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This scroll was created in the eighteenth century for a woman named Marta. Having once been possessed by a devil, she had this prayer scroll made as a way to ward off evil. Containing prayers against demons, as well as talismans and a depiction of a guardian angel (perhaps Phanuel, who is invoked in one of the prayers), the scroll was intended to be worn as an apotropaic device. Ethiopian prayer scrolls were made to be the length of the person who commissioned them, thereby protecting the owner from head to toe; this one is 165.7 cm, making Marta 5'5" tall.

Page data

Page
8
Source index
0
Type
photo
Media ID
a2a0b5b86090ab22
Size
unknown

Document data

ID
1715
Core
obj
Type
object
DTO data
{
    "id": "1715",
    "sourceUrl": "https://purl.thewalters.org/art/W.788",
    "contentType": "object",
    "stage": "normalized",
    "title": "Scroll with Angels and Talismans",
    "description": "This scroll was created in the eighteenth century for a woman named Marta. Having once been possessed by a devil, she had this prayer scroll made as a way to ward off evil. Containing prayers against demons, as well as talismans and a depiction of a guardian angel (perhaps Phanuel, who is invoked in one of the prayers), the scroll was intended to be worn as an apotropaic device. Ethiopian prayer scrolls were made to be the length of the person who commissioned them, thereby protecting the owner from head to toe; this one is 165.7 cm, making Marta 5'5\" tall.",
    "provenance": "James St. Lawrence O'Toole [date and mode of acquisition unknown]; Walters Art Museum, 1978, by gift.",
    "date": "18th century (Modern)",
    "citationUrl": "https://purl.thewalters.org/art/W.788",
    "rightsUri": "CC0",
    "language": "en",
    "genreSpecific": [
        "Manuscripts & Rare Books",
        "protective scrolls"
    ],
    "iiifBase": "https://art.thewalters.org/images/art/PL1_W.788_DetCntr_TR_T01II.jpg",
    "thumbnailUrl": "https://art.thewalters.org/images/art/PL1_W.788_DetCntr_TR_T01II.jpg",
    "largeImageUrl": "https://art.thewalters.org/images/art/PL1_W.788_DetCntr_TR_T01II.jpg",
    "imageCount": 10,
    "pageCount": 10,
    "source": "import",
    "dimensions": [
        {
            "units": "cm",
            "width": 165.7,
            "height": 8.1
        }
    ],
    "dimensionsRaw": "Overall: H: 65 1/4 × W: 3 3/16 in. (165.7 × 8.1 cm)Framed: H: 73 1/4 × W: 13 3/8 × D: 1 1/8 in. (186 × 34 × 2.8 cm)"
}

Context sent to Scholar

Document identity
{
    "localId": "1715",
    "label": "Scroll with Angels and Talismans",
    "core": "obj",
    "dtoType": "object",
    "citationUrl": "https://purl.thewalters.org/art/W.788"
}
Document source metadata
{
    "id": "1715",
    "sourceUrl": "https://purl.thewalters.org/art/W.788",
    "contentType": "object",
    "stage": "normalized",
    "title": "Scroll with Angels and Talismans",
    "description": "This scroll was created in the eighteenth century for a woman named Marta. Having once been possessed by a devil, she had this prayer scroll made as a way to ward off evil. Containing prayers against demons, as well as talismans and a depiction of a guardian angel (perhaps Phanuel, who is invoked in one of the prayers), the scroll was intended to be worn as an apotropaic device. Ethiopian prayer scrolls were made to be the length of the person who commissioned them, thereby protecting the owner from head to toe; this one is 165.7 cm, making Marta 5'5\" tall.",
    "provenance": "James St. Lawrence O'Toole [date and mode of acquisition unknown]; Walters Art Museum, 1978, by gift.",
    "date": "18th century (Modern)",
    "citationUrl": "https://purl.thewalters.org/art/W.788",
    "rightsUri": "CC0",
    "language": "en",
    "genreSpecific": [
        "Manuscripts & Rare Books",
        "protective scrolls"
    ],
    "iiifBase": "https://art.thewalters.org/images/art/PL1_W.788_DetCntr_TR_T01II.jpg",
    "thumbnailUrl": "https://art.thewalters.org/images/art/PL1_W.788_DetCntr_TR_T01II.jpg",
    "largeImageUrl": "https://art.thewalters.org/images/art/PL1_W.788_DetCntr_TR_T01II.jpg",
    "imageCount": 10,
    "pageCount": 10,
    "source": "import",
    "dimensions": [
        {
            "units": "cm",
            "width": 165.7,
            "height": 8.1
        }
    ],
    "dimensionsRaw": "Overall: H: 65 1/4 × W: 3 3/16 in. (165.7 × 8.1 cm)Framed: H: 73 1/4 × W: 13 3/8 × D: 1 1/8 in. (186 × 34 × 2.8 cm)"
}
Document source extras
{
    "cul": "Christian Highland Ethiopian",
    "style": "Ethiopian",
    "med": "ink and paint on three strips of heavy parchment",
    "creator_ids": [
        "6264"
    ],
    "collection_ids": [
        "ETH",
        "MSS"
    ],
    "exhibition_ids": [
        "1958"
    ]
}
Page context
{
    "seq": 8,
    "pageIndex": 0,
    "type": "photo",
    "url": "https://art.thewalters.org/images/raw/CPS_W.788_PcG_DD.jpg",
    "mediaId": "a2a0b5b86090ab22"
}