The item consists of three separate units, here labelled SGI 252.1, SGI 252.2, and SGI 252.6 (the last unit is indicated as 6). The three units are kept in a large envelope of the Reale Società Geografica Italiana, bearing the following inscription written in Italian in black pen: “Tre Due frammenti (A, B), C) di libro magico etiopico”. The following title has also been added in pencil: “1 Rituale per la benedizione dell’acqua in etiopico con traduzione latina”. The envelope also contains a small-size sheet, referring to unit SGI 252.6, with the title written in Italian in red: “Rituale del Battesimo cristiano, in etiopico con traduzione Latina. Manca al principio”.
SGI 252.1
|
Shelfmark |
SGI 252.1 |
|
Owning institution |
Società Geografica Italiana, Rome |
|
Typology |
Quire |
|
Copying date |
19th cent., based on paleography |
|
Title |
Mäṣḥafä tǝmhǝrt ṭǝyyuq wäʾǝmun (“Book of the certain and true doctrine”); Mäṣḥafä aʾmǝro ṭäbiban zäʾastägabʾǝwwo maʾmǝran (“Book of the knowledge of the wise men, compiled by the erudite”) |
|
Subject |
Divination |
|
Language |
Gǝʿǝz |
|
Short description of the content |
Ff. 1r–1v: Unidentified divinatory text in 30 numbered chapters (anqäṣ, cp. Ar. باب), each named after a biblical figure. The text is acephalous. Incipit: ወሰብእሰ፡ ይቀንቡ፡ ላዕሌከ፡ ወኢትኅዝን፡ በእንቲአሁ፡ ወእግዚ፡ ማዕምር። ፳፮፡ አንቀጽ፡ ትእ፡ ለዳንኤል፡ ትእምርተ፡ ተናዒ፡ ወጸላዒ፡ ኦአንተ፡ በዓለ፡ ዛቲ፡ ትእ፡ ሀለወከ፡ ኀቤከ፡ Ff. 2r–3v: Mäṣḥafä tǝmhǝrt ṭǝyyuq wäʾǝmun (“Book of the certain and true doctrine”), in 10 numbered chapters or sayings. Incipit: በስመ፡ አበግዚአብሔር፡ መሐሪ፡ ወተናገረ፡ ዘኢየኃልፍ፡ ዝንቱ፡ መጽሐፍ፡ መጽሐፈ፡ ትምህርት፡ ጥዩቅ፡ ወእሙን፡ ወጽሩይ፡ ወፍቱን፡ ዘይኔጽር፡ ቦቱ፡ ይቤ፡ ርኢ፡ ዘኮነ፡ ነገረ፡ አንተ፡ በተፋስሶ፡ Ff. 3v–4v: Mäṣḥafä aʾmǝro ṭäbiban zäʾastägabʾǝwwo maʾmǝran (“Book of the knowledge of the wise men, compiled by the erudite”), in 10 numbered chapters or sayings. The text is incomplete: the end is missing. Incipit: በስመ፡ እግዚአብሔር፡ ሥሉስ፡ ኅቡረ፡ ሕልዎ፡ ልዑል፡ ዘኢይረክብዎ፡ ንጉሥ፡ ዘኢይሰምዕዎ፡ ወኢይርእይዎ፡ ጸሐፍነ፡ ዘንተ፡ መጽሐፈ፡ አእምሮ፡ ጠቢባን፡ ዘአስተጋብእዎ፡ ማዕምራን፡ ተርጐምዎ፡ |
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Writing material |
Goat parchment |
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Outer size of the textblock |
123 x 81 x 1 mm |
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Number of folia |
4 |
|
Blank folia |
– |
|
Binding |
The manuscript is unbound. |
|
Sewing |
Two strips of parchment, one on the head and one on the tail of the quire. |
|
Sewing pattern |
– |
|
Quires |
1 |
|
Quire marks |
– |
|
Layout |
1 |
|
Number of lines per column |
26 (f. 1r) – 47 (f. 4v) |
|
Ruling |
The manuscript is unruled. |
|
Ruling pattern |
– |
|
Scribe |
Unknown. |
|
Colophon |
– |
|
Additional notes |
– |
|
State of preservation of the textblock |
Discrete. |
|
Provenance and history |
Unknown provenance. The manuscript came into possession of the Società Geografica Italiana at some time before 1932, because it is mentioned in Silvio Zanutto’s Bibliografia etiopica (1932). It came in all likelihood together with MSS SGI 252.2 and SGI 252.6. |
SGI 252.2
|
Shelfmark |
SGI 252.2 |
|
Other shelfmarks |
Zanutto 2 |
|
Inventory number |
65830 |
|
Owning institution |
Società Geografica Italiana, Rome |
|
Typology |
Quire |
|
Copying date |
19th century, dated on a paleographical basis. |
|
Title: |
Mäṣḥafä mäqdǝm käśate mǝśṭirat zäṬäsimos (sic) ṭäbib yonanawi (“Book of the introduction revealing the mysteries of Ptolemy the wise Greek”) and other divinatory texts |
|
Subject |
Divination, magic |
|
Language |
Gǝʿǝz |
|
Short description of the content |
Ff. 1ra–6vb: Mäṣḥafä mäqdǝm käśate mǝśṭirat zäṬäsimos (sic) ṭäbib yonanawi (“Book of the introduction revealing the mysteries of Ptolemy the wise Greek”, or Liber de revelatione misteriorum). Incipit: በስመ፡ እግዚአብሔር፡ መሐሪ፡ ወመስተሣህል፡ ጸሐፍነ፡ ዘንተ፡ መጽሐፈ፡ መቅድም፡ ከሣቴ፡ ምሥጢራት፡ ዘጠሲሞስ፡ (!) ጠቢብ፡ ዮናናዊ፡ ላዕሌሁ፡ ሰላም፡ አሜን። አዕርኬ፡ ወለቡ፡ ኦብእሲ፡ ኃሣሤ፡ ዝንቱ፡ ምሥጢራት፡ ወእግዚአብሔር፡ ይክሥት፡ ለከ፡ Then follow 12 chapters, each entitled after one of the twelve ‘kings of the world’, i.e. one of the signs of the zodiac. Each chapter contains 34 numbered formulas for prediction called ḥatäta. The text is incomplete due to material loss: it ends up abruptly at ch. 11. Explicit: ፳፮ሐ፡ በዛቲ፡ እፎ፡ ዓመት፡ እፎ፡ ኩነታ፡ ብዙኃ፡ ሠናያቲሃ፡ ለዛቲ፡ ዓመት። ፳፯ሐ<፡> በጸኒሕ፡ ኀበ፡ ህላዌ፡ ኢይሬኒ፡ ሠናየ፡ ኅድግ። ፳፰ሐ<፡> በተንሥኦ፡ ተንሥ Ff. 7ra–8r: Unidentified divinatory text in 16 chapters. The text is incomplete, the beginning is missing due to material loss. Only the end of ch. 10 and chs 11–16 are preserved. Incipit: ዜናሁ፡ አመዝግኖ፡ ለእግ፡ ረከብከ፡ መፍቅድከ፡ ወትድኅን፡ እምእኩይ፡ ተፈሣሕ፡ ጥቀ። ፲፩ይቤ፡ እግ፡ ልዑ፡ ኦሆ፡ ኢትበሎ፡ ለፀርከ፡ ጽናሕ፡ ከማሁ፡ ተዓገሥ፡ ኦሐታቲ፡ ኢሠነየ፡ ኮከብከ፡ ወእመ፡ ፈቅድከ፡ The text is followed on ff. 7v–8r by seven circular diagrams: six are in black and red ink and contain writings in the main hand. The seventh diagram is in red ink and is divided into 12 sections, each numbered and titled after one of the zodiacal signs. Ff.8va–b; 1ra: Unidentified divinatory text in 12 chapters (anqäṣ). Each chapter is entitled after one of the signs of the zodiac. The conclusion follows on f. 1ra (the original sequence of the textblock is perturbed). Incipit (f. 8va): ፩አንቀጽ፡ ሐመል፡ አሳታዊ፡ በግዕ፡ አሰአሌ፡ ኢትኅድጎ፡ ለጣዖሰ፡ ዖፍ፡ ውእቱ፡ ይነግረከ። ፪አንቀ<፡> ተወር፡ መሬታዊ፡ ብዕራይ<፡> አኃሣሤ፡ ዜና፡ ኢትኅድጎ፡ ለዖፈ፡ አልኢታብ፡ ውእ፡ ይነ። |
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Writing material |
Goat parchment |
|
Outer size of the textblock |
124 x 78 x 1 mm |
|
Number of folia |
8 |
|
Blank folia |
– |
|
Binding |
The manuscript is unbound. |
|
Sewing |
Two strips of parchment, one on the head and one on the tail of the quire. |
|
Sewing pattern |
– |
|
Quires |
1 |
|
Quire marks |
– |
|
Layout |
2 columns. |
|
Number of lines per column |
29–30 |
|
Ruling |
Blind ruling, from inside to outside. Lines are written above the ruling. |
|
Ruling pattern |
Nosnitsin 1 |
|
Scribe |
Unknown. |
|
Colophon |
– |
|
Additional notes |
– |
|
State of preservation of the textblock |
Discrete. |
|
Provenance and history |
Unknown provenance. The manuscript came into possession of the Società Geografica Italiana at some time before 1932, because it is mentioned in Silvio Zanutto’s Bibliografia etiopica (1932). It came in all likelihood together with MSS SGI 252.1 and SGI 252.6. |
SGI 252.6
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Shelfmark |
SGI 252.6 |
|
Owning institution |
Società Geografica Italiana, Rome |
|
Typology |
Quire |
|
Copying date |
19th century, dated on a paleographical basis. |
|
Title: |
Excerpt from the Mäṣḥafä krǝstǝnna (“Book of the Christening”) |
|
Subject |
Liturgy |
|
Language |
Gǝʿǝz, Latin |
|
Short description of the content |
Ff. 1ra–7vb: Excerpt from the Mäṣḥafä krǝstǝnna (“Book of the Christening”), with Latin translation on the right column. The text is incomplete, the beginning is missing due to material loss. Incipit: ኵዕ፡ ይትኃባዕ፡ ውስቴቶሙ፡ ወኢይኩኑ፡ አባለ፡ ሥጋ፡ ወኢሕሊና፡ እኩይ፡ አላ፡ ጸግዎሙ፡ ንጽሐ፡ በዝንቱ፡ ማይ፡ ቅዱስ፡ ሀቦሙ፡ ቃለ፡ ሕይወት፡ ዘለዓለም። ወለዶሙ፡ በሕፅበተ፡ ዳግም፡ ልደት፡ ለስርየተ፡ |
|
Writing material |
Paper |
|
Outer size of the textblock |
163 x 110 x 1 mm |
|
Number of folia |
8 |
|
Blank folia |
– |
|
Binding |
The manuscript is unbound. |
|
Sewing |
One S-twisted strip of parchment passing through the quire fold. |
|
Sewing pattern |
– |
|
Quires |
1 |
|
Quire marks |
– |
|
Layout |
2 columns |
|
Number of lines per column |
20–22 |
|
Ruling |
Blind ruling, executed in pencil. |
|
Ruling pattern |
– |
|
Scribe |
Unknown. The author of the Latin translation is uncertain. |
|
Colophon |
– |
|
Additional notes |
– |
|
State of preservation of the textblock |
Mediocre. |
|
Provenance and history |
Unknown provenance. The manuscript came into possession of the Società Geografica Italiana at some time before 1932, because it is mentioned in Silvio Zanutto’s Bibliografia etiopica (1932). It came in all likelihood together with MSS SGI 252.1 and SGI 252.2. |
