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Lālibalā's gʷǝlt to the church of Masqal and to the church of Mary

Anonymous · betmas

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machine-draft · no human review 3 passages · 631 words

Work dossier · summary and historical context

Summary

Lālibalā's gʷǝlt is a Geʿez land grant issued by King Lālibalā (throne name Gabra Masqal) to the churches of Masqal and Mary. The document records a royal endowment of land to ecclesiastical institutions, including female monastic communities, and follows a standard Ethiopic charter form with trinitarian invocation, donor identification, grant formula, and curses/blessings. The text survives in a single manuscript witness (betmas) with no known translation or commentary. Its precise terms, boundaries, and beneficiaries remain unstudied philologically.

This gʷǝlt provides rare direct evidence of royal land grants to churches and female monastic communities in the Zagwe period, illuminating the intersection of royal patronage, ecclesiastical land tenure, and gender in medieval Ethiopia. It complements the better-known rock-hewn churches of Lālibalā by documenting the legal and economic framework that sustained them.

Historical context

The grant dates to the reign of Lālibalā (ca. 1189–1229), a Zagwe king famous for building the rock-hewn churches of Lālibalā. The document reflects royal patronage of the Ethiopian Orthodox Church and its monastic foundations, a key feature of Zagwe political and religious authority. The text is written in Geʿez, the classical liturgical and legal language of Ethiopia. The term gʷǝlt (ጕልት) denotes a land grant or endowment, distinct from sale or inheritance, and was a common instrument for supporting ecclesiastical institutions. The grant names nuns Abrəqsiyā and Sosānā as beneficiaries, indicating female monastic communities were recipients of royal land grants. The document's transmission is limited to a single manuscript (betmas), and its later liturgical or canonical use is unattested. The date '2 2 2' in the year of mercy is likely corrupt, obscuring the precise chronology.

Apparatus · what the pipeline recorded

Annotation and terms

16 commentary units 4 term3 structure3 background3 caution2 reception1 scripture 0 derived notes 3 open questions 3 narrative
What the kinds mean

Pipeline notes

  • limitThe English is a machine draft produced passage by passage from the transcribed Coptic; no human has verified it. The commentary is model-written and cites only keys the pipeline could resolve.
  • registerRegister: other in Geʿez; the English keeps the liturgical formulae and the vocatives rather than normalising them.
  • structurePassages: 3 narrative.
  • sourceSource edition: betmas — CC BY-SA 4.0 (per file); site footer states NC-SA - treat as NC

Term index

CopticRenderingCountFirst
no glossary terms recorded
LIT6311CCR6:1 · narrativemedium
Source
በአኰቴተ፡ አብ፡ ወወልድ፡ ወመንፈስ፡ ቅዱስ፡ አጕለትኩ፡ መዝ፡ አጕለትኩ፡ አነ፡ ላሊበላ፡ ንጉሥ፡ ከመ፡ ይዘክረኒ፡ ክር ድረ፡ ዲረ፡ ምድረ፡ ምድረ፡ አላፈ፡ ምድረ፡ ውሖረ፡ መዓጠው ርኀ፡ ታኅሳለ፡ ብእሲ፡ ዓባል፡ ዘኢይትመዋዕ፡ ለዐር፡ በኀይለ፡ ዩም፡ ወልደ፡ አስዳ፡ ለቤተ፡ መስቀል፡ ወለቤተ፡ ማርያም፡ ለደ ሎ፡ መከመ፡ ምድረ፡ መስተሩ፡ መድረ፡ በክረገ፡ በማባር ስቶስ፡ በመንግሥቱ፡ ወይደምረኒ፡ ምስለ፡ ጻድቃን፡ ወቅዱሳን፡ ወአንበሳ፡ ዘኢይበውእ፡ ቀስታኒያ፡ ባዕድ፡ ዘእንበለ፡ እመ፡ ም አት፡ ወእመቦ፡ ዘተኀየለ፡ ወተገሰሰ፡ ወዘተአገለ፡ ለዝንቱ፡ ጕ ልት፡ ወለዝንቱ፡ ከላም፡ ውገዘ፡ ለይኩን፡ በቅድመ፡ አብ፡ ወ ዘ፡ አኀ፡ ፍቁር፡ በበዘ፡ አኀ፡ በዓሪዝ፡ በዘ፡ አኀበ፡ ወክ ወኢመኃለፍተ፡ ዘአልቦ፡ ዘናቤ፡ ወዓበኪ፡ ዘኢይበውእ፡ ፈረሳ መስቀሉ፡ ለኢየሱስ፡ ክርስቶስ፡ ወልደ፡ ምራራ፡ ወልደ፡ ዘንሥ ይሳት፡ ወግር፡ ብፁዓ፡ በዘ፡ አኀ፡ በዘ፡ አኀዘ፡ ሠ፡ በ አከስምኩ፡ወአምነይኩ፡ አነ፡ ሐየኒ፡ ላሊበላ፡ ወስመ፡ መንግሥ ትየ፡ ገብረ፡ መስቀል፡ በ፪፪ብ፪፡ ዓመተ፡ ምሕረት፡ አመ፡ ፰፡ ለወ ወከመዝ፡ ጕለትኩ፡ ዘአልቦ፡ ግብረ፡ ወገብጋብ፡ ወኢተስጣ ናግል፡ ለአንስተ፡ መነኮሳት፡ ለአብርቅሲያ፡ ወለሶሳና፡ ሠጠ፡ ም
English
In the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, I have made a grant. I, Lālibalā, king, have made a grant, so that Christ may remember me. The land of Dira, the land of Mədrā, the land of Alāfā, the land of Wəḥorā, the land of Maʿāṭāw, the long Tāḥśāllā, the man ʿAbbāl, the one who is not to be entered, for the sake of the cross by the power of Yum, son of Asdā, to the church of Masqal and to the church of Mary, for the sake of the portion of the land of Məstāru, the land of Mədrā, in the field of Mabbār, Səstos, in his kingdom, and may he add me to the company of the righteous and the saints. And the lion that does not enter, the priest, another, without a mother, and her mother who was changed and confined, and the one who has added to this grant and to this boundary, let him be cursed before the Father and the Son, the beloved brother, in the portion of the brother, in the portion of the brother Bāʿāriz, in the portion of the brother and the sister, and the one who does not pass away, who has no one to say, and the father, the one who does not enter, the horseman of the cross of Jesus Christ, son of Mirārā, son of Zānśəyāsat, and the blessed one, in the portion of the brother, in the portion of the brother who took, I have confirmed and believed, I, Ḥāyāni Lālibalā, and the name of my kingdom, Gabra Masqal, in the year 2 2 2 of the year of mercy, on the 8th of the month. And thus I have granted, which has no deed or addition, and it is not to be taken away from the nuns, from Abrəqsiyā and from Sosānā, she gave.
LIT6311CCR6:2 · narrativehigh
Source
ወልድ፡ ወመንፈስ፡ ቅዱስ፡ በአፈ፡ ጳጳሳት፡ ፫በወ፰፡ ርቱዓነ፡ ሀይማኖት፡ በአፈ፡ ፲ወ፪፡ ሐዋርያት፡ አሜን፡ ወአሜን። ወእንዘ፡ ሀለዉ፡ ክልኤሆሙ፡ ኅቡረ፡ ላሊባላ፡ ንጉሥ፡ ወብ እሲቱ፡ መስቀል፡ ክብራ፡ በዐልተ፡ ቤሐት፡ ከመ፡ ይኩኖሙ፡ መድኅኒተ፡ ነፍሶሙ፡ በመንግሥተ፡ ሰማያት፡ ወለብእሲትየኒ፡ ከመ፡ ይደምራ፡ ምስለ፡ ቅድሳት፡ አንስት፡ ምስለ፡ ሳራወሰሎ ሜ፡ ምስለ፡ ሐና፡ ወሶፍያ፡ ወኢይዝክር፡ ላቲ፡ ኃጢአታ፡ ወይ ድምስስ፡ መጽሐፈ፡ ጌጋያ፡ አሜን፡ ወአሜን። ለይኩን፡ ለይኩ ን።
English
and the Son and the Holy Spirit, by the mouth of the three bishops of the orthodox faith, by the mouth of the twelve apostles, amen and amen. And while both of them were together, Lālibalā the king and his wife Masqal, her honor, the mistress of the house, so that they might have a savior for their souls in the kingdom of heaven, and for my wife, so that she might be joined with the holy women, with Sarah and Hagar, with Hannah and Sophia, and that her sins might not be remembered, and that the book of her transgressions might be blotted out, amen and amen. Let it be, let it be.
LIT6311CCR6:3 · narrativemedium
Source
ወእንዘ፡ ሀለዉ፡ ዐበይተ፡ ብጕና፡ ቃለ፡ ጳጳስ፡ እንድርያስ፡ ወጳጳስ፡ አባ፡ ሚካኤል፡ ወኤጲስ፡ ቆጶሳት፡ ዕዝራ፡ ይርዳእ፡ ሚካኤል፡ ሰሙኤል፡ ዐቃቤ፡ ሰዓተ፡ አባ፡ መጣዕ፡ ተስሩ፡ ሕ ይወት፡ ሐሰን፡ ቅሩብ፡ ሊቀ፡ ዝያቆናት፡ ሰውን፡ ቀሰ፡ ገበዝ፡ ጽዮን፡ ይትባረክ፡ ቀስ፡ ሐፃኒ፡ ዘካርያስ፡ ጸዋሬ፡ ናርጌ፡ መሰረ ይ፡ ዝር፡ ገአዛ፡ እንዘ፡ ጸሐፈ፡ ትእዛዝ፡ ዘክርስቶስ፡ ወጽሐፊ ሁ፡ ሀሎ፡ አምላክነ፡ ወልደ፡ ዜና፡ ክርስቶስ፡ ሊቀ፡ አቀይታት፡ ሠምሮ፡ እንዘ፡ ሊቀ፡ ቤተ፡ ቀጢን፡ በኀይሉ፡ ወእንዘ፡ ሊቀ፡ መከለ፡ ሀገረ፡ ውድም፡ እንዘ፡ ሊቀ፡ ኬኖት፡ ዘአመላይ፡ ወእን ዘ፡ ሊቀ፡ ኀዳር፡ ወቃለ፡ ሕመት፡ ኀበ፡ ክልኤ፡ ሢመት፡ አማኒ፡ ወእንዘ፡ ሊቀ፡ በሪያ፡ ጽዮን፡ ኀርታ፡ እንዘ፡ ሊቀ፡ ዐቃቤ፡ ደዴ፡ ሴክ፡ እንዘ፡ ሊቀ፡ መሰናቀት፡ ብጕናይ፡ ወከመዝ፡ አጕለትኩ፡ ዘአልቦ፡ ግብረ፡ ወገብጋበ፡ ለመነኮሳት፡ አንስት፡ ለቤተ፡ መስ ቀል፡ ወለቤተ፡ ማርያም፡ እመቦ፡ ዘከልኦ፡ ወዘተገሰሰ፡ ለዝንቱ፡ ጕልት፡ ውጉዘ፡ ለይኩን፡ በቅድመ፡ አብ፡ ወወልድ፡ ወመንፈ ስ፡ ቅዱስ፡ አሜን፡ ወአሜን።
English
and while the elders were present, Bishop Endreyas, Bishop Abba Mikaʾel, and the bishops ʿEzra, Yərdaʿ, Mikaʾel, Səmuʾel, the timekeeper Abba Məṭaʿ, Täsru, Ḥəywät, Ḥasän, Qərub, the chief of the deacons Səwn, the priest Gäbäz, Ṣəyon, may he be blessed, the priest Ḥaṣani, Zakaryas, the treasurer of Närge, Mäsäräy, Zər, Gäʿazä, while he wrote the command of Christ, and his scribe was Amläkəna, Wəldä Zena, Christos, the chief of the priests, having gathered, while the chief of the house of Qäṭən was in his power, and while the chief of the district of the city of Wədəm, while the chief of the fields of Amälay, and while the chief of the Hədar and the speaker of the law, to the two Lämät, the faithful, and while the chief of the serfs of Ṣəyon, Hərta, while the chief of the timekeepers of Däde, Sek, while the chief of the deacons of Bəgʷnay, and thus I have made a gʷǝlt which has no work or service for the monks, the women, for the church of Masqal and for the church of Mary. Whoever alters or transgresses against this gʷǝlt, let him be accursed before the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, amen and amen.
Citation. Tergwame, “Lālibalā's gʷǝlt to the church of Masqal and to the church of Mary”, LIT6311CCR6:1, machine-draft, 2026. https://naxiai.com/christian/works/LIT6311CCR6#s1
Colophon. Source: betmas · licence: CC BY-SA 4.0 (per file); site footer states NC-SA - treat as NC · model: deepseek/deepseek-v4-flash:floor · provider: Relace · cost: $0.0021 · generated 2026-11-15.