The stemmatic method and Ethiopian philology: General considerations and case Studies

Since the Eighties of the 20th cent., the studies in Ethiopian philology entered a new phase. The edition of Aksumite and Medieval Gǝʿǝz literary works according to the universally accepted rules of the textual criticism (the stemmatic method) is now a commonly admitted practice. Moreover, the preliminary knowledge of the manuscript traditions, starting from the restoration of their lost archetypes, allows one to establish solid bases for the historical reconstruction too. Here two 14th-15th cent. case studies (the so-called Christian Romance of Alexander and the Vita of Ewosṭatewos) are presented to show the pivotal role of this philological approach in the contemporary research.