4th century

The Rise of Egyptian Monasticism: Desert Hermits and Pachomius's Cenobitic Monasteries

At the turn of the 3rd–4th centuries, martyrdom at the hands of the state became impossible. The moral level of the church also declined with the influx of new converts. At that point thousands of Christians chose the "substitute martyrdom" of monastic life.

They settled the deserts of Lower Egypt – Nitria, Cellia, and Scetis. There disciples gathered around ascetics such as Ammon and the two Macarii. By the time Palladius visited in 390, thousands of monks lived in these places.

From around 320 the former soldier Pachomius created the first rule of cenobitic (communal) monastic life in Upper Egypt, at Tabennisi. Monks lived several to a cell and worked in workshops. On Sundays they shared the Eucharist together. By his death thousands of brothers lived in communities across Egypt. These included women's monasteries founded by his sister Mary.

Jerome later translated Pachomius's Rule into Latin. John Cassian spread Pachomian customs in the West.