ETHIOPIAN Coptic BIBLE Manuscript ANTIQUE Handwritten GE\'EZ Vellum OCCULT Icons
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ETHIOPIAN Coptic BIBLE Manuscript ANTIQUE Handwritten GE\'EZ Vellum OCCULT Icons:
$1199.99
You are offerding on a true piece of Biblical history!
Presenting a rare old Coptic Ethiopian Bible/Psalm/Prayer Book w/ great aging throughout, 3 aged hand painted icons, complete with a fantastic and quite thick/large primitive wood binding! Written in the Ethiopic (Ge\'ez) script, a Semitic language that is no longer spoken, but is still used for liturgical and other religious purposes by the Ethiopian Orthodox Church. The subject of these \"Bibles\" are generally always Christian, but actual content varies. Dating Ethiopian manuscripts is very difficult as scribes copied old monastic manuscripts using the same materials as had been used for centuries, and have been as old as the 14th century; this carries many examples of a very old copy, with original vellum animal skin pages and text well aged, rubbed, worn and read, as shown with text and 3 color icons depicting various Biblical scenes, as well as a few in text old annotations and simple illustrations/geometric color borders, bound in hand tied wooden boards with the leaves interlaced and bound with aged twine, as shown. The Bible presents around 6.25\" x 5.75\" and 3\" thick, and although a little challenged, still very readable. The highlights are the 3 gorgeous hand painted icons, depicting various religious scenes, as shown. A much older example, we could loosely guess the book originated sometime in the 17th century, possibly earlier, with heavier aging and wear to the vellum leaves, rubbed text, annotations, as well as the condition of the text and binding (marginalia, some fading, age and wear; twine binding shaken and worn down, wear to the wooden covers with rear cover loss as well as final few leaves, as shown, etc )- a sure indicator of many centuries of use. A majority of the text are incantations to protect the owner from supernatural forces, combined with what looks to be possibly a Psalter, liturgical prayers, or the Bible itself. Written in red/black, as shown, the red indicating sacred words spoken by the savior, intermixed with the 3 aforementioned color religious scene icons, some older marginalia and simple artwork, and a small decorative heading here and there. There is some obvious age to the interior of this example, way more than what is normal for these rare gems. There are 180+ leaves/360 or so pages in this, as shown, with 3 full page hand painted color icons. Obtained in an online sale direct from Ethiopia.
A true treasure, these have sold for $1,000s of dollars, and is extremely rare and unique, especially with the thickness and large size, many pages, old aged hand-painted icons and in such an antiquated format. Best of luck!!
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ETHIOPIAN Coptic BIBLE Manuscript ANTIQUE Handwritten GE\'EZ Vellum OCCULT Icons:
$1199.99