?Final Price Realized includes Buyer’s Premium added to Hammer Price
Estimate: $ 1,500 - $ 2,500
(AFRICA.) ETHIOPIA. Hand-written Ethiopic Religious Text in "Ge'ez." 3 full-page color illustrations and many headpieces. 146 leaves, all written on parchment; original wooden boards, 8-1/2x7 inches; some scribblings in Ge'ez on the inner front board, rear board loose. Ethiopia, circa late 19th to early 20th century
With a very unusual illustration showing a group of soldiers aiming their rifles at an Ethiopian priest. The last six leaves appear to be in a different hand than the rest of the text. Ge'ez was the language of the empire of Aksum (400 BC to 10th C. AD) and until the 19th century the main language in Ethiopia. The language is no longer spoken and only used by orthodox churches in Ethiopia and Eritrea as the official church language.
