ETIOPSKI synaxarion.

ETIOPSKI synaxarion.

A liturgical text, being a translation of Coptic, made in the 14th century and enriched with local traditions. Manuscript on parchment, written in the "geez" language (the ancient Semitic language of the Kingdom of Axum). The manuscript was probably written in the 17th century. Contains 72 parchment pages with text, including 2 full-page color illustrations; binding: board, and so-called "pannier", i.e. leather case (thong handle missing). Manuscript dimensions: 13.5 x 8.5 cm, pouch: 16.5 x 14.5 cm.
Parchment pages, yellowed, soiled, traces of flooding (strong in places) and dampness, losses of several pages without damage to the tesktu, traces of heavy use. Text legible in black and red. Individual pages bound with period string. Two illustrations, paintings with images of saints. Binding: cracks in boards, heavy scuffs; leather case with heavy scuffs and soiling. The synaxarion contains biographies of the saints of the Coptic Church (from the 17th century onward, biographies of native saints appeared), interspersed with legends, abounding in miracles; it is a source of liturgical readings and is considered a fundamental work of Ethiopian literature. The Ethiopian Church, an autonomous Christian community, recognizes the supremacy of the Coptic Patriarch of Alexandria. The final shape in liturgical ritual, was given in the 14th-16th centuries, as a result of the accommodation of Alexandrian liturgy to the native African culture, influenced by Judaism. (Catholic Encyclopedia. Lublin 1983. T.4). Rarity.