Psatir’ Sledovannaya (MS or. 133) from E. Rüppell’s collection: specifics of the content

Abstract

Psatir’ Sledovannaya (Church Slavonic Псалтирь следованная) is a valuable source for the history of Ethiopia, particularly of the initial period of feudal decentralisation in this region, its literary and church-related traditions and the adjacent disciplines. It has a parallel “rendering” in the Amharic language, termed Andəmta in the Ethiopian tradition (MS or. 133), from the library of the Gondar kings. This MS is kept in the University Library of Johann Christian Senckenberg of Frankfurt University as part of the collection of the German scholar and traveller Edward Rüppell, whose scientific activity took place in the mid-19th century. The manuscript in question, copied not later than 1755 (the last year of the reign of the fi rst of the monarchs mentioned in the text), is a rare specimen of a book from the royal library and represents an example of explaining Scripture in the Amharic language that was understandable to the contemporaries (referred to as Old Amharic, a variety of Amharic typical of Ethiopia in the 17th — 18th centuries). The text is arranged in two columns, which is unusual for the manuscripts of the Psalter, but makes it possible to give parallel texts in Ge’ez (left column) and Amharic (right column). This manuscript belonged to several representatives of the ruling dynasty, whose names are mentioned in the text. Manuscripts of such content are extremely rare (which, in particular, is shown through the analysis of printed catalogues of Ethiopian MSs) and deserve a separate study.

Keywords

• ethiopian monarchy
• history of ethiopia
• ethiopian church
• psatir’ sledovannaya
• explanation of psalter
• old amharic
• translation of scripture
• andəmta
• эфиопская монархия
• история эфиопии
• эфиопская церковь
• псалтирь следованная
• толковая псалтирь
• староамхарский язык
• перевод священного писания
• андэмта