Beta Lahem church, Gayant, Ethiopia, Library, Manuscript No. 1

This Geʿez language manuscript was created between 1398 and 1409. 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 Dawit II.

This manuscript is held in the repository of Beta Lahem church, Gayant, Ethiopia in their Library in Gayant, Ethiopia. This manuscript's last known location in Ethiopia was West: Lay Gayint, Gondar .

To view the manuscript, go to the digital copy.

This manuscript has fewer Marian miracle stories than most, only 16. Of these stories, 2 are unique, marked with a ☆ in the table below, under Other Aspects.

This manuscript has no paintings of Marian miracle stories, but it does have 9 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 252 folios and 251 scans. It has 2 columns per page and approximately 24–36 lines per column.

The stories in this manuscript were cataloged by Jeremy R. Brown.

The PEMM abbreviation for this manuscript is B-Gayant (EOTC) 1.

The Beta Maṣāḥǝft abbreviation for this manuscript is BLG001. Other shelfmarks and/or abbreviations for this manuscript include Beta Lahem Gayent; Beta Lahem, Gayent.

NOTE on dating: Dawit I's reign is from 1382 to 1413, but we have dated this manuscript more narrowly than that because known patriarchs are mentioned in the colophon. Based on the style of the paintings, some have dated the manuscript more narrowly to 1400-1410. It is among the earliest three extant Täˀammərä Maryam.

NOTE on contents: This manuscript has miracle stories near the end, but begins with other books about Mary, including The Book of the Nativity of Mary and (probably) The Vision of Theophilus, as well as homilies on Mary's life (from her birth, childhood, engagement, annunciation, and ascension) and remarks on the consecration of her church.

NOTE on scholarship: In 1957, OA Jäger published the manuscript's paintings in "Aethiopische Miniaturen," as plates 3, 6, 9, 12 and 15. In 1983, Chojnacki published the manuscript's paintings in "Major Themes in Ethiopian Painting" and discussed one in 1988 in "The Annunciation in Ethiopian Art." Diana Spencer photographed the manuscript's paintings in the 1960s. In 1984, Ewa Balicka-Witakoska discussed the manuscript's paintings in "Observations sur l'iconographie de l'Annonciation dans la peinture éthiopienne." It was also discussed in 1993 in "African Zion" under the title "Homiliary in Honor of Our Lady Mary (Dersana Maryam)."

NOTE on pagination. This manuscript was paginated. We cataloged stories by these pages. However, catalogers cannot input a "p." under Location in MS in the table, so users must treat the "f." in Location in MS for this manuscript as "p." for pages.

Regarding this manuscript's repository:

This collection belongs to the town of Beta Lahem’s Gayant church school near the city of Dabra Tabor. A single manuscript from this collection was photographed in the spring of 2000 by Dr. Kai Beermann. He gave the photographs to Dr. Stefan Bombeck, who created a website dedicated to the manuscript, titled "Die Geschichte Der Heiligen Maria in Einer Alten Äthiopischen Handschrift. The Beta Lahem Gayant manuscript is one of the oldest TM manuscripts to be cataloged to date. It was created at King Dawit I's court in the early 1400s, with sumptuous paintings, and given to Beta Lahem in Gayant, a church founded by the king's daughter, Dal Mägäsa (or Dal Mängäsa). The names of the patriarchs are listed in the manuscript. View more information about this collection.

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