AA.VV - Manoscritto Ge'ez - 1700

AN AFRICAN CODE IN THE ATAVISTIC GE’EZ LANGUAGE: RITE AND MEMORY AT THE HEART OF ETHIOPIA
Manuscript on parchment - from the Ethiopian area in the Ge’ez language - dating to the 18th–19th century: one of the oldest Christian traditions in the world, that of the Ethiopian Orthodox Church, rooted since the 4th century and deeply interwoven with pre-Christian African beliefs. Ethiopian religion is distinguished by an extraordinary continuity between biblical elements, the cult of saints, the apotropaic use of texts, and practices of spiritual protection of atavistic origin. The manuscript, with its alternation of red and black writing and clear signs of use, is not only a liturgical book but also a ritual object, a talisman, and a mediation instrument between the visible and the invisible worlds.
MARKET VALUE
Devoitional Ethiopian manuscripts present a stable but selective market. Well-preserved copies with intact decorations and bindings can reach values between 1,800 and 2,000 euros.

PHYSICAL DESCRIPTION AND CONDITION
Full-leather binding, probably contemporary, loosened and showing signs of wear; internal structure visible with artisanal reinforcements.
Parchement manuscript in small format consisting of many non-numbered leaves. Text in Ge’ez script laid out on a full page, with rubrics in red and black according to the Ethiopian liturgical tradition.
Presence of linear decorative elements and stylized borders. Later handwritten annotations and drawings on the initial leaves.
In old books with a multi-century history, some imperfections may be present that are not always noted in the description.
Collation: pp. (2); 276; (2).

FULL TITLE AND AUTHOR
Liturgical and devotional manuscript in Ge’ez (Ethiopia), anonymous author.
Ethiopia, XVII–XIX century.
AA.VV.

CONTEXT AND SIGNIFICANCE
The Ethiopian religious tradition represents one of the oldest and most autonomous forms of world Christianity, officially adopted in the Kingdom of Aksum in the 4th century. However, it did not develop as a simple derivative of Byzantine or Latin Christianity, but as a complex system in which Christian faith intertwines with preexisting African beliefs.

Fundamental elements of this religiosity are the strong apotropaic dimension of the written word, the use of sacred texts as tools of protection against diseases, evil spirits, and invisible influences, and the presence of ritual practices that have roots in local atavistic traditions. The book itself is not only a vehicle of content but a sacred object endowed with spiritual efficacy.

The Ge’ez language, already a liturgical language in medieval Ethiopia, holds a sacred value analogous to Latin in the West. The alternation of red and black in the text is not merely decorative but signals ritual hierarchies, important passages, and sacred formulas.
In this sense, the volume represents a unique synthesis between ancient Christianity and African spiritual tradition, where the sacred text becomes at once prayer, protection, and memory.

BIOGRAPHY OF THE AUTHOR
Anonymous author. Ethiopian manuscripts were generally produced by scribes trained in monastic or ecclesiastical settings. The transmission of texts occurred by manual copying, with local adaptations and variations, within a collective tradition lacking a modern concept of individual authorship.

PRINTING HISTORY AND CIRCULATION
This is a manuscript-produced item, not a printed one. Ethiopian book production remained manual until very late periods, even after printing spread in other parts of the world.
These codices circulated in local contexts, often without an organized market, and were used until their material deterioration. Their survival is therefore relatively rare and tied to favorable conservation conditions.

BIBLIOGRAPHY AND REFERENCES
Uhlig, Siegbert (ed.), Encyclopaedia Aethiopica, Wiesbaden, Harrassowitz.
Heldman, Marilyn, African Zion: The Sacred Art of Ethiopia, Yale University Press.
Balicka-Witakowska, Ewa et al., Ethiopian Art: The Walters Art Museum, Walters Art Museum.
Getatchew Haile, Catalogue of Ethiopian Manuscripts, Hill Monastic Manuscript Library.
British Library, Catalogue of Ethiopian Manuscripts.
Vatican Library, Collezioni etiopiche.
Ethio-SPaRe Project, database of Ethiopian manuscripts.
Mercier, Jacques, Art that Heals: The Image as Medicine in Ethiopia, Prestel.