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

Ethio-SPaRe Project, [Ethiopic Collection], Manuscript No. UM-014

This Geʿez language manuscript was created between 1508 and 1540. 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 Lebna Dengel.

This manuscript's last known location (i.e., where it was microfilmed or digitized at some point in the past forty years) is the repository of ʿUrā Qirqos (alt. ʿUrā Masqal) in ʿUrā Qirqos, Tigray Province, Ethiopia.

To view the manuscript, go to the digital copy.

This manuscript has a high number of Marian miracle stories: 105.

This manuscript has no paintings of Marian miracle stories.

This manuscript has a total of 161 folios and 172 scans. It has 2 columns per page and approximately 19 lines per column. The stories in this manuscript appear in 2 sequences, and are numbered accordingly below as 1.2, 2.1, etc. The Marian miracle stories begin on folio 65v of the whole manuscript.

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

The PEMM abbreviation for this manuscript is ESP (UH) UM-014.

The Beta Maṣāḥǝft abbreviation for this manuscript is ESum014.

Regarding this manuscript's repository:

The Ethio-SPaRe project was a digitization and cataloging project directed by Denis Nosnitsin of the Hiob Ludolf Centre for Ethiopian Studies of Hamburg University in Hamburg, Germany. The project digitized approximately 2,000 manuscripts and surveyed over one hundred collections between 2009 and 2015. The collection has over eighty Täˀammərä Maryam manuscripts. Over a thousand of these manuscripts have been cataloged by the team led by Denis Nosnitsin. View more information about the project. 

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.

ESP (UH) UM-014

Order in MS
Story Title
Location in MS
Paintings
Story Recension
Incipit
Other Aspects
Story ID
1.1Bishop Hildephonsus of Toledo who collected stories and compiled them into the Book of the Miracles of the Virgin Marys. 16, col. 2 0---13
1.2The sinful deacon who was healed from his illness by a drop of the Virgin Mary's breast milkf. 18v-18v, col. 1, line 70EMML (HMML) 2059--135
1.3The thief whom the king's soldiers could not kill by hanging because he prayed to the Virgin Marys. 20, col. 2, line 60---136
1.4The repentant knight who could only learn to pray the prayer of the Hail Marys. 21, col. 2, line 190EMML (HMML) 1573--139
1.5The sinful deacon whom his enemies could not kill until he had confessed himself to a priest.s. 23, col. 1, line 20---140
1.6Pilgrim to Santiago: Part 1: The bishop for whom the Virgin Mary tailored a new sackcloth sends a penitent pilgrim to Santiago (whole or opening)s. 24, col. 1, line 120EMML (HMML) 1573--141-A
1.7A deacon prayed the prayer that contained the word 'rejoice' five times for the five joys of the Virgin Marys. 26-27, col. 1, line 20EMML (HMML) 4618--142
1.8Sybil the prophetess saw a vision of the Virgin Mary holding her child within a circle around the sun and the Emperor of Rome erected an altar in his palaces. 27-28, col. 2, line 30---137
1.9A sinful deacon assassinated by his enemies receives a Christian burial and is found with a flower growing out of his mouths. 28-30, col. 2, line 100---138
1.10The pilgrim [to Santiago] whom Satan persuaded to mutilate himself after falling into a sexual sins. 30-32, col. 2, line 170---144
1.11The priest who could only memorize one mass, the Anaphora of the Virgin Mary, and was prevented from performing mass by the bishops. 32-33, col. 2, line 170---145
1.12The knight who plotted to seduce the shoemaker's daughter, who had pledged her virginity to the Virgin Marys. 33-37, col. 1, line 110---146
1.13The hypocritical superior of a monastery who pretended to be religious and is rescued from hell by the Virgin Marys. 37-38, col. 2, line 130---196
1.14The Jew of Constantinople who threw an icon of the Virgin Mary into a pit toilet and was taken to hell by a demons. 38-40, col. 2, line 170---197
1.15A woman from the city of Rome who killed the baby she bore after sleeping with her sons. 40-43, col. 2, line 120---198
1.16A divorced wife who prayed for revenge against her husband's new wife but was refused because the new wife was devoted to the Virgin Marys. 43-45, col. 2, line 50---150
1.17A woman from Rome whose daughter returns to life for a day on the anniversary of her deaths. 45-46, col. 1, line 100---151
1.18A widow who saved her only son from execution by hanging when she prayed to the Virgin Marys. 46-47, col. 2, line 100---152
1.19A young man who used to crown the icon of the Virgin Mary with rosess. 47-49, col. 2, line 160---153
1.20The two women who were attacked by robbers on their way to churchs. 49-50, col. 2, line 50EMML (HMML) 5105--154
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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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