User:Gheizer/Ethiopian art

Islamic manuscript housed in the Governor of Harar's mansion

Article Draft

Illuminated Manuscripts from Other Religious Groups of Ethiopia

Basketry wasn’t the only artistry to emerge from the Muslim city of Harar. While Christian illuminated manuscripts dominate literature on religious texts emerging from this region, Ethiopia is also home to a rich history of Islamic illuminated manuscripts. Located in central-eastern Ethiopia at the crossroads of multiple trade and migration routes, Harar became the epicenter for Islamization by the 14th century. This followed previous introductions of the religion by Muslim religious figures in the northeast of the country in the 7th century, and coasts of neighboring Somalia in the 8th century. The confluence of culture from both nomadic groups indigenous to the region and trade partners beyond, resulted in a style of manuscript unique to the Harari people.

Table displaying some of the adaptations of Arabic script to Ajami script

Qur'anic art of the Mamluk Sultanate circa 1375 with stylistic parallels to Harari manuscripts

The Khalili manuscript (a single-volume Qur’ān of 290 folios) is regarded by scholar Dr. Sana Mirza as representative of distinct Harari codices (known in Arabic as Mus'haf). In part, because of its stylistic parallels to the 25 recorded collections produced in Harar. Additionally, because it is one of the earliest documented texts from the city—the oldest datable manuscript containing text in Old Harari was produced in 1460. The Khalili Qur’ān has distinct, wide horizontal margins, creating the optics of a script elongated across the page. The wide margins are filled with notes and ornate decorations. Some notes written diagonally to the main text creating a vertical zigzagging effect, and others written in blocking patterns. The colorful gray, gold and red text serve both an aesthetic and functional purpose, each color indicating a different reading of the text or sayings of the prophet.

Ajami Script and Ajamization of Ethiopian Art

The text itself is written in Ajami, differing from the native Ge'ez script—an alphabet used to write languages local to Ethiopia and Eritrea. Ajami refers to an adapted Arabic script influenced by local languages primarily spoken in Eastern Africa. Beyond script, Ajami represents the contextual enrichment of Islamic traditions within the region during this period more broadly, a process growing literature on the subject refers to as Ajamization. With the introduction of Islamic texts, culture, and art to Africa, communities modified these traditions to accommodate local palates.The Ajamization of Qur’ānic texts by the Harari people, reflects this intersection of assimilation and preservation, through adapting traditional Islamic practices to indigenous culture and taste.

Stylistic Parallels

Transcultural parallels and adaptations in the illumination of the text, such as the Byzantine influence on Christian illustrations within the region, can also be observed in Islamic art. Beyond visual likeness to Byzantine art, Ethiopia's geographic positioning in the Horn of Africa at the junction of the Mediterranean, Red Sea, and Indian Ocean; is reflected in the aesthetic similarities between Harari script and other visual cultures. Notably, Dr. Mirza has drawn parallels between the Harari manuscripts and the decorative devices from the Islamic texts of the Mamluk Sultanate (modern-day Egypt and Syria) and the calligraphic letterform of the Biḥārī script (northeast India).

Representation of Ethiopian Islamic Art

Lack of representation for Islamic manuscripts compared to other religious texts from Ethiopia in mainstream scholarship can be attributed to a variety of reasons. A leading scholar in Islamic manuscript cultures in Sub-Saharan Africa, Dr. Alessandro Gori, ascribes this disproportionate representation within academia to a variety of socio-political factors. Gori claims that a change in regime in 1991 and the geopolitics of "classical" Arabic studies have contributed to an understudied field.

Research on Islamic is also limited due to private ownership. The most prominent Ethiopian institutions to house these manuscripts include the Institute of Ethiopian Studies, the National Museum of Ethiopia, and the Harar National Museum. Yet, the majority of these collections remain in private hands. The emergence of tourism in the 1970's, brought foreign buyers with little knowledge on the historical relevance of these bodies of work. This privatization made it easier for collectors from Europe, the United States, and Arab countries to acquire these texts without going through institutional channels. In conjunction with the destruction of manuscripts by foreign aggressors or disputing citizens, lack of trust in government bodies, and smuggling; cataloging and preserving these sacred texts remains a difficult task.

Despite these challenges, academics, curators, and the Ethiopian government have made increasing efforts to inventory Harari and other Islamic manuscripts. In collaboration with the Institute of Ethiopian Studies, Dr. Gori published a catalogue of Islamic codices in 2014 to help facilitate future research on these manuscripts.