ugh , ▁wrote ▁that ▁E ph rem ▁re he ars ed ▁all - f em ale ▁cho irs ▁to ▁sing ▁his ▁h ym ns ▁set ▁to ▁Sy ri ac ▁folk ▁t unes ▁in ▁the ▁forum ▁of ▁Ed essa . ▁After ▁a ▁ten - year ▁res iden cy ▁in ▁Ed essa , ▁in ▁his ▁si xt ies , ▁E ph rem ▁succ um bed ▁to ▁the ▁pl ague ▁as ▁he ▁minister ed ▁to ▁its ▁vict ims . ▁The ▁most ▁reliable ▁date ▁for ▁his ▁death ▁is ▁ 9 ▁June ▁ 3 7 3 . ▁ ▁Writ ings ▁ ▁Over ▁four ▁hundred ▁h ym ns ▁composed ▁by ▁E ph rem ▁still ▁exist . ▁Gr anted ▁that ▁some ▁have ▁been ▁lost , ▁E ph rem ' s ▁product ivity ▁is ▁not ▁in ▁doubt . ▁The ▁church ▁historian ▁So z omen ▁cred its ▁E ph rem ▁with ▁having ▁written ▁over ▁three ▁million ▁lines . ▁E ph rem ▁comb ines ▁in ▁his ▁writing ▁a ▁three fold ▁her itage : ▁he ▁draw s ▁on ▁the ▁models ▁and ▁methods ▁of ▁early ▁Rab bin ic ▁J uda ism , ▁he ▁eng ages ▁skill fully ▁with ▁Greek ▁science ▁and ▁philosophy , ▁and ▁he ▁del ights ▁in ▁the ▁Mes op ot am ian / Pers ian ▁tradition ▁of ▁mystery ▁symbol ism . ▁ ▁The ▁most ▁important ▁of ▁his ▁works ▁are ▁his ▁ly ric , ▁teaching ▁h ym ns ▁( , ▁m adr ā š ê ). ▁These ▁h ym ns ▁are ▁full ▁of ▁rich , ▁po etic ▁imag ery ▁drawn ▁from ▁bib lic al