ETHIOPIAN BIBLE SKIN

'This was the most astounding of all our projects and the Patriarch, the head of the Ethiopian Church, had to give his permission. 'The Garima Gospels have been kept high and dry which has helped preserve them all these years and they are kept in the dark so the colours look fresh. 'The pages had been crudely stitched together in a restoration in the 1960s and some of the pages wouldn't even turn. 'All the work on the texts was done in situ and everything is reversible, so if in future they can be taken away for further conservation we won't have hindered that. 'Many of these old Christian relics can only be reached by hiking and climbing to remote monasteries as roads are limited in these mountainous regions. It is now hoped the Gospels will be put in a museum at the monastery where visitors will be able to view them.īlair Priday from the Ethiopian Heritage Fund said: 'Ethiopia has been overlooked as a source of these fantastic things. The incredible relic has been kept ever since in the Garima Monastery near Adwa in the north of Ethiopia It was also allowed incredibly rare access to the texts so experts could conserve them on site. The charity Ethiopian Heritage Fund that was set up to help preserve the treasures in the country has made the stunning discovery. So the first volume could be in his hand - even if he didn't complete the task in a day as the oral tradition states. Though the texts had been mentioned by the occasional traveller since the 1950s, it had been thought they dated from the 11th century at the earliest.Ĭarbon dating, however, gives a date between 330 and 650 - which tantalisingly overlaps the date Abba Garima arrived in the country. Both contain illustrations and the four Gospels. There are two volumes which date from the same time, but the second is written in a different hand from the first.

ETHIOPIAN BIBLE SKIN

They were written on goat skin in the early Ethiopian language of Ge'ez. The survival of the Gospels is incredible considering the country has been under Muslim invasion, Italian invasion and a fire in the 1930s destroyed the monastery's church. The incredible relic has been kept ever since in the Garima Monastery near Adwa in the north of the country, which is in the Tigray region at 7,000 feet.Įxperts believe it is also the earliest example of book binding still attached to the original pages. Many thanks to the colleagues in the Oriental collections, as well as Exhibitions department for their support.A page from the Garima Gospels - the world's oldest Christian book found in a remote monastery in Ethiopia The display at the Bodleian was received with great interest and there definitely was a sense of enthusiasm for promoting the collection also in the future. 19 includes Psalms, hymns of the Old Testament, Song of Songs and Praises of Mary. The other mid-fifteenth century illuminated manuscript, MS. These were made by Nicolo Brancaleone, a Venetian artist active in Ethiopia. There are four colour miniatures of the Evangelists, one before each Gospel. 14, comprising the Four Gospels in Ge’ez script is thought to come from the Gojjam province in north-western part of Ethiopia. These exceptional codices come with a wealth of painted miniatures, representing biblical figures from the patriarchs to evangelists. The two fifteenth century biblical codices on display were given to the library by Dr Bent Juel-Jensen in 2006. In the afternoon, a small display of Bodleian Ethiopian treasures was ready for the group in the Blackwell Hall. The first part of the day took place at the Ioannou centre and was organised by Judith McKenzie, Miranda Williams, and Foteini Spingou, with photographs by Michael Gervers. During the academic programme, Dr Judith McKenzie spoke about the themes of Garima illumination, while Professor Francis Watson gave a lecture on canon tables. Their trip from London to Oxford was intended as a study day, attending lectures and a photo exhibition on the illuminated Gospels from the Abba Garima Monastery. On Saturday, the 8th of April a group of bibliophiles from the Anglo-Ethiopian Society visited the Weston Library.

Ethiopian bible