{"meta":{"version":"2.1","_links":{"self":{"href":"https://api.vam.ac.uk/v2/object/O1410927"},"collection_page":{"href":"https://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O1410927/"}},"images":{"_primary_thumbnail":"https://framemark.vam.ac.uk/collections/2024NX7902/full/!100,100/0/default.jpg","_iiif_image":"https://framemark.vam.ac.uk/collections/2024NX7902/","_alt_iiif_image":[],"imageResolution":"high","_images_meta":[{"assetRef":"2024NX7902","copyright":"© Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false},{"assetRef":"2024NX7901","copyright":"© Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false},{"assetRef":"2024NX9322","copyright":"© Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false},{"assetRef":"2024NX9323","copyright":"© Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false},{"assetRef":"2024NX9324","copyright":"© Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false},{"assetRef":"2024NX9325","copyright":"© Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false},{"assetRef":"2024NX9326","copyright":"© Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false},{"assetRef":"2024NX9327","copyright":"© Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false},{"assetRef":"2024NX9328","copyright":"© Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false},{"assetRef":"2024NX9329","copyright":"© Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false},{"assetRef":"2024NX9330","copyright":"© Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false},{"assetRef":"2024NX9331","copyright":"© Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false},{"assetRef":"2024NX9317","copyright":"© Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false},{"assetRef":"2024NX9318","copyright":"© Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false},{"assetRef":"2024NX9319","copyright":"© Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false},{"assetRef":"2024NX9320","copyright":"© Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false},{"assetRef":"2010EF8327","copyright":"©Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false},{"assetRef":"2024NX9321","copyright":"© Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false}]},"see_also":{"_iiif_pres":"https://iiif.vam.ac.uk/collections/O1410927/manifest.json","_alt_iiif_pres":[]}},"record":{"systemNumber":"O1410927","accessionNumber":"MSL/1869/185/1","objectType":"Manuscript","titles":[{"title":"Psalter with canticles, Song of Songs and praises of the Virgin Mary","type":""}],"summaryDescription":"","physicalDescription":"150 leaves\nIncludes 18 coloured head-pieces.\nAccording to the colophon, this manuscript was written at Maqdala by Aleka Zeneb, a secretary and friend of King Tewodros. Zeneb was also the historian and chronicler of King Tewodros. \nRed leather binding; fragments of striped textile inside covers. Seven recessed bands on spine. Upper and lower boards have borders with diagonal patterns, three fillets and central stamped pattern.\nWith a leather carrying case consisting of a rectangular container with flap, fitting inside a stitched leather pouch (MSL/1869/185/2). Inner container has strap inside for ease of removing manuscript. Long leather handle for carrying.\n","artistMakerPerson":[{"name":{"text":"Aleka Zeneb","id":"AUTH412583"},"association":{"text":"scribe","id":"AAT25580"},"note":""}],"artistMakerOrganisations":[],"artistMakerPeople":[],"materials":[{"text":"","id":""},{"text":"leather","id":"AAT11845"},{"text":"ink","id":"AAT15012"},{"text":"pigments","id":"x33204"}],"techniques":[{"text":"writing","id":"AAT54698"},{"text":"","id":""},{"text":"bookbinding","id":"AAT53592"},{"text":"blind stamping","id":"AAT192907"}],"materialsAndTechniques":"","categories":[{"text":"National Art Library","id":"THES271541"},{"text":"Books","id":"THES48986"},{"text":"Africa","id":"THES49019"},{"text":"Religion","id":"THES48900"},{"text":"Christianity","id":"THES48978"}],"styles":[],"collectionCode":{"text":"NAL","id":"THES48605"},"images":["2024NX7902","2024NX7901","2024NX9322","2024NX9323","2024NX9324","2024NX9325","2024NX9326","2024NX9327","2024NX9328","2024NX9329","2024NX9330","2024NX9331","2024NX9317","2024NX9318","2024NX9319","2024NX9320","2010EF8327","2024NX9321"],"imageResolution":"high","galleryLocations":[{"current":{"text":"CA005","id":"THES414683"},"free":"","case":"","shelf":"","box":""}],"partTypes":[[{"text":"Manuscript","id":"AAT28569"}]],"contentWarnings":[{"apprise":"No","note":""}],"placesOfOrigin":[{"place":{"text":"Ethiopia","id":"x35090"},"association":{"text":"made","id":"x28654"},"note":""}],"productionDates":[{"date":{"text":"1855-1868","earliest":"1855-01-01","latest":"1868-12-31"},"association":{"text":"made","id":"x28654"},"note":""}],"associatedObjects":[{"object":{"text":"38041800156218","id":"O1410928"},"association":"Case"}],"creditLine":"","dimensions":[{"dimension":"Height","value":"250","unit":"mm","qualifier":"Closed","date":{"text":"09/07/2025","earliest":"2025-07-09","latest":"2025-07-09"},"part":"","note":""},{"dimension":"Width","value":"170","unit":"mm","qualifier":"Closed","date":{"text":"09/07/2025","earliest":"2025-07-09","latest":"2025-07-09"},"part":"","note":""},{"dimension":"Depth","value":"60","unit":"mm","qualifier":"Closed","date":{"text":"09/07/2025","earliest":"2025-07-09","latest":"2025-07-09"},"part":"","note":""}],"dimensionsNote":"","marksAndInscriptions":[],"objectHistory":"<u>Provenance</u>: Written at Maqdala, Ethiopia, by Aleka Zeneb (scribe), around 1860; possibly the personal possession of Emperor Tewodros II. Looted from a church at Maqdala by an unknown individual in April 1868. Purchased by the South Kensington Museum from W.H. Saunders, November 1868.\r\n\r\nThis psalter and its leather carrying-case were part of  the vast quantities of Ethiopian material culture looted by British troops during the 1867-8 British Expedition to Ethiopia, a pivotal episode in both British and Ethiopian history that culminated in the death of Emperor Tewodros II (often referrred to in Britain as 'Theodore') and the destruction and looting of his fortress at Maqdala.\r\n\r\nIn 1863, Tewodros took hostage around thirty European diplomats and missionaries stationed in Ethiopia. He took this action after letters he had written to Queen Victoria in 1857 and 1862, requesting military assistance from Britain, had gone unanswered. Following failed diplomatic attempts to secure the release of the hostages, a large-scale British military expedition was launched from Bombay in October 1867. The expedition was led by General Sir Charles Robert Napier, and comprised around 12,000 British and Indian troops.\r\n\r\nOn 10th April 1868, a brutal battle took place between the Emperor's troops and the British army at Arogee, a plateau below Maqdala. The British army very quickly overwhelmed Tewodros’ soldiers with enormous firepower that resulted in heavy Ethiopian casualties. On 13 April, Napier’s forces launched the final attack on Maqdala that saw Tewodros’ armies entirely defeated. The Emperor took his own life.\r\n\r\nThe British Army then proceeded to ransack the fortress and the surrounding area, where they found many Ethiopian manuscripts, sacred objects and other valuable items. The loot from Maqdala was transported to the Talanta Plain around ten miles away, where the army’s ‘prize’ auction took place a week later.\r\n\r\nThe South Kensington Museum (later the V&amp;A) bought the psalter from Mr W.H. Saunders in November 1868, when it was recorded as having come 'from a church at Maqdala'.  Exactly how Saunders came into possession of the psalter is currently unknown. Other items looted from Maqdala by the British army were also acquired by the South Kensington Museum from 1868 onwards.\r\n\r\nDisplayed in <i>Maqdala 1868</i>, 5 April 2018 - 30 June 2019","historicalContext":"","briefDescription":"Manuscript, Psalter with canticles, Song of Songs and praises of the Virgin Mary, written by Aleka Zeneb, Maqdala, Ethiopia, around 1855-1868.","bibliographicReferences":[],"production":"","productionType":{"text":"Unique","id":"THES48864"},"contentDescription":"","contentPlaces":[],"associatedPlaces":[],"contentPerson":[],"associatedPerson":[],"contentOrganisations":[],"associatedOrganisations":[],"contentPeople":[],"associatedPeople":[],"contentEvents":[],"associatedEvents":[{"text":"Looting of Maqdala (1868)","id":"V92"},{"text":"1867-8 British Expedition to Ethiopia (1/10/1867 - 13/5/1868)","id":"AUTH407033"}],"contentOthers":[],"contentConcepts":[],"contentLiteraryRefs":[],"galleryLabels":[{"text":"<i>Maqdala 1868</i> display, 5 April 2018 - 30 June 2019<br>\n<b>Ethiopian manuscripts ｜ የኢትዮጵያ እጅ ጽሁፍ</b><br>\r\nEthiopia (ኢትዮጵያ) is one of the world’s first Christian nations. The Kingdom of Aksum (አክሱም) in northern Ethiopia adopted the religion in around AD 330. These manuscripts are written in Ge’ez, the sacred language of the Ethiopian Orthodox Church. The books contain prayers and hymns, while the protective scroll would have hung above its owner’s bed to ward off diseases and evil spirits. The manuscripts were first taken from the city of Gondar by Emperor Tewodros, who planned to build his own church at Maqdala. They were among the artefacts later seized by the British.<br>\nService book and carrying-case ｜ የአገልግሎት መጸሀፍና ማህደር<br>\r\nProbably made in Gondar (ጎንደር), Ethiopia, 1700–1800<br>\r\nParchment, with leather carrying-case<br>\r\nPurchased from W.H. Saunders<br>\r\nNAL: MSL/1869/185<br>\n<i>At my church, the prayer book is written in Ge’ez and Amharic, and both are read by the Father. The beauty of handwritten words on handmade paper is not lost through age. I benefit from these long traditions that have served many Ethiopian generations.</i>\r\n- Almaz Tesfaye, V&amp;A Estates Services, member of the Ethiopian Orthodox Church<br>\r\n<i>Sacred texts of Ethiopia date back to the 4th century AD, painstakingly transcribed and illuminated by monks and religious scholars on goatskin parchment. Some still exist today, unseen by public eyes in remote monasteries and churches of the ancient realm.</i><br>\r\n- Shango Baku, Rastafari actor, writer and activist","date":{"text":"5 April 2018 - 30 June 2019","earliest":"2018-04-05","latest":"2019-06-30"}}],"partNumbers":["38041800153454"],"accessionNumberNum":"38041800153454","accessionNumberPrefix":"","accessionYear":null,"otherNumbers":[{"type":{"text":"NAL barcode","id":"THES50330"},"number":"38041800153454"},{"type":{"text":"NAL Pressmark","id":"THES56809"},"number":"Drawer 26"},{"type":{"text":"Previous number","id":"THES51695"},"number":"185-1869"}],"copyNumber":"","aspects":["WHOLE"],"assets":[],"recordModificationDate":"2026-04-27","recordCreationDate":"2017-09-04","availableToBook":false}}