Salomon II
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Salomon II ( Ge'ez: ሰሎሞን) was
Emperor of Ethiopia The emperor of Ethiopia (, "King of Kings"), also known as the Atse (, "emperor"), was the hereditary monarchy, hereditary ruler of the Ethiopian Empire, from at least the 13th century until the abolition of the monarchy in 1975. The emperor w ...
from 13 April 1777 to 20 July 1779. He was the son of ''Abeto'' Adigo. He may be identical with the Emperor Solomon whom the traveler Henry Salt lists as one of the Emperors still alive at the time of his visit in 1809/1810. Richard Pankhurst credits him with the construction of Qeddus Fasilides ("St. Basilides," literally "Holy
Basilides Basilides ( Greek: Βασιλείδης) was an early Christian Gnostic religious teacher in Alexandria, Egypt who taught from 117 to 138 AD, notes that to prove that the heretical sects were "later than the catholic Church," Clement of Alexandr ...
") church in Gondar. The chronicler
Alaqa The title Aleqa ("Master", also transliterated Alaqa) is a honorific title used in the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church. It is used as the title of a chief priest of a major church, the head of a monastery, as well as being an honorific for a h ...
Gabru appears to suggest, in a confusing passage, that Salomon was blinded before he was deposed.


Reign

Salomon was made Emperor by '' Ras''
Haile Yosadiq Haile may refer to: Personal names As a Ge'ez name, it means 'the power of'. Please note that some names in this list may be other, homonymous, names. Given name * Haile Selassie (1892–1975), Emperor of Ethiopia * Haile Gerima (born 1946), E ...
, ''
Dejazmach Until the end of the Ethiopian monarchy in 1974, there were two categories of nobility in Ethiopia and Eritrea. The Mesafint ( , modern transcription , singular መስፍን , modern , "prince"), the hereditary royal nobility, formed the upper ...
''
Wand Bewossen Dejazmach Wand Bewossen (died 10 December 1777) was a prominent figure in Ethiopian history. He was governor of Lasta and later Begemeder. He was on the losing side in the Battle of Nefas Mewcha (1769), but one of the victorious generals in the ...
, and ''Dejazmach'' Kenfu Adam after they deposed
Tekle Haymanot II Tekle Haymanot II ( Ge'ez: ተክለ ሃይማኖት), throne name: Admas Sagad III (Ge'ez: አድማስ ሰገድ; 1754 – 7 September 1777) was Emperor of Ethiopia from 18 October 1769, when he ascended the throne at the age of 15, until 13 Ap ...
. One of Salomon's first acts as Emperor was to make a series of appointments: ''Ras'' Ayadar became the ''Ras Betwoded'', Kenfu Adam governor of Damot, Wand Bewsossen governor of
Begemder Begemder (; also known as Gondar or Gonder) was a province in northwest Ethiopia. The alternative names come from its capital during the 20th century, Gondar. Etymology A plausible source for the name ''Bega'' is that the word means "dry" in t ...
, ''Dejazmach'' Hailu Adara governor of
Gojjam Gojjam ( ''gōjjām'', originally ጐዛም ''gʷazzam'', later ጐዣም ''gʷažžām'', ጎዣም ''gōžžām'') is a historical provincial kingdom in northwestern Ethiopia, with its capital city at Debre Markos. During the 18th century, G ...
, ''Dejazmach'' Hailu Eshte governor of Semien, and '' Basha'' Mebaras Boqatu deputy to the ''Blattengeta''. Despite the consensus of the major nobles of the Empire to support Salomon, ''Azaj'' Salassie Barya brought
Tekle Giyorgis Tekle Giyorgis may refer to * Tekle Giyorgis I (c. 1751–1817), Emperor of Ethiopia * Tekle Giyorgis II (died 1873), Emperor of Ethiopia {{hndis, Giyorgis, Tekle ...
from the royal prison on
Wehni Wehni () is the name of one of the mountains of Ethiopia where most of the male heirs to the Emperor of Ethiopia were interned, usually for life. It was the last of the three such mountains, or ''amba (geology), amba'', said to have been used for ...
as a pretender to the throne. Salomon responded by marching out from
Gondar Gondar, also spelled Gonder (Amharic: ጎንደር, ''Gonder'' or ''Gondär''; formerly , ''Gʷandar'' or ''Gʷender''), is a city and woreda in Ethiopia. Located in the North Gondar Zone of the Amhara Region, Gondar is north of Lake Tana on ...
; Tekle Giyorgis then fled to
Tigray The Tigray Region (or simply Tigray; officially the Tigray National Regional State) is the northernmost Regions of Ethiopia, regional state in Ethiopia. The Tigray Region is the homeland of the Tigrayan, Irob people, Irob and Kunama people. I ...
, whence he emerged in the month of Sane at the head of an army which was rumored to be "a large force". Tekle Giyorgis was defeated outside of Gondar and once again confined at Wehni. This victory was followed, however, with a battle at Sabisabar between ''Ras'' Haile Yosadiq and Kenfu Adam. Kenfu Adam was victorious, and Emperor Salomon, who was with ''Ras'' Haile Yosadiq, was captured by Kenfu Adam and became Kenfu's figurehead. Salomon shortly afterwards convinced ''Dejazmach'' Hailu Eshte to join forces with him and Kenfu; the ''Dejazmach'' did so after peace was first established between the two enemies. Together the allies raided
Filakit Gereger Filakit Geregera (also known as Filakit) is a town in northern Ethiopia. Located in the Semien Wollo Zone of the Amhara Region, it has a latitude and longitude of and an elevation of 2865 meters above sea level. The town is the administrative cente ...
, then the capital of
Begemder Begemder (; also known as Gondar or Gonder) was a province in northwest Ethiopia. The alternative names come from its capital during the 20th century, Gondar. Etymology A plausible source for the name ''Bega'' is that the word means "dry" in t ...
province; Boqatu, who had succeeded his brother Wand Bewossen as governor on the latter's death, was forced to flee his palace in Felakit Gereger. Not long after a second battle was fought against Boqatu, which went badly for Salomon and his supporters. Kenfu Adam and Hailu Adara then conspired to make Tekle Giyorgis emperor and brought him down from Wehni once again. Kenfu Adam went to
Dera Dera or DERA may refer to: Businesses and organisations * Defence Evaluation and Research Agency, part of the UK Ministry of Defence 1995–2001 * Downtown Eastside Residents Association in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada 1973–2010 * Dera ...
, against the wishes of Emperor Salomon, then attempted to seize ''Ras'' Hailu Yosadiq but failed; peace was made between them. At this point, Kenfu took both the Emperor and Tekle Giyorgis to his province of Damot, and on 17 July 1779 at Yebaba proclaimed Tekle Giyorgis the new emperor and announced that Salomon had become a monk. The latest chronological mention of Salomon in the ''Royal chronicle'' is when Emperor Tekle Giyorgis learned on 25 March 1780 that Kenfu Adam had brought Salomon down from Wehni to replace him as Emperor. However Kenfu Adam was defeated in battle 25 May at Maryam Weha by Boqatu, leading Kenfu Adam to being imprisoned and Salomon presumably returned to the Royal prison on Wehni.Weld Blundell, ''The Royal chronicle'', p. 254


Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Salomon 02 Of Ethiopia 18th-century emperors of Ethiopia 18th-century monarchs in Africa Year of death unknown Year of birth unknown