Pistoia, Martini Et. 5

Shelfmark

Martini Et. 5 (olim Zanutto 2)

Owning institution

Biblioteca Forteguerriana of Pistoia

Typology

Codex

Copying date

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

Title

Homiletic, hagiographic and apocryphal texts

Subject

Pseudepigraphy, Homily, Hagiography, Apocrypha

Language

Gǝʿǝz, Amharic

Short description of the content

Ff. 5ra–26vb: “Discourse delivered by the Lord on wisdom and the mysteries of holiness and the secrets of the Lord, to the prophet and sage Ezra”.

This work, translated by Jacob of Gerusalem (cf. f. 5va), does not correspond to 4Ezra.

Incipit: በስመ፡ አብ፡ … ዛቲ፡ መጽሐፍ፡ ሥርወ፡ ጥበብ፡ ነገረ፡ ጥንት፡ ድደ፡ መሠረት፡ ወተፍጻሜተ፡ ልቡና፡ ወበቍዔት፡ ለውሉደ፡ ሰብእ፡ አአምን፡ ለአብ፡ ወወልድ፡ ወመንፈስ፡ ቅዱስ፡ ዝንቱ፡ ነገር፡ ነገረ፡ እግዚአብሔር፡ ወአእምሮ፡ ወምስጢራተ፡ ቅድሳቲሁ፡ ወኅቡኣቲሁ፡ ለእግዚአብሔር፡ ለእዝራ፡ ካህን፡ ወነቢይ፡ ወጠቢብ፡

Ff. 27ra–46va: Homily of Jacob of Serug on Sunday.

Incipit: በስመ፡ አብ፡ … ዛቲ፡ ድርሳን፡ ዘአባ፡ ያዕቆብ፡ ዘደረሰ፡ በእንተ፡ ቅድስት፡ ሰንበተ፡ ክርስቲያን። ዘደረሰ፡ ርቱዓ፡ ሃይማኖት፡ ስምዑ፡ ኦፍቁራንየ፡ ውሉደ፡ ቤተ፡ ክርስቲያን፡ በእንተ፡ ዕበያ፡ ወክብራ።

Ff. 46vb–71rb: Zena bǝḍuʿan bä-mäwaʿǝlä Ermǝyas (“History of the Blessed at the time of Jeremiah”), CAe 1605.

Incipit: በስመ፡ አብ፡ … ስምዑ፡ አኃዊነ፡ ንዜንወክሙ፡ ዜና፡ ሐዲስ፡ ዜናሆሙ፡ ለብፁዓን፡ ቅዱሳን፡ ጻድቃን፡ ዘኮነ፡ በመዋዕለ፡ ኤርምያስ፡ ነቢይ፡ ወልደ፡ ሔልቅዩ፡ ወነግሠ፡ ፩ንጉስ፡ ዘስሙ፡ ሴዴቅያስ፡ ወልደ፡ ኢዮስያስ፡

Ff. 71va–82ra: Life of the Israelite woman Arwa, CAe 6546.

Incipit: በስመ፡ አብ፡ … ገድል፡ ዘብእሲት፡ እስራኤላዊት፡ እንተ፡ ስማ፡ አርዋ፡ ወነበረ፡ ፩ብእሲ፡ በመዋዕለ፡ እስራኤል፡ ዘቦ፡ ብዙኅ፡ ንዋይ፡ ወቦቱ፡ ብእሲተ፡ እንተ፡ ስማ፡ አርዋ፡

Ff. 82rb–89rb: Martyrdom and Life of Mark the Evangelist, CAe 4853.

Incipit: በስመ፡ አብ፡ … ስምዕ፡ ወገድል፡ ዘቅዱስ፡ ማርቆስ፡ ወንጌላዊ፡ በዊኦ፡ እለ፡ እስክንድርያ፡ በመዋዕሊሆሙ፡ ለሐዋርያት፡ አመ፡ ተካፈልዋ፡ ለኵሉ፡ ምድር፡ ከፈሎ፡ ለኵሉ፡ ለብሔረ፡ ግብጽ፡

Ff. 89ra–110vb: Martyrdom of Fiqṭor of Antioch, CAe 4845.

Incipit: በስመ፡ አብ፡ … ስምዕ፡ ዘቅዱስ፡ ወብፁዕ፡ ፊቅጦር፡ ዘሀገረ፡ አንጾኪያ፡ ዘተከለለ፡ በእንተ፡ ክርስቶስ። አመ፡ ፳ወ፯ለወርኃ፡ ሚያዝያ።

Ff. 111ra–164r: Raʾya Maryam (“The Vision of Mary”), CAe 1124.

Incipit: በስመ፡ አብ፡ … ክርስቶስ፡ አምላኪየ፡ ወኃይልየ፡ ወእግዝእትየ፡ ማርያም፡ ትስአል፡ ሊተ፡ ድርሳን፡ ዘብፁዕ፡ ወቅዱስ፡ ዮሐንስ፡ ወልደ፡ ዘብዴዎስ፡ ዘደረሰ፡ በእንተ፡ ዕበያ፡ ወክብራ፡ ለቅድስት፡ ድንግል፡ ማርያም፡

Writing material

Sheep parchment

Outer size (included the binding)

150 x 135 x 75 mm

Outer size of the textblock

152 x 131 x 54 mm

Number of folia

166

Blank folia

Ff. 1r–4v, 164r–166v

Binding

Two wooden boards, partially covered with leather. Four sewing stations

Sewing

The book has been resewn: modern sewing consisting of two S-twisted threads (each thread is Z-twisted) of vegetal origin

Sewing pattern

European chain stitch

Slip case (maḫdär)

The maḫdär consists of two cases, one inside the other. Material: brown leather case. Size: 180 x 165 x 85 mm Thickness of the leather: 1.29–2.10 mm

Quires

22 (A + 20 + B)

Quire marks

Indicated in black and red ink on the upper inner corner of the recto of the first folio: ፩ (f. 3r), ፪ (f. 11r) ፫ (f. 19r), ፬ (f. 27r), ፭ (f. 35r), ፮ (f. 43r), ፯ (f. 51r), ፰ (f. 59r), ፱ (f. 67r), ፲ (f. 75r),፲፩ (f. 83r), ፲፪ (f. 91r) ፲፫ (f. 99r), ፲፬ (f. 107r), ፲፭ (f. 115r), ፲፮ (f. 125r), ፲፯ (f. 135r), ፲፰ (f. 145r)

Text area

96 x 45/46 mm (margins: top 20, bottom 33, left 10, right 26, intercolumn 10 mm). Data from f. 9r

Layout

2 columns

Number of lines per column

19

Ruling

Blind ruling, from the flesh side to the hair side. Protective quires A, B and illuminated leaves are not ruled. Lines are written above the ruling (pattern Nosnitsin 1)

Ruling pattern

Blind pricking, from inside to outside. Protective quires A, B and illuminated leaves are not pricked

Scribe

Unknown

Rubrication

The incipit lines of all texts, sometimes alternating with black lines; two incipit lines in the subsections of the “Vision of Mary”; holy names (Michael, Mary), the names of the protagonists (Arwa, Mark, Fiqṭor) and the supplicant Zägäbrǝ˒el; the word ወካዕበ፡ in the Apocalypse of Ezra; the ownership note on f. 163va; elements of the interpunction, text dividers, numerals, and quire marks

Colophon

–

Additional notes

F. 163va: ownership note written in red ink. ዝመጽሐፍ፡ ዘንግሥት፡ ወለተ፡ ጻድቅ፡ እጅጋየሁ፡ ወወልዳ፡ ሣህለ፡ ማርያም፡ ምኒልክ፡ ዘሠረቆ፡ ወዘፈሐቶ፡ ውጉዝ፡ ከመ፡ አርዮስ፡ በሥልጣነ፡ ጴጥሮ[ስ]፡ ወጳውሎስ።
The ownership note states that the book belongs to Queen Wälättä Ṣadǝq Ǝǧǧǝgayyähu and to her son Śahlä Maryam Mǝnilǝk, i.e. Emperor Mǝnilǝk II (1844–1913)

Decoration

The manuscript hosts a cycle of 25 polychrome full-pages miniatures representing episodes from the “Vision of Mary” and other subjects like the covenant of mercy between Christ and Mary; cf. Mazzei L., 2017. ‘An Illustrated Apocalypse of Mary (Ra˒ǝyä Maryam)’. Rassegna di studi etiopici 1, Terza serie (2017), pp. 139–162.

F. 117r: the death of the just.

F. 117v: the afterlife of the just.

F. 122r: the death of the sinner.

F. 122v: the afterlife of the sinner.

F. 130r: Enoch and Elijah in Paradise.

F. 130v: the Old Testament patriarchs in Paradise.

F. 134r: the dwelling of Paradise.

F. 134v: the sinners who were not merciful.

F. 139r: the abodes of the martyrs.

F. 139v: the abodes of the clergymen.

F. 143r: Heavenly Jerusalem.

F. 143v: Mary and David.

F. 146r: the punishment of the sinners.

F. 146v: the punishment of the fornicators.

F. 149r: the punishment of the metropolitan and the deacon.

F. 149v: the covenant of mercy.

F. 151r: the punishment of the patriarch and the priest.

F. 151v: the covenant of mercy.

F. 153r: the punishment of rich men, idolaters, and lustful women.

F. 153v: the covenant of mercy

F. 156r: the punishment of king, princes, and lascivious nuns.

F. 156v: Christ and Mary; the children of the lascivious nuns.

F. 161r: the punishment of the sinners.

F. 161v: Christ and Mary; the punishment of the sinners.

F. 163r: Mary tells the revelation to John

State of preservation of the binding

Good. The manuscript has been restored

State of preservation of the textblock

Discrete. The manuscript has been restored

Provenance and history

The manuscript can be palaeographically dated to the 18th–19th century. According to the ownership note on f. 163va, the book belonged to Queen Wälättä Ṣadǝq Ǝǧǧǝgayyähu and to her son Mǝnilǝk II (d. 1913). Another individual, Zägäbrǝʾel, is mentioned in the supplication notes throughout the manuscript: he might have been another owner of the book. The manuscript came then into possession of Governor Ferdinardo Martini between 1897 and 1907 and was later acquired by the Biblioteca Forteguerriana between 1930 and 1931.

The manuscript 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

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