Priests, scholars gather to celebrate Princeton’s Ethiopian manuscripts

By Jamie Saxon, Office of Communications

Ethiopian scholars and priests shared their knowledge of Ethiopia’s ancient tradition of written literature and bound manuscripts with a large audience at Princeton on March 12.

They were on campus for an event titled “Remorseless Cannibals and Loving Scribes: Samples and Highlights from Princeton University’s Collections of Ethiopian Manuscripts (1500s-1900s),” held in Princeton University Library’s Rare Books and Special Collections. The program drew a diverse audience of students — including students from Ethiopia — Princeton faculty from across the humanities and social sciences, and scholars from up and down the East Coast as well as England and Germany.

“Princeton has the largest and most significant collection of Ethiopian manuscripts in the Americas,” said Wendy Laura Belcher, associate professor of comparative literature and African studies, who specializes in medieval, early modern and modern African literature.

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