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Descriptions of (predominantly) Christian manuscripts from Ethiopia and Eritrea are the core of the Beta maṣāḥǝft project. We (1) gradually encode descriptions from printed catalogues, beginning from the historical ones, (2) incorporate digital descriptions produced by other projects, adjusting them wherever possible, and (3) produce descriptions of previously unknown and/or uncatalogued manuscripts. The encoding follows the TEI XML standards (check our guidelines).
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The clavis is a repertory of all known works relevant for the Ethiopian and Eritrean tradition; the work being defined as any text with an independent circulation. Each work (as well as known recensions where applicable) receives a unique identifier in the Clavis Aethiopica (CAe). In the filter search offered here one can search for a work by its title, a keyword, a short quotation, but also directly by its CAe identifier - or, wherever known and provided, identifier used by other claves, including Bibliotheca Hagiographica Graeca (BHG), Clavis Patrum Graecorum (CPG), Clavis Coptica (CC), Clavis Apocryphorum Veteris Testamenti (CAVT), Clavis Apocryphorum Novi Testamenti (CANT), etc. The project additionally identifies Narrative Units to refer to text types, where no clavis identification is possible or necessary. Recurring motifs or also frequently documentary additiones are assigned a Narrative Unit ID, or thematically clearly demarkated passages from various recensions of a larger work. This list view shows the documentary collections encoded by the project Ethiopian Manuscript Archives (EMA) and its successor EthioChrisProcess - Christianization and religious interactions in Ethiopia (6th-13th century) : comparative approaches with Nubia and Egypt, which aim to edit the corpus of administrative acts of the Christian kingdom of Ethiopia, for medieval and modern periods. See also the list of documents contained in the additiones in the manuscripts described by the Beta maṣāḥǝft project . Works of interest to Ethiopian and Eritrean studies.
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This tab offers a filtrable list of all available places. Geographical references of the type "land inhabited by people XXX" is encoded with the reference to the corresponding Ethnic unit (see below); ethnonyms, even those used in geographical contexts, do not appear in this list. Repositories are those locations where manuscripts encoded by the project are or used to be preserved. While they are encoded in the same way as all places are, the view offered is different, showing a list of manuscripts associated with the repository.
We create metadata for all persons (and groups of persons) associated with the manuscript production and circulation (rulers, religious authorities, scribes, donors, and commissioners) as well as those mentioned in the texts used by the project. The result will be a comprehensive Prosopography of the Ethiopian and Eritrean tradition. See also Help page for more guidance.
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London, British Library, BL Oriental 549

Marcin Krawczuk, Solomon Gebreyes

This manuscript description is based on the catalogues listed in the catalogue bibliography

Work in Progress
https://betamasaheft.eu/BLorient549
British Library[view repository]

Collection: Oriental

Other identifiers: Wright cat. CXXXIX, Wright 139

General description

The Faws Manfasāwi, the order of Celebrating Matrimony, the Order of Purification of an Apostle and other service texts

Number of Text units: 13

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

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.

Contents


check the viewerFols 62v and following The order of the purification of an apostate (CAe 1959)

Incipit (Gǝʿǝz ):መጽሐፈ፡ ቄድር፡ ቀዳሚ፡ ዘሠርዑ፡ ፫፻፲ወ፰ርቱዓነ፡ ሃይማኖት፡ በእንተ፡ ዘድኅፀ፡ እምትእዛዘ፡ እግዚአብሔር፡

Language of text:


check the viewerFols 106r and following Faws manfasāwi (CAe 4018) The text breaks off abruptly on check the viewerf. 96r , in the middle of the word በትሕትና፡

Language of text:


check the viewerFols 118r and following The consecration of an altar (CAe 2326)

Incipit (Gǝʿǝz ):ንጽሕፍ፡ እንከ፡ ሥርዓተ፡ ዘአግብኦ፡ ታቦት፡ ውስተ፡ ቤተ፡ ክርስቲያን፡ ወዘከመ፡ ትትነሣእ፡ እመካና፡ ምስለ፡ ኵሉ፡ ነዋየ፡ ገባሪሃ፡ እንዘ፡ ናስተዋጽእ፡ እመጻሕፍተ፡ ብሉይ፡ ወሐዲስ፡

Language of text:


check the viewerFols 128r and following Rules regarding the regulation and constitution of the Christian Church (CAe 4022)

Incipit (Gǝʿǝz ):አንቀጽ፡ ቀዳማዊ፡ በእንተ፡ ቤተ፡ ክርስቲያን፡ ወዘኵሉ፡ ሥርዓታ።

Language of text:

Additions In this unit there are in total 3 s, 3 s, 1 , 1 .

  1. check the viewerFols. 1, 2, 127v, 144r (Type: LandGrant)

    Various deeds by Takla Hāymānot II , Takla Giyorgis , Gʷālu , Gigār , ʾIyoʾas II , Sāhlu , and Theodore .

  2. check the viewerFol. 2r (Type: LandGrant)

    A copy of a grant by Takla Hāymānot II of various lands to the convent of Dabra Ṭǝbab near Gondar.

  3. check the viewerFol. 4r (Type: OwnershipNote)

    The note states that the manuscript belongs to the church of Madḫāne ʿAlam

    ( gez ) መጽሐፈ፡ ፈውስ፡ መንፈሳዊ፡፡ ዘመድኃኔ፡ ዓለም።

  4. check the viewerFol. 96v (Type: LandGrant)

    A deed in Amharic.

    Text in Amharic

  5. check the viewerFols 129r and following (Type: MixedNote)

    A list of the sacred books which may be read in the Church.

    Text in Gǝʿǝz

  6. check the viewerFols 117v and following (Type: Condemnation)

    ( gez ) ዘሠረቃ፡ ወዘፈሐቃ፡ ለዛቲ፡ መጽሐፍ፡ ዘወሀቦ፡ ወልደ፡ ዳዊት፡ ለኪዳነ፡ ምሕረት፡ ከመ፡ ትኵኖሙ፡ መድኃኒተ፡ ሥጋ፡ ወነፍስ፡ ለወልደ፡ ዳዊት፡ ወሰበነ፡ ጊዮርጊስ፡ በሥልጣነ፡ ጴጥሮስ፡ ወጳውሎስ፡ ውጉዝ፡ ከመ፡ አርዮስ።

Extras

  1. check the viewerFol. 3r (Type: OwnershipNote)

    Names of certain owners.

    ( gez ) ወልደ፡ ክሶስ፡ አቡሁ፡ ወልደ፡ ዳዊት፡ ወልዱ፡ ወብሲቱ፡ (!) ሰበነ፡ ጊዮርጊስ

  2. check the viewerFol. 50v (Type: OwnershipNote)

    Names of certain owners.

    ( gez ) ገብሩ፡ ወልዱ፡ (!) ዳዊት፡ ወአቡሁ፡ ወልደ፡ ክሶስ፡ ወብእሲቱ፡ ሰበነ፡ ጊዮርጊስ፡ ወእማኒ፡ አርሴማ።

  3. check the viewerFol. 3v

    On check the viewerf. 3v the name of king ʾIyāsu, probably [!]The certainty about the value of ref is low. It might alternatively be other.ʾIyāsu III , for the manuscript does not seem to be so old as the time of ʾIyāsu II .

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 94b-95b

Physical Description

Form of support

Parchment Codex

Extent

144 (leaf) .Entered as 144 11.875 10.25
Outer dimensions
Height 11.875in
Width 10.25in

Binding

In the original boards, lined with silk and covered with blind-tooled leather.

Binding material

wood

leather

silk

Original binding

Yes

Layout

Layout note 1

Number of columns: 3

Number of lines: 20-24

Palaeography

  • Hand 1

    Script: Ethiopic

    Date: 1700-1800 according to William Wright

    The manuscript is written in good hand of the 18th century. 1700-1800 according to William Wright
  • Publication Statement

    authority
    Hiob-Ludolf-Zentrum für Äthiopistik
    publisher
    Die Schriftkultur des christlichen Äthiopiens und Eritreas: Eine multimediale Forschungsumgebung / Beta maṣāḥǝft
    pubPlace
    Hamburg
    availability
    This file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0.
    date
    type=expanded
    2022-03-08T12:18:44.472+01:00
    date
    type=lastModified
    2.12.2020
    idno
    type=collection
    manuscripts
    idno
    type=url
    https://betamasaheft.eu/manuscripts/BLorient549
    idno
    type=URI
    https://betamasaheft.eu/BLorient549
    idno
    type=filename
    BLorient549.xml
    idno
    type=ID
    BLorient549

    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.

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    Hypothes.is public annotations pointing here

    Use the tag BetMas:BLorient549 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.

    Marcin Krawczuk, Solomon Gebreyes, Alessandro Bausi, ʻLondon, British Library, BL Oriental 549ʼ, in Alessandro Bausi, ed., Die Schriftkultur des christlichen Äthiopiens und Eritreas: Eine multimediale Forschungsumgebung / Beta maṣāḥǝft (Last Modified: 2.12.2020) https://betamasaheft.eu/manuscripts/BLorient549 [Accessed: 2024-04-29+02:00]

    Revisions of the data

    • Marcin Krawczuk Marcin Krawczuk: Completed description on 2.12.2020
    • Solomon Gebreyes Solomon Gebreyes: Created catalogue entry on 4.4.2019

    Attributions of the contents

    This file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0.