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

Princeton University Library, Ethiopic Manuscripts, Manuscript No. 57

This Geʿez language manuscript was created between 1700 and 1799. This date is estimated, based on paleography, a study of the manuscript's letter shapes, by Jeremy Brown and Stephen Delamarter.

This manuscript is held in the repository of Princeton University Library in their Ethiopic Manuscripts in Princeton, NJ, USA. This manuscript's last known location in Ethiopia was Ethiopia (probably).

To view the manuscript, go to the digital copy.

This manuscript has a typical number of Marian miracle stories: 34. Also, 34 have stanzas or hymns at their end, marked with a ♫ in the table below, under Other Aspects.

This manuscript has a lot of paintings of Marian miracle stories: 52. To see the paintings in this manuscript, go to its PEMM Paintings by Manuscript page.

Fortunately, these paintings are digitized and available online in color.

This manuscript has a total of 165 folios. It has 1 columns per page and approximately 15 lines per column.

The stories in this manuscript were cataloged by Jeremy R. Brown. Assistance and/or typing of incipits by Beimnet Beyene Kassaye.

The PEMM abbreviation for this manuscript is PEM (Princeton) 57.

The Beta Maṣāḥǝft abbreviation for this manuscript is PULet057. Other shelfmarks and/or abbreviations for this manuscript include Princeton Ethiopic 57.

Regarding this manuscript's repository:

Over the past century, the Princeton University Library (PUL) has become the leading repository for Ethiopic manuscripts in North America, with over 165 codices and over 600 textual amulets. Among the codices are the inspiration for the PEMM project: eleven Miracles of Mary manuscripts, putting it among the top collections for such outside of Ethiopia. The manuscripts are arranged in five collections. The codices are found in two of them. First, the Robert Garrett Collection of Ethiopic Manuscripts (C0744.03), with manuscripts dating from the 1600s into the 1900s, which PEMM abbreviates as GEM. Its 101 codices were purchased by Enno Littmann (1875-1958) in Ethiopia, when he lead a Princeton expedition to Tigray, Ethiopia, in the autumn of 1905 (with Garrett’s financial backing) and a German expedition to Aksum (Deutsche Aksum-Expedition) in the first few months of 1906. Second, the Princeton Ethiopic Manuscripts (C0776), with manuscripts dating from the late 1600s well into the 1900s, which PEMM abbreviates as PEM. Its 64 codices were donated to or purchased by PUL. Bruce Willsie, Princeton class of 1986, is the most frequent donor. A detailed finding aid for the collection was prepared by Kesis Melaku Terefe with Wendy Laura Belcher in 2008. For more information about the collection, see Treasures of the Manuscript Division and Firestone Library's Rare Books and Special Collections Ethiopic manuscripts.

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.

PEM (Princeton) 57

Order in MS	Story Title	Location in MS	Paintings	Story Recension	Incipit	Other Aspects	Story ID
1	Bishop Ildefonsus (Daqseyos) of Toledo who collected stories and compiled them into the Book of the Miracles of the Virgin Mary	f. 5r-11v, col. 1, line 1	2	-	ወሀሎ፡፪ኤጲስ፡ ቆጶስ፡ ውስተ፡ ቤተ፡ ክርስቲያን፡ ዘጥልጥልያ፡ ...	♫	13
2	A monk without food or clothes received a garment from the Virgin Mary	f. 13r-14v, col. 1, line 1	1	-	ተብህለ፡ ከመ፡ ሀሎ፡ ፩መነኮሰ፡ ነዳይ፡ ዘአልቦቱ፡ ሲሳይ፡ ወል...	♫	404
3	The laborer who complained to the Virgin Mary because she did not reply to his Hail Mary	f. 16r-17v, col. 1, line 1	1	-	ወሀሎ፡ ፩ብእሲ፡ ገባራዊ፡ ዘያፈቅራ፡ ለእግዝእትነ፡… በኵሉ፡ ል...	♫	187
4	An old monk from Egypt whom the Virgin Mary made young again	f. 19r-21v, col. 1, line 1	1	EMML (HMML) 3872	ወሀሎ፡ ፩ብእሲ፡ እብራዊ፡ በሀገረ፡ አክሚም፡ ዘያፈቅራ፡ ለእግዝ...	♫	161
5	The monastic scribe who used to write the Virgin Mary's name in golden ink	f. 23r-25r, col. 1, line 1	2	EMML (HMML) 3872	ወሀሎ፡ ፩መነኮስ፡ ዘስሙ፡ ድምያኖስ፡ ዘይነብር፡ በሀገረ፡ ፊልጵ...	♫	162
6	The former pagan, the Bishop of Rome, who cut off his hand because of a lustful thought and the Virgin Mary healed him	f. 26v-29r, col. 1, line 1	2	EMML (HMML) 3872	ወሀሎ፡ ፩ብእሲ፡ እምጳጳሳተ፡ ሮሜ፡ ዘይብልዎ፡ አባስ፨ ውእቱሰ፡...	♫	163
7	The Egyptian monk Issac who prayed every night for seven years that the Virgin Mary would appear to him	f. 30v-34v, col. 1, line 1	1	EMML (HMML) 4205	ወኮነ፡ ዝንቱ፡ ደብር፡ ቅዱስ፡ ዘዝኩር፡ በመዋዕሊሁ፡ ለአባ፡ ገ...	♫	19
8	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. 36r-39r, col. 1, line 1	2	-	ወሀሎ፡ ፩ብእሲ፡ ፈራሄ፡ እግዚአብሔር፡ ዘያፈቅራ፡ ለእግዝእትነ...	♫	27
9	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. 40v-43v, col. 1, line 1	1	EMML (HMML) 6938	ወሀሎ፡ ፩ብእሲ: ሠዓሊ፡ ወአልቦ፡ ዘይትማሰሎ፡ በገቢረ፡ ሥዕል፡...	♫	33
10	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. 45r-46v, col. 1, line 1	2	EMML (HMML) 5520	ወሀለወት፡ ሥዕለ፡ እግዝእትነ፡… በደብረ፡ ነጋድያን፡ በቤተ፡ ሕ...	♫	54
11	A young man who used to crown the icon of the Virgin Mary with roses	f. 49r-54r, col. 1, line 1	2	EMML (HMML) 3872	ወሀሎ፡ ፩ወሬዛ፡ በሀገረ፡ ሮሜ፡ እምዘመደ፡ ነገሥት፡ ዘስሙ፡ ዘ...	♫	153
12	The two women who were attacked by robbers on their way to church	f. 55v-58r, col. 1, line 1	2	EMML (HMML) 3872	ወሀለዋ፡ ክልኤቲ፡ አንስት፡ አዕማተ፡ እግዝእትነ፡… ፤ በቤተ፡ ...	♫	154
13	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. 59v-62v, col. 1, line 1	2	EMML (HMML) 5520	ወበ፩እመዋዕል፡ ሖሩ፡ ምድረ፡ ሪፍ፡ ፫ዕደው፡ ዓረባውያን፡ እንዘ...	♫	16
14	The church of the Virgin Mary that moved by itself to the shore of the Mediterranean Sea.	f. 64r-66v, col. 1, line 1	2	-	ወሀሎ፡ ደብር፡ በሀገረ፡ ፅርዕ፡ ወኑኁ፡ መጠነ፡ መንፈቀ፡ ምዕራ...	♫	46
15	John Bakansi, the blind Egyptian monk, whose eyes the Virgin Mary healed with her breast milk	f. 66v-71r, col. 1, line 14	1	-	ወሀሎ፡ ፩ቀሲስ፡ በሀገረ፡ ምስር፡ ዘስሙ፡ ዮሐንስ፡ በክንሲ፨ ወ...	♫	43
16	The rich man from Colossae who was shot in the eye with an arrow while fighting the Qwez	f. 72v-75v, col. 1, line 1	1	-	ወሀሎ፡ ፩ብእሲ፡ በደሴተ፡ ቈላስይስ፡ ባዕል፡ ጥቀ፨ ወሖረ፡ ሀገ...	♫	48
17	Elizabeth, the blind Egyptian girl from Badraman, whose eyes the Virgin Mary healed with her breast milk	f. 77r-81v, col. 1, line 1	1	-	ወሀሎ፡ ፩ብእሲ፡ በሀገረ፡ ጽዒድ፡ ዘትሰመይ፡ ብድርማን፡ ዘስሙ፡...	♫	59
18	A widow who could not find husbands for her three daughters	f. 83r-86v, col. 1, line 1	2	-	ወሀለወት፡ አሐቲ፡ ብእሲት፡ ነዳይት፡ ወአልባ፡ ሲሳየ፡ ዕለት፨ ...	♫	57
19	The two brothers who were scribes and while copying the Miracles of the Virgin Mary fell into sin	f. 88v-90v, col. 1, line 1	2	-	ወሀለው፡ በአሐቲ፡ ሀገር፡ ፪ፍቁራን፡ አኃው፡ ወይትፋቀሩ፡ በበይ...	♫	61
20	George the Younger, the martyr, was visited in prison by the Virgin Mary	f. 92v-94r, col. 1, line 1	1	-	ወሀሎ፡ ፩ብእሲ፡ መስተጋድል፡ ፈድፋደ፡ በከዊነ፡ ስምዕ፡ በእንተ...	♫	68

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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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