Bete Amhara

Bete Amhara was a historical region located in north-central Ethiopia, covering most of the later Wollo Province, along with significant parts of North Shewa. The state had 30 districts, including Ambassel, Lakomelza, Laikueyta, Tatakuyeta, Akamba, Ambassit, Atronsa Mariam, Genete, Feresbahir, Amba Gishen, Gishe Bere, Wasal, Wagada, Mecana-Selasse, Tabor, Tedbaba Mariam, Zoramba, Daje, Demah, Ephrata and Ewarza.

History

The 13th-14th century hagiography of Amhara saint Tekle Haymanot traces Bete Amhara as far back as the mid 9th century AD as a location. With the rise of the Solomonic Dynasty in 1270 under Emperor Yekuno Amlak, and until the establishment of Gondar as the new imperial capital around 1600, the Debre-Birhan to Mekane-Selassie region was the primary seat of the roving Amhara emperors. This period is most significant in the formation of the medieval Ethiopian state, the spread and consolidation of Ethiopian Orthodox Christianity in Bete Amhara, Gojjam, Begemdir, northern Shewa, Gafat, and Damot
The region’s recorded history, in fact, goes back to the first decades of the second millennium. For example, St. George’s Church in the town of Woreilu was established around 1200. The parish of Mekane Selassie, near Neded and the home of the famous cathedral by the same name, served as a favorite royal playground. The construction of Mekane Selassie was begun by Emperor Naod and completed by his son Emperor Libna Dengel. This was a year before the church was sacked in 1531 by a destructive Ottoman-backed invasion. Francisco Alvarez, who had earlier visited the church, confirms that its size was some 150 feet by 150 feet—wholly covered in gold leaf, inlaid with gems, pearls and corals. Astounded by the wealth and workmanship, the Yemeni chronicler of Ahmed Gragn notes: "The imam asked all the Arabs who were with him, ‘Is there the like of this church, with its images and its gold, in Byzantium, or in India, or in any other place?' They replied, ‘We never saw or heard of its like in Byzantium or India or anywhere in the world.
Due to the origin of the Solomonic Dynasty in Bete Amhara, the regions rulers played a disproportionate role in the politics of the Ethiopian state. In the medieval era, the Tsahife Lam, governor of the Bete Amhara, was the most senior military officer next to the Emperor. Along with that, the Jantirar of Ambassel, was tasked with protecting Amba Geshen. One of the mountains of Ethiopia where most of the male heirs to the Solomonic Dynasty were interned, the Emperors also kept the imperial treasury there even after it was no longer a royal prison. According to "The Glorious Victories," the soldiers of Amda Seyon were from "Amhara and Sewä and Gojjam and Dämot, who were trained in warfare, and dressed in gold and silver and fine clothes archers, spearmen, cavalry, and infantry with strong legs, trained for war. When they go to war they fight like eagles and run like wild goats; the of their feet is like the rolling of stones, and their sound is like the roaring of the sea, as says the prophet Herege'el: "I have heard the sound of the wings of the angels, as the noise of a camp." Such were the soldiers of 'Amda Seyon, full of confidence in war."

Geography and ethnography

Bete Amhara was bounded on the west by the Abbay, on the south by the river Wanchet, on the north by the Bashilo-Mille River, and on the east by the Escarpment that separate it from the Afar Desert. The hagiography of Tekle Haymanot states the kingdom was bordered, if only partially, to the south by Damot according to E. A. Wallis Budge.
The region is the source of much of Ethiopia's clothing culture, eating culture, language, education system. An example is the fundamental modal system used by music of the Ethiopian highlands called qenet, of which there are four main modes:,,, and. Abba Gregorius, the famous monk whose Jesuit association and global travels disseminated invaluable knowledge overseas about Ethiopia, is said to hail from Woreilu. In a 1650 letter to the German scholar Hiob Ludolf, the Ethiopologist deservedly known as the father of Ethiopian Studies, Abba Gregorius describes himself as follows:
"As to my origins, do not imagine, my friend, that they are humble, for I am of the House of Amhara which is a respected tribe; from it come the heads of the Ethiopian people, the governors, the military commanders, the judges and the advisers of the King of Ethiopia who appoint and dismiss, command and rule in the name of the King, his governors, and grandees.”
According to 19th century traveler William Cornwallis Harris, "Amhára" was a term held synonymous with "Christian," evidence that "must formerly have exerted preeminent influence in the empire."

Religion

The dominant religion of the region was Christianity, in the form of Ethiopian Orthodoxy. As the state religion, the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church played a critical role in the development of the region as a whole.
Islamic knowledge and culture was introduced to the region in the 7th century, when a group of Muslims were counseled by the prophet Mohammed to escape persecution in Mecca and travel to Ethiopia. A minority in the Bete Amhara were influenced by these Arab migrants and became Muslim converts.