London, British Library, BL Oriental 503
Eugenia Sokolinski
This manuscript description is based on the catalogues listed in the catalogue bibliography
Collection: Oriental
Other identifiers: Wright cat. XXVII, Wright 27
General description
Old Testament books
Number of Text units: 8
Number of Codicological units: 1
For a table of all relations from and to this record, please go to the Relations view. In the Relations boxes on the right of this page, you can also find all available relations grouped by name.
Origin
(dating on palaeographic grounds)
Provenance
The manuscript had very probably belonged to a church in the Gondar↗ area, from where it was taken by Tewodros II and brought to Madḫāne ʿĀlam↗ . It was then looted by the British Napier expedition in 1868.
Summary
- ms_i1 (check the viewerFols 1r–5v ), ትርጓሜ፡ ስነ፡ ፍጥረታት፡ ዘይነግር፡ መጽሐፈ፡ አሪት፡
- ms_i2 (check the viewerFols 6r–32v ), Book of Isaiah
- ms_i3 (check the viewerFols 36r–45v ), Daniel, Book of
- ms_i4 (check the viewerFols 46r–56v ), Apocalypse of Ezra
- ms_i5 (check the viewerFols 57r–62v ), Ascension of Isaiah
- ms_i6 (check the viewerFols 63r–66v ), Apocalypse of Baruch
- ms_i7 (check the viewerFols 67r–71v ), Apocalypse of Ezra
- ms_i8 (check the viewerFols 71v–74v ), ብዕለ፡ ነገሥታት፡, or the Wealth of Kings
Contents
check the viewerFols 1r–5v ትርጓሜ፡ ስነ፡ ፍጥረታት፡ ዘይነግር፡ መጽሐፈ፡ አሪት፡ (CAe 5625) "Exposition of the Beauty of Created Things", on the commencement of Genesis, as far as Ch. X f. 1a
check the viewerFols 46r–56v Apocalypse of Ezra (CAe 1376) The First Book of Esdras or 4 Esdras according to the Vulgate
check the viewerFols 57r–62v Ascension of Isaiah (CAe 1671)
Subscription ( ):The subscription gives the name of the owner, Qerǝllos owner
check the viewerFols 63r–66v Apocalypse of Baruch (CAe 1120)
Incipit (Gǝʿǝz ):ራዕይ፡ ዘከሠተ፡ ለቅዱሳን፡ አባ፡ ባሮክ፡ እምድኅረ፡ ኮነ፡ ሎቱ፡ ፵ወ፭ዓመተ፡ ወሰድዎ፡ አቡሁ፡ ወእሙ፡ ኢየሩሳሌም፡ ወዓቀምዎ፡ ቅድመ፡ ሊቀ፡ ካህናት፡ ዘስሙ፡ እስክንድሮስ፡ ወደመሮ፡ ኀበ፡ ኣፃዌ፡ ኅዋኅው፡ ዘኢየሩሳሌም። ወነበረ፡ እንዘ፡ ይትለአክ፡ ፳ዓመተ፡ ዘይጼሊ፡ እንዘ፡ ይብል፡ ኢታርእየኒ፡ ሙስናሃ፡ ለኢየሩሳሌም። ወእምድኅረ፡ ኮነ፡ ሎቱ፡ ፵ዓመተ፡ ሖረ፡ ከመ፡ ይቅዳሕ፡ ማየ፡ ወቀድሐ፡ ማ የ፡ ወነሥአ፡ ቍጽለ፡ በለስ፡ ወከደና፡ ለይእቲ፡ ማይ፡ ወ መጽአ፡ ላዕሌሁ፡ ድቃስ፡ ወንዋም፡ ደቀሰ፡ ወኖመ። ወአንሥአ፡ እግዚአብሔር፡ ለናቡከደነጾር፡ etc.
check the viewerFols 67r–71v Apocalypse of Ezra (CAe 1376) The Apocalypse of Ezra, regarding the Day of Judgment
Incipit (Gǝʿǝz ):ይትባረክ፡ እግዚአብሔር፡ አምላክ፡ ለኵሉ፡ መንፈስ፡ ወለኵሉ፡ ዘሥጋ፡ ተናገሮ፡ እግዚአብሔር፡ ለዕዝራ፡ ወይቤሎ፡ አእምር፡ አመ፡ ይመጽእ፡ ይኰንን፡ ሕያዋነ፡ ወሙታነ። ውእተ፡ አሚረ፡ ይበጽሕ፡ ቃል፡ ዘተብህለ፡ እስመ፡ ከመ፡ ሙበረቅ፡ ዘይወጽእ፡ እምጽባሕ፡ ወያስተርኢ፡ ምጽአቱ፡ እስከ፡ ዓረብ፡ ከማሁ፡ ምጽአቱ፡ ለእግዚአብሔር። ወእምድኅረ፡ ውእቱ፡ ፀሐይኒ፡ ይጸልም፡ ወከዋክብትኒ፡ ይወድቁ።etc.
check the viewerFols 71v–74v ብዕለ፡ ነገሥታት፡, or the Wealth of Kings (CAe 1208)
Incipit (Gǝʿǝz ):በስመ፡ ሥሉስ፡ [... ] ናሁ፡ ንጽሕፍ፡ መጸ ሐፈ፡ ዘስሙ፡ ብዕለ፡ ነገሥታት፡ ዘተረክበ፡ በእደ፡ አቡነ፡ ክቡረ፡ ስም፡ አቡነ፡ ተክለ፡ ሃይማኖት፡ ዘውገ፡ መላእክት፡ ወትሩፈ፡ ምግባራተ፡ ዘኢያጸንንዎ፡ መንገለ፡ ሀኬት፡ እኩያነ፡ ልማድ፡ መናፍስት። ጸሎተ፡ ወበረከቱ፡ ያድኅነነ፡ እመንሱት፡ ለዓለመ፡ ዓለም፡ አሜን ፤ ወነበረ፡ ፩ንጉሥ፡ ዘተንሥአ፡ እም ነገሥታት፡ ዛጔ፡ ዘይሰመይ፡ ዘእልመክኑን፡ ወምስለ፡ እለ፡ ነግሡ፡ ምስሌሁ፡ ነገሥታት፡ ኮነ፡ ዘመነ፡ መንግሥቶሙ፡ ፫፻፸ወ፪ወዘንቱሰ፡ መንግሥቶሙ፡ ኮነ፡ ምክንያተ፡ ነገሩ።
Imperfect at the end. Cp. London, British Library, BL Oriental 722Additions In this unit there are in total 2 , 5 s.
-
check the viewerFol. 6r (Type: OwnershipNote)
The note states that the manuscript belongs to the church of Madḫāne ʿAlam↗
( gez ) ኢሳይያስ፡ ዘቀ' ፡ መ' ፡ አለም።
-
check the viewerFol. 32v (Type: GuestText)
A list of the Biblical Books as received in the Ethiopian Church, in the main hand
Text in Gǝʿǝz
-
check the viewerFol. 33r (Type: GuestText)
A piece entitled ምሳሌ፡ ቤተ፡ መቅደስ፡ or Comparison of the Temple , beginning ( gez ) ቀደማዊ፡ መደብ፡ ይትሜሰል፡ በምድር። ወካልዕ፡ መደብ፡ ይት፡ በገነት ፤ ወሣልስ፡ መ፡ ይ፡ በጠፈር ፤ ወራብዕ፡ መ፡ ይ፡ በአርያም ፤ etc.
-
check the viewerFol. 33r (Type: GuestText)
King list (general record) (CAe 3852) Lists of kings of Judah and Israel↗ , the Prophets, and the High-priests.
-
check the viewerFols 33v–35v (Type: GuestText)
Genealogy of the Fathers, from Adam to Fāsiladas , who began to reign in 1632.
-
check the viewerFol. 77r (Type: GuestText)
Addition in another hand: ( gez ) የዘንደ፡ ታሪከ፡ ትውልዱ፡ አክሱም፡ ነው፡ ፩ሰት፡ ሰወ.ና፡ ዘንደ፡ መንታ፡ ወለደት ፤
-
check the viewerFol. 69r (Type: OwnershipNote)
The name of the owner, Qerǝllos owner
Decoration In this unit there are in total .
Catalogue Bibliography
-
Wright, W. 1877. Catalogue of the Ethiopic Manuscripts in the British Museum Acquired since the Year 1847 (London: Gilbert and Rivington, 1877).page 20b-21b
This manuscript has modern restorations.
Physical Description
Form of support
Parchment Codex
Extent
Outer dimensions | |
Height | 8.6in |
Width | 8.25in |
Foliation
Foliation by the library in the upper right corner. One unnumbered blank leaf at the beginning, referred to as check the viewerfol. i in the library's digitization.
Quire Structure Collation
Position | Number | Leaves | Quires | Description |
---|---|---|---|---|
1 | A | 6 |
|
|
2 | 1 | 10 |
|
|
3 | 3 | 10 |
|
|
4 | 4 | 10 |
|
|
5 | 5 | 10 |
|
|
6 | 6 | 10 |
|
|
7 | 7 | 10 |
|
|
8 | 8 | 8 |
|
2, stub after 8 1, stub after 8 |
9 | 9 | 4 |
|
Collation diagrams
Quire ID:q1, number:A
Quire ID:q2, number:1
Quire ID:q3, number:3
Quire ID:q4, number:4
Quire ID:q5, number:5
Quire ID:q6, number:6
Quire ID:q7, number:7
2, stub after 8 1, stub after 8
Quire ID:q8, number:8
Quire ID:q9, number:9
Ethio-SPaRe formula : A(6/
Formula:
Formula 1: 1 (6), 2 (10), 3 (10), 4 (10), 5 (10), 6 (10), 7 (10), 8 (), 9 (4),
Formula 2: 1 (6), 2 (10), 3 (10), 4 (10), 5 (10), 6 (10), 7 (10), 8 (), 9 (4),
State of preservation
good
Condition
Binding
Two wooden boards.
Blind-tooled leather cover (with the gilded title and shelfmark on the spine).Sewing Stations
4Sewing Stations
Sewing stations are used in an irregular way.Binding material
wood
leather
Original binding
No
Layout
Layout note 1
Number of columns: 2
Number of lines: 33-40
The originally empty bifolia check the viewerfols. i, -check the viewer5, and check the viewer74, -check the viewer77, contain three ruled lines at the top and four ruled lines at the bottom, with the space in the middle left unruled. The bifolium check the viewer75–76 is not ruled.Ruling
- (Subtype: pattern)1A-1A-1A1A/0-0/0-0/C
- The upper line is written above the ruling, the lower line is written above the ruling.
Pricking
- Pricking and ruling are visible.
- Primary pricks are mostly visible, horizontal pricks are visible.
Palaeography
Hand 1
Script: Ethiopic
Ink: Black, red
Date: 1700-1800
The manuscript is written in a more than one hand of the 18th century. 1700-1800More bibliography
Publication Statement
This file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0.
Encoding Description
Encoded according to TEI P5 Guidelines.
Encoded according to the Beta maṣāḥǝft Guidelines. These Guidelines detail the TEI format ruled by the Beta maṣāḥǝft Schema. The present TEI file is enriched with an Xquery transformation taking advantage of the exist-db database instance where the data is stored and of the many external resources to which this data points to.
Definitions of prefixes used.
Select one of the keywords listed from the record to see related data
Use the tag BetMas:BLorient503 in your public hypothes.is annotations which refer to this entity.
Suggested Citation of this record
To cite a precise version, please, click on load permalinks and to the desired version (see documentation on permalinks), then import the metadata or copy the below, with the correct link.
Eugenia Sokolinski, Alessandro Bausi, Dorothea Reule, ʻLondon, British Library, BL Oriental 503ʼ, in Alessandro Bausi, ed., Die Schriftkultur des christlichen Äthiopiens und Eritreas: Eine multimediale Forschungsumgebung / Beta maṣāḥǝft (Last Modified: 29.6.2022) https://betamasaheft.eu/manuscripts/BLorient503 [Accessed: 2024-04-26+02:00]
Revisions of the data
- Dorothea Reule Added binding on 29.6.2022
- Dorothea Reule Added layout and collation on 1.6.2022
- Dorothea Reule Updated keywords and catalogue range on 4.11.2019
- Dorothea Reule Added link to images on 4.6.2019
- Eugenia Sokolinski Created catalogue entry on 2.2.2017
Attributions of the contents
Alessandro Bausi, general editor
Eugenia Sokolinski, editor
Dorothea Reule, contributor