Editing Ephrem the Syrian (section)

=== Performance practices and gender ===
[[File:Ephrem miniature 16c.jpg|thumb|Ephrem the Syriac in a 16th-century Russian illustration]]
The relationship between Ephrem's compositions and femininity is shown again in documentation suggesting that the madrāšê were sung by all-women choirs with an accompanying lyre. These women's choirs were composed of members of the Daughters of the Covenant, an important institution in historical [[Syriac Christianity]], but they weren't always labeled as such.<ref name=":1">{{Cite journal |last=Ashbrook Harvey |first=Susan |date=June 28, 2018 |title=Revisiting the Daughters of the Covenant: Women's Choirs and Sacred Song in Ancient Syriac Christianity |journal=Hugoye: Journal of Syriac Studies |volume=8 |issue=2}}</ref> Ephrem, like many Syriac liturgical poets, believed that women's voices were important to hear in the church as they were modeled after Mary, mother of Jesus, whose acceptance of God's call led to salvation for all through the birth of Jesus.<ref name=":2">{{Cite journal |last=Ashbrook Harvey |first=Susan |date=2010 |title=Singing women's stories in Syriac tradition |journal=Internationale kirchliche Zeitschrift |volume=100 |issue=3 |pages=171–183}}</ref> One variety of the madrāšê, the ''soghyatha'', was sung in a conversational style between male and female choirs.<ref name=":2" /> The women's choir would sing the role of biblical women, and the men's choir would sing the male role. Through the role of singing Ephrem's madrāšê, women's choirs were granted a role in worship.<ref name=":1" />