Grottaferrata, Crypt. Aet. 01

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Grottaferrata, Crypt. Aet. 01

Shelfmark

Fondo Orientale, Crypt. Aet. 1

Owning institution

Biblioteca statale del Monumento nazionale di Grottaferrata

Typology

Codex

Copying date

17th–18th century, dated on a paleographical basis

Title

Tǝmhǝrtä ḫǝbuʾat (“The Doctrine of Mysteries”), Ǝgziʾabǝḥer zä-bǝrhanat (“God of the Lights”), and hymns

Subject

Prayers, Hymns

Language

Gǝʿǝz

Short description of the content

Ff. 3r–8vb: Tǝmhǝrtä ḫǝbuʾat (“The Doctrine of Mysteries”)

Incipit: በእንተ፡ ትምህረተ፡ ኅቡዓት፡ ቅድመ፡ ዘትትነገር፡ እምጵርስፎራ፡ ለምዕመናን፡ ኅቡዓት[፡] ትምህርተ፡ ኅቡዓትሰ፡ ከመዝ፡ ንግር፡ ዘቅድመ፡ ሀሎ፡ ወይሄሉ፡ ዘመጽአ፡ ዘሐመ፡ ወሞተ፡ ወተቀብረ፡ ወተንሥአ፡

Ff. 9ra–12ra: Ǝgziʾabǝḥer zä-bǝrhanat (“God of the Lights”)

Incipit: እግዚአብሔር፡ ዘብርሃናት፡ እግዚአብሔር፡ ዘሥልጣናት፡ እግዚአብሔር፡ ዘአርእስተ[፡] መላእክት፡ ዘእምታሕተ፡ እኂዘትከ[፡] ኵሉ፡ ፍጥረት። ንጉሠ፡ ነገሥት፡ ወእግዚአ፡ አጋእዝት።

F. 12ra–17ra: Ṣälotä mädḫanit (“Prayer of salvation”)

Incipit: በስመ፡ አብ፡ ወወልድ፡ ወመንፈስ፡ ቅዱስ፡ ፩አምላከ፡ ጸሎተ፡ መድ(12rb)ኃኒት፡ አስማተ፡ ኃይላት፡ ዘወረደ፡ እምአርያም። ሰለታዊ፡ ኤላዊ፡ ኤላዊ፡ ሕዝቅያህ፡ ሰሮባኤላዊ፡ ኬንያዊ፡ ዴጋና፡

Ff. 17vb–26rb: Mälkǝʾa Fanuʾel (Mälkǝʾ-hymn to Fanuʾel, Chaine nr. 166)

Incipit: ሰላም፡ ለዝክረ፡ ስምከ፡ ዘይደልዎ፡ ተበፅዓ። እምኀበ፡ ኵሎሙ፡ ሰብእ፡ በተዚያንዎ[፡] ወተዛውይ። እስመ[፡] ቀዋሚሆሙ፡ አንተ፡ ዘትተግህ፡ ለተራድኦ። ፋኑኤል፡ ስመከ፡ ሶበ፡ እዌጥን[፡] ጸውዖ።

Ff. 26vb–35vb: Mälkǝʾa Śǝllase (Mälkǝʾ-hymn to the Trinity, Chaine nr. 20)

Incipit: ሰላም፡ ለህላዌክሙ፡ ዘይመውእ፡ ህላዌያተ። ለረኪበ[፡] ስሙ፡ ኅቡዕ፡ አመ[፡] ወጠኑ፡ ተምኔተ። እምግብርክሙ፡ ሥላሴ፡ ሶበ፡ ረከብኩ፡ አስማተ።

Ff. 35vb–46rb: Mälkǝʾa Täklä Haymanot (Mälkǝʾ-hymn to Täklä Haymanot, Chaine nr. 211)

Incipit: ሰላም፡ ለፅንሰትከ፡ ወለልደትከ፡ እምከርሥ። አመ፡ እስራ፡ ወረቡዑ፡ ለወርኃ፡ ታኅሣሥ። ተክለ፡ ሃይማኖት፡ በኵሉ፡ ወበውስተ፡ ኵሉ፡ ውዱስ። ናሁ፡ ወጠንኩ፡ ወእቤ፡ እምስብሐቲከ፡ ሐዲስ፡

Ff. 46va–58rb: ʿƎqäbänni (“Protect me”, Chaine nr. 371), long version. It includes a section telling how a Frank nobleman received the prayer from heaven.

Incipit: በስመ፡ … ኦእግዚእየ፡ ኢየሱስ፡ ክርስቶስ፡ ዕቀበኒ፡ በእንተ፡ ዘኃደርከ፡ በከርሠ፡ ማርያም[፡] እምከ፡ በእንተ፡ ማኅፀና፡ ለማርያም፡ ዘፆረተከ፡ ፱አውራኃ፡ ወ፭ዕለተ፡ ማርያም፡ ድንግል፡ እቀብኒ፡

Ff. 58rb–65ra: Ṣälot bäʾəntä ləssanä säbʾa (“Prayer against the tongue of men”).

Incipit: ናሁ፡ ተማኀፀንኩ፡ በኆኅያተ፡ ስምከ፡ ካፍ፡ ወበቀዳማይ፡ የውጣ፡ ዘፕንተ፡ ፈደሎን፡ አሌፍ። ከመ፡ ታድኅነኒ፡ ክርስቶ[ስ]፡ እምትንሣኤ፡ ልሳን፡ ወአፍ።

Writing material

Sheep parchment

Outer size (included the binding)

164 x 111 x 34 mm

Outer size of the textblock

164 x 108 x 24 mm

Number of folia

Blank folia

Ff. 1r, 2v

Binding

Two wooden boards. The spine is uncovered. Four sewing stations

Sewing

Two Z-twisted threads (each thread is S-twisted) of animal origin

Sewing pattern

Bozzacchi A4

Slip case (maḫdär)

–

Quires

8 (7 + 1 initial protective quire)

Quire marks

Ethiopic numerals on the upper inner corner of the recto of the first folio of the third, fourth and fifth quires: ff. 13r (፪), 23r (፫), and 33r (፬)

Layout

2 columns

Number of lines per column

17–18

Ruling

Blind ruling, from inside to outside except quire 5 (from outside to inside). Lines are written above the ruling (pattern Nosnitsin 1)

Ruling pattern

1-1-11/0/0/C

Scribe

Unknown

Colophon

–

Additional notes

1. F. 1v: text of probable protective content. It consists of 5 poorly readable lines. Incipit: ፆዮ፡ ዸዶ፡ ጸጶ፡ በእሉ፡ ፯ቱ፡ አስማተ፡ እግዚአብሔር፡ etc.

2. F. 2r: Protective prayer. The conclusion is not legible because the ink is washed away. Incipit: ቃልያን። እግዚኦ፡ በዓትከን። እግዚኦ፡ አምላኪየ፡ ብከ፡ ተወከልኵን። አድኅነኒን። እስከማዕዜኑን። ዕቀበኒን። እግዚ፡ ስምዓኒ፡ ጽድቅየን። አምላኪየ፡ አምላኪየን። ኀቤከን።

3. F. 65ra: Ownership note, partially washed away. The legible text states: ዝመጽሐፍ፡ ዘ…፡ ወውልዱ፡ …. The entire text on f. 65rb has been washed away.

4. Ff. 65va–66va: Protective prayers and text of unknown content. The ink is mostly washed away and the texts are poorly legible.

5. Ff. 66va–b: Mälkǝʾ-hymn (Chaine nr. 170). The text is barely legible due to faded ink. Incipit: ሰላም፡ ለዝክረ፡ ስምኪ፡ ጸዳላ፡ ምሥራቅ፡ ወምዕራብ፡

Decoration

4. F. 3v: Colorful full-page illustration of the Wedding at Cana. Caption ዘከመ፡ ገብረ፡ እግዚእነ፡ ተአምረ፡ በቃና፡ ዘገሊላ፡.

State of preservation of the binding

Mediocre

State of preservation of the textblock

Discrete

Provenance and history

Unknown provenance. A sheet on the inner side of the front board states that the manuscript was purchased “tramite il laboratorio di restauro di Grottaferrata” on 7 June 1990 for the sum of Lire 300,000 together with MS Crypt. Aet. 3; see also Proverbio D.V., 2000, ‘Inventario sommario dei manoscritti arabi, ebraici, etiopici – con notizia dei turchi – conservati presso la Biblioteca della Badia di Grottaferrata’. Atti della Accademia nazionale dei Lincei, Memorie, Classe di scienze morali, storiche e filologiche, serie IX, 12 (2000), 468–570 (here p. 479)