Beta maṣāḥǝft. Die Schriftkultur des christlichen Äthiopiens und Eritreas: Eine multimediale Forschungsumgebung

Beginning in early 2016, Alessandro Bausi has been heading the long-term project of the Academy of Sciences and Humanities in Hamburg Die Schriftkultur des christlichen Äthiopiens und Eritreas: Eine multimediale Forschungsumgebung (beta maṣāḥǝft) approved by the Joint Science Conference (Gemeinsame Wissenschaftskonferenz – GWK).

The project aims at creating a comprehensive research environment for the description of the written heritage of Christian Ethiopia and Eritrea. At the centre of the environment there shall be a relational database on Ge'ez manuscripts collecting information on texts, various physical elements, colophons and notes, but also institutions, authors, owners, and scribes. Digital images shall be supplied wherever possible, with some of the texts and passages edited and available additionally in textual form. The hypercatalogue/portal interoperability with other online repositories shall allow search from one central place across all the existing platforms. The users shall be able to perform varied queries on texts, authors, scribes, and codicological elements for most known Ethiopic manuscripts. Both manuscripts preserved in western libraries and those still in Ethiopia and Eritrea shall be incorporated.

As a result, a repertory of manuscripts shall be enhanced by a repertory of texts (Clavis), literature (annotated bibliography), places (Gazetteer), and persons relevant for the Ethio-Eritrean written heritage.

The main research focus of the first project phase (2016-2021) shall be the Codicology, i.e. the material aspects of the Ethiopian bookmaking tradition.

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For more information visit the project website.