The new Ethiopian millennium and the Queen’s manuscripts in Windsor Castle

The dispute between Emperor Tewodros of Ethiopia and the British Government
in the 1860s led, it will be recalled, to the extensive looting of that ruler’s capital, Maqdala (referred to in British writings of the time as
Magdala). The church of Madhane Alam, dedicated to the Saviour of the World,
and its eka-bet, or store-house, were entirely denuded of anything of any
value.
The looting of Maqdala, putting it bluntly, was nothing other than an act of
brute force.
It was an act of brute force which required fifteen elephants and 200 mules
to cart away the loot.
Most of this  loot was taken to the British Museum (later British Library)
and other institutions in England, but other items ended up in virtually
every continent.

Mr. Gladstone and AFROMET
Many Ethiopians - and people of good-will elsewhere – have long felt that
the dispute between Tewodros and the British Government in no way justified
the looting of Maqdala. One of the first to express such doubt was none
other than the great British Liberal leader and sometime British Prime Minister William Ewart Gladstone, who declared in the House of Commons that
he could not imagine why this loot had ever been taken from Ethiopia.
Criticism of the looting of Maqdala, and demands for restitution, have been
made in more recent years by AFROMET, the Association for the Return of Ethiopian Maqdala Treasures – which is based in both Ethiopia and Britain.
Efforts to obtain the restitution of the Maqdala loot from the British
Library have been blocked over the years by the argument that the institution cannot part with its possessions without legislative approval.
Legalism, we would suggest, has run mad: the looters seized every single
thing they could lay their hands on – and their compatriots, and successors - then say they cannot return anything without Parliamentary agreement!

The Royal Library
The above “restriction” on restitution does not however apply to the
Ethiopian manuscripts currently housed in the Royal Library at Windsor
Castle. This collection, on which I have personally worked (presenting a
paper on one of its illustrations to the Second International Conference on
the History of Ethiopian Art) consists of six remarkably fine manuscripts.
They form an integral part of the loot from Maqdala, which we feel should be
restituted to Ethiopia. It is to this collection that we turn our attention
today.
Like most Ethiopian manuscripts the Windsor Castle collection is essentially
religious in content, and written in the Ethiopian ecclesiastical language
Ge’ez. The Windsor collection is however composed of far larger – and
infinitely better illustrated - volumes than those in most other collections, either in Britain or Ethiopia. This should occasion no surprise as the manuscripts in question were selected for Queen Victoria’s own eye.

The first of these manuscripts (MS Eth Windsor 1) is a huge and
exceptionally beautifully illustrated early 18th century volume of the
Miracles of Lord Jesus.  It can be dated by its reference to Emperor Bakaffa
(1721-1730), and was written by three different scribes, and measures no
less than 13 1/2 inches by 11 1/2 inches, i.e. almost a foot square.
Considerably older than the above is MS Eth Windsor II. This is another
profusely illustrated work containing the Biblical  Discourse of John Chrysostom in  Praise of John the Baptist,  and is ably decorated in so-called Gondarine style.
No less important is MS Eth Windsor III, another large work (measuring 14
inches by 12 inches). Dating from the early 18th century, it contains the Discourses of the Archangels Michael, Gabriel and Raphael.
Also dating from the 18th century, but even larger is MS Eth Windsor IV
(measuring 15 inches  by 13 1/2 inches). It contains the Nagara Maryam, or
History and Miracles of the Virgin Mary – with a painting on almost every
page.
Particularly interesting from the artistic point of view is  MS Eth Windsor
V, which contains the Miracles of the Virgin Mary – and can be dated by its
reference to Emperor Iyo’as (1758-1766). It contains a fine full page
representation of the Qwer’ata Re’su, or Christ with the Crown of Thorns.
This was the artistic theme, it will be recalled of a famous icon, also
looted from Maqdala, the story of which was examined in an earlier article
in this series.
MS Eth Windsor VI is likewise a valuable manuscript: it is a copy of the
Four Gospels, probably dating from the late 17th or early 18th century, and,
like the collection as a whole, beautifully written and bound.
Ownership
There is, it should be emphasized, no ambiguity as to the origin of the
above Windsor Castle manuscripts. Each of the six manuscripts referred to
above contains a note specifying that it belonged to the Church of Madhane
Alam, i.e, to Emperor Tewodros’s church looted in April 1868.
Our wish for the Ethiopian Millennium is that Queen Elizabeth should return
these manuscripts these manuscripts to Ethiopia – as the good Mr Gladstone
would have wished!