A Brief Glossary of Terms Relating to Ethiopian History

A BRIEF GLOSSaRY OF TERMS RELatINg tO EtHIOPIaN HIStORY abba Ethiopian title for ecclesiastics. abun/abunä The metropolitan of the Ethiopian Church, a Coptic Christian despatched by the Patriarch of Alexandria, leading ecclesiasti- cof medieval Ethiopia. ʿAdal/Barr Saʿd al-Dın̄ Muslim Sultanate, succeeded the Sultanate of Ifat, repeatedly engaged with the Solomonic Christian realm in armed confict from the ffteenth century onwards. Aksum (kingdom) Leading political power centered around the city of Aksum in antiquity; during Aksumite times, Ethiopia became a Christian kingdom. Later Solomonic kings claimed Aksumite descendance; the city of Aksum retained its importance after the fall of the eponymous kingdom in the seventh century, and remained place of corona- tion for Ethiopian rulers. al-Tabrızı̄ ,̄ Nūr al-Dın̄ ʿAlı ̄ Persian Muslim merchant, imported weap- ons, horses and religious objects from Egypt to Ethiopia for the nägäst́, Solomonic ambassador to Spain in 1427–1429. Amba Gəšän Legendary ‘royal prison’ where possible claimants to the Solomonic throne were kept, also an important site upon which signif- cant churches were built. Amhara Region or province of central highland Ethiopia, one of the key provinces of the Solomonic kingdom. © The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature 267 Switzerland AG 2021 V. Krebs, Medieval Ethiopian Kingship, Craft, and Diplomacy with Latin Europe, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-64934-0 268 A BRIEF GLOSSARY OF TERMS RELATING TO ETHIOPIAN HISTORY Amharic Lingua franca of modern-day Ethiopia, spoken language of the late medieval Ethiopian Solomonic court. Angot Central highland region north of Amhara. Anthonius Bartoli Lead ambassador of the Ethiopian embassy to Venice in 1402. ʿaqqabe säʿat Important ecclesiastic at the royal court, responsible for scheduling the day of the nǝgus ́ as well as the hours of prayer. asẹ Term of address for Ethiopian rulers, often followed directly by the name, roughly translating to ‘Majesty’. Atronsä Maryam Royal church and monastery founded by asẹ Bäʾǝdä Maryam, built as the site of his grave, destroyed by ʿAdali troops in the 1530s. Bāb al-Mandab Strait connecting the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden. Bäʾǝdä Maryam Ethiopian nǝgus ́ reigning between 1468 and 1478, not known to have sent an embassy to Latin Europe. Bägemdǝr Province in the north-west of the Solomonic realm, bordering on Lake Ṭana. baḥǝr nägaš Title of the ruler of the coastal Red Sea provinces of Ethiopia, the ‘ruler of the sea’. Baptista of Imola Letter-carrier connected to a small Franciscan mission to Ethiopia in the early 1480s. Betä Ǝsraʾel Ethiopian Jews, formerly also called the ‘Fälasha’. bitwäddäd One of the highest courtly titles in the Ethiopian kingdom. č̣äwa regiments Core regiments of the Solomonic army. Däbrä Libanos Important monastery in the province of Šäwa; its abbot served as the ʿaqqabe säʿat from the reign of asẹ Zärʾa Yaʿǝqob onwards. Däwaro Formerly Muslim Sultanate on the south-eastern fringe of the central highland plateau, incorporated into the Solomonic realm in the 1330s. Dawit II Ethiopian nǝgus ́ from 1378/1379 to 1412, sent three embas- sies to Latin Europe in the very early 1400s. Däy Giyorgis Church in the province of Šäwa, probably founded by asẹ Täklä Maryam. ǝč̣č̣äge Title of the administrative head of the Ethiopian Church, second highest cleric of the Ethiopia Church after the metropolitan or abun. Ǝleni Wife of asẹ Zärʾa Yaʿǝqob; important courtly fgure, served as regent for asẹ Lǝbnä Dǝngǝl, sent one embassy to Portugal in 1508–1509. Ǝntoṇ ǝs Ethiopian ambassador to Rome in 1481–1482, probably despatched there by ras bitwäddäd ʿAmdä Mikaʾel from Jerusalem. A Brief Glossary of Terms Relating to Ethiopian History 269 Ǝnsǝlale Ruin feld with important archaeological traces of a former royal church in the region of Šäwa. Ǝskǝndǝr Ethiopian nǝgus,́ frst of the ‘child kings’ put on the throne in the late ffteenth century, ruled 1478–1494. ǝtege Title for the ruling wife of an Ethiopian sovereign. Ewostateanṣ Religious movement, founded by the monk Ewostatewoṣ in the fourteenth century. Fätägaṛ Region in the south of the central highland plateau of the Solomonic realm, incorporated and Christianised in the fourteenth and sixteenth centuries. Franciscans Latin Christian religious order. Francisco Alvares Chaplain of the Portuguese Embassy to Ethiopia of the 1520s, spent six years in Ethiopia; his lengthy account of the mission was published posthumously in 1540. Futūḥ al-Ḥ abaša Chronicle of the military campaign of Imām Aḥmad written by Šihāb al-Dın.̄ Gännätä Giyorgis Royal church founded by asẹ Ǝskǝndǝr, purportedly- contained an ‘Italian-style organ’ by the second half of the ffteenth century. Gännätä Maryam Important church in the region of Lasta, built by asẹ Yəkunno Amlak, founder of the Solomonic Dynasty in the late thirteenth century. Gǝʿǝz The traditional literary and liturgical language of the Ethiopian highlands, also sometimes called ‘Old Ethiopic’ in modern scholarship. Goǧǧam Region located in the west of the central highland plateau, to the west of the province of Amhara, incorporated into Solomonic Ethiopia and Christianized in the fourteenth century. gwǝlt A form of non-heritable land right in Ethiopian society, often trans- lated as ‘fef’. Ḥ imyar Jewish kingdom located in the south-west Arabian Peninsula, conquered by the Aksumites in the early sixth century. Homily on the Wood of the Holy Cross Religious text composed in the ffteenth century, contains information on asẹ Dawit´s embassy to Venice of 1402. Ifat Muslim Sultanate on the eastern fringe of the central highland plateau, tributary to Christian Ethiopia from the fourteenth century, ruled by the Walasmaʿ dynasty, succeeded as an independent polity by the Sultanate of ʿAdal. 270 A BRIEF GLOSSARY OF TERMS RELATING TO ETHIOPIAN HISTORY Imām Aḥmad Spiritual and military leader of the ʿAdali army and the Sultanate of ʿAdal in the second quarter of the sixteenth century. Joanne Baptista Brochus of Imola High-ranking Italian noble accompany- ing an Ethiopian delegation from Jerusalem to Rome in 1481–1482. kätäma Gǝʿǝz term describing the itinerant royal court or camp of the Ethiopian rulers. Kǝbrä nägäst́ Foundational myth of the Solomonic Dynasty, propagating their descent from the biblical king Solomon through his son with the Queen of Sheba. Lake Ṭana Major lake in the west of the central highland plateau connected to the Blue Nile; its shoreline and islands became home to important religious sites in the ffteenth century. Lake Zway Lake in the south of the central highland plateau, its islands served as repository for Ethiopian Christian religious treasures and manuscripts during the wars of the sixteenth century. Lalibäla Famed Zagwe king, also the site of the famous eponymous mono- lithic rock-hewn churches in the region of Lasta. Lasta Region in the north-central part of the highland plateau, heartland province of the Zagwe dynasty. Lǝbnä Dǝngǝl Ethiopian nǝgus ,́ ruled 1508–1540, put on the throne at age eleven, with queen Ǝleni acting as one of his regents for the frst eight years of his rule. The frst successful, large-scale diplomatic embassy from Europe came to Ethiopia during his reign. Mäkanä Sǝ́ llase Royal church in Amhara affliated with Däbrä Libanos. Founded by asẹ Naʿod and asẹ Lǝbnä Dǝngǝl. Mamlūks Ruling Muslim dynasty of Egypt and the Levant from 1250 until 1517. Märtulạ̈ Maryam Royal church and monastery of ǝtege Ǝleni, renowned for its magnifcence. Naʿod Ethiopian nǝgus,́ ruled 1494–1508, father of asẹ Lǝbnä Dǝngǝl. nǝgus,́ pl. nägäst́ Literally ‘king’, title of an Ethiopian sovereign in Gǝʿǝz. Niqodemos Abbot of the Ethiopian monastery in Jerusalem, sent a delegation of his monks to the Council of Florence in the early 1440s. nǝgusä́ nägäst́ Literally ‘great king’ or ‘king of kings’, alternate title for an Ethiopian ruler of popularity in later centuries but infrequently used in the late Middle Ages. Petrus Rombulus Ambassador sent by aṣe Zärʾa Yaʿǝqob to the court of Alfonso V of Aragon and Pope Nicholas V in 1450. A BRIEF GLOSSARY OF TERMS RELATING TO ETHIOPIAN HISTORY 271 Pietre of Naples Latin Christian agent acting on behalf of asẹ Täklä Maryam in Pera/Constantinople in the 1430s. Prester John Mythical, powerful Christian ruler imagined in Latin Europe as living beyond the lands of the Muslims in the East; from the fourteenth century onwards, Latin Christians began to identify Prester John with the nägäst́ of Ethiopia. rǝst Inalienable, heritable right to land bestowed by a ruler. Šäwa Heartland province of Solomonic Ethiopia, located south of the region of Amhara, political centre of the realm in the second half of the ffteenth and early sixteenth centuries. Säyfä Arʿad Ethiopian nǝgus ́ from 1344 to 1371. Šihāb al-Dın̄ Chronicler of the military campaigns of Imām Aḥmad, wrote theFutūḥ al-Ḥ abaša. Solomon (king) Biblical king, son of king David, built the frst Temple in Jerusalem. Solomonic Dynasty Reigning Ethiopian dynasty from 1270 until 1974, claimed direct descent from the biblical king Solomon through his son Mǝnilǝk I with the Queen of Sheba, locally called Makǝdda. tabot Central object sanctifying an Ethiopian church, a copy of the Ark of the Covenant. Täklä Maryam Ethiopian nǝgus ,́ ruled 1430–1433, sent an agent to the Eastern Mediterranean in the early 1430s. Täzkar Commemorative feast for a dead person. Tǝgray Region in the far north of the central highlands, heartland province of the Aksumite kingdom. Tǝgrǝñña Ethiopian language, mostly used in the north of modern-day Ethiopia and in Eritrea. Yǝmrǝḥannä Krǝstos Zagwe church in the region of Lasta. Yǝsḥaq Ethiopian nǝgus,́ ruled 1414–1430, sent an embassy led by al-Tabrız̄ ı ̄ to the kingdom of Aragon. Zagwe Ruling dynasty of Ethiopia from the eleventh to the thirteenth century, succeeded by the Solomonic Dynasty.

Load more