ABSTRACT
In the course of visiting churches and monasteries in south-eastern Goggam to identify and record paintings, crosses and other religious objects, one of the major discoveries was a large and handsome 18th-century manuscript of the Miracles of Mary, Ta ãmrã Mary am, which is adorned with fourteen frontispiece miniatures. The choice of the subjects and their arrangement is atypical of 18th-century manuscript illuminations. Probably both reflect the preferences of the individual who commissioned the manuscript, and whose name, Arkaledis, is mentioned in the last folio of the manuscript. It is likely that this was Blattengeta Arkaledis, uncle of Empress Mintiwwab and a prominent member of the Qwaranna clan. Employed by the empress for varied activities and delicate negotiations with the clergy, he was highly respected by Mintiwwab. He died in 1743, which provides us with the probable ante quern for the manuscript in question.1
