The Nicene Age · AD 313–400
Amma Talis
d. c. AD 395 (eighty years in ascesis) · Amma of Antinoë · Mother of sixty virgins · Antinoë, the Thebaid
The Nicene Age
Who Amma Talis was
The old mother of a convent at Antinoë, eighty years in the discipline when Palladius met her — who sat beside the visiting historian with a freedom that startled him, her hands on his shoulders, 'in extreme frankness,' because desire had long since died in her. Her sixty virgins were held, he marvelled, by no lock or key, 'but by love of her and the excellence of her ways': the one monastery in the Lausiac History governed entirely without a door.
Lausiac History 59 only.
Also listed in women and desert fathers & mothers.
Common questions
When did Amma Talis die?
Amma Talis is dated d. c. AD 395 (eighty years in ascesis) in the archive, which places Amma Talis in the Nicene Age (AD 313–400). The dating is traditional and approximate; the archive marks it as uncertain rather than fixing a year the sources do not give.
Which early sources mention Amma Talis?
Amma Talis is named in 1 primary-source passage catalogued here, drawn from Palladius of Galatia. Every passage is quoted from a named public-domain translation, earliest first.
Where was Amma Talis from?
The archive associates Amma Talis with Antinoë, the Thebaid. The sources record more than one location, so the places are listed in the order the record moves through them.
Who were Amma Talis’ contemporaries?
The archive links Amma Talis to 2 other figures, including Amma Piamoun and Amma Alexandra. Each connection is drawn from a source that places them together, not from inference.
Primary-source mentions (1)
Every passage below is quoted from a named public-domain translation, earliest first.
The Lausiac History 59
c. AD 420Sixty young women were with her, whom no key guarded, as in other monasteries, but the love of her and the excellence of her ways held them fast.Palladius of Galatia · 59 · source text
Connected in the archive
People
Events in this lifetime
- AD 325 · The Council of Nicaea, AD 325
- AD 339 · The persecution of Shapur II, AD 339
- AD 343 · The Council of Serdica, AD 343
- AD 361 · Julian’s pagan restoration, AD 361
- AD 366 · Damasus and the catacomb epigrams, AD 366
- AD 367 · Athanasius lists the 27 NT books, AD 367
- AD 372 · The martyrdom of Sabbas the Goth, AD 372
- AD 378 · Queen Mavia’s revolt, AD 378
- AD 380 · The Edict of Thessalonica, AD 380
- AD 381 · The Council of Constantinople, AD 381
- AD 381 · The Council of Aquileia, AD 381
- AD 384 · The Altar of Victory petition, AD 384
- AD 390 · Thessalonica and the penance of Theodosius, AD 390
Place
Places served
The one place the sources put Amma Talis.
- 1the Thebaidprovince only