egypt . It was named for the fifth milestone west of Alexandria along the coastal road between Lake Mareotis and the Mediterranean Sea , probably near present-day al-Maks . It is attested from the early fourth century until the beginning of the seventh. It was one of a series of monastic sites along the coast west of Alexandria, others being the ninth ( Enaton ), eighteenth ( Oktokaidekaton ) and twentieth ( Eikoston ).
26-645: The region around the Pempton was called the Eremika, "desert" in Greek. In 338, Palladius of Galatia went to live as a hermit there under the spiritual direction of a certain Dorotheos of Thebes , who had been living in a cave there for sixty years. He had built cells for the other brothers living the region. According to Sozomen and Xanthopoulos , writing at some distance, there were around that time 2,000 monks in
52-565: A Roman province , the boundaries of Bithynia changed frequently. During this period, Bithynia was commonly united for administrative purposes with the province of Pontus within the Roman Empire . This was the situation at the time of Emperor Trajan , when Pliny the Younger was appointed governor of the combined provinces (109/110 – 111/112), a circumstance which has provided historians with valuable information concerning
78-701: A large scale. Bithynia is named for the Thracian tribe of the Bithyni , mentioned by Herodotus (VII.75) alongside the Thyni . The " Thraco-Phrygian " migration from the Balkans to Asia Minor would have taken place at some point following the Bronze Age collapse or during the early Iron Age. The Thyni and Bithyni appear to have settled simultaneously in the adjoining parts of Asia, where they expelled or subdued
104-737: Is November 29 . Palladius was born in Galatia in 363 or 364. He dedicated himself to the monastic life in 386 or soon thereafter, residing in the Mount of Olives . Palladius travelled to Egypt to meet the prototypical Desert Fathers (Christian monks). In 388, he arrived in Alexandria . Around 390 he passed on to Nitria in Egypt, visiting the famous monk Or of Nitria . A year later, he travelled southwest to Kellia , an Egyptian Christian monastic community spread out over many square kilometers in
130-469: Is clearly visible as far away as Istanbul (70 miles, 110 km). Its summits are covered with snow for a great part of the year. East of this the range extends for more than 100 miles (160 km), from the Sakarya to Paphlagonia . Both of these ranges are part of the border of mountains which bound the great tableland of Anatolia , Turkey . The broad tract which projects towards the west as far as
156-567: The Billaeus (Filyos), which rises in the Aladağ, about 50 miles (80 km) from the sea, and after flowing by modern Bolu (ancient Bithynion-Claudiopolis) falls into the Euxine, close to the ruins of the ancient Tium , about 40 miles (64 km) northeast of Heraclea Pontica (the modern Karadeniz Ereğli ), having a course of more than 100 miles (160 km). The Parthenius (modern Bartın ),
182-635: The Black Sea ; and the Gulf of Mudanya or Gemlik (Gulf of Cius), about 25 miles (40 km) long. At its extremity is situated the small town of Gemlik (ancient Cius ) at the mouth of a valley, communicating with the lake of Iznik, on which was situated Nicaea . The principal rivers are the Sangarios which traverses the province from south to north; the Rhyndacus , which separated it from Mysia; and
208-645: The Mysians , Caucones and other minor tribes, the Mariandyni maintaining themselves in the northeast. Herodotus mentions the Thyni and Bithyni as settling side by side. No trace of their original language has been preserved, but Herodotus describes them as related to the tribes of Thracian extraction. Later the Greeks established on the coast the colonies of Cius (modern Gemlik); Chalcedon (modern Kadıköy ), at
234-531: The Nitrian Desert about 40 miles south of Alexandria . After his travels, his health deteriorated and he went to Palestine in search of a cooler climate. In 400 he was ordained the bishop of Helenopolis in Bithynia , and soon became involved in controversies which centred around St. John Chrysostom . In 405 he again travelled to Rome to testify that Chrysostom was not a heretic. Because of this, he
260-572: The Sea of Marmara , the Bosporus , and the Black Sea . It bordered Mysia to the southwest, Paphlagonia to the northeast along the Pontic coast, and Phrygia to the southeast towards the interior of Asia Minor. Hellenistic Bithynia was an independent kingdom from the 4th century BC. Its capital Nicomedia was rebuilt on the site of ancient Astacus in 264 BC by Nicomedes I of Bithynia . Bithynia
286-617: The kings of Bithynia had a considerable standing and influence among the minor monarchies of Anatolia . But the last king, Nicomedes IV , was unable to maintain himself in power against Mithridates VI of Pontus . After being restored to his throne by the Roman Senate , he bequeathed his kingdom through his will to the Roman Republic (74 BC). The coinage of these kings show their regal portraits, which tend to be engraved in an extremely accomplished Hellenistic style. As
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#1732783974663312-521: The Enaton, according to the Syriac tradition. John Moschos , writing around 600, describes the Pempton as the location of Alexandria's gallows. There is archaeological evidence of the Pempton monasteries. At Dekhela (Dikhaylah, Duḫēla), today a suburb of Alexandria, excavations in the early twentieth century and in 1966 uncovered funerary stelae and traces of religious structures. One marble memorial slab
338-500: The Friends of God . This history detailed Egyptian and Middle Eastern Christian monasticism. Palladius died some time in the second decade of the fifth century AD in his jurisdiction of Aspuna. Bithynia Bithynia ( / b ɪ ˈ θ ɪ n i ə / ; Koinē Greek : Βιθυνία , romanized: Bithynía ) was an ancient region , kingdom and Roman province in the northwest of Asia Minor (present-day Turkey ), adjoining
364-694: The Pempton. During the reign of Justinian I (527–565), according to the Life of Daniel of Scetis , a certain monk of the Pempton for eight years left to play the holy fool in Alexandria, becoming known as Mark the Mad. In the same reign but prior to the death of the Empress Theodora in 548, Anastasia the Patrician founded a monastery either at the Pempton, according to her Greek hagiography, or at
390-600: The Propontis (which is now known as Sea of Marmara ): Nicomedia , Chalcedon , Cius and Apamea . Bithynia also contained Nicaea , noted for being the birthplace of the Nicene Creed . According to Strabo , Bithynia was bounded on the east by the river Sangarius (modern Sakarya river ), but the more commonly received division extended it to the Parthenius , which separated it from Paphlagonia , thus comprising
416-715: The Roman provincial administration at that time. Under the Byzantine Empire , Bithynia was again divided into two provinces, separated by the Sangarius . Only the area to the west of the river retained the name of Bithynia. Bithynia attracted much attention because of its roads and its strategic position between the frontiers of the Danube in the north and the Euphrates in the south-east. To secure communications with
442-454: The coastal monastic centres, including the Pempton. The first writer to record the presence of a monastery at the Pempton is Epiphanius of Salamis , who describes a visionary monk from there who behaved as if he were a bishop. There are only a few scattered references to the Pempton in the surviving literature. On 18 April 448, an imperial edict condemning Nestorianism and the decree of the prefect of Egypt ordering it to be read were read at
468-683: The countries up to the Hellespont and Bosporus. Even before the conquest by Alexander the Bithynians appear to have asserted their independence, and successfully maintained it under two native princes, Bas and Zipoites , the latter of whom assumed the title of king ( basileus ) in 297 BC. His son and successor, Nicomedes I , founded Nicomedia , which soon rose to great prosperity, and during his long reign ( c. 278 – c. 255 BC), as well as those of his successors, Prusias I , Prusias II and Nicomedes II (149–91 BC),
494-414: The district inhabited by the Mariandyni . On the west and southwest it was separated from Mysia by the river Rhyndacus and on the south it adjoined Phrygia and Galatia . It is occupied by mountains and forests, but has valleys and coastal districts of great fertility. The most important mountain range is the (so-called) "Mysian" Olympus (8,000 ft, 2,400 m), which towers above Bursa and
520-524: The eastern boundary of the province, is a much less considerable stream. The valleys towards the Black Sea abound in fruit trees of all kinds, such as oranges, while the valley of the Sangarius and the plains near Bursa and Iznik (Nicaea) are fertile and well cultivated. Extensive plantations of mulberry trees supply the silk for which Bursa has long been celebrated, and which is manufactured there on
546-517: The entrance of the Bosporus, nearly opposite Byzantium (modern Istanbul ) and Heraclea Pontica (modern Karadeniz Ereğli), on the Euxine, about 120 miles (190 km) east of the Bosporus. The Bithynians were incorporated by king Croesus within the Lydian monarchy, with which they fell under the dominion of Persia (546 BC), and were included in the satrapy of Phrygia , which comprised all
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#1732783974663572-511: The shores of the Bosporus, though hilly and covered with forests—the Turkish Ağaç Denizi , or "The sea of Trees"—is not traversed by any mountain chain. The west coast is indented by two deep inlets, the northernmost, the Gulf of İzmit (ancient Gulf of Astacus), penetrating between 40 and 50 miles (64 and 80 km) into the interior as far as İzmit (ancient Nicomedia ), separated by an isthmus of only about 25 miles (40 km) from
598-736: Was a Christian chronicler and the bishop of Helenopolis in Bithynia . He was a devoted disciple of Saint John Chrysostom . He is best remembered for his work, the Lausiac History . He was also the author of the Dialogue on the Life of Chrysostom . Palladius is a saint in the Coptic Orthodox Church and in the Syrian Orthodox Church , wherein he is given the honorific title "The Solitary". His feast day
624-654: Was bequeathed to the Roman Republic in 74 BC, and became united with the Pontus region as the province of Bithynia and Pontus . In the 7th century it was incorporated into the Byzantine Opsikion theme . It became a border region to the Seljuk Empire in the 13th century, and was eventually conquered by the Ottoman Turks between 1325 and 1333 . Several major cities sat on the fertile shores of
650-454: Was exiled by emperor Arcadius for six years in Syene , during which time he wrote his biography of St. John Chrysostom. In 412 or 413 he was restored to the episcopate, now being the bishop of Aspuna (Galatia). His primary work was written in 419–420 and was called the Lausiac History (being composed for Lausus, chamberlain at the court of Theodosius II ) which is also titled The Lives of
676-564: Was placed for Abbot George, the steward of the Gaianite community of monks, who died in 601. A marble bas-relief slab depicting Saint Menas between two camels was also discovered. The identification of these finds with the Pempton was first proposed by Schwartz in 1923 and has been widely accepted. 31°07′22″N 29°49′06″E / 31.122762°N 29.818239°E / 31.122762; 29.818239 Palladius of Galatia Palladius of Galatia ( Greek : Παλλάδιος Γαλατίας )
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