Shelfmark

3843 (olim Mordini 198)

Owning institution

Biblioteca Palatina, Parma

Typology

Codex

Copying date

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

Title

Mäṣḥafä Henok (“Book of Enoch”)

Subject

Pseudepigrapha

Language

Gǝʿǝz

Short description of the content

Ff. 1ra–83vb: Mäṣḥafä Henok (“Book of Enoch”, CAe 1340).

Incipit: ቃለ፡ በረከት፡ ዘሄኖክ፡ በከመ፡ ባረከ፡ ሕሩያን፡ ወጸድቃን። (sic) እለ፡ ሀለዉ፡ ይኩኑ፡ በዕለተ፡ ምንዳቤ፡ ለአሰስሎ፡ ኲሎ፡ ረሲዓን፡ ወአውሥአ፡ ወይቤ፡ ሄኖክ፡ ብእሲ፡ ጻድቅ፡ ዘእምኀበ፡ እግዚአብሔር፡ እንዘ፡ አዕይንቲሁ፡ ክሡታት። ወይሬኢ፡ ራእየ፡ ቅዱስ፡ ዘበሰማያት፡ ዘአርአዩኒ፡ መላእክት፡ ወሰማዕኩ፡ እምኀቤሆሙ፡ ኲሎ።

Subscription (f. 83vb): ራእየ፡ ኅቡኣት፡ ዘሄኖክ፡ ተፈጸመ፡ በዝየ።

Writing material

Goat parchment

Outer size (included the binding)

166 x 132 x 40mm

Number of folia

85

Blank folia

84r–85v

Binding

Boards are missing. Four sewing stations.

Sewing

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

Sewing pattern

Bozzacchi A

Slip case

–

Quires

11

Quire marks

–

Layout

2 columns.

Number of lines per column

24–26

Ruling

Blind ruling, from inside to outside.

Lines are written above the ruling.

Ruling pattern

Nosnitsin 1

Scribe

Unknown.

Colophon

–

Additional notes

–

Decoration

F. 1r: polychrome ornamental band (ḥaräg), decorated with geometrical motifs and interlaces.

State of preservation of the binding

Defective.

State of preservation of the textblock

Defective.

Provenance and history

The manuscript is mentioned by Antonio Mordini in the inventory list of the books of the monastic library of Gundä Gunde (Mordini, A., 1953. ‘Il convento di Gunde Gundiè’, Rassegna di Studi Etiopici, 12, 29–70, p. 51 n. 14).

The codex 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 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.