Shelfmark

Et. 1

Owning institution

Biblioteca dell’Università di Napoli L’Orientale (Naples)

Typology

Codex

Copying date

19th century, dated on a paleographical basis.

Title

Dawit (Psalter)

Subject

Old Testament, Prayers, Hymns

Language

Gǝʿǝz

Short description of the content

Ff. 1r–102rb: Dawit (Psalter)

  1. Ff. 1r–86r: Mäzmurä Dawit (“Psalms of David”);

  2. Ff. 86r–92r: Mäḥalǝyä näbiyat (“Canticles of the Prophets”)

  3. Ff. 92r–95v: Mäḥalǝyä mäḥalǝy (“Song of Songs”);

  4. Ff. 96ra–100va: Wǝddase Maryam (“Praise of Mary”);

  5. Ff. 100va–102rb: Anqäṣä bǝrhan (“Gate of Light”).

Writing material

Goat parchment (ff. I–70), sheep parchment (ff. 71–102)

Outer size (included the binding)

270 x 210 x 70 mm

Outer size of the textblock

270 x 205 x 42 mm

Number of folia

104 (I + 102)

One folio after f. 11 has not been foliated: it is virtually numbered 11bis.

Blank folia

Ir–v

Binding

Two wooden boards covered with reddish-brown leather. Both boards have textile inlays. The front, back and spine cover are decorated with blind tooled ornament (a cross and other tools). 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 in black and red ink on the upper inner corner of the recto of the first folio and, occasionally, of the verso of the last folio of each quire. Numerals are also surrounded by nine-dotted asterisks in black and red ink.

Layout

1) Ff. 1r–95v: 1 column;

2) Ff. 96ra–102rb: 2 columns.

Number of lines per column

24–32

Ruling

Blind ruling, from inside to outside.

Lines are written above the ruling.

Ruling pattern

1-1/0/0/C.

Scribe

Unknown

Colophon

–

Additional notes

1. F. 102va: short note on the apostles, written in Gǝʿǝz and Amharic: ጳውሎስና፡ ያዕቆብ፡ አሁሁ፡ ማርቆስና፡ ሉቃስ፡ አኒህ፡ ፬ቱ፡ ከ፸፪አርድእት፡ ናቸው፡ ቍጥራቸው፡ ፲፪ቱ፡ እበደት፡ ሐዋርያት፡ ናቸው።.

2. F. 102vb: list of the commemorative days of the apostles for each month. The incipit runs as follows: ሰረቀ፡ መስከረም፡ በ፩፡ በርተሎሜዎስ። ሠረቀ፡ ጥቅምት፡ አመ፡ ፲ወ፪፡ ማቴዎስ፡ አመ፡ ፳ወ፪ሉቃስ፡ ሠረቀ፡ ኅዳር፡ አመ፡ ፲ወ፰ፊልጶስ፡ ሠረቀ፡ ታኅሣሥ፡ አመ፡ ፬እንድርያስ፡. The note is written in the same hand as the previous text.

Decoration

F. 64r: polychrome ornamental band (ḥaräg) decorated with human faces, animals, eyes, and crosses.

State of preservation of the binding

Discrete

State of preservation of the textblock

Mediocre

Provenance and history

Unknown provenance.

The manuscript came into possession of the library of the University L’Orientale at some time after 1967 (cp. Lusini, G., 2006. ‘I manoscritti etiopici dell’Università di Napoli “L’Orientale”’, in A.M. Di Tolla (a c. di), Studi berberi e mediterranei. Miscellanea offerta in onore di Luigi Serra, II (= Studi magrebini n.s. 4), (Napoli, 2006), 85–90).