S. Ephraemi Syri Carmina Nisibena

This volume, edited and translated by Gustav Bickell (1838-1906), is the editio princeps of this set of hymns, seventy-seven in all, from the most well known writer of the Syriac tradition, Ephrem the Syrian (d. 373). While known as "the Nisibene Hymns," the collection actually deals with a number of other subjects too, including Jesus' descent into Sheol, and Satan and death (dispute poems). The Syriac text is fully vocalized and the Latin translation is thoroughly annotated with explanations and observations of a historical, biblical, and grammatical or lexical nature. The translation is followed by an index. Bickell's lengthy introduction covers the manuscripts (a total of seven); the titles, subjects, and age of the hymns; the historical use, both secular and ecclesiastical, of the hymns; using the hymns for the history of doctrine; and, finally, a section on the meters of the poetry in the collection. In addition, there is a lexicon of words from these hymns that until that time were poorly attested or not at all. While these poems have since been reedited, students and scholars will still find much of use in Bickell's presentation of these poems and the extra material pertaining to them he provides.