Hi there! I found this beautiful hand painted image at the thrift store today. Can someone help me figure out what is going on in this scene? Thank you!
The script (and presumably the language) is Amharic, the second most common, and perhaps the most important, language in Ethiopia. The painting is in a traditional Ethiopian style, but probably for the modern tourist market.
The halos around the heads are a symbol of divine power in Ethiopian art just as in many other countries (including in non-Christian traditions). The winged heads around the border are an Ethiopian representation of angels. Thus, this is probably a religious scene, either Biblical or depicting one or two Ethiopian saints. Beyond that, I can't identify it.
The spears are traditional cavalry lances as used in Ethiopia (and also elsewhere in Africa). Note also that the riders have traditional Ethiopian big-toe stirrups:
https://i.pinimg.com/564x/c9/4b/95/c94b95e1cddc618de73271bd229c6195.jpg
https://www.britishmuseum.org/collection/object/E_Af2005-05-50
For more on this style of Ethiopian painting, see:
It may be an extraordinarily good reproduction, but it could be a piece of treasured heritage, so before doing anything else, I'd make sure it's safe from any damage, e.g. away from heat, sunlight or anything that might damage the surface. Then find an expert to identify just what it is.
I'm not such an expert, but it or at least the style is Ethiopian, and the script and language is Ge'ez or Amharic (the first being the language used by the church, the second the speech of the former court and today one of the country's two main languages: while the tongues differ, the scripts are very similar, Amharic adding some characters to the older form that I can't readily spot there).
It's hard to date any style that you're not intimate with, but it could be 16th-18th century: it seems a very sophisticated expression of a more general style that was current for a good deal longer. An expert could do a lot better just by looking at the representations, the pigments and the material it's on. A rewarding brief survey of artistic developments is reproduced here.
It's evidently a battle scene, whether earthly or spiritual: three of the mounted figures have halos, so they may be iconic Christian figures or saintly mortals, and at least some of the prostrate figures seem demonic, similarly suggesting a religious theme; the winged heads surrounding the scene are angels, used in both church and sometimes worldly art.
Whatever it is, it's a remarkable find, and if it is a treasure I hope it eventually finds its way to a museum or public gallery or back home for many more to appreciate it: if it's of lesser vintage, it's a beautiful piece nonetheless.