A few days ago, a private collector contacted me to identify for him the text on some vellum folios he acquired from Ethiopia. The pages are from a classical Ethiopic translation of the gospels - a bound codex at some point. Here’s an image from one of the folios -- the text is Matthew 17:1-3. The scribal hand is quite clear, but for greater clarity, I’ve transliterated and transcribed it below:

məʿərāf ((17)) waʾəmdəḫ-

-ra šellus mewāʿəl nešʾomu agziʾ

iyasus lapērosṭros lapeṭros wa-

-layaʿqob walayoḥannəs ʾəḫuhu waʾaʿra-

-gomu wasta dəbr nawāḫ ʾənta baḥəti-

-tomu watawallaṭa rāʿyu baqdumeho-

-mu waʾabraha gaṣṣu kama ḍaḥay waʾal-

-basihuni kona ḍaʿāy kama bərhān wa-

-nāhu ʾastarʾaywomu muse waʾe-

-lyās laʾənza yətnāgaru məslehu

። ምዕራፍ ። ፲፯ ፡ ወእምድኅ

ረ ፡ ሠሉስ ፡ መዋዕል ፡ ነሥኦሙ ፡ አግዚእ ፡

ኢየሱስ ፡ ለጴሮስጥሮስ ፡ ለጴጥሮስ ፡ ወ

ለያዕቆብ ፡ ወለዮሐንስ ፡ እኁሁ ፡ ወአዕረ

ጎሙ ፡ ወስተ ፡ ደብር ፡ ነዊኅ ፡ እንተ ፡ በሕቲ

ቶሙ ። ወተወለጠ ፡ ራዕዩ ፡ በቅዱሜሆ

ሙ ፡ ወአብርሀ ፡ ገጹ ፡ ከመ ፡ ፀሐይ ። ወአል

ባሲሁኒ ፡ ኮነ ፡ ፀዓይ ፡ ከመ ፡ብርሃን ፡ ወ

ናሁ ፡ አስተርአይዎሙ ፡ ሙሴ ፡ወኤ

ልያስ ፡ ለእንዘ ፡ ይትናገሩ ፡ ምስሌሁ ።