A post Medieval gold repoussé plaque, punched from the reverse with approximately 45 words i...

A post Medieval gold repoussé plaque, punched from the reverse with approximately 45 words in Ge’ez, (classical Ethiopic based on Armenian), each word separated by : and letters sometimes combined to make words as a single punch, the text being a prayer for the ninth hour of the day, taken from the collection of twenty-four prayers by the Armenian Saint Nerses IV the Gracious, 1102-73, the plaque composed of three parts, each part a replication of the other, with a vertical line dividing each part;


By Line transcription and literal translation below:

1 ኦዐቃቤ፡ኵሉ፡እግዚኦ፡ሢም፡ዓቃቤ፡
2 ለአዐይንተየ፡ፈረሆተከ፡ቀዱሰ፡ከመ፡ኢይረ
3 አያ፡ገበረ፡አኩይ፡ወአበሳ፡ወለአእዛንየ፡
4 ከመ ፡ ኢይስምዓ ፡ ወኢያሰተሐውዛ ፡ በነገር ፡
5 ፀዋግ፡ወነገረ፡ሐሜተ፡ወለአፋየ፡ከመ፡ኢይ
6 ተናገር፡ሐሰተ፡ወለልብኒ፡ከመ፡ኢየሐሊ፡
7 አኩይ፡ወግብረ፡ከነቱ፡ወለአእዳውየ፡ከመ፡
8 ከመ፡ኢይገበራ፡ጌጋየ፡ወለአእገርየ፡ከመ፡ኢየሑ
9 ሩ፡በፍኖተ፡ዐመፀ፡ወድፍረተ፡ደእሙ፡ሠ
10 ርህ ፡ ኵሉ ፡ ሑሰቶሙ ፡ ከመ ፡ ይኩኑ ፡ በለ
11 ርዓተ ፡ ኵሎሙ ፡ ተእዛዛቲከ ፡
12 ወተሣሃሎሙ ፡ ለፍጥረትከ ፡ ወሊተኒ ፡ ለኃ
11 ጥእ ፡ ዓቢይ ።


‘Guardian of all Lord place a guardian
on my eyes of your holy fear that they do
not see an evil act and transgression and on my ears
that they do not hear and do not delight in the deed
sinful and the wicked discourses and on my lips that they do not speak falsehood and on my heart that they do not think
to evil and bad acts and on my hands that
they do not commit injustice and on my legs that I do
not walk in the path of iniquity rather
guide all their movements be in accordance
with all your commandments
and have mercy upon your creation on me
a great sinner’


dimensions 10.8 x 3cm.

£500-£600

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Provenance: Ex Shlomo Gabbay Collection, acquired in Israel during the 1950s and 1960s.
See: Noonans’ Coins and Antiquity sale, 18 July 2023, lots 1616-1645, for a biography of Shlomo Gabbay, written by his daughter Ilana.

According to a PMI test on an XRF Analyzer the gold purity tests as 94.64%.


The Armenian poet and theologian Nerses ‘the Gracious’ was born in Cilicia, Turkey. Nerses was entered into a monastery alongside his brother Gregory at Fhoughri to study theology and was ordained as a priest at the age of 17, becoming a bishop at just 35 years of age and then Catholicos of the Armenian church from 1166-73 after the death of his brother.


Nerses tried unsuccessfully to bring about a reconciliation between the Armenian and Greek Orthodox churches, and was recognised as a saint for his championship of Church unity. He is celebrated with a feast day on 13 August and by the Armenian Apostolic Church in mid October.

Nerses wrote a number of musical works, poetry and theological works, including his Twenty-four Hour prayers which have been translated into 32 languages.
The 850th anniversary of his death is commemorated on a postage stamp issued 20 June 2020 with a face value of 850 Armenian drams. (An example is included here together with a copy of his prayer ‘In Faith I Confess’ translated into four languages). The Vatican is also celebrating the anniversary with a postage stamp(also included).

According to a PMI test on an XRF Analyzer the gold purity tests as 94.64%.

Condition Report
All the text is clearly readable, but there are vertical creases where the plaque has possibly been folded. The straight cuts at the top and bottom have removed the first and last lines of the prayer. No other repoussé texts in gold have so far been found recorded by the cataloguer, but there was a significant international interest in the writings of Nerses at the beginning of the 19th century, which is the suggested date for this plaque.

Weight 4.67g, gold purity 94.64%.