The Aksumite Collection or Codex Σ (Sinodos of Qǝfrǝyā, Ms C3-Iv-71/C3-Iv-73, Ethio-SPaRe Um-039):Codicological and Palaeographical Observations, with a Note on Material Analysis of Inks

The manuscript known as the Aksumite Collection (Sinodos of (Qǝfrǝyā, ms C ₃-IV-71/ C ₃-IV-73, Ethio-SPaRe UM-039) is one of the most important—if not the most important—Gǝʿǝz manuscripts which have come to scholarly attention in the last twenty years. While its textual content—primarily the complex canonical-liturgical collection, closely depending on late antique models, which it attests—has already been the subject of several contributions, a description of physical and material features of the manuscript has not yet been published. The present note takes advantage of the work and competence of scholars, conservators, and scientists in order to fill this gap, offering a comprehensive material, codicological, and palaeographical description of the codex.