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Medieval Ethiopia
The history of Ethiopia in the Middle Ages roughly spans the period from the decline of the Kingdom of Aksum in the 7th century to the Gondarine period beginning in the 17th century.Kelly, "Introduction", p. 16 Aksum had been a powerful empire during late antiquity, appearing in the Periplus of the Erythraean Sea and mentioned by Iranian prophet Mani as one of the "four great kingdoms on earth", along with the Sasanian Empire of Persia, the Roman Empire, and China's Three Kingdoms.Munro-Hay The kingdom was an integral part of the trade route between Rome and the Indian subcontinent, had substantial cultural ties to the Greco-Roman world, and was a very early adopter of Christianity under Ezana of Aksum in the mid-4th century. The use of "Ethiopia" to refer to the region dates back to the 4th century. At its height, the kingdom spanned what is now Eritrea, northern Ethiopia, eastern Sudan, Yemen and the southern part of what is now Saudi Arabia. However, by the 7th century, the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Gudit
Gudit () is the Classical Ethiopic name for a personage also known as Yodit in Tigrinya, and Amharic, but also Isato in Amharic, and Ga'wa in Ţilţal. The person behind these various alternative names is portrayed as a powerful female ruler, probably identical to Māsobā Wārq, the daughter of the last Aksumite king, Dil Na'ad, mentioned in an early Arabic source. She is said to have been responsible for laying waste the Kingdom of Aksum and its countryside, and the destruction of its churches and monuments in the 10th century AD. If she is the same as the ''Tirda' Gābāz'' in other Ethiopian sources, she is also said to have attempted to exterminate the members of the ruling dynasty. The deeds attributed to her are recorded in oral tradition and in a variety of historical narratives. Name The name "Gudit" in the Geʽez narrative associates her positively with the Biblical Judith. It has been conjectured that the form Gudit is connected etymologically with the Amh ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Queen Of Sheba
The Queen of Sheba, also known as Bilqis in Arabic and as Makeda in Geʽez, is a figure first mentioned in the Hebrew Bible. In the original story, she brings a caravan of valuable gifts for Solomon, the fourth King of Israel and Judah. This account has undergone extensive elaborations in Judaism, Ethiopian Christianity, and Islam. It has consequently become the subject of one of the most widespread and fertile cycles of legends in West Asia and Northeast Africa, as well as in other regions where the Abrahamic religions have had a significant impact. Modern historians and archaeologists identify Sheba as one of the South Arabian kingdoms, which existed in modern-day Yemen. However, because no trace of her has ever been found, the Queen of Sheba's existence is disputed among some historians. Narrative Hebrew The Queen of Sheba (, in the Hebrew Bible; , in the Septuagint; ; ), whose name is not stated, came to Jerusalem "with a very great retinue, with camels bearing sp ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Solomon
Solomon (), also called Jedidiah, was the fourth monarch of the Kingdom of Israel (united monarchy), Kingdom of Israel and Judah, according to the Hebrew Bible. The successor of his father David, he is described as having been the penultimate ruler of all Twelve Tribes of Israel under an amalgamated History of ancient Israel and Judah, Israel and Judah. The hypothesized dates of Solomon's reign are from 970 to 931 BCE. According to the biblical narrative, after Solomon's death, his son and successor Rehoboam adopted harsh policies towards the northern Israelites, who then rejected the reign of the Davidic line, House of David and sought Jeroboam as their king. In the aftermath of Jeroboam's Revolt, the Israelites were split between the Kingdom of Israel (Samaria), Kingdom of Israel in the north (Samaria) and the Kingdom of Judah in the south (Judea); the Bible depicts Rehoboam and the rest of Solomon's Patrilineality#In the Bible, patrilineal descendants ruling over independent ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
National Epic
A national epic is an epic poem or a literary work of epic scope which seeks to or is believed to capture and express the essence or spirit of a particular nation—not necessarily a nation state, but at least an ethnic or linguistic group with aspirations to independence or autonomy. National epics frequently recount the origin of a nation, a part of its history, or a crucial event in the development of national identity such as other national symbols. History In medieval times Homer's ''Iliad'' was taken to be based on historical facts, and the Trojan War came to be considered as seminal in the genealogies of European monarchies. Virgil's ''Aeneid'' was taken to be the Roman equivalent of the ''Iliad'', starting from the Fall of Troy and leading up to the birth of the young Roman nation. According to the then-prevailing conception of history, empires were born and died in organic succession and correspondences existed between the past and the present. Geoffrey of Mo ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Kebra Nagast
The Kebra Nagast (, ), or The Glory of the Kings, is a 14th-century national epic of Ethiopia, written in Geʽez by the nebure id Ishaq of Aksum. In its existing form, the text is at least 700 years old and purports to trace the origins of the Solomonic dynasty, a line of Ethiopian Orthodox Christian monarchs who ruled the country until 1974, to the biblical king, Solomon and the Queen of Sheba. Modern scholarship considers it not to have any historical basis and that its stories were created to legitimize the dynasty's seizure of power in Ethiopia in the 13th century. Nevertheless, many Ethiopian Christians continue to believe it is a historically reliable work. The text contains an account of how the Queen of Sheba (Queen Makeda of Ethiopia) met king Solomon of Jerusalem and about how the Ark of the Covenant came to Ethiopia with their son Menelik I (Menyelek). It also discusses the conversion via colonialism of Ethiopians from the worship of the Sun, Moon, and stars to t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Yekuno Amlak
Yekuno Amlak (); throne name Tesfa Iyasus (; died 19 June 1285) was Emperor of Ethiopia, from 1270 to 1285, and the founder of the Solomonic dynasty, which lasted until 1974. He was a ruler from Bete Amhara (in parts of modern-day Wollo and northern Shewa) who became the Emperor of Ethiopia following the defeat of the last Zagwe king. Origins and rise to power Yekuno Amlak hailed from an ancient Amhara family. Later medieval texts, written in support of his dynasty, claimed that he was a direct male line descendant of the former royal house of the Kingdom of Aksum which was, itself, descended, it was claimed, from the biblical king Solomon. However, there is no credible historical evidence for such an ancestry or that the Aksumite kings ever claimed descent from Solomon. The claims, nevertheless, formed the basis of his dynasty's pretense that Yekuno Amlak "restored" the Solomonic dynasty to the Ethiopian throne when he overthrew the last of the Zagwe kings in 1270. The ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Lasta
Lasta (Amharic: ላስታ ''lāstā'') is a historic province in northern Ethiopia located in the Amhara Region. It is the province in which Lalibela is situated, the former capital of Ethiopia during the Zagwe dynasty and home to 11 medieval rock-hewn churches. Its original name in the Middle Ages was Bewegna now known as Bugna. History Lasta and Wag were the ancestral homelands of the Central-Cushitic-speaking Agaw people. Christianity is believed to have reached the region as early as the 6th century, during the reigns of Kaleb and Gebre Meskel. Kaleb is traditionally credited with the construction of the rock-hewn churches of Balbala Kirkos and Balbala Giyorgis, while Gebre Meskel is said to have founded the churches of Ledata Maryam and Madoane Alam. Between approximately 1150 and 1270, Lasta served as the power base of the Zagwe dynasty, which administered the country from its political court in Roha, now known as Lalibela—named after one of the dynasty’s most ren ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Rock-Hewn Churches, Lalibela
The eleven Rock-hewn Churches of Lalibela are monolithic churches located in the western Ethiopian Highlands near the town of Lalibela, named after the late-12th and early-13th century King Gebre Meskel Lalibela of the Zagwe dynasty, who commissioned the massive building project of 11 rock-hewn churches to recreate the holy city of Jerusalem in his own kingdom. The site remains in use by the Ethiopian Orthodox Christian Church to this day, and it remains an important place of pilgrimage for Ethiopian Orthodox worshipers. It took 24 years to build all the 11 rock hewn churches. History According to local tradition, Lalibela (traditionally known as Roha) was founded by an Agew family called the Zagwa or Zagwe in 1137 AD. Tradition holds that in Ethiopia prior to his accession to the throne, Gebre Meskel Lalibela was guided by Christ on a tour of Jerusalem, and instructed to build a second Jerusalem in Ethiopia. The churches are said to have been built during the Zagwe dynasty, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Lalibela
Lalibela () is a town in the Amhara Region of Ethiopia. Located in the Lasta district and North Wollo Zone, it is a tourist site for its famous rock-cut monolithic churches designed in contrast to the earlier monolithic churches in Ethiopia. The whole of Lalibela is a large and important site for the antiquity, medieval, and post-medieval civilization of Ethiopia. To Christians, Lalibela is one of Ethiopia's holiest cities, and a center of pilgrimage. Ethiopia was one of the earliest nations to adopt Christianity in the first half of the 4th century, and its historical roots date to the time of the Apostles. The churches themselves date from the 7th to 13th centuries, and are traditionally dated to the reign of the Zagwe ( Agaw) king Gebre Meskel Lalibela (r. ). The layout and names of the major buildings in Lalibela are widely accepted, especially by local clergy, to be a symbolic representation of Jerusalem. This has led some experts to date the current church construc ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Axum
Axum, also spelled Aksum (), is a town in the Tigray Region of Ethiopia with a population of 66,900 residents (as of 2015). It is the site of the historic capital of the Aksumite Empire. Axum is located in the Central Zone of the Tigray Region, near the base of the Adwa mountains. It has an elevation of and is surrounded by La'ilay Maychew, a separately administered woreda of the Tigray region. In 1980, UNESCO added Axum's archaeological sites to its list of World Heritage Sites due to their historic value. Prior to the beginning of the Tigray War in 2020, Axum was a leading tourist destination for foreign visitors. History Ancient Little information is available regarding the early centuries of Aksum's presumed evolution from a humble regional hub to a dominant power. Archeological findings at Gobadra (Gobo Dara) and the Anqar Baahti rock-shelters suggest Stone Age remnants in close proximity. R. Fattovich's excavations at amba 'Beta Giyorgis above Aksum validate the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
