HMML

A great example of paper re-use: the recipient of this letter, Ngurūrī (name on lower left) writes his response (top) on the blank reverse side of the letter, folds the paper the opposite way, & addresses it to its original sender, N'jī ʻĪsá (name lower right). SAV BMH 37705: https://bit.ly/3VV9an2

Many of humanity’s best stories feature a cunning antagonist—one who plagues the hero through deception and disguise. Dr. Jeremy R. Brown shares some examples in Ethiopic literature, including a full translation of the story “The Man Whose Servant Was Satan”: https://bit.ly/47PXvIW

In Islamic written heritage, texts for magic and divination can also contain stories from the rich literary heritage of regional folktales. Celeste Gianni, cataloger of Arabic manuscripts at HMML from 2020 to 2024, shares some examples: hmml.org/stories/series-story-tracing-folktales-in-magic-texts

Dr. Ani Shahinian is giving a free, virtual presentation at the International Association of Armenian Librarians & Archivists on Saturday, October 24. RSVP: https://bit.ly/4dGDLuN Ani's topic: Armenian Manuscript Collections at HMML: A Global Legacy of Preservation, Digitization, and Access

Statistics from FY2026 (July 1, 2025, to June 30, 2026): 103,051 manuscripts and artworks cataloged and searchable in HMML Reading Room and Museum (vhmml.org). 2,497 name authorities for persons, organizations, works, places, and families created and added to HMML Authority File (haf.vhmml.org).

In the very bottom margin of two pages, in manuscript CFMM 00312, an anonymous person left an intriguing note. This note became the start of a investigative journey for Dr. Vevian Zaki. Join Vevian as she follows this manuscript's travels from Egypt to Turkey: https://bit.ly/3j8Ne2g

Statistics from FY2026 (July 1, 2025, to June 30, 2026): 916,018 primary digital images created by HMML partners worldwide, representing 5,534 manuscripts & art objects (38.9 terabytes of data). 1,000,172 primary digital images created by the scanning of microfilms at HMML in Collegeville, MN.

Fragmented Beauty—an exhibition on manuscript fragments, spanning over 1,500 years. View online: hmml.org/programs/exhibitions/fragmented-beauty Pictured: a Latin manuscript fragment used as binding waste, 12th/13th century. (HMML 00658: https://www.vhmml.org/readingRoom/view/520714)

Cataloging is complete for the manuscript collection of the StiftsMuseum Xanten in Xanten, #Germany. In 1983, HMML microfilmed these 338 manuscripts and archival records, including #Maps by the prolific cartographer Johann Bücker of landholdings along the #Rhine. Learn more: https://bit.ly/4hhpvLv

hmml.orgHMML: A Library of Relationships“It used to seem very easy to describe HMML and its mission...”

Of the more than 70 repositories in Austria where HMML worked between 1965 and 1973, last year Dr. Matthew Z. Heintzelman visited staff at 25 libraries—in a quest to gather information about these foundational projects and to seek ways of furthering collaboration. Learn more: https://bit.ly/3TvdM2e

On Saturday, October 17 (4–5 p.m. CT), join HMML at Minnesota Center for Book Arts (MCBA) in Minneapolis, Minnesota, to learn about damaged books in HMML’s collection. Details about this free, in-person event can be found at hmml.org/programs/events

hmml.orgNew features added to vHMML Reading RoomNew features added to vHMML Reading Room page

Three new features were recently added to https://bit.ly/2sa4TLB, the website that hosts HMML Reading Room and Museum, which provide free online access to more than 267,000 manuscripts and works of art: * Open in new Tab * Quick View * Image Compare Learn more: https://bit.ly/4qO6nax

A palm-leaf manuscript of Naḷacarita āṭṭakkatha, a famous Kathakaḷi play by Kerala author Uṇṇāyivāriyar about the love story of Nala and Damayantī. This Malayalam copy was made in 1913 CE and is located at the Vaṭakke Maṭham Brahmasvam in Thrissur, India (DKA 013 00001): https://bit.ly/4yiY35w

A new guide is available for HMML's photographic collections of #Ethiopian manuscripts, including repository and access information. View the guide: https://bit.ly/4x5MHAD Learn about HMML's partnerships in Ethiopia: https://bit.ly/4zMYg29 Image credits: see alt text.

HMML reposted

Carin Ruff

@carinr.bsky.social

HMML fellowships are a great opportunity to spend time using the collections in a beautiful facility at a beautiful monastery! You get access to a great manuscript reference collection as well as all the microfilmed and digitized resources. And nice people! Application deadline is October 15th.

HMML@visithmml.bsky.social

How can HMML support your research? Apply for a fellowship to fund your visit to HMML in Collegeville, Minnesota. Now accepting applications for research residencies to be completed between January 1 and June 30, 2027. Application deadline: October 15 Learn more: hmml.org/research/fellowships

palestinechronicle.compalestinechronicle.com

🧵 (1/5) Incredible work by Haneen al-Amssi (executive director of the Eyes on Heritage Foundation) and her team of specialists and volunteers who are applying a first-aid response to the library of the Great Omari Mosque in the city of Gaza: www.palestinechronicle.com/saving-gazas...

unesco.orgPalestinian Documentary Heritage Professionals to Receive 2026UNESCO Director-General Khaled El-Enany has named Abdul Latif Hashim and Haneen Al-Amassi as the laureates of the 2026 UNESCO/Jikji Memory of the World Prize, following the recommendation of an

🧵 (4/5) This month, Dr. Abdul Latif Abu Hashem and Haneen Al-Amasi were named laureates of the 2026 UNESCO/Jikji Memory of the World Prize for their work to safeguard Gaza’s manuscript heritage: www.unesco.org/en/articles/...

hmml.orgWhere We're Working: Gaza“The Gaza Strip is the smallest of the two Palestinian territories in...”

🧵 (5/5) Learn more about both digitization projects in a story authored in July 2023 by Dr. Celeste Gianni, cataloger Arabic manuscripts at HMML: hmml.org/stories/where-were-working-gaza

palestinechronicle.compalestinechronicle.com

vhmml.org Virtual Hill Museum & Manuscript Library Resources and Tools for Manuscript Studies

🧵 (2/5) In February 2020, digitization of the manuscript library of the Great Omari Mosque began through a partnership between the library, HMML, and the Endangered Archives Programme of the British Library. These manuscripts are cataloged and viewable in HMML Reading Room (vhmml.org).

vhmml.org Virtual Hill Museum & Manuscript Library Resources and Tools for Manuscript Studies

🧵 (3/5) In 2022, the project was extended to digitize the collection of Eyes on Heritage, a library of manuscripts, documents, and rare books collected in the Gaza Strip by the historian Dr. Abdul-Latif Abu Hashem. 36 of these manuscripts are cataloged and viewable in HMML Reading Room (vhmml.org).

hmml.orgInnovations in Mali Cataloging Work“HMML's decade-long project in Mali digitized more than 300,000 manuscripts, amounting to an estimated 4.35 million unique image files...”

Over a period of six months this past year, the Mali cataloging team at HMML was able to add around 85,000 manuscripts to HMML’s online Reading Room (vhmml.org)—work that otherwise could have taken a decade to complete manually. Learn more: hmml.org/stories/innovations-in-mali-cataloging-work

18 Sept

Did you know that you can translate the HMML Reading Room (vhmml.org) interface into other languages, including Amharic, Arabic, and Tigrinya? Learn more: hmml.org/research/vhmml

16 Sept

🧵(1) Tel Keppe, Iraq, has historically been home to a large community of Syriac heritage Christians associated with the Chaldean Catholic Church. The manuscripts of the Qalb al-Aqdas Chaldean Church in Tel Keppe were digitized by 2010, before the village was captured by the Islamic State.

🧵(3) This is the first page of a Syriac bible containing all five books of the Pentateuch, in the collection of Qalb al-Aqdas Chaldean Church, Tel Keppe, Iraq. View each page in HMML Reading Room (QACCT 00002): vhmml.org/readingRoom/view/135541

🧵(4) Several manuscripts were copied by well-known scribal families in Alqūsh and Tel Keppe, and their colophons provide important information for studying scribal culture and the transmission of texts in the early period of the Chaldean Catholic tradition. Learn more: hmml.org/collections/...

🧵(2) The collection consists of 227 manuscripts, mostly dated to the 18th through 19th centuries and primarily containing texts written in the Syriac language, though there are also texts in Arabic, Arabic Garshuni, and Neo-Aramaic (Sureth).

@jonathanbohan.bsky.social

13 Sept

In 1965, HMML microfilmed 406 manuscripts at the Benedictine Abbey of Lambach, Austria: https://bit.ly/3SE2LeU The microfilm project numbers were later added to the manuscripts’ labels by Lambach library staff—a testament to the enduring relationship between the handwritten & film copies.

HMML reposted

Jonathan Bohan

10 Sept

@darthbluesky.bsky.social best use of Air Bud to illustrate Islamic scholarship?

HMML@visithmml.bsky.social

People living under a code of laws or rules will sometimes find it advantageous to identify #legal stratagems or #loopholes that can reinterpret the letter or spirit of those laws. Dr. Josh Mugler shares some examples found in Islamic legal scholarship: https://bit.ly/4hFu9TO

hmml.orgThe Letter and the Spirit“In the film Air Bud (1997), a key plot point is enabled by the realization that there is ‘no rule says a dog can't play basketball'...”

hmml.orgThe Letter and the Spirit“In the film Air Bud (1997), a key plot point is enabled by the realization that there is ‘no rule says a dog can't play basketball'...”

10 Sept

🧵(1) Cataloging is complete for the collection of the Historisches Archiv der Stadt Köln, the city archive for Cologne, Germany—one of the largest archives in Europe. Between 1979 and 1982, HMML microfilmed 1,385 manuscripts in the archive. Learn more: hmml.org/collections/...

🧵(4) The oldest manuscript in the collection is a 5th-6th century papyrus fragment from Byzantium—a Greek-Latin glossary (HMML 37172): www.vhmml.org/readingRoom/...

🧵(5) A series of #Fragments (HMML 37176, multiple records) also contains one of the oldest surviving examples of Yiddish, dating to 1397 CE. View the catalog records by visiting vhmml.org, entering the Reading Room, and searching for HMML project number "37176."

🧵(2) In 2009, mismanagement of a subway’s construction led to the devastating collapse of the Cologne archives. A decade later, only half of the recovered archival materials were restored and accessible. HMML's microfilms offer a record of the medieval and early modern collection before the damage.

🧵(3) The majority of the manuscripts include theological writings, sermons, and commentaries on religious texts. Hagiographies provide a glimpse into the diverse veneration of saints in Cologne (such as the French William of Maleval, the Dutch Lidwina of Schiedam, and the Coptic Anthony the Great).

8 Sept

HMML's Malta Study Center is please to be a co-sponsor of two notable gatherings happening in Malta this Fall: * The IX International Military Orders Conference: https://bit.ly/4wZB7qF * Seminar and events celebrating the 300th anniversary of Maltese composer Benigno Zerafa: https://bit.ly/3UBhdEW

3 Sept

Join Dr. Josh Mugler, curator of Islamic manuscripts at HMML, in Minnesota for a hands-on look at some remarkable East African manuscripts at three free, in-person events, September 8–10. Learn more: hmml.org/programs/events

youtu.beCompare images in vHMMLCompare images in vHMML After you sign in, visit this page: https://www.vhmml.org/compare. Paste in 2 IIIF manifest URLs. Click Load. Click Full Screen. Hit ESC to go back to vHMML. You can also load manuscripts to compare by passing them in a...

1 Sept

Do you love the ability to compare manuscripts in HMML Reading Room but want to see them FULL SCREEN? Now you can! * Sign into Reading Room (vhmml.org) * Visit vhmml.org/compare * Paste in 2 IIIF manifest URLs * Click "Load" * Click "Full Screen" Video tutorial: https://bit.ly/4hkngXR

🧵(1) August 30 was the feast day of Takla Hāymānot, perhaps the most famous Ethiopian saint, also venerated by the Coptic Church. An account of his life was translated from Ge‘ez into Arabic. While numerous texts were translated from Arabic into Ge‘ez, this is the only known case of the reverse.

🧵(3) According to the rubric of the manuscript, this translation happened in the mid-16th century, undertaken during the reigns of the Ethiopian Emperor Galāwdēwos (1540–1559) and Pope Gabriel VII of Alexandria (1525–1570).

🧵(4) Its source from the Ethiopic tradition is much better known, attested in dozens of manuscripts. One of these was translated into English a century ago in a volume which HMML recently digitized and added to Reading Room (AARB 00158): vhmml.org/readingRoom/view/534311

🧵(2) A copy of the rare Arabic text is found in ABMQ 00403 (pictured), a 17th-century theological miscellany digitized at the monastery of Dayr al-Qiddīs Anbā Maqār in Wadi al-Natrun, Egypt. View the full manuscript in HMML Reading Room: vhmml.org/readingRoom/view/511622

28 Aug

HMML is seeking applicants for the position of "Advancement Associate," a full-time, benefits-eligible position. This is a hybrid position, with 3 days on-site in Collegeville, Minnesota, and 2 days remote. Learn more: https://bit.ly/4xa8zvq #JobOpening #LibraryJobs #Philanthropy

🧵(1) ACK 00168 (pictured) and ACK 00169 are Arabic manuscript copies of the two major encyclicals issued by Pope Leo XIII on the topic of the Eastern churches: "Orientalium dignitas" (1894) and "Auspicia rerum" (1896). ACK 00169 includes a printed French translation of the latter text as well.

🧵(3) NDU 00332 is an Arabic response to "Orientalium dignitas" by Raphael Hawaweeny, later Russian/Antiochian Orthodox bishop of Brooklyn. At that time, Hawaweeny was teaching at a seminary in Kazan, Russia. This is a rare text, in the collection of Notre Dame University, Louaize in Lebanon.

🧵(4) View NDU 00332 online in HMML Reading Room: vhmml.org/readingRoom/view/608032

vhmml.org ACK 00168 - Iraq - Kirkuk - Chaldean Catholic Church. Archdiocese of Kirkuk - Reading Room - vHMML Resources and Tools for Manuscript Studies

🧵(2) Both ACK 00168 and ACK 00169 are in the collection of the Chaldean Catholic Church, Archdiocese of Kirkuk, Iraq, digitized in collaboration with Centre Numérique des Manuscrits Orientaux.   View online: ACK 00168: vhmml.org/readingRoom/view/504363 ACK 00169: vhmml.org/readingRoom/view/504364

hmml.orgThe Prophet's Birthday and Books for Celebrating It“In many Muslim communities, the annual celebration of the Prophet Muḥammad's birthday is one of the most festive occasions of the year...”

26 Aug

In Harar and the surrounding region of eastern #Ethiopia, a particular set of texts has become the standard compilation for communal reading at #Mawlid celebrations. Take a closer look with Dr. Josh Mugler, curator of Islamic manuscripts at HMML: https://bit.ly/4wHv6jf