Shroro

The Syriac Orthodox Christian Digest - April, 2005

Mor Augin (St. Eugene) the Pearl Diver

by Fr. Dale Johnson

The Pearl Diver – clue to when St. Augin became a monk. St. Augin was a pearl diver for 25 years. He was born on an island of Clysma near the town of modern day Suez. This estuary was famous for oysters bearing pearls of great value. The island is in the gulf of Suez, an arm of the red sea. An oyster produces a pearl when foreign material becomes trapped inside the shell. The oyster responds to the irritation by producing nacre, a combination of calcium and protein. The nacre coats the foreign material and over time produces a pearl.

At the height of the Roman Empire, when pearl fever reached its peak, the historian Suetonius wrote that the Roman General, Vitellius, financed an entire military campaign by selling just one of his mother's pearl earrings.

The best natural pearls occur in the species Meleagrina vulgaris, native to the Persian Gulf. This species is found at the depths of 48 to 120 feet. St. Augin would have been highly athletic to participate in such an occupation. It is also likely that he probably did not start diving for pearls until he was at least 10 years old in order to have the lung capacity for such work. This would mean that he would have been about 35-40 years old before he became a monk under Pachomius, assuming that he was a diver for 25 years. Thus, St. Augin was probably a middle aged man when he arrived on the slopes of Mt. Izla. This analysis hints at a possible solution to the problem of which century in which St. Augin lived.

The Problem of Dating St. Augin’s Life

The account of Isho’dnah says he was a contemporary of Jacob of Nisibis (d. 338) which would have placed him in the 4th century. The Chronicle of Seert, makes no mention of Jacob but links him to Gregory the Wonderworker from Pontus in north-central Turkey who died about 270 AD. Also he is associated with Mani in Isho’dhan’s Life of St. Augin. Again this would place him in the 3rd century as Mani is known to have died in 276 AD.

But it is possible for St. Augin’s life to have spanned over both the 3rd and 4th centuries. If he was about 50 years old when he got to Mt. Izla where he first met St. Jacob of Nisibis around the year 320 AD, St. Augin would have been born around 270 AD or slightly before. Therefore, St. Augin would have been alive at the end of the life of Gregory the Wonderworker and also been active during the final years of the rule of St. Jacob in Nisibis.

As far as which king Shabur he was linked to in the Chronicle of Seert, that appears ambiguous, it seems he was alive during both their reigns. King Shabur I died in 272 AD and Shabut II, his son, began his reign in 309 AD. The linkage is to this royal Persian family and not to a particular family member, although Shabur II was the adult contemporary of St. Augin.

Who were the original disciples?

In an article published in Malyalam by professor Brock a few years ago he identified 14 disciples of St Augin in the text of Isho’dnah. These are likely to be the most historical and also members of the original group that came from Egypt. They are as follows:

John, who lived near Castra (Roman military settlement) of Beth Zabdai, and was buried in the monastery of Castra known as Hlahah.

Sheri, who came to Nisibis and became one of the original 18 brothers, Later he went to Dara, a few miles west of St. Augin’s monastery and on the Izla range, and founded a monastery there. Dara was also a Roman fortification.

Yonan the hermit whose father was a senator and relative of Emperor Constantine. He later returned to Egypt after a brief sojourn in Jerusalem.

Shallita, founded a monastery in Qardu and Zabdai. He was from an Egyptian family and was trained in the monastery of St. Pachomius. He spent his last days in the town of Fenek on the Tigris river.

Aho, who founded the monastery of the bucket not far from Fenek.

John who founded the monastery of Kamul. He was from a Zoroastrian fmily from Beth Garmai. He was converted by St. Augin at Nisibis.

Ezekiel, shared a birthday with Emperor Constantine. He was a Jewish convert from the tribe of Manassah. After becoming a monk under St. Augin he founded a monastery in Beth Garmai. He died on December 6th .

Toma

Gurya

Gregorios

Serapion

Michael – may have been the companion of St. Aho who served in the military with Aho before they became monks.

Thekla – sister of St. Augin

Elisha

Stratonike, another sister of St. Augin

Tradition built up the number of disciples to 72. These disciples who were added were memorable abbots and disciples who followed in the cenobitic tradition attributed to St. Augin and thus were added to his list quite correctly. It would be no different than people who are added to schools of thought in various fields from generation to generation. Followers of Thomas Aquinas who lived centuries after Aquinas would still be called Thomists even though they only knew him through books and tradition.

From the Syriac Sources

First , concerning the Holy St. Augin who established the monastery on the mountain of Izla near Nisibis. His family was from Egypt, from the Island of Clysma (according to Brock near modern Suez). His occupation was to place a mask over his face and dive down into the sea to bring up pearls, which he would then give to the poor. This was his work for 25 years. He received the monastic habit in the monastery of Abba Pachomius. He and his companions went to the mountain of Izla where he built the beautiful monastery. Large groups of monks gathered around him. In those days St. Jacob was appointed Bishop of Nisibis. He built the church at Nisibis. St. Augin made many miracles before King Shabur.

The following were among his many disciples who built monasteries and convents: St. Thomas, St. Taba, Gurya, Gregorios, Yoannes, John, Shallita, Elisha, Serapion, Thekla the sister of St. Augin, Strtatonike another sister of his, John, St. Sheri, St. Michael. He died and was buried in the shrine ofthe martyrs next to the church he built.(2)

Also, “Augin was a contemporary of Anthony in the time of Constantine. He came to Persia with 10 brethrern, settled near Nisibis at the time of Shabur in caves on a mountain called Marde, that is the monastery of Izla. He performed many miracles and even raised a youth killed by a lion who became a monk named Lazarus.”(3)

* Fr. Dale A. Johnson is a Syrian Orthodox priest presently in the Westen Diocese of the United States. He is one of only two priests who are not of ethnic origin in the Syrian Orthodox Church. He has spent several years at Mor Gabriel Monastery in Tur Abdin in southeast Turkey, specializing in Syriac/Aramaic texts. He studied at the University of Chicago under the great Syriac specialist, Arthur Voobus, and followed in his footsteps by helping to make available to the world manuscripts of the language of Jesus

Notes

1. S. Brock noted the pushing back of the date of the first mention of St. Augin in an article published in India in Malyalam. He was kind enough to recently provide me with an unpublished English version of the article. He points out in the sources that there is an English summary of the Life of St. Augin (ed. Bedjan, Acta Martyrum et Sanctorum II, pp.376-480) by E.A. W. Budge in The Book of Governors by Thomas bishop of Marga (london 1893), vol. I, pp. cxxvcxxxi. Also there is a well known history by J-M Fiey in his ‘Nisibe: metropole syriaque orientale et ses suffragantis des origines a nos jour’s (Leuven, 1977), pp.134-41.

2- From Isho’dnah Book of Sobriety, published in a French translation, Livre de la Chastete’ Compose’ par Jesusdehah, Paris 1891, Syriac text reprinted by P. Bedjan, Liber Superiorum, seu Historica Monastica auctore Thoma, episcopo Margensi, Paris 1901, pp. 437-517. (9th century Syriac document)

3. Dadisho of Qatar (E. Syr, late 7th century) exerpt edited by N. Sims-Williams in Analecta Bollardiana