Sevir B.

Chernetsov

ETHIOPIAN MAGIC LITERATURE*

The first scholar greatly impressed by the role of magic in Ethiopia was
Hiob Ludolf himself, the father of Ethiopian studies in Europe.1 Much later
his compatriot, Enno Littmann, called Ethiopia «a real well» of superstitions
and magic,2 while the Russian scholar Boris Turaiev described the local reli-
gious situation as follows: «In Christian, though culturally backward Abyssi-
nia, almost no borderline exists between the faith and the superstitions, reli-
gion and magic. Priests and clergymen trade in writing and selling magic
prayers, which are venerated together with canonical ones; the latter may in
their turn be used for magic ends, as well as the Scripture itself, by the way of
its mechanical reading, or by wearing on neck, or even by the very fact of its
possession».3 Philologists were fascinated with these written amulets which
constituted a peculiar kind of literature designed not at all for reading, but for
protection of its owner, and called these Ethiopian written amulets magic
scrolls both for their specific form of scroll and its protective function. Rus-
sian scholar Ignaty Kratchkowski wrote about these specific literary pieces:
«They may contain various texts, sometimes even the canonical ones, to which,
however, magic power is ascribed. More often they are filled with charms
and spells, and sometimes it is just a collection of mysterious names, whose
meaning and origin is almost impossible to determine. It is of no importance
for a scroll holder, because the efficiency and protective function are usually
ascribed not so much to the reading of a scroll, as to wearing of it, or just to
its presence in a dwelling place».4
So their function was quite obvious and clear-cut: they were written pro-
tective amulets — a phenomenon common and typical for many religious
cultures, Judaic, Christian and Muslim as well. As for the content of this

* This paper has been left by the late author basically ready to publication but
somewhat unpolished in details. The Editorial Board took the liberty to add some
notes to the text, in [square brackets].
1
H. LUDOLF, Historia Aethiopica sive brevis et succincta descriptio Regni Habessi-
norum, quod vulgo male Presbyteri Iohannis vocatur (Francofurti ad Moenum, 1681)
Lib. III, cap. IV.
2
[The author means the following work: E. LITTMANN, Arde’et: The Magic Book
of the disciples // Journal of the American Oriental Society 25 (1904) 1–48.]
3
Á. À. ÒÓÐÀÅÂ, Àáèññèíñêèå ìàãè÷åñêèå ñâèòêè // Ñáîðíèê ñòàòåé â ÷åñòü
ãðàôèíè Ï. Ñ. Óâàðîâîé (Ì., 1916) 178.
4
È. Þ. ÊÐÀ×ÊÎÂÑÊÈÉ, Àáèññèíñêèé ìàãè÷åñêèé ñâèòîê èç êîëëåêöèè Ô. È. Óñ-
ïåíñêîãî // Äîêëàäû ÀÍ ÑÑÑÐ (1928) 2.

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 S. B. Chernetsov '!

specific magic literature Russian scholars called it «orationes falsae»,5 or

«interdicted literature», because the very practice of «writing amulets with
names» had been officially prohibited by the Church at the Councils of Ephe-
sus and Galata. As for the popularity of such written amulets in Ethiopia,
Kratchkowski remarked: «Quantitatively the most significant part of Abyssi-
nian literature is probably presented by all kinds of «interdicted literature»,
from Bible apocrypha to various charms and spells. The main interest of this
particular literary field lies in the fact that it, being no less bookish than all
the Ethiopian literature, it reflects more often than other works do the popu-
lar views and ideas. Sometimes they take us away in the very thick of not
only Semitic, but also of the neighboring Cushitic tribes as well».6 I am afraid
that the latter thesis (about «the very thick of not only Semitic, but also of the
neighboring Cushitic tribes») is a kind of a priori opinion. After all, Kratch-
kowski himself was a great Arabist, he also knew well Ethiopian literature,
but not folklore, let alone Cushitic languages. As for precisely these «charms
and spells, and collection of mysterious names, whose meaning and origin is
almost impossible to determine», Kratchkowski was mistaken: as it was
demonstrated much later by a prominent Polish scholar Stefan Strelcyn in
his fundamental monograph «Prières magiques éthiopiennes pour délier les
charmes»7 even these «mysterious names», which are so abundant in written
spells, they are no less bookish and international, than other subjects and
themes, used for magic ends in these scrolls, quite literary in their own right.
The mistake of the Russian scholar had, however, its deep roots, its theo-
retical raison d’être. At the turn of the 20th century most scholars believed
(and still believe, I am afraid) that such a kind of a written magic, found so
regularly in many parts of the world, is the result of a peculiar synthesis of
pagan (polytheistic) views and attitudes and the domineering monotheistic
(in Ethiopian case — Christian) religion. The very phenomenon of such a
«Christian magic» in Russia was discovered rather early, and Russian scho-
lar Feodor Buslaiev called this synthesis «double faith». He wrote on the
origin of this «double faith»: «Christianity had taken by surprise the popular
imagination, full of pagan ideas, and stigmatized them as devil’s delusions.
However, common people did not renounce their native heritage, though it
had to abandon its ancient vast domain and to confine itself to a limited area
of many petty superstitions, which nevertheless enfolded and still enfolds the
whole life of common people, all its social activities of larger and smaller

5
Á. À. ÒÓÐÀÅÂ, Ýôèîïñêèå orationes falsae et exorcismi // Recueil des travaux
rédigé en mémoire du jubilé scientifique de M. Daniel Chwolson, 1846–1896 (Ber-
lin, 1899) 242–267.
6
ÊÐÀ×ÊÎÂÑÊÈÉ, Àáèññèíñêèé ìàãè÷åñêèé ñâèòîê... 3.
7
S. STRELCYN, Prières magiques éthiopiennes pour délier les charmes // Rocznik
Orientalistyczny (Warszawa, 1955) XVIII.

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'" Scrinium II (2006). Universum Hagiographicum

scale... Therefore, in spite of its fantastic background, superstitions are of

vital importance for common people for practical applicability to the needs
of their everyday life».8 So the situation was understood as a result of super-
ficial imposition of a foreign monotheistic religion on native popular beliefs,
producing a peculiar alloy of heterogeneous monotheistic and polytheistic
elements into which they were melted in the popular ideology. Feodor Bus-
laiev sounds rather poetic, and it was with reason that both he and his schola-
stic confederates were called «archaeological romantics» in Russia. How-
ever, as for Ethiopian magic scrolls there is every reason to doubt that they
were products of «popular imagination». Magic scrolls had, beyond any doubt,
their «practical applicability to the needs of their everyday life», but these
were no oral charms and spells in vernacular languages intelligible to com-
mon people and created by them, but texts written (or, more often, just copied)
by clergy invariably in Ge’ez, the dead Ethiopian language of liturgy and
classical literature. In fact they were never read by or for the owner, and in
any case their content remained obscure to him/her. So there was always a
definite borderline between oral magic and written amulets. What are these
magic scrolls after all?
The usual form of an Ethiopian written amulet is scroll made of parch-
ment or more or less well tanned hide. Sometimes, however, these amulets
may have a form of tiny books with wooden cover. In Amharic these scrolls
are called «ketab» (zfa) — «a charter», but books may be also called
simply «mäs³haf» (ÃìÂ;), i. e. «book». The size of a scroll may vary from
4 to 25 cm in width, and from 40 to 200 cm in length. Long scrolls are
usually sewn together of two or three parts with little straps of the same
material. Text is usually written on the smooth side of the scroll. Sometimes
the other, more rough side, is also covered with writing, but these records
are usually made by another hand and another qalam, and have nothing to
do with the text of the right side. According to their size, and partly to their
use magic scrolls can be divided into two categories: 1. Small scrolls, no
wider than 6 cm and no longer than 50 cm which are rolled up and tied with
a piece of cloth or tucked into a leather cylindrical container to wear them
on neck.9 They are worn also on a strap tied to shoulder or forearm. 2. Larg-
er scrolls, up to 25 cm in width and up to 200 cm in length, which Prof.
Oscar Löfgren called Wandamuletten, i. e. wall amulets,10 because they are
designed not for wearing on neck, but for hanging up at a wall of a dwelling

8
Ô. È. ÁÓÑËÀÅÂ, Î íàðîäíîé ïîýçèè â äðåâíåðóññêîé ëèòåðàòóðå (ÑÏá., 1920)
2, 32.
9
W. H. WORRELL, Charms and Amulets (Abyssinian) // Encyclopaedia of Reli-
gion and Ethics / Ed. J. Hastings. III (Edinbourgh, 1910) 398–401.
10
O. LÖFGREN, Äthiopische Wandamuletten // Orientalia Suecana XI (1962)
95–120.

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 S. B. Chernetsov '#

unfolded.11 This functional division is not strict at all. For example, the scrolls,
which Prof. Dmitry Olderogge brought from Ethiopia and donated to Peter
the Great Museum of Anthropology and Ethnography (Kustkammer) (Nos.
6607-14 and 6607-15) were made precisely in the manner of Wandamuletten,
but nevertheless they were rolled up and tied by a piece of cloth for wearing
on body. However, the genuine Wandamuletten do exist besides Uppsala col-
lection described by Prof. Oscar Löfgren, and quite recently Ato Girma Fis-
seha demonstrated me a beautiful and extraordinary large (up to 60 cm in
width) amulet in the depositary of the Staatliches Museum für Völkerkunde
in Munich.
Meanwhile, if there is no stricter borderline between these two types of
magic scrolls in their usage, than it certainly exists in their design. The scrolls
of the first type intended for wearing on body in a rolled form, usually con-
tain only a text without any decorations and often even have no magic designs.
Even if there are some, they are made in ink in rather awkward and careless
style. Larger Wandamuletten are by contrast made with art and assiduity, the
text is framed in a colorful ornament, and magic drawings are always present
there. These drawings are painted in colors, sometimes so artfully, that they
resemble miniatures of rich handwritten books. The handwriting in Wand-
amuletten is remarkable for more accuracy and calligraphic skill than that of
minor scrolls.
Magic drawings serve the necessary elements of Ethiopian handwritten
amulets. In this respect Ethiopian written magic is very similar to the analo-
gous works of other peoples, because in the magic not only sounds, words
and letter which were considered magic-working, but also images and figures
as well.12 Ethiopian magic drawings, diverse as they are, can be nevertheless
divided into the following categories: 1) images; 2) mysterious «marks» or
«letters»; 3) illustrations to the text; 3) magic geometrical designs. The com-
mon images are figures of one or two winged angels with a drawn sword in
right hand and a scabbard in the left. Sometimes their names are written next
to them: Gabriel, Michael, Fanuel, or some other angels who are reputed for
their function of custodians of good Christians and persecutors of evil forces.
Thus, «persecutor of demons» is a regular epithet of Fanuel. The images of
St. George with a lance on a white mount, or King Solomon on his throne are
also rather common for Wandamuletten. The images of popular Ethiopian
saints, such as that of Samuel of Waldebba on lion-back and of St. Gäbrä
Mänfäs Qeddus, the persecutor of demons and healer of lepers, also penetrated
into magic scrolls’ artistic repertoire. As an image can be considered the so-
called «Devil’s face» as well, with eight horns it is framed in. In a scroll the

11
C. CONTI ROSSINI, Notice sur les manuscrits éthiopiens de la collection d’Abba-
die // Extrait de Journal Asiatique (Paris, 1912–1914) 218.
12
ÒÓÐÀÅÂ, Àáèññèíñêèå ìàãè÷åñêèå ñâèòêè... 184.

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'$ Scrinium II (2006). Universum Hagiographicum

latter image is usually confined between the lines of spells written in red ink.
It is a «tied devil». Confined between the spells, he, probably, serves an exam-
ple the evil forces’ defeat, teaching a lesson for other demons, who may en-
danger the scroll-holder. As for mysterious «marks» or «letters» these signs
which called as «Hebrew», sometimes «Arabic», letters and have on both
ends small circles. For the latter reason in scientific literature they got a name
of «letters in spectacles» (caractères à lunettes, Brillenbuchstaben). Such «let-
ters» can be found already in Greek and Coptic magic texts and amulets (the
oldest go back to the 4th century). This is, probably, the source from which
they were borrowed. Ethiopian literati explain them as «leg-fetters» (w–Å µ
aÅg) for demons.
As a matter of fact, illustrations are found rather rarely in the scrolls.
Usually they follow an extensive magic text, which tells a story about saintly
persecutors of demons or presents a shorter Synaxarium version of their vitae.
The most popular one is a story about St. Socinius and a witch Werzelya.
What is most remarkable in the story that in Ethiopian literature its text can
be found in magic scrolls only. In Ethiopian Synaxarium we have quite another
version of a witch-killing story and a Salam (a small verse), also brief. But it
is precisely the magic version, which is popular in Ethiopia to the extent that
there are a number of separate paintings on the subject, where St. Socinius on
horse back is piercing the black witch Werzelya with a dart. The artistic vir-
tues of these illustrations, varied much from scroll to scroll, depending, natu-
rally, from the artist’s qualification. Sometimes they are as good as in hand-
written books.
Magic geometrical designs are the most difficult to interpret one way or
another. The Ethiopians who put them into their handwritten amulets just
follow an age-long tradition, and their interpretations of these magic geome-
trical designs are hardly reliable. More often can be found a stylized grating
design which is called in Amharic «tälsem» (ÞDUI), i. e. talisman. As it was
explained to me by Ethiopian priest Solomon Gäbrä Sellasé (then a student
of the Theological Academy in Leningrad, who later played such an impro-
per role in the modern history of Ethiopian Church13 ) this design represents
the throne of the Devil and all evil forces. It is depicted in a scroll in order to
make an evil spirit, which, probably, possessed the owner of the scroll, to
leave him when he looks at the design and occupy it as his proper seat. To
prevent the reverse resettlement the «throne» is confined in red lines of spells.
This explanation is both interesting and logical, but it is difficult to say how
much conventional it is. Written charms can be also supplied with magic
squares with human or demons’ faces in them, the drawings of eyes, separate

F. HEYER, Die orthodoxe Kirche Äthiopiens in den 17 Jahren des sozialisti-

13

schen Systems (Heidelberg, 2002) 9.

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 S. B. Chernetsov '%

«letters in spectacles» and other minor details. It seems that the Ethiopians
care neither for the significance of any element, nor for any logic, but first
and foremost for the precise and literal copying of the original scroll. From
their point of view it is precisely this exactness, which guarantees the effecti-
veness of an amulet.
Though there is no strict order of arrangement of drawings within a scroll,
a certain sequence can be noticed. Usually they are arranged in the following
way: in the beginning of a scroll angels or crosses are designed. These cros-
ses deserve some special mentioning. Usually they can be of two types. The
first is a typical Ethiopian octangular cross, but the second is most interest-
ing. It is «Cross without the Crucified» with the moon and the sun on both
sides. In 1997 Prof. Ewa Balicka-Witakowska published a wonderful mono-
graph «La Crucifixion sans Crucifié dans l’art éthiopien», where she submitted
a long and complicated history, both artistic and theological, of this particu-
lar design in Ethiopian and international Christian art,14 which had found its
way into Ethiopian written magic as well. In the middle of a scroll there is
usually put a «tied devil», and at the end — a grating design of «Devil’s
throne» or Ethiopian octangular crosses. Thus, the very arrangement of ma-
gic drawings in handwritten amulets pursues the end to demonstrate God’s
victory over evil forces with the purpose to threaten and evict them. Magic
«marks» or «letters» have no special position of their own in a scroll and can
be added to any drawing or text. The presence of illustrations depends mostly
upon the content of magic texts, and also upon the cost of the scroll itself.
That is how magic scrolls look like. But what they are, however? They are
certainly amulets, effective by their mere presence and intended, unlike oral
charms and spells, neither for reading, nor for recital. Nevertheless, they are
most personal. Any Ethiopian magic scroll is made for a certain man, wo-
man, or child. This is obvious from the fact that in the very text of a scroll the
name of its owner is mentioned invariably and repeatedly. If such a scroll
changes hands, the name of the previous owner is always scraped out, and a
new name is entered in its stead. This is a trait, which is common also for oral
charms and spells, but quite foreign for pieces of literature. And neverthe-
less, the texts of magic scrolls is literature, a specific magic literature, shar-
ing common Ethiopian literary tradition (its Ge’ez language including), and
still being clearly separated from it, a literature, which is not intended for
reading — a rather widespread phenomenon among the adherents of those
religions, which had their own Holy Writ: Jews, Christians, Moslems. So, it
was precisely the sacred language (Hebrew, Arabic, and in the Ethiopian
case — Ge’ez), which made written charms and spells amulets. Here is the

14
E. BALICKA-WITAKOWSKA, La Crucifixion sans Crucifié dans l’art éthiopien:
Recherches sur la survie de l’iconographie chrétienne de l’Antiquité tardive (War-
szawa, 1997) (Bibliotheca Nubica et Aethiopica 4).

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'& Scrinium II (2006). Universum Hagiographicum

principle and very important difference between oral and written charms and
spells, because if in the case of the former men are impressed by sounds of
recital, which they understand, in the case of the latter they are impressed by
mere vision of sacred writing. Therefore these two different types of charms
and spells (i. e. oral and written ones) have also different sources of their
own. For the former it is oral magic folklore in vernacular languages, while
for the latter it is writings in sacred language, the most part of which was,
probably, borrowed from the very cultural center whence their religion had
arrived. Certainly, this bold suggestion should be tested and proved by the
concrete material, i. e. by texts of these magic scrolls. Let us proceed to the
analysis of this material. We may well omit here without analysis Bible texts
used in magic scrolls (mainly John 1:1–6; Mt. 8:28–32; Mark 1:23–28 and
Luke 8:43–44) and Bible apocrypha, because their origin is quite clear. How-
ever, other popular magic texts also reveal their foreign extraction. What is
here of special interest is the ways of this obviously literary borrowing. So
there is every reason to consider them at some length:
A legend, which tells a story of the victory of St. Socinius over witch
Werzelya who killed newly born babies, used as a charm against such a disa-
ster, quite common in pre-industrial societies, is very popular in Ethiopian
magic scrolls for obvious reasons. Children mortality was a burning problem,
and the need for magic protection against this plague was great both in Ethio-
pia and elsewhere, as it was demonstrated at length by Rumanian scholar
Moses Gaster in his article «Two thousand years of a charm against child-
stealing witch».15 In fact St. Socinius as a saintly protector against this hor-
rible witch was very popular in Byzantine cultural and religious area, the area
of Slavia Orthodoxa (i. e. Serbia, Bulgaria, Russia and Ukraine) including.16
Some scholars studied this legend in Ethiopia both in its magic and Synaxa-
rium version.17 It is remarkable, that the magic version is not borrowed from
the Synaxarium one. In the former the witch is called Werzelya, and she kills
a child of St. Socinius’ sister, while in the latter she herself is his sister who

15
M. GASTER, Two thousand years of a charm against child-stealing witch // Folk-
Lore XI, 2 (1900) 129–162.
16
È. Ä. ÌÀÍÑÂÅÒÎÂ, Âèçàíòèéñêèé ìàòåðèàë äëÿ ñêàçàíèÿ î äâåíàäöàòè òðÿ-
ñàâèöàõ // Äðåâíîñòè. Òðóäû Èìïåðàòîðñêîãî Ìîñêîâñêîãî àðõåîëîãè÷åñêîãî
îáùåñòâà XI (1881) 35; Ì. È. ÑÎÊÎËÎÂ, Ìàòåðèàëû è çàìåòêè ïî ñòàðèííîé
ñëàâÿíñêîé ëèòåðàòóðå (Ì., 1888) 26–47; À. Í.  ÅÑÅËÎÂÑÊÈÉ, Ìîëèòâà ñâ.
Ñèñèííèÿ è Âåðçèëîâî êîëî // ÆÌÍÏ (1895, ìàé).
17
K. FRIES, The Ethiopia legend of Socinius and Ursula // Actes du 8me Congrès
international des Orientalistes, tenu en 1889. II, Section I B (Leiden, 1893) 55–70;
R. BASSET, Les apocryphes éthiopiens. IV. Les Legendes de S. Tertag et de Sousnyos
(Paris, 1894); W. H. WORRELL, Studien zum abyssinische Zauberwesen // Zeitschrift
für Assyriologie und verwandte Gebiete XXIII (1909) 163; E. ULLENDORFF, Ethiopia
and the Bible (London, 1968) 80.

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 S. B. Chernetsov ''

does witchcraft. More than this, the entire story about infanticide witchcraft
seems to be an inserted episode in the Synaxarium version:18
Ñà µ «Ô¦ ÁHòŒ†Œ ¸ ʅÌÚ µ ƒÁg µ {Ï µ [ñU µ ÆñUqŽU µ ÆHƒg µ
ÔDÙ µ VD µ àôšSU µ Á†qÌ# µ [ñU µ {Ï µ ÑÊñÀñ µ ÑRÒñ µ
ÁòØ[DšŒrU µ Ò@ò µ ÖÏ–Ä · ÔÑUÌRÑØ µ ÃDÑÒ µ w–ÖòÑaÂôR µ
ÔÑìq‚ µ Db µ
Òà µ Òñq µ UHƒÌ · Ô{Ï µ †qÌ# µ ÏÜR µ ÔñUÌ µ FÁòpÀñ ·
ÔwImņ µ ãρ µ qÜñL µ ÎÊ µ ÀÜÅ µ Ïò\IŒ µ ÔãÏÔ µ
ÎÊôBÃñ µ ÃìÂã µ
Òà µ ؐÆñ µ ÑID{ µ ™„fg · ÔVÊ µ RwØ µ [ñU µ ÖqÌ µ lÖÏ µ
ãþÙ · ÔwI† µ ãρ µ ÔÑaì µ Á¡ ÈÆòU µ ÔÌIAÅ µ wIÏôÀñ µ
gIARÌ µ ÊôÌ µ zRUÌڌq µ ÔњÃ\ µ šIÈÌ µ zRUgp ¸
ÔwImņ µ ÌÃÞ µ ÎÊ µ ÀÜÅ µ ÑqíÒòŒ · ÔÅÒb µ wI† µ
ÔÁÙg µ wmÌ# µ ÔDÙ µÔ€Áñš µ ;šÅÌ# µ ÖwI[HôÀñ µ ÔÁÙg µ
ÔÁÌ µ ÔÈÌÁf µ ÔÆgØg µ
ÙH µ ÔÎÙÅ µ ÔñUÌÝf µ ƍ™q · Ô{Ï µ ŒUÌRÑò µ ÊLP µ ÊÑITÁ µ
„; µ ÔҍÆò ¸ ÔVÊ µ gÔÁ µ Fîq µ wIÔñÁñÙ µ ÆaÑ µ ÀÜR µ
gÔR µ ÎÊôÀñ µ ÔgÈgÁø µ ÊLP µ ÔgUÌ# µ ÙI · ÔVÊ µ RwØ µ
[ñU µ
ÆñUqŽU µ ÖqÌ µ ÏLÑ µ Òúph µ ÊwôÀñ µ ÔÈÌÁ µ ÁwmÌ# µ ÔÁÔD µ
wUà µ €wÌ# µ ÔDÙ µ ƍ™q µ ÔÈÌÁø µ ÁIf ¸ ÔÁÑÊñÀñ µ
ÃÄRŒq µ wUà µ wÃñqÌ# µ ØÂII µ ÁÆaw µ ԍÌ[gD µ
ÊLP · Ôwmņ µ ÌÃÞ µ ÎÊ µ ÀÜÅ µ Ïò\IŒ µ ÔÊì µ ÎÊ µ
€wÌ# µ ÈÆòU µ ÖњÃ\ µ šIÈÌ µ zRUgp · ÔÏÜS µ ÒúÁø µ Ö{Ï µ
wIÏôÀñ µ ÔVÊ µ ÌÃØÞ µ ÎÊ µ ÀÜN · ÔÑwÃÅ µ ÑÊñÀñ µ Ö{Ï µ
wIÏôÀñ µ ÔãÈÙ µ Òà µ [gÁø ·
ÔÑUÌõَ µ ÎÊ µ qÜñL µ €wÌ# µ ÜòÖô µ GÅ µ [ñU µ ÆñUqŽU µ ÎÊ µ
ÊôÌ µ ™„g · ÔÑևÃñ µ ÊlÁñ µ ÁzRUfU µ Òà µ Åñ µ ÔñUÌ µ
ÆòxD · ÔVÊô@ µ ÒÄÌg µ Ñþ@ µ IR µ ԀÎÞhà · ÔÌÆI‚ µ
ÖôpÀñ µ
Á[ñU µ ÆñUqŽU µ Òà µ €wÌ# µ њ;Ñ µ ™„fÌÚBÃñ · ÔÑUÌõَ µ
yƒÊ µ ÑÊñÀñ µ ÎÊ µ qÜñL µ ÔÑÖÖ µ Òà µ Òøqq µ ÒúÏÏô µ ‚Êò ·
ÔÖʚ µ ʐqÊñTg µ ÖaRg µ ÔÑÒô µ ÊÃqÒøPÒúR µ ÔÖʚ µ
ÊÃzŒ µ
֌ҍñ µ bÌ# µ wzÁ ¸ ÔwI† µ ÆÂa µ ÔñUÌ µ ÀÜR · Ô{Ï µ
w–ÖòÑaÂôR µ Œìq„ µ ԌÛݖM µ ÔñUÌ µ ÖqÌ µ ÒúÁñ µ ÒúÏÏô ·
ÔÃDÑÒ µ w–ÖòÑaÂôR µ ÒúÁø µ ÜòÖô µ :€U µ ÈúUCÌÚBÃñ µ
ԌÏLÑ µ šÕñØ µ
ÖwqÊÁ µ ÃñUp µ ÔaÖñlq µ Æaw µ wÁ µ ÑIÏñ µ ÊwqÌÚÑÀñ µ Êw–ÖòwÏ µ
ÑòØÆñU µ zRUhU µ ÁøÌ# µ UaÂg · Ô{Ï µ UIƒÌ · ÔVÊ µ ÙÒà µ
18
[See the same recension in a critical edition: G. COLIN, Le Synaxaire éthiopien.
Mois de Miyâzyâ (Turnhout, 1995) (PO 46, fasc. 4, No 208) 578 [98]–581 [101].]

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 Scrinium II (2006). Universum Hagiographicum

qÜñL µ wIÒúÏÏôÀñ µ ÑÖÖ µ Òà µ IgN µ RwV µ [UÌ µ Êƍ; ·

ÔÏLÑ µ
ÑzÁòÁ µ UIƒ µ ÊÃq–LÌ µ ÆHŒg ¸ Ô{Ï µ ÎúD\Ãñ µ ÁwÁ µ ÆHƒÏ µ
ÊÑH™Ï µ ÒúÏÏôÀñ µ Á†qÌ# µ [ñU µ ª³Ô¡³Ô² ÆHƒfg µ ÊÅÒhÃñ µ
gÒñq µ IUÁôÏ µ ÑHôq ¸19

Translation
Miyazya 26. In this day St. Socinius, son of Sol Petros, became martyr.
The father of this saint was friend of renegade Diocletian who was reigning
(at that time). An angel of God appeared to him and strengthened his heart to
become a martyr, and this became his thought. Then the King sent him to the
city of Nicomedia and sent to him a charter to restore idolatry. And when the
saint saw this, he grieved much, and then he sent for and brought a priest, and
learned from him the learning of the Church, and received Christian baptism.
Then he returned to the city of Antioch and found there that his sister gave
birth to a son of perverted nature. And before him she gave birth to a daught-
er, and killed her and drank her blood, and Devil abode inside of hers, and by
magic she turned into the appearance of bird or snake. And when at the people
of the city a child was born, she came over him and killed him by magic, and
drank his blood. And when St. Socinius saw this, he took a spear at his hand
and killed his sister and her son, because he was a son of Devil, and he killed
her husband and his father, the sorcerers, because they did harm to the people
and killed them by magic. And then he returned to the city of Nicomedia and
came to the priest, who had given to him Christian baptism, and told him
everything which had happened to him. When he returned to the city, his
father learned what had happened to him, and he wanted to kill him and
accused before the King. At that time St. Socinius went to the temple of idols
and ordered them by the might of Christ to come down to hell, and immedia-
tely the mouth of the earth yawned and swallowed them. There spread the
news that St. Socinius had destroyed the idols, and again his father accused
him before the King, and he ordered to convict him by a great execution, and
they beat him by iron cudgels and to break him on the wheel, and they beat
him on the threshing floor, where they threshed corn. And then they dragged
him to the city, and God was strengthening him and gave him patience to
endure all this execution, and the angel of God was curing his wounds all the
time and was raising him quite sound without any injury, and because of him
many people believed in our Lord Jesus Christ, glory to Him! And he became
martyr. And when the King was tired of all these convictions, he ordered to

19
Uppsala universitetsbibliotek. Handskrifts- och musikavdelningen, No. O Etiop.
32, ff. 46v–47r. I had an opportunity to make acquaintance with this Ms. thanks to
the support rendered by Svenska Institutet in autumn 2002 within the framework of
Visby Programme.

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 S. B. Chernetsov 

cut his holy head with a sword, and he received the martyr’s crown of the
Kingdom of Heaven. And the number of those who became martyrs through
the same execution like his is 1190 martyrs. Let their blessing be with us. Amen.

This version is practically identical to that of Coptic Synaxarium,20 from

which it was evidently borrowed. Here a story of St. Socinius’ victory over
an infanticider witch is framed into the epoch of Diocletian, this famous mar-
tyr-maker, and, probably, it is precisely this story which is responsible for St.
Socinius’ popularity. In fact the magic and Synaxarium versions are so diffe-
rent, that it seems improbable that the former was borrowed from the Synaxa-
rium. They obviously developed into two independent stories, though a hi-
storical analysis21 reveals, that both go back to a Byzantine legend, two ver-
sions of which were recorded by Leo Allatius.22 The texts of Allatius contain
all the elements, which received their later development in various Socinius
versions, which exist from Orthodox Balkans to Monophisite Ethiopia. But
what seems to me of particular interest and importance is the fact that already
Allatius’ texts had been used precisely as written amulets, and further literary
borrowing went from one magic literature to other ones, from Byzantine, this
undisputed center of Christian Orient, to its distant periphery. Certainly, this
magic theme had its «practical applicability», and very important indeed for
common people, but if it was a product of «popular fantasy», originally it was
Byzantine fantasy, not Ethiopia’s one. For Ethiopia it was an imported idea,
just as Christianity was. Ethiopian own contribution to the theme was not in
literature, but in painting, and it is quite revealing that Ethiopian pictures of
St. Socinius follow exactly the magic version, when the hero is depicted in-
variably horse back, not the Synaxarium one.
Another magic text, quite international by origin and very popular in Ethio-
pian magic scrolls, is the so-called «Net of Solomon». King Solomon always
had a solid reputation of subjugator of demons through a special magic seal,
or ring granted to him by the God, and this «net» of his, by which he catches
demons, is as a matter of fact this very «seal», invariably depicted in a scroll,
i. e. Sator-palindrome.23 The palindrome is also quite an international magic
element, as William Worrell wrote in J. Hastings’ Encyclopaedia of Religion
and Ethics: «This palindrome, well known in European folk-lore, seems to

20
F. AMÉLINEAU, Les actes des martyrs de l’église copte (Paris, 1890) 183–184.
21
ÌÀÍÑÂÅÒÎÂ, Âèçàíòèéñêèé ìàòåðèàë äëÿ ñêàçàíèÿ...
22
L. ALLATIUS. De quorundam graecorum opinationibus (Coloniae Agrippinae,
1645) 133–135.
23
F. GROSSER, Ein neuer Vorschlag zur Deutung der Sator-Formel // Archiv für
Religionwissenschaft. XXIV. 1 (1929). [H. HOFMANN, Das Satorquadrat. Zur Geschi-
chte und Deutung eines antiken Wortquadrats (Bielefeld, 1977) (Bielefelder Papiere
zur Linguistik und Literaturwillenschaft VI).]

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 Scrinium II (2006). Universum Hagiographicum

have originated in the early Middle Ages... The place of the origin is, we
believe, unknown».24 The magic text itself is so fragmentary, that the same
Worrell pessimistically wrote: «It is impossible to restore the precise form of
this narration, as it is badly confused and fragmentary».25 Nevertheless, later
Sebastian Euringer and Oscar Löfgren did their best to study this text, frag-
mentary as it is.26 What is most remarkable in this case, is the fact, that all the
copies of this text, both published by Sebastian Euringer and those, which
are known to me (two Mss. of Peter the Great Museum in St. Petersburg
(Nos. 4055-10 and 6607-15) and two Mss. of the St. Petersburg branch of the
Institute of Oriental Studies (Nos. Eth. 112 and Eth. 113), and Mss. of Upp-
sala collection as well (Nos. 44, 46, 47, 49 and 55) are not only all equally
fragmentary, but contain precisely the same fragments! Such a phenomenon
would be absolutely impossible with oral charms and spells, where an oral
text once destroyed, would be either restored by one way or another, or would
disappear altogether. By contrast, in written texts, which were copied sla-
vishly without any attempt of improvement, because the very effectiveness of
magic depended first and foremost upon the rigid observance of the prescrib-
ed pattern, this situation was only natural. Nobody cared for reading or under-
standing, but everybody cared for exactness and therefore effectiveness of
the amulet. It was not a story after all, which the scribe was writing, it was an
amulet that he was making.
As for the text of the «Net of Solomon», it seems, that it may be divided
into two parts: the first, dealing with questions of the King of Evil to Solo-
mon, and the second, which narrates about the Solomon’s triumph and his
own interrogation of demons about their habitual villainies. The idea of the
first text goes back, probably, to the Old Testament story about the extolling
of Shalmanesser, King of Assyria, over Hezekiah (II Kings 18), and that of
the second — to «Testamentum Solomonis».27 The Ethiopians have their own
cycle of legends connected with King Solomon, where he is regarded first
and foremost as King of Jerusalem and forefather of many royal dynasties.
Here, however, we meet quite another Solomonic cycle, where he is treated
primarily as the great magician, — the cycle originated in the Near East,
which later became widespread both at the East and the West precisely in the
magic literatures.28 King Sulaiman and magicians in his kingdom are also
24
WORRELL, Charms and Amulets… 400–401. [Two earliest depictions of the
Sator-palindrome were then found in Pompeii, 1st cent. A.D.]
25
WORRELL, Charms and Amulets… 400.
26
S. EURINGER, Das Netz Salomos // Zeitschrift für Assyriologie und verwandte
Gebiete VI (1928) 77–100, 179–199, 301–314; VII (1929) 68–65; O. LöFGREN, Äthio-
pische Wandamuletten… 117.
27
Testamentum Solomonis // PG 122 [C. C. MCCOWN, The Testament of Solo-
mon (Leipzig, 1922)].
28
ÌÀÍÑÂÅÒÎÂ, Âèçàíòèéñêèé ìàòåðèàë äëÿ ñêàçàíèÿ... 25–27.

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 S. B. Chernetsov !

mentioned in the second surah of the Koran. So, William Worrell was, cer-
tainly, absolutely right when he was doubtful about the possibility of disen-
tangle this complicated fabric. One thing is quite certain here: this theme was
imported to Ethiopia as a magic theme already and became an integral part of
its magic literature.
In Ethiopian magic scrolls there is another text which usually follows the
story about St. Socinius. It is the text of «Anathematizing of the Devil». As a
matter of fact it presents a more or less long chain of spells against the Devil
where the latter is conjured and anathematized by names of Christian God, His
angels and saints. Among them there are met also the names of some Bible
characters. As for number of these exorcisms these spells may vary considera-
bly, but their structure remains practically the same: any exorcism begins with
the words «I anathematize you, Devil...». and then follows the precise name by
which the Devil is exorcised here. It is hardly possible to consider these texts
an Ethiopian invention, because such are found as well in Greek collections
published by Leo Allatius29 and Sathas.30 This is obviously the Byzantine ma-
gic heritage, which was readily adopted also in the Slavia Orthodoxa cultural
area,31 and in Coptic magic literature,32 with the natural confessional diffe-
rence in names by which Devil is conjured. So Coptic magic literature seems
to be the immediate source for this text in Ethiopian magic scrolls.
So we have discovered two literary sources for Ethiopian magic scrolls,
i. e. some Bible texts and foreign written amulets, from which Ethiopian texts
were borrowed in the regular literary way, i. e. by the way of translating.
However, these were not the only literary sources for Ethiopian written amu-
lets. Scholars often mention (usually in passing, as a matter of fact) apo-
crypha as one of such sources. There are such writings indeed in Ethiopian
literature, being if not regular Bible apocrypha, than something of similar
nature. Russian scholars called them «orationes falsae», or «interdicted lite-
rature», as I have mentioned before, and Deborah Lifchitz gave them a name
of «textes magico-religieux».33 Deborah Lifchitz, a remarkable woman, who
died martyr in a Nazi camp of extermination, was to my knowledge the first
scholar, who concentrated her attention on those Ethiopic texts which occupy
the overlapping area on the border of magic and religion, and called them
«textes magico-religieux». The very idea of such a phenomenon was not new
29
LEO ALLATIUS, De templis Graecorum recentrioribus (Coloniae Aggrippinae,
1645).
30
Ê. Í. ÓÁÈÁ, Ìåóáéùíéêx âéâëéïèÞêç. Ô. 5 (EÅí Ðáñéóßïéò, 1876) 573–578.
31
ÑÎÊÎËÎÂ, Ìàòåðèàëû è çàìåòêè ïî ñòàðèííîé ñëàâÿíñêîé ëèòåðàòóðå... 39–
48; Í. Ñ. ÒÈÕÎÍÐÀÂÎÂ, Ïàìÿòíèêè ñòàðèííîé ðóññêîé ëèòåðàòóðû. III (Ì., 1863) 13.
32
V. STEGEMANN, Die koptische Zaubertexte der Sammlung Papyrus Erzherzog
Rainer in Wien (Heidelberg, 1934).
33
D. LIFCHITZ, Textes éthiopiens magico-religieux // Travaux et Mémoires de l’In-
stitut d’Ethnologie XXXVII (1940).

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at all. A Russian scholar Orest Miller, who considered magic spell as «a pre-
decessor of prayer», wrote about the major difference of both as early as in
1865: «If the latter sets the hope upon good will of a deity; its efficiency
depends upon his mercy, the spell... should have simply a compulsory in-
fluence upon him».34 Polish scholar Nikolai Poznanski defined a spell as «an
oral formula which has a reputation of a sufficient and irresistible means for
achieving definite result under conditions of fulfilling all the necessary pre-
scriptions. The means is irresistible for both the laws of nature and individual
will, if some other spell is not used against it».35 Certainly, Christianity here
had brought some new development, which offered new possibilities now. In
addition to, or substitution of the native oral spells in vernacular languages
Christianity brought with it written charms and spells, written in a sacred
language, which were quite new for the local culture. It seems that local people
had received their Christianity like yolk in an egg, i. e. with white, and shell,
and everything. So they had received their religion of salvation together with
Christian protective amulets with the same reputation of a safe remedy. No
wonder indeed, because to the writing itself at its very emergence and early
stages of its development was attributed divine origin, and it was closely asso-
ciated with magic. It is quite significant in this particular respect that God Toth
of Ancient Egypt was considered as the protector of both the art of magic and
the art of writing. So in a way this tradition survived. Besides, these magic
scrolls were first of all amulets and were used precisely as such. Probably,
their usage hindered the little old pagan magic practices, closely connected
with ritual. Christian written amulets had nothing to do with any ritual, were
no obliging at all, which, probably, made a lot for their prevalence. What they
were really connected with, that is new Christian literature. The Christians,
who were now reluctant to dare to coerce their God, did their best to coerce
evil spirits instead, to frighten them with the power of God and His numerous
agents, such as angels, saints, etc. God’s names were also instrumental here.
These new attitudes produced, besides written amulets, a special branch of
a new protective literature, quite Christian already. The main difference be-
tween them was that the works of this new protective literature were no amu-
lets at all: they were not intended for wearing on body, had no name of their
owner in the text, and other features specific for amulets. These were regular
literary works for reading, may be for loud reading on certain occasions, but
still it was literature, which Deborah Lifchitz called «textes magico-religieux».
The Ethiopians themselves call these texts Temhertä Hebu’at, i. e. «Se-
cret Learning». Stephen Wright, an expert in Ethiopian book and manuscript

34
Î. ÌÈËËÅÐ, Îïûò èñòîðè÷åñêîãî îáîçðåíèÿ ðóññêîé ñëîâåñíîñòè. I, 1 (ÑÏá.,
1865) 84, ïðèì. 2.
35
Í. ÏÎÇÍÀÍÑÊÈÉ, Îïûò èññëåäîâàíèÿ ïðîèñõîæäåíèÿ è ðàçâèòèÿ çàãîâîðíûõ
ôîðìóë (Ïåòðîãðàä, 1917) 102.

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 S. B. Chernetsov #

culture, wrote about this temhert, or «learning»: «In the popular mind, how-
ever, temhert retains its old sense, of erudition founded upon the sacred doct-
rines of the Christian church; it inspires awe and respect, and is regarded as
beyond the comprehension of common folk. It is a mysterious thing, a sort of
temhertä hebu’at, to use the Ge’ez title of the Doctrina Arcanorum, which its
editor, Deborah Lifchitz, included among her «textes magico-religieux». (This
text is, by the way, obtainable in Addis Ababa in cheap printed editions, and
is often acquired by the literate devout as an inexpensive gateway to esoteric
knowledge, though of course the Ge’ez is in fact incomprehensible to most
of them)».36 However, this «learning» was called by the Ethiopians secret not
so much due to the fact that it was (and is) «incomprehensible to most of
them». For this there were other reasons as well. The thing is that these «lite-
rate devouts» were cunning when they pretended they did not dare to coerce
their God. In fact they did their best to compel Him to protect them, as one
magic text shows. It is the «Bandlet of Righteousness» to be dealt at some
length later. There is with a story, how Jesus Christ demonstrated Our Lady
hell, where her parents and relatives were suffering. Our Lady was horrified
and asked her Son for some sure remedy against hell’s tortures. He refused to
do it and presented a reasonable explanation: «I shall not tell you this, for a
thing said to one goes to another, so people will sin and say: “We have with
what to be rescued”». Our Lady cried and said to her Son bitterly: «What for
have I borne you for nine months and five days?» Jesus Christ could not help
but surrender to the demand of His mother and told her the remedy, which
occurred to be His numerous secret names. However, He asked His mother
not to reveal this to «wicked evil people», but only to «pious and righteous
ones», and she promised this. That is why this «learning» is considered «se-
cret», and why people are so eager to get acquainted with it. Certainly, it is
not at all a Christian idea of sin and retribution which prevails here, but quite
an opposite idea of avoiding retribution for sin by using magic means. Both
the subject and the entire entourage of these texts belong to Christian lore,
but the idea is purely magic, i. e. to compel God to save them by His secret
«mysterious names» as irresistible means of coercion. In fact, it was, proba-
bly, René Basset, who first paid attention to these texts in 1896 and consider-
ed them as Ethiopian apocrypha.37 The next was Boris Turaiev, who called
them «orationes falsae at exorcismi» in his article in Festschrift Daniel Chwol-
son in 1899; and then followed Enno Littmann in 1904 with his edition of
one of these texts (namely Arde’et — «Disciples») in Publications of Prince-
ton University.38 He was so impressed with the popularity of this particular

36
S. WRIGHT, Book and manuscript collections in Ethiopia // Journal of Ethio-
pian Studies. II (1964) Nr. 1. 11–12.
37
BASSET, Les apocryphes éthiopiens...
38
[Mistake of memory. See the correct reference above, n. 2.]

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genre in Ethiopian literature, that wrote bluntly: «The greater part of Ethio-
pian literature is magic literature».39 But it was only Deborah Lifchitz who
make a systematic study of this «greater part of Ethiopian literature» in ethno-
logo-philological way, so characteristic for French school of Ethiopistics up
to now. So it was only logical that her monograph was published in the series
of Travaux et Mémoires de l’Institut d’Ethnologie in 1940. The Second World
War put a tragic end to both her research and life. However, a younger mem-
ber of a rather small Paris circle, which had produced a genuine constellation
of brilliant Ethiopisants, i. e. Stephan Strelcyn, after the war resumed this
work in Warsaw already, and younger generation owes him much for the
continuation of this noble tradition. Will it be continued any further? I hope it
will. This particular field is like an icon-lamp, not a torch: it never shines
brightly, but it never goes out, though.
So these «textes éthiopiens magico-religieux» constitute a specific branch
of Ethiopian literature with a characteristic repertoire of it own, which goes
back, probably, to Byzantine literary heritage. Certainly, it deserves a thorough
investigation and study with a special attention given to the question of cultu-
ral influences and ways of migration of certain subjects and texts. This formi-
dable task, however, goes far beyond the sphere of my topic, limited, as it is,
to Ethiopian magic scrolls only. Still as for these «textes éthiopiens magico-
religieux», I am reluctant to label them «magic literature», because, as a mat-
ter of fact, they cannot serve «a sufficient and irresistible means for achieving
definite result under conditions of fulfilling all the necessary prescriptions...,
irresistible for both the laws of nature and individual will», as Nikolai Poz-
nanski put it. They are precisely apocrypha, as they were called by their first
student René Basset, apocrypha in their original Greek sense, i. e. secret,
concealed literature, but not magic one in a strict sense of the word. Its an-
cient readers called it in their natives tongues precisely this way, i. e. Doctri-
na arcanorum, or Temhertä Hebu’at. It was a learning for the initiated only,
but such was the entire Christian literature in Ethiopia written in Ge’ez. So it
was just a specific branch of this literature, Christian, as far as both readers
and compilers understood their own faith, intended for reading and learning.
By contrast, what can be called a genuine magic literature in its own right,
are texts of written amulets, i. e. of Ethiopian magic scrolls. One can raise a
question, however, how could these numerous and diverse magic writings
intended for magic use, constitute a particular and coherent kind of literature,
namely the magic literature. On what criteria can one combine together these
diverse writings «from Bible apocrypha to various charms and spells»? What
a specific place do they occupy as against equally magic oral charms and
spells? A student of Ethiopian magic literature cannot escape these questions.

39
L ITTMANN, Arde’et: The Magic Book of the disciples... 2.

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 S. B. Chernetsov %

The first criterion on which one can single out the works of Ethiopian
magic literature out of other literary pieces in their protective function as
amulets not intended for reading the text itself.
The second one is their personal nature. Each magic scroll is made for a
certain individual, and his name is mentioned in the very text of the scroll
repeatedly and invariably. If such a scroll changes hands, the name of the
previous owner (or should I call him/her a protégé?) is always scraped out,
and a new name is entered in its stead. Thus, besides the functional criterion,
there is also a formal one, which is extraneous to other literary genres, Temhertä
Hebu’at including. Besides in these texts there can be found sometimes in-
structions on the use of a particular scroll: to wear it on neck, to wrap it round
body, to keep at home, etc. Such instructions are typical not only for Ethiopian
magic literature, but for Russian, Greek, Coptic, and others as well. However,
these two characteristics are typical not only for magic literature, but for oral
charms and spells as well. However, there exist two major differences be-
tween these types of charms, an oral and a written ones: firstly, the former is
heard and more or less understood by listeners, while the latter remains for
them incomprehensible, and secondly, if an oral spell is usually accompanied
by the necessary ritual, a written one is effective by its mere existence. The
only conditio sine qua non is the exactness in its copying, and Deborah Lif-
chitz wrote in her monograph, that those of Ethiopian clergy, who produced
magic scrolls for sale, had special written «originals» for copying.
However, there is undoubted structural similarity between oral and writ-
ten spells for the obvious reason that the latter had descended from the for-
mer. Historically the transition from an oral spell into a written one made an
epoch in the development of human thought and culture, pregnant with far-
reaching consequences. It was, probably Tadeusz Zelinski who was the first
to declare, that a spell was born by rite, and magic action preceded a magic
word. The first step in the development of magic was made when action
began to be accompanied by words; thus action turns into rite, as Zelinski
wrote: «...to produce the desired effect they do a sorcery, i. e. an action simi-
lar to the desired one and associated with it... We have worded the sorcery
and its aim, and thus was produced a formula of a spell».40 The second stage
was marked by such a transformation, when rite, i. e. magic action, and spell
switched their places, and now it were not words, which accompanied a rite,
but the rite accompanied the words, thus transforming into though quite signi-
ficant, but no more the main element of magic practice. The transition of a
spell from an oral into written one, which we are considering at present, is the
third stage in the development of the idea of magic, when rite was losing its
independent significance, and in its stead magic cult was emerging. I mean
40
Ô. ÇÅËÈÍÑÊÈÉ, Î çàãîâîðàõ // Ñáîðíèê Õàðüêîâñêîãî èñòîðèêî-ôèëîëî-
ãè÷åñêîãî îáùåñòâà (Õàðüêîâ, 1897) 24.

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& Scrinium II (2006). Universum Hagiographicum

a more or less coherent system of magic notions and ideas, such as a highly
developed magic cult of god Toth of Ancient Egypt.41 Toth was a god of both
magic and art of writing, the author of the «Book of Dead».
However, it seems, that any cult of any polytheistic deity can be usefully
defined as a magico-religious one. Certainly, such a definition is rather vague,
but it is hardly possible to draw a clear-cut line between magic and religion
(especially a polytheistic one), between religious cult and magic act. Here it
seems rather relevant and interesting the remark made by Edward Wester-
marck: «There may perhaps be some reason to believe that the affinity be-
tween magic and religion had found expression in the word religion itself. It
has been conjectured that the Latin religio is related to religare, which means
“to tie”. The relationship between these words has been supposed that in
religion man was tied by his god. But the connection between them — if
there is any connection at all — seems to allow of another and more natural
interpretation, namely, that it was not the man who was tied by the god, but
the god who was tied by the man... This is we should call magic, but the
Romans might in ancient days have called it religio. They were much more
addicted to magic than to true religion; they wanted to compel the gods rather
than to be compelled by them».42 It is precisely on this stage of magic cult
falls the development and heyday of magic literature, which was to meet the
needs of the cult. If for texts of oral magic, i. e. oral charms and spells, their
preservation and transmission from generation to generation intact were pro-
vided by rite, which was the backbone of oral tradition, on the next stage of
development, when the rite was replaced by the cult, it was the written form,
which guaranteed the invariability of magic texts. Thus, it was a significant
change in transmission of magic works, when oral tradition was substituted
with a written one. No wonder, that developed written magic is found in the
countries of «Classical Orient», where an ancient tradition of writing and
a lasting and stable development made the emergence of magic cults possi-
ble. However, not all peoples of the world were able to develop their own
magic views and ideas into a mature magic cult. In many cases this develop-
ment was cut short by introduction of genuine religious (i. e. monotheistic)
cults, which usually did their best to uproot the previous popular beliefs and
traditions, now considered as pagan. As for Ethiopia, the introduction of Chri-
stianity hindered and suppressed local magic cults, if they ever existed. Such
cults were mercilessly suppressed and persecuted both by the Church and
rigorous secular rules, such as King Zär’a Ya’eqob, for example.
The irony of situation was in the fact, that the Christians, who were so
eager to exterminate paganism for the sake of their faith, had accepted Chris-

41
Á. À. ÒÓÐÀÅÂ, Áîã Òîò // Çàïèñêè èñòîðèêî-ôèëîëîãè÷åñêîãî ôàêóëüòåòà
Èìïåðàòîðñêîãî Ñ.-Ïåòåðáóðãñêîãî Óíèâåðñèòåòà 46 (1898).
42
E. WESTERMARCK, Early Beliefs and Their Social Influence (London, 1932) 10.

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 S. B. Chernetsov '

tianity together with its superstitions. It was a sack of grain where wheat was
heavily mixed with tares, but even the learned ones among these Christians
were unable to distinguish them, let alone to separate. As a prominent Ethio-
pian historian Taddese Tamrat wrote about the above-mentioned Zär’a
Ya’eqob, «Zär’a Ya’eqob displayed a strong sense of mission throughout his
reign, and he set himself very high objectives: “And God raised Us to this
orthodox throne so that we may disperse all idol-worshippers”. Judged against
this high ideal, however, his attempts to bring about a radical change in the
religious life of his people did not bear substantial results. Perhaps the most
telling illustration of this drastic failure is the basic contradiction of his own
life. Despite his eloquent commentaries on the Apostolic Canons, and on the
constitutions of the early Christian Church, Zär’a Ya’eqob remained polyga-
mous to the end of his days. His superstitious fears of black magic seem also
to have been considerable, and his ruthless judgements convey very little of
the sense of justice of a deeply religious man».43 Well, Zär’a Ya’eqob indeed
believed in black magic, and in protective Christian white magic as well, but
one should realize also, that these «superstitions», as they are called by Tad-
dese Tamrat and others as well, were part and parcel of his Christianity, bor-
rowed from the very source, whence it had been borrowed. All these were
imported items, and Zär’a Ya’eqob did his best to substitute native pagan
superstitions with imported Christian ones. There was no contradiction at all.
As Taddese Tamrat remarked, «the dichotomy between Good and Evil — God
and Satan — in Ethiopian cosmology did not at all rule out the existence, nor
the strong arbitrary powers, of evil spirits in the world, which were only the
manifestations of the malign forces of the Fallen Angels... It was also, appa-
rently, a common practice among the Christians... was the use of magical prayers
by members of the Christian community, including the clergy».44
Thus, this new development, i. e. introduction of Christian clergy-made
magic scrolls, marked quite a new magic phenomenon, which was new as
regards to both its language and content. The language was invariably Ge’ez,
the language of Ethiopian Christian literature, and so was to a great extent
the content. Let alone Bible texts and apocrypha, other texts used in magic
scrolls were mostly borrowed either directly from foreign Christian written
amulets, or from other literary sources, which were considered undoubtedly
Christian. The texts of the above-mentioned Temhertä Hebu’at are quite re-
vealing in this particular respect. Not only they were used in somewhat ab-
breviated version in Ethiopian magic scrolls alongside with other magic texts,
but the same versions can be found as well in tiny books, which served, evi-
dently, as written amulets, though no name of an owner is mentioned in the

43
TADDESE TAMRAT, Church and state in Ethiopia 1270–1527 (Oxford, 1972)
242–243.
44
Ibid. 235.

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 Scrinium II (2006). Universum Hagiographicum

texts of such books. So, one can hardly draw a clear-cut line between magi-
co-religious texts and regular magic texts of written amulets. In these amulets
we find a strong belief in not only written word as such, but precisely in the
word of Christian literature. Well, it was a funny development indeed. Magic
texts assumed a literary character, and therefore became incomprehensible
for common users, because they were written in literary, not vernacular lan-
guage. Meanwhile written form provided magic creativity with new and wider
possibilities. The volume of a spell grew considerably, and an epic (i. e. narrat-
ive) element could develop widely. Also foreign themes and borrowing poured
into written magic in floods; they were not only possible, but most welcome.
Among them we find apocryphal legends, biblical passages, and foreign magi-
cal subjects, equally revered by Ethiopian Christians. In contrast to oral magic,
foreign influence is very strong in magic literature; the borrowing is carried out
in a «literary» way, and there are few extensive subjects in Ethiopian magic
literature which do not have its prototypes in magic literatures of Copts, Chris-
tian Arabs, and even Greeks. More than this, Ethiopian magic literature is
most conservative, as probably other magic literatures as well, due to the
fact, that the tradition of preserving and transmitting these works consists of
precise rewriting of them, when only a name of the owner is changed.
It is precisely this that makes Ethiopian magic literature a real depository
of ancient texts, magic and otherwise, which offers a vast area for research,
fascinating and arduous as it is, of the writings, that had fallen into disuse and
disappeared altogether in the lands of their own origin. A famous Ethiopian
magic text, known as «The Scroll of Justification»,45 «The Bandlet of Righte-
ousness»,46 or «Die Binde der Rechtfertigung»47 may serve a good example
here. It is a long text, which takes up an entire scroll, and its bulk is not the
only reason for this. In fact it is not so much a magic scroll, which guarantees
its owner protection in his earthly life, but a funerary scroll, which serves
a safe pass to Heavens to the soul of the deceased quite irrespective to his
own virtues or vices. This utterly unchristian idea is formulated in the text
bluntly: «The one, who obtains this book, will never fall into condemnation
and hell. The one, who wears it and twist it round his neck, will be purified of
the dirtiness of sin. The one, who will repeat it during the mess, will be free
of sins. If it be made at one’s funeral a Seal of Solomon by this book, angels
will take him and bring before God in the Kingdom of Heaven». The first
researcher of the text, Boris Turaiev, wrote: «First of all it is obvious, that it

Á. À. ÒÓÐÀÅÂ, Ñâèòîê Îïðàâäàíèÿ // Ñáîðíèê â ÷åñòü 70-ëåòèÿ Ã. Í. Ïî-

45

òàíèíà. Çàïèñêè Èìïåðàòîðñêîãî Ðóññêîãî àðõåîëîãè÷åñêîãî îáùåñòâà ïî îòäå-

ëåíèþ ýòíîãðàôèè XXXIV (1909) 359–378.
46
E. W. BUDGE, The Bandlet of Righteousness (London, 1922).
47
S. EURINGER, Die Binde der Rechtfertigung // Orientalia XI (1940) 76–99,
244–259.

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 S. B. Chernetsov 

presents not a collection of orationes falsae, but a quite mechanical set of

formulae and apocalyptic narrative treatises, while the number, volume and
even order of these formulae is not always the same. In this respect our texts
reminds surprisingly the Egyptian «Book of Dead», which also presents a set
of «chapters» of most diverse content and of different number in various
copies».48 To the best of my knowledge, Turaiev was the first, who made a
parallel between these two works, the Ethiopian and the Egyptian one. This
idea was repeated later by other researchers. The similarity between these
two writings, the Egyptian and the Ethiopian one, is not limited to the struc-
ture only. It includes also the idea of a «mighty secret name of a god», the
knowledge of which gives to the learned mighty power of not only over natu-
ral forces, but over god himself.
This idea was inherent to magic ideology of many peoples, but it was
precisely in Ancient Egypt, where this universal belief developed into a spe-
cial magic cult of god Toth and a funerary text of the «Book of Dead» came
into use. As Boris Turaiev wrote, «this time the god of wisdom and justice
brings this moral element almost to naught. He teaches the deceased the for-
mulae, which make his judges harmless: the knowledge of these formulae
and of the names of judges make moral purity unnecessary... his role of merciful
protector of the deceased gains sometimes the upper hand over the function
of an impartial prototype of Egyptian official and patron of exact sciences: he
permits himself to outweigh the scales for the benefit of the deceased».49 In
Ethiopian «Bandlet of Righteousness» it is precisely the same role, which is
assigned to Jesus Christ. It is Him, Who at the most persistent plea of Our
Lady betrays numerous «secret names» of Him, the supreme Judge at the
future Doomsday; the names, which make Him safe for a sinful soul. So it is
to Him that is the plea of this scroll for help addressed, «when I die, and when
my soul separates from my body». So there is every reason to compare these
two funerary magic works, this of Ancient Egypt, and that of Ethiopia. How-
ever, there hardly can be any direct succession. The temporal gap between
them is enormous. Besides, the Egyptian text, though it was called a «book»,
never had a form of any book, or scroll and could not and did not function as
amulet in Ancient Egypt. It was a religious text within the cult. Therefore its
narration and, certainly, «names» had their source in the polytheistic lore of
Ancient Egyptian religion. As for Ethiopian «Bandlet of Righteousness», the
epic elements of its components are, certainly, borrowed from quite another
source: it was Christian writing, rather specific, however. Most researchers
usually define them as «apocryphal», a vague definition, which can be hardly
called a term. Certainly, the problem deserves a much more thorough consi-
deration and analysis, than I am able to present here. What I want to draw
48
ÒÓÐÀÅÂ, Ñâèòîê Îïðàâäàíèÿ… 375.
49
ÒÓÐÀÅÂ, Áîã Òîò… 52.

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 Scrinium II (2006). Universum Hagiographicum

a special attention to such a peculiar source as the so-called «homilies»

(RTpg), especially «homilies» to archangels Mika’el, Gabriel, Rufa’el and
Fanu’el. They are studied absolutely insufficiently yet, especially the liturgi-
cal function of theirs. It is most interesting, that some liturgical texts (someti-
mes, indeed, connected with apocryphal tradition) served as a source for
Christian magic literature. Moreover, some of such texts were even incorpo-
rated into liturgy in some particular cases as healing means, as it was demon-
strated recently by two scholars, Bulgarian (Georgi Minchev) and Polish
(Malgorzata Skowronek), who work at present at Lodz University.50
Some years ago I have bought near St. George Cathedral in Addis Ababa
a tiny Ge’ez paper book typographically printed. It is a genuine written amu-
let, though printed, not handwritten, entitled precisely Ketab (zfa), i. e.
amulet, with heading ÑUHÌ ÃC{g ¸ RTÏ µ HòyÑôD µ ÔÜaRÑôD µ
ÔN&ÑôD ¸ RTÏ µ &ÏñÑôD, i. e. “Names of the Divine. Homily of Mikael
and Gabriel and Rufael. Homily of Fanuel.” It seems to me no funny curiosi-
ty, but an important symbol, in many respects quite revealing. As a matter of
fact, such a cultural phenomenon as magic scrolls is usually treated by scho-
lars as a component of the so-called «folk culture», or «folk religion», a kind
of corrupted version of a higher culture, or religion, for the simple reason,
that these are «superstitions». Accordingly, these scrolls are considered to be
the products of common folk creativity, based on the ideas of precisely this
corrupted «folk Christianity», certainly rejected by the Church. This schola-
stic attitude is a great misunderstanding, I am afraid. What is quite characte-
ristic for medieval culture is the existence of two basically different cultures
within it: a written and an oral one; I mean medieval literature and folklore.
As for concrete medieval people, a certain person may enjoy both, or may
not, but these cultures are different indeed, sometimes even in language, and
always in their producers. And magic scrolls are certainly the products of
written culture and their producers are literati, i. e. clergymen. You may call
it superstition, if you want, but again, it is superstition inherent to medieval
Christianity, that is why the Church tolerates these scrolls and books, which
we call magic. In Ethiopia they are considered as undoubtedly Christian.
However, these Christian written amulets are widely used in Ethiopia not
only by the Christians. Why? We cannot attribute this to their protective power
only. Non-Christians do have their own native amulets, use them and believe
in their efficiency. And still Christian amulets are very popular.
What is the reason for this? We have here a vast field for speculation.
I would dare to make some suggestions of my own. In contrast to Christian
religion, magic scrolls as such were never specially imposed on pagan popu-

50
Ãåîðãè ÌÈÍ×ÅÂ, Ìàëãîæàòà ÑÊÎÂÐÎÍÅÊ, Öèêúëúò çà öàð Àâãàð âúâ âèçàí-
òèíî-ñëàâÿíñêàòà ðúêîïèñíà òðàäèöèÿ // Ñðåäíåâåêîâíà õðèñòèÿíñêà Åâðîïà:
Èçòîê è Çàïàä. Medieval Christian Europe: East and West (Ñîôèÿ, 2002) 324–348.

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 S. B. Chernetsov !

lation in Ethiopia. However, these magic scrolls were certainly considered by

this population as an element of the culture of the center, the obvious focus of
wealth, military might and political authority, just as Christianity was. But in
contrast to Christian religion, these magic scrolls introduced their owners
into higher culture without any breach of their habitual traditions, because
amulet is no religion and imposes no obligations whatsoever. Magic scrolls
demanded of their owner nothing: neither reading, nor understanding, just
a sheep for the scribe. Christian religion may come later, or may not. This is
a question of vicissitudes of history and of deliberate activities led and orga-
nized by the Church and Christian state. But these seeds fall on a soil already
prepared inter alia also by magic scrolls. Certainly, there are other factors as
well, such as fashions, clothes, weapons and mannerisms of the center, also
readily adopted.51 The latter, however, could afford mostly higher classes,
while magic scrolls were easily available to common people as well. The
process was protracted and went on for centuries. To my mind, it was a pro-
cess of neither assimilation, no acculturation in the strict sense of the word,
but of creating in the periphery the inner feeling of their implication in the
center, of their involvement into the same culture and, probably, the same
state, of their belonging to the vast entity, which Donald Levine called «Great-
er Ethiopia».52

–≈«fiÃ≈*
›‘»Œœ— ¿fl ÿ√»◊≈— ¿fl À»“≈–¿“”–¿
Ïðèâîäèòñÿ îáçîð ýôèîïñêîé ìàãè÷åñêîé ëèòåðàòóðû ñîîòâåòñòâåííî åå
ñîäåðæàíèþ, ñ îäíîé ñòîðîíû, è åå ñïîñîáó áûòîâàíèÿ â òðàäèöèîííîé ýôè-
îïñêîé êóëüòóðå, ñ äðóãîé ñòîðîíû. Îïðîâåðãàåòñÿ ðàñïðîñòðàíåííîå äî ñèõ
ïîð ìíåíèå, áóäòî ýòà ëèòåðàòóðà èìååò ÿçû÷åñêèå êîðíè è ïðèíàäëåæèò ê
òîìó ñëîþ íàðîäíîé êóëüòóðû, ïðîòèâ êîòîðîãî âñåãäà áîðîëàñü öåðêîâü.
 äåéñòâèòåëüíîñòè ýôèîïñêèå ìàãè÷åñêèå òåêñòû âîñõîäÿò èñêëþ÷èòåëü-
íî ê òðàäèöèÿì èóäåî-õðèñòèàíñêîãî ìèðà, ïðè÷åì èíîãäà îíè ñàìè ÿâëÿ-
þòñÿ ïåðåâîäàìè âåñüìà äðåâíèõ ïðîèçâåäåíèé. Ïî ñïîñîáó áûòîâàíèÿ îíè
ïðèíàäëåæàò îòíþäü íå ê óñòíîìó íàðîäíîìó òâîð÷åñòâó èëè âîîáùå ôîëüê-
ëîðó, à ê òîé ñàìîé ïèñüìåííîé êóëüòóðå, êîòîðàÿ ïîðîæäàëàñü èñêëþ÷è-
òåëüíî â öåðêîâíîé ñðåäå.

51
H. MARCUS, Methods and some results of the unification of Ethiopia during the
reign of Menilek II // Proceedings of the III International Conference of Ethiopian
Studies. I (Addis Ababa, 1970) 275–276.
52
D. N. LEVINE, Greater Ethiopia. An evolution of multiethnic society (Chicago,
1974).
* Ñîñòàâëåíî Ðåäàêöèåé.

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