272 PROCEEDINGS OF THE NATIONAL MUSEUM. vol.40. 



shows considerable skill in representing action and forms an inter- 

 esting study of the costumes of the Abyssinian dignitaries and the 

 army. 



Length, 57 inches; width, 35 inches. 



PI. 25. Cat. No. 261845, U.S.N.M. 



Picture on brass. — Somewhat irregular sheet of brass upon which 

 is a representation of Tekla Haimanout, a saint who wears a curious 

 headdress with crossed wings, has wings on his shoulders and but 

 one leg. The outlines have been cut with a chisel and the figures 

 thrown into the slight relief by hammering. 



Length, 4f inches; width, 4 inches. 



PI. 26, fig. 1. Cat. No. 261861, U.S.N.M. 



Picture on brass. — Representing a saint with a long beard and 

 guarded by two lions. Upon his shoulder is a large bird like a 

 raven, which appears to be pecking out his eye. The background 

 is filled in with small crosses. The work has been done with a 

 chisel-edge punch. 



Length, 4f inches; width, 4| inches. 



PI. 26, fig. 2. Cat. No. 261862, U.S.N.M. 



Picture on brass. — Representation of the Virgin and Child with the 

 celestial guardians Michael and Gabriel. The work is extremely 

 crude and has been accomplished with a chisel and figured punch. 

 These brass plates bring to mind the Russian eikons. The work is 

 said to be ancient. 



Length, 5£ inches; width, 4f inches. 



PI. 26, fig. 3. Cat. No. 261863, U.S.N.M. 



Theological treatise on parchment in Amharic script. — The writing 

 is in black and red ink and well executed. The inside of the cover 

 and fly leaves are painted, the pictures being of the Virgin and Child, 

 St. George and the Dragon and other saints. The backs are of 

 wood covered with cotton cloth, to which is attached a band for 

 withdrawing the book from the double leather case in which it is car- 

 ried by priests and others. 



Keane says that the liturgical language of the Abyssinian church 

 is Gheez, a pure Himyaritic idiom, the most archaic member of the 

 Semitic family, not excepting the Assyrian of the cuneiform writings. 

 It is the vernacular of the kingdom of Tigre, but it also enters largely 

 into the constitution of the Amharic (Amharna) current in the rest of 

 Abyssinia proper, at least among the governing classes. 1 



Case: Length, 5| inches; width, 4 inches. 



Page of book: Length 4| inches; width, 3 inches. 



PI. 27. Cat. No. 261864, U.S.N.M. 



1 Stanford's Compendium, Africa, vol. 1, p. 448, 1895. 



