05 — Sources
The dossier and its source-criticism. Almost everything known of Moses comes through the Apophthegmata Patrum (the Sayings of the Desert Fathers, and especially the chapter on Abba Moses), supplemented by Palladius’s Lausiac History and a notice in Sozomen. This section sets out those sources, the named scholars who have edited and studied them, and an honest weighing of what can be known of the historical Moses behind a tradition that grew, was translated, and was reshaped across more than a century.
Tradition: Pan-Orthodox (Desert Father; martyr)
A reference guide that pins its claims to sources must give its sources their own account, and a figure like Moses — known through compiled sayings and layered hagiography — requires it especially. This section names the dossier, describes how the Apophthegmata came to be and how the Lausiac History and Sozomen stand to it, identifies the scholarship, and then weighs the historical kernel against the hagiographical shaping, so that the reader knows at every point how securely each part of the portrait is held.
Files in This Section
| File | Description |
|---|---|
| The Apophthegmata and the Lausiac History | The principal sources: the Sayings of the Desert Fathers (the Moses collection) and its formation and transmission; Palladius’s Lausiac History; Sozomen’s notice; the named scholars — Ward, Chitty, Harmless — and the editions. |
| The Historical Moses | What can be known of the man behind the tradition; the layering of the dossier; the secure kernel, the thinner detail, and the honest state of the dates and the biography. |
See Also
- The Sayings of Abba Moses — the principal source in use
- The Robber and the Slave — the biographical claims weighed here
- The Barbarian Raid on Scetis — the martyrdom and its attestation
- The Church Fathers — the patristic literature in which the dossier stands
References
- Ward, Benedicta, trans. The Sayings of the Desert Fathers: The Alphabetical Collection. Rev. ed. Kalamazoo: Cistercian Publications, 1984.
- Palladius. The Lausiac History. Trans. Robert T. Meyer. ACW 34. New York: Newman Press, 1964.
- Sozomen. The Ecclesiastical History. NPNF II/2. 1890. (VI.29.)
- Chitty, Derwas J. The Desert a City. Oxford: Blackwell, 1966.
- Harmless, William. Desert Christians. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2004.