Garima Gospels
Evangelios de Garima
- Date
- c. 330-650 · confidence medium
- Place
- Abba Garima Monastery, Adwa, Tigray, Ethiopia
- Credited to
- Scribes of the kingdom of Aksum
- Field
- Knowledge & symbols
⚠️ Disputed: the sources disagree.
What it is
Two Ge'ez gospel books on parchment with full-page miniatures. Radiocarbon dating places them among the oldest surviving illuminated Christian manuscripts.
Radiocarbon dating (Mercier, Oxford analysis) gave c. 330-540 (or 390-570) for Garima 2, the older of the two gospel books, and c. 430-650 (or 530-660) for Garima 1, the more recent; tradition attributes both to the saint Abba Garima (c. 500).
What it led to
- the Ethiopian manuscript tradition, continued to this day
- Aksumite Christian iconography
- a revision of the history of the illuminated book