In the highlands of Ethiopia, there is an ancient and unique work among the sacred texts of Christianity: the Ethiopian Bible. This manuscript, jealously guarded by the Ethiopian Orthodox Church, is recognized as one of the most complete and oldest Bibles in the world.
The Bible is one of the most influential and widely studied texts in human history. However, among the different translations and versions, certain manuscripts stand out for their uniqueness and rarity. One of them is the Ethiopian Bible.
a sacred relic
The Ethiopian Bible is an integral part of the Christian tradition in Ethiopia, a country that converted to Christianity in the 4th century AD, well before most of Europe.
This written in Ge’ezan ancient language spoken in Ethiopia over a thousand years ago.
Compilation of apocryphal texts
The Ethiopian Bible includes all canonical books of the Old and New Testaments, as well as several additional books not found in other Western Christian Bibles.
These additional books are known as the “deuterocanonical” or “apocryphal” books and encompass a variety of historical and prophetic writings. These include the Book of Enoch, Ezra, Buruch, the 3 Books of the Maccabeesthe Book of Jubilees and other texts and chapters not found in other Bibles, such as the book of Joshua, the book of Judith and the book of Tobit.
On the other hand, this fascinating text Features unique illustrations and decorations which reflect the culture and history of Ethiopia. Among them, the representations of biblical scenes stand out, as well as the floral and geometric decorations that adorn the margins of the pages.
Only one copy of the Ethiopian Bible exists and it is locked in a monastery on the edge of a hill. approximately 2,100 meters above sea level in the Tigray highlands. The fact that it still exists is astonishing, as Ethiopia suffered attacks from Muslims, Italians and a fire that destroyed the monastery church, as the lay Orthodox Christian organization points out.
Describes real and mystical aspects
This ancient text brings together many mystical and real aspects. For example, it tells exactly how big Noah’s Ark was, what the Ark of the Covenant looked like, and contains endless lists of ancient family trees. Jesus has four entire books that cover his relatively short ministry and include details about locations, family relationships, and even clothing.
However, despite all the specific information, there is still a lot of mystery. Sometimes the Ethiopian Bible simply omits information that seems important and would be very useful to scholars today. Other times, the information is there and may have made a lot of sense to ancient readers at one time, but our current understanding has been lost to the story.
Perhaps most famously, there are objects mentioned in the Bible They disappeared at some point and are still being searched for today. But despite all the interest, there are still many biblical mysteries that have not been solved.
The importance and fascination of the Ethiopian Bible lies not only in the fact that it is the oldest and most complete illustrated Bible of its kind. But it is not only a spiritual and cultural treasure for the Ethiopian people; It is also for the Christian community in general.
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