Parma, Palatina 3844

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Parma, Palatina 3844

Shelfmark

3844 (olim Mordini 199)

Owning institution

Biblioteca Palatina, Parma

Typology

Codex

Copying date

16th century, dated on a paleographical basis.

Title

Ǝgziʾabǝḥer nägśä (“The Lord reigns”)

Subject

Poetry

Language

Gǝʿǝz

Short description of the content

Ff. 7ra–123vb: Ǝgziʾabǝḥer nägśä (“The Lord reigns”)

Incipit: ጸሓፍነ፡ በዘንዜክር፡ እግዚአብሔር፡ ነግሠ፡ እምዓመት፡ እስከ፡ ዓመት፡ ሚካኤል፡ መልአክ፡ ሰአል፡ ወጸሊ፡ በእንቲአነ፡ በእንተ፡ ነፍሰ፡ ኵልነ፡ መልአክየ፡ ይቤሎ፡ እመለእክት፡ (!) ሰሞር፡ መልአከ፡ ኪዳኑ፡ ለክርስቶስ። =።

The text contains hymns for the entire year, starting from 12 Ḫǝdar:

1. Ff. 7ra–16vb: Ḫǝdar 12–30;

2. Ff. 16vb–26vb: Taḫśaś;

3. Ff. 26vb–37vb: Ṭǝrr;

4. Ff. 37vb–43rb: Yäkkatit;

5. Ff. 43rb–48va: Mäggabit;

6. Ff. 48va–56vb: Miyazya;

7. Ff. 57ra–64vb: Gǝnbot;

8. Ff. 64vb–73rb: Säne;

9. Ff. 73rb–83rb: Ḥamle;

10. Ff. 83rb–91rb: Näḥase;

11. Ff. 91rb–94rb: Ṗagwmen;

12. Ff. 94rb–105rb: Mäskäräm;

13. Ff. 105rb–112va: Ṭǝqǝmt;

14. Ff. 112va–116rb: Ḫǝdar, 1–11;

15. Ff. 116rb–123ra: concluding hymns.

Writing material

Sheep parchment

Outer size (included the binding)

142 x 118 x 48 mm

Outer size of the textblock

142 h x 117 x 40 mm

Number of folia

127

Blank folia

1r–3r, 126v, 127v

Binding

Two cardboards covered with reddish-brown leather. Both covers are decorated with blind tooled ornament (a cross and other tools). The spine is uncovered. Four sewing stations.

Sewing

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

Sewing pattern

Bozzacchi A

Slip case

–

Quires

Quire marks

Indicated in black and red ink on the upper inner corner of the recto of the first folio and of the verso of the last folio of each quire. They are mostly illegible.

Layout

2 columns.

Number of lines per column

Ruling

Blind ruling, from inside to outside. Lines are written above the ruling.

Ruling pattern

Nosnitsin 1

Scribe

Unknown

Colophon

–

Additional notes

1. F. 3v: a short excerpt of the main text (a hymn for 13 Ṭǝrr) is reproduced in a recent untrained hand: ስመሪ፡ ብርየ፡ ዓመ፡ ፲ወ፫፡ ስብከቱ፡ ምጽዓቱ፡ ልደቱ፡ ጥምቀቱ፡ አስተርእዮቱ፡ ንአምን፡ ዕንባቆም፡ ይቤ፡ እግዚየ፡ ውእቱ፡.

2. F. 4v: short poem in honour of the 15th–16th-century Stephanite saint ʿƎzra. Incipit: ስሙዓቲሁ፡ ዘወጽአ፡ እምግብጽ፡ ወሶርያ፡ እምኣሕቁሊሃ፡ ለኢትዮጵያ፡ ዕዝራ፡ አቡነ፡ ጠቢበ፡ ጠቢባን፡ ኬንያ፡ ያምግሣ፡ ወያሴንያ፡ ለቤተ፡ ክርስቲያን፡ ነየ፡ ከመ፡ ዘመርዓት፡ ለመርዓተዊሃ፡ (!) እም፡ ንሱ፡ ሐጸያ፡. The note is written in an ancient hand.

3. F. 6v: short composition to Mary, written in an ancient hand, possibly contemporary to the previous note. Incipit: ከመ፡ አቡየ፡ ወእምየ፡ ዘሐጸንክኒ፡ አንቲ፡ በዘፈረይኪ፡ ሴሰየ፡ እስከኔ፡ ልህቁ፡ ወኮንኵ ድውየ፡ በስምረተ፡ ክርስቶስ፡ አምላክ፡ ወበስመ፡ ማርያም፡ ምክሕየ፡ ንበሪ፡ ምስለ፡ አሐውየ፡. Some words are illegible due to effaced ink.

4. Ff. 123vb–125ra: historical note written in the mid-16th cent., possibly in the same hand of note 2: Incipit: በመዋዕሊሁ፡ ለያሱ፡ (!) ዘተጽሐፈ። እግዚአብሔር፡ ነግሠ፡ እምዓ (!) በክልኤቱ፡ ምእት፡ በዕስራ፡ ወክልኤቱ፡ ዓመተ፡ ምሕረት፡ ተሰይመ፡ አቡነ፡ ኢሳይያስ። አመ፡ ፳፱ለመስከረም፡ እንዘ፡ አረጋዊ፡ ውእቱ፡ ወጸሐፊሁ፡ ኒ፡ ሱሰያኤረምሳ። (!). The note attributes the writing of the book to the year of mercy 222 (i.e. 1569/70 CE according to the Era of the Martyrs), at the time of the abbot of Gundä Gunde Isayǝyyas. The note also lists the commemorative days of the abbots of Gundä Gunde from Ǝsṭifanos to the fifth abbot Täklä Näbiyat (who died in 1554), and continues with a short sälam-hymn (f. 124rb–va), a list og the months of the year (f. 124vb), and a citation from abbot Täklä Näbiyat (ff. 124vb–125ra).

Decoration

F. 6r: polychrome ornamental band (ḥaräg) decorated with intertwined geometrical patterns and three pendants that run down the sides of the two columns and along the intercolumn to their lower margins.

State of preservation of the binding

Mediocre.

State of preservation of the textblock

Discrete.

Provenance and history

The contents of the additional note 4 closely links this manuscript to the monastery of Gundä Gunde.

The manuscript is also mentioned by Antonio Mordini in the inventory list of the books of the monastic collection of Gundä Gunde (Mordini, A., 1953. ‘Il convento di Gunde Gundiè’, Rassegna di Studi Etiopici, 12, 29–70, p. 49 n. 5). The book was purchased by Mordini in the early 1940s and became part of his private collection in Barga (Lucca). In 1994 the Italian Ministry for Cultural Heritage bought the collection, which until then had remained the property of the family of Antonio Mordini, who had died in 1975. The collection then entered the Biblioteca Palatina in Parma (cp. Fiaccadori, G., 1995, ‘I manoscritti etiopici di Antonio Mordini’. Malacoda 57 (1995), 24–27).