Atronsa Maryam (
Ge'ez: አትሮንሰ ማርያም, "Throne of St Mary") is one of the oldest churches in
South Wollo
South Wollo (Amharic: ደቡብ ወሎ) is a zone in the Amhara Region of Ethiopia. It acquired its name from the former province of Wollo. South Wollo is bordered on the south by North Shewa and the Oromia Region, on the west by East Gojjam, ...
,
Amhara Region
The Amhara Region ( am, አማራ ክልል, Åmara Kilil), officially the Amhara National Regional State (), is a regional state in northern Ethiopia and the homeland of the Amhara people. Its capital is Bahir Dar which is the seat of the Reg ...
,
Ethiopia
Ethiopia, , om, Itiyoophiyaa, so, Itoobiya, ti, ኢትዮጵያ, Ítiyop'iya, aa, Itiyoppiya officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, is a landlocked country in the Horn of Africa. It shares borders with Eritrea to the ...
. The church sits on small hill near the mighty river of
Walaqa and about 5 km from the town of Woin Amba. The original name of this area was Kelanto. It is also very close to the famous church of
Mekane Selassie. The church was first built by Emperor
Baeda Maryam in about 1468, where he would also reinter
Yekuno Amlak
Yekuno Amlak ( Ge’ez: ይኩኖ አምላክ); throne name Tasfa Iyasus (ተስፋ ኢየሱስ; died 19 June 1285) was Emperor of Ethiopia, and the founder of the Solomonic dynasty, which lasted until 1974. He was a ruler from Bete Amhara (in ...
's body.
Construction
Originally, the idea of building a church in the vicinity of Kelanto was initiated by Emperor
Newaya Krestos
Newaya Krestos ( gez, ንዋየ ክርስቶስ; throne name: Sayf Ar'ed, lit. "sword of terror") was Emperor of Ethiopia from 1344 to 1372, and a member of the Solomonic dynasty. He was the eldest son of Amda Seyon I.
Reign
According to James ...
, also called Sayfa Ara'ad (1344-1372). The place where this church was built is a private property of Emperor
Newaya Krestos
Newaya Krestos ( gez, ንዋየ ክርስቶስ; throne name: Sayf Ar'ed, lit. "sword of terror") was Emperor of Ethiopia from 1344 to 1372, and a member of the Solomonic dynasty. He was the eldest son of Amda Seyon I.
Reign
According to James ...
who bought it with his own money to build a church on it. Unfortunately, he died before he build one. The original name of the place was Kelanto; also called Sako Malza, apparently a name of the district where Kelanot was.
Several years later, fulfilling the ambition of his grand father, Emperor
Zera Yacob (1434-1468) sent a tabot to the site and built a small chapel for her. He called its name Dabra Paraqlitos. Like his predecessors,
Zera Yacob was not able to complete the work of building a church, and he died before he materialized his thought. Following the original name of the place, Kelanto, the church was also known by the locals as Dabra Kelanto. It is believed that
Zera Yacob was not responsible for the creation of the tabot itself or for choosing the site for it. The local legend claims that the Tabot of Atronsa Maryam was brought during the reign of Ezana.
In about 1462, the son of Emperor
Zera Yacob, Emperor
Baeda Maryam (1468-1478) started building the church. He hastened its construction staying there and succeeded building a beautiful church. In October 1468, a few days after the commemoration (tizkar) of the fortieth day of the death of Emperor
Zera Yacob, the church of Atronasa Maryam was inaugurated. During the inauguration, Emperor
Baeda Maryam renamed the tabot and the site, where he built the church for it, Atronasa Maryam. The church was under the jurisdiction of the monastery of
Debre Libanos
Debre Libanos (Amharic: ደብረ ሊባኖስ, om, Dabra libanose) is an Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo monastery, lying northwest of Addis Ababa in the North Shewa Zone of the Oromia Region. It was founded in 1284 by Saint Tekle Haymanot as D ...
. The son and successor of Emperor
Baeda Maryam, Emperor
Eskender
Eskender ( gez, እስክንድር, "Alexander"; 15 July 1471 – 7 May 1494) was Emperor of Ethiopia and a member of the Solomonic dynasty. His throne name was Kwestantinos II (Ge’ez: ቈስታንቲኖስ, "Constantine"). He was the son of Em ...
(1474-1497), was apparently involved in the construction of the church.
Eskandar, like Emperor
Baeda Maryam, was buried in the church of Atronasa Maryam. Before the demolition of Atronsa Maryam, a total of about 21 kings of Abyssinia have been buried in this church.
In the course of time, the church acquired fame for its wealth - Emperor
Baeda Maryam himself being its generous donor - and for harboring the remains of eighteen of the earlier metropolitans and emperors, starting with
Yekuno Amlak
Yekuno Amlak ( Ge’ez: ይኩኖ አምላክ); throne name Tasfa Iyasus (ተስፋ ኢየሱስ; died 19 June 1285) was Emperor of Ethiopia, and the founder of the Solomonic dynasty, which lasted until 1974. He was a ruler from Bete Amhara (in ...
(1270-1285). A text in the chronicle of Emperor
Baeda Maryam states that the tabot spent 67 years in "Sako Melza". The period until the infamous 21st year of the reign of Emperor
Lebna Dengel (1508-1540).
Destruction
In about 1531, during the
Ethiopian–Adal War
The Ethiopian–Adal War or Abyssinian-Adal War, also known in Arabic as the "Futuḥ al-Ḥabash" ( ar, فتوح الحبش, ''conquest of Abyssinia''), was a military conflict between the Christian Ethiopian Empire and the Muslim Adal Sultana ...
between the Muslims and the Christian
Ethiopian Empire
The Ethiopian Empire (), also formerly known by the exonym Abyssinia, or just simply known as Ethiopia (; Amharic and Tigrinya: ኢትዮጵያ , , Oromo: Itoophiyaa, Somali: Itoobiya, Afar: ''Itiyoophiyaa''), was an empire that historical ...
, one of the Adal contingents, commanded by Waz Ir Nur, plundered its property and burned the church along with the treasure that they could not carry away. When they arrived at the church of Atronsa Maryam, they entered it and were astounded by its workmanship. However, the
tabot
''Tabot'' ( Ge'ez ታቦት ''tābōt'', sometimes spelled ''tabout'') is a Ge'ez word referring to a replica of the Tablets of Law, onto which the Biblical Ten Commandments were inscribed, used in the practices of Orthodox Tewahedo Christians ...
itself, assumed to have been burned down with the church, was moved before the onslaught. This story was fully described by the writer of the Futuh-al-Habasa as follows:
The
Imam
Imam (; ar, إمام '; plural: ') is an Islamic leadership position. For Sunni Muslims, Imam is most commonly used as the title of a worship leader of a mosque. In this context, imams may lead Islamic worship services, lead prayers, ser ...
then called the
Arabs
The Arabs (singular: Arab; singular ar, عَرَبِيٌّ, DIN 31635: , , plural ar, عَرَب, DIN 31635, DIN 31635: , Arabic pronunciation: ), also known as the Arab people, are an ethnic group mainly inhabiting the Arab world in Wester ...
who were with him, and said to them, "Is there in
Constantinople
la, Constantinopolis ota, قسطنطينيه
, alternate_name = Byzantion (earlier Greek name), Nova Roma ("New Rome"), Miklagard/Miklagarth (Old Norse), Tsargrad ( Slavic), Qustantiniya (Arabic), Basileuousa ("Queen of Cities"), Megalopolis (" ...
(Rum) or
India
India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...
or anywhere else a building such as this house (Atronasa Maryam) and its paintings and gold?" They said, "We have neither seen nor heard about one like it in Constantinople or India or in the world."
Later, the tabot was able to come back to her original site after "57 years" of exile. The tabot is believed to have spent most of its exile in a new church built at a mountain pinnacle over the Blue Nile Gorge, also named after it as Atronsa Maryam. In about 1616, Hafa Krastos was able to rebuild the church which took him about 30 years. Hafa Krastos was the "son of Hamalmal" and probably the older brother of Emperor
Susenyos I
Susenyos I ( gez, ሱስንዮስ ; circa 1571-1575 – 17 September 1632), also known as Susenyos the Catholic, was Emperor of Ethiopia from 1606 to 1632, and a member of the Solomonic dynasty. His throne names were Seltan Sagad and Malak Sagad ...
(1607-1632). The tabot spent about 94 years in happiness in the new church rebuilt by Hafa Krastos. In a second raid, the new church was again looted and demolished by the Oromo on 23 August 1710. This time the tabot herself was taken captive.
[In Search of St. Luke lkons in Ethiopia, Journal of Ethiopian Studies. Diana Spencer, 1972.]
See also
*
Tadbaba Maryam
Tadbaba Maryam, also called Tadbaba Zion in ancient times (meaning "tabernacle of St Mary/Zion"), is an Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo church located in the place of Sayint in South Wollo, Amhara Region, Ethiopia. The current church bears the titl ...
*
Church of Our Lady Mary of Zion
The Church of Our Lady, Mary of Zion is an Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church which is claimed to contain the Ark of the Covenant.
The church is located in the town of Axum, Tigray Region in northern Ethiopia, near the grounds of Axum#Main sit ...
References
Further reading
* A HISTORY OF THE TABOT OF ATRONƎSÄ MARYAM IN AMHARA. GETATCHEW HAILE, 1988
* Chronica De Susenyos, Rei De Ethiopia VII. Francisco Maria Esteves Pereira, 1900.
* History of Eskender, Amda Seyon II and Nâ'od, Kings of Ethiopia. Jules Perruchon, 1894.
* The Chronicles of Zar'a Yâ'eqôb and Ba'eda Mâryâm, Kings of Ethiopia from 1434 to 1478. Jules Perruchon, 1893
* In Search of St. Luke lkons in Ethiopia, Journal of Ethiopian Studies. Diana Spencer, 1972
* Travels in Gojjam: St. Luke Ikons and Brancaleon Re-discovered. {{jstor, 41965874
* The Conquest of Abyssinia pp. 335. Frederick A. Edward
Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo church buildings