E.Or Ms 462: Gadala Georgios (The Life of St George); Taʾāmmǝra Giyorgis (The Miracles of St George) Vol. 2 of 2, undated (c. 18th C.E.)
Scope and Contents
This is a copy of Gadla Giyorgis (The Life of St George), CAe 1455, and Taʾāmmǝra Giyorgis (The Miracles of St George), CAe 4006, according to Theodotus of Ancyra, and in two volumes (E.Or Ms 461 and 462).
The contents of the current manuscript are:
5ra–72ra: Gadla Giyorgis (The Life of St George, CAe 1455).
73ra–121vb: Taʾāmmǝra Giyorgis (The Miracles of George, CAe 4006).
The second part contains forty numbered miracles.
Fol. 1r contains notes in Amharic and an inventory list, all in different secondary hands. — Supplications for ʾEwosṭātewos (fols 27vb, 31rb, 37rb, 45rb, 47rb, 58rb, 71vb, 121vb, etc.); secondary supplication for Kidāna Māryām (fol. 121vb). — Fol. 121vb: note in Amharic mentioning donation by King Takla Giyorgis (r. intermittently between 1779 and 1800). — Fol. 123v (lower right corner): portrait of Kidāna Māryām (or the name is secondary?). — Fol. 128v (lower part): portrait of King Takla Giyorgis.
The illuminations of this manuscript are executed in the second Gondarine style: a manner of painting employed by painters active in the Gondar during the eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries. Most of the images show St George being subjected to various tortures. Among them, the one on fol. 128v stands out for the presence of a portrait of Emperor Takla Giyorgis in proskynesis beneath a representation of the saint being sawn and stabbed by a complex torturing machine.
This manuscript at one point in time belonged to the Church of the Saviour of the World (Madḫāne ʿĀlam) at Magdala (fol. 5r).
Dates
- Creation: undated (c. 18th C.E.)
Language of Materials
Ge'ez (Script: Ge'ez)
Physical Description
The manuscript has 129 folios, is on vellum, is 30 cm by 26 cm, and includes 16 full-page coloured illustrations. It is in a brown camel or calf skin binding over thick wooden blind-tooled boards. Folio 122 is a stub.
The manscript was repaired by D.Cockerell, in 1961.
Conditions Governing Access
Open. Please contact the repository in advance.
Extent
1 volume
Other Finding Aids
Clavis Aethiopica (Hamburg-based project Beta maṣāḥǝft) [external link. Accessed 30 May 2023].
Custodial History
With the manuscript is a letter written by a John Wilson to Sir Alexander Grant, Principal of the University, that accompanied the gift of the manuscript in 1871. Wilson states that it was "Acquired by my friend Captain James after the taking of Magdala".
This manuscript having belonged to the Church of the Saviour of the World (Madḫāne ʿĀlam) at Magdala is attested within the Ethiopic text (fol. 5r).
Immediate Source of Acquisition
The manuscript was gifted to the University in 1871 by a John Wilson.
Physical Description
The manuscript has 129 folios, is on vellum, is 30 cm by 26 cm, and includes 16 full-page coloured illustrations. It is in a brown camel or calf skin binding over thick wooden blind-tooled boards. Folio 122 is a stub.
The manscript was repaired by D.Cockerell, in 1961.
Source
- Wilson, John, fl 1871 (donor of Ethiopic manuscripts) (Donor, Person)
- James, Captain, fl 1868 (former owner of Ethiopic manuscript) (Former owner, Person)
Repository Details
Part of the University of Edinburgh Library Heritage Collections Repository
Centre for Research Collections
University of Edinburgh Main Library
George Square
Edinburgh EH8 9LJ Scotland
+44(0)131 650 8379
heritagecollections@ed.ac.uk