For All Points-Of-The-View.
A Serious Question of Ethiopian Studies - Five Thousand Ethiopian Manuscripts Abroad
HISTORICAL FEATURE:
A Serious Question of Ethiopian Studies
Ethiopic, or Ge'ez, manuscripts [hereafter MSS] are of fundamental importance for scholarship.
Ethiopic literature formed a major part of ancient and medieval Christian literature. Many important Ethiopic works were, and still are, unknown to the
outside world: Foreign scholars learnt for example of the Book of Enoch
and the Book of Jubilees only because they were preserved in
Ethiopia.
Though most Ethiopic literature is religious, numerous texts also cover subjects, including history, philosophy, law,
mathematics, and medicine.
For the study of Ethiopic, as other texts, scholars need to consult more than one copy. This is because MSS
were written by hand, and scholars have to compare different versions to control
the scribe's accuracy, or lack thereof, and thus establish a definitive
text.
Ethiopian MSS often also include "marginalia", i.e. end papers, etc., containing notable secular material: data on land sales and
grants, marriage settlements, church and monastic inventories, etc. See for
example Tax Records of Emperor Tewodros of Ethiopia, published by the
School of Oriental and African Studies in London, which I wrote with Girma
Sellasie Asfaw, in 1978.
Ethiopian MSS are no less important for the history of Ethiopian art. Illustrations, painted by hand, are
by definition unique, for which reason too it is necessary to study several
works, not merely one, on any theme.
For all these reasons it is essential to collect as comprehensive a photographic collection of
Ethiopian MSS as possible.
EMML, UNESCO, and Professor Hammerscmidt
It was for the above reasons, as well as in the interests of preservation, that the Ethiopian Manuscript Microfilm
Library, EMML, was established in 1973. It was based on co-operation between the
Ethiopian Patriarchate, the Ethiopian Ministry of Culture, and St. John's
University in Collegeville, Minnesota, USA.
It was for the above reasons too that Ethiopia facilitated the microfilming of MSS by
UNESCO, and by the late Professor Ernst Hammerscmidt, of Hamburg
University.
The EMML went to immense pains microfilming thousands of MSS in remote parts of Ethiopia. By making such film available to
scholars it gave an immense fillip to international, as well as Ethiopian
scholarship.
The Time Has Surely Come
The time has surely come to focus not only on Ethiopian MSS in Ethiopia, but also on an estimated 5,000 Ethiopian MSS in
Europe, North America, Asia, and Oceania: so as to make them more readily
available for scholarship. The microfilming, or preferably digital
photographing, of such MSS abroad is scarcely less important than the copying of
MSS in Ethiopia itself. Photography in technically advanced countries would be
less demanding, and hence less costly, than in the Ethiopian
countryside.
It is only fair to add that whereas microfilming in Ethiopia has been of major assistance to international
scholarship, the failure to copy Ethiopian MSS in the rest of the world remains
an obstacle to scholarship within Ethiopia itself. It is good that the odd
Ethiopian manuscript is preserved in Spain or New Zealand, but this scarcely
helps research in Ethiopia.
The Five Thousand Manuscripts Abroad
Let us look at the worldwide diffusion of Ethiopian MSS. The figures below are conservative, for they do not
include privately owned MSS, or recent library acquisitions.
Great Britain
The largest number of Ethiopian MSS abroad, over 850, are in the United Kingdom. A little less than half were
looted by the Maqdala expedition of 1867-8: their return is currently demanded
by the Ethiopian organisation AFROMET
The principal depositories of Ethiopian MSS are in the British Library, which, at my last
count, had 598 MSS ; the Bodleaen Library, in Oxford, had 101; Cambridge
University Library, 67; John Rylands Library, in Manchester, 42; the British and
Foreign Bible Society, 35; the School of Oriental and African Studies, 9; and
the Royal Library, Windsor castle, 6 particularly fine manuscripts (from
Maqdala).
There are also over 40 other MSS in other collections: 17 in the Wellcome Institute Library, in London; six in the India
Office Collection of the British Library, also in London; five in the Selly Oaks
College Library, in Birmingham; five in the Victoria and Albert Museum, in
London; three in the National Library of Scotland, and three in the University
of Edinburgh Library, both in Edinburgh; one in the Fitzwilliam Museum, in
Cambridge; one in the Jews' College, in London; and one in St. Andrews
University Library, in Scotland. Nine scrolls, formerly in the possession of the
London Library, all or mainly from Maqdala, were sold by Sotheby's in July
1970.
A substantial number of British Library MSS (but not all) have been generously microfilmed by the British Council, for the
Institute of Ethiopian Studies, in Addis Ababa. MSS in other UK collections
remain, however, uncopied.
Germany
Germany possesses scarcely fewer Ethiopian MSS. 734 have recently been catalogued by Professor Ernst Hammeschmidt, and Dr Veronika Six, both of
Hamburg.
These MSS are scattered throughout Germany: in Berlin, Bonn, Bremen, Dillingen, Dresden, Frankfurt, Gottingen, Hamburg,
Heidelberg, Kessel, Mannheim, Munched, Munster, Reibek, Stuttgart, and
Wiesbaden. Details are available in the admirable Veronika Six
catalogues.
France
France possesses almost as many Ethiopian MSS: at least 700. Most are in the
Biblotheque Nationale in Paris. The latest information available to me, in our
old friend Professor Stefan Strelcyn's catalogue, indicates that the collection,
by 1954, had reached a total of 688 MSS.
The Vatican
The Vatican possesses over 600 Ethiopian MSS. The majority are in the Apostolic Library, which contains 618. A little over
half, i.e. 319, were collected by the former Italian Vice-Governor-General of
Italian East Africa, Enrico Cerulli, in questionable
circumstances.
There are also 9 manuscripts in the Library of the Potificio Istituto Biblico.
The United States
The United States heads the list of countries with smaller Ethiopica collections, probably slightly over 400 MSS. No less than
325 are in the Princeton University Libraries. Smaller collections are in four
libraries in New York, with a total of 17 MSS; and at the Free Library in
Philadelphia, with 13. Yale Univeristy has nine.
A further 39 MSS are in smaller collections: at the Walters Art Gallery, in
Baltimore; the Public Library and Endowment for Biblical Research, both in
Boston; the Newbury Library, in Chicago; the Public Library, in Cleveland; the
Seminary Library, in Hartford; Haverford College, in Haverford; the University
of Pennsylvania, in Philadelphia; Vasser College, in Poughkeepsie; the Peabody
Museum, in Salem; and the Catholic University Library and the Smithsonian
Institution, both in Washington.
The Netherlands
The Netherlands possesses some 180 Ethiopian MSS, mostly acquired in recent decades. Virtually all are in the
Bibliotheek de Rijksuniversiteit, in Leiden. Some were purchased from Sotheby's,
and possibly include fakes.
Italy
Italy possesses around 100 Ethiopian MSS in public collections: 38 in the Biblioteca Ambrosiana, in Milano; 14 in the Biblioteca del Monumento Nazionale
Abbazia, in Grottaferrata; 13 in the library of the Italian Geographical
Society, in Rome; and nine in the Biblioteca Nazional Centrale, in
Firenze.
There are also smaller collections in the Biblioteca Angelica, the Biblioteca Casanatense, the Biblica del l"Accademia
Nazionale dei Lincei, the Biblioteca Nazionale Centrale, and the Biblioteca
Ephemerides Liturgica, all five in Rome; the Biblioteca dell" Istituto
Universitario, in Napoli; the Biblioteca Nazionale Marciana, in Venezia; the
Biblioteca Universitario, in Padova; the Biblioteca Communale, in Pistoia; the
Museo Egzio, in Torino; and the Biblioteca Estense, in
Modena.
Russia
Russia also possesses about 100 Ethiopian MSS, plus over 600 magical scrolls. The collection
is divided between the Library of the Russian Accedemy of Sciences, with 86 MSS,
the Russian National Library, with 28, and the Institute of Oriental Languages,
with four.
Sweden
Sweden possesses almost 100 Ethiopian MSS: 57 in the Universitetbibliotek, in Uppsala;
four in the Kunglige Bibliotek, in Stockholm, and three in the
Universitetbibliotek, in Goteborg, as well as 32 identified MSS in private
possession.
Ireland
Ireland possesses over 60 Ethiopian MSS: 53 in the Chester Beatty Library, in Dublin,
which includes some items from Maqdala, and 13 in Trinity College, likewise in
Dublin.
Israel
Israel possesses over 50 Ethiopian MSS, mostly in Tel Aviv. This does not include MSS
recently brought by Falashas, or Beta Esrael immigrants.
Austria
Austria possesses just under 50 Ethiopian MSS: 45 are in the Osterreische Nationalbibliothek, and ten in the
Universitatbibliothek, at Graz, and the Bibliothek der Mecharistenkongegationen
in Vienna.
Armenia
Armenia possesses 30 Ethiopian MSS. Microfilm copies have been deposited at the
Institute of Ethiopian Studiess.
Belgium, Canada, Switzerland, and Portugal
Lesser collections of Ethiopian MSS are reported from Belgium, which has over a dozen Ethiopian MSS
(five in the Bibliotheque Royale; and nine in the Societe des Bollandeistes: two
of the latter were looted from Maqdala; Canada, which has just under a dozen
Ethiopian MSS (most at the McGill University Library, in Montreal; the remainder
in the Royal Ontario Museum and the University of Toronto); Switzerland, which
has about half a dozen Ethiopian MSS (most at the Burger Bibliothek, in Bern,
and one in the Evangelischen Missionsgesellschaft, in Basel); and Portugal,
which also has at least half a dozen Ethiopian MSS (three at the Biblioteca
Nazional, in Lisbon; and one in the Biblioteca Municipale, in
Porto).
The microfilms in Switzerland have been generously microfilmed for the Institute of Ethiopian
Studies,
Poland, Spain, New Zealand, and Greece
Small collections are also found in Poland, with at least four Ethiopian MSS (in the Muzeum Narodowe w Krakowie, in Cracow);
Spain, with three Ethiopian MSS, (in the Biblioteca Nacional in Madrid); New
Zealand also with three Ethiopian MSS, looted from Maqdala, at the Auckland Free
Library; and Greece, with one Ethiopian manuscript (in the National Library of
Athens).
The Scholarly Interest
Adding up the above, very conservative, figures for Ethiopian MSS abroad, and making allowance for recent and unlisted items, we assess that around 5,000
Ethiopian MSS are scattered outside the country. Many of these works are of
fundamental importance for Ethiopian studies, i.e. for the study of the country
whose people produced them.
We urge that systematic action be taken to develop a comprehensive microfilm and/or digital photograph
project aimed at the creation, in Addis Ababa, of a world-wide Ethiopian
photographic manuscript archive. This is a culturally imperative matter which
deserves priority. It is hoped that the above-listed repository countries, which
have preserved these MSS, will enthusiastically cooperate in this valuable
endeavour.
A Serious Question of Ethiopian Studies
Five Thousand Ethiopian Manuscripts Abroad, and the International Community
by Dr Richard Pankhurst
IntroductionEthiopic, or Ge'ez, manuscripts [hereafter MSS] are of fundamental importance for scholarship.
Ethiopic literature formed a major part of ancient and medieval Christian literature. Many important Ethiopic works were, and still are, unknown to the
outside world: Foreign scholars learnt for example of the Book of Enoch
and the Book of Jubilees only because they were preserved in
Ethiopia.
Though most Ethiopic literature is religious, numerous texts also cover subjects, including history, philosophy, law,
mathematics, and medicine.
For the study of Ethiopic, as other texts, scholars need to consult more than one copy. This is because MSS
were written by hand, and scholars have to compare different versions to control
the scribe's accuracy, or lack thereof, and thus establish a definitive
text.
Ethiopian MSS often also include "marginalia", i.e. end papers, etc., containing notable secular material: data on land sales and
grants, marriage settlements, church and monastic inventories, etc. See for
example Tax Records of Emperor Tewodros of Ethiopia, published by the
School of Oriental and African Studies in London, which I wrote with Girma
Sellasie Asfaw, in 1978.
Ethiopian MSS are no less important for the history of Ethiopian art. Illustrations, painted by hand, are
by definition unique, for which reason too it is necessary to study several
works, not merely one, on any theme.
For all these reasons it is essential to collect as comprehensive a photographic collection of
Ethiopian MSS as possible.
EMML, UNESCO, and Professor Hammerscmidt
It was for the above reasons, as well as in the interests of preservation, that the Ethiopian Manuscript Microfilm
Library, EMML, was established in 1973. It was based on co-operation between the
Ethiopian Patriarchate, the Ethiopian Ministry of Culture, and St. John's
University in Collegeville, Minnesota, USA.
It was for the above reasons too that Ethiopia facilitated the microfilming of MSS by
UNESCO, and by the late Professor Ernst Hammerscmidt, of Hamburg
University.
The EMML went to immense pains microfilming thousands of MSS in remote parts of Ethiopia. By making such film available to
scholars it gave an immense fillip to international, as well as Ethiopian
scholarship.
The Time Has Surely Come
The time has surely come to focus not only on Ethiopian MSS in Ethiopia, but also on an estimated 5,000 Ethiopian MSS in
Europe, North America, Asia, and Oceania: so as to make them more readily
available for scholarship. The microfilming, or preferably digital
photographing, of such MSS abroad is scarcely less important than the copying of
MSS in Ethiopia itself. Photography in technically advanced countries would be
less demanding, and hence less costly, than in the Ethiopian
countryside.
It is only fair to add that whereas microfilming in Ethiopia has been of major assistance to international
scholarship, the failure to copy Ethiopian MSS in the rest of the world remains
an obstacle to scholarship within Ethiopia itself. It is good that the odd
Ethiopian manuscript is preserved in Spain or New Zealand, but this scarcely
helps research in Ethiopia.
The Five Thousand Manuscripts Abroad
Let us look at the worldwide diffusion of Ethiopian MSS. The figures below are conservative, for they do not
include privately owned MSS, or recent library acquisitions.
Great Britain
The largest number of Ethiopian MSS abroad, over 850, are in the United Kingdom. A little less than half were
looted by the Maqdala expedition of 1867-8: their return is currently demanded
by the Ethiopian organisation AFROMET
The principal depositories of Ethiopian MSS are in the British Library, which, at my last
count, had 598 MSS ; the Bodleaen Library, in Oxford, had 101; Cambridge
University Library, 67; John Rylands Library, in Manchester, 42; the British and
Foreign Bible Society, 35; the School of Oriental and African Studies, 9; and
the Royal Library, Windsor castle, 6 particularly fine manuscripts (from
Maqdala).
There are also over 40 other MSS in other collections: 17 in the Wellcome Institute Library, in London; six in the India
Office Collection of the British Library, also in London; five in the Selly Oaks
College Library, in Birmingham; five in the Victoria and Albert Museum, in
London; three in the National Library of Scotland, and three in the University
of Edinburgh Library, both in Edinburgh; one in the Fitzwilliam Museum, in
Cambridge; one in the Jews' College, in London; and one in St. Andrews
University Library, in Scotland. Nine scrolls, formerly in the possession of the
London Library, all or mainly from Maqdala, were sold by Sotheby's in July
1970.
A substantial number of British Library MSS (but not all) have been generously microfilmed by the British Council, for the
Institute of Ethiopian Studies, in Addis Ababa. MSS in other UK collections
remain, however, uncopied.
Germany
Germany possesses scarcely fewer Ethiopian MSS. 734 have recently been catalogued by Professor Ernst Hammeschmidt, and Dr Veronika Six, both of
Hamburg.
These MSS are scattered throughout Germany: in Berlin, Bonn, Bremen, Dillingen, Dresden, Frankfurt, Gottingen, Hamburg,
Heidelberg, Kessel, Mannheim, Munched, Munster, Reibek, Stuttgart, and
Wiesbaden. Details are available in the admirable Veronika Six
catalogues.
France
France possesses almost as many Ethiopian MSS: at least 700. Most are in the
Biblotheque Nationale in Paris. The latest information available to me, in our
old friend Professor Stefan Strelcyn's catalogue, indicates that the collection,
by 1954, had reached a total of 688 MSS.
The Vatican
The Vatican possesses over 600 Ethiopian MSS. The majority are in the Apostolic Library, which contains 618. A little over
half, i.e. 319, were collected by the former Italian Vice-Governor-General of
Italian East Africa, Enrico Cerulli, in questionable
circumstances.
There are also 9 manuscripts in the Library of the Potificio Istituto Biblico.
The United States
The United States heads the list of countries with smaller Ethiopica collections, probably slightly over 400 MSS. No less than
325 are in the Princeton University Libraries. Smaller collections are in four
libraries in New York, with a total of 17 MSS; and at the Free Library in
Philadelphia, with 13. Yale Univeristy has nine.
A further 39 MSS are in smaller collections: at the Walters Art Gallery, in
Baltimore; the Public Library and Endowment for Biblical Research, both in
Boston; the Newbury Library, in Chicago; the Public Library, in Cleveland; the
Seminary Library, in Hartford; Haverford College, in Haverford; the University
of Pennsylvania, in Philadelphia; Vasser College, in Poughkeepsie; the Peabody
Museum, in Salem; and the Catholic University Library and the Smithsonian
Institution, both in Washington.
The Netherlands
The Netherlands possesses some 180 Ethiopian MSS, mostly acquired in recent decades. Virtually all are in the
Bibliotheek de Rijksuniversiteit, in Leiden. Some were purchased from Sotheby's,
and possibly include fakes.
Italy
Italy possesses around 100 Ethiopian MSS in public collections: 38 in the Biblioteca Ambrosiana, in Milano; 14 in the Biblioteca del Monumento Nazionale
Abbazia, in Grottaferrata; 13 in the library of the Italian Geographical
Society, in Rome; and nine in the Biblioteca Nazional Centrale, in
Firenze.
There are also smaller collections in the Biblioteca Angelica, the Biblioteca Casanatense, the Biblica del l"Accademia
Nazionale dei Lincei, the Biblioteca Nazionale Centrale, and the Biblioteca
Ephemerides Liturgica, all five in Rome; the Biblioteca dell" Istituto
Universitario, in Napoli; the Biblioteca Nazionale Marciana, in Venezia; the
Biblioteca Universitario, in Padova; the Biblioteca Communale, in Pistoia; the
Museo Egzio, in Torino; and the Biblioteca Estense, in
Modena.
Russia
Russia also possesses about 100 Ethiopian MSS, plus over 600 magical scrolls. The collection
is divided between the Library of the Russian Accedemy of Sciences, with 86 MSS,
the Russian National Library, with 28, and the Institute of Oriental Languages,
with four.
Sweden
Sweden possesses almost 100 Ethiopian MSS: 57 in the Universitetbibliotek, in Uppsala;
four in the Kunglige Bibliotek, in Stockholm, and three in the
Universitetbibliotek, in Goteborg, as well as 32 identified MSS in private
possession.
Ireland
Ireland possesses over 60 Ethiopian MSS: 53 in the Chester Beatty Library, in Dublin,
which includes some items from Maqdala, and 13 in Trinity College, likewise in
Dublin.
Israel
Israel possesses over 50 Ethiopian MSS, mostly in Tel Aviv. This does not include MSS
recently brought by Falashas, or Beta Esrael immigrants.
Austria
Austria possesses just under 50 Ethiopian MSS: 45 are in the Osterreische Nationalbibliothek, and ten in the
Universitatbibliothek, at Graz, and the Bibliothek der Mecharistenkongegationen
in Vienna.
Armenia
Armenia possesses 30 Ethiopian MSS. Microfilm copies have been deposited at the
Institute of Ethiopian Studiess.
Belgium, Canada, Switzerland, and Portugal
Lesser collections of Ethiopian MSS are reported from Belgium, which has over a dozen Ethiopian MSS
(five in the Bibliotheque Royale; and nine in the Societe des Bollandeistes: two
of the latter were looted from Maqdala; Canada, which has just under a dozen
Ethiopian MSS (most at the McGill University Library, in Montreal; the remainder
in the Royal Ontario Museum and the University of Toronto); Switzerland, which
has about half a dozen Ethiopian MSS (most at the Burger Bibliothek, in Bern,
and one in the Evangelischen Missionsgesellschaft, in Basel); and Portugal,
which also has at least half a dozen Ethiopian MSS (three at the Biblioteca
Nazional, in Lisbon; and one in the Biblioteca Municipale, in
Porto).
The microfilms in Switzerland have been generously microfilmed for the Institute of Ethiopian
Studies,
Poland, Spain, New Zealand, and Greece
Small collections are also found in Poland, with at least four Ethiopian MSS (in the Muzeum Narodowe w Krakowie, in Cracow);
Spain, with three Ethiopian MSS, (in the Biblioteca Nacional in Madrid); New
Zealand also with three Ethiopian MSS, looted from Maqdala, at the Auckland Free
Library; and Greece, with one Ethiopian manuscript (in the National Library of
Athens).
The Scholarly Interest
Adding up the above, very conservative, figures for Ethiopian MSS abroad, and making allowance for recent and unlisted items, we assess that around 5,000
Ethiopian MSS are scattered outside the country. Many of these works are of
fundamental importance for Ethiopian studies, i.e. for the study of the country
whose people produced them.
We urge that systematic action be taken to develop a comprehensive microfilm and/or digital photograph
project aimed at the creation, in Addis Ababa, of a world-wide Ethiopian
photographic manuscript archive. This is a culturally imperative matter which
deserves priority. It is hoped that the above-listed repository countries, which
have preserved these MSS, will enthusiastically cooperate in this valuable
endeavour.
Tags: Ethiopia, Ethiopian, Manuscripts
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