Ethiopian prayer scroll

Accession number:

MS M.1136

Title:

Created:

Ethiopia, late 19th century.

Credit:

Bequest of Leonard Hansen in honor of William M. Voelkle, 2004.

Description:

1 scroll (3 sections sewn together, 2 col., 159 and 156 lines), unbound : vellum, ill. ; 570 x 180 mm.

Provenance:

Name of original owner [Śāhla?] Māryām, erased; replaced with Takla Hāymānot; Leonard J. Hansen (d. 20 September 2003); bequest of Leonard Hansen in honor of William M. Voelkle, 2004.

Notes:

Ms. containing magical religious prayers; written in red and black and illuminated in Ethiopia, end of the 19th century.
Decoration: 2 miniatures. 1) (at the beginning) Demon (?). Two-headed snake, forming a face with two eyes. 2) (at the end) Satan 1. Portrait, holding two human figures (man and women) by the neck.
Texts: 1) (col. 1, lines 1-22) Prayer to bind demons. 2) (col. 1, lines 23-58) Prayer to bind demons. 3) (col. 1, lines 59-102) Prayer to drown demons. 4) (col. 1, lines 102-142) Prayer against 'aynat sickness. 5) (col. 1, lines 142-159) Prayer against bāryā and 'aynat sicknesses. 6) (col. 2, lines 1-37) Prayer against evil spirits who cause all sorts of sickness. 7) (col. 2, lines 38-57) Prayer against one with budā, evil eye. 8) (col. 2, lines 58-87) Prayer against weg'āt illness, colic. 9) (col. 2; lines 88-118) Prayer against stomachache. 10) (col. 2, lines 119-156) Prayer against all sorts of evil spirits who cause different illnesses. 11) Prayer against stomachache, cf. above 4.

Script:

Ethiopic

Language:

Ge'ez

Resources:

Description/Bibliography

Century:

19th century

Genres:

Manuscripts

Scrolls (information artifacts)

Vellum (parchment)