Qiyore of Edessa Cyrus of Edessa (6th cent.) [Ch. of E.]
Syriac author. Since he is called ‘Qiyore of Edessa’ in the mss. of his works, he was probably born in Edessa. At the School of Nisibis (ca. 533–8) he was a disciple of Mar Aba; he subsequently taught at the School of Seleucia-Ctesiphon, and became its Director. After Mar Aba’s death (552) he founded a monastery at Ḥirta. He is the author of six ‘Causes’, or Explanations, of important seasons in the liturgical year: the Great Fast, Pascha (Holy Thursday), the Passion, Resurrection, Ascension and Pentecost. He is among the earliest Syriac authors to employ this genre of liturgical commentary.
Sources
- P. Bruns, ‘Aspekte der Eucharistielehre in den liturgischen Traktaten des Cyrus von Edessa’, in Zu Geschichte, Theologie, Liturgie und Gegenwartslage der syrischen Kirchen, ed. M. Tamcke and A. Heinz (SOK 9; 2000), 33–54.
- W. F. Macomber, Six explanations of the liturgical feasts by Cyrus of Edessa (CSCO 355–6; 1974). (Syr. with ET)
- W. F. Macomber, ‘The theological synthesis of Cyrus of Edessa’, OCP 30 (1964), 5–38, 363–84.