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| There are even solitaries on Athos today who follow the same way of life as the boskoi [browsers] in primitive monasticism—dwelling with the animals like Adam in Paradise, not building cells but remaining in caves or in the open air, wearing no clothing and eating no cooked food. Although I have not myself seen any such, I have spoken with monks who know about them. They are to be found chiefly near the tip of the peninsula, on the wooded slopes above the Great Lavra and Kerasia. For a description of one such monk, see J. Valentin, The Monks of Mount Athos (London 1960), pp.36-38.</ | There are even solitaries on Athos today who follow the same way of life as the boskoi [browsers] in primitive monasticism—dwelling with the animals like Adam in Paradise, not building cells but remaining in caves or in the open air, wearing no clothing and eating no cooked food. Although I have not myself seen any such, I have spoken with monks who know about them. They are to be found chiefly near the tip of the peninsula, on the wooded slopes above the Great Lavra and Kerasia. For a description of one such monk, see J. Valentin, The Monks of Mount Athos (London 1960), pp.36-38.</ | ||
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| + | According to Cyril and other writers, the monks of the Judean Desert were almost entirely dependent on their surroundings for food. They cultivated extensive vegetable gardens and fruit trees. Irrigation of farming plots in the desert was provided by spring water when available, or by rainwater which they collected in immense rock-cut cisterns and reservoirs. However, they also utilized edible wild plants. | ||
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| + | In fact, one of the main sources of livelihood for the monks of the Judean Desert was the gathering of edible wild plants. The written sources mention four types of plants which were gathered systematically by the monks: salt bush, wild onion, caper and a plant termed manouthion - thumbling thistle. There are many accounts of the use of thumbling thistle as food. The plant is cut in mid-spring; its stalks are cut from the plants, peeled and their juicy inner section is eaten raw. The leaves of the plant are trimmed and used in the veins as vine leaves. Blossom globes are picked, trimmed and fried in spices with a delicacy of flavor resembling artichoke hearts. Surplus manouthia (plural of mamaouthion) were pickled and stored and the remainder of the plant dried and used as kindling. | ||
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| + | The plant most commonly eaten by the hermits in isolated caves was melagria, identified as asphodel, a plant common in the Judean Desert, with edible tubers. When the asphodel plants were not available, the hermits ate wild onion, which were bitter and could be eaten if boiled. The Bedouin labeled the hermits, who subsisted on wild plants, as " | ||
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| + | The monk's ability to identify edible plants was apparently gained over their long years or residence in the desert. They are also likely to have received information from their neighbors, the villagers and shepherds who lived on the margins of the desert. To this day, wild plants are an important component of the diet of villagers in the Judean Hills.</ | ||