Walters Ms. W.788, Ethiopian scroll with angels and talismans

W.788

Ethiopian scroll with angels and talismans

This scroll was created in the eighteenth century for a woman named Marta. Having once been possessed by a devil, she had this prayer scroll made as a way to ward off evil. Containing prayers against demons, as well as talismans and a depiction of a guardian angel (perhaps Phanuel, who is invoked in one of the prayers), the scroll was intended to be worn as an apotropaic device. Ethiopian prayer scrolls were made to be the length of the person who commissioned them, thereby protecting the owner from head to toe; this one is 165.7 cm, making Marta 5'5" tall.

18th century CE

Ethiopia

Roll

Devotional

The primary language in this manuscript is Geez.

Parchment

Three strips of heavy parchment connected together to form a scroll

Foliation: None

As it is a scroll, there is no foliation

Formula: None

Comments:

8.1 cm wide by 165.7 cm high

1. Title: Prayer scroll for spiritual healing
2. Contents: Scroll contains a series of prayers, noted here by lines of text due to lack of folios; lines 1-18: Prayer to cast out demons, begins with quotation from Mark 1:23-27, incipit: በስመ፡ አብ፡ . . . [ወን]ጌል፡ ዘማርቆስ፡ ወሀሎ፡ ፩ብእሲ፡ ዘቦቱ፡ ጋኔን፡ . . . ; lines 19-63: Prayer against evil eye, includes the story of the Sea of Tiberia, incipit: ጸሎተ፡ ነደራ፡ ለዓይነተ፡ ምድር፡ ወእንዘ፡ የሐውር፡ እግዚእነ፡ ውስተ፡ ባሕረ፡ጥብርያዶስ፡ . . .and concludes with the secret names, asmat, found in the Homiliary, Dǝrsan, of the Archangel Michael, አክሶ፡ አሜአሌኪ፡ ኤንካዕ፡ . . .; lines 63-80: Prayer to cast out demons, incipit: በስመ፡ አብ፡ . . . አልፋ፡ አልፋ፡ አልፋ፡ ፃዕ፡ ፃዕ፡ ወፂዓከ፡ ኢትግባዕ፡ ይቤለከ፡ እግዚአብሔር፡ ወዝክረ፡ ስምከ፡ ይደምሰስ፡ ለዓለመ፡ ዓለም፡ አሜን፡ ያቁ፡ ወያቁ፡ አንተ፡ ሰይጣን፡ ወአንተ፡ ጋኔን፡ አንተ፡ ባርያ፡ ወአንተ፡ ትግሪዳ፡ አንተ፡ ነገርጋር፡ ዘትትመሰል፡ በብዚኅ፡ እፆታ፡ (sic) አህያ፡ ሸራህያ፡ . . .; lines 81-98: prayer for catching and binding demons, with the asmat of Solomon and some Arabic words in transliteration, incipit: አላሁማ፡ ወያነሐሽም፡ [. . .]ረሐቅ፡ ረጅ፡ ረሐቅ፡ በአቅመ፡ ግኑን፡ በመስበሶን፡ ወነስበሶን፡ ዘረበቦሙ፡ ለአጋንንት፡ ሎፍሐም፡ እስሮሙ በዝንቱ፡ አስማት፡ ወበዝንቱ፡ ቃላት፡ . . . ; lines 98-118: prayer for driving way demons, using the names (asmat) of the Homiliary, Dǝrsan, of the Archangel Michael, and of the cross, incipit: በስመ፡ አብ፡ . . . አዶናይ፡ ፔካ፡ ጼካ፡ ቤቃ፡ ተሰደድ፡ አንተ፡ ባርያ፡ ወአንተ፡ ጋኔን፡ . . . አውገዝኩከ፡ አንተ፡ ባርያ፡ በሳዶር፡ አላጎር፡ ዳናት፡ ስዴራ፡ ሮዳስ፡ . . .; lines 118-156: the Mystagogia, Tǝmǝhǝrtä Ḫǝbu’at, and the Salutation, Sälam, to the Archangel Phanuel, used as prayers to drive away demons; (lines 118-131) the Mystagogia, incipit: በእንተ፡ ትምህርተ፡ ሕቡአት፡ ቅድመ፡ ዘትትነገር፡ እምጵርስፎራ፡ ለምእመናን፡ . . .; (lines 131-155) the Salutation, Sälam, to the Archangel Phanuel, incipit: ሰላም፡ ለከ፡ ሰዳዴ፡ አጋንንት፡ ፋኑኤል፡ ለእግዚአብሔር፡ እምጽርሑ፡ . . .
3. Decoration note: Three illuminations within text of scroll; rubrics in red; text in black ink

cm 0-25:

1. 
2. Title: Circular talisman to ward off evil spirits
3. Form: Scroll illumination

cm 77-102:

1. 
2. Title: Guardian angel brandishing a sword
3. Form: Scroll illumination

cm 146-165.7:

1. 
2. Title: Watching eyes of the guardian angel
3. Form: Scroll illumination

Created in the eighteenth century for a woman named Marta (ማርታ), whose name appears below the angel

James St. Lawrence O'Toole collection, before 1978

Gift of Mr. James St. Lawrence O'Toole, 1978

Worrell, William Hoyt. “Studien zum Abessinischen Zauberwesen.” Zeitschrift für Assyriologie und verwandte Gebiete 23 (1909): p. 177, and 28 (1914), p. 113 (for information related to the prayers found in lines 131-155).

Worrell, William Hoyt. "Studien zum Abessinischen Zauberwesen,” Zeitschrift für Assyriologie und verwandte Gebiete 29 (1914): pp. 85-141 (for information related to the prayers found in lines 19-63).

Lifchitz, Déborah. Textes éthiopiens magico-religieux. Paris: Institut d'ethnologie, 1940, pp. 40-52 (for information related to the prayers found in lines 118-131).

Hammerschmidt, Ernst. Äthiopische Liturgische Texte der Bodleian Library in Oxford. Deutsche Akademie der Wissenschaften zu Berlin. Institut für Orientforschung. Veröffentlichung Nr. 38. Berlin, Akademie–Verlag, 1960, pp. 39-72 (for information related to the prayers found in lines 118-131).

Dobberahn, Friedrich Erich. Fünf Äthiopische Zauberrollen Texte, Übersetzung, Kommentar, Verlag für Orientkunde Dr. H. Vorndran, Walldorf-Hessen (1976), pp. 285-287 and 307-308 (for information related to the prayers found in lines 19-63).

Strelcyn, Stefan. Catalogue des manuscrits éthiopiens de l’Accademia Nazionale dei Lincei: Fonds Conti Rossini et Fonds Caetani 209, 375, 376, 377, 378, Accademia Nazionale dei Lincei, Roma (1976), p. 109 (for information related to the prayers found in lines 19-63).

Six, Veronika. Äthiopische Handschriften, Teil 3: Handschriften Deutscher Bibliotheken, Museen und Privatbesitz. Franz Steiner Verlag Stuttgart (1994), p. 79 (for information related to the prayers found in lines 19-63).

Holbert, Kelly, ed. Ethiopian Art: The Walters Art Museum. Baltimore: Trustees of the Walters Art Gallery, 2001, pp. 118-119, cat no. 19.

Getatchew Haile et al., Catalogue of the Ethiopic Manuscript Imaging Project, vol. 1 (2009), p. 277 (for information related to the prayers found in lines 81-98).

Getatchew Haile, "Introduction to the Scrolls of the Ethiopian Spiritual Healing." in Getatchew Haile et al, Catalogue of the Ethiopic Manuscript Imaging Project, vol. 1 (2009), pp. xxxiii-l (for a study of the contents and purposes of the Ethiopic scrolls in general).

Principal cataloger: Getatchew Haile, .

Cataloger: Herbert, Lynley

Editor: Herbert, Lynley

Copy editor: Dibble, Charles

Conservators: Owen, Linda; Quandt, Abigail

Contributors: Bockrath, Diane; Emery, Doug; Isaac, Ephraim; Noel, William; Tabritha, Ariel; Toth, Michael B.

The Walters Art Museum

Licensed for use under Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported Access Rights, http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0/legalcode. It is requested that copies of any published articles based on the information in this data set be sent to the curator of manuscripts, The Walters Art Museum, 600 North Charles Street, Baltimore MD 21201.