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So this is the Ethiopian seal with more Ge-ez writing. Looks great. Thanks for posting.Is there a few around or is it a rarity?
Chantal, I honestly don't know. We purchased this one and the copper one several years ago with many other Ethiopian pendants in various metals. I showed them to a prominent Ethiopian dealer here in the US and he was very surprised and excited and told me that they were "very special", what ever that may imply. He did not have any and he told me that he has never had any in his possession. Just because I haven't seen others doesn't mean I think that they are rare, perhaps it's just that not too many have come out? I liked them both, but finally had to part with the one that Eva now has.
Have never seen any similar ones in any book (but am not a specialist in Ethiopian art). It looks great to me maybe because no one at present can decipher what it says..........It has mystery as well as artistic and rarity value.Hang on to it! and you couldnt have sold the other one to a person more enthusiastic and appreciative than Eva.........
Wow! This is really a wonderful piece! Thanks for showing! Very fascinating! Also thanks Chantal for your kind wonderful words about me! Mine is more coppery I think, but this one has more signs on it and the decoration in the inner circle. I assume we will not find out what it means, but it is very fascinating: I am happy to have one! Yours is a real beauty, more intricate, more refined. Happy to see it! Thank you! mine seems more the "country-simple-type", but I love them both! I was happy to read the information you wrote about the Ethiopian dealer.
I did not want to part with either one for a couple of years, and then I had to decide. I really liked how the brass was formed on the back of mine, but the rough beauty of your copper one was also very appealing. I love copper!
for those who don't remember how the other piece looked like, a photo made of it, lying on my computer. I just noticed the one above from Hillary has a wonderful cross in the middle.
Hillary how do you know that it is religious? Your text is different from Eva's............
@Eva thanks for posting yours, its interesting to compare............
I was told that it was religious by the Ethiopian dealer I mentioned earlier, though I could not say for certain. I imagine that there are several different fonts that could be used for Ge'ez. I suppose we'll have to wait for our specialist in old Ethiopian things. I was getting ready to take the seals to an Ethiopian man who worked at the Starbucks at the Phoenix airport, but then I learned it is not modern Ethiopian.
I have found a picture of the old Ge-ez scripture (something like an alphabet) and I found some of the letters on my seal, but not all (the sign with the three connected circles looking a bit like musical notes I could not find. Of course it does not help to understand, becausewe do not know the language. In Hillarys seal there is also a cross in the middle. The difference in signs could mean that it is a different name (e.g. from an Apostle, or a different saying from the Bible, or whatever). There are many possibilities.