Ethiopian Manuscripts Research Articles

The Ethiopic Version of the Lives of the Prophets: Ezekiel and Daniel

The collection of legends about the prophets known as the Lives of the Prophets belongs amongst the Old Testament pseudepigrapha. It is a Jewish work in origin, perhaps dating from the first century A.D., and was composed in Greek or, less probably, Hebrew. It was subsequently taken over by the Church, and none of the extant witnesses to the text is entirely free of the signs of Christian editing. The wealth of textual evidence available is considerable. Thus the Greek version of the Lives, which is the most important, is found in numerous manuscripts belonging to several different recensions, but Syriac, Latin, Armenian and Arabic versions are also known. In addition an Ethiopic version is said to exist, but to my knowledge only the Life of Jeremiah has hitherto been published. Some years ago, however, I observed that the Lives of Ezekiel and Daniel are given in two Ethiopic manuscripts in the British Library—although they are not described as such in Wright's Catalogue. From the description in Dillmann's Catalogue it also seemed likely to me that the Life of Ezekiel was to be found in a Berlin manuscript, and I have now been able to confirm this. My purpose in this short study is to make available the text and a translation of these two Lives.

Catalogue of Ethiopic Manuscripts in the John Rylands University Library of Manchester

Catalogue of Ethiopic Manuscripts in the John Rylands University Library of Manchester

A Catalogue of Ethiopian Manuscripts Microfilmed for the Ethiopian Manuscript Microfilm Library, Addis Ababa, and for the Monastic Manuscript Microfilm Library, Collegeville. Vol. I

A Catalogue of Ethiopian Manuscripts Microfilmed for the Ethiopian Manuscript Microfilm Library, Addis Ababa, and for the Monastic Manuscript Microfilm Library, Collegeville. Vol. I

Imported Textiles in Ethiopian Sixteenth and Seventeenth Century Manuscript Bindings in Britain

Summary We are pleased to publish another product of the multi-faceted scholarship of Dr Pankhurst, Senior Research Fellow of the British Institute. This article is the first substantial treatment of its subject. It is planned that it should be followed by another in Azania XVI, dealing with textiles of the eighteenth century. This study, mainly in the form of a catalogue, describes the different types of cotton and silk cloth imported into Ethiopia between the late sixteenth and early eighteenth centuries, as revealed by fragments preserved in Ethiopian manuscripts, mainly from the Gondar area, currently housed in British libraries. Slightly over half the cloth whose provenance has been identified is of Indian origin, but cannot be dated. The remainder came from Turkey and Europe (probably Italy). Most of it would seem to date from around the seventeenth century—and is hence very roughly of the same age as the manuscripts.

Catalogue of Ethiopian Manuscripts in the British Library Acquired since the Year 1877

Catalogue of Ethiopian Manuscripts in the British Library Acquired since the Year 1877

REVIEWS

REVIEWS Get access WILLIAM F. MACOMBER, A catalogue of Ethiopian manuscripts microfilmed for the Ethiopian Manuscript Microfilm Library, Addis Ababa and for the Hill Monastic Library, Collegeville. Vol. III: Project number 701-1100, Hill Monastic Manuscript Library, St John's Abbey and University, Collegeville, Minnesota 1978. Pp. 524. Price: $32. STEFAN STRELCYN STEFAN STRELCYN UNIVERSITY OF MANCHESTER Search for other works by this author on: Oxford Academic Google Scholar Journal of Semitic Studies, Volume 25, Issue 1, Spring 1980, Pages 150–152, https://doi.org/10.1093/jss/25.1.150 Published: 01 March 1980

Stefan Strelcyn: Catalogue of Ethiopian Manuscripts in the British Library acquired since the year 1877. XVI, 183 pp., 16 plates. London: British. Museum Publications Ltd. for the British Library, [1978]. £35.

Stefan Strelcyn: Catalogue of Ethiopian Manuscripts in the British Library acquired since the year 1877. XVI, 183 pp., 16 plates. London: British. Museum Publications Ltd. for the British Library, [1978]. £35.

Catalogue of Ethiopian manuscripts in the British Library (acquired since the year 1877). By S. Strelcyn. pp. xvi, 183, 16 pl. London, The British Library, 1978. £35.

Catalogue of Ethiopian manuscripts in the British Library (acquired since the year 1877). By S. Strelcyn. pp. xvi, 183, 16 pl. London, The British Library, 1978. £35.

William F. Macomber: A catalogue of Ethiopian manuscripts microfilmed for the Ethiopian Manuscript Microfilm Library, Addis Ababa, and for the Hill Monastic Manuscript Library, Collegevile. Vol. II: project nos. 301–700. [i], v, 524 pp. Collegeville, Minn.: Hill Monastic Manuscript Library, St. John's Abbey and University, 1976. $15.

William F. Macomber: A catalogue of Ethiopian manuscripts microfilmed for the Ethiopian Manuscript Microfilm Library, Addis Ababa, and for the Hill Monastic Manuscript Library, Collegevile. Vol. II: project nos. 301–700. [i], v, 524 pp. Collegeville, Minn.: Hill Monastic Manuscript Library, St. John's Abbey and University, 1976. $15. - Volume 41 Issue 3

REVIEWS

Journal Article REVIEWS Get access WILLIAM F. MACOMBER, A Catalogue of Ethiopian Manuscripts Microfilmed for the Ethiopian Manuscript Microfilm Library, Addis Ababa and for the Monastic Manuscript Microfilm Library, Collegeville. Vol. II: Project Numbers 301–700. 1976. Pp. 524. ( Hill Monastic Manuscript Library, St John's Abbey and University, Collegeville, Minnesota. Price: $15.) An Ethiopian Manuscript Microfilming Program. A Joint Venture of Vanderbilt University Divinity School, Nashville, Tennessee, U.S.A., Hill Monastic Manuscript Library, St. John's Abbey and University, Collegeville, Minnesota, U.S.A., and the Ethiopian Manuscript Microfilm Library, Addis Abbaba, Ethiopia. 1976. Pp. 18. ( Collegeville, Minnesota.) STEFAN STRELCYN STEFAN STRELCYN UNIVERSITY OF MANCHESTER Search for other works by this author on: Oxford Academic Google Scholar Journal of Semitic Studies, Volume 23, Issue 1, Spring 1978, Pages 144–145, https://doi.org/10.1093/jss/23.1.144 Published: 01 March 1978

The Africana Library at the “Stadt- Und Universitätsbibliothek Frankfurt am Main”

In Germany several university libraries are obliged to procure scientific African literature for lending. These are:City and University Library, Frankfurt (Subsaharan Africa)Lower Saxony State and University (Republic of Library, Göttingen South Africa)University Library, Tübingen (North Africa)University Library, Münster/Westf. (Afrikaans)Institut für Weltwirtschaft, Kiel (Economics)These special collections came into existence about 1960 and were based on existing pre-war stocks.Even before the establishment of the special collections programme, however, there was a traditional Africa collection in Frankfurt. The roots of the Oriental and African collection in the former municipal library go back to a donation by the founder of Ethiopian studies, Job Ludolf (1624-1704), who was also one of the first to explore African linguistics, with his papers on the language of the Hottentots. A valuable collection of Ethiopian manuscripts was conveyed to the library by the scientist Eduard Rüppell (1794-1884).

William F. Macomber: A catalogue of Ethiopian manuscripts microfilmed for the Ethiopian Manuscript Microfilm Library, Addis Ababa, and for the Monastic Manuscript Microfilm Library, Collegeville. Vol. I: project nos. 1–300. [i], ix, 355 pp. Collegeville, Minn.: Monastic Manuscript Microfilm Library, St. John's Abbey and University, 1975. $8.50.

William F. Macomber: A catalogue of Ethiopian manuscripts microfilmed for the Ethiopian Manuscript Microfilm Library, Addis Ababa, and for the Monastic Manuscript Microfilm Library, Collegeville. Vol. I: project nos. 1–300. [i], ix, 355 pp. Collegeville, Minn.: Monastic Manuscript Microfilm Library, St. John's Abbey and University, 1975. $8.50. - Volume 40 Issue 2

The Ethiopian Manuscript Microfilm Library

The Ethiopian Manuscript Microfilm Library (EMML) is a joint project of the Ethiopian Orthodox Church, the Hill Monastic Manuscript Library (HMML) (formerly Monastic Manuscript Microfilm Library) of St. John's Abbey and University, Collegeville, Minnesota, U.S.A. Professor Walter Harrelson, former Dean of the Divinity School at Vanderbilt University, is Chairman; Dr. Julian G. Plante, Director of HMML and Research Professor of Classics in St. John's University, is Vice-Chairman; and Dr. Sergew Hable Selassie, Professor of History in Addis Ababa University, is Project Director. Grateful acknowledgement for the funding of this project must be made to the National Endowment for the Humanities, Washington, D.C.EMML was established at the urging of His Holiness Abuna Tewoflos, Patriarch of the Ethiopian Orthodox Church, who was much concerned about the dangers of irreparable damage and loss to the manuscript treasures of his Church. The purpose of the project is twofold: To preserve on microfilm the precious treasures of manuscripts and to make those source materials available for study by scholars both within and outside Ethiopia. Efforts are also being directed toward obtaining copies of Ethiopian manuscripts outside of Ethiopia.Actual photographic operations are being carried out by an Ethiopian team in conjunction with Xerox University Microfilms, Ann Arbor, Michigan, U.S.A., where the film is processed. Positive and negative copies are sent to the Ethiopian Orthodox Church, which has founded a center for the purpose at Addis Ababa, and positive copy is sent to HMML in Collegeville, where interested students and scholars may come for consultation and study. HMML is a research center with a focus on medieval and renaissance manuscripts on microfilm.

The Ethiopian Manuscript Microfilm Library

The Ethiopian Manuscript Microfilm Library (EMML) is a joint project of the Ethiopian Orthodox Church, the Hill Monastic Manuscript Library (HMML) (formerly Monastic Manuscript Microfilm Library) of St. John's Abbey and University, Collegeville, Minnesota, U.S.A. Professor Walter Harrelson, former Dean of the Divinity School at Vanderbilt University, is Chairman; Dr. Julian G. Plante, Director of HMML and Research Professor of Classics in St. John's University, is Vice-Chairman; and Dr. Sergew Hable Selassie, Professor of History in Addis Ababa University, is Project Director. Grateful acknowledgement for the funding of this project must be made to the National Endowment for the Humanities, Washington, D.C.EMML was established at the urging of His Holiness Abuna Tewoflos, Patriarch of the Ethiopian Orthodox Church, who was much concerned about the dangers of irreparable damage and loss to the manuscript treasures of his Church. The purpose of the project is twofold: To preserve on microfilm the precious treasures of manuscripts and to make those source materials available for study by scholars both within and outside Ethiopia. Efforts are also being directed toward obtaining copies of Ethiopian manuscripts outside of Ethiopia.Actual photographic operations are being carried out by an Ethiopian team in conjunction with Xerox University Microfilms, Ann Arbor, Michigan, U.S.A., where the film is processed. Positive and negative copies are sent to the Ethiopian Orthodox Church, which has founded a center for the purpose at Addis Ababa, and positive copy is sent to HMML in Collegeville, where interested students and scholars may come for consultation and study. HMML is a research center with a focus on medieval and renaissance manuscripts on microfilm.

Willian F. Macomber A catalogue of Ethiopian manuscripts microfilmed for the Ethiopian Manuscript Microfilm Library, Addis Ababa and the Monastic Manuscript Microfilm Library, Collegeville, vol.1. Collegeville, Minnesota, Monastic Manuscript Microfilm Library, 1975. $8.50.

Willian F. Macomber <i>A catalogue of Ethiopian manuscripts microfilmed for the Ethiopian Manuscript Microfilm Library, Addis Ababa and the Monastic Manuscript Microfilm Library, Collegeville, vol.1</i>. Collegeville, Minnesota, Monastic Manuscript Microfilm Library, 1975. $8.50.

Illuminated Ethiopic Manuscripts

Illuminated Ethiopic Manuscripts

Catalogue of Ethiopian manuscripts of the Wellcome Institute of the History of Medicine in London.

The Library of the Wellcome Institute is devoted to the history of medicine and related sciences. Apart from some 250,000 printed books, it contains about 10,000 manuscripts, half of which are in Oriental languages.In 1970 I was entrusted with describing the Ethiopian manuscripts belonging to this library. There were 34 of them: 17 mostly of religious content and completely unrelated to the interests of the Institute, 16 magical scrolls, and one manuscript mainly of divinatory content. Without constituting medical manuscripts in the strict sense of the term, the scrolls are designed to combat demons and diseases and to keep people in good health. They can be called magico-medical scrolls and belong to the field of ethnomedicine. The scrolls are written in Gə'az with strong Amharic influence. At the suggestion of Dr. F. N. L. Poynter, Director of the Wellcome Institute, the Wellcome Trust decided to donate the first group of manuscripts to the British Museum, to whom 14 were presented in June 1970 and 3 others in June 1971. All these manuscripts have been described by the present writer in the Catalogue of the Ethiopian manuscripts in the British Museum acquired since 1877 (in preparation). The present catalogue notes contain only the description of the 16 scrolls and the divinatory manuscript.

Two letters from the Emperor Yohannes of Ethiopia to Queen Victoria and Lord Granville

Among the Ethiopic manuscripts in the British Museum, which originate from the Emperor Theodore's Magdala collection, were two copies of the Kebra Nagast ‘Glory of the Kings’, the Ethiopian national saga, catalogued as Orient. 818 and 819 (=Wright, Catalogue of the Ethiopic MSS in the BM, NO. CCXCI). But Orient. 819, written during the reign of the Emperor Iyasu I (1682–1706), was returned to Ethiopia in circumstances which throw a dramatic light on the paramount importance of this work. In August 1872, the Emperor Yohannes of Ethiopia wrote to Queen Victoria and to Earl Granville, the British Foreign Secretary, and requested the return of the Kebra Nagast which had been taken to England by the Napier expedition in 1868.

Edward Ttllendorff and Stephen G. Wright: Catalogue of Ethiopian manu-scripts in the Cambridge University Library, with a contribution by D. A. Hubbard. ix, 76 pp. Cambridge: University Press, 1961. 20s.

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The Ethiopic Text of Acts of the Apostles

Dr. Ropes in his encyclopaedic treatment of “The Text of Acts,” in The Beginnings of Christianity, vol. iii, 1926, omitted treatment of the Ethiopic versions for lack of reliable critical material. In the section calling attention to the Ethiopic texts (pp. cxlvi seq.), along with the expression of opinion that an investigation of that field for Acts “would produce interesting and valuable results,” he notes the Ethiopic manuscripts recorded for Acts in Gregory's list, of which “one (Paris, Bibl. Nat., aeth. 26 [Zotenberg 42]) is of the fifteenth century.” Subsequently to the completion of his volume Dr. Ropes was able to secure a photographic copy of that MS. of Acts; and he did the present writer the honor of asking him to make a critical study of what appeared to be the oldest known witness to Acts in that version.