Shelfmark

3842 (olim Mordini 197)

Owning institution

Biblioteca Palatina, Parma

Typology

Codex

Copying date

15^th–16^th century, dated on a paleographical basis.

Title

Herma näbiy (“Shepherd of Hermas”)

Subject

Apocrypha

Language

Gǝʿǝz

Short description of the content

Ff. 2ra–103va: Herma näbiy (“Shepherd of Hermas”, CAe 1594).

Incipit: ዘሐፀነኒ፡ ሐፀነኒ፡ ሤጠኒ፡ ለሮዴ፡ ብሔረ፡ ሮሜ፡ ወረከብክዋ፡ ወአፍቃርክዋ፡ (sic) ከመ፡ እኅትየ፡ እምድኅረ፡ ጕንዱይ፡ ዓመት። =። ወእምዝ፡ እምድኅረ፡ ኅዳጥ፡ መዋዕል፡ ካዕበ፡ ርኢኵዋ፡ ትትኀፀብ፡ በፈለገ፡ ጢብሮን፡ ወውክዋ፡ እዴየ፡ ወአውፃእክዋ፡ እምፈለግ። =።

Subscription (f. 103va): በአኰቴተ፡ አብ፡ ወወልድ፡ ወምንፈስ፡ ቅዱስ። ተፈጸመት። ዛቲ፡ መጽሐፈ፡ ሄርማ።

Writing material

Sheep parchment

Outer size (included the binding)

168 x 144 x 59 mm

Number of folia

103

Blank folia

–

Binding

One uncovered wooden board (back board). Four sewing stations.

Sewing

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

Sewing pattern

Bozzacchi A

Slip case

–

Quires

13

Quire marks

Indicated on the upper and lower inner corners of the first folio of each quire. Most of them are illegible. Only the following ones are legible: ff. 10r, 18r, 26r, 34r, 42r, 50r (፰), 74r, 82r.

Layout

2 columns.

Number of lines per column

16–23

Ruling

Blind ruling, from inside to outside.

Lines are written above the ruling.

Ruling pattern

Nosnitsin 1

Scribe

Unknown.

Colophon

–

Additional notes

1. F. 65va: title of the book, written in black ink in a recent hand on the lower margin of the folio: መጽሃፍ፡ (sic) ሄርማ፡ “Book of Hermas”.

2. F. 66ra: ownership note written in the same hand of the previous note. The note is partly illegible: ዘቲ፡ መጽሀፍ፡ ዘጕዴ። “this book belongs to G^wǝde” (i.e., Gundä Gunde).

3. F. 103va: ownership note written in the same hand of the previous notes: ዘቲ፡ መፅ ሐ[ፍ]፡ ዘጕ[ን]ድ[፡] (sic) ጕ[ን]ዴ[፡] “this book belongs to G^wǝ[n]dä G^wǝ[n]de”.

Decoration

F. 2r: ornamental band (ḥaräg) outlined in black ink and decorated with geometrical motifs, interlaces and crosses, with three pendants.

State of preservation of the binding

Defective.

State of preservation of the textblock

Defective.

Provenance and history

The ownership notes nr. 2 and 3 state that the manuscript belonged to the monastic library of Gundä Gunde. The manuscript is also mentioned by Antonio Mordini in the inventory list of the books of the same site (Mordini, A., 1953. ‘Il convento di Gunde Gundiè’, Rassegna di Studi Etiopici, 12, 29–70, p. 52 n. 5).

The codex was purchased by Mordini in the early 1940s and became part of his private collection in Barga (Lucca). A photographic copy was executed in the 1960s at the will of Enrico Cerulli and deposited at the Biblioteca Apostolica Vaticana (MS Vatican City, BAV fot. 133). In 1994 the Italian Ministry for Cultural Heritage bought the Mordini collection, which entered the Biblioteca Palatina in Parma (cf. Fiaccadori, G., 1995, ‘I manoscritti etiopici di Antonio Mordini’. Malacoda 57 (1995), 24–27).

The manuscript was restored by the CaNaMEI project in 2022.