An outline, era by era

Ethiopia

Zagwe and Solomonic dynasties

Medieval / Post-Classical Era · ~500 – ~1500 CE

Ethiopia, in the highlands of the Horn of Africa, was home to one of the longest-lasting Christian kingdoms in the world. The earlier Aksumite state, which adopted Christianity in the 4th century CE, began to decline from the 7th century, though a Christian highland state and Aksumite traditions continued for centuries afterwards. The Zagwe dynasty then governed the highland north, usually dated to about 1137 to 1270, with its centre at Roha, now Lalibela. A tenth-century start is sometimes proposed but is disputed. Its best-known legacy is a group of churches cut down into solid rock.

In 1270 Yekuno Amlak overthrew the last Zagwe king and founded what is called the Solomonic dynasty, whose rulers claimed descent from King Solomon and the Queen of Sheba. This line ruled, with interruptions, until 1974. Its kings expanded the kingdom, patronised the church and monasteries, and made Ethiopia known to European rulers. The medieval period is therefore the story of two dynasties and of how each justified its right to rule.

Things happened, and the rest is history

  1. Aksum adopts Christianity

    Event

    What happened

    In the early 4th century CE, King Ezana of Aksum is converted to Christianity by Frumentius, a Christian from Tyre who had come to the kingdom as a youth. Frumentius is later made bishop by Athanasius of Alexandria. Ezana's coins change from the disc and crescent to the cross, and his inscriptions change their wording from many gods to one Lord of Heaven.

    The rest is history

    Christianity became the religion of the Aksumite court and, over the centuries, of the highlands. The Ethiopian church kept its link with the Coptic patriarch of Alexandria, who sent its chief bishop (abun) until the 20th century. This church later became the main support of both the Zagwe and Solomonic kings. Ezana's change of faith is dated to around 330 to 350 CE.

    Sources

    1. PrimaryRufinus of Aquileia. Ecclesiastical History, Book 10, c. 402 CE. Account of Frumentius and the conversion of Aksum.
    2. BookMunro-Hay, Stuart. Aksum: An African Civilisation of Late Antiquity. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, 1991.

  2. The decline of Aksum

    Event

    What happened

    From the 7th century CE, Aksum's trade on the Red Sea weakens as Arab power rises in the region. Its coinage ends about this time, and the kingdom's centre moves south and inland from its old capital. Over the following centuries the highland state is poorly documented.

    The rest is history

    Historians connect the decline to shifts in Red Sea trade, environmental pressure and internal change, though the relative weight of these causes is debated. The Christian core of the kingdom survived in the highlands. Out of this obscure period the Zagwe rose to power, and they are often described as rulers who came from the Agaw people of the interior.

    Sources

    1. BookPhillipson, David W. Ancient Ethiopia: Aksum, Its Antecedents and Successors. London: British Museum Press, 1998.
    2. BookMunro-Hay, Stuart. Aksum: An African Civilisation of Late Antiquity. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, 1991.

  3. The Zagwe dynasty takes power

    Event

    What happened

    In the 12th century, traditionally from about 1137, a dynasty known as the Zagwe rules the Christian highlands from a base in Lasta. Its kings keep the Christian faith and the links with the church in Alexandria. The exact start date and the number of kings are debated.

    The rest is history

    The Zagwe period is known from later Ethiopian chronicles, church traditions and the surviving monuments, so details are uncertain. Later Solomonic writers described the Zagwe as usurpers, which colours much of what is recorded. The dynasty's chief achievement is the building at Roha in the early 13th century. It ended in 1270 with the rise of Yekuno Amlak.

    Sources

    1. BookTaddesse Tamrat. Church and State in Ethiopia, 1270-1527. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1972.
    2. BookMunro-Hay, Stuart. Ethiopia, the Unknown Land: A Cultural and Historical Guide. London: I. B. Tauris, 2002.

  4. The rock-hewn churches of Lalibela

    Event

    What happened

    In the early 13th century a Zagwe king named Lalibela has a group of churches cut downward from the volcanic rock at Roha. There are eleven churches, linked by trenches and tunnels. The best known, Bete Giyorgis, is shaped like a cross and stands in a pit open to the sky.

    The rest is history

    The site remains an active place of worship and pilgrimage. The town of Roha later took the king's name, Lalibela. The work is dated to around the 12th and 13th centuries, and scholars debate how long it took and how much was done under one king. UNESCO listed the churches as a World Heritage Site in 1978.

    Sources

    1. BookPhillipson, David W. Ancient Churches of Ethiopia. New Haven: Yale University Press, 2009.
    2. BookTaddesse Tamrat. Church and State in Ethiopia, 1270-1527. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1972.

  5. Yekuno Amlak founds the Solomonic dynasty

    Event

    What happened

    In 1270 Yekuno Amlak, a ruler from the province of Amhara, defeats the last Zagwe king and takes the throne. He is helped by the church, and in particular by the monk Iyesus Mo'a. His house claims to restore the line of the ancient Aksumite kings.

    The rest is history

    The new dynasty was called Solomonic because it claimed descent from Solomon. It ruled the Ethiopian highlands, with a break in the 16th century and a later revival, until Emperor Haile Selassie was deposed in 1974. The shift of power also moved the centre of the kingdom to the south, in Amhara and Shewa. The date 1270 is the one conventionally given.

    Sources

    1. BookTaddesse Tamrat. Church and State in Ethiopia, 1270-1527. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1972.
    2. BookPankhurst, Richard. The Ethiopians: A History. Oxford: Blackwell, 1998.

  6. Amda Seyon's wars of expansion

    Event

    What happened

    Amda Seyon, who reigns from 1314 to 1344, campaigns against the Muslim sultanates to the east and south, and against others on the frontiers. His campaigns, recorded in a royal chronicle, bring Ifat and other regions under tribute. The chronicle describes campaigns in about 1332 against Ifat and neighbouring territories.

    The rest is history

    These wars widened the kingdom well beyond the old Christian heartland. They also continued a long pattern of rivalry with the Muslim states of the region, which still shaped events in the 16th century, though the later wars had their own causes. The chronicle is a royal text written to praise the king, so its figures and claims need caution.

    Sources

    1. PrimaryChronicle of Amda Seyon. Ethiopian royal chronicle, 14th century, in Ge'ez.
    2. BookHuntingford, G. W. B. The Glorious Victories of Amda Seyon, King of Ethiopia. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1965.

  7. Ethiopian embassies to Europe

    Event

    What happened

    In 1402 an Ethiopian embassy sent by Emperor Dawit I reaches Venice, and in 1441 Ethiopian envoys attend the Council of Florence. Their visits aim at an alliance against Muslim powers and at ties with other Christians. An Ethiopian community also had a place in Jerusalem.

    The rest is history

    European writers had long imagined a distant Christian king, and the contacts fed such beliefs. The envoys achieved little in military terms at the time. Contact grew into the Portuguese mission of 1520, which reached the court of Emperor Lebna Dengel.

    Sources

    1. BookPankhurst, Richard. The Ethiopians: A History. Oxford: Blackwell, 1998.
    2. BookTaddesse Tamrat. Church and State in Ethiopia, 1270-1527. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1972.

  8. Zara Yaqob and church reform

    Event

    What happened

    Zara Yaqob rules from 1434 to 1468. He founds the town of Debre Berhan and calls church councils, notably at Debre Mitmaq in 1450, to settle disputes over practice such as the Sabbath. He also moves against practices he regards as pagan.

    The rest is history

    His reign tied the monarchy and the church more closely, and he left writings on religion attributed to him. Later Ethiopian history shows the kingdom with a strong state church. The early 1450 council is the best-known single event of his reign.

    Sources

    1. BookTaddesse Tamrat. Church and State in Ethiopia, 1270-1527. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1972.
    2. BookPankhurst, Richard. The Ethiopians: A History. Oxford: Blackwell, 1998.

  9. The Queen of Sheba and Menelik I

    Origin story

    The legend

    The Queen of Sheba, called Makeda, visits King Solomon in Jerusalem. She bears his son, Menelik, who later visits his father and returns to Ethiopia, bringing with him the Ark of the Covenant. His line becomes the kings of Ethiopia.

    The rest is history

    The story is told in the Kebra Nagast, an Ethiopian text put into its known form in the early 14th century, in the time of the new Solomonic dynasty. It served to justify the dynasty's claim and to link Ethiopia to the biblical Zion. No evidence outside the tradition shows the Ark in Ethiopia. The Queen of Sheba appears in the Bible, but her kingdom's location is debated, and may lie in southern Arabia or in the Horn.

    Sources

    1. PrimaryKebra Nagast. Ge'ez text, compiled in the early 14th century.
    2. BookBudge, E. A. Wallis. The Queen of Sheba and Her Only Son Menyelek. London: Medici Society, 1922.
    3. BookMunro-Hay, Stuart. The Quest for the Ark of the Covenant: The True History of the Tablets of Moses. London: I. B. Tauris, 2005.

  10. Prester John

    Popular belief

    The legend

    In medieval Europe people tell of Prester John, a rich Christian priest-king who rules a great realm far in the east and will help the Crusaders against Islam. He is said to have sent a letter to the Byzantine emperor describing his wealth. Later, travellers look for him in Africa.

    The rest is history

    The letter was a forgery that began to circulate in Europe from around 1165. Early searches looked to Asia. From the 14th century, and especially in the 15th, European writers began to identify him with the Christian king of Ethiopia. Portuguese explorers sought him this way, and the embassy of 1520 reached Ethiopia.

    Sources

    1. PrimaryLetter of Prester John. Latin text, forged, circulating in Europe from about 1165.
    2. BookSilverberg, Robert. The Realm of Prester John. Garden City: Doubleday, 1972.

  11. Lalibela and the angels

    Folk tale

    The legend

    The young Lalibela is born in Roha, and a swarm of bees is said to surround him, which the mother takes to mean he will be king. His brother is jealous and has him poisoned. Lalibela is taken to heaven and shown the churches. He returns and has them built, with the help of angels who work at night.

    The rest is history

    The story comes from Ethiopian church tradition, set down in the hagiography of Lalibela in later centuries. Its picture of angels working by night explains how so much rock could be cut so fast. In fact the churches were cut by human labour, and the monuments suggest long planning. Scholars date the work only roughly to the 12th and 13th centuries.

    Sources

    1. PrimaryGadla Lalibela (Life of Lalibela). Ethiopian hagiography in Ge'ez, later medieval tradition.
    2. BookPhillipson, David W. Ancient Churches of Ethiopia. New Haven: Yale University Press, 2009.

  12. Yodit Gudit burns the churches

    Folk tale

    The legend

    A queen named Yodit, or Gudit, rises in the south and destroys churches and kills the royal family, ruling for decades. In some tellings she is Jewish, in others pagan. She is said to have ended the Aksumite line.

    The rest is history

    Ethiopian tradition tells of her, and the Zagwe period is sometimes tied to her era. Modern scholars doubt many details, and some link the tale to a real raid or revolt in the 10th century, perhaps by a non-Christian group. Archaeology has found evidence of destruction at Aksum, but it cannot be tied to any named queen.

    Sources

    1. BookMunro-Hay, Stuart. Aksum: An African Civilisation of Late Antiquity. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, 1991.
    2. BookTaddesse Tamrat. Church and State in Ethiopia, 1270-1527. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1972.

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