Aläqa Zännäb (comp.). Mäṣḥafä č̣äwata mänfäsawi wäsǝgawi [መጽሐፈ፡ ጨዋታ፡ ሥጋዊ፡ ወመንፈሳዊ። Book of physical and mental entertainment]. Compiled in 1864/65 and published in 1924, etc.
Note
Six, Äthiopische Handschriften, vol. 3, p. 333:
መጽሐፈ፡ ጨዋታ፡ ሥጋዊ፡ ወመንፈሳዊ is one of the first literary works written in Amharic. Zännäb received the inspiration to write this work from the missionaries Johann Ludwig Krapf and Carl Wilhelm Isenberg.
- Cf. Zewde, Yohannes IV, p. 281; Kane, Literature, p. 5.
Six, Handschriften, p. 336, estimates that the manuscript was written around 1900 because Menelik’s name is mentioned at the end. According to the Museum’s records, the manuscript was given to the museum in 1912 by Georg Schülein (along with hundreds of other artefacts from Ethiopia).
Further reading
Guidi, Ignazio. Grammatica elementare della lingua amarica. Roma 1952. [See p. VII f.]
Kane, Thomas Leiper. Ethiopian Literature in Amharic. Wiesbaden 1975. [See p. 5]
Ricci, Lanfranco. Letterature dell’Etiopia: Estratto dalla “Storia delle letterature d’Oriente” diretta da Oscar Botto. Milan 1969. [See p. 854]
Six, Veronica. Äthiopische Handschriften; vol. 3: Handschriften deutscher Bibliotheken, Museen und aus Privatbesitz. Stuttgart: Steiner, 1994. [See Hs. 142 (p. 333-36)]
Strelcyn, Stefan. Catalogue des Manuscrits Éthiopiens de la Collection Griaulle IV. Paris 1954. [See p. 180f, no. 2)
Zewde Gabre-Sellassie. Yohannes IV: A Political Biography. Oxford 1970. [See p. 281]