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London, British Library, BL Oriental 820

Solomon Gebreyes, Marcin Krawczuk, Dorothea Reule

This manuscript description is based on the catalogues listed in the Catalogue Bibliography

Work in Progress
https://betamasaheft.eu/BLorient820
British Library[view repository]

Collection: Oriental

Other identifiers: Wright cat. CCCXCI, Wright 391

General description

Chronicle of the Kings of Ethiopia

Number of Text units: 16

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

1808-1833

Provenance

In 1833 , the manuscript was held by the church of Qʷarāṭā Walatta Pēṭros , where it must still have been around 1840 , when it served as Vorlage of Paris, Bibliothèque nationale de France, BnF Éthiopien 143 and Paris, Bibliothèque nationale de France, BnF Éthiopien d'Abbadie 118 (see Kropp 1989). The manuscript is part of the collection looted by the British Napier expedition in 1868 from the church of Madḫāne ʿAlam . Kropp speculates that it might have been looted from Qʷarāṭā Walatta Pēṭros by Goššu Mǝrḉa in 1846 , and then brought to Madḫāne ʿĀlam following Goššu Mǝrḉa 's defeat by Tewodros II .

Contents


check the viewerFols 1ra–61v Ḫāylu Compilation (general record) (CAe 4090) (According to Kropp 1989 this manuscript, which preserves only the latter parts of the so-called Ḫāylu Compilation, is a fragment of the autograph, from which all other existing witnesses are descended.) (The chronicle commences with the history of rās Mikāʾel Sǝḥul , who held the reins of power under the weak kings ʾIyāsu and ʾIyoʾas , the latter of whom he caused to be murdered in May 1769, and set upon the throne the aged Yoḥannǝs II Yoḥannǝs II, who died in October of the same year. Yoḥannǝs was succeeded by his son Takla Hāymānot II , the events of whose reign are told at considerable length. The narrative closes with the death of rās Mikāʾel in the reign of Takla Giyorgis I . On f. 8 commences the history of the reign of Takla Giyorgis, with some account of the rival king Solomon II . On f. 22 we find the history of daǧǧāzmāč Ḫāyla Mikāʾel ʾƎšate Ḫāyla Mikāʾel, the son of daǧǧāzmāč ʾƎšate and wayzaro ʾƎmāya, ending with the elevation to the throne of ʾabeto ʾIyasu . F. 29r - reign of ʾIyasu III. F. 30v - continuation of the history of Haylu down to the breaking out of war between him and rās ʿAli . F. 32r - a history of rās ʿAli , his struggle with Haylu, and the restoration of Takla Giyorgis to the throne. This chapter ends with the death of rās ʿAli and his burial at Lālibalā. F. 39r - history of rās ʿAligāz, brother of rās ʿAli, f. 45v - elevation of Ḥǝzqǝyās to the throne, f. 47r - continuation of the history of Takla Giyorgis, f. 48v - king Baʾǝda Māryām II , f. 50r - king Solomon III, f. 51r - king Yonās, f. 55r - reign of Dǝmeṭros , f. 56r - reign of ʾƎgʷāla Ṣǝyon . The latest date in this volume is 7301 AM i. e. 1807-8 AD. The chapter on f. 60v relates to the religious disputes of Gʷālu's reign, those on f. 61r to the daǧǧāzmāč Zawde, the death of rās ʾAsrāt, and other events of the same period.)

Language of text:


check the viewerFols 1ra–3va Ḫāylu Compilation (general record), The deeds of Ḫāyla Mikāʾel ʾƎšate (CAe 4090 RasMikael)

Incipit (Gǝʿǝz ):እዌጥን፡ እምጥንቱ፡ ለግብር፡ ወእነግር፡ ግብሮ፡ ለእግዚአብሔር፡ ዘገብረ፡ በእደ፡ መልአኩ፡ ርእሰ፡ ኃያላን፡ ሚካኤል፡ ኃያል፡ ወመስተዓግሥ፡ ዘይኴንን፡ እምባሕር፡ እስከ፡ የብስ፡ ዘውእቱ፡ እምነ፡ ምጽዋ፡ እስከ፡ አድዋ። ወእምነ፡ ዓድዋ፡ እስከ፡ ዛዋ፡


check the viewerFols 3va–7vb Ḫāylu Compilation (general record), Chronicle of Takla Hāymānot II (CAe 4090 TaklaHaymanotII)

Colophon

check the viewerFol. 7vb

ወአጽሐፎን፡ ለእለ፡ መጻሕፍተ፡ ታሪክ፡ ዘነገሥታት፡ ወመኳንንት፡ እለ፡ ኮኑ፡ እምፍጥረተ፡ አዳም፡ እስከ፡ ንጉሠ፡ ነገሥት፡ አድማስ፡ ሰገድ፡ ተክለ፡ ሃይማኖት። ወአስተጋብኦን፡ ደጃዝማች፡ ኃይሉ፡ እንዘ፡ ሕፃን፡ ልሂቅ፡ በአስተሐምሞ፡ ወፃሕቅ፡ እምኵሎን፡ አድባራት፡ ወእምደሰያት። ወእምቤተ፡ አዛዦች፡ ወእምቤተ፡ ጸሓፍያነ፡ ትእዛዝ። ወእምዝ፡ ኵሉ፡ አስተጋብኦን፡ ለእለ፡ መጻሕፍተ፡ ታሪክ። እምከመ፡ ጠፍአ፡ በብዙኅ፡ መዋዕል። በከመ፡ አስተጋብኦን፡ ዕዝራ፡ ነቢየ፡ ትካት፤ ለኵሎን፡ መጻሕፍተ፡ ነቢያት። እለ፡ ውዕያ፡ ቀዳሚ፡ ከማሁ፡ አስተጋብኦን፡ ደጃዝማች፡ ኃይሉ፡ ርእሰ፡ መኳንንት፡ ለኵሎን፡ መጻሕፍተ፡ ነገሥት፤ እለ፡ ጠፍዓ፡ አመ፡ ውዕየ፡ ቤተ፡ በመዓተ፡ ራስ፡ ሚካኤል፡ ክቡድ፡ መዓት። ወበከመ፡ አስተጋብእዎን፡ ፫፻ለመጻሕፍተ፡ ሐዲሳት፡ ከማሁ፡ አስተጋብኦ ባሕቱ፡ ኢሀሎ፡ ንጉሥ፡ ወመኰንን። ወአስተሐምሞ፡ ወፃሕቅ፡ ዘይሳምዖን፡ ወይሬእዮን፡ ተፈጸመ፡ መጽሐፈ፡ ታሪክ፡ አመ፡ ሰዱሱ፡ ለወርኃ፡ መስከም፡ (!) ቡሩክ። ለዓለመ፡ ዓለም፡ አሜን።

(The colophon states that these chronicles from Adam to Takla Haymānot II were transcribed by the care of daǧǧāzmāč Ḫāylu . See also Kropp 1989 )


check the viewerFols 29ra–30va Ḫāylu Compilation (general record), Chronicle of ʾIyāsu III (CAe 4090 IyasuIII)

Colophon

check the viewerFol. 30v

በ፸፻ወ፪፻፡ ፸ወ፰ዓመት፡ እምፍጥረተ፡ ዓለም፡ ሠረቀ፡ መስከረም፡ ወንጌላዊ፡ ማርቆስ፡ በዕለተ፡ ዓርብ፡ እንዘ፡ አብቄቴ፡ ፳ወ፱፡ ወመጥቅዕ፡ ፩ዱ። ወቦ፡ ዘይቤሉ፡ አልቦ፡ መጥቅዕ፡ ወአልቦ፡ አበቅቴ። ወአመ፡ ፯ለዝ፡ ወርኅ፡ ተፈጸመ፡ ዝንቱ፡ መጽሐፍ፡ ዘውእቱ፡ ታሪክ። እምአመ፡ ተወጥነ፡ አመ፡ ሰዱሱ፡ ለነሐሴ። ወኮነ፡ ጽሕፈቱ፡ እንዘ፡ ሀሎ፡ በማኅደረ፡ ማርያም፡ ደጃዝማች፡ ኃይሉ፡ ልዑል፡ ወክቡር፡ ሠቢብ፡ ወማዕምር። ዘአኅበረ፡ ኵሎ፡ ውርዛዌ፡ ምስለ፡ ቃለ፡ ምሥጢር፡ ወበጽሐ፡ ስሙ፡ እምጽንፈ፡ ምድር፡ እስከ፡ ጽንፈ፡ ምድር። አምባሕር፡ ወእስከ፡ ባሕር። ሀልዎቱኒ፡ ኮነ፡ በተሰዶ። ምክንያተ፡ ተሰዶቱ፡ እንዘ፡ ኢይትአመር። ምንተኒ፡ ነገረ፡ ዓመፃ፡ እንዘ፡ ኢይገብር፡ ለዓለመ፡ ዓለም፡ አሜን።

(See also Kropp 1989.)


check the viewerFols 60va–60vb Ḫāylu Compilation (general record), Narration of the first three years of the tenure of , composed after the main part of the Hāylu Compilation. (CAe 4090 Salama) (This textpart probably constitutes a later addition to this manuscript, and then became part of the transmitted work, see Kropp 1989)

check the viewerFols 61r–61v Copist's working note (See Kropp 1989. This originally probably loose piece of parchment, now attached to the manuscript on a guard, contains a preliminary sketch for text that has also been incorporated into the main text from check the viewerfol. 57v on.)

Additions In this unit there are in total 1 .

  1. check the viewerFol. 62v (Type: Inventory)

    Inventory of lands (ኈልቈ፡ ምድር፡) belonging to Ǝšäte of Qwara , in Amharic.

    Text in Amharic

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 314a-315a

Secondary Bibliography

  • Kropp, M. 1989. Die äthiopischen Königschroniken in der Sammlung des Däǧǧazmač Ḫaylu: Entstehung und handschriftliche Überlieferung des Werks, Heidelberger orientalische Studien, 13 (Frankfurt a. M.: Lang, 1989).

This manuscript has modern restorations.

Physical Description

Form of support

Parchment Codex

Extent

62 (leaf) .Entered as 62 15.25 11
Outer dimensions
Height 15.25in
Width 11in

Foliation

Foliation in the upper right corner by the library.

Quire Structure Collation

The quire structure is difficult to discern due to the tightness of the binding. In the last part of the manuscript, quires are composed of many single leaves with visible stubs, and possible some folia or bifolia inserted at a later point into the manuscript.

State of preservation

good

Condition

Binding

Two wooden boards. Both inner boards are darkened around the edges, possibly showing traces of a former cover.

Blind-tooled leather quarter cover (with the gilded title and shelfmark on the spine).

Sewing Stations

6

Sewing 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: 47-50

Ruling
  • (Subtype: pattern)Ruling pattern: 1A-1A-1A1A/0-0/0-0/C.
  • The upper line is written above the ruling.
  • The bottom line is written above the ruling.
Pricking
  • Pricking and ruling are visible.
  • Primary pricks are visible.
  • Ruling pricks are visible.

Palaeography

  • Hand 1

    Script: Ethiopic

    Date: 1800-1850 according to William Wright

    Fairly written by different hands according to Wright. However, Kropp 1989 assumes that the scribe was the same, but that there were several changes of nib as the work was in the lengthy process of composition. 1800-1850 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
      19.7.2022 at 15:53:50
      date
      type=lastModified
      5.7.2022
      idno
      type=collection
      manuscripts
      idno
      type=url
      https://betamasaheft.eu/manuscripts/BLorient820/main
      idno
      type=URI
      https://betamasaheft.eu/BLorient820
      idno
      type=filename
      BLorient820.xml
      idno
      type=ID
      BLorient820
    info value
    Standard date ፸፻ወ፪፻፡ ፸ወ፰ዓመት፡
    Date in current calendar no *-custom attributes
    Calendar world

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    Suggested citation of this record

    Solomon Gebreyes, Marcin Krawczuk, Dorothea Reule, ʻLondon, British Library, BL Oriental 820 (encoded from the catalogue)ʼ, in Die Schriftkultur des christlichen Äthiopiens und Eritreas: Eine multimediale Forschungsumgebung / Beta maṣāḥǝft (Last Modified: 2022-07-05) https://betamasaheft.eu/manuscripts/BLorient820 [Accessed: 2024-12-19]

    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.

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    Revision history

    • Dorothea Reule Added binding on 5.7.2022
    • Dorothea Reule Continued description from historical catalogue entry with consultation of images on 11.5.2022
    • Marcin Krawczuk Continued description from historical catalogue entry with consultation of images on 6.11.2020
    • Solomon Gebreyes Created catalogue entry on 14.2.2019
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    Attribution of the content

    Alessandro Bausi, general editor

    Solomon Gebreyes, editor

    Marcin Krawczuk, editor

    Dorothea Reule, editor

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