An archivist from the
Archdiocese of Toronto contacted me recently to help her identify a codex, having (correctly) posited that its language is Gэ'эz. The exact provenance of the codex is unknown, but it was acquired (either as a gift, or bought) by a French military
officer serving in Africa in the 1950s. The officer later brought the codex to Canada and it is now part of the Lerman family estate. The director at the archive has kindly allowed me to put up an image. Here are the opening lines on the first page:
NOTES:
As some of you might have been able to figure out, the codex is an Ethiopic rendition of the Book of Psalms. The hand is quite clear although there are some orthographic peculiarities. The opening lines in the image are Psalm 1:1-2 with a thematic incipit. I've notated and transliterated them here to help you decipher them:
1:
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ፍካሬ፡ዘጻድቃን፡ወዘኃጥኣን።
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5:
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ወዘኢነበረ፡ውስተ፡መንበረ፡
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fэkkāre za-żādqān wa-za-xāŧ’ān
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wa-za-’inabara wэsta
manbara
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||
2:
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መዝሙር፡ዘዳዊት፡ሀሌሉያ
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6:
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መሥተ፡ሣልቃን ።
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mazmur za-dāwit halleluyā
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mašta šālqān*
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3:
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ብፁዕ፡ብእሲ፡ዘኢሖረ፡በምክረ፡ረሲዓ
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7:
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ዘዳዕሙ፡ሕገ፡እግዚአብሔ[…]ሥ[…]
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bэđu' bэ’эsi za-’iħora ba-mkэra rasi'ā*
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za-dā'эmu* ħэgga эgzi’abħe[…] šэ[…]*
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4:
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ወዘኢቆመ፡ውስተ፡ፍኖተ፡ኃጥኣን
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8:
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ወዘሕጎ፡ያነብብ፡መዓለተ፡ወሌ[…]
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wa-za-’iqoma wэsta fэnota xāŧ’ān
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wa-za-ħэggo yānabэb ma'ālata* wa-le[…]*
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NOTES:
ረሲዓ (rasi'ā) = missing a letter; ረሲዓን (rasi'ān)
i.e. the evildoers.
መሥተ፡ሣልቃን (mašta šālqān) = unusual spelling for መስተሳልቃን (mastasālqān) i.e. the scornful (pl.)
ዳዕሙ
(da'эmū) = unusual spelling for ዳእሙ (da’эmu) i.e. verily.
ሥምረቱ (šэmэrtu) i.e. they observe
መዓለተ (ma'ālata)
= unusual spelling for መዕልተ
(ma'эlta) or perhaps መዓልተ (ma'ālta) i.e. through the day
ሌሊተ
(lelit) i.e. night
