Ethiopian manuscript studies: electronic tools and databases

Manuscripts are among the cornerstones of cultural heritage, both as means of communication, containers of texts and art, and as objects of material history. The past years have seen a steady and growing interest in manuscript studies from a wide array of cultural areas. Many of the recent achievements in manuscript studies, in particular as far as the electronic tools applied to manuscripts from Ethiopia and Eritrea are concerned, have been the result of work of scholars based in Hamburg, who are joining their efforts in this one-week intensive training.

Students will be able to profit from the unique expertise and also have the rare opportunity to get a hands-on experience in digital approaches to manuscript studies.

The school aims at providing graduate students and junior scholars from Ethiopia with uptodate state of the art research into digital humanities advances in Ethiopian and Eritrean manuscript studies. Lectures and seminars in topics ranging from History to Philology to Codicology to Cataloguing shall cover the most central aspects of research and help in developing skills necessary for theoretical and practical tasks in the study of manuscripts. 

The knowledge and skills taught in this School are meant to benefit participants both in their own research and towards a further transfer of knowledge at their research institutions.

The School shall be conducted in English. Good command of the English language is expected from all participants.

Classes taught on site will take place Monday through Friday in Addis Ababa (6-10 October 2025).

Active participation in - and some preparatory work towards - the classes is expected from all students.