Grottaferrata

Exarchic Greek Abbey of St. Mary of Grottaferrata
Corso del Popolo, 128
00046 Grottaferrata (RM)

14 Ethiopian manuscripts are preserved in the Abbazia Greca de Grottaferrata.
11 were already identified by Osvaldo Raineri (1991) and then they all have been catalogued by Proverbio (2000).

The origine of the collection is unknown. Two codices would have been acquired before 1909 (Crypt . Aet. 11 et 12), three before 1967 (Crypt. Aet. 2, 4, et 9). And ms Crypt. Aet. 1 is a magical text acquired in 1990. The others codices are from unknown provenance.
D. V. Proverbio does not give dating for the manuscripts he is cataloguing. The few dated ones are estimated to the 17^th and 18^th c.
Two manuscripts desserve attention :
Crypt. Aet. 7 is a Psalter from the 17^th c. in which is copied a genealogy of king Yohannes (1667-82)
Crypt. Aet. 14 is a collection of sacred paintings, from the 19^th c., depicting the life of Jesus.

 RAINERI, Osvaldo
1991 : « Recensione a S. Uhlig, Introduction to Ethiopian palaeography », Orientalia Christiana Periodica, vol. 58, p. 215-216.

 PROVERBIO, D. V.
2000 : « Inventario sommario dei manoscritti arabi, ebraici, etiopici –con notizia dei turchi- conservati presso la Biblioteca della Badia di Grottaferrata », Atti della Accademia Nazionale dei Lincei. Memorie, serie 9, vol. 12, p. 468-570.