A high-stakes cultural dispute has erupted over the promoted sale of an important 18th-century Ethiopian manuscript at the Abu Dhabi International Book Fair.
The Magdala Gospel is a large manuscript, probably dating to the second half of the 18th century. It measures approximately 360 x 290 x 100mm and contains the Gospel of Luke and most of the Gospel of John.
The manuscript is written in Ge’ez or ancient Ethiopic, the language of the Ethiopian Orthodox Church. It would have originally been the second of a two-volume set. The first volume is probably a manuscript in the Bavarian state library that contains the gospels of Matthew and Mark.
The Magdala Gospel is sumptuously illustrated with 235 scenes from the life, passion and resurrection of Christ. The images are rich in details inspired by daily life that are of interest to historians, such as a group of Qing porcelain vases present in the bottom left corner of a representation of the wedding at Cana story.
This article is part of our State of the Arts series. These articles tackle the challenges of the arts and heritage industry – and celebrate the wins, too.
The volume’s most distinguishing feature is its unusual binding. The front and back boards are covered with openwork red leather and lined with gold foil and velvet. Such opulence implies high-ranking patronage, but there is seemingly no evidence to support the current seller’s claim that the manuscript was an imperial commission.
In fact, on one page there are two uncoloured figures sketched beneath a representation of the Trinity. They are represented as clergymen prostrated before God. Their supplicant pose and prominent placement in the manuscript suggests that they were probably its intended donors.
However, the lack of colour (many of the illustrations are unfinished) indicates that these patrons may have been unable to complete their purchase for unknown financial or personal reasons. This offers a compelling explanation for why the manuscript remains unfinished at its close.
The manuscript today
The Magdala Gospel was likely acquired by the Ethiopian Emperor Tewodros when he stripped the churches of the city of Gondar (both in 1864 and 1866).
Courtesy Jacopo Gnisci
In 1868, the artefact was seized by British troops after the storming of Tewodros’s mountain fortress at Magdala. Facing defeat, the emperor died by suicide rather than surrender. In the aftermath, British forces systematically looted the stronghold. They plundered the royal treasury and a local church of countless sacred relics, crosses and manuscripts. A portion of these items were left behind in Ethiopia. The vast majority was dispersed in various public and private collections across Europe.
Two pages of undated typewritten notes have been inserted at the start of The Magdala Gospel by one of its previous owners. One note, attributed to the Rev. John Medows Rodwell, states that the Gospel was presented by Robert Napier, commander of the Abyssinian Expedition, to William Robert Seymour Vesey-Fitzgerald, Governor of Bombay (1867–72), at the time of the military campaign. Vesey-Fitzgerald sold the manuscript in 1887 and it subsequently passed through private hands into various collections.
The Magdala Gospel had been advertised for sale on the website of the Vienna-based antiquarian bookseller Antiquariat Inlibris since mid-August. But the announcement that it would be put on display with a guide price of €250,000 (£214,480) – a sum that considerably exceeds the amounts usually fetched by Ethiopic manuscripts – drew attention of international heritage campaigners and subsequently the Ethiopian Heritage Authority. The latter dispatched a letter to the bookseller demanding that the manuscript be unconditionally withdrawn from sale and repatriated.
According to Al Jazeera, Hugo Wertscherk, head of the dealership, has argued that while the historical facts of the looting are indisputable, there are no applicable legal frameworks or international laws that retroactively invalidate the current owner’s title. The dealer offered to sell the religious text back to Ethiopian institutions at a “preferential price” as a gesture of goodwill. Such offers are generally rejected by the relevant Ethiopian authorities.
The controversy highlights a broader, escalating global movement demanding the return of African antiquities. Over recent years, Ethiopia has successfully reclaimed dozens of smuggled or looted items, including a lock of Emperor Tewodros’s hair repatriated by Britain in 2019.
Courtesy Jacopo Gnisci
More recently, 17 Ethiopic manuscripts of varying significance have been privately repatriated from the US to Ethiopia. Meanwhile the Toledo Museum of Art has announced a groundbreaking partnership with the Ethiopian Heritage Authority. It will see the museum acquire some 380 Christian Ethiopian artefacts that will be partly sold and partly donated by their current owner Robert McCarthy Jr.
According to Adam M. Levine, director of the Toledo Museum of Art, this novel collaborative approach breaks a common loophole regarding looted artefacts. Previously, such objects would often remain in private hands because American museums no longer accept pieces with opaque provenance records.
Amid these developments, the political situation in Ethiopia remains extremely tense, with active skirmishes across the country. Recent reports indicate that several Ethiopian armed groups are forming an alliance to topple the current government of Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed. Repatriation efforts may soon need to contend with the harsh realities of a full-scale civil war.
Despite vocal campaigns and stakeholder demands for its return, the fate of the Magdala Gospel remains as uncertain as the political future of Ethiopia itself.
Yet, as much as this individual case hangs in the balance, recent developments suggest that international momentum around the restitution of colonial-era African artefacts has reached a clear turning point. One that antique dealers and institutions alike can no longer easily dismiss.
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