Robert Garrett Collection of Ethiopic Magic Scrolls 1700-1900

Summary

---

Overview

---

Abstract

Consists of 162 Ethiopic magic scrolls collected by Robert Garrett (1875-1961), Princeton Class of 1897.

Description

---

Description

The collection consists of 162 Ethiopic magic scrolls collected by Robert Garrett (1875-1961), Princeton Class of 1897.

Ethiopic magic scrolls are textual amulets containing brief protective and healing texts in Ge’ez and occasionally Amharic. Ethiopian Christians wore these scrolls on the body in the belief that they prevented disease, death in childbirth, demonic possession, malevolent spirits, the Evil Eye, and other sources of personal misfortune. They were generally prepared by unordained clerics (debtera), who wrote on narrow strips of parchment arranged in scroll format. The magical efficacy of these scrolls is based in large measure on a selection of amuletic texts, apotropaic prayers, charms, incantations, prayers, Scriptural quotations, miracle tales, formulas, invocations of divine names and helpful saints, and images. Most magic scrolls were activated for the use of a particular person, whose name is given. Contributing to their protective power are painted images of guardian angels with drawn swords, St. Susenyos slaying Werzelya for the protection of mothers and infants, magic squares and eight-pointed stars, the net of Solomon for capturing demons, and other figurative illustrations and designs. The magic scrolls were generally rolled up in small leather capsules, enabling them to be worn on the body. Some fairly modern magic scrolls are sewn into the capsules so that they cannot be read, but most could be opened and even hung on walls for prayer and protection. Most extant examples in the Princeton University Library date from the 18th to 20th centuries. For more information, see Jacques Mercier’s Ethiopic Magic Scrolls (1979) and Art that Heals: The Image as Medicine in Ethiopia (1997).

Collection Creator Biography

Collection History

---

Acquisition

Gift of Robert Garrett in 1942.

Custodial History

Robert Garrett acquired these magic scrolls and other Ethiopic manuscripts in the early decades of the 20th century, chiefly from Enno Littmann (1875-1958), Professor of Oriental Languages at the University of Tübingen and an eminent authority on the languages and literatures of Ethiopia and the Near East. Garrett donated his Ethiopic manuscripts and scrolls along with the bulk of his collection to the Library in 1942.

Processing Information

The Library has recently cataloged or recataloged its Ethiopic manuscript collections with generous support from the David A. Gardner ’69 Magic Project, Princeton University, coordinated by the Council of the Humanities. This collection was cataloged by Professor David L. Appleyard, School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS), University of London.

Bibliography

Ephraim Isaac, "Princeton Collection of Ethiopic Manuscripts," Princeton University Library Chronicle 42:1 (Autumn 1980), pp. 33-52.

Richard Pankhurst, "Secular Themes in Ethiopian Ecclesiastical Manuscripts: V.: A Catalogue of Illustrations of Historical and Ethnographic Interest in Princeton University Library and Art Gallery," Journal of Ethiopian Studies 22 (November 1989), pp. 31-64.

Don C. Skemer, "Princeton’s Ethiopic Manuscript Collections at 100," Princeton University Library Chronicle 71:3 (Spring 2010), pp. 461-466.

Access and Use

---

Access Restrictions

The collection is open for research use.

Use Restrictions

Single photocopies may be made for research purposes. Permission to publish material from the collection must be requested from the Associate University Librarian for Rare Books and Special Collections.

Preferred Citation

Robert Garrett Collection of Ethiopic Magic Scrolls; 1700-1900, Manuscripts Division, Department of Rare Books and Special Collections, Princeton University Library.

Find More

---

Topics

• Africa

Subject Terms

• Ethiopia
• Ethiopian magic scrolls
• History
• Magic, Ethiopian
• Sources

Genre Terms

• Manuscripts, Ethiopic

Related Material

Princeton University Library has two other collections of Ethiopic magic scrolls: Bruce C. Willsie Collection of Ethiopic Magic Scrolls and Princeton Collection of Ethiopic Magic Scrolls (C1296).

Contents and Arrangement

---

Arrangement

Arranged by scroll number.

Request Checked Items

	Title	Date	Container
	Garrett Ethiopic Magic Scroll No. 1	second half of the 19th century	Box 1
	Garrett Ethiopic Magic Scroll No. 2	late 19th century	Box 1
	Garrett Ethiopic Magic Scroll No. 3	mid 19th century	Box 1
	Garrett Ethiopic Magic Scroll No. 4	mid 19th century	Box 1
	Garrett Ethiopic Magic Scroll No. 5	late 19th or early 20th century	Box 1
	Garrett Ethiopic Magic Scroll No. 6	late 18th or early 19th century	Box 1
	Garrett Ethiopic Magic Scroll No. 7	late 19th century	Box 1
	Garrett Ethiopic Magic Scroll No. 8	late 19th century	Box 1
	Garrett Ethiopic Magic Scroll No. 9	mid 19th century	Box 1
	Garrett Ethiopic Magic Scroll No. 10	first half of the 19th century	Box 1
	Garrett Ethiopic Magic Scroll No. 11	mid/late 18th century	Box 1
	Garrett Ethiopic Magic Scroll No. 12	second half of the 19th century	Box 1
	Garrett Ethiopic Magic Scroll No. 13	mid 19th century	Box 1
	Garrett Ethiopic Magic Scroll No. 14	second half of the 19th century	Box 1
	Garrett Ethiopic Magic Scroll No. 15	early 19th century	Box 1
	Garrett Ethiopic Magic Scroll No. 16	mid 19th century	Box 1
	Garrett Ethiopic Magic Scroll No. 17	second half of the 19th century	Box 1
	Garrett Ethiopic Magic Scroll No. 18	18th century	Box 1
	Garrett Ethiopic Magic Scroll No. 19	19th century	Box 1
	Garrett Ethiopic Magic Scroll No. 20	early 19th or late 18th century	Box 1
	Garrett Ethiopic Magic Scroll No. 21	first half of the 19th century	Box 1
	Garrett Ethiopic Magic Scroll No. 22	end of the 19th or early 20th century	Box 1
	Garrett Ethiopic Magic Scroll No. 23	mid 18th century	Box 1
	Garrett Ethiopic Magic Scroll No. 24	19th century	Box 1
	Garrett Ethiopic Magic Scroll No. 25	mid 19th century	Box 1
	Garrett Ethiopic Magic Scroll No. 26	late 19th century	Box 1
	Garrett Ethiopic Magic Scroll No. 27	mid 19th century	Box 1
	Garrett Ethiopic Magic Scroll No. 28	early 19th century	Box 1
	Garrett Ethiopic Magic Scroll No. 29	late 19th century	Box 1
	Garrett Ethiopic Magic Scroll No. 30	mid 19th century	Box 1
	Garrett Ethiopic Magic Scroll No. 31	late 19th century	Box 1
	Garrett Ethiopic Magic Scroll No. 32	end of the 19th century	Box 1
	Garrett Ethiopic Magic Scroll No. 33	late 19th century	Box 1
	Garrett Ethiopic Magic Scroll No. 34	first half of the 19th century	Box 1
	Garrett Ethiopic Magic Scroll No. 35	19th century	Box 1
	Garrett Ethiopic Magic Scroll No. 36	mid 19th century	Box 1
	Garrett Ethiopic Magic Scroll No. 37	end of the 19th or early 20th century	Box 1
	Garrett Ethiopic Magic Scroll No. 38	mid 19th century	Box 1
	Garrett Ethiopic Magic Scroll No. 39	late 18th century	Box 1
	Garrett Ethiopic Magic Scroll No. 40	undated	Box 1
	Garrett Ethiopic Magic Scroll No. 41	19th century	Box 1
	Garrett Ethiopic Magic Scroll No. 42	late 18th century	Box 1
	Garrett Ethiopic Magic Scroll No. 43	19th century	Box 2
	Garrett Ethiopic Magic Scroll No. 44	late 18th or early 19th century	Box 2
	Garrett Ethiopic Magic Scroll No. 45	late 19th century	Box 2
	Garrett Ethiopic Magic Scroll No. 46	second half of the 19th century	Box 2
	Garrett Ethiopic Magic Scroll No. 47	second half of the 19th century	Box 2
	Garrett Ethiopic Magic Scroll No. 48	late 18th century	Box 2
	Garrett Ethiopic Magic Scroll No. 49	late 19th or early 20th century	Box 2
	Garrett Ethiopic Magic Scroll No. 50	19th century	Box 2
	Garrett Ethiopic Magic Scroll No. 51	19th century	Box 2
	Garrett Ethiopic Magic Scroll No. 52	mid 19th century	Box 2
	Garrett Ethiopic Magic Scroll No. 53	19th century	Box 2
	Garrett Ethiopic Magic Scroll No. 54	first half of the 19th century	Box 2
	Garrett Ethiopic Magic Scroll No. 55	19th century	Box 2
	Garrett Ethiopic Magic Scroll No. 56	mid 19th century	Box 2
	Garrett Ethiopic Magic Scroll No. 57	19th century	Box 2
	Garrett Ethiopic Magic Scroll No. 58	mid 19th century	Box 2
	Garrett Ethiopic Magic Scroll No. 59	early/mid 19th century	Box 2
	Garrett Ethiopic Magic Scroll No. 60	mid/late 18th century	Box 2
	Garrett Ethiopic Magic Scroll No. 61	late 19th century	Box 2
	Garrett Ethiopic Magic Scroll No. 62	late 19th or early 20th century	Box 2
	Garrett Ethiopic Magic Scroll No. 63	mid 19th century	Box 2
	Garrett Ethiopic Magic Scroll No. 64	early/mid 19th century	Box 2
	Garrett Ethiopic Magic Scroll No. 65	first half of the 19th century	Box 2
	Garrett Ethiopic Magic Scroll No. 66	19th century	Box 2
	Garrett Ethiopic Magic Scroll No. 67	first half of the 19th century	Box 2
	Garrett Ethiopic Magic Scroll No. 68	18th century	Box 2
	Garrett Ethiopic Magic Scroll No. 69	19th century	Box 2
	Garrett Ethiopic Magic Scroll No. 70	late 18th century	Box 2
	Garrett Ethiopic Magic Scroll No. 71	late 19th century	Box 2
	Garrett Ethiopic Magic Scroll No. 72	mid 19th century	Box 2
	Garrett Ethiopic Magic Scroll No. 73	19th century	Box 2
	Garrett Ethiopic Magic Scroll No. 74	19th century	Box 2
	Garrett Ethiopic Magic Scroll No. 75	early/mid 19th century	Box 2
	Garrett Ethiopic Magic Scroll No. 76	mid/late 18th century	Box 2
	Garrett Ethiopic Magic Scroll No. 77	mid 19th century	Box 2
	Garrett Ethiopic Magic Scroll No. 78	late 19th or early 20th century	Box 2
	Garrett Ethiopic Magic Scroll No. 79	second half of the 19th century	Box 2
	Garrett Ethiopic Magic Scroll No. 80	late 18th century	Box 2
	Garrett Ethiopic Magic Scroll No. 81	mid 19th century	Box 2
	Garrett Ethiopic Magic Scroll No. 82	late 18th century	Box 2
	Garrett Ethiopic Magic Scroll No. 83	early 19th century	Box 2
	Garrett Ethiopic Magic Scroll No. 84	first half of the 19th century	Box 2
	Garrett Ethiopic Magic Scroll No. 85	mid 19th century	Box 2
	Garrett Ethiopic Magic Scroll No. 86	end of the 19th or early 20th century	Box 3
	Garrett Ethiopic Magic Scroll No. 87	second half of the 19th century	Box 3
	Garrett Ethiopic Magic Scroll No. 88	late 18th or early 19th century	Box 3
	Garrett Ethiopic Magic Scroll No. 89	first half of the 19th century	Box 3
	Garrett Ethiopic Magic Scroll No. 90	late 19th century	Box 3
	Garrett Ethiopic Magic Scroll No. 91	19th century	Box 3
	Garrett Ethiopic Magic Scroll No. 92	early 19th century	Box 3
	Garrett Ethiopic Magic Scroll No. 93	early 19th century	Box 3
	Garrett Ethiopic Magic Scroll No. 94	mid 19th century	Box 3
	Garrett Ethiopic Magic Scroll No. 95	first half of the 19th century	Box 3
	Garrett Ethiopic Magic Scroll No. 96	mid 19th century	Box 3
	Garrett Ethiopic Magic Scroll No. 97	late 18th or early 19th century	Box 3
	Garrett Ethiopic Magic Scroll No. 98	mid 19th century	Box 3
	Garrett Ethiopic Magic Scroll No. 99	mid 19th century	Box 3
	Garrett Ethiopic Magic Scroll No. 100	19th century	Box 3
	Garrett Ethiopic Magic Scroll No. 101	first half of the 19th century	Box 3
	Garrett Ethiopic Magic Scroll No. 102	mid 19th century	Box 3
	Garrett Ethiopic Magic Scroll No. 103	mid 19th century	Box 3
	Garrett Ethiopic Magic Scroll No. 104	first half of the 19th century	Box 3
	Garrett Ethiopic Magic Scroll No. 105	second half of the 18th century	Box 3
	Garrett Ethiopic Magic Scroll No. 106	first half of the 19th century	Box 3
	Garrett Ethiopic Magic Scroll No. 107	first half of the 19th century	Box 3
	Garrett Ethiopic Magic Scroll No. 108	mid 19th century	Box 3
	Garrett Ethiopic Magic Scroll No. 109	late 18th or early 19th century	Box 3
	Garrett Ethiopic Magic Scroll No. 110	19th century	Box 3
	Garrett Ethiopic Magic Scroll No. 111	19th century	Box 3
	Garrett Ethiopic Magic Scroll No. 112	mid 19th century	Box 3
	Garrett Ethiopic Magic Scroll No. 113	mid 19th century	Box 3
	Garrett Ethiopic Magic Scroll No. 114	mid 19th century	Box 3
	Garrett Ethiopic Magic Scroll No. 115	19th century	Box 3
	Garrett Ethiopic Magic Scroll No. 116	late 19th century	Box 3
	Garrett Ethiopic Magic Scroll No. 117	mid 18th century	Box 3
	Garrett Ethiopic Magic Scroll No. 118	second half of the 19th century	Box 3
	Garrett Ethiopic Magic Scroll No. 119	late 18th or early 19th century	Box 3
	Garrett Ethiopic Magic Scroll No. 120	second half of the 19th century	Box 3
	Garrett Ethiopic Magic Scroll No. 121	second half of the 18th century	Box 3
	Garrett Ethiopic Magic Scroll No. 122	early 19th century	Box 3
	Garrett Ethiopic Magic Scroll No. 123	18th century	Box 3
	Garrett Ethiopic Magic Scroll No. 124	late 18th or early 19th century	Box 3
	Garrett Ethiopic Magic Scroll No. 125	second half of the 19th century	Box 3
	Garrett Ethiopic Magic Scroll No. 126	late 18th or early 19th century	Box 3
	Garrett Ethiopic Magic Scroll No. 127	late 18th or early 19th century	Box 3
	Garrett Ethiopic Magic Scroll No. 128	early 19th century	Box 3
	Garrett Ethiopic Magic Scroll No. 129	late 19th century	Box 3
	Garrett Ethiopic Magic Scroll No. 130	mid 19th century	Box 3
	Garrett Ethiopic Magic Scroll No. 131	mid 19th century	Box 4
	Garrett Ethiopic Magic Scroll No. 132	mid 19th century	Box 4
	Garrett Ethiopic Magic Scroll No. 133	mid/ late 19th century	Box 4
	Garrett Ethiopic Magic Scroll No. 134	mid/ late 19th century	Box 4
	Garrett Ethiopic Magic Scroll No. 135	mid 19th century	Box 4
	Garrett Ethiopic Magic Scroll No. 136	late 19th century	Box 4
	Garrett Ethiopic Magic Scroll No. 137	mid/ late 19th century	Box 4
	Garrett Ethiopic Magic Scroll No. 138	early/mid 19th century	Box 4
	Garrett Ethiopic Magic Scroll No. 139	late 19th century	Box 4
	Garrett Ethiopic Magic Scroll No. 140	mid 19th century	Box 4
	Garrett Ethiopic Magic Scroll No. 141	mid/ late 19th century	Box 4
	Garrett Ethiopic Magic Scroll No. 142	mid/ late 19th century	Box 4
	Garrett Ethiopic Magic Scroll No. 143	mid/ late 19th century	Box 4
	Garrett Ethiopic Magic Scroll No. 144	mid/ late 19th century	Box 4
	Garrett Ethiopic Magic Scroll No. 145	mid 19th century	Box 4
	Garrett Ethiopic Magic Scroll No. 146	mid 19th century	Box 4
	Garrett Ethiopic Magic Scroll No. 147	mid 19th century	Box 4
	Garrett Ethiopic Magic Scroll No. 148	mid 19th century	Box 4
	Garrett Ethiopic Magic Scroll No. 149	early/mid 19th century	Box 4
	Garrett Ethiopic Magic Scroll No. 150	mid 19th century	Box 4
	Garrett Ethiopic Magic Scroll No. 151	mid 19th century	Box 4
	Garrett Ethiopic Magic Scroll No. 152	mid/ late 19th century	Box 4
	Garrett Ethiopic Magic Scroll No. 153	late 18th or early 19th century	Box 4
	Garrett Ethiopic Magic Scroll No. 154	late 19th century	Box 4
	Garrett Ethiopic Magic Scroll No. 155	late 19th century	Box 4
	Garrett Ethiopic Magic Scroll No. 156	early/mid 19th century	Box 4
	Garrett Ethiopic Magic Scroll No. 157	mid 19th century	Box 4
	Garrett Ethiopic Magic Scroll No. 158	late 19th century	Box 4
	Garrett Ethiopic Magic Scroll No. 159	mid 19th century	Box 4
	Garrett Ethiopic Magic Scroll No. 160	mid/ late 19th century	Box 4
	Garrett Ethiopic Magic Scroll No. 161	late 19th century	Box 4
	Garrett Ethiopic Magic Scroll No. 162	late 19th century	Box 4