The Prince and the Plunder

A book on how Britain took one boy and piles of treasures from Ethiopia

Miracles of Mary “obtained” from a church in Senafe by the British Museum’s R. Holmes (OR 452) *

Published / by Andrew Heavens / Leave a Comment

What: The Miracles of the blessed Virgin Mary, 26 in number, “imperfect at the end”.

Where: The British Library, 96 Euston Rd, London NW1 2DB

Provenance: It has a note: “Obtained from the Church on the Rock at Senafe, 31st Jan. 1868. R Holmes”, referring to the British Museum’s official archaeologist on the expedition, Richard Rivington Holmes. Listed just before the start of the “Magdala collection” in William Wright’s Catalogue of the Ethiopic manuscripts in the British Museum acquired since the year 1847

According to thr catalogue: “Foll. 17-20 do not belong to this manuscript. They are the last leaves of a small book, about 4-1/4 in. by 4-1/8, with from 10 to 13 lines in a page, and contain a hymn to the blessed Virgin Mary. On f. 19 ft is a note, stating that the volume belonged by purchase to the priest Walda Kidan, the son of Fesha Seyon, and that he gave it, along with the Miracles of the blessed Virgin, to the church of Matara.”

Does not appear in British Library’s online catalogue or list of digitised manuscripts

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