# What language is this writing? (old vellum book) **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [September 19, 2004, 3:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-language-is-this-writing-old-vellum-book/264947 "2004-09-19T03:37:03Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Erroneous](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/71c47a/32.png) [@Erroneous](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Erroneous)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2004, 3:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-language-is-this-writing-old-vellum-book/264947/1 "2004-09-19T03:37:03Z")
These pictures are from an auction on eBay. I was wondering if anyone might have any ideas about what language it is, or even what it says. The seller says he doesn’t know anything about it, since he found it in his aunt’s attic. I was thinking of bidding on it, but the price has already gone too high for me, so now it’s just a matter of curiousity really. Here are the pictures of the pages: [1](http://img83.exs.cx/img83/2883/40_3.jpg),[2](http://img83.exs.cx/img83/6784/b9_3.jpg),[3](http://img83.exs.cx/img83/958/42_3.jpg) Not sure if that painting on the inside of the back cover is contemporary with the writing. [This](http://img83.exs.cx/img83/4788/fd_3.jpg) loose painting, in a similar style and also on vellum (although it looks less worn to me than the vellum in the book) was apparently found tucked in to the back cover of the book. And [this picture](http://img83.exs.cx/img83/7253/31_3.jpg) shows the wooden binding of the book. That’s about it. For anyone interested, [here’s the auction in question.](http://cgi.ebay.com.au/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=356&item=3746601576&rd=1) I’m not in any way affiliated with the seller etc. etc. ---
**Author:** ![MEBuckner](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mebuckner/32/2896_2.png) [@MEBuckner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MEBuckner)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2004, 3:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-language-is-this-writing-old-vellum-book/264947/2 "2004-09-19T03:48:54Z")
That writing appears to be in the [Ethiopian alphabet](http://www.tourismethiopia.org/pages/alphabet.asp). ---
**Author:** ![GorillaMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/50afbb/32.png) [@GorillaMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GorillaMan)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2004, 3:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-language-is-this-writing-old-vellum-book/264947/3 "2004-09-19T03:58:23Z")
Put it this way - I’d pay $400AU for it. Then again, I’m a manuscript fetishist 😃 All seriousness, the Ethiopian suggestian makes a lot of sense. It certainly doesn’t look Greek Orthodox. You _might_ be onto an opportuinity here! 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Bangiadore](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/b5a626/32.png) [@Bangiadore](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bangiadore)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2004, 3:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-language-is-this-writing-old-vellum-book/264947/4 "2004-09-19T03:58:55Z")
It’s certainly Ethiopian, and a Christian text, most likely not a Bible, I’d guess, but a liturgical book. The loose painting appears to depict St. Michael. It’s a lovely object (or collection of objects), isn’t it? ---
**Author:** ![MEBuckner](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mebuckner/32/2896_2.png) [@MEBuckner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MEBuckner)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2004, 4:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-language-is-this-writing-old-vellum-book/264947/5 "2004-09-19T04:17:11Z")
Here’s a better page on [Ethopic script](http://www.omniglot.com/writing/ethiopic.htm) (which incidentally is found on a [really cool website](http://www.omniglot.com/), so I’m glad **Erroneous** asked the question, as I’ve now added to my collection of bookmarks). ---
**Author:** ![Erroneous](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/71c47a/32.png) [@Erroneous](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Erroneous)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2004, 4:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-language-is-this-writing-old-vellum-book/264947/6 "2004-09-19T04:19:36Z")
Oh, Ethiopian, cool. Thanks! Looks like it’s going to go for quite a bit, though. I was considering bidding a couple of days ago when it was around $100, and it was just at $300 a couple of hours ago, and now it’s over $400, so it looks like a bidding war could push it way up in the next five hours or so. Oh well. What might be the true value of something like this? A few weeks ago I saw a couple of old maps (again, in an auction where the seller didn’t really know what they had) go for about $500 each, when a bit of research showed that they could probably resell for up to $6000 each (they were Cellarius celestial charts from the 1706 [I think] edition). Unfortunately being a poor student means that initial outlays of several hundred dollars are out of the question. ☹ ---
**Author:** ![GorillaMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/50afbb/32.png) [@GorillaMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GorillaMan)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2004, 4:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-language-is-this-writing-old-vellum-book/264947/7 "2004-09-19T04:23:58Z")
If nothing else, it’s a seller to keep an eye on. I took a look at his/her other items for sale, and there’s a lot of other interesting stuff there, several I’d go for had I any money. And I’m guessing this stuff doesn’t turn up for sale in Oz as often as back in the old world?