He co-operated with St Anthony and gathered his Monks under his direct supervision, thus forming a Monastery from individual hermits. Traditionally, he is believed to have been the first hermit to have established a Monastery, known as Kellia, near Nitria. This is by no means verifiable but it is more certain that Ammon’s piety and fame drew others to the region. He died at the age of 62 years.
He died before St Anthony of the Desert, from whom there is an epistle to him. that is, before the year 365, for the latter asserted that he “saw the soul of Ammon borne by angels to heaven” and as St Athanasius’ history of St Antony preserves the order of time, he died perhaps about 348. There are generally seventeen or nineteen Rules of Asceticism ascribed to him – the Greek original exists in manuscript; they were published in the Latin version of Gerardus Vossius. Twenty-two Ascetic Institutions of the same Ammon, exist also in manuscript. A collection of his letters remains extant.
