Princeton Collection of Ethiopic Magic Scrolls, 1700-1900
Princeton Ethiopic Magic Scroll No. 184, 1870-1930
5 pieces of parchment all but the second and third pieces of which are held together by modern, Western tape. 1 col. written in black with rubrics in a large, widely spaced hand (4-5mm), framed within a simple uncolored linear border. 3 talismanic drawings.
Guardian angel holding a drawn sword. Simple decorative borders above and below. (In blue ink with red and blue-black color in crayon or Western ink ?)
Eight-pointed star with central face. (In blue ink with red and blue-black color.)
Hand-cross design. (In blue ink with red and blue-black color.)
Owner: Wälättä Tensa'é (f.)
The collection is open for research use.
Acquisition:
No acquisition information available.
Princeton Ethiopic Magic Scroll No. 184; Princeton Collection of Ethiopic Magic Scrolls, C1296, Manuscripts Division, Department of Special Collections, Princeton University Library
Firestone Library (hsvm): Box 5
Ethiopic magic scrolls are textual amulets containing brief protective and healing texts in Ge'ez and occasionally Amharic. Ethiopian Christians wore these scrolls on the body in the belief that they prevented disease, death in childbirth, demonic possession, malevolent spirits, the Evil Eye, and other sources of personal misfortune. They were generally prepared by unordained clerics (debtera), who wrote on narrow strips of parchment arranged in scroll format. The magical efficacy of these scrolls is based in large measure on a selection of amuletic texts, apotropaic prayers, charms, incantations, prayers, Scriptural quotations, miracle tales, formulas, invocations of divine names and helpful saints, and images. Most magic scrolls were activated for the use of a particular person, whose name is given. Contributing to their protective power are painted images of guardian angels with drawn swords, St. Susenyos slaying Werzelya for the protection of mothers and infants, magic squares and eight-pointed stars, the net of Solomon for capturing demons, and other figurative illustrations and designs. The magic scrolls were generally rolled up in small leather capsules, enabling them to be worn on the body. Some fairly modern magic scrolls are sewn into the capsules so that they cannot be read, but most could be opened and even hung on walls for prayer and protection. Most extant examples in the Princeton University Library date from the 18th to 20th centuries. For more information, see Jacques Mercier's Ethiopic Magic Scrolls (1979) and Art that Heals: The Image as Medicine in Ethiopia (1997).