No one could have guessed that one of the manuscripts kept at the Abba Garima monastery, near Adwa in the North of Ethiopia, was the oldest illustrated Bible yet to be discovered. However, after recent carbon-14 dating, there is no more doubt that the manuscripts at Abba Garima, named after the monk who founded the monastery, are not from the 11th century AD as specialists were determined to believe, but rather from between the 4th and 6th century AD.
This recent discovery disproves earlier theories put forward by scientists. Ethiopia, well known for its long history of Copist monks, was not known to have any decorated manuscripts from before the 11th century, so much so that experts concluded that the art [of illuminated manuscripts] was developed much later. Now, this recent discovery proves the opposite. The mere existence of this manuscript is miraculous—it escaped the hands of the troops of Muhammad Gran [Ahmad ibn Ibrahim al-Ghazi], ruler of Adal, who invaded the region [Aksum] in the 16th century. The fact that the monastery is difficult to access, being 7000 feet above sea level and surrounded by cliffs, is a likely reason for that. Read the rest of this entry »
