The Life of Bishoi presents to western readers and scholars the first English translation of the life of a well beloved and popular eastern saint. Saint Bishoi of Scetis (d. ca. 417) is a famous monastic who was one of the four main monastic founders of the monasteries of Scetis, those of Macarius the Great, John the Little, Bishoi, and Maximus and Domitius.
The book provides a translation of the life of Bishoi from Greek, Arabic, Syriac, and Geʻez (Ethiopic) manuscripts. The bibliography informs us that the editors consulted twenty-seven referenced manuscripts, seven texts and editions of the Life of Bishoi, and five editions containing portions and summaries of the Life based on Arabic manuscripts.
Tim Vivian and Maged S. A. Mikhail are the book's editors. Mikhail provides an erudite introduction to the whole volume, in which he discusses Bishoi's identity and the textual history of the Life of Bishoi. Tim Vivian and Apostolos N. Athanassakis provide a translation of the Greek Life followed by the Greek text. Robert Kitchen provides an introduction and translation of the Geʻez Life of Bishoi. Rowan Greer, Robert Kitchen, and Maged Mikhail translate the Syriac text and provide an introduction. Finally, Maged Mikhail provides an introduction, a translation, and an Appendix to the Arabic Life.
This definitive volume of the Life of Bishoi sheds light, not only on the life of an important saint and monastic leader, but is also valuable for the study of monasticism and hagiography, as well as the history of Christianity in Egypt. The editors added titles to various sections of the Life, thus providing the reader a tool to compare each section's theme through the various languages. This study is valuable for exploring the transmission of texts through various languages and cultures, and across denominational differences.
