Catalogue of Some Selected Manuscripts of Dabra Sayon Church Ziway Island (lulu Guddo Island
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Date
2009-06
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Addis Ababa University
Abstract
For countries like Ethiopia, manuscripts are the main and reliable
channels that transmit the knowledge and experience of the past to the
present and the future. Ethiopia is rich in manuscripts, which are
dispersed all over the country, in monasteries, churches, public and
private collections. Even if the exact number of the manuscripts in
Ethiopia (including Eritrea) is not known, some estimate it to be around
200.000 (excluding scrolls). In spite of the historical, theological, legal,
linguistic, literary, etc ... importance of these collections to the country,
little work is done to exploit them. Therefore, there is a need to describe
them and publish catalogues, and to invite scholars with varied interests
to these forgotten treasures.
There is a monastery in Ziway Island (dabra ~Oyon church) in which a
people called Zay live. It is believed they migrated during the war of Yodit
Gudit with the Ark of the covenant of Axum. The monastery is one of the
main depositories collections of codices, written from 6th-8th C after the
coming of the Nine Saints. However, individual scholars, and local and
international projects did not give enough attention to the collection of
Ziway Island, not even the UNESCO sponsored EMML project, although
it did microfilm some from 8 Sep. 1969 to 12 Feb. 1970.
This paper seeks to fill this gap by focusing on the collection of Ziway
Island (dabra ~Oyon monastery) The monastery, located in East-south of
Addis Ababa 160km far from Addis Ababa, is to believed to have been
founded in 845 E.C, the people from Axum who migrated to Ziway Lake
and lived there for 40 years during the war ofYodit Gudit.
It is also believed that after the death of Yodit Gudit, they left many Arks
and manuscripts in the Island when some of them returned to Axum.
According to the inventory of the monastery, it possesses around 40
manuscripts some of them damaged through time. The paper tries to list,
describe and prepare a complete catalogue of 12 biographical
manuscripts which happen to be the better preserved ones. I hope the
study will invite secular as well as ecclesiastical scholars to utilize the
treasure hid in them.
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Dabra, Sayon Church Ziway Island