Why “Ṣəḥufāna Malkəʾ”?

The phrase “ṣəḥufāna malkəʾ” (ጽሑፋነ፡ መልክእ፡) is found in the commonly recited Nagś za-Māḥlet (ነግሥ፡ ዘማሕሌት፡):

ሰላም፡ ለመላእክት፡ ወለማኅበረ፡ በኵር፡ ኵሉ፨
ጽሑፋነ፡ መልክእ፡ ወስም፡ በሰማይ፡ ዘላዕሉ፨

Salutation to the angels and to the entire assembly of the Firstborn
Whose images and names are inscribed in heaven above.

Translated quite literally, the first two words of the final line (“ṣəḥufāna malkəʾ”) mean “those written of image,” the genitive here functioning in the same way as “those blind of eye” or “a man cold of heart.” These two lines are a paraphrase of Hebrews 12:23 with the addition that not only are the names of the saints inscribed in heaven but also their images or likenesses — malkəʾ. Since this blog is focused on texts and manuscripts produced within the malkəʾ poetic tradition, all the persons mentioned are thus, in a sense, “ṣəḥufāna malkəʾ” by virtue of a malkəʾ having been composed for/about them.

What is malkəʾ?

See this page.

Why malkəʾ?

The poetic tradition surrounding malkəʾ and related poetry is vast yet to date remains minimally explored. Those unfamiliar with Gəʿəz literature usually have never heard of it while those who are familiar often avoid it or pay it little attention. Even those who read Gəʿəz often overlook the intricacies of a malkəʾ’s construction, its underlying subtext and nested metaphors, and its network of literary references. Furthermore, there is a wealth of manuscript evidence that also has gone largely unnoticed. These, though, often present interesting variations in known texts and preserve many texts which have never published and are largely unkown. Thus, this blog aims to present case studies providing commentary on interesting selections of texts and manuscripts.

Who is the author of this blog?

Augustine Dickinson, a doctoral student at the University of Hamburg specializing in malkəʾ and malkəʾ manuscripts.

How did you make this blog?

Quite simply, using Jekyll with a bit of HTML and Sass, some custom code in Ruby, and images via IIIF (thanks to Annona).

How can I learn Gəʿəz?

Ideally at a post-secondary institution or, the most traditional way, through a qəne bet. My feeling, though, is that Gəʿəz is a language best learned through reading rather than memorization or exercises. You can start with a textbook like Lambdin’s or Procházka’s for grammatical basics and then move right away to simple prose selections, like those in Dillmann’s Chrestomathia Aethiopica.

Why can’t I download images?

Because the images that appear on this site are not kept here; they are served via IIIF (triple-i-eff: the International Image Interoperability Framework) directly from the institutions that own the images.

Can you send me the images I want?

No. Contact the institution which legally owns the images.