A composite manuscript in Ge'ez (Ethiopic) in several hands, including a variety of religious texts, the Ethiopian calendar, and passages from Scripture with comments

A collection of texts (prayers, liturgies, John's Revelation, Isaiah, Matthew), including the Ethiopian calendar, known as Book of Abu Shaker, originally written in Arabic by a 13th century Coptic deacon. It preserves much otherwise unknown information on the Alexandrian Jewish and Christian ecclesi...

Full description


Date(s) of creation: 17th century
Level: Item
Format: Archive           

Reference number: MS 41383
Summary: A collection of texts (prayers, liturgies, John's Revelation, Isaiah, Matthew), including the Ethiopian calendar, known as Book of Abu Shaker, originally written in Arabic by a 13th century Coptic deacon. It preserves much otherwise unknown information on the Alexandrian Jewish and Christian ecclesiastical calendars of the 3rd and 4th centuries CE. It gives the intervals between the events of sacred history from the Creation on, and dates events in the life of Christ according to various calendars. In Ethiopia it is known also as Bāḥra Ḥassāb ('The Sea of Reckoning'), and is considered extremely difficult to master. A genealogy of Ethiopian kings included in this manuscript states that it was written in the 31st year of King Fāsilǝdas' reign (1663 CE).
Main author: Unknown
Extent: 1 volume
Acquisition: July, 1941
Access status: Open
User restrictions: For permission to publish, please contact Archives & Special Collections, SOAS Library in the first instance
Language: Ge'ez
Physical description: H16x W14cm
Format: Archive           
Access Points - Places:
Place Code Place Name
337996 Ethiopia