Shelfmark

3841 (olim Mordini 196)

Owning institution

Biblioteca Palatina, Parma

Typology

Codex

The manuscript is composite. It consists of 2 codicological units: I (ff. 1–73), II (ff. 74–184), preceded by a protective quire (ff. I–III).

Copying date

16^th century, dated on a paleographical basis.

Title

Old Testamente books,

Subject

Old Testament

Language

Gǝʿǝz

Outer size (included the binding)

202 x 165 x 84 mm

Number of folia

187 (I–III + 184)

Binding

Two wooden boards covered with blind-tooled leather. Two sewing stations.

Sewing

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

Sewing pattern

Bozzacchi A3

Slip case (maḫdär)

–

State of preservation of the binding

Mediocre.

Provenance and history

The manuscript 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. 8).

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. The collection then entered the Biblioteca Palatina in Parma (cp. Fiaccadori, G., 1995, ‘I manoscritti etiopici di Antonio Mordini’. Malacoda 57 (1995), 24–27).

Folia

Ff. 1–73

Copying date

16^th century, dated on a paleographical basis.

Short description of the content

1. Ff. 1ra–35vb: Iyob (“Job”, CAe 2616).

Incipit: ወሀሎ፡ አሐዱ፡ ብእሲ፡ በብሔረ፡ አውሲጢስ። ዘስሙ፡ ኢዮብ፡ ወውእቱ፡ ብእሲ፡ ራትዕ። ወንጹሕ። ወጻድቅ። ወፈራሄ፡ እግዚኤብሔር፡ (sic) ወይርሕቅ፡ እምኵሉ፡ ምግባረ፡ እኩይ።

2. Ff. 36ra–51vb: Mǝssaleyatä Sälomon (“Proverbs”, chs 1–24, CAe 2195).

Incipit: ምሰልያተ፡ (sic) ሰሎሞን። ወልደ፡ ዳዊት፡ ዘንግሠ፡ ለእስራኤል፡ ለአእምሮ፡ ቃለ፡ ጥበብ፡ ወተግሣጽ፡ አእምሮ፡ ቀለ፡ (sic) ጥበብ፡ ወተወከፎ፡ ወተመይጦ፡ ቃለ፡ አእምሮ፡ ዘበአማን።

3. Ff. 52ra–57vb: Tǝgśaṣä Sälomon (“Proverbs”, chs 25–29, CAe 2195).

Incipit, acephalous: ከ፡ ዝንጓጔ፡ ኢትንሣእ፡ አላ፡ ተዐቀብ፡ ፍናዌከ፡ በስን፡ ምግባሪከ። ኮለ፡ ወርቅ፡ ውስተ፡ ድደ፡ ወርቅ፡ በሰንጹት፡ ከማሁ፡ ብሂለ፡ ቃል፡ ውስተ፡ ውፅበ፡ ወርቅ። ከመ፡ ዕንቈ፡ ስርድስዮስ፡ ዘብዙኅ፡ ሴጡ

4. Ff. 58ra–62vb: Mäṣḥafä mäkbǝb (“Ecclesiastes”, CAe 1320).

Incipit: ቃለ፡ መክብብ፡ ወልደ፡ ዳዊት፡ ንጉሠ[፡] እስራኤል፡ በኢየ[ሩ]ሳሌም፡ ኵሉ፡ ከንቶ፡ ከንቶ፡ ከንቶ፡ ኵሉ፡ ይቤ፡ መክብብ፡ ከንቶ፡ ከንቶ፡ ኵሉ፡ ከንቶ። =።

5. Ff. 63ra–73rb: Ṭǝbäbä Sälomon (“Wisdom”, CAe 2516).

Incipit: ጥበበ፡ ሰሎሞን፡ አፍቅርዋ፡ ለጽድቅ፡ መኳንንተ፡ ምድር፡ ወሐልዩ፡ በእንተ፡ እግዚአብሔር፡ ሠናየ። ወበስፉሕ፡ ልበክሙ፡ ኅሥዎ፡ እስመ፡ ይትረከብ፡ ለእለ፡ ያሜክርዎ።

Writing material

Sheep parchment

Blank folia

–

Quires

9

Quire marks

Some quires are indicated with Ethiopic numerals written on the upper inner corner of the recto of the first folio and verso of the last folio of the quire: ff. 8v (፩), 17r, 24v, 25r. Most of them are illegible.

Layout

2 columns.

Number of lines per column

24–25

Ruling

Blind ruling, from inside to outside.

Lines are written above the ruling.

Ruling pattern

Nosnitsin 1

Scribe

Unknown.

Colophon

–

Additional notes

–

Decoration

Polychrome ornamental frames (ḥaräg), decorated with geometrical motifs, crosses and interlaces, are found on the incipit pages of some of the texts: ff. 1r, 36r, 58v, 62r.

State of preservation of the textblock

Good.

Provenance and history

See the general description.

Folia

Ff. 74–184

Copying date

16^th century, dated on a paleographical basis.

Short description of the content

1. Ff. 74ra–110vb: Iyob (“Job”, CAe 2616).

Incipit: ዘ ወሀሎ፡ አሐዱ፡ ብእሲ፡ በብሔረ፡ አውሲጢሶ። ዘስሙ፡ ኢዮብ። ወውእቱ፡ ብእሲ፡ ራትዕ። ወንጹሕ። ወጻድቅ። ወፈራሄ፡ እግዚአብሔር። ወይርሕቅ፡ እምኵሉ፡ ምግባረ፡ እኩይ።

Subscription: ዘኢዮብ፡ ተፈጸመ።

2. Ff. 111ra–137rb: Mǝssaleyatä Sälomon (“Proverbs”, chs 1–24, CAe 2195).

Incipit: ምሳልያተ፡ ሰሎሞን። ወልደ፡ ዳዊት፡ ዘንግሠ፡ ለእስራኤል፡ ለአእምሮ። ቃለ፡ ጥበብ፡ ወተግሣጽ፡ አእምሩ፡ ቃለ፡ ጥበብ። ወተወክፎ። ወተመይጦ፡ ቃለ፡ አእምሮ፡ ዘበአ።

3. Ff. 137va–143va: Tǝgśaṣä Sälomon (“Proverbs”, chs 25–29, CAe 2195).

Incipit: ዝንቱ፡ ተግሣጽ፡ ዘሰሎሞን፡ እለ፡ እንበለ፡ ኑፋቄ፡ ዘጸሐፉ፡ አዕርክቲሁ፡ ለሕዝቅያስ፡ ንጉሠ፡ ይሁዳ፡ ክብረ፡ እግዚአብሔር፡ የኀብእ፡ ነገር። ወስብሐተ፡ ንጉሥ፡ ያክብር፡ ገብረ።

Subscription: ተፈጸመ፡ ተግሣጸ፡ (sic) ዘሰሎሞን። =።

4. Ff. 143vb–155vb: Mäṣḥafä mäkbǝb (“Ecclesiastes”, CAe 1320).

Incipit: ቃለ፡ መክብብ፡ ወልደ፡ ዳዊት፡ ንጉሠ[፡] እስራኤል፡ በኢየሩሳሌም። ኵሎ፡ ከንቶ፡ ከንቶ፡ ከንቶ፡ ኵሉ፡ ይቤ፡ መክብብ፡ ከንቶ፡ ከንቶ፡ ኵሉ፡ ኵንቶ። (sic)

Subscription: ተፈጸመ፡ ዘመክብብ። =። ምቍዋም፡ (sic)

5. Ff. 156ra–176vb: Ṭǝbäbä Sälomon (“Wisdom”, CAe 2516).

Incipit: ጥበበ፡ ሰሎሞን፡ አፍቅርዋ፡ ለጽድቅ፡ መኳንንተ፡ ምድር፡ ወኀልዩ፡ በእንተ፡ እግዚአብሔር፡ ሠናየ። ወበስፉሕ፡ ልብክሙ፡ ኅሥዎ። እስመ፡ ይትረከብ፡ ለእለ፡ ያሜክርዎ።

Subscription: ዝየ፡ ተፈጸመ፡ ጥበበ፡ ሰሎሞን፡ ንጉሥ፡ ወልደ፡ ዳዊት፡ በረከቱ፡ ላዕሌነ፡ አሜን። =። =።

6. Ff. 177r–183r: Mäḥalǝyä mäḥalǝy (“Song of the songs”, CAe 2362).

Heading: ማኅልየ፡ ማኅልይ፡ ውእቱ፡ ዘሰሎሞ

Incipit: ፩ይስዕማኒ፡ በስዕመተ፡ አፉሁ። | አዳም፡ አጥባትኪ፡ እምወይን። | ወመዐዛ፡ ዕፍረትኪ፡ እምኵሉ፡ አፈው። | ዕፍረተ፡ ዘተሰውጠ፡ ስምከ። | ወበእንተዝ፡ ደናግል፡ አፍቀራከ።

Subscription: ተፈጸመ፡ መኃልየ፡ መኃልየ፡ (sic) ዘሰሎሞን። =።

Writing material

Sheep parchment

Blank folia

–

Quires

15

Quire marks

–

Layout

2 columns (ff. 74r–176v); 1 column (ff. 177r–183v).

Number of lines per column

26–27

Ruling

Blind ruling, from outside to inside.

Lines are generally written above the ruling (below the ruling on ff. 151ra–162vb).

Ruling pattern

Nosnitsin 1

Scribe

Unknown

Colophon

–

Additional notes

1. F. 183r: short salutation written in red ink: ወልደ፡ ጊዮርጊስ፡ ክቡር፡ ተልሜዶ፡ (sic) ወረደ፡ ቃል፡ መምህር፡ ንጹሕ፡ አንተ፡ እም፡ ኵሉ፡ ነውር፡ ወሥንዕው፡ በሥነ<፡> ፍቅር፡ ሰላም፡ ለከ። The text mentions Walda Giyorgis, disciple of Mämhǝr Wärädä Qal, who was abbot of Gundä Gunde from 1726 to 1767.

Decoration

Polychrome ornamental bands (ḥaräg), decorated with geometrical motifs, crosses and interlaces and lateral pendants, are found on the incipit pages of the texts: ff. 74r, 111r, 137v, 143vb, 156r, 177r, 183r.

State of preservation of the textblock

Good.

Provenance and history

See the general description.