Reconstructing the Library of Dabra Ḥayq ʾƎsṭifānos
A Study of Ethiopic Book Lists and Manuscripts
2023–2025
RFE20
Manuscripts, and by extension libraries, have existed in the highlands of Christian Ethiopia and Eritrea since at least Late Antiquity (c. 300–700 CE). However, the vast majority of these manuscripts postdate the fifteenth century and are not found in their original contexts, and so it can be difficult to reconstruct the contents of a particular library of yesteryear. This is especially true for libraries from the early medieval period, such as the library of Dabra Ḥayq ʾƎsṭifānos, which is the focus of this project. Nevertheless, there are important clues, such as a gospel book from the monastery, dated to about 1280, which is richly illuminated and filled with historical notes. Of particular significance for this project is that this manuscript contains a donation list of ʾIyasus Moʾa, the most prominent abbot of Dabra Ḥayq ʾƎsṭifānos, which records his donation of manuscripts to the monastery in 1292. Later notes in this manuscript also record the donations of subsequent abbots, thereby illustrating the growth of the monastic library. Yet book inventories are not straight-forward sources; one must place each inventory in its historical, literary, and material context to appreciate fully its contents.
Taking the donation list of ʾIyasus Moʾa as its starting point, this project analyses the library of Dabra Ḥayq ʾƎsṭifānos, focusing on the 13th–16th centuries. Furthermore, this project identifies each of the lemmata in ʾIyasus Moʾa’s donation list in relation to (near-)contemporary manuscripts, later inventories from Dabra Ḥayq ʾƎsṭifānos and other monasteries, and different works referenced in early medieval authors. Through such an approach, the project aims to accomplish three discrete, albeit complementary goals. First, with Dabra Ḥayq ʾƎsṭifānos as a case-study, this project describes the intellectual profile of an early medieval library. Second, it provides insights into how Ethiopian and Eritrean libraries evolved over time in response to shifting values and crises. Third, it contributes to the growing scholarly discussion on how to use book inventories responsibly in historical research.
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