Shelfmark

Fondo Orientale, Crypt Aet. 9

Owning institution

Biblioteca statale del Monumento nazionale di Grottaferrata

Typology

Codex

Copying date

19^th century, dated on a paleographical basis.

Title:

Wǝddase Maryam (“Praise of Mary”), Anqäṣä bǝrhan (“Gate of Light”), Hymns

Subject

Poetry, Hymns

Language

Gǝʿǝz

Short description of the content

Ff. 1r–34v: Wǝddase Maryam (“Praise of Mary”);

Ff. 34v–50r: Anqäṣä bǝrhan (“Gate of Light”);

Ff. 50r–54v: Yǝweddǝsǝwwa mälaʾǝkt lä-Maryam (“The angels are praising Mary”, Hymn to Virgin Mary, Chaine nr. 388).

Incipit: ይዌድስዋ፡ መላእክት፡ ለማርያም፡ በውስተ፡ ው^ሣጤ፡ መንጦላእት፡ ወይብልዋ፡ በሀኪ፡ ማርያም፡ ሐዳስዩ፡ ጠእዋ፡ ይቤ(50v)ላ፡ መልአክ፡ ለማርያም፡ ድንግል፡ ተወከፊዮ፡ ለቃል።

Ff. 54vr–58r: Sälam läzǝkrä sǝmǝkä gäbrä Iyäsus (“Salutation to the mention of your name, servant of Jesus”, Hymn to St Mercury the martyr, Chaine nr. 169). The text is written in a different hand than that of the previous texts.

Incipit: ሰላም፡ ለዝክረ፡ ስምከ፡ ገብረ፡ ኢየሱስ፡ ብሂል፡ ወለስእርትከ፡ ጸሊም፡ ዘቋናዝሊሁ፡ ፍቱል፡ መርቆርዮስ፡ ሰማዕት፡ ገባሬ፡ ተአምር፡ ወሐይል፡ ለዮሐንስ፡ ፍና፡

Writing material

Sheep parchment

Outer size (included the binding)

140 x 92 x 25 mm

Number of folia

60 (II + 58)

Blank folia

1r

Binding

Two wooden boards covered with dark brown leather. Half cover. Four sewing stations.

Sewing

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

Sewing pattern

Bozzacchi C1

Slip case (maḫdär)

–

Quires

8 (1 initial protective quire + 7)

Quire marks

The sixth quire is indicated with a quire mark (፭) written in black ink on the upper inner corner of f. 37r.

Text area

86 x 64 mm (margins: left 10, right 9, top 13, bottom 15 mm). Data from f. 5r.

Layout

1 column

Number of lines per column

13–15

Ruling

Blind ruling, from inside to outside.

Lines are generally written above the ruling (pattern Nosnitsin 1). The first line is written above the ruling on ff. 33r–36v.

Ruling pattern

1-1/0/0/C

Scribe

Unknown

Colophon

–

Additional notes

1. F. 1v–2v: mälkəʾ-hymn consisting of rhymed stanzas. Incipit: ትጼውረከ፡ ክንፈ፡ ደመና። ምስለ፡ ነፍስየ፡ መአምፅ፡ ቅድመ፡ ትትፋተህ፡ ሲዩና። እስመ፡ አንተ፡ ረዳዒሁ፡ ወአንተ፡ ምእመና።. The text is written in a fine handwriting, characters are broadly spaced. The text is not rubricated, with lacunas in correspondence of the word sälam at the beginning of each stanza.

Decoration

F. 1r: ornamental band (ḥaräg) executed in black ink in a rudimental style.

State of preservation of the binding

Discrete.

State of preservation of the textblock

Discrete.

Provenance and history

Unknown provenance. It is not known when the manuscript was acquired by the abbey library, certainly before 1967 (year of the death of Father Lorenzo Tardo, author of the catalogue in which the manuscript is mentioned).