Yetbarak ( Ge’ez: ይትባረክ) was King of

Zagwe dynasty The Zagwe dynasty () was a medieval Agaw monarchy that ruled the northern parts of Ethiopia and Eritrea. It ruled large parts of the territory from approximately 1137 to 1270 AD, when the last Zagwe King Za-Ilmaknun was killed in battle by the ...

. According to

Taddesse Tamrat Taddesse Tamrat (; 4 August 1935 – 23 May 2013) was an Ethiopian historian and scholar of Ethiopian studies. He is best known as the author of ''Church and State in Ethiopia 1270–1520'' (1972, Oxford University Press ), a book which has domi ...

, he was the son of

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 ...

History

Tradition states that Yetbarak ascended to the throne after his father King Lalibela had taken the crown away from his first choice of successor, Yetbarak's cousin,

Na'akueto La'ab Na'akueto La'ab () was the King of Zagwe dynasty. According to Taddesse Tamrat, he was the son of Kedus Harbe. Richard Pankhurst credits him with the creation of the church located in a cave a half-day's journey from the town of Lalibela. Acc ...

. Taddesse Tamrat argues that this tradition is based on an official version of events, and theorizes that Na'akueto La'ab had fought with Yetbarak for the throne, and despite initial success, Yetbarak became king in the end. He also suggests that Yetbarak was the same individual known in the "official hagiographical tradition" as Za-Ilmaknun, the king of the Zagwe dynasty whom

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 ...

killed and succeeded after the

Battle of Ansata A battle is an occurrence of combat in warfare between opposing military units of any number or size. A war usually consists of multiple battles. In general, a battle is a military engagement that is well defined in duration, area, and force c ...

. He notes that ''Za-Ilmaknun'' is translated as "The Unknown, the hidden one", an "esoteric term" that has "become a useful escape mechanism in denying that the king killed by Yekuno Amlak had anything to do with

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 roc ...

."Taddesse Tamrat, p. 68 n. 1.

References

13th-century monarchs in Africa Emperors of Ethiopia Zagwe dynasty 13th-century Ethiopian people {{Ethiopia-royal-stub