# Ethiopian Ge'ez Manuscript & Haräg Illumination

> The manuscript art of the Ethiopian and Eritrean Orthodox Tewahedo Church, written in the Ge'ez syllabary on parchment from the Garima Gospels (radiocarbon-dated to roughly the 4th–7th centuries) to the present. Carbon-black text is punctuated by red headings, names and dotted word-dividers, haräg bands of interlace, chequers and protective eyes mark the main divisions, and miniatures show flat, frontal figures with large almond eyes in hot mineral colours.

- Period: c. 500–present
- Where: Sub-Saharan Africa
- Origin: Monastic scriptoria of the Ethiopian and Eritrean Orthodox Tewahedo Church (Tigray, Lake Tana, Gondar, Shewa)
- Branch: Traditions & vernacular
- Also known as: Ethiopian illumination, Haräg, Ethiopian Orthodox manuscript art, Ge'ez manuscript, Ethiopic manuscript
- Page: https://stylogeny.com/styles/ethiopian-manuscript/

## Use it with care

These are liturgical and devotional books and protective objects still in use: rubricated holy names, prayers, icons of Christ, Mary and the saints, the protective eyes of haräg bands and the guardian figures of talismanic scrolls (made by dabtara clergy for a named owner) carry religious and apotropaic meaning. Do not use them as texture, logos or decoration on trivial products; have any Ge'ez text read by a fluent reader; and commission or collaborate with Ethiopian and Eritrean scribes, painters and designers rather than copying motifs. Many manuscripts in Western collections were looted (notably from Maqdala in 1868) and are subject to restitution claims.

## How it works

- Write the text in ruled columns, usually two, of Ge'ez fidel in carbon-black ink on parchment.
- Reserve red for headings, rubrics, proper and holy names and the dotted punctuation (፡ ።), so a second reading layer of red points runs through the page.
- Open each main section with a haräg: a rectangular headpiece or frame of interlace, chequers, quatrefoils, nested triangles and protective almond eyes, varied from band to band.
- Paint figures flat with heavy outlines and large almond eyes in bright mineral reds, yellows, greens and blues, without modelling or perspective.
- Conventionally show holy figures full face and evil ones in profile, so moral status reads at a glance.

## Its design choices

Defining choices make the style, characteristic ones are usual, occasional ones turn up now and then.

### Layout & composition
- [Column grid](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/column-grid/) (defining)
- [Framed panels](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/framed-panels/) (defining)
- [Central symmetry](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/central-symmetry/) (characteristic)
- [Classical text block](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/classical-text-block/) (occasional)

### Space & hierarchy
- [Layered information](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/layered-information/) (characteristic)
- [Repetition & rhythm](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/repetition-and-rhythm/) (characteristic)
- [Measured density](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/measured-density/) (characteristic)

### Typography
- [Brush & pen calligraphy](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/brush-and-pen-calligraphy/) (defining)
- [Tight setting](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/tight-setting/) (occasional)

### Colour
- [Limited spot colours](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/limited-spot-colours/) (defining)
- [Flat fields](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/flat-fields/) (defining)
- [Light ground](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/light-ground/) (characteristic)
- [Full polychrome](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/full-polychrome/) (characteristic)
- [Earth & mineral](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/earth-and-mineral/) (characteristic)

### Form & shape
- [Stylised figuration](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/stylised-figuration/) (defining)
- [Angular & zigzag](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/angular-and-zigzag/) (occasional)
- [Geometric primitives](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/geometric-primitives/) (occasional)
- [Non-representational](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/non-representational/) (occasional)

### Surface & texture
- [Flat](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/flat/) (defining)
- [Paper & letterpress bite](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/paper-and-letterpress-bite/) (occasional)

### Ornament
- [Borders & frames](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/borders-and-frames/) (defining)
- [Geometric tessellation](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/geometric-tessellation/) (characteristic)
- [Folk & sacred symbols](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/folk-and-sacred-symbols/) (characteristic)
- [Restrained accents](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/restrained-accents/) (characteristic)

### Imagery
- [Painterly illustration](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/painterly-illustration/) (characteristic)
- [Line illustration](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/line-illustration/) (occasional)
- [Typography only](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/typography-only/) (occasional)

### Medium & production
- [Pen, brush & ink](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/pen-brush-and-ink/) (defining)

### Tone & intent
- [Spiritual & sacred](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/spiritual-and-sacred/) (defining)
- [Authoritative & institutional](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/authoritative-and-institutional/) (characteristic)
- [Calm & contemplative](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/calm-and-contemplative/) (characteristic)

Avoids: Naturalistic depiction, Illusion of depth, Gradients, Dynamic asymmetry, Straight photography, Ironic & self-aware

Palette: #efe2c2, #1b1a17, #b3261e, #e07a1f, #e0a526, #2f6b3a

Typefaces: Ge'ez (Ethiopic) fidel syllabary written with a reed pen, Rubricated Ethiopic punctuation: word divider (፡) and full stop (።), Modern Ethiopic digital types for reference (Nyala, Abyssinica SIL)

Known for: Garima Gospels (Abba Garima monastery, Tigray; radiocarbon c. 390–660); Zir Ganela Gospels (1400–01, Morgan Library & Museum, MS M.828); Gondarine-style manuscripts and the murals of Debre Berhan Selassie, Gondar (late 17th century); Ethiopian talismanic (magic) scrolls (Jacques Mercier, Ethiopian Magic Scrolls, 1979); Zerihun Yetmgeta (modern paintings drawing on scrolls and Ge'ez script)

## Where it comes from, and what it’s close to

- Alike in its design choices: [Armenian Manuscript Illumination](https://stylogeny.com/styles/armenian-illumination.md) (c. 862–1800), 72% alike
- Alike in its design choices: [Hebrew Micrography](https://stylogeny.com/styles/hebrew-micrography.md) (c. 895–present), 70% alike
- Alike in its design choices: [Ancient Egyptian Hieroglyphic & Register Composition](https://stylogeny.com/styles/egyptian-hieroglyphic.md) (c. 0–394), 66% alike
- Alike in its design choices: [Madinah Mushaf (King Fahd Complex Qur'an Page)](https://stylogeny.com/styles/madinah-mushaf.md) (1985–present), 65% alike
- Alike in its design choices: [Burmese Parabaik Painting (Konbaung Folding Books)](https://stylogeny.com/styles/burmese-parabaik.md) (1752–1885), 64% alike
- Alike in its design choices: [Celtic Revival Illumination & Lettering](https://stylogeny.com/styles/celtic-revival.md) (1861–1951), 64% alike

## Real works

- [John the Evangelist and the opening of John's Gospel, Gunda Gunde Gospels (Walters MS W.850, fols. 153v–154r)](https://www.thedigitalwalters.org/Data/WaltersManuscripts/html/W850/description.html): Unknown scribe and painter, Gunda Gunde monastery (Stephanite), first half of the 16th century (c. 1540), Walters Art Museum, Baltimore
- [Single Leaf from a Gospel Book with a Portrait of Saint Luke](https://clevelandart.org/art/1999.212): Unknown painter, c. 1440–80, The Cleveland Museum of Art
- [Prayer Book: Arganonä Maryam (The Organ of Mary)](https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/733038): Attributed to Baselyos (the Ground Hornbill Master), late 17th century, The Metropolitan Museum of Art
- [Protective scroll with an archangel (probably Phanuel), made for a woman named Gamila (CBL W 941)](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Scroll_containing_magical_prayers_to_protect_against_evil_(CBL_W_941).jpg): Unknown scribe-painter (dabtara), 19th century, Chester Beatty, Dublin (via Google Arts & Culture and Wikimedia Commons)
- [Decorated incipit page, Gospel Book (Getty Ms. 102)](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Decorated_Incipit_Page_-_Google_Art_Project_(4180300).jpg): Unknown scribe and illuminator, about 1504–05, J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles (via Google Art Project and Wikimedia Commons)

## Sources

- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Garima_Gospels
- Morgan Library & Museum, Zir Ganela Gospels (MS M.828), catalogue record
- https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/307602 (prayer book with case: haräg motifs, protective eyes, red and black ink)
- https://www.penn.museum/sites/expedition/varieties-of-amhara-graphic-art/ (frontal and profile convention)

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From Stylogeny (https://stylogeny.com/), an atlas of graphic-design styles by Van Riel Online Services. How it is made: https://stylogeny.com/about/. Cite as: Stylogeny, “Ethiopian Ge'ez Manuscript & Haräg Illumination”, https://stylogeny.com/styles/ethiopian-manuscript/