Shelfmark

Fondo Orientale, Crypt Aet. 7

Owning institution

Biblioteca statale del Monumento nazionale di Grottaferrata

Typology

Codex

Copying date

Second half of the 17^th century, dating based on the genealogic note on f. 220ra–va (note 7).

Title

Dawit (Psalter)

Subject

Old Testament, Poetry

Language

Gǝʿǝz

Short description of the content

Ff. 1r–221vb: Dawit (Psalter)

1. Ff. 1r–173v: Mäzmurä Dawit (“Psalms of David”); each psalm is followed by a stanza from the Mäzmurä dǝngǝl (“Psalms of the Virgin”);

2. F. 173v: prayer in Gəʿəz and Amharic, written in the main hand. The name of the commissioner is erased.

Incipit: ኖኅን፡ ከማየ፡ አይኅ። እስራኤልን፡ ከፈርዖን።

ዳዊትን፡ ከሳኦል፡ ከኢሎፍሊ።

ኤልያስን፡ ከኤልዛቤል። ሕዝቅያስን፡ ከሰናክሬም።

3. Ff. 174r–190v: Mäḥalǝyä näbiyat (“Canticles of the Prophets”);

4. Ff. 191r–199v: Mäḥalǝyä mäḥalǝy (“Song of Songs”);

5. Ff. 200ra–214vb: Wǝddase Maryam (“Praise of Mary”);

6. Ff. 215ra–219vb: Anqäṣä bǝrhan (“Gate of Light”), incomplete: the text ends abruptly with the words ያጽንዓነ፡ በርትዕት፡ ሃይማኖት፡ ውስተ፡ አሚነ፡ ዚአ.

Writing material

Sheep parchment

Outer size (included the binding)

265 x 255 x 120 mm

Outer size of the textblock

250 x 247 x 100 mm

Number of folia

222

Blank folia

–

Binding

Two wooden boards covered. The spine is uncovered. Four sewing stations.

Sewing

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

Sewing pattern

Bozzacchi A

Slip case (maḫdär)

–

Quires

24

Quire marks

–

Layout

1) Ff. 1r–201v: 1 column.

2) Ff. 202ra–221vb: 2 columns.

Number of lines per column

18–20 (22 lines on f. 220)

Ruling

Blind ruling, from inside to outside.

Lines are written above the ruling (pattern Nosnitsin 1).

Ruling pattern

1) Ff. 1r–201v: 1-1/0/0/C.

2) Ff. 202ra–221vb: 1-1-11/0/0/C.

Scribe

Unknown

Colophon

–

Additional notes

1. F. 2r: donation note written vertically in the outer margin, in black ink: “alla famiglia Bruschettini, Pussy […] Battaglia dell’Amba Aradam il 16 febbraio 1936 XIV”. The note, written in Italian and partly illegible, indicates the Bruschettini family as the receiver of the book and mentions the Battle of Amba Aradam, which took place on 16 February 1936.

2. F. 5r: note written in Italian in the outer upper margin, in red pencil: “Amba Aradam 16/2/XIV ore 17.30 P. Paloboni (?)”. This note also mentions the Battle of Amba Aradam, together with an individual whose name is partially unclear (P. Paloboni?).

3. F. 173v: supplication note written in small script in a mediocre hand, at the end of the “Psalms of David”: ዕቀበኒ፡ እምዓይነ፡ ደዌ፡ ወሞት፡ ለገብርከ፡ ደቅስዮስ፡, “protect me, your servant Däqsəyos, from the eye of infirmity and death”. The note mentions a certain Däqsəyos, indicated as “your servant” (possibly a later owner of the codex).

4. F. 173v: incipit of the Gəʿəz and Amharic prayer, perhaps a writing exercise. The note is written in an inaccurate calligraphy on the outer margin of the folio, next to the prayer. The entire text is የህፂ፡ ኖኅን፡ ከማየ[፡] አይኅ። እስራኤልን፡ ከፈርዖን፡ ዳዊትን፡ ከሳኦል፡ ከኢሎፍሊ። ኤ.

5. F. 190v: donation note, written in black ink in a mediocre hand. Text: ዝመጽሐፍ፡ ዘደብተራ፡ ኪሮስ፡ ዘወሀቦ፡ ለታቦተ፡ ሚካኤል፡ ኢትርስዑኒ፡ በአቡነ፡ ዘበሰማያት፡ ዘአቡየ፡ ገብረ፡ ማርያም፡ ወለእምየ፡ ወለተ፡ ሩፋኤል፡, “This book belongs to däbtära Kiros, who donated it to the tabot of [the church of St] Michael. Do not forget me for our Father who is in heaven. [It also belongs] to my father Gäbrä Maryam and my mother Wälättä Rufaʾel”.

6. F. 199v: writings executed in an inaccurate hand, perhaps the same of note 4. The note includes pen trials (ፈቲነ፡ ብርዕ፡ ዘፈረና፡ etc.), reproduces the explicit of the “Song of the songs” (ስብሐታተኪ፡ ማርያም፡ ከመ፡ እንተ፡ ሕልቀት፡ etc.) and the incipit of the “Praise of Mary” (ውዳሴ፡ ዘሰኑይ፡ ፈቀደ፡ እግዚእ፡ etc., partly rubricated). The writings also mention Däqsəyos, indicated as “your servant” (possibly a later owner of the codex)

7. F. 220ra–va: Genealogic note written on two columns. The note illustrates the family tree of King Yoḥannǝs I, who reigned from 1667 to 1682. The text is acephalous. Incipit: [ወለ]ደ፡ እምሐና፡ ብእሲቱ፡ አሦተ፡ ቅዱሳንሃ፡ ወአሦተ፡ ቅዱሳንኒ፡ እምነ፡ ጳውሊ፡ ብእሲሃ፡ ወለደቶሙ፡ ለአቤተኁን፡ ማእምሮ፡ ወለዘሥላሴ፡ ወአቤተኁን፡ ማእምሮኒ፡ ወለደ፡ አቃርዮስ፡ ወአቃርዮስኒ፡ ወለደ፡ እመቤት፡ እኅተ፡ ክርስቶስሃ፡. The text is published and translated in Proverbio D.V., 2000, ‘Inventario sommario dei manoscritti arabi, ebraici, etiopici – con notizia dei turchi – conservati presso la Biblioteca della Badia di Grottaferrata’. Atti della Accademia nazionale dei Lincei, Memorie, Classe di scienze morali, storiche e filologiche, serie IX, 12 (2000), 468–570 (here pp. 496–97, Appendice III).

8. F. 220va–b: Protective prayer against snakes, written on two columns. Incipit: በስመ፡ አብ፡ … ጸሎት፡ በእንተ፡ ዓርዌ፡ ምድር። ሶበ፡ በጽሐ፡ መልእክት፡ ሐሰውከ፡ በል፡ ፫ጊዜ፡ አኂዘከ፡ ዘፈረ፡ ልብሰ፡ ለእመ፡ ሀሎ፡ ርሑቀ፡ አስትዮ፡. The prayer is probably written in the same hand of note 7.

9. F. 220vb: Unidentified magic prayer containing asmat-names. Incipit: በስመ፡ አብ፡ … ኦላዘላህም፡ አህጉረ፡ ቀዳ[.]፡ ፍሖም፡ ሊስ፡ አፍሊስ፡ ምልክዮስ፡ ዘ[..]ማኤል፡ በዝንቱ፡ አስማቲከ፡ [.]ጽ[..] ኃይለ፡ በረድ፡ ወነፋስ፡ ከማሁ፡.

Decoration

–

State of preservation of the binding

Discrete.

State of preservation of the textblock

Discrete.

Provenance and history

Unknown provenance.

The codex probably dates from the second half of the 17^th century, in view of the fact that it includes a genealogical note (note 7, f. 220ra–va) that mentions the family members of King Yoḥannǝs I, who reigned from 1667 to 1682.

The manuscript then had several possessors. Additional notes 3 (f. 173v) and 6 (f. 199v) mention Däqsǝyos, who indicated himself as gäbrǝkä ‘your servant’. He was probably a later owner of the codex. Another possessor was Däbtära Kiros, mentioned in note 5 (f. 190v) together with his father Gäbrä Maryam and his mother Wälättä Rufaʾel. Däbtära Kiros donated the book to an unspecified church of St Michael.

The two notes written in Italian (notes 1 on f. 2r and 2 on f. 5r) both mention the battle of Amba Aradom (It. “Amba Aradam”), south-east of Mekelle. The battle took place on 10–15 February 1936 during the Italian invasion of Ethiopia. Note 1 also states that the book was donated to the Bruschettini family, presumably after being taken as war booty from a church located near Amba Aradom, immediately after the Italian victory in the battle (both notes are dated 16 February 1936, immediately after the end of the battle, and note 2 also includes the time when the codex passed into the hands of the next owner). Note 2 also mentions a certain P. Paloboni. The codex may in particular have come from the church of Ǝnda Mikaʾel G^wəlle (It. Enda Micael Gullè). On this historical reconstruction, see Dal Sasso, E. 2016–2017, Studio codicologico, diagnostica e tecniche di intervento non invasive per il restauro del ms. etiopico CRYPT. AET. 7 della Biblioteca statale del Monumento nazionale Abbazia greca di Grottaferrata, Tesi di laurea magistrale in Conservazione e Restauro dei Beni Culturali (LMR/02) presso l’Istituto Centrale per il Restauro e la Conservazione del Patrimonio Archivistico e librario.

The manuscript finally entered the abbey library between 1991 and 2000. It is not mentioned in Raineri O., 1991, ‘Rec. S. Uhlig, Introduction to Ethiopian Palaeography’. Orientalia Christiana Periodica, 58 (1991), 215–16, while it is described in Proverbio D.V., 2000, ‘Inventario sommario dei manoscritti arabi, ebraici, etiopici – con notizia dei turchi – conservati presso la Biblioteca della Badia di Grottaferrata’. Atti della Accademia nazionale dei Lincei, Memorie, Classe di scienze morali, storiche e filologiche, serie IX, 12 (2000), 468–570 (here pp. 493–97).