Shelfmark

3835 (olim Mordini 105)

Owning institution

Biblioteca Palatina, Parma

Typology

Codex

Copying date

16^th century, dated on a paleographical basis.

Title

ZäʾIsayǝyyas näbiy (Book of Isaiah)

Subject

Monastic literature

Language

Gǝʿǝz

Short description of the content

Ff. 3ra–108vb: ZäʾIsayǝyyas näbiy (Book of Isaiah)

Incipit: ራእይ፡ ዘርእየ፡ ኢሳይያስ፡ ወልደ፡ አሞጽ፡ ዘርእየ፡ በእንተ፡ ይሁዳ፡ ወበእንተ፡ ኢየሩሳሌም፡ በመንግሥተ፡ ዖዝያን፡ ወኢዮአታም፡ ወአካዝ፡ ወሕዝቅያስ፡ እለ፡ ነግሡ፡ ለይሁዳ። ስማዕ፡ ሰማይ፡ ወእጽምኢ፡ ምድር፡ እስመ፡ እግዚኣብሔር፡ ነበበ፡ ወይቤ፡ ውሉደ፡ ወለድኩ፡ ወአልዐቁ፡ ወእ(3rb)ሙንቱሰ፡ ዐለወኒ፡ ላህምኒ፡ አእመረ፡ ዘአጥረዮ፡ ወአድግኒ፡ ምቅማሐ፡ ወቤተ፡ እግዚኡ።

Writing material

Goat parchment

Outer size (included the binding)

127 x 112 x 54 mm

Outer size of the textblock

127 h x 110 w x 44 mm

Number of folia

112

Blank folia

1r–2v, 11r–112v

Binding

Two wooden boards. Four sewing stations.

Sewing

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

Sewing pattern

Bozzacchi A1

Slip case

–

Quires

15 (1 initial protective quire + 14)

Quire marks

–

Layout

2 columns.

Number of lines per column

20

Ruling

Blind ruling, from inside to outside.

Lines are written above the ruling.

Ruling pattern

Nosnitsin 1

Scribe

Unknown

Colophon

–

Additional notes

1. F. 109ra: the incipit of each of the 34 stanzas of the hymn Akkonu bǝʾsi (“Was he not a man?”, RepCh 327) have been added in a recent hand. Incipit: አኮኑ፡ ብእሲ፡ ሶበ፡ ሐኒፀ፡ ቤቶ፡ አፍተዎ። ወሶበ፡ ወሀበኪ። እብራዊ፡ ብፁዕ። ለድምያኖስ፡ ዘተጸምደኪ። አመ፡ እዴሁ። ይስሐቅ፡ መነኮስ። ዘአትሎኪያ። ምስለ፡ ዓራቱ፡ ዘዕፅ። ዐፀደ፡ ወይን። ዘካርያስ፡ ወሬዛ። ኀይልኪ፡ ማርያም። ዓረባውያን።

Decoration

F. 3r: polychrome ornamental band (ḥaräg) decorated with intertwined geometrical motifs and three pendants that run down the sides of the two columns and along the intercolumn.

State of preservation of the binding

Mediocre.

State of preservation of the textblock

Mediocre.

Provenance and history

The book is mentioned by Antonio Mordini in the 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. 52 n. 7).

The manuscript was purchased by Mordini in the early 1940s and became part of his private collection in Barga (Lucca). In 1994 the Italian Ministry for Cultural Heritage bought the collection, which until then had remained the property of the family of Antonio Mordini, who had died in 1975. The collection then entered the Biblioteca Palatina in Parma (cp. Fiaccadori, G., 1995, ‘I manoscritti etiopici di Antonio Mordini’. Malacoda 57 (1995), 24–27).