Grottaferrata Crypt. Aet. 14

Shelfmark	Fondo Orientale, Crypt Aet. 14
Owning institution	Biblioteca statale del Monumento nazionale di Grottaferrata
Typology	Codex
Copying date	1819/20, dating based on the colophon (f. 7r, but see ‘Provenance and history’ below).
Title	Mäzgäbä śǝʿlat (“The treasure of paintings”)
Subject	Iconography
Language	Gǝʿǝz
Short description of the content	The manuscript hosts 10 full-page polychrome miniatures. For the description of the iconographical contents, see ‘Decoration’ below.
Writing material	Goat parchment
Outer size (included the binding)	350 x 280 x 15 mm
Outer size of the textblock	350 x 276 x 4 mm
Number of folia	7
Blank folia	Ff. 1r, 7v
Binding	Two paper boards with reddish-brown leather. Textile.
Sewing	Two S-twisted threads (each thread is Z-twisted) of animal origin.
Sewing pattern	Not applicable.
*Slip case (maḫdär)*	–
Quires	1
Quire marks	–
Layout	1 column.
Number of lines per column	13
Ruling	Blind ruling, from inside to outside. Only ff. 1 and 7 are ruled. Lines are written above the ruling (pattern Nosnitsin 1).
Ruling pattern	1-1/0/0/C
Painter	Aläqa Wäldä Śǝllase Gäbrä Mikaʾel (f. 1v)
Colophon	F. 7r: ለዝሥዕል፡ ዘአሥዐሎ፡ ደጃዝማች። አብርሃ፡ ወልደ፡ ጊዮርጊስ፡ ከመ፡ ትስአሎ፡ ሎቱ፡ ኀበ፡ ፍቁር፡ ወልዳ፡ ወዘወኀቦ፡ ለታቦተ፡ ማርያም፡ ደብረ፡ ስጌ። በ፲፰፻፲ወ፪ዓም፡ በዘመነ፡ መንግሥቱ፡ ለንጉሥነ፡ ተክለ፡ ጊዮርጊስ። “This album of painting was commissioned by Däǧǧazmačč Abrǝha Wäldä Giyorgis so that her (= Mary’s) son would intercede for him, and it was donated to the tabot of Mary in Däbrä Sǝge (sic!) in the year 1812 (= 1819/20 CE), at the time of the reign of our king Täklä Giyorgis”.
Additional notes	F. 1v hosts the following note: ለዝ፡ ሥዕል፡ ዘሰአሎ፡ በእዴሁ፡ ቅድስት፡ አለቃ፡ ወልደ፡ ሥላሴ፡ ገብረ። ሚካኤል፡ ዘኢኮነ፡ በጥበቢሁ፡ አላ፡ በጥበበ፡ እግዚአብሔር፡ ከመ፡ ይኩኖ፡ መድኃኒተ፡ ሥጋ፡ ወነፍስ፡ በዝ፡ ዓለም፡ በዘይመጽእ፡ ዓለም።. The note, written in the same hand of the captions and the colophons, mentions the author of the miniatures, Aläqa Wäldä Śǝllase Gäbrä Mikaʾel.
Decoration	1. F. 2r: Colorful full-page illustration of the Annunciation. Caption: ዘከመ፡ አብሠራ፡ ለገብርኤል፡ ማርያም፡. 2. F. 2v: Colorful full-page illustration of the Nativity. Caption: ዘከመ፡ ተወልደ፡ እግዚእነ፡ በቤተ፡ ልሔም፡ ዘይሁድ፡. 3. F. 3r: Colorful full-page illustration of the Baptism of Christ. Caption: ዘከመ፡ ተጠምቀ፡ እግዚእነ፡ በእደ፡ ዮሐንስ፡. 4. F. 3v: Colorful full-page illustration of the Wedding at Cana. Caption ዘከመ፡ ገብረ፡ እግዚእነ፡ ተአምረ፡ በቃና፡ ዘገሊላ፡: 5. F. 4r: Colorful full-page illustration of the Arrest of Jesus. Caption: ዘከመ፡ አኀዝዎ፡ አይሁድ፡ ለእግዚእነ፡. 6. F. 4v: Colorful full-page illustration of the Flagellation of Jesus. Caption: ዘከመ፡ ቀሠፈኦ፡ ጲላጦስ፡ ለኢየሱስ፡. 7. F. 5r: Colorful full-page illustration of Pilate and Jesus. Caption: ዘከመ፡ ሐተቶ፡ ጲላጦስ፡ ለኢየሱስ፡. 8. F. 5v: Colorful full-page illustration of Pilate washing his hands. Caption: ይቤ፡ ጲላጦስ፡ አነ፡ ንጹሕ፡ እምደሙ፡ ለዝ፡ ብእሲ፡. 9. F. 6r: Colorful full-page illustration of Jesus bearing the Cross. Caption: ዘከመ፡ አጾርዎ፡ አይሁድ፡ ለእግዚእነ፡ አርዑተ፡ መስቀሉ፡. 10. F. 6v: Colorful full-page illustration of Simon of Cyrene bearing the Cross. Caption: ዘከመ፡ ዐበጥዎ፡ ለስምዖን፡ ከመ፡ ይጹር፡ መስቀሎ፡.
State of preservation of the binding	Mediocre.
State of preservation of the textblock	Discrete.
Provenance and history	According to the text (f. 1v), the miniatures were executed by Aläqa Wäldä Śǝllase Gäbrä Mikaʾel. The colophon on f. 7r indicates Däǧǧazmačč Abrǝha Wäldä Giyorgis as the commissioner of the book, as well as the one who donated it to the church of Däbrä Sǝge (a mistake for the well-known Eritrean monastery of Däbrä Ṣǝge?) in the year 1819/20 CE. However, the date is inconsistent with the mention of King Täklä Giyorgis, who ruled for six distinct periods, from 1779 to 1800. According to D.V. Proverbio, a scribal error from ፲፰፻፷ወ፪ (1862 EC = 1869/70 CE) to ፲፰፻፲ወ፪ (1812 EC = 1819/20 CE) must have occurred: in this way the reconstructed date would coincide with the reign of King Täklä Giyorgis II, who ruled from 1868 to 1872 (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. 510). It is not known when the manuscript was acquired by the abbey library, possibly at some time between 1967 (year of death of Father Lorenzo Tardo) and 1991, when it was reported for the first time by Osvaldo Raineri (cp. Raineri O., 1991, ‘Rec. S. Uhlig, Introduction to Ethiopian Palaeography’. Orientalia Christiana Periodica, 58 (1991), 215–16).