Pistoia, Martini Et. 3

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Pistoia, Martini Et. 3

Shelfmark

Martini Et. 3 (olim Zanutto 3)

Owning institution

Biblioteca Forteguerriana of Pistoia

Typology

Codex

Copying date

18th–19th century, dated on a paleographic basis

Title

History of the Oromo people

Subject

History

Language

Amharic, Gǝʿǝz

Short description of the content

Ff. 3ra–33rb: Tarik zä-Galla wä-raʾya nǝguś Lǝbnä Dǝngǝl (“History of the Oromo people and Vision of Lǝbnä Dǝngǝl”), in Amharic and Gǝʿǝz, CAe 2419.

Incipit: በስመ፡ አብ፡ … ናሁ፡ ንጽሕፍ፡ መጽሐፈ፡ ታሪክ፡ ዘጋላ፡ ወራዕየ፡ ንጉሥነ፡ ልብነ፡ ድንግል፡ ዘርእዮ፡ በእንተ፡ ሀገሩ፡ ከመ፡ ትትኰነን፡ በእደ፡ አረሚ፡ ወተንባላት፡ አኮ፡ ዘጸሐፍነ፡ ዘንተ፡ መጽሐፈ፡ በፈቃድነ፡ ከመ፡ ንኅሥሥ፡ ክብረ፡ ለርእስነ፡

Ff. 33rb–36va: Mäṣḥafä tarik zä-wäyzäro Agaya (“Book of the history of wäyzäro Agaya”), in Gǝʿǝz.

Incipit: ወዝንቱ፡ መጽሐፈ፡ ታሪክ፡ ዘወይዘሮ፡ አጋያ፡ ወለተ፡ ወለቱ፡ ለዘደንግል፡ ንጉሠ፡ ነገሥት፡ ዘአምጽአቶ፡ እምደሴተ፡ ባሕረ፡ ዟይ፡ ዘሀሎ፡ በሀገረ[፡] ጕራጌ፡ ረኪባ፡ ውስቴቱ፡ ምስለ፡ ንዋየ፡ ነገሥት፡ አበዊሃ፡

Writing material

Sheep parchment

Outer size (included the binding)

182 x 113 x 32 mm

Outer size of the textblock

180 x 113 x 22 mm

Number of folia

Blank folia

Ff. 1r–2v

Binding

Two wooden boards covered with reddish-brown leather. Both boards have textile inlays. The front, back and spine cover are decorated with blind-tooled ornament. Four sewing stations

Sewing

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

Sewing pattern

Bozzacchi A2

Slip case (maḫdär)

–

Quires

5 (A + 4)

Quire marks

–

Text area

130 x 43/83 mm (margins: top 13, bottom 39, left 9, right 9, intercolumn 5 mm). Data from f. 8r

Layout

Number of lines per column

Ruling

Blind ruling, from the flesh side to the hair side. Lines are written above the ruling (pattern Nosnitsin 1). The guardleaves are unruled

Ruling pattern

Muzerelle 1-1-11/0/0/C

Scribe

Liqe Zämäläkot is mentioned as the scribe in the explicit of the “History of the Oromo people” (f. 33rb). It is very likely, however, that he was the composer of the work and not the scribe of the manuscript

Rubrication

Groups of lines in the incipit page of text I (f. 3r); two incipit lines of text II (f. 33rb); holy names; elements of the punctuation signs and numerals

Colophon

–

Additional notes

F. 2v: “27.4.1931 IX. Questo codice consta di 38 carte di cui le prime due sono bianche. Q. Santoli”. The note was written in Italian in pencil by Quinto Santoli (1875–1959), librarian of the Forteguerriana; it is dated 27 April 1931.

Ff. 36va–37vb: invocation entitled Bä˒ǝntä qǝddǝsat sälamawit, written in small and slanted script. Incipit: በእንተ፡ ቅድሳት፡ ሰላማዊት፡ ሰላመ፡ ናስ[ተ]በቍዕ፡ ከመ፡ እግዚአብሔር፡ ያስተሳልመነ። በሣህለ፡ ዚአሁ። በእንተ፡ ሃይማኖተነ፡ (sic) ናስ[ተ]በቁዕ፡ (sic)

Ff. 38ra–va: calendric note written in Amharic in mediocre hand. Incipit: የሰንበተ፡ ሰንበታት፡ ቍጥሩ፡ ፵፱፡ ነው፡ የሰንበተ፡ ዓባይ፡ ቍጥሩ፡ ፺እ፩፡ ነው፡ የሁለቱም፡ አወጣጡ፡ ዮሐንስ፡ ሰኞ። …

Decoration

F. 3r: incomplete ḥaräg-band, executed in black ink

State of preservation of the binding

Mediocre

State of preservation of the textblock

Good

Provenance and history

The manuscript can be palaeographically dated to the 18th–19th centuries. The manuscript came into possession of governor Ferdinardo Martini between 1897 and 1907 and was later acquired by the Biblioteca Forteguerriana between 1930 and 1931. It is mentioned in Zanutto S., Bibliografia etiopica, in continuazione alla «Bibliografia etiopica» di G. Fumagalli, II: Manoscritti etiopici (Roma, 1932), pp. 81–84. It was first catalogued in Lusini G., 2002. ‘I Codici Etiopici del Fondo Martini nella Biblioteca Forteguerriana di Pistoia’. Aethiopica 5 (2002), pp. 156–176