Repatriating a Centuries-Old Ethiopian Psalter

In late May 2022 BU ASC Fulbright Scholar Dr. Masresha Fetene will be carrying a smoky leather-bound Ethiopian Ge’ez language psalter from Boston to the Institute of Ethiopian Studies at Addis Ababa University for preservation and study in its venerable manuscript collection.

That volume was originally in my possession and how it came to Boston is a tale worth telling. In 1990 I was a consultant doing a field evaluation of Oxfam UK projects in Ethiopia’s eastern Hararge region among Oromo farmers. As I left Ethiopia to head back to Boston via Oxford and an Oxfam staff member asked me to deliver a package to their home office in UK where I presented my project report. I accepted the small package for my checked baggage and learned that my suitcase was lost and then sent directly to Boston. Back in Boston I found my suitcase reached me and I discovered that the “package” was actually a wrapped Turkish leather-bound book in Ge’ez (Ethiopia) script that was a “Mezmure Dawit,” a translation of the Book of Psalms and prayers, including some musical chants in the St. Yared tradition to guide young deacons in songs of dedication.

Not knowing exactly where this book/text had come from or how the Oxfam person had obtained it, I kept it in my office and used it for teaching about it an example of an African (Ethiopian Orthodox Christian) example of literacy in an African context. I held that “Dawit” in my office at African Studies for many years, until now. Not knowing where or from whom the volume had come, I held it waiting for an idea/plan on how to return it to its true home.

ASC and African Studies Library team members with Fulbright Scholar Dr. Masresha Fetene and the psalter (L-R): Michael DiBlasi (ASC Publications Editor), Masresha Fetene (Fulbright Scholar/AAU), Gabe Adugna (Subject Liaison, ASL), Jim McCann (History/Assoc Director of Development), and Beth Restrick (Head, ASL)

Now, in a conversation with my friend, colleague, and Fulbright fellow the idea emerged more clearly: Prof. Masresha offered to carry the “Dawit” back to a safe setting in the IES manuscript library where it could be evaluated and preserved. It will be repatriated to a place of respect. It is, we learned from a scholar of such texts trained both in Ethiopia and in Hamburg that such a book of Psalms and prayers is not unique, of the c. 1.2 million Ethiopian church manuscripts extant about 1/3 are personal prayer texts existing in archives and personal collections around Ethiopia, Europe, and America. But this one is in some ways unique in its binding, its marginal notations, and quality of its precise handwritten lines of text.

Our “Dawit” is now headed home for preservation and a subject of study for students, scholars, and linguist/philologists for new generations in a time of challenging politics, identities, and scholarly debate.

James McCann
Professor of History
Associate Director for Development, African Studies Center

Updates, June 2022:

Prof. Fetene has shared with us that he has successfully deposited the psalter to the Institute of Ethiopian Studies, passing along a letter of acknowledgement from the IES Library’s Deputy Head, Eyob Alemayehu. It is estimated that the psalter includes documents dating to the 17th and 18th centuries.