Ethiopian icon: Jesus healing the blind man

An Ethiopian icon: Jesus healing the blind man

Ethiopian Christ Enthroned in Majesty

Ethiopian Icon, 17th century.

From Scribal Terror:

This stunning illustration comes from a manuscript on display at the British Museum. It was "commissioned in the last years of the 17th century by Emperor Iyasu I Yohannes of Ethiopia for use in his royal city of Gondar." Note the symbols of the apostles surrounding the enthroned Christ: Matthew the Man, John the Eagle, Luke the Ox, and Mark the Lion. I find it interesting how the compressed bodies, large-eyed faces, and stylized positioning reflect the Coptic (Egyptian) style, but do it in such a distinctive manner.

For this and other Ethiopian and Egyptian icons, plus an exposition of Coptic symbolism, read the rest of the article here.

Preservation of the World’s Oldest Illustrated Christian Manuscript

Here's an interesting story from last year, detailing the preservation in 2006 of two Ethiopian Orthodox manuscripts called The Garima Gospels.  In 2010, the Gospels-- originally believed by western historians to have been created in the twelfth century-- were radiocarbon dated to between 330 and 650AD.  This makes them the second oldest complete copy of the Gospels in the world, after "the Codex Sinaiticus, a copy of the Bible hand-written in Greek which dates back to the third century. Unlike the Garima Gospels, the Codex includes large chunks of the Old Testament, but the entire work is divided between museums and monasteries in Egypt, Britain, Russia and the USA" (The Independent).  The Garima Gospels pre-date all other early Christian texts in sub-Saharan Africa by more than 500 years.  In the second volume, another 14th century Gospels was also included.