CREATOR UNKNOWN

Magdala, Ethiopia, 17th century. MS 029

This collection of Ethiopian Homilies of Saint John Crisostom on the Archangel Rufa’el features three full page illuminations of Saint Michael, the Archangel Raphael, and the Virgin and Child. The first image illustrates Michael on a pale horse slaying a dragon, accompanied by the patron of the text on the left who holds a rosary. Directly next to it is a lavishly painted depiction of the Virgin and Child in black, red, and orange. The final illumination features not only the Archangel Raphael, but a full body portrait of the patron, Kidana Maryan. The text is split into three parts: first a hymn to St. Michael; then the Prayers to St. Michael accompanied by other discourses on the saint, accounts of forty of his miracles, and discourses of Timothy of Jerusalem and John, Bishop of Akuesum; it concludes with a discourse of St. John Chrysostom for the festival of Raphael, followed by miracles of and hymns to the Archangel Raphael. Despite the date of production of this manuscript, it is still laid out on parchment. Ethiopia is one of the few places in the globe to continue medieval manuscript binding and writing traditions late into the modern era.

This manuscript book has an interesting provenance. A handwritten leaf tipped on inside front cover [translated from French]: "This Manuscript Belonged to Colonel Gally-Passebosc, killed by the savages of New Caldonia in 1878. This officer had been one of the expedition sent by the English against King Theodore (of Abyssinia) He took possession, after the defeat of that prince, of the tapis (carpet) on which he made his prayers, his shield, and this manuscript." Printed catalog description tipped on inside back cover cites Goodspeed description No. 5393, and states that the other Ethiopic manuscripts secured at this time were presented by this officer to the Bibliotheque Nationale.

Bibliography

Dirsana Mika’el (Prayers to Saint Michael), Magdala, Ethiopia, 17th century. University of Oregon Special Collections & University Archives, MS 029. https://alliance-primo.hosted.exlibrisgroup.com/permalink/f/3uoa1r/CP71269187600001451