Zagwe dynasty

Church of Saint George, Lalibela constructed during the reign of King Gebre Mesqel Lalibela

Part of a series on the
History of Ethiopia
Early history Prehistory   Dʿmt 980 – 400 BC
Middle Ages Aksum 100 – 940 AD Zagwe dynasty 900–1270 Early Solomonic period 1270–1529
Early modern history Ethiopian–Adal War 1527–1543 Oromo migrations 1543 – 17th century Habesh Eyalet 1557 – 17th century Gondarine period 1632–1769 Aussa Sultanate 1734–1974 Zemene Mesafint 1769–1855
Modern history Unification 1855–1913 First Italo–Ethiopian War 1895–1896 Pre-Italian Modernization 1913–1936 Second Italo–Ethiopian War 1935–1936 Italian East Africa 1936–1941 East African Campaign 1941 Italian guerrilla war 1941–1943 Later Modernization 1941–1974 Federation with Eritrea 1952–1962 Eritrean Independence War 1961–1991 Ogaden War 1977–1978 Ethiopian Civil War 1974–1991
Recent history Eritrean–Ethiopian War 1998–2000 Eritrean border conflict 1998–2018 Police massacre 2005 Intervention in Somalia 2006–2009 East Africa drought 2011–2012 Oromo protests 2014–2016 Ethiopian civil conflict 2018–present Tigray War 2020–2022
Topics Emperor Aristocracy Military Army of the Empire Expansion Currency Aksumite Famines

12th century mural showing the baptism of Jesus Christ. Yemrahana Krestos Church, Lalibela.

According to one tradition, around 960, Queen Gudit destroyed the remnants of the Kingdom of Aksum, causing a shift in its temporal power centre that later regrouped more to the south. For 40 years she ruled over what remained of the kingdom, eventually passing on the throne to her descendants, with Mara marrying the daughter of the last king of Aksum, Dil Na'od. According to other Ethiopian traditional accounts, the last of her dynasty was overthrown by Mara Takla Haymanot in 1137.[9] Still more, according to another tradition, Mara was born in the province of Lasta, which was his power base. Originally a general of Dil Na'od, whose daughter Masoba Warq became his wife, Mara overthrew his father-in-law to found the new dynasty.[9] James Bruce, on the other hand, presents another tradition that Dil Na'od was overthrown by Gudit, and that Mara Takla Haymanot (whom Bruce calls "Takla Haymanot") was a cousin of Gudit who succeeded her after several of her own family.[10]

Three inscriptions discovered in Axum mention the names of two kings, Dabra Ferem and his son Hasani Dan'el, who were Christian but are not recorded on Ethiopian regnal lists.[11] The first inscription tells how Hasani Dan'el attacked rebel tribes in Kassala and claims that he conquered thirty peoples.[11] The second inscription tells how the people of Welkait rebelled and laid waste to Axum, and in response he carried off large numbers of cattle and other animals from them.[11] Dan'el then went to the country of the Maya and took 10,000 sheep and 3,000 cattle.[12] The third inscription tells of how Dan'el went to Axum after his campaigns to be acknowledged as king and imprisoned the old king.[12] It is difficult to date the reigns of these kings, but it likely occurred in the early 10th century when the power of the Solomonic line was in decline.[13] Enno Littmann theorized that these kings were forerunners of the Zagwe dynasty and E.A. Wallis Budge believed they may have even founded the Zagwe line.[14]

The Zagwe period is still shrouded in mystery; even the number of kings in this dynasty is disputed. Some sources (such as the Paris Chronicle, and manuscripts Bruce 88, 91, and 93) give the names of eleven kings who ruled for 354 years; others (among them the book Pedro Páez and Manuel de Almeida saw at Axum) list only five who ruled 143.[15] Paul B. Henze reports the existence of at least one list containing 16 names.[16]

According to Carlo Conti Rossini, the shorter mooted length of this dynasty is the more likely one. He argues that a letter received by the Patriarch of Alexandria John V shortly before 1150 from an unnamed Ethiopian monarch, in which the Patriarch is asked for a new abuna because the current office holder was too old, was from Mara Takla Haymanot, who wanted the abuna replaced because he would not endorse the new dynasty.[17]

The mystery of the Zagwe dynasty is perhaps darkest around its replacement by the Solomonic dynasty under Yekuno Amlak. The name of the last Zagwe king is lost—the surviving chronicles and oral traditions give his name as Za-Ilmaknun, which is clearly a pseudonym (Taddesse Tamrat translates it as "The Unknown, the hidden one"), employed soon after his reign by the victorious Solomonic rulers in an act of damnatio memoriae. Taddesse Tamrat believes that this last ruler was actually Yetbarak. The end of the Zagwe came when Yekuno Amlak, who never personally claimed to be descendant of Dil Na'od or King Solomon, and acting under the guidance of either Saint Tekle Haymanot or Saint Iyasus Mo'a, pursued the last king of the Zagwe and killed him at the Battle of Ansata.[18]

A fragmentary Ge'ez manuscript discovered in the Egyptian Monastery of Saint Anthony. It is contemporary to the Zagwe kingdom, being dated to 1160–1265

Unlike Aksum, the Zagwe were virtually unknown to the contemporary powers of the Mediterranean. The only regular relations seem to have been maintained with Egypt and Jerusalem.[19] Although their presence is often claimed to have been of considerable antiquity, it is only in the 11th and 12th centuries when Ethiopians are firmly attested to have lived in Egypt.[20] A rare testament for their presence during the reign of the Zagwe is a fragmentary manuscript written in Ge'ez that was recently discovered in the Monastery of Saint Anthony, dating to the mid-12th to mid-13th centuries.[20]

The earliest sources confirming an Ethiopian community in Jerusalem date to the second half of the 13th century.[21] Yet it is still probable that Ethiopians had lived there before. In the late 12th century, King Lalibela's knowledge of the town was sufficient enough to have inspired him during the expansion of his capital, adopting Jerusalem's form, attributions and toponyms.[22]

• Ethiopian historiography
• History of Ethiopia
• Kings of Axum
• List of Emperors of Ethiopia

• Derat, M.-L. (2018). L'énigme d'une dynastie sainte et usurpatrice dans le royaume chrétien d'Ethiopie, XIe–XIIIe siècle (in French). Brepolis. ISBN 978-2-503-57908-5.

• Ethiopian History
• Tekeste Negash, "The Zagwe period re-interpreted: post-Aksumite Ethiopian urban culture"