Label Type
Object LabelLabel
Ethiopian New Testament
13th Century C.E.
Ethiopia
Parchment, ink, and sewn boards
Gift of Saba Abashawl
1992.094.01
This Coptic manuscript, bound in wood boards, dates from the 13th century and is handlettered and painted on parchment. Coptic bindings are hand-sewn, non-adhesive bindings introduced in ancient Egypt by the Copts and followers of the Christian Coptic Church, dating from the 2nd century and remaining popular through the 11th century. A Coptic stitch runs through the folded signatures and attaches them to each other with chain stitches across the spine, rather than to cords across the spine as seen in European bindings from the 8th century onwards.