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Scope and content

This inventory includes the transcription (into Arabic and Turkish) and translation into English of the 18 volumes of reports (55% in Ottoman Turkish, 45% in Arabic) from the Ottoman municipality of Jerusalem between 1892 and 1917.

The documents sent by the communities of the Ottoman Empire are either in "ancient Hebrew" (pre-modern Hebrew) or "Ladino". There are sometimes letters in French. Only between 10% and 20% of the archives would be written in "Ladino".

The oldest documents are pinkasim from 1750 and 1759, difficult to understand, very damaged in 1948. Many are uncommunicable (circa 1850). There is a gap between 1820 and 1830. There are gaps, the community almost disappeared. After that, for the period 1890-1920 which represents many documents of which a part is a little damaged.

The writings represented are mainly the "half-calamus" or handwritten Sephardic rabbinic script (documents in "ancient" Hebrew = rabbinic and/or in "ladino" = Judeo-Spanish) and the writing called "letras de karta" or "solitreo" in the correspondence in Judeo-Spanish. Much of these documents have been transcribed according to the modern Hebrew ms alphabet.

The Ethiopian archbishop’s residence in the old city preserves a part of Ethiopian community’s archives. These archives are divided into two main sections: the current administrative archival office, which includes all types of administrative documents, and the manuscript section.

• The Administrative section
  In the current administrative archival office, there is an heterogeneous set of documents dated from the end of 19th century to present. There is no historical archives properly speaking. These archives are still used by the local administration for current affairs.
  Among all the folders stored in that place, seven include documents created before 1950: folders n°6, 154, 356, 358, 359, 360 and a last one entitled in Amharic “yä-leyu leyu guday däräseññoč käzih yegäññalu” including different types of documents unclassified. In addition to these folders, a book written in 1903-1904 (manuscript in Amharic) was recorded as “folder” n°172 and a report written in 1925 as “folder” 216.
  Documents dated before to 1950 found in the archives (ca. 160 documents) are administrative and financial documents, such as payment receipts, cheques, bank documents, financial reports, letters and correspondence including daily issues of the community, etc. These documents are written in Arabic, English, French, German languages. Amharic marginalia are often added to documents in order to give a clue to the topic of the document. Very few documents are fully written in Amharic. 55 documents are written in Arabic.

• The manuscripts section
  The manuscripts section carefully preserves numerous parchment and paper manuscripts written in Ethiopian languages (Geez and Amharic). The collection represents more than 760 manuscripts. The oldest one dates back to the 15th century.

Through this collection, one could study the daily life of the Ethiopian religious community established in Jerusalem, and get information to understand all their problems and opportunities, such as housing, supplies, access to public services, administration or worship. Receipts and payment document are witnesses of Ethiopian involvement in local life.

Mgr Testa took over the archive of the Apostolic Delegation after his entry to Jerusalem, on 18 June, 1948. The archive contains 38 folders concerning the administrations of the Apostolic Delegates Gustavo Testa, Arthur Hughes, Silvio Oddi and Giuseppe Sensi. The documentation covers the period 1935-1962. The documentation concerning the government of Mgr Valerio Valeri has been lost in 1948 when the palace of the Apostolic Delegation was destroyed. A well-structured filing plan is available for the government of Testa, Oddi and Sensi. The archive is accessible until 1939.