Gebre Mesqel Lalibela (also called simply "Lalibela", which means "the bees recognise his sovereignty" in Old Agaw) was negus of Ethiopia, and a member of the Zagwe dynasty; he is also considered a saint by the Ethiopian church. According to Taddesse Tamrat, he was the son of Jan Seyum and brother of Kedus Harbe. Tradition states that he reigned for 40 years.^[1] According to Getachew Makonnen Hasen, his reign was from 1189 to 1229.^[2] He is best known as the king who either built or commissioned the monolithic churches of Lalibela. Families Andrenidae Apidae Colletidae Halictidae Megachilidae Melittidae Stenotritidae Bee collecting pollen Bees (a lineage within the superfamily Apoidea) are flying insects, closely related to wasps and ants. ... The Agaw are a people of Ethiopia. ... Negus is the Amharic word for king. The term negus negust means king of kings, or Emperor. ... The Zagwe Dynasty ruled Ethiopia from the end of the Kingdom of Axum to 1270, when Yekuno Amlak defeated and killed the last Zagwe king in battle. ... The Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahido Church is an Oriental Orthodox church in Ethiopia that was part of the Coptic Church until it was granted its own Patriarch by Cyril VI, the Coptic Pope, in 1959. ... Jan Seyum was negus of Ethiopia, and a member of the Zagwe dynasty. ... Kedus Harbe was negus negust of Ethiopia, and a member of the Zagwe dynasty. ... Church of St. ... Lalibela is a city in the Amhara ethnic division, or kilil, of Ethiopia. ...

King Lalibela was born at either Adefa or Roha (later named Lalibela after him) in Bugna. Tradition states that he went into exile due to the hostility of his uncle Tatadim and his brother king Kedus Harbe, and was almost poisoned to death by his half-sister. Because Lalibela came to power during his brother's lifetime, Taddesse Tamrat suspects that he came to power by force of arms.^[3] Tatadim was negus of Ethiopia, and a member of the Zagwe dynasty. ...

Details about the construction of his 11 monolithic churches at Lalibela have been lost. The later Gadla Lalibela, a hagiography of the king, states that he carved these churches out of stone with only the help of angels.^[4] Church of St. ... Hagiography is the study of saints. ... The Annunciation - the Angel Gabriel announces to Mary that she will bear Jesus (El Greco, 1575) An angel is a supernatural being found in many religions. ...

His chief queen was Masqal Kibra, about whom a few traditions have survived. She induced Abuna Mikael to make her brother Hirun bishop, and a few years later the Abuna left Ethiopia for Egypt, complaining that Hirun had usurped his authority.^[5] Another tradition states that she convinced king Lalibela abdicate in favor of his nephew Na'akueto La'ab, but after 18 months of his nephew's misrule she convinced Lalibela to resume the throne. Taddesse Tamrat suspects that the end of Lalibela's rule was not actually this amiable, and argues that this tradition masks a brief usurpation of Na'akueto La'ab, whose reign was ended by Lalibela's son, Yetbarak.^[6] Getachew Mekonnen credits her with having one of the rock-hewn churches, Bet Aba Libanos, built as a memorial for Lalibela after his death. ^[7] Naakueto Laab was negus of Ethiopia, and a member of the Zagwe dynasty. ...

Unlike the other Zagwe kings, a sizeable amount of written material has survived about his reign, besides the Gadla Lalibela. An embassy from the Patriarch of Alexandria visited his court around 1210, and have left an account of him, and Na'akueto La'ab and Yetbarak.^[8] The Italian scholar Carlo Conti Rossini has edited and published the several land grants that survive from his reign.^[9] The Patriarch of Alexandria is the bishop of Alexandria, Egypt. ... Centuries: 12th century - 13th century - 14th century Decades: 1160s 1170s 1180s 1190s 1200s - 1210s - 1220s 1230s 1240s 1250s 1260s Years: 1210 1211 1212 1213 1214 1215 1216 1217 1218 1219 Events and Trends 1210 End of the reign of Emperor Tsuchimikado, emperor of Japan Emperor Juntoku ascends to the throne...

References

1. ^ Taddesse Tamrat, Church and State in Ethiopia (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1972), p. 56n.
2. ^ Getachew Mekonnen Hasen, Wollo, Yager Dibab (Addis Ababa: Nigd Matemiya Bet, 1992), p. 22.
3. ^ Taddesse Tamrat, p. 61.
4. ^ The portion of his Gadla describing his construction of these churches has been translated by Richard K. P. Pankhurst in his The Ethiopian Royal Chronicles (Addis Ababa: Oxford University Press), 1967.
5. ^ Taddesse Tamrat, pp. 59f.
6. ^ Taddesse Tamrat, pp. 62f.
7. ^ Getachew Mekonnen, p. 24.
8. ^ Taddesse Tamrat, p. 62.
9. ^ A bibliography for these can be found at Taddesse Tamrat, p. 59.