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Abba Garima Monastery is an
The first European recorded to have visited the monastery in modern times was Henry Salt, who visited it on 14 September 1805. He was told at the time that the building had been built by Prince Gabra Masqal, a son of Emperor Kaleb, in 560.
Beatrice Playne visited the monastery around 1950 and found that the church had burned down twenty years prior and had been rebuilt before her arrival. Nevertheless, she was shown several prized possessions which were centuries old, including a number of illuminated manuscripts "whose ornamental headings struck me as Syrian in style." The last treasure she was shown was "an ancient spring which, they said, had never failed since the beginning of the world."
The family of the fifth Patriarch of the Ethiopian Orthodox Church, Patriarch
The most important layout and artifacts include two illuminated
The Gospel of Abba Garima
{{Authority control Christian monasteries established in the 6th century Oriental Orthodox monasteries in Ethiopia Tigray Region 6th-century establishments in Ethiopia Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo monasteries
Abba Garima Monastery is an Ethiopian Orthodox
The Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church () is the largest of the Oriental Orthodox Churches. One of the few Christian churches in Africa originating before European colonization of the continent, the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church dates bac ...
church
Church may refer to:
Religion
* Church (building), a place/building for Christian religious activities and praying
* Church (congregation), a local congregation of a Christian denomination
* Church service, a formalized period of Christian comm ...
, located around five kilometres east of Adwa
Adwa (; ; also spelled Adowa or Aduwa) is a town and separate woreda in Tigray Region, Ethiopia. It is best known as the community closest to the site of the 1896 Battle of Adwa, in which Ethiopian soldiers defeated Italian troops, thus being ...
, in the Mehakelegnaw Zone of the northern Tigray Region
The Tigray Region (or simply Tigray; officially the Tigray National Regional State) is the northernmost Regions of Ethiopia, regional state in Ethiopia. The Tigray Region is the homeland of the Tigrayan, Irob people, Irob and Kunama people. I ...
in Ethiopia
Ethiopia, officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, is a landlocked country located in the Horn of Africa region of East Africa. It shares borders with Eritrea to the north, Djibouti to the northeast, Somalia to the east, Ken ...
. It was established in the sixth century by one of the Nine Saints
The Nine Saints were a group of missionaries who were important in the initial growth of Christianity in what is now Ethiopia during the late 5th century. The names of the Nine Saints are:
# Abba Aftse
# Abba Alef
# Abba Aragawi
# Abba Garima (Is ...
, Abba Garima, and built by King
King is a royal title given to a male monarch. A king is an Absolute monarchy, absolute monarch if he holds unrestricted Government, governmental power or exercises full sovereignty over a nation. Conversely, he is a Constitutional monarchy, ...
Gabra Masqal (also Gebre Meskel). The monastery became known for its early manuscript copy of the gospels and its treasury.
History
The first European recorded to have visited the monastery in modern times was Henry Salt, who visited it on 14 September 1805. He was told at the time that the building had been built by Prince Gabra Masqal, a son of Emperor Kaleb, in 560.
Beatrice Playne visited the monastery around 1950 and found that the church had burned down twenty years prior and had been rebuilt before her arrival. Nevertheless, she was shown several prized possessions which were centuries old, including a number of illuminated manuscripts "whose ornamental headings struck me as Syrian in style." The last treasure she was shown was "an ancient spring which, they said, had never failed since the beginning of the world."
The family of the fifth Patriarch of the Ethiopian Orthodox Church, Patriarch Abune Paulos
Abune Paulos (born Gebremedhin Woldeyohannes; 3 November 1936 – 16 August 2012) was the fifth Patriarch of the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church from 1992 to his death in 2012. His full title was "His Holiness Abuna Paulos, Fifth Patriar ...
, was long associated with the Abune Garima monastery. It was at this monastery that the Patriarch first took monastic vows as Abba Gebre Medhin.
A new study of the three ancient Abba Garima Gospels is available in the article by Sergey Kim in the online journal "Afriques. Débats, méthodes et terrains d'histoire", 13 (2022).
Layout and artifacts
The most important layout and artifacts include two illuminated Garima Gospels
The Garima Gospels are three ancient Geʽez manuscripts containing all four canonical Gospel Books, as well as some supplementary material like lists of Gospel chapters. Garima 2, the earliest, is believed to be the earliest surviving complete il ...
which have been restored and are housed in a former chapel for female pilgrims. Most biblical scholars had previously proposed that these gospels, though inspired by Abba Garima's example, must have been written centuries after his death, probably in the tenth century or later. However, recent radiocarbon dating carried out at Oxford University
The University of Oxford is a collegiate research university in Oxford, England. There is evidence of teaching as early as 1096, making it the oldest university in the English-speaking world and the second-oldest continuously operating u ...
has confirmed a date between AD 390 and AD 570 for Garima 2. This is likely the earlier of the two gospel books; meaning that it may well be older than Abba Garima himself. If so, they are the earliest surviving dated Christian illuminated manuscripts
An illuminated manuscript is a formally prepared manuscript, document where the text is decorated with flourishes such as marginalia, borders and Miniature (illuminated manuscript), miniature illustrations. Often used in the Roman Catholic Churc ...
.
See also
*Garima Gospels
The Garima Gospels are three ancient Geʽez manuscripts containing all four canonical Gospel Books, as well as some supplementary material like lists of Gospel chapters. Garima 2, the earliest, is believed to be the earliest surviving complete il ...
References
External links
The Gospel of Abba Garima
{{Authority control Christian monasteries established in the 6th century Oriental Orthodox monasteries in Ethiopia Tigray Region 6th-century establishments in Ethiopia Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo monasteries