Walters Ms. W.845, Ethiopian scroll with the Lion of Judah Prayer scroll Principal cataloger Getatchew Haile Cataloger Herbert, Lynley Cataloger Walters Art Museum curatorial staff and researchers since 1934 Editor Herbert, Lynley Copy editor Dibble, Charles Contributor Bockrath, Diane Contributor Emery, Doug Contributor Isaac, Ephraim Contributor Noel, William Contributor Tabritha, Ariel Contributor Toth, Michael B. Conservator Owen, Linda Conservator Quandt, Abigail The Walters Art Museum

Licensed for use under Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported Access Rights, http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0/legalcode. It is requested that copies of any published articles based on the information in this data set be sent to the curator of manuscripts, The Walters Art Museum, 600 North Charles Street, Baltimore MD 21201.

 This prayer scroll was written in the nineteenth century to protect its owner, Wäldä Giyorgis. The front of the scroll contains prayers against evil which invoke the help of the Archangel Phanuel, while the back contains prayers requesting things as diverse as luck in love, help with headaches, and the protection of domestic animals. Scrolls such as these would have been worn as protective devices, and were made the length of the owner in order to protect them from head to foot. With a length of 151 cm, it can be inferred that Wäldä Giyorgis stood just under 5 feet tall. Baltimore The Walters Art Museum W.845 The primary language in this manuscript is Geez. The secondary language of this manuscript is Amharic. cm.0-145.5front - cm.0-145.5back Prayer scroll በስመ፡ አብ፡...ጸሎት፡ በእንተ፡ ማእሠሮሙ፡ ለአጋንንት፡ ወለባርያ፡ ሰላም፡ ለተፈጥሮትከ፡ ምስለ፡ መላእክት፡ ኅቡረ፡... Front of scroll contains three groups of texts separated by images: 1: (unknown image) Hymns in praise of the Archangel Phanuel as prayer for binding demons, incipit: በስመ፡ አብ፡...ጸሎት፡ በእንተ፡ ማእሠሮሙ፡ ለአጋንንት፡ ወለባርያ፡ ሰላም፡ ለተፈጥሮትከ፡ ምስለ፡ መላእክት፡ ኅቡረ፡... (picture of the Archangel); 2: Prayer to the God of the Archangel Phanuel to save [Wäldä Giyorgis] from an evil spirit which cause all sorts of illnesses, incipit: ኦአምላከ፡ ቅዱስ፡ ፋኑኤል [፡] አድኅኖ፡ እምአጋንንት፡ ወትግሪዳ፡ ዛር፡ ወቸነፈር፡ ፍጌን፡ ወፈላሻ፡ ወአልጉም [፡] ቊርፀት፡ ውግዓት፡ ቊርጥማት፡... (picture of a lion); 3: Prayer against an evil spirit, invoking the Greek names of the nails of the Cross and God, incipit: [. . . ]ሹን፡ ሕራዕክር፡ በጠጀን፡ ዘሐጀን፡ ዋሀፍልመኤል፡ በስመ፡ [ሳ]ዶር፡ አላዶር፡ ዳናት፡ አዴራ፡ ሮዳስ፡ በቅንዋተ፡ መስቀሉ፡ ለእግዚእነ፡ ኢየሱስ፡ ክርስቶስ፡ ታኦስ፡ አዝያስ፡... (front side ends with a picture of a head); back of scroll contains series of prayers for protection and health: 1: Prayer to destroy the enemy, incipit is insufficiently legible: [. . . ] በከመ፡ አብራህከ፡ ልቦ፡ ለሙሴ፡ (blank space); 2: Prayer against charm, መፍትሔ፡ ሥራይ፡, incipit is insufficiently legible (24 lines): በስመ፡ አብ፡ . . . ጸሎት ፡ መፍትሔ፡ [. . . ]; 3: Prayer to win the love of a woman, incipit is insufficiently legible (20 lines); 4: Prayer to harm the enemy using demons, incipit is insufficiently legible (18 lines); 5: Prayer to have a bright mind (23 lines), incipit: በስመ፡ አብ፡ . . . በስመ፡ አብ፡ ፈታሔ፡ ሰማይ፡ መሳክዊሁ፡ ለፀሐይ፡ ይረድ፡ መንፈስ፡ ቅዱስ፡ በዲበ፡ ዝንቱ፡ ማይ፡ በጽምጽማኤል፡ ስምከ፡ . . .; 6: Prayer for help in reading/speaking and writing, in two parts (15 and 7 lines): part 1, incipit: በስመ፡ አብ፡ . . . ጸሎት፡ በእንተ፡ ክሥተተ፡ ንባብ፡ ወድርሰት፡ ቦርፎሪኮን፡ አአትሪኮን፡ አትርጋዎን፡ አብሲማኮስ፡ ወእምአፉሁ፡ ይትወሀብ፡ ንባብ፡ ወድርሰት፡ . . .; part 2, incipit: [.]ጉ፡ ጰኩ፡ [. . . ]ኩ፡ ኩጶለጵኩ፡ኲልናጦር፡ . . . በኃይለ፡ ዝንቱ፡ አስማቲከ፡ ክሥት፡ ሊተ፡ ለገብርከ፡ እገሌ፡ ድግም፡ በሮማን፡ በመንፈቀ፡ ፍዝንዝር፡ ፈሐቅ፡ አስናኒከ፡ እኂዘከ፡ በሐዲስ፡ ልብስ፡; 7: Prayer against headache, in two parts (30 and 13 lines); part 1, incipit: በስመአ፡ በል፡ ጸሎተ፡ ሕማመ፡ ርእስ፡ ክርስቶስ፡ ጻድቅ፡ ወበርሃን፡ በምራቅከ፡ ወበመስቀልከ። ከሠትከ፡ አእይንተ፡ እውራን፡ ወበቃልከ፡ ይትፈወሱ፡ ድውያን፡ . . .; part 2, incipit: አህያ፡ ሸራህያ፡ አልሻዳይ፡ ፀባዖት፡ ኢየሱስ፡ ክርስቶስ፡ ዘከሠትከ፡ አዕይንቲሁ፡ ለዕውር፡ ከማሁ፡ ክሥት፡ ዓይነ፡ ልቡናሁ፡ . . .; 8: Prayer to have a bright mind, incipit is insufficiently legible (14 lines) (blank space); 9: Prayer to protect domestic animals against wild animals (15 lines), incipit: ያሁን፡ ፫ እማሂ[፡] ያኮዊሩ፡ ወሸለልኩም፡ ምስለኩም፡ አጀን፡ ወጀን፡ . . .

Heavy yellow parchment

 Foliation: It is a scroll so there is no foliation151.0 8.8

None

Front of scroll contains indistinguishable image at top, with three other images between prayers; no imagery on back; rubrics in red; text in black ink Archangel Phanuel Scroll illumination Lion (of Judah) Scroll illumination Head Scroll illumination 19th century CE Ethiopia Created in Ethiopia, nineteenth century, for Wäldä Giyorgis Joseph Dietrich, Alexandria, VA, date unknown Gene Guerny, Arlington, VA, acquired from Joseph Dietrich before 1997 Gift of Gene Guerny, 1997 Relevant Works Holbert, Kelly, ed. Ethiopian Art: The Walters Art Museum. Baltimore: Trustees of the Walters Art Gallery, 2001, p. 41, fig. 13. Strelcyn, Stefan. Catalogue of the Ethiopian Manuscripts in the British Library Acquired since the Year 1877, London (1978), no. 81, 4, p. 128. See for first text, front of scroll. Art Medicine Museum Poetry Script Muhammad, the Prophet Kashmiri Horses Walters Art Museum Document Astrology Devotion History Legal Literature -- Poetry Literature -- Prose Liturgy Philosophy Science Science -- Medicine Scripture Sufism Theology Mineralogy Logic Geography Geomancy Cosmology Cartography Fortune-telling Koran Qur`an Firman Palimpsest Prayer Bible Gospels Psalter Missal Lectionary Book of Hours Antiphonary Homilary Processional Horologion Breviary Hymnal Chronicle Maghreb Sub-Saharan (West) Africa Turkey Afghanistan Central Asia Egypt England India Iran Iraq Pakistan Germany France Austria Netherlands Ethiopia Armenia Flanders Greece Mamluk Mughal Ottoman Ottonian Armenian Byzantine Abbasid Qajar Rajput Christian Arabic Austrian Dutch Egyptian Fatimid German Indian Islamic Persian Safavid Timurid Turkish Umayyad English French Flemish Ethiopian Carolingian Calligraphy Colophon Headpiece Illumination Illustration Medallion Miniature Ornament Painting Early Abbasid script Ragini Romanesque Gothic Watermark Grotesques Historiated initial Inhabited initial White-vine lettering Textura Batarda Humanistic Uncial Accordion book Album Book Codex Manuscript Heraldry Saint's Life Drawing Grisaille New Abbasid style Musical notation Russia Romania Charter Russian Genealogy Mass book Prayer book Gospel Lectionary Psalter-Hours Treatise Grammar Gloss Pontifical Private devotional text Gradual Protective scroll Scroll 10th century 11th century 12th century 13th century 14th century 15th century 16th century 17th century 18th century 19th century 20th century 8th century 9th century Block book Caroline minuscule Central Arab lands (Near East) Chart English secretary hand Kufic Gothic book hand Original binding Treasure binding Gospel Book Spanish Spain Italian Italy Coptic Scrapbook American United States Maryland Historical Society Friendship book Friendship Biography Judaism Talmud Collection of Sermons Notable Notable binding Textbook Scholarly compendium Ancient Greece Ancient Rome Literature Japanese Japan Nordic Scandinavia Catalog Dictionary Spanish Colonial Mexico Mayan Haggadah Liturgical Devotional Scriptural Theological Legal Historical Scientific Scientific -- Medical Literary -- Prose Literary -- Poetry Philosophical Astrological Sufi English Private devotional text Protective scroll Christian Ethiopian Illumination Manuscript Scroll Walters Art Museum Ethiopia Devotion 19th century Drawing