Cyrillona, also spelled Qurilona (fl. 4th century AD), was an early Syriac poet. He was the younger contemporary of Ephrem the Syrian. It is speculated that he might have been a nephew of Ephrem. [1] [2] He was a contemporary of Balai of Qenneshrin. [3] Gustav Bickell has referred to him as the most important Syriac poet after Ephrem. [4]
Only five of Cyrillona's poems survive, each examined and explained by Griffin, but "On the Grain of Wheat" is of doubtful authenticity. [5] His poem On Zaccheus, [6] is about the invasion of Syria by Huns, [3] is preserved on the manuscript BL Add. 14,591 kept at the British Library. [4]