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Source 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.
Scholar Source Context
Document identity
localId
1715
label
Scroll with Angels and Talismans
core
obj
dtoType
object
citationUrl
pageCount
10
Source metadata
id
1715
sourceUrl
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
rightsUri
CC0
language
en
genreSpecific
Manuscripts & Rare Books
protective scrolls
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)
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 inventory
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