Grottaferrata Crypt. Aet. 10

Shelfmark	Fondo Orientale, Crypt Aet. 10
Owning institution	Biblioteca statale del Monumento nazionale di Grottaferrata
Typology	Codex
Copying date	1901/02, dating based on the colophon.
Title	Säyfä Śǝllase (“Sword of the Trinity”)
Subject	Poetry
Language	Gǝʿǝz
Short description of the content	Ff. 1r–60v: Säyfä Śǝllase (“Sword of the Trinity”) 1. Ff. 1r–9v: Reading for Monday; 2. Ff. 9v–17r: Reading for Tuesday; 3. Ff. 17v–25v: Reading for Wednesday; 4. Ff. 25v–35v: Reading for Thursday; 5. F. 35v–47v: Reading for Friday; 6. Ff. 47v–55r: Reading for Saturday; 7. Ff. 55r–60v: Reading for Sunday; Ff. 61r–75r: Sälam lähəllawekkəmu zäyəmäwwəʾ həllaweyatä (“Salutation to Your substance, who wins the elements”, Hymn to the Trinity, Chaine nr. 20).
Writing material	Sheep parchment
Outer size (included the binding)	135 x 85 x 30 mm
Number of folia	77 (II + 75)
Blank folia	IIv
Binding	Two wooden boards. The spine is uncovered. Four sewing stations.
Sewing	Two Z-twisted threads (each thread is S-twisted) of animal origin.
Sewing pattern	Bozzacchi A5
*Slip case (maḫdär)*	–
Quires	9 (1 initial protective quire + 8)
Quire marks	–
Layout	1 column
Number of lines per column	15–16
Ruling	Blind ruling, from inside to outside. Lines are written above the ruling (pattern Nosnitsin 1).
Ruling pattern	1-1/0/0/C
Scribe	Gäbrä Amanuʾel (ff. 62v, 77r)
Colophon	F. 60v: ኦሥሉስ፡ ቅዱስ፡ ዕቀበኒ፡ በሥጋ፡ ወነፍስ፡ ሊተ፡ ለገብርክሙ፡ ወልደ፡ ሐዋርያት፡ ወጸሐፊሃ፡ ገብረ፡ አማኑኤል፡ ለዓለመ፡ ዓለም፡ አሜን። ፸፻ወ፫፻ወ፺፫. The colophon, added in the main hand at the end of the text, states that the book was written in the year 7393 of the World, i.e. 1901/02 CE. The colophon also mentions the scribe Gäbrä Amanuʾel and a certain Wäldä Ḥawaryat, the latter possibly in a secondary hand.
Additional notes	1. F. Ir: unclear note written in a recent hand in violet ink. The note is in Amharic. It states: ቦሸት፡ ቅርፊት፡ ቅኆነ፡ አውጽተሕ፡ አጠጣ፡ ያተርፋ፡ አመማሮ፡ ዴጥ፡ አዳም፡ ይጀበራ፡ ልብ፡ አጠ፡ ናዶሮ፡. 2. Ff. Iv–IIr: unclear note written in a recent hand in blue pencil. The note is in Amharic and is dated 18 Taḫśaś 1901 E.C., corresponding to 27 December 1908: ፲፱፻፩ዓመተ፡ ምሕረት፡ ታሕሣሥ፡ ፲፱ቀን፡ ጨረቃዋ፡ ደም፡ ለብሰ፡ አደረች፡ ገረብ፡ ጽድቅ፡ ሚካኤል፡.
Decoration	F. 1r: band decorated with geometrical motifs (ḥaräg), in black ink.
State of preservation of the binding	Discrete.
State of preservation of the textblock	Discrete.
Provenance and history	According to the colophon, the manuscript was written in 1901/02 by a certain Gäbrä Amanuʾel. The original owner seems to have been Ammǝḫa Giyorgis; his name has been erased and replaced in many places with that of Wäldä Ḥawaryat, presumably a later owner. Later, the book came into possession of a private, who brought the book to Italy. It came into possession of the Badia of Grottaferrata on 7 June 1990 (cp. 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), p. 504).