Shelfmark

Fondo Orientale, Crypt Aet. 1

Owning institution

Biblioteca statale del Monumento nazionale di Grottaferrata

Typology

Codex

Copying date

17^th–18^th century, dated on a paleographical basis.

Title

Tǝmhǝrtä ḫǝbuʾat (“The Doctrine of Mysteries”), Ǝgziʾabǝḥer zä-bǝrhanat (“God of the Lights”), and hymns

Subject

Prayers, Hymns

Language

Gǝʿǝz

Short description of the content

Ff. 3r–8vb: Tǝmhǝrtä ḫǝbuʾat (“The Doctrine of Mysteries”)

Incipit: በእንተ፡ ትምህረተ፡ ኅቡዓት፡ ቅድመ፡ ዘትትነገር፡ እምጵርስፎራ፡ ለምዕመናን፡ ኅቡዓት[፡] ትምህርተ፡ ኅቡዓትሰ፡ ከመዝ፡ ንግር፡ ዘቅድመ፡ ሀሎ፡ ወይሄሉ፡ ዘመጽአ፡ ዘሐመ፡ ወሞተ፡ ወተቀብረ፡ ወተንሥአ፡

Ff. 9ra–12ra: Ǝgziʾabǝḥer zä-bǝrhanat (“God of the Lights”)

Incipit: እግዚአብሔር፡ ዘብርሃናት፡ እግዚአብሔር፡ ዘሥልጣናት፡ እግዚአብሔር፡ ዘአርእስተ[፡] መላእክት፡ ዘእምታሕተ፡ እኂዘትከ[፡] ኵሉ፡ ፍጥረት። ንጉሠ፡ ነገሥት፡ ወእግዚአ፡ አጋእዝት።

F. 12a–17ra: Ṣälotä mädḫanit (“Prayer of salvation”)

Incipit: በስመ፡ አብ፡ ወወልድ፡ ወመንፈስ፡ ቅዱስ፡ ፩አምላከ፡ ጸሎተ፡ መድ()ኃኒት፡ አስማተ፡ ኃይላት፡ ዘወረደ፡ እምአርያም። ሰለታዊ፡ ኤላዊ፡ ኤላዊ፡ ሕዝቅያህ፡ ሰሮባኤላዊ፡ ኬንያዊ፡ ዴጋና፡

Ff. 17vb–26rb: Mälkǝʾa Fanuʾel (Mälkǝʾ-hymn to Fanuʾel, Chaine nr. 166)

Incipit: ሰላም፡ ለዝክረ፡ ስምከ፡ ዘይደልዎ፡ ተበፅዓ። እምኀበ፡ ኵሎሙ፡ ሰብእ፡ በተዚያንዎ[፡] ወተዛውይ። እስመ[፡] ቀዋሚሆሙ፡ አንተ፡ ዘትተግህ፡ ለተራድኦ። ፋኑኤል፡ ስመከ፡ ሶበ፡ እዌጥን[፡] ጸውዖ።

Ff. 26vb–35vb: Mälkǝʾa Śǝllase (Mälkǝʾ-hymn to the Trinity, Chaine nr. 20)

Incipit: ሰላም፡ ለህላዌክሙ፡ ዘይመውእ፡ ህላዌያተ። ለረኪበ[፡] ስሙ፡ ኅቡዕ፡ አመ[፡] ወጠኑ፡ ተምኔተ። እምግብርክሙ፡ ሥላሴ፡ ሶበ፡ ረከብኩ፡ አስማተ።

Ff. 35vb–46rb: Mälkǝʾa Täklä Haymanot (Mälkǝʾ-hymn to Täklä Haymanot, Chaine nr. 211)

Incipit: ሰላም፡ ለፅንሰትከ፡ ወለልደትከ፡ እምከርሥ። አመ፡ እስራ፡ ወረቡዑ፡ ለወርኃ፡ ታኅሣሥ። ተክለ፡ ሃይማኖት፡ በኵሉ፡ ወበውስተ፡ ኵሉ፡ ውዱስ። ናሁ፡ ወጠንኩ፡ ወእቤ፡ እምስብሐቲከ፡ ሐዲስ፡

Ff. 46va–58rb: ʿƎqäbänni (“Protect me”, Chaine nr. 371), long version. It includes a section telling how a Frank nobleman received the prayer from heaven.

Incipit: በስመ፡ … ኦእግዚእየ፡ ኢየሱስ፡ ክርስቶስ፡ ዕቀበኒ፡ በእንተ፡ ዘኃደርከ፡ በከርሠ፡ ማርያም[፡] እምከ፡ በእንተ፡ ማኅፀና፡ ለማርያም፡ ዘፆረተከ፡ ፱አውራኃ፡ ወ፭ዕለተ፡ ማርያም፡ ድንግል፡ እቀብኒ፡

Ff. 58rb–65ra: Ṣälot bäʾəntä ləssanä säbʾa (“Prayer against the tongue of men”).

Incipit: ናሁ፡ ተማኀፀንኩ፡ በኆኅያተ፡ ስምከ፡ ካፍ፡ ወበቀዳማይ፡ የውጣ፡ ዘፕንተ፡ ፈደሎን፡ አሌፍ። ከመ፡ ታድኅነኒ፡ ክርስቶ[ስ]፡ እምትንሣኤ፡ ልሳን፡ ወአፍ።

Writing material

Sheep parchment

Outer size (included the binding)

164 h x 111 w x 34 mm

Outer size of the textblock

164 x 108 w x 24 mm

Number of folia

66

Blank folia

Ff. 1r, 2v.

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 A4

Slip case (maḫdär)

–

Quires

8 (7 + 1 initial protective quire)

Quire marks

Ethiopic numerals on the upper inner corner of the recto of the first folio of the third, fourth and fifth quires: ff. 13r (፪), 23r (፫), and 33r (፬).

Layout

2 columns.

Number of lines per column

17–18

Ruling

Blind ruling, from inside to outside except quire 5 (from outside to inside).

Lines are written above the ruling (pattern Nosnitsin 1).

Ruling pattern

1-1-11/0/0/C.

Scribe

Unknown

Colophon

–

Additional notes

1. F. 1v: text of probable protective content. It consists of 5 poorly readable lines. Incipit: ፆዮ፡ ዸዶ፡ ጸጶ፡ በእሉ፡ ፯ቱ፡ አስማተ፡ እግዚአብሔር፡ etc.

2. F. 2r: Protective prayer. The conclusion is not legible because the ink is washed away. Incipit: ቃልያን። እግዚኦ፡ በዓትከን። እግዚኦ፡ አምላኪየ፡ ብከ፡ ተወከልኵን። አድኅነኒን። እስከማዕዜኑን። ዕቀበኒን። እግዚ፡ ስምዓኒ፡ ጽድቅየን። አምላኪየ፡ አምላኪየን። ኀቤከን።

3. F. 65ra: Ownership note, partially washed away. The legible text states: ዝመጽሐፍ፡ ዘ…፡ ወውልዱ፡ …. The entire text on f. 65rb has been washed away.

4. Ff. 65va–66va: Protective prayers and text of unknown content. The ink is mostly washed away and the texts are poorly legible.

5. Ff. 66va–b: Mälkǝʾ-hymn (Chaine nr. 170). The text is barely legible due to faded ink. Incipit: ሰላም፡ ለዝክረ፡ ስምኪ፡ ጸዳላ፡ ምሥራቅ፡ ወምዕራብ፡

Decoration

Ff. 3r, 9r, 26v, 58rb: polychrome ornamental frames (ḥaräg) decorated with interweaving motifs.

State of preservation of the binding

Mediocre.

State of preservation of the textblock

Discrete.

Provenance and history

Unknown provenance. A sheet on the inner side of the front board states that the manuscript was purchased “tramite il laboratorio di restauro di Grottaferrata” on 7 June 1990 for the sum of Lire 300,000 together with MS Crypt. Aet. 3; see also 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), 468–570 (here p. 479).