Roma, Zanasi-Li Volsi 3

Shelfmark	Zanasi-Li Volsi 3
Inventory number	–
Owning institution	Private collection of Giuseppina Zanasi, Rome
Typology	Codex
Copying date	18^th century, dated on a paleographical basis.
Title	Gädlä Qirqos (“Life of St Cyricus”)
Subject	Hagiography, Liturgy, Poetry
Language	Gǝʿǝz
Short description of the content	Ff. 6r–100v: Gädlä Qirqos (“Life of St Cyricus”) Ff. 6r–82r: Gädlu wäsəmʿu lämar Qirqos (“Life and Martyrdom of St Cyricus”) Incipit: በስመ፡ አብ፡ … ንዌጥን፡ ጽሒፈ፡ ገድሉ፡ ወስምዑ፡ ለማር፡ ቂርቆስ፡ ወዜና፡ እሙ፡ ኢየሉጣ፡ ዘካልአንሂ፡ አልፍ፡ ወዓሠርቱ፡ ምእት፡ ሠላሳ፡ ወአርባዕቱ፡ ሰማዕታት። እለ፡ ተከለሉ፡ በመዋዕለ፡ እስክንድርስ፡ Ff. 82v–96v: Täʾammǝrä Qirqos (“Miracles of St Cyricus”), 4 unnumbered miracles. The cycle follows the same order as that in MS EMML 4816. Incipit: በስመ፡ አብ፡ … ነዋ፡ ጸሐፍነ፡ መጽሐፈ፡ ገድሉ፡ ወተአምሪሁ፡ ለሕፃን፡ ቂርቆስ፡ ሰማዕት፡ ንስቲተ፡ እምብዙኅ፡ ከመ፡ ኢይኩን፡ ዝንጋዔ፡ ለሰማዕያን። 2.1) Ff. 83r–86v: Miracle of St Cyricus: how the saint helped the righteous king from Roha (sometimes identified with king Yǝmrǝḥannä Krǝstos) in building the church dedicated to the saint. Incipit: ወሀሎ፡ ፩ንጉሥ፡ ጻድቅ፡ ወካህን፡ ዘተወክፈ፡ ሢመተ፡ ክህነት፡ እምአፈ፡ አምላኩ፡ በሀገረ፡ ሮሀ፡ ቅድስት፡ ወይወርድ፡ ሎቱ፡ ኅብስተ፡ ወጽዋዓ፡ ወይን፡ ለለበዓላት፡ ወለለሰናባት፡ መጠነ፡ ፵ዓመት። 2.2) Ff. 87r–91r: Miracle of St Cyricus and the monk from a remote region who was a tailor for the clergy of the church dedicated to the saint. Incipit: ተአምሪሁ፡ ለቅዱስ፡ ቂርቆስ፡ ሰማዕት፡ … ወሀሎ፡ ፩ምስኪን፡ መነኮስ፡ እምርኁቅ፡ ብሔር፡ ዘይትአመን፡ በረድኤቱ፡ ወይትመኃፀን፡ በኪዳኑ፡ ለቅዱስ፡ ቂርቆስ፡ መስተጋድል፡ እምንእሱ። 2.3) Ff. 91r–93v: Miracle of St Cyricus and the sterile couple who supplicated to the saint. Incipit: ተአምሪሁ፡ ለቅዱስ፡ ቂርቆስ፡ ሰማዕት፡ … ወሀሎ፡ ፩መሐይምን፡ ወብእሲቱ፡ መካን፡ ወበብሔሮሙ፡ ሀለወ፡ ቤተ፡ ክርስቲያን፡ በስመ፡ ቅዱስ፡ ቂርቆስ፡ መስተጋድል፡ ወይገይሱ፡ መዓልተ፡ ወሌሊተ፡ ኀቤሁ። 2.4) Ff. 93v–96v: Miracle of St Cyricus and the monk Elyas who saved the church of Ṭana Qirqos from an attack by one of the generals of Aḥmad Graň. Incipit: ተአምሪሁ፡ ለቅዱስ፡ ቂርቆስ፡ መስተጋድል፡ … እነግረክሙ፡ አኃውየ፡ ዘገብረ፡ በደብረ፡ ፃና። ወሃሎ፡ ፩መነኮስ፡ በደሴተ፡ ፃና፡ ዘስሙ፡ ኤልያስ፡ ዘይትለዓክ፡ ወትረ፡ ለቤተ፡ ቂርቆስ፡ Ff. 97r–100v: Sälam läʾIyäluṭa (Mälkǝʾ-hymn to St Julitta), incomplete. Incipit: ሰላም፡ ለዝክረ፡ ስምኪ፡ እምስመ፡ ዘመድኪ፡ ኵሉ። ዘየዓቢ፡ ጥቀ፡ ለመጽሐፍ፡ አርአያ፡ ባሕሉ። ኢየሉጣ፡ ሥርጉት፡ ለኮከበ፡ ያዕቆብ፡ ስነ፡ ጸዳሉ። The text is incomplete due to material damage. It ends abruptly as follows: ሰላም፡ ለመዛርእኪ፡ ማዕተበ፡ ሃይማኖት፡ እለ፡ ፆራ። ወለኵርናዕኪ፡ ክቡድ፡ ዘቀጥቀጠ፡ አርእስተ፡ ሐራ። ኢየሉ<ጣ>፡ ድሉት፡
Writing material	Goat parchment
Outer size (included the binding)	133 x 87 x 48 mm
Outer size of the textblock	136 x 85 x 43 mm
Number of folia	100
Blank folia	F. 1r
Binding	Two uncovered wooden boards. Four sewing stations.
Sewing	Two Z-twisted threads (each thread is S-twisted) of animal origin.
Sewing pattern	Bozzacchi A1
Slip case	Reddish-brown leather case; 155 x 100 x 60 mm.
Quires	13 (12 + 1 initial protective quire)
Quire marks	–
Layout	1 column
Number of lines per column	12–13
Ruling	Blind ruling, from the inside to the outside. Lines are written above the ruling.
Ruling pattern	Nosnitsin 1
Scribe	Zäwäldä Maryam (cp. ff. 82r, 96v)
Colophon	–
Additional notes	F. 96v: the beginning of a hymn to St Cyricus is added in black ink in an untrained hand at the end of the 4^th miracle of the saint. The text reads as follows: ሰላም፡ ለከ፡ ቂርቆስ፡ ሕፃን፡ መአድ<መ፡> መልክዕ፡ ወሰን፡ ዘኢያፍርሃከ፡ ትግርምተ፡ እልዋን፡ ለበዊዕ፡ ውስተ፡ እቶን፡ ሰላም፡ ለከ፡ “Salutation to you, infant Cyricus. Pleasing of image and beauty, etc.”
Decoration	F. 1v: full-page polychrome miniature of St Cyricus. The captions in red ink on the upper and outer margins are illegible due to material damages along the edges of the folio and to faded ink. Only the words ቂርቆስ፡ ሰማዕት፡ are partially legible. F. 2r: full-page polychrome miniature of St Cyricus and his mother Julitta before entering the flames. Caption in red ink on the upper margin: ሕፃን፡ ቂርቆስ፡ ዘከመ፡ አኀዛ፡ ለእሙ፡ ኢየሉጣ፡ ቅድስት፡ [.]ሎ፡ ንዓ፡ ንባዕ፡ ማእከለ፡ እ{ቶ}ሳት፡. F. 2v: full-page polychrome miniature of St Cyricus and his mother Julitta into the flames. Caption in red ink on the upper margin: ዘከመ፡ ቦአ፡ ቅዱስ፡ ቂርቆስ፡ ማእከለ፡ እሳት፡ {ዘከመ፡} ምስለ፡ እሙ፡ ኢየሉጣ፡. F. 3r: full-page polychrome miniature of St Cyricus and the impious governor Alexander. Caption in red ink on the upper margin: ሕፃን፡ ቂርቆስ፡ ዘከመ፡ ተጋዓዘ፡ ለእስክንድሮስ፡ ዓላዊ፡. The caption on the lower margin is almost completely illegible due to faded ink. F. 3v: full-page polychrome miniature of the beheading of St Cyricus. Caption in red ink on the upper margin: ዘከመ፡ ተመትረ፡ ክሣዶ፡. The caption in black ink on the lower margin is partly illegible: only the words በቅዱስ፡ ቂርቆስ፡ are legible. F. 4r: full-page polychrome miniature of St Cyricus on horseback. Caption in red ink on the upper margin: ሥዕለ፡ ቅዱስ፡ ቂርቆስ፡. The caption in black ink on the lower margin is partly illegible: only the words አነ፡ ጽጌ፡ ድንግል፡ ም[….]ኦመድኅን፡ are legible. F. 4v: full-page polychrome miniature of St Basilides on horseback. Caption in red ink on the upper margin: ሥዕለ፡ ቅዱስ፡ ፋሲለደስ፡. F. 5r: full-page polychrome miniature of St George and the dragon. Caption in red ink on the upper margin: ሥዕለ፡ ቅዱስ፡ ጊዮርጊስ፡. F. 5v: full-page polychrome miniature of St Theodore on horseback. Caption in red ink on the upper margin: ሥዕለ፡ ቅዱስ፡ ቴዎድሮስ፡ ዘከመ፡ ቀተ. The caption is incomplete.
Individuals mentioned in the MS	The name of a certain Agnaṭǝyos is mentioned in the main hand in numerous supplication formulas (e.g. ff. 86v, 93v, 96v). He probably was the original owner of the book. The name of a Gäbrä Mädḫǝn, perhaps a later owner of the book, is written interlineally in a secondary hand on f. 96v. Zäwäldä Maryam is indicated as the scribe on ff. 82r and 96v.
State of preservation of the binding	Mediocre.
State of preservation of the textblock	Discrete.
Provenance and history	Unknown provenance. The manuscript came into possession of the Zanasi-Li Volsi family at an unspecified time in the 20^th century.