Praises of the Cross, Wǝddase Mäsqäl, by Abba Giyorgis of Gasǝč̣č̣a

Abstract

One of the many works of Abba Giyorgis of Gasǝč̣č̣a/Sägla (d. 1527) is a Wǝddase Mäsqäl “Praises of the Cross”, a work which previously was known only from Abba Giyorgis’s Acts (Gädl) and oral tradition. Recently, however, the Ethiopian Manuscript Microfilm Library, Addis Abäba/Collegeville, has discovered and microfilmed a 16^th-century copy of the text, EMML 504, edited and translated here. In the work Abba Giyorgis reviews the symbolic prophecies in the Old Testament relating to the Incarnation of the Word. The Wǝddase Mäsqäl is an exceedingly high quality literary work, even by the author’s famously high standards.