The Digital Walters

W.788, Ethiopian scroll with angels and talismans

Abstract

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.

Manuscript Description (in a new window) | TEI (XML format) | View at art.thewalters.org

Persistent URLs (PURLs)

The following URLs are assured to route to the named resources. For more information see the ReadMe file.

http://purl.thewalters.org/art/W.788/data

http://purl.thewalters.org/art/W.788/browse

http://purl.thewalters.org/art/W.788/TEI

http://purl.thewalters.org/art/W.788/description

 
 

1. cm 0-25

   
   • W788_000001_1300.tif
     Size: 360.4 MB (377,878,727 bytes)
   • W788_000001_300.tif
     Size: 13.8 MB (14,476,245 bytes)
   • W788_000001_sap.jpg
     Size: 373.3 kB (382,287 bytes)
   • W788_000001_thumb.jpg
     Size: 7.3 kB (7,514 bytes)

2. cm 23-48

   
   • W788_000002_1300.tif
     Size: 317.0 MB (332,357,317 bytes)
   • W788_000002_300.tif
     Size: 12.0 MB (12,540,301 bytes)
   • W788_000002_sap.jpg
     Size: 387.7 kB (397,049 bytes)
   • W788_000002_thumb.jpg
     Size: 7.7 kB (7,883 bytes)

3. cm 46-71

   
   • W788_000003_1300.tif
     Size: 312.3 MB (327,487,337 bytes)
   • W788_000003_300.tif
     Size: 11.5 MB (12,011,125 bytes)
   • W788_000003_sap.jpg
     Size: 407.1 kB (416,886 bytes)
   • W788_000003_thumb.jpg
     Size: 8.3 kB (8,489 bytes)

4. cm 69-84

   
   • W788_000004_1300.tif
     Size: 317.6 MB (332,992,515 bytes)
   • W788_000004_300.tif
     Size: 12.6 MB (13,236,045 bytes)
   • W788_000004_sap.jpg
     Size: 410.6 kB (420,454 bytes)
   • W788_000004_thumb.jpg
     Size: 8.2 kB (8,383 bytes)

5. cm 77-102

   
   • W788_000005_1300.tif
     Size: 308.8 MB (323,751,605 bytes)
   • W788_000005_300.tif
     Size: 12.6 MB (13,206,013 bytes)
   • W788_000005_sap.jpg
     Size: 414.8 kB (424,800 bytes)
   • W788_000005_thumb.jpg
     Size: 7.7 kB (7,911 bytes)

6. cm 100-125

   
   • W788_000006_1300.tif
     Size: 300.0 MB (314,576,369 bytes)
   • W788_000006_300.tif
     Size: 11.9 MB (12,451,849 bytes)
   • W788_000006_sap.jpg
     Size: 407.7 kB (417,500 bytes)
   • W788_000006_thumb.jpg
     Size: 7.9 kB (8,128 bytes)

7. cm 123-148

   
   • W788_000007_1300.tif
     Size: 317.0 MB (332,435,827 bytes)
   • W788_000007_300.tif
     Size: 12.5 MB (13,057,693 bytes)
   • W788_000007_sap.jpg
     Size: 437.3 kB (447,845 bytes)
   • W788_000007_thumb.jpg
     Size: 8.3 kB (8,520 bytes)

8. cm 146-165.7

   
   • W788_000008_1300.tif
     Size: 271.4 MB (284,532,049 bytes)
   • W788_000008_300.tif
     Size: 10.4 MB (10,885,617 bytes)
   • W788_000008_sap.jpg
     Size: 488.1 kB (499,857 bytes)
   • W788_000008_thumb.jpg
     Size: 9.2 kB (9,453 bytes)