Anastasia the Patrician was a Byzantine courtier and lady-in-waiting to Empress Theodora. To avoid complications arising from the interest of Emperor Justinian I, she fled the imperial court for Egypt. She eventually sought a life of seclusion in the desert, where she lived as a hermit for twenty-eight years. Known for her devotion, she transitioned from a life of high status to one of extreme asceticism, eventually dying in the Wadi El Natrun region around 576.