Ethiopian Manuscript Microfilm Library

Emerging from an idea discussed by Walter Harrelson, a dean at Vanderbilt University, and Ethiopian Orthodox Patriarch Tēwoflos in December 1970, the Ethiopian Manuscript Microfilm Library was officially established on April 23, 1971. A joint venture based in Addis Ababa between Ethiopia’s Ministry of Culture, the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewāḥedo Church, and the Hill Museum & Manuscript Library, the project would begin microfilming manuscripts in Ethiopia in September 1973 with funds from the National Endowment for the Humanities, and later from the Ford Foundation and the Ethiopian government. The final item (no. 9238) was microfilmed in 1994, by which time the project was fixed as the largest and most important source for the study of Ethiopic manuscripts. The only comprehensive set of EMML microfilms is today held by the National Archives and Library of Ethiopia, with less complete series found at the Hill Museum & Manuscript Library, the Institute of Ethiopian Studies, and the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewāḥedo Church Patriarchate Library.

HMML ID
979889352103
PURL
https://w3id.org/haf/organization/979889352103
LC name
Ethiopian Manuscript Microfilm Library
HMML name
Ethiopian Manuscript Microfilm Library
Library of Congress
https://id.loc.gov/authorities/names/n80004286
VIAF
https://viaf.org/viaf/124954156

Variants

  • Addis Ababa (Ethiopia). Ethiopian Manuscript Microfilm Library
  • E.M.M.L.
  • EMML
  • Institute for the Preservation of Religious Articles and Manuscripts of the Ethiopian Orthodox Church
  • YaʼItyop̣yā ʼortodoks tawāḥedo béta kerestiyān. Ethiopian Manuscript Microfilm Library

Organization information

Foundation date
1971-04-23
Dissolution date
1994~
Centuries
20th century CE
Founding locations
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Languages
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General notes

Citations
Columba Stewart, "A Brief History of the Ethiopian Manuscript Microfilm Library," in Studies in Ethiopian Languages, Literature, and History: Festschrift for Getatchew Haile, ed. Adam Carter McCollum (Aethiopistische Forschungen 83; Wiesbaden, 2017), 447-472.

Preferred citation

"Ethiopian Manuscript Microfilm Library." HMML Authority File. Hill Museum & Manuscript Library. Last modified January 30, 2023. https://w3id.org/haf/organization/979889352103

Change notes

Date added
2023-01-30
Last edited
2023-01-30

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