A revised version of the author's dissertation, this book consists of an introduction, a chapter presenting the sources and eight chapters of discussion, completed by a brief conclusion. At its core are twenty-six Greek papyri from Egypt written or dictated by Christian women from before the year 400. Since, as is well known, women are dramatically underrepresented in ancient sources, these papyrus documents stand out as evidence of women voices, whether women dictated them to a scribe or penned them themselves. Mathieson's aim is to understand the religious lives of these Christian women through their own voices.
Mathieson incorporates social-scientific and anthropological research on Mediterranean society that is understanding these women as part of their larger patriarchal Mediterranean society, dominated by binary forces such as honour/shame and public/private
The main body of the book discusses topics that appear in the papyrus documents, such as biblical language, theology, prayer, marriage and family, healing, dealings with clergy and ascetics, etc. It then situates these documents within their ancient Mediterranean and/or Egyptian milieu and also within a Christian, especially New Testament, context. In these chapters, the same female characters appear so that the reader becomes intimately acquainted with them. An interesting conclusion is that the Christian women do not address God as Father or Creator in the prayers expressed in these documents but rather that they follow the common societal conventions and formulaic prayers for speaking about God. (p. 143).
In the three final chapters, Mathieson treats different documents. While the earlier chapters focus on documents initiated by women, here she examines papyrus documents that mention or are addressed to Christian women (only with respect to their religious lives). She also presents chapters on female ascetics and magic. Besides ascetics, Mathieson has not found explicit evidence in the papyri for female clergy.
All texts are given in the original Greek and in translation and Mathieson discusses them individually throughout. (At times, this makes for a choppy feel.)
Papyrus documents are delightful and unique in their evidence for the everyday lives of women (and men) and yet it is also notoriously difficult to squeeze history from them. With this book, Mathieson has contributed significantly to women's history and to the history of Christianity. It will make a great source book for classes on early Christianity or Gender and Sexuality; scholars in these fields will also profit from this compilation of sources and from Mathieson's careful discussions.
