Nafisa Valieva | University of Hamburg (original) (raw)
Papers by Nafisa Valieva
Navigating the Text: Textual Articulation and Division in Pre-Modern Cultures, 2023
MS Parma (Italy), Biblioteca Palatina, Parm. 3852, is a twentieth century manuscript comprising a... more MS Parma (Italy), Biblioteca Palatina, Parm. 3852, is a twentieth century manuscript comprising a collection of texts related to Saint King Lālibalā, known as the Gadla Lālibalā collection. This manuscript was produced by a scribe named Walda Giyorgis, who was probably a member of the Catholic Church of the Ethiopian Rite. This paper focuses on a single page from that manuscript, f. 118v, which displays a set of elements consisting of ‘titles’—navigational elements that help to structure liturgical readings. The introductory part was developed from an earlier manuscript bearing the same content, produced at the end of the seventeenth century for the church of Golgotā in Roha-Lālibalā in Lasta, Ethiopia. That manuscript was part of a cultural project aimed at strengthening local identity, and which chose Lālibalā as a patron of the region despite the fact that he had been dubbed a usurper by the ruling dynasty. The manuscript contains navigational elements common in Ethiopic manuscripts, but it is unique because it was produced between 1939 and 1940, when Italy declared the Impero, the Africa Orientale Italiana.
This is a talk given at the Text and Transmission Joint Research Seminar, hosted by Giorgia Nicos... more This is a talk given at the Text and Transmission Joint Research Seminar, hosted by Giorgia Nicosia (UGent), Valentina Duca (KU Leuven), Andy Hilkens (UGent), and Dan Batovici (KU Leuven), aims to put in dialogue on-going projects on various traditions and historical contexts.
Aethiopica, 2022
The work on the Golden Gospel of Dabra Libānos za-Ham in Eritrea, one of the main archives of the... more The work on the Golden Gospel of Dabra Libānos za-Ham in Eritrea, one of the main archives of the medieval history of Ethiopia and Eritrea, was initiated within the frame of the Ethiopian Manuscript Archives project, ANR EthioChristProcess, and Beta maṣāḥǝft. The work aims to describe the codicological disposition of the archival notes (i.e. arrangement of texts within the codex and its by-side folia), to provide their transcription, translation, and indexation. This article will discuss the encoding method for this work in progress, supported by TEI.
БИБЛИЯ И ХРИСТИАНСКАЯ ДРЕВНОСТЬ , 2021
he present publication summarizes the results of previous research on the corpus of manuscripts ... more he present publication summarizes the results of previous research on the corpus of manuscripts containing the «Life of Lālibalā». According to the hypothesis of the author,
the content of manuscripts, labelled as the «Gadla Lālibalā / Life of Lālibalā» is in fact a collection of textual units, composed within the territory of contemporary Ethiopia and Eritrea in the local literary language, geez. The exact date of composition remains unknown. According to the limited data one can state that by the XIV/XVth century manuscripts containing the «Life of Lālibalā»
constitute an integral part of such monastic libraries as Dabra Ṣǝyon Abuna ʾAbrǝham, and Kǝbrān
on the lake of Ṭānā, geographically remote from each other. The text attests quotations from the
Bible and allusions to the apocryphal texts. The textual units are either of narrative or of praising
character. The article presents an overview of the corpus of manuscripts, discusses the method of
defining a textual unit, as well as the content of thus defined textual units.
Photo by Wayne Torborg Prof. em. Dr. ጌታችው ኃይሌ / Geta(t)chew Haile, FBA, passed away on June 10 20... more Photo by Wayne Torborg Prof. em. Dr. ጌታችው ኃይሌ / Geta(t)chew Haile, FBA, passed away on June 10 2021. Geta(t)chew (Amh. 'their lord') is his first name, Haile ('my force')-his father's name, a common way of naming children in Ethiopian Christian families. As Getatchew used to specify: 'Many people call me Mr. Haile, but I am Getatchew'. Getatchew's voice continues to sound through his children and grandchildren, through his students, colleagues, friends and people who met
С согласия автора, профессора Фовеля, выкладываю в открытый доступ неопубликованный перевод Введе... more С согласия автора, профессора Фовеля, выкладываю в открытый доступ неопубликованный перевод Введение к книге про африканское Средневековье. Книга освещает малоизвестный островок истории, уже была переведена с французского на английский, китайский, корейский, португальский, итальянский, немецкий, польский, чешский. Хочется, чтобы она стала доступна и по-русски. Готова выступить в качестве переводчика или научного консультанта. Ищу заинтересованного издателя!
Nafisa Valieva, “The Portrait of a Queen” In: Wiebke Beyer (Ed.): Manuscript of the Month 2016.07, SFB 950: Hamburg, http://www.manuscript-cultures.uni-hamburg.de/mom/2016\_07\_mom\_e.html, 2016
In the first decade of the 19th century, which was a period of extreme decentralisation in Ethiop... more In the first decade of the 19th century, which was a period of extreme decentralisation in Ethiopia, Queen Manan of Gondar commissioned a manuscript with hagiographic texts about Saint King Lālibalā containing a unique iconographic cycle. This manuscript was produced for a newly constructed church dedicated to this saint king in her capital. But why was Queen Manan, who lived 600 years later than him, so eager to promote his cult in a new place?
Ethiopia, one of the oldest Christian countries on the Horn of Africa, remains one of the few in... more Ethiopia, one of the oldest Christian countries on the Horn of Africa, remains one of the few in the world where parchment manuscripts still constitute an integral part of the church life. At the same time, printed liturgical books are getting more accessible, while manuscripts are getting recognized as a precious historical heritage. One can define the situation as a transitional period from parchment Gǝʿǝz manuscripts to printed Gǝʿǝz (or /and Amharic) books. Working on Gǝʿǝz manuscripts, one observes three typical scenarios: (i) a church has only printed books, (ii) a church has only manuscripts or (iii) a church has both, printed books and manuscripts. This article address the question of what kind of reality emerges if one tries to contrast practices around manuscripts and practices around printed books and how church conservatism adapts to these innovations. From our perspective of today, one can say that in the pre-printed era in Ethiopia, ‘the agents of Ethiopian Christian culture did not treat books as a precious historical heritage, but as sacred objects intended for practical use’ (Nosnitsin 2020, 289). This essay, based on interviews and observations the author made during various field trips in Ethiopia, shows that for this transitional period from usage of parchment manuscripts to printed books, the idea of treating books as sacred objects intended for practical use is true for both items. Due to the raising of awareness of parchment manuscripts’ historical value, their usage has become discouraged in Ethiopia, which stimulates various debates. This is a key moment to document the existing practices around living manuscript culture and its dialogue with newly emerging printing culture.
The ‘Gadla Lālibalā collection of textual units’: tradition and documentation, PhD Dissertation i... more The ‘Gadla Lālibalā collection of textual units’: tradition
and documentation, PhD Dissertation in Ethiopian Studies,
Faculty of Humanities at the University of Hamburg, defended on 25 September 2019
Books by Nafisa Valieva
The central goal (and hopefully achievement) of this dissertation is to break apart and articulat... more The central goal (and hopefully achievement) of this dissertation is to break apart and articulate,
for the first time, the large mass of material about King Lālibalā that has generally been subsumed
and ‘leveled’ under the monolithic label ‘Gadla Lālibalā’, which has been considered the main
source about the life and deeds of King Lālibalā as a saint. King Lālibalā is considered a saint along
with other kings of the so-called Zagwe dynasty, who ruled in the twelfth-thirteenth century ce,
who is given credit for the construction of the renowned rock-hewn churches in the city of
Lālibalā, named after the king.
As a careful study of twenty-three manuscripts shows, Gadla Lālibalā is anything but a
homogeneous text that simply recounts the life of Lālibalā. Rather, it is a composite of multiple
textual units revolving around Lālibalā, partially independent of each other and occurring in
different combinations in different manuscripts. The units are articulated on both a logical and a
physical basis. Each unit has a textual life of its own (potentially different date of composition,
author, provenience), and may be transmitted separately apart from the others. The basic textual
units include (inter alia) the ‘Life of Lālibalā’ proper, ‘Jesus and His redeeming fire’, ‘Praise for
Lālibalā’, various miracles, numerous separate episodes in his life, etc. I distinguish between this
‘basic’ dossier of fourteen units closely linked to Lālibalā and which usually occur together (I call
this ensemble the ‘Gadla Lālibalā collection’), and some further units which may sometimes
occur together with the basic Lālibalā dossier ― on such topics as Naʾakkwǝto Laʾab, Masqal
Kǝbrā (Lālibalā’s queen), malkə’, antiphons, hymns, etc. This general approach provides a
solution to what has seemed a paradox: most parts of the ‘Gadla Lālibalā collection’ honour
and praise Lālibalā, but one textual unit (having a strongly Solomonic ideology) shows Lālibalā
humbling himself and renouncing his kingship.
Additionally, the dissertation proposes a stemma codicum for the basic ‘Gadla Lālibalā
collection’ dossier, and presents a partial critical edition for two of the fourteen basic textual units.
A notable feature here is the use of computer software to prepare the basic collation of the
manuscripts. Also addressed is the use of the ‘Life of Lālibalā’forthe liturgical commemoration.
Navigating the Text: Textual Articulation and Division in Pre-Modern Cultures, 2023
MS Parma (Italy), Biblioteca Palatina, Parm. 3852, is a twentieth century manuscript comprising a... more MS Parma (Italy), Biblioteca Palatina, Parm. 3852, is a twentieth century manuscript comprising a collection of texts related to Saint King Lālibalā, known as the Gadla Lālibalā collection. This manuscript was produced by a scribe named Walda Giyorgis, who was probably a member of the Catholic Church of the Ethiopian Rite. This paper focuses on a single page from that manuscript, f. 118v, which displays a set of elements consisting of ‘titles’—navigational elements that help to structure liturgical readings. The introductory part was developed from an earlier manuscript bearing the same content, produced at the end of the seventeenth century for the church of Golgotā in Roha-Lālibalā in Lasta, Ethiopia. That manuscript was part of a cultural project aimed at strengthening local identity, and which chose Lālibalā as a patron of the region despite the fact that he had been dubbed a usurper by the ruling dynasty. The manuscript contains navigational elements common in Ethiopic manuscripts, but it is unique because it was produced between 1939 and 1940, when Italy declared the Impero, the Africa Orientale Italiana.
This is a talk given at the Text and Transmission Joint Research Seminar, hosted by Giorgia Nicos... more This is a talk given at the Text and Transmission Joint Research Seminar, hosted by Giorgia Nicosia (UGent), Valentina Duca (KU Leuven), Andy Hilkens (UGent), and Dan Batovici (KU Leuven), aims to put in dialogue on-going projects on various traditions and historical contexts.
Aethiopica, 2022
The work on the Golden Gospel of Dabra Libānos za-Ham in Eritrea, one of the main archives of the... more The work on the Golden Gospel of Dabra Libānos za-Ham in Eritrea, one of the main archives of the medieval history of Ethiopia and Eritrea, was initiated within the frame of the Ethiopian Manuscript Archives project, ANR EthioChristProcess, and Beta maṣāḥǝft. The work aims to describe the codicological disposition of the archival notes (i.e. arrangement of texts within the codex and its by-side folia), to provide their transcription, translation, and indexation. This article will discuss the encoding method for this work in progress, supported by TEI.
БИБЛИЯ И ХРИСТИАНСКАЯ ДРЕВНОСТЬ , 2021
he present publication summarizes the results of previous research on the corpus of manuscripts ... more he present publication summarizes the results of previous research on the corpus of manuscripts containing the «Life of Lālibalā». According to the hypothesis of the author,
the content of manuscripts, labelled as the «Gadla Lālibalā / Life of Lālibalā» is in fact a collection of textual units, composed within the territory of contemporary Ethiopia and Eritrea in the local literary language, geez. The exact date of composition remains unknown. According to the limited data one can state that by the XIV/XVth century manuscripts containing the «Life of Lālibalā»
constitute an integral part of such monastic libraries as Dabra Ṣǝyon Abuna ʾAbrǝham, and Kǝbrān
on the lake of Ṭānā, geographically remote from each other. The text attests quotations from the
Bible and allusions to the apocryphal texts. The textual units are either of narrative or of praising
character. The article presents an overview of the corpus of manuscripts, discusses the method of
defining a textual unit, as well as the content of thus defined textual units.
Photo by Wayne Torborg Prof. em. Dr. ጌታችው ኃይሌ / Geta(t)chew Haile, FBA, passed away on June 10 20... more Photo by Wayne Torborg Prof. em. Dr. ጌታችው ኃይሌ / Geta(t)chew Haile, FBA, passed away on June 10 2021. Geta(t)chew (Amh. 'their lord') is his first name, Haile ('my force')-his father's name, a common way of naming children in Ethiopian Christian families. As Getatchew used to specify: 'Many people call me Mr. Haile, but I am Getatchew'. Getatchew's voice continues to sound through his children and grandchildren, through his students, colleagues, friends and people who met
С согласия автора, профессора Фовеля, выкладываю в открытый доступ неопубликованный перевод Введе... more С согласия автора, профессора Фовеля, выкладываю в открытый доступ неопубликованный перевод Введение к книге про африканское Средневековье. Книга освещает малоизвестный островок истории, уже была переведена с французского на английский, китайский, корейский, португальский, итальянский, немецкий, польский, чешский. Хочется, чтобы она стала доступна и по-русски. Готова выступить в качестве переводчика или научного консультанта. Ищу заинтересованного издателя!
Nafisa Valieva, “The Portrait of a Queen” In: Wiebke Beyer (Ed.): Manuscript of the Month 2016.07, SFB 950: Hamburg, http://www.manuscript-cultures.uni-hamburg.de/mom/2016\_07\_mom\_e.html, 2016
In the first decade of the 19th century, which was a period of extreme decentralisation in Ethiop... more In the first decade of the 19th century, which was a period of extreme decentralisation in Ethiopia, Queen Manan of Gondar commissioned a manuscript with hagiographic texts about Saint King Lālibalā containing a unique iconographic cycle. This manuscript was produced for a newly constructed church dedicated to this saint king in her capital. But why was Queen Manan, who lived 600 years later than him, so eager to promote his cult in a new place?
Ethiopia, one of the oldest Christian countries on the Horn of Africa, remains one of the few in... more Ethiopia, one of the oldest Christian countries on the Horn of Africa, remains one of the few in the world where parchment manuscripts still constitute an integral part of the church life. At the same time, printed liturgical books are getting more accessible, while manuscripts are getting recognized as a precious historical heritage. One can define the situation as a transitional period from parchment Gǝʿǝz manuscripts to printed Gǝʿǝz (or /and Amharic) books. Working on Gǝʿǝz manuscripts, one observes three typical scenarios: (i) a church has only printed books, (ii) a church has only manuscripts or (iii) a church has both, printed books and manuscripts. This article address the question of what kind of reality emerges if one tries to contrast practices around manuscripts and practices around printed books and how church conservatism adapts to these innovations. From our perspective of today, one can say that in the pre-printed era in Ethiopia, ‘the agents of Ethiopian Christian culture did not treat books as a precious historical heritage, but as sacred objects intended for practical use’ (Nosnitsin 2020, 289). This essay, based on interviews and observations the author made during various field trips in Ethiopia, shows that for this transitional period from usage of parchment manuscripts to printed books, the idea of treating books as sacred objects intended for practical use is true for both items. Due to the raising of awareness of parchment manuscripts’ historical value, their usage has become discouraged in Ethiopia, which stimulates various debates. This is a key moment to document the existing practices around living manuscript culture and its dialogue with newly emerging printing culture.
The ‘Gadla Lālibalā collection of textual units’: tradition and documentation, PhD Dissertation i... more The ‘Gadla Lālibalā collection of textual units’: tradition
and documentation, PhD Dissertation in Ethiopian Studies,
Faculty of Humanities at the University of Hamburg, defended on 25 September 2019
The central goal (and hopefully achievement) of this dissertation is to break apart and articulat... more The central goal (and hopefully achievement) of this dissertation is to break apart and articulate,
for the first time, the large mass of material about King Lālibalā that has generally been subsumed
and ‘leveled’ under the monolithic label ‘Gadla Lālibalā’, which has been considered the main
source about the life and deeds of King Lālibalā as a saint. King Lālibalā is considered a saint along
with other kings of the so-called Zagwe dynasty, who ruled in the twelfth-thirteenth century ce,
who is given credit for the construction of the renowned rock-hewn churches in the city of
Lālibalā, named after the king.
As a careful study of twenty-three manuscripts shows, Gadla Lālibalā is anything but a
homogeneous text that simply recounts the life of Lālibalā. Rather, it is a composite of multiple
textual units revolving around Lālibalā, partially independent of each other and occurring in
different combinations in different manuscripts. The units are articulated on both a logical and a
physical basis. Each unit has a textual life of its own (potentially different date of composition,
author, provenience), and may be transmitted separately apart from the others. The basic textual
units include (inter alia) the ‘Life of Lālibalā’ proper, ‘Jesus and His redeeming fire’, ‘Praise for
Lālibalā’, various miracles, numerous separate episodes in his life, etc. I distinguish between this
‘basic’ dossier of fourteen units closely linked to Lālibalā and which usually occur together (I call
this ensemble the ‘Gadla Lālibalā collection’), and some further units which may sometimes
occur together with the basic Lālibalā dossier ― on such topics as Naʾakkwǝto Laʾab, Masqal
Kǝbrā (Lālibalā’s queen), malkə’, antiphons, hymns, etc. This general approach provides a
solution to what has seemed a paradox: most parts of the ‘Gadla Lālibalā collection’ honour
and praise Lālibalā, but one textual unit (having a strongly Solomonic ideology) shows Lālibalā
humbling himself and renouncing his kingship.
Additionally, the dissertation proposes a stemma codicum for the basic ‘Gadla Lālibalā
collection’ dossier, and presents a partial critical edition for two of the fourteen basic textual units.
A notable feature here is the use of computer software to prepare the basic collation of the
manuscripts. Also addressed is the use of the ‘Life of Lālibalā’forthe liturgical commemoration.