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

W.768

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

Supplied name: St. Yared the Aksumite priest

Supplied name: St. Ephraem Syrus

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.

Early 18th century and 19th century CE

Ethiopia

Book

Devotional

The primary language in this manuscript is Geez. The secondary language of this manuscript is Amharic.

2. In vernacular: Original colophon: ተፈጸመ፡ መጽሐፈ፡ ዳዊት፡ ነቢይ፡ ጸሎቱ፡ ወበረከቱ፡ የሃሉ፡ ምስለ፡ ፍቁሩ፡ //// ለዓለመ፡ ዓለም፡ አሜን። ወአሜን፨ Secondary colophon for added texts: ስብሐት፡ ወውዳሴ፡ ለአምላከ፡ ዳዊት፡ ነጋሢ፡ እግዚኦ፡ አእርፍ፡ ነፍሳተ፡ አግብርቲከ፡ ወአዕማቲከ፡ ነፍሰ፡ ገብርከ፡ በእደ፡ ማርያም፡ ነፍሳተ፡ አዕማቲከ፡ ወለተ፡ ሕይወት፡ ወለተ፡ ኪዳን፡
3. Translation: Original colophon: The Book of the Prophet David is completed. May his prayer and blessing be with his beloved [name erased] forever and ever, Amen and Amen. Secondary colophon for added texts: Glory and praise to the God of King David. O Lord, give rest to the souls of your male and female servants: the soul of your servant Bä’ǝdä Maryam [and] the souls of your female servants, Wälättä Ḥǝywät [and] Wälättä Kidan.
4. Comment: In red and black ink, divided from rest of text by small crescent patterns and decorated with dotted crosses

Parchment

Heavy, yellow parchment

Foliation: 43

No flyleaves; modern pencil foliation upper right corner

Formula: 1(10,-3,4,5,9,10), 2-4(8), 5(4,-2,4), 6(8), 7(4)

Signatures: Quires sometimes numbered, top left of first recto of quire

Comments: Quires begin on fols. 1(1), 6(2), 14(3), 22(4), 30(5), 32(6), and 40(7)

29.1 cm wide by 31.2 cm high

25.5 cm wide by 25.0 cm high

1. Columns: 3
2. Ruled lines: 31
3. Hard point ruling; layout is unusual in using three columns for Psalter, Canticles, and Song of Songs, as they are usually written in a single column

1. Title: Psalms and associated texts
2. Contents: Manuscript includes the Standard Gǝ‛ǝz Psalter (with the Psalms copied in the eighteenth century and the rest in the nineteenth century) as well as short texts in Amharic on Christian morality and instruction to the clergy on how to execute their duties; prayers for later owners added after their deaths throughout the manuscript as follows: fol. 10r, (end Psalm 40): "O Lord, give rest to the soul of your servant."; fols. 12r, 20v, and 25r (ends of Psalms 50, 90, and 110): "O Lord, give rest to the soul of your maid, Wälättä Hǝywät."; fols. 13v and 18r (ends of Psalms 60 and 80): "O Lord, give rest to the soul of your maid, Wälättä Kidan."; fols. 15v and 21v (ends of Psalms 70 and 100) and fol. 35r (end of Canticles): "O Lord, give rest to the soul of your servant, Bä’ǝdä Maryam."; fol. 28v (end of Psalm 130): the name of "Bä’ǝdä Maryam."; fol. 31v (at end of original colophon): "This is the glory and praise of the God of King David. O Lord, give rest to the souls of your servant Bä’ǝdä Maryam and the souls of your maids Wälättä Heyat [and] Wälättä Kidan."; fol. 37r (end of Song of Songs): "O Lord, give rest to the souls of your maids Walatta Kidan [and] Wälättä Ḥǝywät."
3. Decoration note: No illuminations; small cross designs created from alternating black and red dots decorating the text periodically; text written in black and red ink

1. Title: On Christian morality
2. Incipit: በስመ፡ አብ፡ . . . ሰው፡ ሁሉ፡ ትንሣኤ፡ ሙታንን፡ ያስብ፡ ባንድ፡ ምድር፡ ስንዴና፤ ኑግ፡ ቢዘሩ፡ ኑጉ፡ ስንዴ፡ ሳይሆን፡ ስንዴውም፡ ኑግ፡ አይሆን፡ . . .
3. Text note: Text added in nineteenth century

1. Title: Instructions to priests, part I
2. Incipit: በስመ፡ አብ፡ . . .ካህናት፡ ብቻ፡ የሚሰሙት፡ ነገር፡ እንዳፍ፡ (sic) በረቂቅ፡ ሌላ፡ ሰው፡ አይስማ፡ እብዚአብሔር፡ የማያስተምር፡ . .
3. Text note: Text added in nineteenth century; this is one of two sections of a unique text in Amharic that provides private instruction to priests on how to teach and give benediction

1. Title: 151 Psalms of David
2. Incipit: ፍካሬ፡ ዘጻድቃን፡ ወዘኃጥአን፤ መዝሙር፡ ዘዳዊት፤ ፩ ብፁዕ፡ ብእሲ፡ ዘኢሖረ፡ . . .
3. Text note: Text is original part of manuscript, written in early eighteenth century Gǝ‛ǝz; Psalm 151 is apocryphal, in which King David speaks about himself; see St. Strelcyn article (bibliography)

1. Title: Fifteen Biblical Canticles (Mäḥalǝyä Näbiyat)
2. Contents: Canticles are as follows: fol. 32r: First Song of Moses, ጸሎቱ፡ ለሙሴ፡ (Exodus 15:1-19); fol. 32r-v: Second Song of Moses, ጸሎተ፡ ሙሴ፡ ዘዳግም፡ ሕግ፡ (Deuteronomy 32:1-21); fol. 32v: Third Song of Moses, ጸሎተ፡ ሙሴ፡ ዘሣልስ፡ ሕግ፡ (Deuteronomy 32:22-43); fol. 33r: Song of Hanna, ጸሎተ፡ ሐና፡ እመ፡ ሳሙኤል፡ ነቢይ፡ (1 Samuel 2:1-10); fol. 33r: Prayer of Hezekiah, ጸሎተ፡ ሕዝቅያስ፡ ንጉሠ፡ ይሁዳ፡ (Isaiah 38፡10-20); fol. 33r-v: Prayer of Manasseh, ጸሎተ፡ ምናሴ፡ ነቢይ፡ (Apocryphal, see The Holy Bible, NRSV. Oxford: University Press, 1977, 233-4); fol. 33v: Prayer of Jonah, ጸሎተ፡ ዮናስ፡ ነቢይ፡ (Jonah 2:2-9); fols. 33v-34r: First Song of the Three Holy Children, ጸሎተ፡ ዳንኤል፡ ነቢይ፡ ስብሐት፡ ዘእምአዛርያ፡ (Daniel 3:26-45); fol. 34r: Second Song of the Three Holy Children, ጸሎተ፡ ፫ደቂቅ፡ (Daniel 3:52-56); fol. 34r: Third Song of the Three Holy Children, ኀበ፡ ባረኩ፡ አናንያ፡ ወአዛርያ፡ ወሚሳኤል፡ ለእግዚአብሔር፡ (Daniel 3:57-88); fol. 34v: Song of Habakkuk, ጸሎተ፡ ዕንባቆም፡ ነቢይ፡ (Habakkuk 3:2-18); fols. 34v-35r: Song of Isaiah, ጸሎተ፡ ኢሳይያስ፡ ነቢይ፡ (Isaiah 26:9-20); fol. 35r: Magnificat, ጸሎተ፡ እግዝእትነ፡ ማርያም፡ ድንግል፡ (Luke 1:46-55); fol. 35r: Benedictus, ጸሎተ፡ ዘካርያስ፡ ነቢይ፡ (Luke 1:68-79); fol. 35r: Nunc dimittis, ጸሎተ፡ ስምዖን፡ ነቢይ፡ (Luke 2:29-32)
3. Text note: Text added in nineteenth century

1. Title: Song of Songs of Solomon (Mäḥalǝyä Mäḥalǝy zǝ-wǝ’ǝtu zä-Sälomon)
2. Incipit: ይስዕመኒ፡ በስዕመተ፡ አፉሁ፡
3. Contents: Text broken into five parts: fols. 34r, 35v, 35v, 36r, and 36v
4. Text note: Text added in nineteenth century

1. Title: The Praises of Mary: Wǝddase Maryam
2. Author: St. Ephraem Syrus
3. Contents: Fol. 37r: Monday; fol. 37r: Tuesday; fol. 38r: Wednesday; fol. 48v: Thursday; fol. 39r: Friday; fol. 39v: Saturday; fol. 40r: Sunday; see edition by Karl Fries (bibliography)
4. Text note: Text added in nineteenth century; composed by Saint Ephraem Syrus for the seven days of the week

1. Title: The Praises of Mary: Anqäṣä Bǝrhan (Gate of light)
2. Author: St. Yared the Aksumite priest
3. Text note: Written by St. Yared the Aksumite priest; religious families, especially the clergy, are expected to pray reciting ten Psalms a day with the Praises of Mary designated for the day

1. Title: Instructions to priests, part II
2. Text note: Text added in nineteenth century; this is one of two sections of a unique text in Amharic that provides private instruction to priests on how to teach and give benediction

1. Title: Prayer with the powerful secret names of God (Asmat)
2. Incipit: ወትብል፡ በትሑት" ቃል፡ እሎንተ፡ አስማተ፡ ዓቢያተ፡ አክሶ፤ አሜ፡ ኢሌኪ፡ . .
3. Text note: There are many versions of this kind of religio-magical prayer. For more on the subject, see Haile (bibliography). This prayer begins with the secret names of God given to the Archangel Michael (see Walters Ms. W.835, fol. 9v).

1. Title: Directions for undoing charms and Trinitarian invocation
2. Text note: Added by a later hand, late nineteenth or twentieth century

The binding is original.

Blind-tooled, stamped goatskin with cross design over wooden boards

Probably created for one of the princes of the Gonderite royal family, whose reign ended in 1769

Names of Wälättä Ḥǝywät and Wälättä Kidan, who added texts in the nineteenth century, mentioned repeatedly in later added prayers (fols. 12r, 13v, 31v, and 37r)

Purchased by the Walters Art Museum through the S. & A. P. Fund, January 1960

St. Strelcyn. "Le Psaume 151 dans la tradition ethiopienne," Journal of Semitic Studies, Vol. 23 (1978), pp. 316-329. See this for apocryphal Psalm 151.

The Ethiopic Version of the Song of Songs. Edited and translated by H. C. Cleave. London, 1951. See this for Song of Songs of Solomon.

Weddâsê Mârjâm. Ein äthiopischer Lobgesang an Maria, nach mehreren Handschriften herausgegeben und übersetzt. Edited and translated by Karl Fries. Leipzig, 1892. See this for Praises of Mary (Wǝddase Maryam).

Äthiopische Marienhymnen. Herausgegeben, übersetzt und erläutert. Edited and translated by Adolf Grohman. Leipzig, 1919. See this for Praises of Mary (Anqäṣä Bǝrhan).

Getatchew Haile et al. Catalogue of the Ethiopic Manuscript Imaging Project. Eugene, Oregon, vol 1, 2009, pp. xxxiii-l. See this for religio-magical prayers.

"Bulletin Codicologique," Scriptorium, Vol. 26, 1972, p. 208, no. 402.

Principal cataloger: Getatchew Haile, .

Cataloger: Herbert, Lynley

Conservators: Owen, Linda; Quandt, Abigail

Contributors: Bockrath, Diane; Emery, Doug; Isaac, Ephraim; Noel, William; Pizzinato, Riccardo; Tabritha, Ariel; Toth, Michael B.

The Walters Art Museum

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