True. I believe monasticism arose a long the Egyptians and Ethiopians before the 3rd century and then spread west.
What is illuminating is that the beliefs of the Ethiopians and The Marthomite church in India both have the same Orthodox beliefs as the Catholics and Eastern Orthodox. That proves that the oft repeated lie of Constantine created the church, is really a big lie.
Only those who want to believe in untruths would be attracted to the idea that Constantine created the church. They’re much like the people who want to believe that Christian art is about blonds.
I see a possibility that Christian monasticism is an extension of monasticism like that of the Essenes and therefore was founded in Israel and predates Christianity. The earliest archeology of Christian churches is often (maybe always) associated with monastics.