Egeria,[1]Etheria, orAetheria was aHispano-Roman Christian woman, widely regarded to be the author of a detailed account of apilgrimage to theHoly Land about 381/2–384. The long letter, dubbedPeregrinatio orItinerarium Egeriae, is addressed to a circle of women at home. The historical details it contains set the journey in the early 380s, making it the earliest of its kind. It survives in fragmentary form in a later copy—lacking a title, date and attribution.
The middle part of Egeria's writing survived and was copied in theCodex Aretinus, which was written atMonte Cassino in the 11th century, while the beginning and end are lost. ThisCodex Aretinus was discovered in 1884 by the Italian scholarGian Francesco Gamurrini, in a monastic library inArezzo.[2] In 2005, Jesús Alturo identified two new fragments from one manuscriptcirca 900 inCarolingian minuscule.[3]
Gamurrini published the Latin text and theorised the author wasSylvia of Aquitaine.[4] In 1903, Marius Férotin claimed the author is one Aetheria or Egeria, known from a letter written by the seventh centuryGalician monkValerio of Bierzo. He dated her pilgrimage to about 381–384, during the reign ofTheodosius I.[5]: vii f. Férotin believed she was fromGallaecia, but in 1909 Karl Meister disputed Férotin's theory about the date of Egeria's pilgrimage and her identity. Meister argues that her language shows no evidence ofIberian Romance but rather suggests that she may have been from one of the well-known religious houses of sixth centuryGallia Narbonensis; according to this theory, her pilgrimage took place in the first half of the reign ofJustinian I (r. 527–565).[5]: viii f. John Bernard noted certain details of Egeria's account that support the earlier dating: two churches mentioned in theBreviarium andPeregrinatio Theodosii (bothcirca 530) are absent from Egeria's otherwise detailed description of Jerusalem.[5]: xiv Most scholars favor the 4th century date.[6]
It is through Valerio's letter that we first see the name Aetheria or Egeria, and have much of the biographical information. He praises Egeria and identifies her as a nun, perhaps because she addresses her account to her "sorores" (Latin for "sisters") at home. However, others (including Hagith Sivan, 1988) have pointed out that during Egeria's time it was common to address fellow lay Christians as "sisters" and "brothers". It is possible that Egeria used the term to address her Christian acquaintances.[2] Valerio may also have believed her to be a nun because she went on such a pilgrimage, although lay women of the time are known to have engaged in suchreligious tourism. Egeria's ability to make a long and expensive journey by herself, her numerous acquaintances and attentive guides in the places she visited, and her education indicate her middle or upper class wealthy background.[5]: xi [2] In his letter to Egeria, Valerio mentioned the shores of the "Western sea" or "Ocean" from which Egeria was sprung, which suggests he was writing about a person travelling from the RomanGallaecia, but Meister believes that her reference to the riverRhone supports his theory of Gaulish origin.[5]: viii f.
Egeria set down her observations in a letter now calledItinerarium Egeriae ("Travels of Egeria"). It is sometimes also calledPeregrinatio Aetheriae ("Pilgrimage of Aetheria") orPeregrinatio ad Loca Sancta ("Pilgrimage to the Holy Lands") or some other combination. It is the earliest extant graphic account of aChristian pilgrimage.[7] The text has numerouslacunae.[6]
The text is a narrative apparently written at the end of Egeria's journey from notes she took en route, and addressed to her 'dear ladies': the women of her spiritual community back home.[8] In the first extant part of the text, she describes the journey from her approach toMount Sinai until her stop inConstantinople. Staying for three years inJerusalem, she made excursions toMount Nebo and to thetomb of Job in ancient Carneas or Karnaia[9] (modernAl-Shaykh Saad, Syria). She wrote extensively on her observations ofHoly Week proceedings and anEaster vigil, both at Jerusalem in immediate succession of each other.[10]
Additionally, she visited the burial places ofHaran, the brother ofAbraham, as well as the site whereEliezer met withRebecca.[11] She spent time at theSea of Galilee and comments on the traditions, which include that ofChrist feeding the multitude and the place where he performed his miracles.[12] On her way back toEurope she stopped atHagia Thekla—i. e. the shrine ofSaint Thecla's near Seleucia Isauriae (modernSilifke, Turkey), particularly venerated by women. Upon her return to Constantinople, she planned to make a further trip toSt. John's atEphesus.
The second portion of the text is a detailed account of the liturgical services and observances of thechurch calendar inJerusalem (most likely, underCyril),[11][13] The liturgical year was in its incipient stages at the time of her visit. This is invaluable because the development of liturgical worship (e. g.Lent,Palm or Passion Sunday) reached universal practice in the 4th century. Egeria provides a first-hand account of practices and implementation of liturgical seasons as they existed at the time of her visit.[14] This snapshot is before universal acceptance of a December 25 celebration of thenativity of Jesus; this is very early and very helpful in cataloguing the development of annual liturgical worship.[15]
Philologists have studied Egeria's letter, which contains a wealth of information about the evolution of Latin in late antiquity into the "Proto-Romance" language, from which themedieval and modern family ofRomance languages later emerged.[16][6] For example, expressions such as "deductores sancti illi" (meaning "those holy guides" in classical Latin, but here rather simply "the holy guides") reveal the origins of thedefinite article now used in theRomance languages (except forSardinian and certain dialects ofCatalan)—cf.Spanish ("las santas guías") orItalian ("le sante guide"). Similarly, the use ofipsam in a phrase such as "per mediam vallem ipsam" (classical Latin "through [the] middle of [the] valley itself") anticipates the definite article ("péri su mesu de sa bàdde") found in Sardinian and in some dialects ofCatalan, namelyBalearic Catalan, along theCosta Brava (Catalonia), and in theValencian municipalities ofTàrbena andLa Vall de Gallinera.[17]
Chronological list of early Christian geographers and pilgrims to the Holy Land who wrote about their travels, and other related works
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