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Amba Mariam (
Amharic Amharic ( or ; (Amharic: ), ', ) is an Ethiopian Semitic language, which is a subgrouping within the Semitic branch of the Afroasiatic languages. It is spoken as a first language by the Amharas, and also serves as a lingua franca for all oth ...
: ዐምባ ማሪያም) is a village in central Ethiopia. Formerly known as Magdala or Makdala (መቅደላ ''Meḳdelā or Mäqdäla'') during the reign of
Emperor An emperor (from la, imperator, via fro, empereor) is a monarch, and usually the sovereign ruler of an empire or another type of imperial realm. Empress, the female equivalent, may indicate an emperor's wife ( empress consort), mother (emp ...
Tewodros II (1855-1868). Located in the Debub Wollo Zone of the
Amhara Region The Amhara Region ( am, አማራ ክልል, Åmara Kilil), officially the Amhara National Regional State (), is a regional state in northern Ethiopia and the homeland of the Amhara people. Its capital is Bahir Dar which is the seat of the Regi ...
, Amba Mariam has a longitude and latitude of . Based on figures from the Central Statistical Agency in 2005, this town has an estimated total population of 1,899, of whom 988 were males and 911 were females. The 1994 census reported this town had a total population of 1,091, of whom 520 were males and 571 were females. It is one of three towns in
Tenta Tenta is a town in northern Ethiopia. Located in the Debub Wollo Zone of the Amhara Region, Tenta has a latitude and longitude of with an elevation of above sea level. It is one of three towns in Tenta woreda. A notable landmark in this tow ...
woreda.


History

By the early 19th century, Magdala was a mountain stronghold, or ''
amba Amba or AMBA may refer to: Title * Amba Hor, alternative name for Abhor and Mehraela, Christian martyrs * Amba Sada, also known as Psote, Christian bishop and martyr in Upper Egypt Given name * Amba, the traditional first name given to the fir ...
'' in the Wollo province of the Amhara people. When
Johann Ludwig Krapf Johann Ludwig Krapf (11 January 1810 – 26 November 1881) was a German missionary in East Africa, as well as an explorer, linguist, and traveler. Krapf played an important role in exploring East Africa with Johannes Rebmann. They were the first ...
camped at its foot on 26 March 1842, it was one of the strongholds of Imam Liban of the Were Himano, a "House" or a sub-group of the
Wollo Oromo Wollo (Amharic: ወሎ) was a historical province of northern Ethiopia that overlayed part of the present day Amhara, Afar, and Tigray regions. During the Middle Ages this region was known as Bete Amhara and had Amhara kings. Bete Amhara had ...
. Emperor Tewodros II conquered Magdala on 22 September 1855. He constructed a number of buildings on the top of the mountain, including a church and a palace. In 1862, he imprisoned several European missionaries. Again in January 1864, he imprisoned the
British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English, ...
diplomat, Charles Duncan Cameron inside the fortress over a perceived insult from Queen Victoria. A British military expedition led by Sir Robert Napier, landed at the
Gulf of Zula The Gulf of Zula, also known as Annesley Bay, Baia di Arafali or Zula Bahir Selat’ē, is a body of water on the Eritrean coastline on the Red Sea. Geography The Gulf lies to the east of Massawa, near the midpoint of the Eritrean coast. It is l ...
on 4 December and set up a base camp at
Zula Zula ግእዝ ዙላ saba ሰብኣ 𐩸𐩡 is a small town in central Eritrea. It is situated near the head of Annesley Bay (also known as the Gulf of Zula), on the Red Sea coast. Four kilometers away is the archeological site of Adulis, ...
before advancing on Magdala, which they reached in April 1868. Abandoned by the nobility and his followers, and after his remaining troops engaged the British forces at the Battle of Magdala, Tewodros withdrew into the fortress on Amba Mariam and killed himself with a pistol a few days later as the final assault began. The British entered the capital, where they rescued the diplomats. Before departing from Abyssinia, Sir Robert allowed his troops to loot and burn Magdala, including its churches. The expedition looted a large number of treasures and religious items such as
tabot ''Tabot'' ( Ge'ez ታቦት ''tābōt'', sometimes spelled ''tabout'') is a Ge'ez word referring to a replica of the Tablets of Law, onto which the Biblical Ten Commandments were inscribed, used in the practices of Orthodox Tewahedo Christians ...
s. These are still held in various museums and libraries in Europe, as well as in private collections. A few items have been returned to Ethiopia, the most important being the crown of Tewodros II, which
George V George V (George Frederick Ernest Albert; 3 June 1865 – 20 January 1936) was King of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions, and Emperor of India, from 6 May 1910 until his death in 1936. Born during the reign of his grandmother Quee ...
personally presented to the future Emperor Haile Selassie on his visit to England in 1925. Two tabots were returned in 2002 and 2003, from Scotland and England, respectively, prompting occasions of great rejoicing in the country. little remains of Tewodros's capital; the most visible item being Tewodros's
cannon A cannon is a large-caliber gun classified as a type of artillery, which usually launches a projectile using explosive chemical propellant. Gunpowder ("black powder") was the primary propellant before the invention of smokeless powder during ...
"
Sebastopol Sevastopol (; uk, Севасто́поль, Sevastópolʹ, ; gkm, Σεβαστούπολις, Sevastoúpolis, ; crh, Акъя́р, Aqyár, ), sometimes written Sebastopol, is the largest city in Crimea, and a major port on the Black Sea ...
". The abandoned fortress was occupied briefly by ''Lij'' Iyasu after the defeat of his supporters in the Battle of Segale; troops of the victors subjected him and his followers to an unenthusiastic siege. On 18 July 1917, Iyasu slipped through the siege lines and rallied the peasantry of Wollo to revolt; the rebellion was crushed and many of Iyasu's generals were captured, forcing ''Lij'' Iyasu to flee to the Afar Depression.Harold Marcus, ''Haile Sellassie I: The Formative Years'' (Lawrenceville, New Jersey: Red Sea Press, 1996), pp. 24-30


See also

*
Acoma Pueblo Acoma Pueblo (, kjq, Áakʼu) is a Native American pueblo approximately west of Albuquerque, New Mexico, in the United States. Four communities make up the village of Acoma Pueblo: Sky City (Old Acoma), Acomita, Anzac, and McCartys. These com ...


Notes

{{Reflist, 30em Populated places in the Amhara Region