ከመዝ፡ ኑባሬ፡ ሥርዓታ፡ ለእምነ፡ ጽዮን፡ ገበዘ፡ አክሱም፡ Kama-zǝ nubāre śǝrʿātā la-ʾǝmmǝna Ṣǝyon gabaza ʾAksum This a state of the disposition of our mother Zion, the cathedral of ʾAksum Report on the material situation of Aksum Ṣǝyon church Akademie der Wissenschaften in Hamburg Hiob-Ludolf-Zentrum für Äthiopistik Die Schriftkultur des christlichen Äthiopiens und Eritreas: Eine multimediale Forschungsumgebung / Beta maṣāḥǝft Hamburg This file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0.

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 Created, judging by the content, not after 1538 This document provides a description of the church and a precise count of its measurements and parts (size of the enclosure, search for the foundations, height, width and length of the church, number of columns, windows, doors and various architectural elements). He also mentions adjacent buildings (four churches, a house of stewardship, a common room, a chapel that is perhaps the one housing the Ark). This report ends with the dates of the construction of the church, which began in the year 49 of Mercy and was completed in the year 91, accompanied by a reflection on entropy. This text describes in a precise and quantitative way the church of Aksum Seyon, its enclosure, the buildings surrounding it. It is always placed at the beginning of the compilation of the Tarika Aksum. It echoes the descriptions of the Temple of Jerusalem in the Old Testament (2 Kings 5-6 in particular). It aroused the interest of archaeologists from the early 20th century because it is one of the rare descriptions of the church of Aksum before its destruction at the beginning of the 16th century by the armies of Imam Ahmed (52). Another description, quite different, is proposed by Francisco Alvarez (). Littmann and Krencker had attempted to compare these two descriptions (139). The importance of this document, and the authoritative effect that this enumeration of figures imposes on readers, also ensured its notoriety within the Ethiopian tradition. Indeed, at the end of the 19th century, Menelik scriptorium revived this document as part of the so-called compilation of the "Short Kebra Nagast found in Zway", a new tradition built on the ground of the ancient collection of the Tarika Aksum. English Gǝʿǝz German Amharic Description of the material situation of the church of ʾAksum Ṣǝyon. created the text description in EMML record Created entity Additions moved data by Anais Wion from EMML50 moved abstracts, edition and translation from EMML50 Added relation to LIT1913Mashaf
6-7 7 139 149-150 139-140 52
The text is taken from EMML 50, f. 129v ከመዝ፡ ኑባሬ፡ ሥርዓታ፡ ለእምነ፡ ጽዮን፡ ገበዘ፡ አክሱም፡ እስከ፡ ፲ወ፭፡ በእመት፡ ኢረከቡ፡ መሠረታ። ወጸፍጸፈ፡ ከዲሕ፡ ፯፡ በእመት፡ እምድር፡ እስከ፡ አፈ፡ ጽዮን። ወከርሠ፡ ንድቁ፡ ፯በእመት። ወኑኁ፡ እምሥራቅ፡ እስከ፡ ምዕራብ፡ ፻፳፭፡ በእመት። ወእምደቡብ፡ እስከ፡ ሰሜን፡ ፺፪፡ በእመት። ወስፍሑ፡ ፶ወ፫፡ በእመት። ወኑኁ፡ እምድር፡ እስከ፡ ርእሰ፡ ቀመር፡ ፴ወ፪፡ በእመት። አዕማድ፡ ዘንድቅ፡ ፴ወ አዕማድ፡ ዘእብን፡ ፴ወ፪። ወኵሉ፡ ድሙር፡ ፷፪፡ ማዕፆዉ፡ ዓቢያን፡ ዘአናቅጽ፡ መንገለ፡ ዐረብ፡ በአፍአ፡ ፬። ወበውሥጥ፡ ፬፡ ወጽርሕ፡ ፩፡ ሰሜናዊ፡ ፩። ወደቡባዊ፡ ፩። ዘቤተ፡ ጊዮርጊስ፡ ፩። ዘቤተ፡ ዮሐንስ፡ ፩። ዘቤተ፡ መዛግብት፡ ፪። ዘቤተ፡ ገብርኤል፡ ፪። ዘቤተ፡ ማኅበር፡ ፩። ዘቤተ፡ ማርያም፡ መግደላዊት፡ ፩፡ ወኵሉ፡ድሙር፡ ፳፡ ማዕፆ። ወማዕፆ፡ ዘቄድሮስ፡ ፬፻፷ወ፩። ወመሳክዊሃ፡ ፻፷ወ፰። ወመንኰራኵራቲሃ፡ ፯፻፰፡ ወቀስተ፡ ደመና፡ ፲፡ወርእሰ፡ ኅበይ፡ ፴፻፰፻፲ወ፭። ወ መስረበ፡ ማይሂ፡ ፺ወ፩። በ፵ወ፱ ዓመተ፡ ምሕረት፡ ኮነ፡ ሡራሬሃ። ወተፍጸሜታሂ፡ ኮነ፡ በ፺ወ፩፡ ዓመተ፡ ምሕረት። ዓለምሰ፡ ሕልም፡ ወጽላሎት፡ ውእቱ፡ ወአልቦ፡ ዘይዌስክ፡ ዘእንበለ፡ ዘያነትግ (sic)።
Here is a report of the disposition of our mother Ṣǝyon gabaza Aksum. Up to fifteen cubits One cubit is about 50 cm. there is no foundation and the paved platform (the podium) (ṣafṣafa kadiḥ) is seven cubits high from ground level to the entrance of Ṣǝyon. And the thickness of the wall (karśa nǝdqu) [is] seven cubits and its size is 125 cubits from west to east and 92 cubits from south to north. Its width [in the church] is 53 cubits, and its size from the ground to the top of the vault (rǝ'ǝsa qamar) is 32 cubits. There are 30 masonry columns and 32 stone columns, a total of 62. The large doors are towards the sunset, four on the entrance side and four inside; one in the private chapel (ṣǝrḥ) It can be the place where the Ark of the Covenant was kept. ; one in the north; one in the south. And one at Bēta Giyorgis. One at Bēta Yohannǝs. Two at the stewardship (bēta mazāgbet)It can be the treasury, a store, the sacristy, the library, or all of these at once, that is, the place where the material possessions of the church are kept under lock and key. . And two to Bēta Gabr'ēl. At the common house (bēta māḫbar) one. At Bēta Maryām Magdalāwit one. All this is 20 doorsThe count is actually 19. And cedar doors, 461 Botanically, Ethiopian juniper or ṣed is a cedar, but here it still seems that the reference is the Old Testament and the cedar orders from Lebanon placed by Solomon for the construction of the Temple. Its windows [are] 168. And his plugs (mankwarākwǝrāt) 780 For Littmann (139), it is Querbalken or "transverse beams". The Amharic version of this text in BnF Eth. 215 has: maqān medrāhu According to 81, maqān means "door frame or doorframe", and to 239 : "doorpost, jamb; crosspiece above the door", while 324 also has medr āf = doorpost, jamb, doorway, entrance, and maqā madrāf : piece of wood which fastens the door and doorframe together There are ten arches. And the monkey headsIt is a well-known element of Aksumite architecture designating the round heads of the exposed supporting beams in the walls. 3815. There are 91 gutters (masraba māy). Its foundation began in the year 49 of Mercy and was completed in the year 91 of Mercy. But the world is made up of dreams and shadows. Nothing increases, on the contrary, everything perishes.