A note on women's ban at the monastery

We, the righteous King, firm in faith, Sword of ʿArʿad, whose royal name is Qwesṭanṭinos, and the Bishop, Abba Sälama, the Master of the Faith, and the Envoy of the Sea, Bəlen Sägäd, the Place of Righteousness, have decreed under our seal for all the monks who are in the land of ʾAqiyopya, that they may live according to a rule: that there be no association with widows, and likewise that widows not associate with monks. This the bishops and the king have established together in the true faith, for they are our great elders and guardians of the flock, for they have labored for the salvation of all souls. And now, hear, you brothers of the Monastery of the Holy Maṭāʿ, as we have decreed for you: receive all the people, and the Envoy of the Sea also dwelt in the midst, while our guardian Gäbrä Krəstos was present, so that the Monastery of Maṭāʿ may be sanctified, that women may not enter, and that they may not touch strongly with their hands, except for their elders in the field, or in the kitchen, or in the storehouse. For this we have decreed for you, that you may be saved from sins and purified from corruptions, and that you may be hearers of prayer. For our Lord said in the Holy Gospel, speaking: "The Pharisees, God hears; God does not hear the sinner.

And now, if any woman enters this place of the monastery, whether she be a monk or a priest or deacon, whether she be a governor or a layman, whether she be a guardian of the hours or a priest of the country, if any brings a woman, from a wife to a maidservant or a daughter or a sister or a mother or a betrothed or a wife, if any of us brings [her] from the foot of the throne and from the face of the clergy, and from the upper enclosure, if any of all this transgresses, whether by fire or by the sword, let him be anathematized by the 72 elders, by the mouth of the 78 true of faith, by the mouth of Peter, the head of the bishops. Let him be anathematized from this command which is ordained forever and ever. Amen. And may the Lord preserve the kingdom of our king Qwesṭanṭinos, who has called us from sin as we have confessed.