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

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: 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 mansucript 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.

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.

B-Gayant (EOTC) 1

Order in MS	Story Title	Location in MS	Story Recension	Incipit	Other Aspects	Story ID
1	The rich man who angrily threw a loaf of dry bread at a beggar, cutting him, but was saved from hell by the Virgin Mary	f. 450-451, col. 1, line 1	-	ወሀሎ፡ አሐዱ፡ ብእሲ፡ በአሐቲ፡ ሀገር፡ ባዕል፡ ፈድፋደ፡ ወይገ...	-	106
2	The noble man from Qemer who was a cannibal and ate 78 people, gave a drop of water to a beggar, and went to heaven	f. 451-454, col. 2, line 8	-	ወሀሎ፡ አሐዱ፡ ብእሲ፡ በሀገረ፡ ቀምር፡ ክቡረ፡ ዘመድ፡ በስምሰ...	-	125
3	A young man who used to crown the icon of the Virgin Mary with roses	f. 454-455, col. 2, line 1	B-Gayant (EOTC) 1	ወሀለወት፡ አሐቲ፡ ቤተ፡ ክርስቲያን፡ በአሐቲ፡ ሀገር፡ በስመ፡ ...	-	153
4	The priest who could only memorize one mass, the Anaphora of the Virgin Mary, and was prevented from performing mass by the bishop	f. 455-457, col. 1, line 26	-	ወሀሎ፡ አሐዱ፡ ቀሲስ፡ ዘይቄድስ፡ ቅዳሴ፡ ማርያም፡ ወኢየአምር፡...	-	145
5	A widow who saved her only son from execution by hanging when she prayed to the Virgin Mary	f. 457-457, col. 1, line 3	EMML (HMML) 4618	ወሀለወት፡ አሐቲ፡ እቤር፡ መበለት፡ ዘትትለአክ፡ ለቤተ፡ ክርስቲ...	-	152
6	The sinful deacon whom his enemies could not kill until he had confessed himself to a priest.	f. 458-458, col. 1, line 1	EMML (HMML) 7089	ወሀሎ፡ አሐዱ፡ ዲያቆን፡ ዘይትአመና፡ ለማርያም፡ በጥቡዕ፡ ልብ፡...	-	140
7	An official who kidnapped a girl who had made a vow of virginity is visited by the Virgin Mary	f. 458-459, col. 2, line 19	-	ወሀለወት፡ አሐቲ፡ ድንግል፡ እንተ፡ በጽአት፡ ድንግልናሃ፡ ለማር...	-	309
8	The pilgrim [to Santiago] whom Satan persuaded to mutilate himself after falling into a sexual sin	f. 459-460, col. 2, line 2	EMML (HMML) 1573	ወሀሎ፡ አሐዱ፡ ብእሲ፡ መነኮስ፡ ዘይፈርሆ፡ ለእግዚአብሔር፡ በኵ...	-	144
9	Saint Basil and the proud men who wanted to have a splendid icon of the Virgin Mary made and ask him to make it	f. 461-463, col. 1, line 21	-	ጸጋ፡ ወኀይል፡ ዘገብረት፡ ማርያም፡ በደወለ፡ ምስር፡ ዘምኵናነ፡...	-	98
10	A virgin, living with her mother, who slept with many young men due to Satan and was saved by the Virgin Mary when her tears outweighed her sins	f. 463-466, col. 1, line 23	-	ወሀለወት፡ አሐቲ፡ ድንግል፡ ምስለ፡ እማ፡ ወመጽአ፡ አሐዱ፡ ወሬ...	-	113
11	Mary heals an Egyptian man with two faces and he praises her	f. 466-468, col. 1, line 25	-	ወሖረት፡ ብሔረ፡ ግብጽ፡ ወረከበት፡ አሐደ፡ ብእሴ፡ ዘክልኤ፡ ገ...	☆	1320
12	Mary heals a man named Wafleqalone who was born blind and paralyzed	f. 468-470, col. 1, line 21	-	ወረከበት፡ ብእሴ፡ ዘእውሩ፡ ተወልደ፡ ዘስሙ፡ ወፍልቃሎኔ፡ መፃጕ...	☆	1321
13	A European man, lame due to a stone foot, is healed by praying in front of the icon of the Virgin Mary	f. 470-472, col. 2, line 1	-	ስምዑ፡ አበውየ፡ ወአሐውየ፡ ዘገብረት፡ ተአምረ፡ ወመንክረ፡ በብ...	-	99
14	A man who was possessed by a spirit of epilepsy [nagargar] for 47 years approaches the Virgin Mary	f. 472-473, col. 2, line 1	B-Gayant (EOTC) 1	ወነበረት፡ ማርያም፡ ፲ወ፪፡ አመተ፡ እንዘ፡ ትትናዘዝ፡ እምኀበ፡...	-	126
15.1	Thieves at the Spring: Part 1: The daughter of the chief of the thieves is cured of her leprosy at the miraculous spring.	f. 474-475, col. 1, line 1	-	ወኮነ፡ እንከ፡ እምድኅረ፡ ወለደቶ፡ ለፍቁር፡ ወልዳ፡ ኢየሱስ፡ ...	-	100
15.2	Thieves at the Spring: Part 2: The Virgin Mary saves the soul of a thief who was slain by the miraculous spring	f. 475-476, col. 1, line 19	-	ወእምድኅረ፡ አእረፈት፡ እግዝእትነ፡ ማርያም። ወመጽአ፡ ፈያታይ፡...	-	101

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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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