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Updated 10-13-05
Egeria /Etheria
/Aetheria (fl.380s?)
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"LADIES, LIGHT OF MY HEART,... DO NOT FORGET ME."
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The Itinerarium Egeriae is part of a letter, a travel report to some women back home about a trip lasting over three years through much of the eastern Roman Empire. Only about four months worth of the letter is extant, but a Spanish monk of the late 600s, Valerius, described for his fellow monks something of the contents of those parts of the manuscript that are lost (perhaps as much as two-thirds of the whole).
We aren't sure of the author's name (different copies of Valerius' letter call her Egeria, Etheria, or Aetheria); we aren't sure where she came from (perhaps from northwestern Spain, perhaps from the Rhone area of Gaul); we aren't sure of when she made her trip (although the strongest evidence suggests the early 380s).
In the middle and late 300s, Christian emperors were urging pilgrimages to Jerusalem and the "Holy Land" around it. Constantine had begun a building program in the area to provide all that pilgrims would need, and his successors continued the construction efforts. Egeria was not the first of the pilgrims to describe her trip (see the "Pilgrim of Bordeaux" online), but she was an educated woman (a nun? a laywoman who was part of a community of laywomen?) who wanted to make her readers at home see exactly what she had seen and wanted them to understand those things that were done differently from at home. She was always curious to see more, and we don't know if she ever got home.
The part of the manuscript that is extant begins after Egeria has been in Jerusalem for three years, where she had come from Constantinople; it ends during her description of the liturgical practices in the churches at Jerusalem, apparently written after her return to Constantinople and before she continued on her travels.
On this page you'll find:
Links to helpful sites online.
Excerpts from a translation in print.
Information about secondary sources,
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1. Translations:
(a) The entire text of the extant Itinerarium, here called The Pilgrimage of Etheria, in an older translation (1919) by M.L. McClure and C.L. Feltoe.
(b) The last half of the work (from chapter 23: 8 through 48:3, where the manuscript stops), in a translation "modified" from that of Louis Duchesme (1923). Clicking on any section number will take you to the original Latin of that section. From the same site, a 1994 bibliography of secondary sources.
(c) Another partial translation: sections of Itinerarium that covers the Christian liturgy in Jerusalem; here you can link to descriptions of individual days.
(d) Julia Bolton Holloway's essay (originally accompanied by a slide show) includes a number of passages from John Wilkinson's translation of the Itinerarium (and more are given in the essay's notes). Also included is part of the letter by the Spanish monk Valerius.
(e) More from the early part of of the text, in Wilkerson's translation. For other excerpts from Wilkinson, see below, under "In print."
2. Links to the individual chapters of the two parts of the Latin original of the whole Itinerarium. At another site, links to the chapters of a hypertext version: from any highlighted work or phrase, you can access all its other uses.
3. Essays, etc.:
(a) An introduction to Egeria, by John Abela, based on Wilkerson's commentary in his 1999 Egeria's Travels.
(b) A 1998 essay by Laurie Churchill, which discusses what is known and what is conjectured about Egeria. You can link to the Latin original of Chapter 19 (sections1-19), accompanied by an English-language glossary.
(c) Another 1998 essay on Egeria, by Paul Reyes, which includes an annotated bibliography.
(d) This transcription and translation of a 2002 conference presentation by Pasquale Smiralgia, "Internal Structural and Chronological Problems in Egeria's Diary/Letter of Her Pilgrimage, the Itinerarium," reports on past and current research into Egerian and her work. The Italian original of each paragraph is followed by a translation by Assunta D'Alloi, J.B.Holloway, and Mark Roberts. (The article shows a page from the 1000s manuscript found in the 1800s.)
(e) Although the details of Ariane Schwartz' 2002 essay, "The Genuine Article: Evolving Linguistic Form in the Peregrinatio Egeriae," are perhaps of interest chiefly to Latin scholars, Schwartz' conclusions give insight into Egeria's style.
4. Two other sites may also interest you:
(a) The "Acts of Paul & Thecla," taken from the apocryphal "Acts of Paul"; you can access individual chapters. (For part of Egeria's description of her visit to Thecla's shrine, see below, under "In print.")
(b) A much different report on a pilgrimage to Jerusalem made 50 years before Egeria's by the "Pilgrim of Bordeaux," translated by Aubrey Stewart (1887). At the bottom of the page, click "To Jerusalem" for a sample of the earlier pilgrim's descriptions. At any section number, you may link to the original Latin.
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[John Wilkinson's is the most valuable translation for the the general reader, because of his extensive notes, maps, and additional documents (e.g., Valerius' letter, excerpts of an 1100s document which scholars believe was based on the lost portions of Egeria, etc.):]
Egeria's travels: newly translated, with supporting documents
and notes /
by John Wilkinson. Warminster, England: Aris & Phillips,
1999. 3rd ed.
(xiv, 221 p. : ill., maps)
LC#: DS104.5 .I813 1999; ISBN: 0856687103
Includes bibliographical refererences (p. vii-xii) and indexes
[Many libraries will have Wilkinson's 1981 edition; the translation
is the same; the supplementary material is a bit less detailed.
ISBN: 0281024790]
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"I want you to be quite clear about these mountains."
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[December 383/January 384 (all dates are Wilkinson's estimates): At the top of Mt. Sinai, in Egypt near the east coast of the Red Sea, where tradition said that Moses had received the tablet of the commandments:]
I want you to be quite clear about these mountains, reverend ladies my sisters, which surrounded us as we stood beside the church looking down from the summit in the middle. They had been almost too much for us to climb, and I really do not think I had seen any that were higher (apart from the central one which is higher still) even though they only looked like little hillocks to us as we stood on the central mountain.
From there we were able to see Egypt and Palestine, the Red
Sea and the Parthenian Sea [the eastern Mediterranean] (the part
that takes you to Alexandria), as well as the vast lands of the
Saracens---all unbelievably far below us. [ch.3:8;
pp.110-111]
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"...the better to picture what happened in these places."
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I know it has been rather a long business writing down all these places one after the other, and it makes far too much to remember. But it may help you, loving sisters, the better to picture what happened in these places when you read the Books of holy Moses. [ch.5:8; p.113]
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"The children of Israel zigzagged their way to the Red Sea."
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[Retracing the steps of the Hebrews escaping from Pharaoh:]
Some of the places were to the right and others to the left
of our route, some a long way off and others close by. So, as
far I can see, loving sisters, you must take it that the children
of Israel zigzagged their way to the Red Sea, first right, then
back left again, now forwards, and now back. [ch.7:2-7:3;
p.116]
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"We did not see it, and I cannot pretend we did."
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[On top of Mt. Nebo, where Moses died:]
From the church door itself we saw where the Jordan runs into the Dead Sea, and the place was right below where we were standing. Then, facing us, we saw Livias on our side of the Jordan, and Jericho on the far side.... In fact from there you can see most of Palestine, the Promised Land and everything in the area of the Jordan as far as the eye can see. To our left was the whole country of the Sodomites, including Zoar, the only one of the five cities which remains today....
We were also shown the place where Lot's wife had her memorial, as you read in the Bible. But what we saw, reverend ladies, was not the actual pillar, but only the place where it had once been. The pillar itself, they say, has been submerged in the Dead Sea---at any rate we did not see it, and I cannot pretend we did. [ch.12:4-12:7; pp.121-123]
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"It was very convenient for me at God's bidding to go."
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[Back in Jerusalem, April 384, justifying (to herself?) her next trip. Each "staging-point" was an average day's trip:]
...[S]ince it was already three full years since my arrival in Jerusalem, and I had seen all the places which were the object of my pilgrimage, I felt that the time had come to return in God's name to my country.
But God also moved me with a desire to go to Syrian Mesopotamia. The holy monks there are said to be numerous and of so indescribably excellent a life that I wanted to pay them a visit; I also wanted to make a pilgrimage to the martyrium of the holy apostle Thomas, where his entire body is buried. It is at Edessa.... And, believe me, loving sisters, no Christian who has achieved the journey to the holy places and Jerusalem misses going also on the pilgrimage to Edessa. It is 25 staging-points away from Jerusalem, but Mesopotamia is not as far as Antioch.
So, since my route back to Constantinople took me back that way, it was very convenient for me at God's bidding to go from Antioch to Mesopotamia, and that, under God, is what I did. [ch.17:1-17:3; p.130]
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"It flows very fast like the Rhone."
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[Between Antioch and Edessa]
Fifteen miles after leaving Hierapolis I arrived in God's name at the river Euphrates, and the Bible is right to call it "the great river Euphrates." It is very big, and really rather frightening since it flows very fast like the Rhone, but the Euphrates is much bigger. We had to cross in ships, big ones, and that meant I spent maybe more than half a day there. [ch.18:2-18:3; p.131]
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"...right from the other end of the earth."
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[In Edessa, as in every city, Egeria went first to the bishop to introduce herself:]
The holy bishop of the city was a truly devout man, both monk and confessor. He welcomed me and said, "My daughter, I can see what a long journey this is on which your faith has brought you---right from the other end of the earth. So now please let us show you all the places Christians should visit here." [ch.19:5; p.133]
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"I found one of my dearest friends...."
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[After returning to Antioch, Egeria headed north towards Constantinople. "Apoctactite" is Greek for "one set apart." You can see the "Acts of Thecla" online:]
But in Isauria [an area in southern Asia Minor], only three staging-posts on from Tarsus, is the martyrium of holy Thecla, and, since it was so close, we were very glad to be able to make the extra journey there.... Holy Thecla's is on a small hill about a mile and a half from the city [Seluecia], so, as I had to stay somewhere, it was best to go straight on and spend the night there.
Round the holy church there is a tremendous number of cells for men and women. And that was where I found one of my dearest friends, a holy deaconess called Marthana. I had come to know her in Jerusalem when she was up there on pilgrimage. She was the superior of some cells of apoctactites or virgins, and I simply cannot tell you how pleased we were to see each other again. But I must get back to the main point.
There are a great many cells on that hill, and in the middle a great wall round the martyrium itself, which is very beautiful. The wall was built to protect the church against the Isaurians, who are hostile, and always committing robberies, to prevent them from trying to damage the monastery which has been established there.
In God's name I arrived at the martyrium, and we had a prayer
there, and read the whole Acts of holy Thecla; and I gave heartfelt
thanks to God for his mercy in letting me fulfill all my desires
so completely, despite all my unworthiness. For two days I stayed
there, visiting all the holy monks and apoctactites, the men
as well as the women; then, after praying and receiving Communion,
I went back to Tarsus to rejoin my route.
[chs.22:2, 23:2-23:6; pp.140-141]
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"If after that I am still alive,..."
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[Back in Constantinople, June/July 384. Ephesus was on the west coast of Asia Minor, and so on the way home to western Europe. It is immediately after this passage that Egeria began the description of the Jerusalem liturgy that is online:]
So, loving ladies, light of my heart, this is where I am writing to you. My present plan is, in the name of Christ our Lord, to travel to Asia, since I want to make a pilgrimage to Ephesus, and the martyrium of the holy and blessed Apostle John.
If after that I am still alive, and able to visit further places, I will either tell you about them face to face (if God so wills), or at any rate write to you about them if my plans change.
In any case, ladies, light of my heart, whether I am "in the body" or "out of the body," please do not forget me. [ch.23:10; p.142]
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[George Gingras offers a more literal translation of Itinerarium Egeriae than Wilkinson's; it is probably more valuable for a Latin scholar because the notes emphasize linguistic accuracy, but it lacks Wilkinson's helpful supplementary material:]
Egeria: diary of a pilgrimage. Translated and annotated by
George E. Gingras (Ancient Christian writers; the works of the
Fathers in translation, no. 38). New York, Newman Press, 1970.
(v, 287 p.)
LC#: BR60 .A35 no. 38
Includes bibliographical references.
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[This anthology also contains a complete translation: Patricia Wilson-Kastner's "Egeria: Account of her pilgrimage." The translator's goal is to "strike a balance between the styles of Gingras and Wilkinson" (p.80). However, like the Gingras translation, this one is limited by lack of supporting material valuable to the general reader.]
A Lost tradition: women writers of the early Church / Patricia
Wilson-Kastner [et al.].Washington, D.C.: University Press of
America, c1981. (xxx, 180 p.)
LC#: BR60 .L59 1981; ISBN: 0819116424, 0819116432
Bibliography: p. 173-178.
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[This essay collection contains Hanneke Reuling's "Pious Intrepidness: Egeria and the Ascetic Ideal," which looks at the questions raised by the Itinerarium about the lives of Western European Christian women in the 300s. Reuling doesn't try to define Egeria, but rather uses her narrative to illustrate the variety of contemporary views on "asceticism":]
Saints and role models in Judaism and Christianity / edited
by Marcel Poorthuis, Joshua Schwartz (Jewish and Christian perspectives
series, 1388-2074; v.7) . Leiden ; Boston: Brill, 2004. (xii,
485 p.: ill.)
LC#: BM750 .S24 2004; ISBN: 9004126147
Includes bibliographical references and indexes
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[Two essays in this collection deal with Egeria: Rachel Moriarty's " 'Secular men and women': Egeria's Lay Congregation in Jerusalem," analyzes Egeria's comments to determine the composition of the permanent community of the laity living in Jerusalem; E. D. Hunt's "The Itinerary of Egeria: Reliving the Bible in Fourth- Century Palestine," looks at the role of monks in the Itinerarium and finds them not only guides but also new examples of the scriptural life Egeria was looking for:]
The Holy Land, holy lands, and Christian history: papers read
at the 1998 Summer Meeting and the 1999 Winter Meeting of the
Ecclesiastical History Society / edited by R.N. Swanson (Studies
in church history; 36). Rochester, NY: Published for the Ecclesiastical
History Society by Boydell & Brewer, 2000. (xxiii, 397 p.:
ill.)
LC#:BT93.8 .E33 1998; ISBN: 0952973359
Includes bibliographical references and index
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[This collection includes an essay by Andrew Palmer, "Egeria the Voyager, or the Technology of Remote Sensing in Late Antiquity," which reviews the question of Egeria's identity and discusses the methods by which Egeria reports on her experiences:]
Travel fact and travel fiction: studies on fiction, literary
tradition, scholarly discovery, and observation in travel writing
/ edited by Zweder von Martels (Brill's studies in intellectual
history, 0920-8607; v. 55) . Leiden [The Netherlands]; New York:
E.J. Brill, 1994. (xviii, 246 p.: ill.)
LC#:G151 .T67 1994; ISBN: 9004101128
Includes bibliographical references and index
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[Hagith S. Sivan's article argues that Egeria was not a nun and
not from Spain; in the process he gives useful background information:]
Sivan, Hagith S. Piety and pilgrimage in the age of Gratian:
Who was Egeria? The Harvard Theological Review, 81:1 (1988),
59-72.
LC#: BR1 .H4; ISSN: 0017-8160
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[Maribel Dietz' study includes a discussion of the Itinerarium
Egeriae (pp.43-54). Dietz describes what is currently
known (and conjectured) of Egeria, and presents her not as a
conventional pilgrim but as an independent "religious traveler."
Quoted passages are given in Dietz' translation, with the original
Latin in the notes:]
Dietz, Maribel. Wandering monks, virgins, and pilgrims: ascetic
travel in the Mediterranean world, A.D. 300-800. University Park,
Pa.: Pennsylvania State University Press, c2005. (ix, 270 p.)
LC#: BX2435 .D54 2005; ISBN: 0271026774
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[In her chapter on "Women Writers in Rome and Their Successors," Jane McIntosh Snyder briefly discusses Egeria and gives several passages of Gingras' translation:]
Snyder, Jane McIntosh. The woman and the lyre: women writers
in Classical Greece and Rome. Carbondale: Southern Illinois University
Press, 1991.
LC#: PA3067 .S69 1991; ISBN: 0809317060
Previously published: Bristol: Bristol Classical Press; Carbondale,
IL: Southern Illinois University Press, 1989. Includes bibliographical
references and index.
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[Peter Dronke briefly comments on Egeria in his chapter "From Perpetua to the Eighth Century"; he also translates a passage about the Jordan River (and gives the original in his notes):]
Dronke, Peter. Women writers of the Middle Ages: a critical
study of texts from Perpetua (d.203) to Marguerite Porete (d,1310).
Cambridge [Cambridgeshire]; New York : Cambridge University Press,
1984. (xi, 338 p.)
LC#: PN671 .D7 1984; ISBN: 0521255805, 0521275733
Bibliography: p. 320-332. Includes indexes
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[As the title suggests, the focus of Glenn Bowman's essay in this collection, "'Mapping History's Redemption': Eschatology and Topography in the Itinerarium Burdigalense," is on the report by the "Pilgrim of Bordeaux" (available online); however, Bowman uses Egeria's descriptions to show how Christians' sense of their religion's place in the world changed from 333 to 383:]
Jerusalem: its sanctity and centrality to Judaism, Christianity,
and Islam / edited by Lee I. Levine. New York: Continuum, 1999.
(xxvii, 516 p.)
LC#: DS109.9 .J4576 1999; ISBN: 0826410243
Proceedings of a conference held in Jerusalem on June 23-28,
1996. Includes bibliographical references and index
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Updated 10-13-05