A Fifteenth-Century Ethiopian Homily on the Archangel Uriel

Abstract

The text presented in this article is the earliest homily in honour of the Archangel Uriel. The homily is attested in two copies: the earlier is EMML 1835 (fols 166ra–181vb) copied during the time of Emperor Zärʾa Yaʿǝqob (r 1434–1468), and the other is EMML 1841 (fols 137vb–151ra) dated to the seventeenth century. The text makes significant use of 4 Ezra and 1 Enoch, depicting Uriel as angelus interpres and helper of Enoch and Ezra.

Keywords

• angelology
• edition
• Sabbath
• angelological literature
• philology