The Church Fathers Library

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Poemen the Great

Also: Abba Poemen, Pimen

Born perhaps in 340; the place is not known. Died perhaps in 450; the place is not known.

Egyptian monk whose sayings make up the largest part of the Sayings of the Desert Fathers.

Wrote in Coptic.

Places lived

  1. until 407Scetis (now Wadi El Natrun, Egypt)monkyears probable, place probable
  2. from 407Terenuthis (now Kom Abu Billo, Egypt)monkyears probable, place probable

Works

1 work, in the order they were written. 1 work can be read here.

Filed here, not written by Poemen the Great

These texts are about this person, hold what this person said, or carry this name without good reason. Each page says which.

How we know the dates and places
Born not sure
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Poemen ; a guess only
Place of birth not known
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Poemen : Egypt, no town known
Died not sure
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Poemen ; he outlived Arsenius (Apophthegmata Patrum, alphabetical collection (English: B. Ward, Sayings of the Desert Fathers, 1975), Arsenius 41)
Place of death not known
Apophthegmata Patrum, alphabetical collection (English: B. Ward, Sayings of the Desert Fathers, 1975), Poemen gives no place of death
Scetis, years probable
Apophthegmata Patrum, alphabetical collection (English: B. Ward, Sayings of the Desert Fathers, 1975), Anoub 1: Poemen and his brothers left Scetis at the first raid (407)
Scetis, place probable
Apophthegmata Patrum, alphabetical collection (English: B. Ward, Sayings of the Desert Fathers, 1975), Poemen; site: Pleiades https://pleiades.stoa.org/places/727232
Terenuthis, years probable
Apophthegmata Patrum, alphabetical collection (English: B. Ward, Sayings of the Desert Fathers, 1975), Anoub 1
Terenuthis, place probable
Apophthegmata Patrum, alphabetical collection (English: B. Ward, Sayings of the Desert Fathers, 1975), Anoub 1: they settled in an old temple at Terenuthis; site: Pleiades https://pleiades.stoa.org/places/727244