Summary
Overview
Princeton University Library. Dept.
of Rare Books and Special Collections.
Princeton Collection of Ethiopic Magic
Scrolls
2 linear feet, 1 oversize flat print box
Princeton University. Library. Dept. of Rare Books
and Special Collections
Manuscripts Division
One Washington Road
Princeton, New Jersey 08544 USA
Abstract
Consists of an open collection of Ethiopic magic scrolls.
Description
Description
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
History
Collection History
Acquisition
This is an open collection acquired by gift or purchase.
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
Princeton Collection of Ethiopic Magic
Scrolls; 1700-1900, Manuscripts Division, Department of Rare Books and Special Collections, Princeton University Library.
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Subject Terms
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Related Material
Princeton University Library has two other collections of Ethiopic magic scrolls:
Robert Garrett Collection of Ethiopic Magic Scrolls (C0944.04. which is part of the
larger Robert Garrett Collection, and Bruce C. Willsie Collection of Ethiopic Magic
Scrolls (C0943).
Contents and Arrangement
Arrangement
Arranged by item number, beginning with No. 163. (Nos. 1-162 form the Robert Garrett
Collection of Ethiopic Magic Scrolls, C0744.04). No. 166 is not assigned.