Alessandro Bausi | Sapienza University of Roma (original) (raw)

New Papers by Alessandro Bausi

The Ethiopian textual tradition is marked by interferences since its earliest phase and along its... more The Ethiopian textual tradition is marked by interferences since its earliest phase and along its whole history. Within this tradition, the creation and transmission of the Ethiopic (Gǝʿǝz) corpus is also marked by gaps in the material transmission (extremely few manuscripts from late antiquity up to the thirteenth century are extant), and in the textual transmission as well, with a Greek-based phase in late antiquity and an Arabic-based phase since the medieval period. The acquisition of new manuscript witnesses and textual evidence to the Ethiopian (and Eritrean) tradition through extensive field researches and microfilming and digitisation campaigns during the last five and particularly the last two decades, require reconsidering the correlation of philological and linguistic evidence in the light of the plurality of linguistic standards and varieties that are attested in the course of time.

Current debates on the notion of Middle Ages of Ethiopia (and Eritrea) offer the occasion for reﬂ... more Current debates on the notion of Middle Ages of Ethiopia (and Eritrea) offer the occasion for reﬂecting on periodizations proposed as well as on recent trends which tend to neglect essential phases of the history of studies. The wave of studies on Late Antiquity has marginally impacted the studies on Ethiopian past.

Chi apra oggi il più recente manuale di riferimento sull’Egitto romano, Roman Egypt: A History, a... more Chi apra oggi il più recente manuale di riferimento sull’Egitto romano, Roman Egypt: A History, a cura di Roger S. Bagnall, pubblicato dalla New York University, con contributi di vari autori – Mona Haggag, T. M. Hickey, Mohamed G. Elmaghrabi, Arietta Papaconstantinou e Dorothy J. Thompson – vi troverà il “Box 2.11.1” dedicato a “The Ethiopic History of the Episcopate of Alexandria”2. Se si pensa che i boxes sono un certo numero nel volume, ma non nell’ordine delle centinaia (56 per l’esattezza), già questo dà la misura dell’importanza generale di questo testo storiografico recentemente scoperto: generale, vale a dire per la vasta platea di coloro che si interessano all’Egitto di età greco-romana nella sua interezza, cioè fino alle soglie dell’età arabo-islamica. Questa presenza è tanto più notevole se si pensa alla straordinaria ricchezza di fonti letterarie e documentarie che l’Egitto ci ha lasciato, certamente la migliore documentazione scritta nell’area del Mediterraneo per qualità e quantità.

Notwithstanding remarkable contributions from the last decades, the lexicography of Gǝʿǝz texts s... more Notwithstanding remarkable contributions from the last decades, the lexicography of Gǝʿǝz texts still offers a great potential for improvement. Wolf Leslau’s comparative dictionary is a masterpiece in Semitic studies, encompasses all previous knowledge in terms of entries and lexemes, and determines an unavoidable benchmark and term of comparison for any further study. Yet, the limits of this lexicographical work in the perspective of literary and philological study are well known: 1) it has very limited and vague references to texts; 2) it provides little or no information concerning the date of the textual attestation of the lexemes and their diachronic semantics; 3) it provides little information on collocation, phraseology, syntactic use, and verbal constructions; 4) it gives little consideration to epigraphical evidence. These features are structurally related to giving prominence to the comparative etymology within Ethiopian Semitic and Afro-Asiatic, and to disregarding the historical and philological dimension.

All rights reserved. Except for the quotation of short passages for the purposes of criticism and... more All rights reserved. Except for the quotation of short passages for the purposes of criticism and review, no part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or any information storage and retrieval system now known or to be invented, without written permission of the publisher.

The manuscript of the Ethiopic ‘Maṣḥafa Qalemǝnṭos’ (‘Book of Clement’) that the MIE (Missione It... more The manuscript of the Ethiopic ‘Maṣḥafa Qalemǝnṭos’ (‘Book of Clement’) that the MIE (Missione Italiana in Eritrea) documented in 1992, re-examined in 2019, provides interesting elements for the reconsideration of the manuscript tradition of the work.

Kervan: International Journal of African and Asian Studies (Liber amicorum Fabricio A. Pennacchietti dicatus), 2023

The long series of fruitful workshops and conferences on Afro-Asiatic linguistics, vividly evoked... more The long series of fruitful workshops and conferences on Afro-Asiatic linguistics, vividly evoked by Fabrizio Angelo Pennacchietti in a recent contribution, was also the occasion for me to deliver a paper ('Ancient Features of Ancient Ethiopic', 2005) that was a minor version of a longer contribution published in the journal Aethiopica (2005), but condensed in its essential elements for the proceedings of the Ragusa-Ibla conference. This paper substantially updates those attempts and provide an assessment of the fertility of that research direction.

The suggested definition is the result of exchanges, reflections, and discussions in the TNT work... more The suggested definition is the result of exchanges, reflections, and discussions in the TNT working group which took place during the regular meetings in the years 2021–2022. The short paper that accompanies the definition has no pretension to a systematic coverage of the topic: it has an empirical character, reflects the development of the discourse on and around the definition of written artefact, and does not pursue any ultimate limit. It only aims to provide an agreed basis for further reflection at a still intermediate stage of the research. The working definition suggested by TNT is the following: A written artefact is any artificial or natural object with visual signs applied by humans.

Giuseppe De Gregorio, Marta Luigina Mangini, Maddalena Modesti, eds, ‘Documenti scartati, documenti reimpiegati. Forme, linguaggi, metodi per nuove prospettive di ricerca’, 2023

The «Donation of Ṭanṭawǝdǝm» is the oldest Ethiopian documentary text (twelfth century) and has a... more The «Donation of Ṭanṭawǝdǝm» is the oldest Ethiopian documentary text (twelfth century) and has a linguistic feature (type ʾǝmfalaga falagu, lit. «from the river of his river», certainly meaning «along the river» as recently proposed by Nafisa Valieva) that is not found in later texts. Constructions with lexeme repetition in boundary clauses closely resemble the reduplication type found in documentary texts from the Norman and Swabian periods, attested from the end of the eleventh century in southern Italy and particularly in Sicily, in an identical documentary context. For the latter, it has been suggested that the construction, originally from the Greek area, converged into a Byzantine notarial lingua franca, used by Greek-speaking scribes and expressed in Arabic, Greek and Latin documents. The formal and functional correspondence of the linguistic construction justifies the working hypothesis of a direct relationship between Ethiopian chancery and Mediterranean diplomatic practices of the twelfth century.

Ethiopic colophons are still an understudied subject among the broader field of the codex manuscr... more Ethiopic colophons are still an understudied subject among the broader field of the codex manuscript cultures of East and West. The Christian Ethiopian and Eritrean manuscript tradition in Gǝʿǝz language provides a rich, still unsystematically studied documentation of colophons. While the earliest extant colophons date to the thirteenth century, the phenomenon is certainly older. In some periods and monastic environments it has enjoyed a particular fortune and shows a tendency to the expansion. As marker of material and/or textual production, the colophon is related and at times overlaps with the phenomenon of the title and supplication.B

The treatise On the One Judge (CAe 6260) is one of the most interesting texts preserved in the Ak... more The treatise On the One Judge (CAe 6260) is one of the most interesting texts preserved in the Aksumite Collection. The Aksumite Collection (CAe 1047) is a multiple-text codex unicus that attests to the earliest set of canon law and liturgical Ethiopic (Gǝʿǝz) texts, presumably dating back to Aksumite times. It apparently consists without exception of translations from Greek texts. The treatise On the One Judge is the longest text of the collection. It is the only one of initiatory character and stresses the central function assigned to God Father as «the One Judge». The treatise is marked by a linguistic feature that distinguishes it from all the other texts of the collection, even though this peculiarity does not necessarily justify the hypothesis that it is an Ethiopic original. Albeit apparently completely dismissed in the later manuscript tradition, the treatise was known to Giyorgis of Saglā (d. 1425/1426), who explicitly quoted the title of the treatise in his Maṣḥafa mǝsṭir (Book of the mystery, CAe 1952, accomplished in 1424). The treatise shares theological positions with the Constitutiones Apostolicae as well as with the Epistula Clementis ad Corinthios, and the absence of any ecclesiological reference points to a very early date of composition and use. The resurfacing of this dismissed text sheds completely new light on the late antique Aksumite and medieval Ethiopian civilization and Ethiopian Christianity as a whole. Tackling an extremely difficult and at times puzzling text, this contribution aims to make the treatise On the One Judge accessible through an editio princeps and a translation provided with an essential commentary.

In our series '5 Questions to…', members of CSMC chat about their background, current work, what ... more In our series '5 Questions to…', members of CSMC chat about their background, current work, what motivates them, and about their favourite written artefacts. In this episode, we talk to Alessandro Bausi, co-spokesperson of the Cluster of Excellence and the only professor for Ethiopian Studies in Germany. Alessandro Bausi, Please tell us a little about yourself.

A wooden altar tablet (‘ṭablītō’) inscribed in Syriac, consecrated by an ‘Athanasius bishop of Et... more A wooden altar tablet (‘ṭablītō’) inscribed in Syriac, consecrated by an ‘Athanasius bishop of Ethiopia’ in 1295/1296 CE was recently documented from a church in the nearby of Asmara, in Eritrea. The note provides edition, translation, and commentary of the text, as well as a first assessment of its meaning in connection with the debated issue of the presence of Syrian prelates in Ethiopia and Eritrea at the end of the thirteenth century. The wooden tablet is the only ancient or medieval written object in Syriac script or language that has so far been found in Ethiopia or Eritrea.

‘Preface’, in Paolo La Spisa, ed., Martyrium Arethae Arabice. Le versioni arabe del Martirio di Areta (BHG 166)’

with the project Testi agiografici di Siria e Palestina in lingua araba: le versioni arabe del Ma... more with the project Testi agiografici di Siria e Palestina in lingua araba: le versioni arabe del Martirio di Areta e dei suoi compagni a Naǧrān (ex 60% PAOLOLASPISARICATEN21 / coan 46598) and by Academies' Programme of the Union of the German Academies of Sciences and Humanities under survey of the Akademie der Wissenschaften in Hamburg (project Beta maṣāḥǝft: Manuscripts of Ethiopia and Eritrea / Schriftkultur des christlichen Äthiopiens und Eritreas: eine multimediale Forschungsumgebung). Bibliografische Information der Deutschen Nationalbibliothek Die Deutsche Nationalbibliothek verzeichnet diese Publikation in der Deutschen Nationalbibliografie; detaillierte bibliografische Daten sind im Internet über https://dnb.de abrufbar.

First published by Giorgio Brunetti in 1927 and re-edited by Carlo Conti Rossini in 1939, the ins... more First published by Giorgio Brunetti in 1927 and re-edited by Carlo Conti Rossini in 1939, the inscription of Ham (RIÉ no. 232) has since received attention from several scholars in Ethiopian and Eritrean studies, from Ugo Monneret de Villard to Enrico Cerulli, Sergew Hable Selassie, and, in the last twenty-five years, Gianfranco Fiaccadori and Manfred Kropp. The latter author has proposed a precise dating to 873 CE, before the recent appearance of the posthumous contribution by Abraham Johannes Drewes, who is the last one to have systematically discussed the inscription. Without pretending to solve all problems that arise from the inscription, the scope of the present note is to provide a fresh re-examination of some of the palaeographic and linguistic features of the Ham inscription, which remains a Gǝʿǝz epigraphic document of exceptional importance for the Ethiopian and Eritrean Middle Ages, and to propose a dating to 23 December 974 CE.

Covered with the Rust of Egyptian Antiquity": Thomas Ford Hill and the Decipherment of Hieroglyph... more Covered with the Rust of Egyptian Antiquity": Thomas Ford Hill and the Decipherment of Hieroglyphs 174 Patricia Usick 17 De origine et usu obeliscorum: Some Notes on an Eighteenth-century Egyptological Study 185 Emanuele M. Ciampini contents ix Zoëga and the Origins of Coptic Studies 18 Gli studi copti fĳino a Zoëga 195 Tito Orlandi 19 Chénouté et Zoëga : l'auteur majeur de la littérature copte révélé par le savant danois 206 Anne Boud'hors 20 The Catalogus codicum copticorum manu scriptorum qui in Museo Velitris adservantur. Genesis of a masterpiece 216

Kervan: International Journal of African and Asian Studies (Liber amicorum Fabricio A. Pennacchietti dicatus), 2023

Giuseppe De Gregorio, Marta Luigina Mangini, Maddalena Modesti, eds, ‘Documenti scartati, documenti reimpiegati. Forme, linguaggi, metodi per nuove prospettive di ricerca’, 2023

‘Preface’, in Paolo La Spisa, ed., Martyrium Arethae Arabice. Le versioni arabe del Martirio di Areta (BHG 166)’

The Empire of Aksum was one of Africa’s most influential ancient civilisations. Traditionally, mo... more The Empire of Aksum was one of Africa’s most influential ancient civilisations. Traditionally, most archaeological fieldwork has focused on the capital city of Aksum, but recent research at the site of Beta Samati has investigated a contemporaneous trade and religious centre located between Aksumand the Red Sea.The authors outline the discovery of the site and present important finds from the initial excavations, including an early basilica, inscriptions and a gold intaglio ring. From daily life and ritual praxis to international trade, this work illuminates the role of Beta Samati as an administrative centre and its significance within the wider Aksumite world.

The recent publication in 2017 by Yohannes Gebreselassie and eventually by Norbert Nebes, with a ... more The recent publication in 2017 by Yohannes Gebreselassie and eventually by Norbert Nebes, with a commented translation and a comprehensive interpretive hypothesis, of two inscriptions in non-vocalized Ethiopic language written on bronze plaques that mention the Aksumite King Ḥafilā (ΑΦΙΛΑϹ), raises important issues concerning the linguistic and cultural-historical context of the two inscribed objects. Slightly at variance with the interpretation that privileges the Ethiopian-South Arabian connection, there appears to be evidence suggesting a closer relationship to the Aksumite linguistic and cultural context. The ᾿ǝlla-name of King Ḥafilā, ᾿Ǝlla ῾Aygā, is traceable in Ethiopian medieval king lists. As a hypothesis towards a better understanding of these unique written artefacts of still uncertain location and provenance, an alternative translation and interpretation of the two inscriptions is provided and a typological parallel with Roman metal military diplomas as certificates of awards is tentatively and cautiously proposed.

The enigma of a medieval Ethiopian dynasty of saints and usurpers (review article of Marie-Laure ... more The enigma of a medieval Ethiopian dynasty of saints and usurpers (review article of Marie-Laure Derat, L’énigme d’une dynastie sainte et usurpatrice dans le royaume chrétien d’Éthiopie du XIe au XIIIe siècle (Hagiologia 14, Turnhout: Brepols, 2018), in “Orientalistische Literaturzeitung”, 113/6 (2018), pp. 439-447.

The Ethiopic Gadla ʾAzqir, «Acts of ʾAzqir», is a hagiographic text only known in Ethiopic versio... more The Ethiopic Gadla ʾAzqir, «Acts of ʾAzqir», is a hagiographic text only known in Ethiopic version and transmitted by over twenty manuscripts of the homiletic-liturgical collection of hagiographic genre known as Gadla samāʿtāt, «Acts of the martyrs». Though composed in a literary garb, the data provided by this document on the Christianization of South Arabia and the religious situation at the time are matched by epigraphic data and later literary traditions and appear to some extent reliable and of historical value. The narrative refers to events which might have taken place in the time span of ad 470-475. The Ethiopic text, first published by Carlo Conti Rossini in 1910 on the basis of two manuscripts, was eventually re-translated, but never re-edited. The Gadla ʾAzqir is re-edited here on the basis of the twenty-four manuscripts that were accessible to the editor. The edition is preceded by an introduction where some of the main questions posed by the text are dealt with. The text edition is provided with a set of apparatuses and the translation with an essential commentary, where a few text-critical questions are adressed more in detail.

The contribution offers the edition of the Ethiopic and Latin versions of a partially inedited te... more The contribution offers the edition of the Ethiopic and Latin versions of a partially inedited text of ecclesiastical history, originally composed in Greek probably at the end of the fourth century AD. The text, to be distinguished from both the Coptic History of the Church and the Arabic History of the Patriarchs, testifies to a particularly ancient phase of the Patriarchate of Alexandria between the second and fourth centuries AD. The Ethiopic version, unknown until now, is preserved within a codex (siglum Σ) containing a canonical-liturgical collection composed of translations which appear to belong to the Aksumite period (fourth-seventh centuries AD). The manuscript dates from the thirteenth century at the latest, probably earlier. The Latin version has already been known since the times of Scipione Maffei thanks to an old Latin uncial codex of the Biblioteca Capitolare in Verona (seventh-eighth century, Codex Veronensis LX [58], siglum V), the two tomes of which contain documents concerning the Church of Africa and a very rich and varied canonical collection, published more than once in the last two centuries. This history, which has been given the title of Historia Episcopatus Alexandriae (siglum HEpA), has been the subject of a long-term research by the authors of this contribution, presented in several papers, notes and articles since 2000. The present edition is at the same time an editio princeps and an editio minor because the Ethiopic and Latin texts are accompanied by critical apparatuses but not the linguistic, literary and historical commentaries which are under their final editing.

A finely illuminated Ethiopic Psalter dating to the fifteenth-sixteenth century, sold on auction ... more A finely illuminated Ethiopic Psalter dating to the fifteenth-sixteenth century, sold on auction in 1983 and still in the possession of an unknown private collector, was made the object of two distinct publications in 1986. Ewa Balicka-Witakowska focused on the art-historical importance of the manuscript, while Richard Pankhurst dealt with its guard-leaves containing additional notes in Portuguese and Latin and their significance. Almost unnoticed or largely misunderstood remained a small Ethiopic text belonging to the primitive layer of the fly-leaves, that probably held the last place in a larger multiple-text manuscript, of which one loose leaf might have survived. So far unpublished, the text is the Ethiopic version of the Lex lata Constantini Augusti de Arii damnatione (CPG nos 2041 = 8519). Along with the
Ethiopic version of the Epistula Constantini imperatoris ad ecclesiam Alexandrinam (CPG no. 8517), unpublished as well, the former is also attested by the earliest Ethiopic canonico-liturgical collection known as the Aksumite collection. An editio princeps of the two epistles in Ethiopic version along with a concisely annotated translation is provided.

The second-century Apocalypse of Peter (ApPt) is transmitted in its entirety only in an Arabic-ba... more The second-century Apocalypse of Peter (ApPt) is transmitted in its entirety only in an Arabic-based Ethio-pic translation within a pseudo-clementine dossier composed of The second coming of Christ and the resurrection of the dead and the A speech on the glorious and arcane mystery of the judgment of sinners and a dispute concerning this speech. The codicological analysis of the two manuscripts—BnF, éthiopien, d'Abbadie 51 (P), and Lake Ṭānā, Ṭānāsee 35 = Kebrān 35 (T)—transmitting the dossier shows that the Ethiopic ApPt dossier goes back to a larger collection. Moreover, there are clues that the blank of a few lines that interrupts, without any apparent omission or material loss, the text of MS P on fol. 141vb, is most probably due to team work. The colophon of MS T confirms the marked heterodox character of the Ethiopic dossier. After the important contributions by Dennis D. Buchholz and Paolo Marrassini, a new edition of the entire dossier is planned for the Corpus Christianorum Series Apocryphorum. Résumé L'Apocalypse de Pierre (ApPt), datée du deuxième siècle, est transmise intégralement par une traduction éthiopienne qui repose sur un modèle arabe, dans un dossier pseudo-clémentin qui est composé de La seconde venue du Christ et la résurrection des morts et d'Un discours sur le glorieux et arcane mystère du jugement des pé-cheurs et une dispute concernant ce discours. L'analyse codicologique des deux manuscrits – BnF, éthiopien, d'Abbadie 51 (P), et Lac Ṭānā, Ṭānāsee 35 = Kebrān 35 (T) – qui transmettent ce dossier, montre que le dossier éthiopien de l'ApPt remonte à une collection plus étendue. En outre, des indices révèlent que le blanc de peux lignes qui interrompe, sans aucune omission apparente, le texte du MS P au fol. 141vb, est probablement la consé-quence d'un travail d'équipe. Le colophon du MS T confirme le caractère hétérodoxe marqué du dossier éthiopien. Après les contributions importantes de Dennis D. Buchholz et Paolo Marrassini, une nouvelle édition du dossier entier est envisagée pour le Corpus Christianorum Series Apocryphorum.

A finely illuminated Ethiopic Psalter dating to the fifteenth-sixteenth century, sold on auction ... more A finely illuminated Ethiopic Psalter dating to the fifteenth-sixteenth century, sold on auction in 1983 and still in the possession of an unknown private collector, was made the object of two distinct publications in 1986. Ewa Balicka-Witakowska focused on the art-historical importance of the manuscript, while Richard Pankhurst dealt with its guard-leaves containing additional notes in Portuguese and Latin and their significance. Almost unnoticed or largely misunderstood remained a small Ethiopic text belonging to the primitive layer of the fly-leaves, that probably held the last place in a larger multiple-text manuscript, of which one loose leaf might have survived. So far unpublished, the text is the Ethiopic version of the Lex lata Constantini Augusti de Arii damnatione (CPG nos 2041 = 8519). Along with the Ethiopic version of the Epistula Constantini imperatoris ad ecclesiam Alexandrinam (CPG no. 8517), unpublished as well, the former is also attested by the earliest Ethiopic canonico-liturgical collection known as the Aksumite Collection.

More than fifty years after the publication of the Bodmer papyrus of the Apology of Phileas (P. B... more More than fifty years after the publication of the Bodmer papyrus of the Apology of Phileas (P. Bodmer XX, hereafter: Bo), followed c. two decades after by that of a papyrus witness to the Acts of Phileas (P. Chester Beatty XV, Be), the publication in 2010 of the parchment fragment of a Coptic version (P. Köln 492 = Inv. 20838e, Co) dating the martyrdom to AD 305 proposes again the question of the role, meaning, and correct interpretation of the witness of the Ethiopic version (Et), the latter, published in 2002, having anticipated the dating to 305. Non exclusively limited to the Ethiopic Acts, yet largely ignored by scholars in early Christianity and hagiography, the memory of Phileas in the Ethiopic tradition surfaces in other texts currently under research, among which the Ethiopic version of the Acts of Peter of Alexandria and most of all the History of the Episcopate of Alexandria.

Only a small number of the 200,000-odd Christian Ethiopic parchment manuscripts which are estimat... more Only a small number of the 200,000-odd Christian Ethiopic parchment manuscripts which are estimated to be extant in Ethiopia, Eritrea and libraries and collections abroad predate the seventeenth century, and even fewer the sixteenth and fifteenth. Those written before the fourteenth century are extremely rare. Non-biblical manuscripts with such early dating are absolute exceptions. The discovery of two folios of a non-biblical pre-thirteenth-century manuscript in 2010 underneath a cupboard in the church of ʿUra Mäsqäl in northern Tigray, close to the Eritrean border, raised a crucial question: which volume did they once belong to? The answer is but one episode in the fascinating story of what has come to be known as the Aksumite Collection.

Antonia Giannouli, Byzantine punctuation and orthography. Between normalisation and respect of th... more Antonia Giannouli, Byzantine punctuation and orthography. Between normalisation and respect of the manuscripts. Introductory remarks Peter J. Gumbert, Our common codicology (and some notes on the West) Lucia Raggetti, Tracing the sources. A rare case of explicit scholarly practice in an Arabic manuscript tradition Jan Just Witkam, Modern palimpsests. The case of the counterfeit Kufi c fragments

New documents written in Ethiopic have come to light in a manuscript discovered in Ethiopia in 19... more New documents written in Ethiopic have come to light in a manuscript discovered in Ethiopia in 1999. These documents not only shed important light upon the literary and cultural history of the Aksumite civilization, but are also of great significance for the history of Christianity in Egypt. The collection transmitted by the manuscript includes the Ethiopic version of a lost Greek History of the Episcopate of Alexandria, which was formerly known primarily from Latin excerpts transmitted by the Codex Veronensis LX (58), passages by the historian Sozomenus, and other less important witnesses. This paper examines certain features of an apocryphal List of Apostles and Disciples and looks more extensively at the structure of the History, its ideological tendencies, and the lists it preserves of Egyptian bishops appointed by bishops Maximus (264-282), Theonas (282-300?), and Peter (300?-311) of Alexandria.

Originally published as: Com’è antico il cuore dell’Etiopia cristiana. Complessa e affascinante l... more Originally published as: Com’è antico il cuore dell’Etiopia cristiana. Complessa e affascinante la vicenda dei manoscritti di Abba Garimà, in “L’Osservatore Romano” (Città del Vaticano), August 4th, 2010, p. 4; updated reprint: Intorno ai Vangeli etiopici di Abbā Garimā, in “La Parola del Passato” (Napoli), 65/6 (375) (2010), pp. 460-471.

Inscriptions from Ethiopia. Encoding inscriptions in Beta Maṣāḥǝft, in Irene Rossi – Annamaria De... more Inscriptions from Ethiopia. Encoding inscriptions in Beta Maṣāḥǝft, in Irene Rossi – Annamaria De Santis (eds.), Digital Epigraphy (Berlin – New York: De Gruyter, 2018), pp. 84-92 (in cooperation with Pietro Liuzzo).

This paper describes the available corpus of inscriptions from the Ethiopian and Eritrean regions giving an overview of this documentation. Some of the challenges involved with the inclusion of these documents in the Beta Maṣāḥǝft project are presented: the connection to already digitally encoded texts, the encoding of the parallel fidal (i.e. Ethiopian script) and transcribed text, and the structuring of the data for the pseudo-trilingual inscription RIÉ nos 185 and 270 (that also has a second copy).

Alessandro Bausi, Alberto Camplani, and Stephen Emmel, eds, Tempo e Storia in Africa / Time and H... more Alessandro Bausi, Alberto Camplani, and Stephen Emmel, eds, Tempo e Storia in Africa / Time and History in Africa (Africana Ambrosiana 4, Milano: Accademia Ambrosiana, 2019), pp. 79–112.

Zemenfes Tsighe, Saleh Mahmud Idris, Yonas Mesfun Asfaha, Senai Woldeab Andemariam, Rediet Kifle ... more Zemenfes Tsighe, Saleh Mahmud Idris, Yonas Mesfun Asfaha, Senai Woldeab Andemariam, Rediet Kifle Taddese, and Ghebrebrhan Ogubazghi (eds.), International Conference on Eritrean Studies 20–22 July 2016 Proceedings, Volume One: Literature, Linguistics, Philology, History, Discourse Analysis, Education, Sociocultural Isssues, Gender, Law, Regional Dynamics, and Tigrinya Literature (Asmara, Eritrea: National Higher Education and Research Institute, 2018), pp. 125-141 (in collaboration with Gianfrancesco Lusini).

There is still a considerable and largely unexplored amount of Gǝ‘ǝz manuscripts preserved in Eritrean libraries, particularly in churches and monasteries, and it is desirable that this documentation is made available to the scholarly attention, as it is being done for other areas. Yet, if the exploration, acquisition, and first scientific study of this material is challenging in itself, of no less importance are questions which still tend to remain in the background, but the importance of which can hardly be underestimated; among these, there are: the cataloguing of the codices, a delicate task which must be done according to the standard and universally applied criteria, involving the description of each and every object in its material constitution and the analytical illustration of its literary contents; the method of approach to the texts, particularly to their edition, which must be achieved following the principles of textual criticism, namely exploiting all the available witnesses of the literary works and reconstructing their mutual relations; the typological analysis of the codex illuminations – if there are – in order to highlight the artistic ‘schools’ and personalities and to reconstruct the influences coming from abroad, mainly the ‘Mediterranean’ milieus. Once these conditions are satisfied, the linguistic, historical, or anthropological use of the texts become possible, and the Gǝ‘ǝz manuscripts will prove to be a priceless source for knowing the Eritrean civilization as a whole.

Franco Crevatin (ed.), Egitto crocevia di traduzioni (ΔΙΑΛΟΓΟΙ 1, Trieste: EUT Edizioni dell’Univ... more Franco Crevatin (ed.), Egitto crocevia di traduzioni (ΔΙΑΛΟΓΟΙ 1, Trieste: EUT Edizioni dell’Università di Trieste, 2018), pp. 69–99 (www.openstarts.units.it/handle/10077/20657).

Adam McCollum (ed.), Studies in Ethiopian Languages, Literature, and History, Presented to Getatc... more Adam McCollum (ed.), Studies in Ethiopian Languages, Literature, and History, Presented to Getatchew Haile by his Friends and Colleagues (Aethiopistische Forschungen, 83, Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz Verlag, 2017), pp. 221-238.

La leggenda della regina di Saba nella tradizione etiopica, in Fabio Battiato – Dorota Hartman – ... more La leggenda della regina di Saba nella tradizione etiopica, in Fabio Battiato – Dorota Hartman – Giuseppe Stabile (a c.), La Regina di Saba: un mito fra Oriente e Occidente, Atti del Seminario diretto da Riccardo Contini, Napoli, Università “L’Orientale”, 19 novembre 2009 - 14 gennaio 2010 (Archivio di Studi Ebraici, 8, Napoli: Centro di Studi Ebraici, Università ‘L’Orientale’, 2016), pp. 91-162.

Alessandro Bausi with assistance from Eugenia Sokolinski (eds.), 150 Years after Dillmann’s Lexic... more Alessandro Bausi with assistance from Eugenia Sokolinski (eds.), 150 Years after Dillmann’s Lexicon: Perspectives and Challenges of Gǝʿǝz Studies (Supplement to Aethiopica, 5, Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz Verlag, 2016), pp. 43-102.

Meliné Pehlivanian - Christoph Rauch - Ronny Vollandt (Hrsgg.), Orientalische Bibelhandschriften ... more Meliné Pehlivanian - Christoph Rauch - Ronny Vollandt (Hrsgg.), Orientalische Bibelhandschriften aus der Staatsbibliothek zu Berlin – PK. Eine illustrierte Geschichte – Orienatl Bible Manuscripts from the Staatsbibliothek zu Berlin – PK. An Illustrated History (Wiesbaden: Reichert Verlag, 2016), 90-93, 97-98.

Paola Buzi - Alberto Camplani - Federico Contardi (eds.), Coptic society, literature and religion... more Paola Buzi - Alberto Camplani - Federico Contardi (eds.), Coptic society, literature and religion from late antiquity to modern times. Proceeding of the Tenth International Congress of Coptic Studies, Rome, September 17th-22th, 2012 and Plenary Reports of the Ninth International Congress of Coptic Studies, Cairo, September 15th-19th, 2008 (Orientalia Lovaniensia Analecta 247, Leuven: Peeters, 2016), I, pp. 503-571.

Johann Michael Wansleben’s Manuscripts and Texts. An Update, in Alessandro Bausi - Alessandro Gor... more Johann Michael Wansleben’s Manuscripts and Texts. An Update, in Alessandro Bausi - Alessandro Gori - Denis Nosnitsin with assistance from Eugenia Sokolinski (eds.), Essays in Ethiopian Manuscript Studies. Proceedings of the International Conference Manuscripts and Texts, Languages and Contexts: the Transmission of Knowledge in the Horn of Africa Hamburg, 17-19 July 2014 (Supplement to Aethiopica, 4, Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz Verlag, 2015), pp. 197-243.

Errata corrige to the printed version (here corrected in the PDF file): p. 203, l. 11: nulla > nullam; p. 204, n. 25, l. 11: Zendler > Zedler; p. 206, l. 13: Aufrates > Auftrages; p. 209, l. 3: its > his; p. 209, l. 16: aggiunge > aggiugne; p. 212, note, l. 2: 1567-1679 > 1597-1679; p. 215, l. 26: Abyssians > Abyssinians; p. 215, n. 66, l. 2: seems > seem; p. 217, l. 14: praecipiuuntur > praecipiuntur; p. 218, l. 8: interpreratus > interpretatus; p. 220, l. 1: Responfum > Responsum; p. 220, l. 3: Ecclefiam > Ecclesiam; p. 230, l. 32: of the Old Testament > of the historical books of the Old Testament up to; p. 230, l. 33: from a MS from Jerusalem > from MSS from Jerusalem; p. 230, l. 33: in 1666, and at present in London > in 1666; p. 230, l. 35: this MS > these MSS; p. 233, s.v. Beccari 1903, l. 3: geograche > geografiche; p. 236, s.v. Horn 1992: beitrag > Beitrag; p. 240, s.v. Rahlfs 1917, l. 1: äthiopische > äthiopischen; p. 240, s.v. Rahlfs 1918, l. 1: Abessinienklosters > Abessinierklosters; p. 243, s.v. Zendler 1747, l. 1: Zendler > Zedler: Wissenschaften > Wissenschafften; ibid. l. 2: bißhero > bishero; ibid. l. 3: Zendler > Zedler.

ii LA VERSIONE ETIOPICA DELLA LETTERA DI EUSEBIO A CARPIANO 1 ኤውሴብስ፡ ለቃርጲያኖስ፡ ለዘ፡ ኣፈቅር፡ እኁየ፡ ፍሥ G... more ii LA VERSIONE ETIOPICA DELLA LETTERA DI EUSEBIO A CARPIANO 1 ኤውሴብስ፡ ለቃርጲያኖስ፡ ለዘ፡ ኣፈቅር፡ እኁየ፡ ፍሥ G 1 : 1 r | G 3 : 1 r | Ha: 2 r | E 1832 : 7 r | Or 481 : 94 r | P 32 : 2 r | Ro NT : 6 b | Eth NT : 41b | Um 027 : 7r 1 ሓ፡ ወዳኅና፡ ለከ፡ እምኃ|ቤ፡ እግዚአ፡ ብሔር፡ 2 አሞኒ Ro NT : 7 a 2 ስ፡ እንከ፡ አሌክሰንድርያዊ፡ በብዙኅ፡ ኣስተሐምሞ፡ ወ ጽሂቅ፡ ገብረ፡ ወኀደገ፡ ለነ፡ ቃለ፡ ዘከመ፡ ኀበሩ፡ አርባ ዕቱ፡ ወንጌል፡ ወእምዝሰ፡ አርእስተ፡ ምንባባት፡ 3 | ወበእ Eth NT : 42a 3 Testes: Ga 1 Ga 3 Ha P 32 E 1832 Um 027 Or 481 Ro NT Eth NT

The universal practice of selecting and excerpting, summarizing and canonizing, arranging and org... more The universal practice of selecting and excerpting, summarizing and canonizing, arranging and organizing texts and visual signs, either in carefully dedicated types of manuscripts or not, is common to all manuscript cultures. Determined by intellectual or practical needs, this process is never neutral in itself. The resulting proximity and juxtaposition of previously distant contents, challenge previous knowledge and trigger further developments.

With a vast selection of highly representative case studies – from India, Islamic Asia and Spain to Ethiopian cultures, from Ancient Christian to Coptic, and Medieval European domains – this volume deals with manuscripts planned or growing and resulting in time to comprise ‘more than one’. Whatever their contents – the natural world and related recipes, astronomical tables or personal notes, documentary, religious and even highly revered holy texts – codicological and textual features of these manuscripts reveal how similar needs received different answers in varying contexts and times.

Alessandro Bausi, Michael Friedrich, and Marilena Maniaci (eds.), The Emergence of Multiple-Text ... more Alessandro Bausi, Michael Friedrich, and Marilena Maniaci (eds.), The Emergence of Multiple-Text Manuscripts (Studies in Manuscript Cultures 17, Berlin–Boston: De Gruyter, 2019) (www.degruyter.com/viewbooktoc/product/524537).

Alessandro Bausi, Alberto Camplani and Stephen Emmel (eds.) (Africana Ambrosiana, 4, Milano: Acca... more Alessandro Bausi, Alberto Camplani and Stephen Emmel (eds.) (Africana Ambrosiana, 4, Milano: Accademia Ambrosiana, 2019).

Siegbert Uhlig, David Appleyard, Alessandro Bausi, Wolfgang Hahn, and Steven Kaplan (eds.) (Wiesb... more Siegbert Uhlig, David Appleyard, Alessandro Bausi, Wolfgang Hahn, and Steven Kaplan (eds.) (Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz Verlag, 2018).

Alessandro Bausi, Christian Brockmann, Michael Friedrich, and Sabine Kienitz (eds.) (Studies in M... more Alessandro Bausi, Christian Brockmann, Michael Friedrich, and Sabine Kienitz (eds.) (Studies in Manuscript Cultures 11, Berlin and Boston: De Gruyter, 2018).

Archives are considered to be collections of administrative, legal, commercial and other records or the actual place where they are located. They have become ubiquitous in the modern world, but emerged not much later than the invention of writing. Following Foucault, who first used the word archive in a metaphorical sense as "the general system of the formation and transformation of statements" in his "Archaeology of Knowledge" (1969), postmodern theorists have tried to exploit the potential of this concept and initiated the "archival turn". In recent years, however, archives have attracted the attention of anthropologists and historians of different denominations regarding them as historical objects and "grounding" them again in real institutions. The papers in this volume explore the complex topic of the archive in a historical, systematic and comparative context and view it in the broader context of manuscript cultures by addressing questions like how, by whom and for which purpose were archival records produced, and if they differ from literary manuscripts regarding materials, formats, and producers (scribes).

Siegbert Uhlig - David Appleyard - Alessandro Bausi - Wolfgang Hahn - Steve Kaplan (eds.), Ethiop... more Siegbert Uhlig - David Appleyard - Alessandro Bausi - Wolfgang Hahn - Steve Kaplan (eds.), Ethiopia. History, Culture and Challenges (Afrikanische Studien / African Studies, 58, Berlin - Münster - Wien - Zürich - London: LIT Verlag and Michigan State University Press, 2017).

Bausi, Alessandro with assistance from Eugenia Sokolinski (eds.), 150 Years after Dillmann’s Lexi... more Bausi, Alessandro with assistance from Eugenia Sokolinski (eds.), 150 Years after Dillmann’s Lexicon: Perspectives and Challenges of Gǝʿǝz Studies (Supplement to Aethiopica 5, Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz Verlag 2016) (Eugenia Sokolinski: Preface: pp. vii-x; Alessandro Bausi: Introduction: 150 Years after Dillmann’s Lexicon: pp. 3-10; Chpater 1: Research in Gǝʿǝz linguistics: Eugenia Sokolinski: The TraCES project and Gǝʿǝz studies: pp. 13-29; Cristina Vertan: Bringing Gǝʿǝz into the digital era: computational tools for processing Classical Ethiopic: pp. 31-41; Alessandro Bausi: On editing and normalizing Ethiopic texts: pp. 43-102; Maria Bulakh: Some problems of transcribing Gǝʿǝz: pp. 103-137; Chapter 2: Language contact: Serge A. Frantsouzoff: Sabaic loanwords in Gǝʿǝz and borrowing from Gǝʿǝz into Middle Sabaic: pp. 141-147; Agostino Soldati: Nasal infix as index of Semitic loanwords borrowed through the Greek: pp. 151-171; K. Martin Heide: New Gǝʿǝz words from Arabic-Ethiopic translation literature. Suggestions for lexical entries and their meanings, as demonstrated from Secundus the Silent Philosopher: pp. 173-181; Chapter 3: Gǝʿǝz lexicography in comparison: Andreas Ellwardt: Beyon Dillmann’s Lexicon. Towards digital lexicography: Lessons from Syriac: pp. 185-199; Manfred Kropp: Sergew Hable Selassies Fragment eines Gǝʿǝz-Belegstellenlexikons und Abraham Johannes Drewes’ Glossare zum Recueil des inscriptions de l’Éthiopie. Zwei unveröffentlichte Beiträge zur äthiopischen Lexikographie und deren Bewertung und Lehren für die heutige informationstechnisch aufgerüstete Äthiopistik: pp. 201-217; Stefan Weninger: The use of Arabic in Gǝʿǝz lexicography: from Dillmann to Leslau and beyond: pp. 219-231; Index: pp. 233-238).

Essays in Ethiopian Manuscript Studies. Proceedings of the International Conference Manuscripts a... more Essays in Ethiopian Manuscript Studies. Proceedings of the International Conference Manuscripts and Texts, Languages and Contexts: the Transmission of Knowledge in the Horn of Africa Hamburg, 17-19 July 2014 (Supplement to Aethiopica, 4, Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz Verlag, 2015) (in cooperation with Alessandro Gori - Denis Nosnitsin with assistance from Eugenia Sokolinski).

Entitled to the memory of Paolo Marrassini (Florence, 1942-2013), Professor for Ethiopian and Sem... more Entitled to the memory of Paolo Marrassini (Florence, 1942-2013), Professor for Ethiopian and Semitic Studies in Pisa, Florence, Naples and Addis Ababa, this volume reflects the wide spectrum of interests of its dedicatee. While the majority of the contributions included deal with Semitic, Arabic and Jewish Studies, Assyriology and most of all classical Ethiopian Studies, also Egyptology, Ancient Near Eastern, Biblical, Medieval and African Studies, Linguistics and Classical Archaeology are included, not without a look into contemporary issues of migration and globalization. Contributed by colleagues, friends and pupils of Marrassini from several European countries, the USA and Ethiopia, the volume consists of 36 papers in English, French and Italian, ranging from research notes to comprehensive essays and extensive text editions with translation and commentary. It also includes short notices on the dedicatee by the editors and Riccardo Contini, along with his complete bibliography.
Contributions by Alessio Agostini, Amsalu Tefera, Sergio Baldi, Alessandro Bausi, Lidia Bettini, Robert Beylot, Marco Bonechi, Antonella Brita, Maria Bulakh, Franco Cardini, Amalia Catagnoti, Alessandro Catastini, Pietro Clemente, Riccardo Contini, Giovanni Dore, Gianfranco Fiaccadori, Massimiliano Franci, Pelio Fronzaroli, Getatchew Haile, Alessandro Gori, Felice Israel, Michael A. Knibb, Paolo La Spisa, Gianfrancesco Lusini, Alberto Nocentini, Denis Nosnitsin, Franca Pecchioli Daddi, Pierluigi Piovanelli, Gloria Rosati, Vincenzo Saladino, Shiferaw Bekele, Marie-Claude Simeone-Senelle, Tesfay Tewolde Yohannes, Maria Vittoria Tonietti, Alessandro Triulzi, Andrzej Zaborski †. (Errata corrige: p. xvii, l. 9: instead of: “eccezionalità capacità”, read: “eccezionale capacità”; p. xxvii, l. 10: instead of: “mather”, read: “mother”; l. 19: instead of: “1967”, read: “1969”; p. 69, l. 31: instead of: “siwwārad”, read: “siwwārrad”; p. 491, l. 17: “quali” > ”di quali”; p. 494, ll. 20-21: “Samaritanae-Aethiopcae” > “Samaritanae-Aethiopicae”; p. 495, l. 7: “alla a” > “a”; l. 20: “alla a” > “alla”; l. 21: “sopra” > “sopra)”.)

Paolo Marrassini (ed.), Storia e leggenda dell’Etiopia tardoantica. Le iscrizioni reali aksumite ... more Paolo Marrassini (ed.), Storia e leggenda dell’Etiopia tardoantica. Le iscrizioni reali aksumite con un’appendice di Rodolfo Fattovich su La civiltà aksumita: aspetti archeologici e una nota editoriale di Alessandro Bausi (Testi del Vicino Oriente antico, 9: Letteratura etiopica 1, Brescia: Paideia, 2014).

Errata corrige: p. 38, n. 5: “Pickett” > “Ricketts”; p. 122, l. 14: “1935-1938” > “1883-1885”; p. 155, n. 4, l. 5: “khkh” > “kh”; p. 265, l. 11: “lo retribuisca” > “lo retribuisca 8”; ibid., l. 13: “mi affido” > “9 mi affido”; ibid., l. 14: “gloria e potenza”> “gloria 10 e potenza”; p. 337, l. 1: “khkh” > “kh”.

This volume brings together a set of contributions, many appearing in English for the first time,... more This volume brings together a set of contributions, many appearing in English for the first time, together with a new introduction, covering the history of the Ethiopian Christian civilization in its formative period (300-1500 AD). Rooted in the late antique kingdom of Aksum (present day Northern Ethiopia and Eritrea), and lying between Byzantium, Africa and the Near East, this civilization is presented in a series of case studies. At a time when philological and linguistic investigations are being challenged by new approaches in Ethiopian studies, this volume emphasizes the necessity of basic research, while avoiding the reduction of cultural questions to matters of fact and detail.
Errata corrige: p. xxxvi, l. 22: instead of “Tēwodros”, read: “Yoḥannes IV”; p. xxxix, l. 23: instead of “O-W (Wiesbaden, 2010)”, read: “O-X (Wiesbaden, 2010)”.

Review of Sebastiano Timpanaro, La Genèse de la méthode de Lachmann, Transl. by Aude Cohen-Skalli... more Review of Sebastiano Timpanaro, La Genèse de la méthode de Lachmann, Transl. by Aude Cohen-Skalli and Alain Philippe Segonds (L’âne d’or, 51, Paris: Les Belles Lettres, 2016), in “COMSt Bulletin”, 2/1-2 (2016), pp. 89-91.

ANNALI VOLUME 63 NAPOLI 2003 Esuotto Recensioni 259 In veste grafica raffinata e spartana, questo... more ANNALI VOLUME 63 NAPOLI 2003 Esuotto Recensioni 259 In veste grafica raffinata e spartana, questo primo volume di Aleph è appena turbato da alcuni refusi, generalmente imputabili alle modalità tecniche di traslitterazione (peraltro non sempre coerenti, per esempio nell'indicazione delle vocali lunghe o della sh I s') o alla difficoltà di normalizzare consuetudini divergenti ma ormai sedimentate: cfr. MllihU'allaah I Mashii'allah (pp. Il e 24 e sgg.; ma Mash'allah a p. 207 nota 93); al-Yahiidi I al-Yahiidi (pp. Il e 26); Maimonidies I Maimonides (p. 145 nota 15); Kafa1;t I Kafah (p. 6,333 e successive); Ishaaq I Ishiiq (p. 342, ma altrove, per es. p. 288, I~l;1aq); m?di?vales I médiévales (p. 346); Dalaalat, Dalaalah I Daliilat, Daliilah (p. 350). Ma è volume e iniziativa di grande valore.

Gérard Colin, L'Homélie sur l'église du Rocher attribuée à Timothée Aelure. Texte éthiopien et tr... more Gérard Colin, L'Homélie sur l'église du Rocher attribuée à Timothée Aelure. Texte éthiopien et traduction, Pontificio Istituto Orientale, Patrologia Orientalis Tome 49, Fascicule 2, N" 218, Turnhout, Belgique: Brepols, 2001, pp. 94 [= 191-284]. L'edizione della omelia Sulla chiesa della roccia, attribuita a Timoteo Eluro (patriarca di Alessandria nel 457-460 e 475-477 d.C.) completa quella dei frammenti copti e delle due recensioni arabe pubblicate nel fascicolo precedente della Patrologia Orientalis (L'homélie sur l'église du rocher attribuée à Timothée Aelure. Texte copte et traduction par A. Boud'Hors, Deux textes arabes et traductions par R. Boutros, Pontificio Istituto Orientale, PO Tome 49, Fascicule l, N° 217, Turnhout, Belgique: Brepols, 2001), ed arricchisce il dossier di un testo finora poco noto (per l'etiopico, si disponeva della sola traduzione parziale di E. A. Wallis Budge, Legends of our Lady Mary and her mother lfanna, Oxford University Press, London: Humphrey Milford, 1933, pp. 81-100, ed importante per la fortuna della tradizione del soggiorno della Sacra Famiglia in Egitto. L'omelia, di carattere assai composito e la cui redazione deve collocarsi non prima del VI-VII sec., celebra, in concorrenza con Qosqam, ma anche presupponendone la tradizione, la roccia di Gabal al-Tayr, ove Timoteo (si deve intendere: nel secondo periodo di carica, 475-477 d.C., perché inviato dall'imperatore Zenone, 474-491 d.C.) avrebbe fatto costruire una chiesa in onore di Maria, in seguito alla visione avuta mentre si recava a Faou a consacrare una chiesa dedicata a Pacomio (cfr. anche J. Doresse, [es anciens monastères coptes de Moyenne-Égypte (du Gebel-et-Teir à K6m-lshgaou) d'après l'Archéologie et l'Hagiographie, 3 voli. = Neges Ebrix. BulIetin de l'Institut d'archéologie yverdonnoise 3-5, CH -Yverdon-Les-Bains: Institut d'archéologie yverdonnoise, 2000 [Thèse pour le Doctorat ès-Lettres présentée à la Faculté des Lettres di Sciences Humaines de l'Universitè de Paris J967 [1970J pubblicata a c. di R. Kasser, A. Di Bitonto Kasser, Ph. Luisier e M. . Rimandando al fascicolo precedente (ove nella bibliografia a p. 16 "Guidi, Teofilo (arabe)" e "Guidi, Teofilo (syriaque)" sono da attribuire a Michelangelo Guidi, e non ad Ignazio) per la trattazione degli aspetti storicoculturali, cui Boud'Hors e Boutros (cfr. ibid. p. 5, nn. 3 e 5) hanno dedicato contributi specifici, G. Coli n si limita ad una concisa presentazione della tradizione dell'etiopico (pp. 195-197, abbreviazioni bibliografiche a p. 199), all'edizione ed alla traduzione del testo, con apparato di varianti e scarne

Osv ALDO RAINERI, Gli Atti etiopici del martire egIzzano Giorgio il nuovo (t 978) = Studi e Testi... more Osv ALDO RAINERI, Gli Atti etiopici del martire egIzzano Giorgio il nuovo (t 978) = Studi e Testi 392, Città del Vaticano: Biblioteca Apostolica Vaticana, 1999. Pp. XLVII-140. LIT. 35.000. ISBN: 88-210-0697-2.

considerazione, e numerato in ordine progressivo. Un indice finale di tutti i differenti termini ... more considerazione, e numerato in ordine progressivo. Un indice finale di tutti i differenti termini rende agevole la consultazione del testo, il quale, in definitiva, costituisce un indispensabile ed aggiomato strumento di lavoro per 10 studio della linguistica berbera.

Recensiones 51 meniden und Sasaniden, Mesopotamien, Agypten (nur Neues Reich), Rom und Byzanz sow... more Recensiones 51 meniden und Sasaniden, Mesopotamien, Agypten (nur Neues Reich), Rom und Byzanz sowie ein Index der Personennamen beschIie13en das umfangreiche Werk.

The workshop is convened by the Hiob Ludolf Centre for Ethiopian Studies, the projects Beta maṣāḥ... more The workshop is convened by the Hiob Ludolf Centre for Ethiopian Studies, the projects Beta
maṣāḥǝft (Academy of Sciences and Humanities Hamburg), TraCES (ERC Advanced Grant) and
Transmission of Knowledge in the Red Sea Area (Landesforschungsförderung Hamburg), all at
Universität Hamburg, in co-sponsorship with the PAThs project (ERC Advanced Grant) of Sapienza
Università di Roma, and in cooperation with the projects CMCL (Hamburg and Rome), Syriaca.
org, IslHornAfr (ERC Advanced Grant, Copenhagen) and Ethiopian Manuscripts Archives
(IRHT, Paris).
The aim of the workshop is to have an informal exchange of practices and outcomes and to discuss
among a group of interested parties the following points:
• interactions between projects of digitisation of catalogues of manuscripts from the Christian
Orient
• alignment of authority lists practices for Clavis identifiers, ancient places and ancient people
• standards for the reuse of primary canonical texts
• exploitation of common metadata standards for further outputs
• future development perspectives for digital resources in the field
• further points of common interest emerging during the presentations.
A round of presentations of aspects of each project’s efforts will take place, with a specific focus
on one point of common discussion, followed by a forum of open discussion in each of 3 sessions
about (1) ancient places, (2) literary works and (3) manuscripts.

Born in Limburg in 1925, van Donzel was the masterly representative of a generation of scholars i... more Born in Limburg in 1925, van Donzel was the masterly representative of a generation of scholars in oriental studies in a period of difficult transition towards a fundamental change of scope of European scholarship and of perception of what was once the ‘Orient’. Van Donzel covered an astonishing variety of fields and interests with his production, both as an author and later as an extremely effective editor and coordinator. Having first started his education at Leiden University with Arabic and Sanskrit in order to work as a missionary in Indonesia, he shifted towards Ethiopian Semitic languages (Gǝʿǝz and Amharic) in view of a stay in Ethiopia, where he worked as a teacher for several years (1959–1964). This step had a decisive influence on van Donzel’s scholarly interests: his 1969 PhD dissertation on ǝč̣č̣age ʿƎnbāqom’s Anqaṣa Amin (“Gate of Faith”) is a masterpiece and a milestone in Ethiopian studies and on Christian-Islamic relationships. Ethiopia and Ethiopian studies, from Antiquity to the modern period, remained for ever one of van Donzel’s lasting interests along with more academically established interests in Arabic and Islam. But there is hardly any contribution in his production where the boundaries between Ethiopian, Christian Oriental and Islamic studies are not fruitfully violated. For the latter field, suffice it to say that he played a main role as editor in the accomplishment of a project of the scale of the second edition of The Encyclopaedia of Islam (from assistant editor as early as from volume III, H–Iram, 1971, to member of the board of editors since volume IV, Iran-Kha, 1978 up to the compilation of the indices, published in 2009). His vast and precious editorial experience at the head of an international project of the importance of The Encyclopaedia of Islam was generously shared with, and highly estimated by, other colleagues, including the editors of the Encyclopaedia Aethiopica. Emeri van Donzel was a brilliant scholar and a remarkbale man, who, beyond any disciplinary boundaries (Ethiopian, Arabic and Islamic studies), always remained faithful to one fndamental principle, that this, the importance of first-hand investigation of cultures on the basis of their own documents along with a great respect towards all of them.

The online edition of August Dillmann’s "Lexicon linguae Aethiopicae", developed and enriched by ... more The online edition of August Dillmann’s "Lexicon linguae Aethiopicae", developed and enriched by the TraCES and Beta Maṣāḥǝft projects at the Hiob Ludolf Centre for Ethiopian Studies at Universität Hamburg, is now available in beta version at the following address

http://betamasaheft.eu/Dillmann/

Guidelines on the use of this web application can be found directly on the homepage and further instructions are available under the menu "Tutorial". A detailed description of the app is given in the "About" section. We welcome feedback on all aspects of this project.

The volume is the main achievement of the Research Networking Programme ‘Comparative Oriental Man... more The volume is the main achievement of the
Research Networking Programme ‘Comparative
Oriental Manuscript Studies’, funded by the
European Science Foundation in the years
2009–2014. It is the first attempt to introduce a
wide audience to the entirety of the manuscript
cultures of the Mediterranean East.
The chapters reflect the state of the art
in such fields as codicology, palaeography,
textual criticism and text editing, cataloguing,
and manuscript conservation as applied to a
wide array of language traditions including
Arabic, Armenian, Avestan, Caucasian Albanian,
Christian Palestinian Aramaic, Coptic, Ethiopic,
Georgian, Greek, Hebrew, Persian, Slavonic,
Syriac, and Turkish.
Seventy-seven scholars from twenty-one
countries joined their efforts to produce
the handbook. The resulting reference work
can be recommended both to scholars and
students of classical and oriental studies and
to all those involved in manuscript research,
digital humanities, and preservation of cultural
heritage.
The volume includes maps, illustrations,
indexes, and an extensive bibliography

Prof. Gianfranco Fiaccadori (University of Milan) passed away on 24 January 2015. He was a Byzant... more Prof. Gianfranco Fiaccadori (University of Milan) passed away on 24 January 2015. He was a Byzantinist by education and career, Full Professor since as early as 1995, but actually one of the last humanists in the broadest sense, intimately familiar with everything from Classical to Christian Antiquities, through Late Antiquity, Byzantium, the Middle Ages and beyond, including several branches of Oriental Studies, and with a special focus on Ethiopian Studies.

Among his interests, one may mention Archaeology and Mediaeval and Early Renaissance Art and Culture, with regard to Italian production in particular; Epigraphy, Codicology and Palaeography; Archaeology, Art and Culture of Byzantium and Christian Orient; East-West Relations from the Middle Ages to Early Modern; Tradition of Antiquity.

The Ethiopian Studies at Hamburg University, where he spent almost regularly some time during the last years, have hugely benefited from his boundless doctrine and generous contribution and dedication. He was one of the coeditors of the "Encyclopaedia Aethiopica" (vols 2-5). His passing is a great and irreparable loss to all of us.

Storia e leggenda dell’Etiopia tardoantica. Le iscrizioni reali aksumite. Con una appendice di Ro... more Storia e leggenda dell’Etiopia tardoantica. Le iscrizioni reali aksumite. Con una appendice di Rodolfo Fattovich su “La civiltà aksumita: aspetti archeologici” e una nota editoriale di Alessandro Bausi [Indexes by Antonella Brita and maps by Luisa Sernicola] (Testi del Vicino Oriente Antico, Brescia: Paideia, 2014).

Presentation of the “Encyclopaedia Aethiopica” on the occasion of the accomplishment of the fifth... more Presentation of the “Encyclopaedia Aethiopica” on the occasion of the accomplishment of the fifth and last volume, in “L’Osservatore Romano”, August 27th, 2014 (online edition), and 28th, p. 4 (printed edition).

Text read on the occasion of the festive Celebration Ceremony for the accomplishment of the fifth... more Text read on the occasion of the festive Celebration Ceremony for the accomplishment of the fifth and last volume of the Encyclopaedia Aethiopica, Hamburg, Hamburg University, Asien-Afrika-Institut, July 16th, 2014, h. 14:00-19:00.

Prof. Paolo Marrassini passed away on January 10th, 2013. He was 71 years old. In the last years ... more Prof. Paolo Marrassini passed away on January 10th, 2013. He was 71 years old. In the last years of his life, he had suffered from a progressive disease that had hardly diminished his energy and undefatigable determination. He retired from active service at the university in 2009. He leaves his wife Maria Antonia, a daughter, and a son.

Data is maintained here https://github.com/BetaMasaheft This dump is provided as additional secur... more Data is maintained here https://github.com/BetaMasaheft This dump is provided as additional security and to facilitate reuse. Includes the Ethio-SPaRe data and the IslHornAfr data. Each file contains specific attribution and is visible in the online application https://betamasaheft.eu accessing it XML, RDF or HTML.

The Hiob Ludolf Centre for Ethiopian Studies, projects Beta maṣāḥǝft, TraCES and Landesforschungs... more The Hiob Ludolf Centre for Ethiopian Studies, projects Beta maṣāḥǝft, TraCES and Landesforschungsförderung Hamburg, Transmission of Knowledge in the Red Sea Area, at Universität Hamburg, in co-sponsorhsip with the PAThs project of Sapienza Università di Roma, and in cooperation with the projects CMCL, Syriaca.org, IslHornAfr and Ethiopian Manuscripts Archives, convenes a two-day workshop in Hamburg the 23rd and 24th February 2018 at the Hiob Ludolf Centre for Ethiopian Studies on
Linking Manuscripts from the Coptic, Ethiopian and Syriac domain:
Present and Future Synergy Strategies.

Aim of the project is to have an informal exchange of practices and outcomes and to discuss among a group of interested parties the following points:

- interactions between projects of digitisation of catalogues of manuscripts from the Christian Orient
- alignment of authority lists practices for Clavis identifiers, ancient places and ancient people
- standards for the reuse of primary canonical texts
- exploitation of common metadata standards for further outputs
- future development perspectives for digital resources in the field
- further points of common interest emerging during the presentations.

A round of presentations of aspects of each project’s efforts wsill take place, with a specific focus on one point of common discussion, followed by a forum of open discussion in each of 3 sessions about (1) places, (2) literary works and (3) manuscripts. We would then like to produce a publication with the outputs of the sessions and of the discussion shortly after the workshop.

Antiquity, 2019

The Empire of Aksum was one of Africa’s most inﬂuential ancient civilisations. Traditionally, mos... more The Empire of Aksum was one of Africa’s most inﬂuential ancient civilisations. Traditionally, most archaeological ﬁeldwork has focused on the capital city of Aksum, but recent research at the site of Beta Samati has investigated a contemporaneous trade and religious centre located between Aksum and the Red Sea.The authors outline the discovery of the site and present important ﬁnds from the initial excavations, including an early basilica, inscriptions and a gold intaglio ring. From daily life and ritual praxis to international trade, this work illuminates the role of Beta Samati as an administrative centre and its signiﬁcance within thewider Aksumite world.

Gold coin of King Aphilas, early third century ce, as drawn by A. Luegmeyer after the coin in Ren... more Gold coin of King Aphilas, early third century ce, as drawn by A. Luegmeyer after the coin in Rennau collection. Weight 2.48 grams, diameter 17 mm.

ICMA News, 2021

Vol. 3, pp. 15-18.

Gnisci, Jacopo, and Alessandro Bausi. ‘“Medieval” Ethiopia’. In The Oxford Research Encyclopedia of African History, edited by Thomas Spear. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2024. doi:10.1093/acrefore/9780190277734.013.ORE_AFH-01082.R1., 2024

Ethiopia is located in the northern Horn of Africa. As a choronym or place name in modern scholar... more Ethiopia is located in the northern Horn of Africa. As a choronym or place name in modern scholarship, Ethiopia has been used to designate several past and present entities with different cultural, ethnic, and territorial configurations. Here, the term is used to refer to a predominantly Christian state in the northern Horn of Africa that
was ruled by a Christian sovereign. Terms such as medieval and Middle Ages have been used and continue to appear in historical writing about Ethiopia’s past, but it is important to bear in mind that such terms were used by early modern historiography to establish a time frame for studying European history. Their relevance to non-European contexts is questionable, but they may have value as a means to help situate the study of Ethiopia within the broader field of global history. There are no universally accepted criteria or terms for the periodization of Ethiopian history. However, most works focusing on the centuries between c. 500 and 1500 CE, dates that do not neatly align with major turning points in Ethiopian history, have adopted periodizations that are based on episodes of dynastic succession.