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The Therapeutae of Antiquity

The Therapeutae (meaning "healers") were an ancient order of mystical ascetics who lived in many parts of the ancient world but were found especially near Alexandria, the capital city of Ptolemaic Egypt. This pre-Christian group of Jewish ascetics is known today from the writings of Philo of Alexandria, who described the group in his De Vita Contemplativa (On the Contemplative Life), written around 10 C.E. Philo compared the Therapeutae to the Essenes as both sects were known for their exemplary religious devotion and ascetic practices.

According to Philo, communities of Therapeutae were widely established in the ancient world but the particular sect near Lake Mareotis, Egypt, was quite famous for its healing arts. The Therapeutae were renowned for both their asceticism and healing abilities. Indeed, the English words "therapy" and "therapudic" are etymologically connected to the name of this ancient religious Order, indicating that medicine, religion, and healing were deeply connected in the ancient world, and healing was seen as a religious art. A similar etymology exists for the word "hospital" and the religious Order of the Hospitallers of Jerusalem.

Philo's monachism is witness as the Therapeutae as forerunners and the model for, the Christian practice of ascetic life. It has even been considered as the earliest description of Christian monasticism. This view was first espoused by Eusebius of Caesarea in his Ecclesiastical History. The practices described by Philo were considered as one of the first models of Christian monastic life. Eusebius was so sure of the identification of Therapeutae with the earliest Christians that he deduced that Philo, who admired them so, must have been Christian himself. Like the first Christian hermits of the Egyptian desert, i.e. Anthony the Great, they were mostly-anchorites (solitary hermits), rather than living communally, as later Christian monastic communities would do. According to Pseudo-Dionysius:
The semianchoritic character of the Therapeutae community, the renunciation of property, the solitude during the six days of the week and the gathering together on Saturday for the common prayer and the common meal, the severe fasting, the keeping alive of the memory of God, the continuous prayer, the meditation and study of Holy Scripture, were also practices of the Christian anchorites of the Alexandrian desert.

The Hellenistic Age

Archaic and Classical Greece produced a culture which the third era, the Hellenistic Age, spread throughout the known world. Because of the Macedonian empire builders, the realm of Greek influence spread from India to Africa. When Alexander the Great died, his empire was divided in three parts: Macedonia and Greece, ruled by Antigonus, founder of the Antigonid dynasty; the Near East, ruled by Seleucus, founder of the Seleucid dynasty; and Egypt, where the general Ptolemy started the Ptolemid dynasty. The empire was wealthy thanks to the conquered Persians. With this wealth, building and other cultural programs were established in each region. The most famous contribution of Ptolemy was the Library at Alexandria. While the culture of ancient Greece was disseminated East and West, the Greeks adopted elements of eastern culture and religion, especially Zoroastrianism and Mithraism. Attic Greek became the lingua franca. Impressive scientific innovations were made in Alexandria where the Greek Eratosthenes computed the circumference of the earth, Archimedes calculated pi, and Euclid compiled his geometry text. In philosophy Zeno and Epicurus founded the moral philosophies of Stoicism and Epicureanism.

Though Rome dominated politically, the greatest city of the Hellenistic Age, which took place from 300 BC to 300 AD, was Alexandria in Egypt. Due to the numerous cultures that congregated in the city, whether Egyptian, Greek, Persian, Hindu, or Jewish, new esoteric creeds were formulated based on older traditions, a trend, referred to by scholars as syncretism (union of opposing principles). However, upon closer examination it becomes apparent that, though they appear outwardly eclectic, the underlying theology were evolved by the Greek philosophers. The first important evidence of these doctrines in Judaism make their definite appearance among the Essenes, a sectarian Jewish community of the second century BC to the first century Ad, who produced the Dead Sea Scrolls. Their doctrines did not represent the orthodox tradition of Judaism, but a departure from it in the form of teachings developed in Babylon. It was through another Essene-like community in Alexandria, known as the Therapeutae, that the doctrines of the Chaldean Magi, and their mysteries, were interpreted to create different schools, the most important of which were Hermeticism, Neoplatonism, and Gnosticism. Greek medicine played an important role in their healing practices. Some authors believe Jesus made contact with this community, which later would produce some of the leading philosophical scholars of early Christian Gnosticism. A chronology of the historical developments of The Therapeutae of Antiquity can be found here.