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Tälsäm or yä bərana kətab (healing scroll)

18th–19th century
Not on view
In Ethiopia customized protective scrolls that interweave sacred imagery with textual prayers have been prescribed by traditional healers for over two thousand years. These were carried on the person of the individual to whom they were specifically dedicated to shield them from harm.
Often the customized content of a scroll is astrologically determined. In Ethiopia as in ancient Greece, each human being has a corresponding zodiac sign associated with a particular destiny and talismanic character. The iconography of the scrolls thus alternate between talismanic "seals" and representations of saints, angels and archangels shown in the act of fighting demons. The seals are modeled on the seal of God that was revealed to King Solomon and feature geometric patterns intertwined with stylized representations of multiple visages and eyes that indicate prayers for divine intervention.

Artwork Details

Object Information
  • Title: Tälsäm or yä bərana kətab (healing scroll)
  • Artist: Northern Highlands däbtära (religious scholar)
  • Date: 18th–19th century
  • Geography: Ethiopia, Northern Highlands region
  • Culture: Tigrinya peoples
  • Medium: Parchment, ink, pigments, cotton
  • Dimensions: L. 75 9/16 x W. 6 11/16 in. (192 x 17 cm)
  • Classifications: Parchment, Hide-Documents
  • Credit Line: Purchase, Marie Sussek Gift, 2012
  • Object Number: 2012.5
  • Curatorial Department: The Michael C. Rockefeller Wing

More Artwork

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Tälsäm or yä bərana kətab (healing scroll)
Northern Highlands däbtära (religious scholar)
19th century
Tälsäm or yä bərana kətab (healing scroll), Northern Highlands däbtära (religious scholar), Parchment (vellum), pigment, Amhara or Tigrinya peoples
Tälsäm or yä bərana kətab (healing scroll)
Northern Highlands däbtära (religious scholar)
19th century
Book of the Gospels, Northern Highlands artist, Parchment (vellum), acacia wood, tempera, ink
Book of the Gospels
Northern Highlands artist
late 14th–early 15th century
Arganonä Maryam (The Organ of Mary) prayer book, Baselyos (The Ground Hornbill Master) Ethiopian, Parchment, pigment ink, wood, leather, fiber
Arganonä Maryam (The Organ of Mary) prayer book
Baselyos (The Ground Hornbill Master)
late 17th century
The Cross, the Church, and the Butterfly
Skunder Boghossian
1980s

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