ABU DHABI – Ethiopian heritage authorities, international historians, and cultural advocates are mounting an urgent campaign demanding the immediate withdrawal and unconditional repatriation of a rare 18th-century illuminated Ge’ez manuscript. The codex, currently listed for private sale by Austrian rare-book dealer Inlibris for 250,000 euros during an event tied to the Abu Dhabi International Book Fair, was looted by British expeditionary forces following the 1868 Battle of Maqdala.
Originating from Gondar between 1730 and 1740, the large vellum manuscript preserves the Gospels of Luke and John and features 235 vivid illustrations depicting narrative Gospel scenes. Scholars identify the codex as a companion volume to a Gospel manuscript currently held at the Bavarian State Library and confirm its historical inclusion in the imperial library of Emperor Tewodros II at Maqdala.
Following the fall of the mountain fortress and Emperor Tewodros’s death by suicide in April 1868, the manuscript was taken by British commander General Robert Napier before circulating through private collections for over a century and a half.
Ethiopia’s Heritage Authority and prominent historians, including Dr. Alula Pankhurst, have formally called on the dealer to pull the manuscript from the market. Heritage advocates emphasize that while legal frameworks like the 1970 UNESCO Convention lack retrospective enforcement for 19th-century colonial looting, selling items taken during military plundering remains fundamentally unethical. In response, Inlibris asserted its legal title based on a documented century-old chain of ownership and offered a commercial buyback to Ethiopian institutions at a discounted price.
Ethiopian authorities firmly rejected the commercial buyback offer, maintaining that purchasing back looted national treasures undermines moral restitution principles, while continuing diplomatic efforts to secure the manuscript’s return to the National Museum of Ethiopia
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