that this involvement in the society of the time was appropriate for
monks who settled in the places where the Son of God was discovered
fully involved in the life of first-century villages and city, even though
the monks themselves would not have spoken of their monastic com-
mitment in these incarnational terms.

The dates which form the temporal boundaries of the study are
dictated by the primary sources here considered. The year 314 is the
earliest date in which the first monastic church in the Jerusalem desert--
at the laura of Pharan--could have been consecrated, and 631 is the
year in which the last of the Lives of the saints, that of George of
Choziba, was written. The first date nearly corresponds with the
toleration of Christianity proclaimed by the so-called Edict of Milan in
313, and the second is also the year in which the True Cross was
restored to Jerusalem by the Emperor Honorius. It is the Byzantine
period of the history of the Palestinian Church.

I have referred to the area in question as Palestine throughout. In
doing so, I have in mind the Roman provinces of Palastina Prima,
Secunda, and Tertia, rather than any subsequent political entity.
Many people have helped me to understand the world of the monks.
Stuart Hall supervised my research at King's College, London, research
from which this book eventually emerged. John Peterson, Dean of St
George's College, Jerusalem, invited me to spend some time as Visiting
Lecturer, enabling me to visit a number of the sites. Yizhar Hirschfeld
was generous in sharing his unique knowledge of the desert with me,
both through lengthy conversation and some memorable visits, including
an unforgettable Good Friday spent at the magnificent site of Khirbet
ed Deir during the last weekend of his excavations there. Averil Cameron
and John Wilkinson made many helpful suggestions. Yoram Tsafrir
kindly provided me with material on the excavations he is conducting
at Beth Shan which were unavailable in this country.

I carried out this study project while working as a priest in a London
parish. I have received encouragement and support from the congregation
of Holy Trinity Parish, Upper Tooting, my fellow clergy, and the
church authorities. My wife Sue and son William have tolerated a ten-
year obsession with remarkable patience and cheerfulness.

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