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W.768, Ethiopic Psalter with Canticles, Song of Songs, and two hymns in praise of Mary

Abstract

This beautifully copied and bound Ethiopian Psalter likely belonged to one of the princes of the Gonderite royal family, whose reign ended in 1769. The main text of this undecorated manuscript is written in the ecclesiastical language of Gǝ‛ǝz while the minor texts are in Amharic, added at a later time. While the colophon and the hand suggest that the original manuscript only contained the 151 Psalms of David, which is in an early eighteenth-century hand, the other texts such as the fifteen Canticles, Song of Songs, Weddase Maryam (Encomium of Mary) and the Anqasa Berhan (Porch of Light) were added in the nineteenth century to create a more complete Psalter. More unusual texts, unrelated to the Psalter, have also been added, for it begins with a homily admonishing the clergy to conduct themselves well spiritually, and ends with directions for undoing charms. The life of the manuscript can be traced not only in these cumulative texts, but also in added prayers for later owners, of which there are at least twelve appended to the ends of the Biblical texts.

Manuscript Description (in a new window) | TEI (XML format) | View at art.thewalters.org

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    1. Upper board outside

      W.768, Upper board outside
    2. Upper board inside

      W.768, Upper board inside
    3. fol. 1r

      W.768, fol. 1r
    4. fol. 1v

      W.768, fol. 1v
    5. fol. 2r

      W.768, fol. 2r
    6. fol. 2v

      W.768, fol. 2v
    7. fol. 3r

      W.768, fol. 3r
    8. fol. 3v

      W.768, fol. 3v
    9. fol. 4r

      W.768, fol. 4r
    10. fol. 4v

      W.768, fol. 4v
    11. fol. 5r

      W.768, fol. 5r
    12. fol. 5v

      W.768, fol. 5v
    13. fol. 6r

      W.768, fol. 6r
    14. fol. 6v

      W.768, fol. 6v
    15. fol. 7r

      W.768, fol. 7r
    16. fol. 7v

      W.768, fol. 7v
    17. fol. 8r

      W.768, fol. 8r
    18. fol. 8v

      W.768, fol. 8v
    19. fol. 9r

      W.768, fol. 9r
    20. fol. 9v

      W.768, fol. 9v
    21. fol. 10r

      W.768, fol. 10r
    22. fol. 10v

      W.768, fol. 10v
    23. fol. 11r

      W.768, fol. 11r
    24. fol. 11v

      W.768, fol. 11v
    25. fol. 12r

      W.768, fol. 12r
    26. fol. 12v

      W.768, fol. 12v
    27. fol. 13r

      W.768, fol. 13r
    28. fol. 13v

      W.768, fol. 13v
    29. fol. 14r

      W.768, fol. 14r
    30. fol. 14v

      W.768, fol. 14v
    31. fol. 15r

      W.768, fol. 15r
    32. fol. 15v

      W.768, fol. 15v
    33. fol. 16r

      W.768, fol. 16r
    34. fol. 16v

      W.768, fol. 16v
    35. fol. 17r

      W.768, fol. 17r
    36. fol. 17v

      W.768, fol. 17v
    37. fol. 18r

      W.768, fol. 18r
    38. fol. 18v

      W.768, fol. 18v
    39. fol. 19r

      W.768, fol. 19r
    40. fol. 19v

      W.768, fol. 19v
    41. fol. 20r

      W.768, fol. 20r
    42. fol. 20v

      W.768, fol. 20v
    43. fol. 21r

      W.768, fol. 21r
    44. fol. 21v

      W.768, fol. 21v
    45. fol. 22r

      W.768, fol. 22r
    46. fol. 22v

      W.768, fol. 22v
    47. fol. 23r

      W.768, fol. 23r
    48. fol. 23v

      W.768, fol. 23v
    49. fol. 24r

      W.768, fol. 24r
    50. fol. 24v

      W.768, fol. 24v
    51. fol. 25r

      W.768, fol. 25r
    52. fol. 25v

      W.768, fol. 25v
    53. fol. 26r

      W.768, fol. 26r
    54. fol. 26v

      W.768, fol. 26v
    55. fol. 27r

      W.768, fol. 27r
    56. fol. 27v

      W.768, fol. 27v
    57. fol. 28r

      W.768, fol. 28r
    58. fol. 28v

      W.768, fol. 28v
    59. fol. 29r

      W.768, fol. 29r
    60. fol. 29v

      W.768, fol. 29v
    61. fol. 30r

      W.768, fol. 30r
    62. fol. 30v

      W.768, fol. 30v
    63. fol. 31r

      W.768, fol. 31r
    64. fol. 31v

      W.768, fol. 31v
    65. fol. 32r

      W.768, fol. 32r
    66. fol. 32v

      W.768, fol. 32v
    67. fol. 33r

      W.768, fol. 33r
    68. fol. 33v

      W.768, fol. 33v
    69. fol. 34r

      W.768, fol. 34r
    70. fol. 34v

      W.768, fol. 34v
    71. fol. 35r

      W.768, fol. 35r
    72. fol. 35v

      W.768, fol. 35v
    73. fol. 36r

      W.768, fol. 36r
    74. fol. 36v

      W.768, fol. 36v
    75. fol. 37r

      W.768, fol. 37r
    76. fol. 37v

      W.768, fol. 37v
    77. fol. 38r

      W.768, fol. 38r
    78. fol. 38v

      W.768, fol. 38v
    79. fol. 39r

      W.768, fol. 39r
    80. fol. 39v

      W.768, fol. 39v
    81. fol. 40r

      W.768, fol. 40r
    82. fol. 40v

      W.768, fol. 40v
    83. fol. 41r

      W.768, fol. 41r
    84. fol. 41v

      W.768, fol. 41v
    85. fol. 42r

      W.768, fol. 42r
    86. fol. 42v

      W.768, fol. 42v
    87. fol. 43r

      W.768, fol. 43r
    88. fol. 43v

      W.768, fol. 43v
    89. Lower board inside

      W.768, Lower board inside
    90. Lower board outside

      W.768, Lower board outside
    91. Spine

      W.768, Spine
    92. Fore-edge

      W.768, Fore-edge
    93. Head

      W.768, Head
    94. Tail

      W.768, Tail

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