Cataloguing Manuscripts and Its Contribution to Ethiopian and Eritrean Studies: A Retrospective View on the Last Decades and the Role of the Project “Beta Maṣāḥǝft”

The ‘Beta maṣāḥǝft’ project, initiated in 2016 and due to last until 2040, has established a digital, open and collaborative platform for the modern description and cataloguing of Ethiopian and Eritrean manuscripts. Using a digital environment, the project provides a sophisticated catalogue of manuscripts, displaying their images and transcriptions, and supports cooperative research. It also contributes to define shared standards, produces guidelines and creates and suggests the adoption of unique identifiers for works, texts, persons, places and institutions. This paper outlines the concept and principles behind the project, and explains how the ‘Beta maṣāḥǝft’ initiative aims to contribute to all areas of research into Ethiopian and Eritrean manuscripts and textual heritage.