Yekuno Amlak (throne name Tasfa Iyasus) was negus (1270 - 1285) of Ethiopia and founder of the Solomonid dynasty. He traced his ancestry through his father to Bil Na'od, the last king of Axum; tradition states that his mother was the slave of an Amhara chieftain in Sagarat (located on the main road between Begemder and Lake Hayq). Negus is the Amharic word for king. The term negus negust means king of kings, or Emperor. ... Events The Eighth Crusade is launched against Tunis, and ends when its leader, Louis IX of France, dies. ... Events Night watch created in Winchester, England - every householder patrols one night in turn The writ Circumspecte Agatis defines the jurisdictions of church and state in England Births Emperor Go-Nijo of Japan Pope Benedict XII Deaths March 28 - Pope Martin IV Categories: 1285 ... The Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia (Ityopiya, Amharic ኢትዮጵያ) is a country situated in the Horn of Africa. ... The Solomonid dynasty is the traditional royal house of Ethiopia, claming descent from King Solomon and the Queen of Sheba, who is said to have given birth to the traditional first king Menelik I after her Biblically-described visit to Solomon in Jerusalem. ... The Axumite Kingdom, also known as the Aksum Kingdom, was an important trading nation in northeastern Africa, growing from circa the 5th century BC to become an important trading nation by the 1st century AD. It converted to Christianity in 325 or 328 (various sources). ... Amhara may refer to: Amhara, an ethnic group of Ethiopia Amhara, an administrative region of Ethiopia This is a disambiguation page — a navigational aid which lists other pages that might otherwise share the same title. ... Begemder was a province in the north-eastern part of Ethiopia, with its capital city at Gondar. ...

According to tradition, Yekuno Amlak was imprisoned by the Zagwe king Za-Ilmaknun ("the unknown, the hidden one") in Malot, but managed to escape. He gathered support in the northern Amhara provinces and in Shewa, and with an army of followers defeated the Zagwe king. (Taddese Tamrat argued that this king was Yetbarak, but due to a local form of damatio memoriae, his name was removed from the offical records.)¹ Amhara may refer to: Amhara, an ethnic group of Ethiopia Amhara, an administrative region of Ethiopia This is a disambiguation page — a navigational aid which lists other pages that might otherwise share the same title. ... Shewa (also spelled Shoa) is a historical region of Ethiopia. ...

Yekuno Amlak campaigned against the Kingdom of Damot, which lay south of the Abbay River. The Abay River is a river in Ethiopia. ...

At first, he cultivated friendly relations with his Muslim neighbors. However, his attempts to be granted an abuna for the Ethiopian Orthodox Church strained his relations with these rulers. A letter survives that he wrote to the Mamluk Sultan Baibars, who was ruler over the Patriarch of Alexandria, and ultimate head of the Ethiopian church, for his help for a new abuna in 1273; the letter suggests this was not his first requst. When one did not arrive, he blamed the intervention of the Sultan of Yemen, who had hindered the progress of his messenger to Cairo. A Muslim is a believer in or follower of Islam. ... 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. ... An Ottoman Mamluk, from 1810 Mamluks (or Mameluks) (the Arabic word usually translates as owned, singular: مملوك plural: مماليك) comprised slave soldiers used by the Muslim Caliphs and the Ottoman Empire, and who on more than one occasion seized power for themselves. ... al-Malik al-Zahir Ruk al-Din Baibars al-Bunduqdari (also spelled Baybars) (b. ... The Patriarch of Alexandria is the bishop of Alexandria, Egypt. ... Events St. ... The Republic of Yemen is a country in the Arabian Peninsula in Southwest Asia, and is a part of the Middle East, bordering the Arabian Sea, Gulf of Aden, and Red Sea, between Oman and Saudi Arabia. ... View of the modern citys skyline. ...

Taddesse Tamrat interprets Yekuno Amlak son's allusion to Syrian priests at the royal court as a result of this lack of attention from the Patriarch. Taddesse also notes that around this time, the Patriarchs of Alexandria and Antioch were fighting for control of the appointment of the bishop of Jerusalem, which had until then been a perogative of the Patriarch of Antioch. One of the moves in this dispute was Ignatius III David's appointment of an Ethiopian pilgrim as abuna. This pilgrim never attempted to assume this post in Ethiopia, but -- Taddesse argues -- the lack of Coptic bishops forced Yekuno Amlak to rely on the Syrian partisans who arrived in his kingdom.² The Syrian Arab Republic or Syria is a country in the Middle East, bordering (from south to north) on Lebanon, Israel, Jordan, Iraq and Turkey. ... In the history of Christianity, Patriarch of Antioch was the title carried by the Bishop of Antioch one of the few dioceses that preserve historical names of its bishops form the apostolic beginnings. ... Jerusalem (Hebrew: יְרוּשָׁלַיִם Yerushalayim; Arabic: القدس al-Quds; see also names of Jerusalem) is an ancient Middle Eastern city of key importance to the religions of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. ... Coptic is an adjective referring to the original inhabitants of Egypt, the Copts. ...

Yekuno Amlak ordered the construction of the Church of Gennata Maryam near Lalibela, which contains the earliest surviving dateable wall paintings in Ethiopia.³ After the city of Aksum, Lalibela is modern Ethiopias holiest city and a center of pilgrimage for much of the country. ...

References

1. Taddesse Tamrat, Church and State in Ethiopia (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1972), p.68n.1
2. Taddesse, Church and State, p.69ff
3. Paul B. Henze, Layers of Time, A History of Ethiopia (New York: Palgrave, 2000), p.59.