An illustrated book of Syriac incantations, supplications and prayers for the protection of the reader entitled the Ktābā d-huddāyā, or Book of Guidance. A partial listing of the context can be found in the paper by Balicka-Witakowska. The item opens with a horseshoe shaped unvan enclosing the Lord''s Prayer on f. 1v. The manuscript contains a number of illustrations throughout, including the following:. f. 2v : A square filled with the first three lines of the Gospel of John written diagonally. f. 3r : The four Evangelists (Matthew, Mark, Luke and John) standing in a row. f. 4v : St. George slaying the Dragon (the Great Monster, ܬܢܝܢܐ ܪܒܐ). f. 6v : A pipe-smoking ''ruler'' figure on a throne, together with a sword, saddle bag, falcon, gun and a dagger. f. 8v : The Ring or Seal of Solomon enclosed within a black rectangle. f. 10v : A sword, dagger, mace, axes and a bow with arrows. f. 11v : Mar Zay''a of Palestine slaying the Angel of Death. f. 14r : Mar Tamasis slaying a Female Spirit of the Moon (talisman against insanity). f. 16r : A goat, a stag, fox, buck and gazelle. f. 17r : Three guns (ܬܘܦܐ). f. 20v : The Archangel Gabriel, mounted on a white horse, against a black background, slaying a demon identified as the evil eye. f. 23r : Mar Rabban Hormizd slaying a mad dog or lion (ܥܪܝܐ ܐܘ ܟܠܒܐ ܦܩܪܐ). f. 27v : Mar Daniel Nabya slaying a wolf lying in wait for sheep. f. 29r : Two intertwined snakes. f. 30r : Two scorpions. f. 32r : Another Ring or Seal of Solomon enclosed in a rectangle. f. 32v : King Solomon atop a green horse slaying Asmodeus with a spear. f. 34r : Mar Shalita atop a brown horse slaying an evil spirit with a spear. f. 36v : Elias (ܐܠܝܐ) and Enoch (ܫܢܘܟ). f. 47v : Three interlaced rosettes in red and green ink, inside an octagon of thick black lines, inside a black rectangle. f. 48r : A cross formed of five red and green boxes of interlaced floral (?) motifs inside an octagon of thick black lines inside a black rectangle. The manuscript is dated 2129 in the Greek year (1817 CE) by Agin from the village of Shabna. It was copied for Binyamin, son of Ya''yawnan from the village Bakhyanateh. It is copied in the Madhnḥāyā script, with occasional marginalia, corrections and additions in the same script in pencil. Some passages have been damaged by water, while others appear to have suffered from ink transference onto the following pages.
Ktābā d-huddāyā - ܟܬܒܐ ܕܗܕܝܐ.
This material is held atBritish Library Asia, Pacific and Africa Collections
- Reference
- GB 59 Or 6673
- Dates of Creation
- 1817
- Language of Material
- Syriac
- Physical Description
- 1 text 48 ff Materials : Parchment. Dimensions : 125 mm x 90 mm x 15 mm. Foliation : Western pagination and foliation, 48 folios; occasional Syriac quire notation. Ruling : No text boxes, approximate text area 95 mm x 60 mm arranged in a single column. Script : Madhnḥāyā. Ink : Main text in black ink, with catchwords and titles in red ink; occasional marginalia and additions in pencil; illumination and illustration in red, black, green and brown inks. Binding : Western binding.
Scope and Content
Access Information
Unrestricted
Acquisition Information
Purchased from A. Thomas on 2 December 1905.
Bibliography
For further information about the manuscript, similar manuscripts, and the general topic, please see:. Ewa Balicka-Witakowska, ''Illustrating Charms: A Syriac Manuscript with Magic Drawings in the collection of the British Library,'' in Malphono w-Rabo d-Malphone: Studies in Honour of Sebastian P. Brock, edited by George A. Kiraz (Piscataway, NJ: Gorgias Press, 2008), pp. 779-808. Hunter, Erica, ''Traversing Time and Location: A Prayer Amulet of Mar Tamsis From Turfan,'' From the Oxus River to the Chinese Shores: Studies on East Syriac China and Central Asia, edited by Li Tang and Dietmar W. Winkler (Zürich: Lit Verlag, 2013), pp. 32-33. E. A. Wallis Budge, Amulets and Superstitions (New York: Dover Publications Inc., 1978). p. 272.