Editing Ephrem the Syrian (section)

==Life==
Ephrem was born around the year 306 in the city of [[Nisibis]] (modern [[Nusaybin]], [[Turkey]]), in the Roman province of [[Mesopotamia (Roman province)|Mesopotamia]], that was [[Peace of Nisibis (299)|recently]] acquired by the [[Roman Empire]].{{sfn|Karim|2004|p=3}}{{sfn|Possekel|1999|p=1}}{{sfn|Lipiński|2000|p=11}}{{sfn|Russell|2005|p=179-235}} Internal evidence from Ephrem's hymnody suggests that both his parents were part of the growing Christian community in the city, although later [[hagiographer]]s wrote that his father was a pagan priest.{{sfn|Brock|1992a|p=16}} In those days, religious culture in the region of Nisibis included local [[polytheism]], [[Judaism]] and several varieties of the [[Early Christianity]]. Most of the population spoke the [[Aramaic language]], while [[Classical Greek|Greek]] and [[Latin]] were languages of administration. The city had a complex ethnic composition, consisting of "Assyrians, Arabs, Greeks, Jews, Parthians, Romans, and Iranians".{{sfn|McVey|1989|p=5}}
[[File:Mar Jacob Church, Nisibis.jpg|thumb|Newly excavated [[Church of Saint Jacob of Nisibis]], where Ephrem taught and ministered]]
[[File:Nisibis Church interior.jpg|thumb|The interior of the Church of [[Jacob of Nisibis|Saint Jacob]] in [[Nisibis]]]]
[[Jacob of Nisibis|Jacob]], the second [[bishop]] of Nisibis,{{sfn|Russell|2005|p=220-222}} was appointed in 308, and Ephrem grew up under his leadership of the community. Jacob of Nisibis is recorded as a signatory at the [[First Council of Nicea]] in 325. Ephrem was baptized as a youth and almost certainly became a [[Members of the Covenant|son of the covenant]], an unusual form of Assyrian proto-[[monasticism]]. Jacob appointed Ephrem as a teacher (Syriac ''malp̄ānâ'', a title that still carries great respect for Syriac Christians). He was ordained as a [[deacon]] either at his baptism or later.{{sfn|Parry|1999|p=180-181}} He began to compose hymns and write biblical commentaries as part of his educational office. In his hymns, he sometimes refers to himself as a "herdsman" ({{lang|syr|ܥܠܢܐ}}, '''allānâ''), to his bishop as the "shepherd" ({{lang|syr|ܪܥܝܐ}}, ''rā'yâ''), and to his community as a 'fold' ({{lang|syr|ܕܝܪܐ}}, ''dayrâ''). Ephrem is popularly credited as the founder of the [[School of Nisibis]], which, in later centuries, was the centre of learning of the [[Church of the East]].<ref>{{Cite web |date=2011-07-28 |title=Monastic Life in the Syrian Orthodox Church of Antioch - Syriac Orthodox Church of Antioch |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110728080135/http://syrianorthodoxchurch.org/library/articles/monastic-life-in-the-syrian-orthodox-church-of-antioch |access-date=2025-05-12 |website=web.archive.org}}</ref>

In 337, Emperor [[Constantine I (emperor)|Constantine I]], who had legalised and promoted the practice of Christianity in the Roman Empire, died. Seizing on this opportunity, [[Shapur II]] of Persia began a series of attacks into Roman North [[Mesopotamia]]. Nisibis was besieged in 338, 346 and 350. During the first siege, Ephrem credits Bishop Jacob as defending the city with his prayers. In the third siege, of 350, Shapur rerouted the River Mygdonius to undermine the walls of Nisibis. The Nisibenes quickly repaired the walls while the Persian elephant cavalry became bogged down in the wet ground. Ephrem celebrated what he saw as the miraculous salvation of the city in a hymn that portrayed Nisibis as being like [[Noah's Ark]], floating to safety on the flood.{{cn|date=December 2024}}

One important physical link to Ephrem's lifetime is the [[baptistery]] of Nisibis. The inscription tells that it was constructed under Bishop Vologeses in 359. In that year, Shapur attacked again. The cities around Nisibis were destroyed one by one, and their citizens killed or deported. [[Constantius II]] was unable to respond; the campaign of [[Julian the Apostate|Julian]] in 363 ended with his death in battle. His army elected [[Jovian (Emperor)|Jovian]] as the new emperor, and to rescue his army, he was forced to surrender Nisibis to Persia (also in 363) and to permit the expulsion of the entire Christian population.{{sfn|Russell|2005|p=215, 217, 223}} Ephrem declined being [[ordination|ordained]] a bishop by [[feigning madness]], because he regarded himself unworthy for it.<ref>{{cite web|page= Franciscan Media|title=Saint Ephrem|date=9 June 2022 |url=https://www.franciscanmedia.org/saint-of-the-day/saint-ephrem/|access-date=17 August 2023}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|page= The Orthodox Church in America|title=Venerable Ephraim the Syrian|url=https://www.oca.org/saints/lives/2016/01/28/100328-venerable-ephraim-the-syrian|access-date=17 August 2023}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|page= The Divine Mercy|title=Harp of the Holy Spirit: St. Ephrem, Deacon and Doctor of the Church|url=https://www.thedivinemercy.org/articles/harp-holy-spirit-st-ephrem-deacon-and-doctor-church|access-date=17 August 2023}}</ref>

Ephrem, with the others, went first to Amida ([[Diyarbakır]]), eventually settling in [[Edessa, Mesopotamia|Edessa]] (Urhay, in Aramaic) in 363.{{sfn|Russell|2005|p=195-196}} Ephrem, in his late fifties, applied himself to ministry in his new church and seems to have continued his work as a teacher, perhaps in the [[School of Edessa]]. [[Edessa]] had been an important center of the Aramaic-speaking world, and the birthplace of a specific [[Middle Aramaic]] dialect that came to be known as the [[Syriac language]].{{sfn|Healey|2007|p=115–127}} The city was rich with rivaling philosophies and religions. Ephrem comments that orthodox Nicene Christians were simply called "Palutians" in Edessa, after a former bishop. [[Arianism|Arians]], [[Marcionism|Marcionites]], [[Manichaeism|Manichees]], [[Bardaisan]]ites and various [[Gnosticism|gnostic sects]] proclaimed themselves as the true church. In this confusion, Ephrem wrote a great number of hymns defending Nicene orthodoxy. A later Syriac writer, [[Jacob of Serugh]], wrote that Ephrem rehearsed all-female choirs to sing his hymns set to Syriac folk tunes in the forum of Edessa. In 370 he visited Basil the Great at Caesarea, and then journeyed to the monks of Egypt. As he preached a [[panegyric]] on St. Basil, who died in 379, his own death must be placed at a later date.{{clarification needed|date=December 2024|reason=What is this trying to say? Roman panegyrics were read to the living, not the dead. Ephrem could easily have died before 379, when Basil was still alive. If the point is to say Ephrem was alive after 370, then just say that without bringing up 379.}} After a ten-year residency in Edessa, in his sixties, Ephrem succumbed to the plague as he ministered to its victims. He died in 373.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Schaff |first=Philip |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=MAAQGjcjUWoC&dq=The+most+reliable+date+for+his+death+is+after+379+Ephrem&pg=PA189 |title=Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers: Second Series Volume IV Anthanasius |year=2007 |publisher=Cosimo, Inc. |isbn=978-1-60206-514-7 |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Darcy |first=Peter |date=2021-02-27 |title=St. Ephrem's Marvelous Sermon on the Cross of Christ |url=https://sacredwindows.com/st-ephrems-marvelous-sermon-on-the-cross-of-christ/ |access-date=2024-06-14 |website=Sacred Windows |language=en-US}}</ref>