Princeton Ethiopian, Eritrean, and Egyptian Miracles of Mary (PEMM) project

British Library, "Orient" Collection, Manuscript No. 634

This Geʿez language manuscript was created between 1706 and 1708. This date is estimated, based on the reigning Ethiopian royal ruler's name appearing in the manuscript. The royal ruler's name mentioned in the manuscript is Takla Haymanot I.

This manuscript is held in the repository of British Library in their "Orient" Collection in London, UK. This manuscript's last known location in Ethiopia was South: Looted from Maqdala.

To view the manuscript, go to the digital copy.

This manuscript has a typical number of Marian miracle stories: 79. Also, 32 have stanzas or hymns at their end, marked with a ♫ in the table below, under Other Aspects.

This manuscript has no paintings of Marian miracle stories, but it does have 4 paintings of Mary and events in her life. To see the paintings in this manuscript, go to its PEMM Paintings by Manuscript page.

This manuscript has a total of 230 folios. It has 2 columns per page and approximately 14 lines per column. The stories in this manuscript appear in 3 sequences, and are numbered accordingly below as 1.2, 2.1, etc. The Marian miracle stories begin on folio 8r of the whole manuscript.

The stories in this manuscript were cataloged by Jeremy R. Brown. Assistance and/or typing of incipits by Chiara Lombardi.

The PEMM abbreviation for this manuscript is BOr (BL) 634.

The Beta Maṣāḥǝft abbreviation for this manuscript is BLorient634. Other shelfmarks and/or abbreviations for this manuscript include British Library Orient 634; British Library Or 634.

Regarding this manuscript's repository:

The British Library collection of over 600 Ethiopian/Eritrean manuscripts is one of the largest and most studied collections outside of Ethiopia and Eritrea. The acquisition of manuscripts began under the auspices of the British Museum in 1753. The collection has over thirty Täˀammərä Maryam manuscripts. This collection includes 349 manuscripts looted by British forces from the Ethiopian stronghold at Magdala in 1868. Multiple catalogs of this large collection have been prepared, by August Dillmann (1847), William Wright (1870), and Stefan Strelcyn (1978). View more information about this collection.

For more information about understanding this table, see Using This Site. If you think any of the information on this page is incorrect (e.g., the location, date, folios, story IDs), please use our PEMM Feedback Form to let us know. We depend on users like you to improve the site.

BOr (BL) 634

Order in MS	Story Title	Location in MS	Story Recension	Incipit	Other Aspects	Story ID
1.1	Book of Felsata la-Maryam??: Dormition: Part 05: Christ celebrates Mass for The Virgin Mary.	f. 8r-8r, col. 1, line 1	-	-	-	248
2.1	Book of Ledata la-Maryam??: OldA: Part 01: Conception: The Virgin Mary is conceived and born (whole or opening)	f. 11r-14r, col. 1, line 1	-	ወሀሎ፡ ፩ብእሲ፡ እምዘመደ፡ ይሁዳ፡ ዘስሙ፡ ኢያቄም፡ ወአውሰበ፡...	-	316-A
2.2	Book of Ledata la-Maryam??: OldA: Part 01: Temple: The Virgin Mary stays in the Temple (315, 316-D, 447 similar)	f. 14r-16r, col. 1, line 13	-	ወነበረት፡ እግዝእትነ፡ ማርያም፡ ውስተ፡ መቅደስ፡ እንዘ፡ ትትለ...	-	315
2.3	Book of Felsata la-Maryam??: DOld?: Dormition: Pact: The Virgin Mary receives the Pact of Mercy (kidan mehret) (Synaxary entry for the 16th of Yakkatit). (470, 553, 632 similar)	f. 16r-20r, col. 1, line 11	-	በስመ፡ አብ፡ ወወልድ፡ ወመንፈስ፡ ቅዱስ፡ ፩አምላክ፨ በዛቲ፡ ዕ...	-	470
2.4	Bishop Hildephonsus of Toledo who collected stories and compiled them into the Book of the Miracles of the Virgin Mary	f. 20v-23r, col. 1, line 1	-	ተብህለ፡ ከመ፡ ሀሎ፡ በቤተ፡ ክርስቲያን፡ ዘጥልጥልያ፡ ኤጲስ፡ ...	♫	13
2.5	The laborer who complained to the Virgin Mary because she did not reply to his Hail Mary	f. 23v-24v, col. 1, line 4	-	ወሀሎ፡ ፩ብእሲ፡ ገባራዊ፡ ዘያፈቅራ፡ ለእግዝእትነ፡ ...፨ በኲ...	♫	187
2.6	An old monk from Egypt whom the Virgin Mary made young again	f. 24v-26r, col. 2, line 4	EMML (HMML) 3872	ወሀሎ፡ ፩ብእሲ፡ ዕብራዊ፡ በሀገረ፡ አክሚም፡ ዘያፈቅራ፡ ለእግዝ...	♫	161
2.7	The monastic scribe who used to write the Virgin Mary's name in golden ink	f. 26r-27v, col. 2, line 13	EMML (HMML) 3872	ወሀሎ፡ ፩መነኮስ፡ ዘይነብር፡ በሀገረ፡ ፍልጵስዩስ፡ ዘስሙ፡ ድም...	♫	162
2.8	The former pagan, the Bishop of Rome, who cut off his hand because of a lustful thought and the Virgin Mary healed him	f. 27v-29v, col. 2, line 12	EMML (HMML) 3872	ወሀሎ፡ ፩ብእሲ፡ እምጳጳሳተ፡ ሮም፡ ዘይብልዎ፡ እባስ፨ወኄር፡ ብ...	♫	163
2.9	The Egyptian monk Issac who prayed every night for seven years that the Virgin Mary would appear to him	f. 29v-31v, col. 1, line 11	-	ወሀሎ፡ ፩መነኮስ፡ ኄር፡ ዘስሙ፡ ይስሐቅ፨ ወያፈቅራ፡ ለእግዝእት...	♫	19
2.10	Maryam, an Egyptian child from Defra, who wanted to receive Communion but whose family locked her in the house when they went to church	f. 31v-33r, col. 1, line 11	-	ወሀሎ፡ ፩ብእሲ፡ ፈራሄ፡ እግዚአብሔር፡ ዘያፈቅራ፡ ለእግዝእትነ፡...	♫	27
2.11	The French artist knocked off his scaffolding by Satan (who was angry because of how he was being painted) is caught by the Virgin Mary	f. 33r-35r, col. 2, line 8	EMML (HMML) 6938	ወሀሎ፡ ፩ብእሲ፡ ሠዓሊ፡ ወአልቦ፡ ዘይትማሰሎ፡ በገቢረ፡ ሥዕል፡...	♫	33
2.12	Dabra Nagadeyan's dying monk prays in front of her icon to go to Jerusalem and the Virgin Mary takes him from Lower Egypt to all around the holy land	f. 35r-36r, col. 2, line 12	EMML (HMML) 5520	ወሀለውት፡ ሥዕለ፡ እግዝእትነ፡ ማርያም፡ በድብረ፡ ነጋድያን፡ በ...	♫	54
2.13	A young man who used to crown the icon of the Virgin Mary with roses	f. 36v-39r, col. 1, line 8	-	ወሀሎ፡ ፩ወሬዛ፡ ዘሠናይ፡ አርአያሁ፡ ዘስሙ፡ ዘካርያስ፡ እምዘመ...	♫	153
2.14	The two women who were attacked by robbers on their way to church	f. 39v-40v, col. 1, line 5	EMML (HMML) 3872	ወሀለዋ፡ ክልኤ፡ አንስት፡ አዕማተ፡ እግዝእትነ፡ ማርያም፡ በቤተ...	♫	154
2.15	Dabra Qalemon's gifts from two Arabs who, journeying on the Nile in Egypt, fall into the water due to a storm and are saved from crocodiles	f. 40v-42v, col. 2, line 12	EMML (HMML) 5520	ወበ፩እመዋዕል፡ ሖሩ፡ ፫ዕደው፡ ዓረባውያን፨ እንዘ፡ ምሉእ፡ ማየ...	♫	16
2.16	The church of the Virgin Mary that moved by itself to the shore of the Mediterranean Sea.	f. 42v-44r, col. 2, line 6	-	ወሀሎ፡ ፩ደብር፡ በሀገረ፡ ጽርዕ፨ ወኑኁ፡ መንፈቀ፡ ምዕራፍ፡ እ...	♫	46
2.17	John Bakansi, the blind Egyptian monk, whose eyes the Virgin Mary healed with her breast milk	f. 44r-46r, col. 2, line 1	-	ወሀሎ፡ ፩ቀሲስ፡ በሀገረ፡ ምስር፡ ዘስሙ፡ ዮሐንስ፡ በከንሲ፨ ወ...	♫	43
2.18	The rich man from Colosse who was shot in the eye with an arrow while fighting the Qwez	f. 46r-47v, col. 2, line 5	-	ወሀሎ፡ ፩ብእሲ፡ ዘደሴተ፡ ቈላሲስ፡ ባዕል፡ ጥቀ፨ ወሖረ፡ ሀገረ...	♫	48
2.19	Elizabeth, the blind Egyptian girl from Badraman, whose eyes the Virgin Mary healed with her breast milk	f. 48r-50v, col. 1, line 9	-	ወሀሎ፡ ፩ብእሲ፡ በሀገረ፡ ጽዒድ፡ ዘትሰመይ፡ ብድርማን፡ ዘስሙ፡...	♫	59

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pricenton ethiopian eritrean & egyptian miracles of marry project

The Princeton Ethiopian, Eritrean, and Egyptian Miracles of Mary (PEMM) project is a comprehensive resource for the 1,000+ miracle stories written about and the 2,500+ images painted of the Virgin Mary in these African countries, and preserved in Geʿez between 1300 and the present.

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