Peter occupied the patriarchal see of Jerusalem from 524 to 552 CE. Nothing is known of his background except that he came from Eleutheropolis in southern Judea and had a sister, Hesychia, who lived in Jerusalem in the 520s CE (Cyr.Scyt. Vita Sab. 68). He succeeded John III (516–524 CE, who had been a faithful follower of Sabas and Theodosius, the leaders of the monks of the Judean Desert. From Cyril’s statement that the new patriarch continued showing Sabas the same zealous attendance as his pre…