Leather Kitabe Parchment Scroll Amulet Ethiopia

These mysterious scrolls are hidden away in their pouch, with an unknown message hidden inside. The interior is unique in its way, the image of the open scroll is an example of what it could be.

Each kitabe was worn for a man's lifetime. It was written for one particular person. The text was in Ethiopic (Ge'ez), a Semitic language that is no longer spoken, it is still used for liturgical and other religious purposes by the Ethiopian Orthodox Church. The scrolls inside are occasionally paper but are most often vellum, usually, calfskin, prepared by a lengthy exposure in lime, scraped with a rounded knife, and finally rubbed smooth with pua mice stone. The vellum is often scored with a pin, and they are written in black ink with titles and holy names often being in the red. The subjects of these "Bibles" are always Christian, but the actual content varies. It is difficult to date these pieces, which were made as early as the fourteenth century and continued through about 1850.

Length (in): 3.0
Width (in): 2.0
Depth (in): 1.0

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