Mar Awgin

Mar Awgin
Father of Monasticism in Mesopotamia
Born4th century
Suez, Egypt
Died363
Nisibis, Turkey
Venerated inOriental Orthodox Churches
Assyrian Church of the East
Ancient Church of the East
Maronite Church

Mar Awgin or Awgen (died 363 AD),[a] also known as Awgin of Clysma or Saint Eugenios, was an Egyptian monk who, according to traditional accounts, introduced Christian monasticism to Syriac Christianity. These accounts, however, are all of late origin and often contain anachronisms. The historicity of Awgin is not certain.[3]

The earliest source to mention him dates to the 7th century, about three hundred years after his death. The claim that Awgin introduced monasticism to the Syriac tradition is roundly rejected by modern scholars, who regard it as an indigenous development. The story of Mar Awgin, whether having a factual basis or not, was embellished in order to associate Syriac monasticism with the more illustrious Egyptian tradition of the Desert Fathers.[3][4]

  1. ^ Christine Chaillot, "The Ancient Oriental Churches", in Geoffrey Wainwright and Karen B. Westerfield Tucker (eds.), The Oxford History of Christian Worship (Oxford University Press, 2006), p. 165.
  2. ^ E. A. Wallis Budge (ed.), The Book of Governors: The Historia Monastica of Thomas, Bishop of Margâ, A.D. 840 (London, 1893), Vol. 1, pp. cxxv–cxxxi.
  3. ^ a b Edward G. Mathews, Jr., "Awgen, Mar", in Sebastian P. Brock, Aaron M. Butts, George A. Kiraz and Lucas Van Rompay (eds.), Gorgias Encyclopedic Dictionary of the Syriac Heritage: Electronic Edition (Gorgias Press, 2011; online ed. Beth Mardutho, 2018).
  4. ^ D. J. Wilmshurst, The Martyred Church: A History of the Church of the East (London, 2011), p. 41.


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