Esaias of Egypt

Esaias Of Egypt who lived about the end of the 4th century, was abbot of some monastery in that country, and left a large number of MSS., nearly all in Greek. Assemani cites some in Arabic and Syriac, but these are probably translations from the Greek. Several have been published, viz., Chapters on the Ascetic and Quiet Life (Κεφάλαια περὶ ἀσκήσεως καὶ ἡσυχίας), in Greek and Latin, in the Thesaurus Asceticus of Peter Possin (Paris, 1684): — Praecepta seu Concilia Posita Tironibus (Augsburg, 1759): — Orationes, a Latin translation of twenty-nine discourses, or rather apothegms, published by Franc. Zini, with other ascetical writings by St. Nilus and other theologians (Venice, 1574): — Dubitationes in Visionem Ezechielis, in MS. in the royal library of the Escurial in Spain, has been described by Montfaucon, but it has not been printed. It is doubtful if all these works are by the same author, as there may have been several writers of this name in Egypt. See Hoefer, Nouv. Biog. Generale, s.v.; Smith, Dict. of Christ. Biog. s.v.