Säʿatat: Book of Hours - ሰዓታት ።

A text of the Beta Israel Secondary Canon.
The Sa'atat (Book of Hours) is the Beta Israel daily liturgy. It likely exists in multiple versions.
Sa'atat is also the name used for the EOTC's daily liturgies. I am not aware of any studies of the relation between the EOTC and Beta Israel Sa'atat texts.

Canonical Versions

Version Modern or critical edition Selected manuscript/s

Säʿatat
(The Book of Hours)
Beta Israel version
- in Ge'ez
(image is from the cover of Qes Elias's edition)		ሰዓታት ። :
A late-20th-century printed edition by Qes Samai Elias exists but is not available online.
A transcription and translation based on Qes Elias's edition is forthcoming, however, and will be the most up-to-date edition of the Sa'atat available. This new edition by Isaac Gantwerk Mayer will hopefully be shared here.

Joseph Halévy's 1877 edition is likely incomplete, out-of-date, or both.		 Note: I am not aware of to what extent these manuscripts reflect the Sa'atat as currently prayed,
nor of how well they represent the historical Sa'atat.

Faitlovitch Ms. 23: Sa'atat (from beginning of ms.);
Faitlovitch Ms. 19: Prayers (same prayers as ms.23 from page 8 of ms.)

Non-Canonical Related Texts: Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church Säʿatat

Version Modern or critical edition Selected manuscript/s

Säʿatat (Book of Hours)
of Abba Giyorgis
- in Ge'ez
This is the text of Sa'atat currently in use by the EOTC		መጽሐፈ ፡ ሰዓታት ።
ዐይን: MyOrthodoxBooks.org
Note: all printed editions of the EOTC Sa'atat represent the abbreviated "Minor Sa'atat".		 Type "2a": Major Sa'atat of Abba Giyorgis:
EMML 204 [p: 7];
EMML 4493 [p: 46].
Type "2b": 'Minor Sa'atat":
EMML 4016;
Chester Beatty W 922
(context indicates ms. is this text-type. Have not confirmed.).

Coptic Säʿatat (Book of Hours)
- in Ge'ez
This is the earlier EOTC Sa'atat text, no longer in use.
It corresponds to the Coptic Christian rite.		ሰዓታት ፡ ዘግብጽ ።
ዐይን: "Часослов эфиопской церкви", Б. Тураев.		 Type "1": Coptic Book of Hours:
BNF Éthiopien 9;
BNF Éthiopien 12;
BNF Éthiopien 13;
BNF Éthiopien 81;
Petermann II Nachtrag 30;
Vat.et.1;

Additional Versions of Säʿatat
- in Ge'ez
These are other medieval versions of the EOTC Sa'atat, attested only in manuscript form.		ሰዓታት ። Type "3": the Full Psalter Sa'atat:
EMML 2097;
Vat.et.15.

Type "4": Hourly prayers for hermits:
Vat.et.21

Other Major Published Collections of Beta Israel Prayers and Liturgical Material:

Some of these liturgies may be or may have been considered broadly part of the Sa'atat. All can also be found in manuscript.


More Broadly Related Texts: Other Traditional Daily Liturgies in the Languages of this Website's Collection

None of the other daily liturgies in use by Christians, Jews, or Samaritans correspond directly to the EOTC or Beta Israel liturgies (with the exception of the Coptic liturgy, which is outside this website's scope).
Nevertheless, for thematic comparison, some of these liturgies are linked here:


Further Reading on Beta Israel Liturgical Practices of Relevance to the Sa'atat:


Back to home page