Maaqudi Book

The 17th century church of Maaqudi contains a 16th century Gospel.  It is believed that the book was brought by the monks who founded the church. Loosely bound into the book are two illustrations from an early 15th century Acts of Martyrs. These were in dire need of conservation. The parchment needed repairing and the pages rebound. On a recent visit, Mark Winstanley who helped on the restoration of the Abba Garima gospels, retired to a cave at Maaqudi on top of one of the Gheralta peaks to undertake some repairs. These beautiful pages had been crudely sewn into the gospel and were becoming increasingly damaged as the book was opened. Mark removed the stitching and mounted the pages onto Japanese tissue. The tissue was then strengthened and rebound into the back of the book.