Moine

1890 · Best.-Nr. 516 — Ethiopia: Unknown 1890. First edition. Hand-made: Hand-tooled red-brown leather over wood boards. Good/`. Ethiopian Monk. Pocket-sized Ethiopian Coptic Christian Manuscript Book of the Cross. Handmade handwritten and hand-painted on vellum. This is a small pocket-sized 4 1/2 inches x 3 5/8 inches 38-page manuscript of the Ethiopian Book of the Cross. In Ethiopia the Cross is not only a Christian symbol but also a sacred matrix in religious life embedded in rituals art and identity. The Book of the Cross reflects this deep tradition showing how the Cross is celebrated in liturgy devotion and theological reflection. It was hand-made by a rural/provincial Ethiopian monk circa late 18th century to 19th century. The ink materials used are organic and local as access to foreign materials was more limited than in larger cities closer to trade routes. It is handwritten entirely in the classical Semitic liturgical language Ge'ez on vellum and bound in blind-tooled goatskin or sheepskin tightly stretched over wooden boards. ABOUT THE WORK The Book of the Cross is a devotional material comprised of the following elements: 1 Honors the Cross of Christ as the central symbol of salvation. 2 Contains hymns təwÄb prayers and readings that recount the Passion Resurrection and the veneration of the Cross. 3 Is used in worship to focus the faithful on the theological meaning of the Cross - the 'made one' Tewahedo unity of Christ's divine and human natures. 4 Often includes narratives and psalms that parallel the biblical Passion accounts but are framed in the Ethiopian liturgical tradition. It contains Cross hymns təwÄb praising the Cross and the Passion of Christ; prayers for the faithful especially during Timkat and other feasts; scriptural readings from the Old and New Testaments that focus on the Cross e.g. Psalms the Passion narratives in the Gospels; traditional narratives of the veneration of the Cross in Ethiopian history and tradition and liturgical instructions for how the Cross is venerated in the church. The Ge'ez script is written in strokes quickly executed in a more flowing rounded style versus the rigidly aligned and exacting calligraphy associated with scribal monks in more structured urban environments particularly during the 18th century Gandarian style or late 19th century imperialistic revival period. Elongated razor-sharp geometric strokes were demanded by early to mid-18th-century imperial scriptoriums. The alternating black and red ink red being used for sacred names or section headers utilizes local organic and mineral sources. The black ink does not appear to be made from soot or another burnt carbon source as is typically found based on the fading of the black ink in spots; fading of black ink from soot-based sources is a largely absent occurrence under normal environmental circumstances even after many hundreds of years. Local organic sources like red‑colored leaves bark and roots were used for the red ink. The latter is evident by the fading and color changes to the red ink over time. Imported raw materials like cinnabar and vermillion introduced along trade routes in Eastern Africa were also used to make red ink at the time of this manuscript's creation but they do not fade in the same way as organic sources instead remaining a red or red-orange hue when naturally aged. ELEMENTS OF THE MANUSCRIPT The prayer book is bound in a dark red-brown goatskin or sheepskin the heavy dye job obscures the grain size and pattern but it looks to be sheep stretched tightly over wooden boards with intricate tooling in blind framing side-by-side Ethiopian crosses - a characteristic design for a Book of the Cross manuscript. Interlaced within the text are four full-page miniatures in groupings of two that are painted in a more rustic style by an amateur artist more typical of a small village with limited resources versus by a more practiced hand found in large Ethiopian monasteries or affluent cities. In order of appearance: 1. Jesus Carrying the True Cross Along the Via Dolorosa During the Passion. This illustration serves as the visual centerpiece of the prayer cycle and is the opening page to the manuscript. Jesus is depicted with a halo atserga dressed in traditional striped garments physically carrying the massive wooden cross on His shoulder. To the right stands Simon of Cyrene who was compelled by the Roman soldiers to help carry the cross. The figure on the left represents either a disciple watching in mourning or one of the Roman guards leading the procession. The painting follows a rural or provincial derivative of Ethiopian iconographic art. Key features include the large stylized almond-shaped eyes thick bold black outlines simple flat color planes using earth-tone reds yellows and blues and the lack of three-dimensional perspective. 2. Christ Teaching or Delivering a Decree. The illustration emphasizes the divine authority of Christ's word seamlessly connecting to the theological themes of the surrounding text. The text on the scroll Jesus is carrying translates to 'In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.' 3. The Crucifixion. As the foundational visual of this Haza Mesqel Book of the Cross manuscript this scene serves as the ultimate theological anchor for the surrounding prayers and praises. On the left side of the painting The Virgin Mary Maryam is shown wrapped in a dark blue-grey mantle holding her hands up to her face in a traditional posture of deep mourning and weeping. On the right Saint John the Evangelist is depicted similarly shrouded in a red mantle mirroring Mary's grief-stricken gesture as he witnesses the event. 4. Christ in Majesty Offering a Blessing. This illumination acts as a celebratory closing or protective visual within your Haza Mesqel Book of the Cross manuscript emphasizing Christ's eternal authority and power after the Resurrection. HOW THIS MANUSCRIPT WAS MADE Ge'ez calligraphy executed in natural local-based black and red ink with a reed pen in double columns and rubricated throughout adorns hand-made parchment made from goatskin or sheepskin. The large vellum sheets in this manuscript have been cut in half horizontally to fit inside this diminutive pocket-sized binding. The leaves were not placed back in their original order but rather comprise a mix of prayers and liturgy from the Book of the Cross. The binding was simply sewn together and does not appear to use a link chain stitch for the quires as is typically found. The wooden boards are made from local trees typically olive or wanza. The leather appears to be sheepskin was tanned dyed and treated and stretched tightly over the wooden boards and then intricately tooled in blind. HISTORY OF ETHIOPIAN COPTIC MANUSCRIPTS IN GE'EZ Ethiopian Handwritten Coptic Ge'ez Bibles and liturgical texts were produced as early as the fourteenth century until the early 20th century throughout Ethiopia the first country to become an independent African nation. Christianity was introduced to Ethiopia in the 4th century when Syrian missionaries first translated the Bible into Ge'ez the language of the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church. The surviving body of Ge'ez literature is composed almost entirely of Christian liturgy as education was exclusively the responsibility of priests and monks. The bibles produced typically contain the gospels of the New Testament recounting the life of Jesus of Nazareth and the foundation of the Christian. The Ethiopian Bible contains a significantly larger canon of books than Western Bibles including texts like the Book of Enoch and the Book of Jubilees which are often found in its broader canon. It is considered one of the oldest and most complete Bibles containing more than 80 books compared to the 66 in the Protestant canon. The world's earliest illustrated Christian book is the Garima Gospels written in Ge'ez found in a remote Ethiopian monastery. It is named after a monk who arrived in Ethiopia in the 5th century and is beautifully illustrated. For perspective it predates the first King James Bible by about 1200 years. CONDITION REPORT Fair by book standards but this is a hand-made Ethiopian prayer manual used in religious ceremonies and kept in an open-air environment for over 150 years so it's hard to truly compare. Good by rural Ethiopian manuscript standards. Exterior and binding: Cracked hinges. Spine leather with a large vertical tear. The leather is hand-worn and soiled from generations of use. All edges blackened with soot and sun-exposure. Interior: The vellum pages are soiled with dust and soot from candles and incense burners. There are multiple water dampening stains smudges finger soiling some old repairs made from sinew and natural yellowing and shrinking of the vellum both with age and exposure to the natural environment. The first leaf with an old repair to a tear main image and second painting shown. One leaf has a quarter-sized hole 1" x 1" in the middle of the text. There is loss of letters and words from where leaves were sliced in half. All in all a Book of the Cross broken down to a more manageable pocket-size with four full-page paintings. This is not a book carefully shelved on a bookcase in an English manor for the past 150 years. Rather it is a sturdily made religious manuscript heavily used in a rural agrarian setting where it was likely stored outside at times exposed to the elements. It has seen a lot of 'love' and 'honest wear.' . Unknown unknown