Shelfmark

3848

Owning institution

Biblioteca Palatina, Parma

Typology

Codex

Title

New Testament readings, Wǝddase sämayawǝyan wämǝdrawǝyan (“Encomium coelestium et terrestrium”), hymns

Subject

Bible, Poetry

Language

Gǝʿǝz

Outer size (included the binding)

152 x 148 x 80 mm

Number of folia

137 (I–II + 135)

Binding

Two uncovered wooden boards. Four sewing stations.

Sewing

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

Sewing pattern

Bozzacchi C

Slip case

–

State of preservation of the binding

Mediocre.

Provenance and history

The manuscript is not mentioned in Antonio Mordini’s 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. 54 n. 4), but there is little doubt that it comes from the monastic library of Gundä Gunde.

The book was part of Antonio Mordini’s private collection in Barga (Lucca). In 1994 the Italian Ministry for Cultural Heritage bought the collection, and the book entered the Biblioteca Palatina in Parma (cp. Fiaccadori, G., 1995, ‘I manoscritti etiopici di Antonio Mordini’. Malacoda 57 (1995), 24–27).

Folia

Ff. I–II

Copying date

18^th century, dated on a paleographical basis.

Short description of the content

Ff. Ira–IIvb: New Testament readings

Incipit: […]፡ ይስራኤል፡ (sic) ሶበ፡ […] ሊሁ፡ ብርሃን፡ […]ቱ፡ ኮነ፡ ኵሉ፡ ወእ[…]አ፡ ኀበ፡ እሊአሁ፡ […]መ፡ አሐዱ፡ ክርስ[…]፡ ወወልድ፡ ነአም[…]፡ ሥጋ፡ ወኃደረ፡ […]፡ ስብሐቲሁ፡ ከ[…]ሕዱ፡ እምአብ፡ ም[…]ቅ። ወአመሂ፡ ኮነ፡ […]ማነ፡ በሥጋ፡ ወበደ[…]ዘርአ፡ አዳም፡ ከመ፡ […]ሰሎሙ፡ ለአኃሁ፡

The fragment is acephalous and concludes abruptly. It contains readings from Mt 11:27, Jn 1:9–13, 1Pet 3:18, Eph 2:13–14, Heb 10:5–6.

Writing material

Sheep parchment

Outer size of the textblock

150 x 143 x 0.5 mm

Blank folia

–

Quires

1

Quire marks

–

Layout

2 columns.

Number of lines per column

Undetectable.

Ruling

Blind ruling, from the inside to the outside.

Lines are written above the ruling.

Ruling pattern

Nosnitsin 1

Scribe

Unknown

Colophon

–

Additional notes

–

State of preservation of the textblock

Discrete.

Folia

Ff. 1–135

Copying date

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

Short description of the content

Ff. 2ra–129ra: Wǝddase sämayawǝyan wämǝdrawǝyan (“Encomium coelestium et terrestrium”)

Incipit: ሚካኤል፡ ሊቀ፡ መላእክት፡ ሰአል፡ ወጸሊ፡ በእንቲአነ፡ ቅዱስ፡ ገብርኤል፡ አዕርግ። ጸሎተነ። ዓርባዕቱ፡ እንስሳ፡ መንፈሳውያን፡ ሰባሕያን፡ ወመዘምራን፡ ሰአሉ፡ በእንቲአነ፡ ፳ወርብዕ፡ ካህናተ፡ ሰማይ፡ ስዩማን፡ አስተምሕሩ፡ ለነ።

The text is divided into monthly sections: 1. Introduction and Mäskäräm (ff. 2ra–14ra); 2. Ṭǝqǝmt (ff. 14ra–23rb); 3. Ḫǝdar (ff. 23rb–34vb); 4. Taḫśaś (ff. 35ra–45vb); 5. Ṭǝrr (ff. 46ra–58ra); 6. Yäkkatit (ff. 58ra–67va); 7. Mäggabit (ff. 68ra–76vb); 8. Miyazya (ff. 76vb–84vb); 9. Gǝnbot (ff. 85ra–95ra); 10. Säne (ff. 95rb–104ra); 11. Ḥamle (ff. 104ra–116rb); 12. Näḥase (ff. 116rb–127ra); 13. Ṗagwmen (ff. 127ra–128vb); 14. Conclusive subscription (ff. 128vb–129ra).

Ff. 129rb–131vb: Okrǝstos ǝngǝda (“O Christ, the pilgrims…”, hymn to Jesus Christ, cp. Chaîne 376)

Incipit: ኦክርስቶስ፡ እንግዳ፡ ዘኢተወከፉከ፡ ሰብአ፡ ግብጽ፡ ወኢረከብከ፡ አዕርፎ፡ በስተ፡ ፩አንቀጽ፡ እንበለ፡ ዳእሙ፡ ተሰዶ፡ በአእባን፡ ወዕፅ።

Ff. 132ra–134vb: Hymn to Mary

Incipit: ር። ለባርኮትነ፡ ንዑ፡ ውስተዛ፡ ማኅደር።፡ምስለ፡ ማርያም፡ ወለትክሙ፡ ሥጋዊት፡ ዳቤር። ኢሳይይሳ፡ ተወካፌ፡ ሞሰርት፡ ወኤርምያስ፡ ወጉር፡ በዓዘቅት። ክቡደ፡ ልቡና፡ ሱቱኤል፡ ጸሐፌ፡ ኦሪት።

The text is acephalous due to material damage.

Writing material

Sheep parchment

Outer size of the textblock

151 x 148 x 79 mm

Blank folia

1r–v, 135r–v

Quires

5

Quire marks

–

Layout

2 columns.

Number of lines per column

16–18

Ruling

Blind ruling, from the inside to the outside.

Lines are written above the ruling.

Ruling pattern

Nosnitsin 1

Scribe

Unknown

Colophon

–

Additional notes

1. F. 45vb: protective prayer, added in a recent and untrained hand: ቄዴቤ፡ ፫ጊዜቄፌኑ፡ ቢያክ፡ ሞሊ፡ ሞሊ፡ አርጋሌ፡ ነፋስ፡ ወበረድ፡ በዝንቱ፡ አስማቲከ፡ ለዝንቱ፡ ቍርፀት፡ ለቂም፡ ለገብርከ፡ እገሌ፡ በማይ፡.

State of preservation of the textblock

Defective.