Marra Biete (
Amharic
Amharic ( or ; (Amharic: ), ', ) is an Ethiopian Semitic language, which is a subgrouping within the Semitic branch of the Afroasiatic languages. It is spoken as a first language by the Amharas, and also serves as a lingua franca for all oth ...
: መራ ቤቴ) is a former
province
A province is almost always an administrative division within a country or sovereign state, state. The term derives from the ancient Roman ''Roman province, provincia'', which was the major territorial and administrative unit of the Roman Empire ...
of
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 ...
, located inside the boundaries of the modern
Semien Shewa Zone of the
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 ...
, north of
Shewa Meda.
According to
Johann Ludwig Krapf
Johann Ludwig Krapf (11 January 1810 – 26 November 1881) was a German missionary in East Africa, as well as an explorer, linguist, and traveler. Krapf played an important role in exploring East Africa with Johannes Rebmann. They were the first ...
, Marra Biete lay in the northwest part of the former province of
Shewa
Shewa ( am, ሸዋ; , om, Shawaa), formerly romanized as Shua, Shoa, Showa, Shuwa (''Scioà'' in Italian language, Italian), is a historical region of Ethiopia which was formerly an autonomous monarchy, kingdom within the Ethiopian Empire. The ...
, "between the rivers
Jamma
The (formerly the , abbreviated JAMMA) is a Japanese trade association headquartered in Tokyo.
JAMMA is run by representatives from various arcade video game manufacturers, including Bandai Namco, Sega, Taito, Koei Tecmo, Capcom, and Konami a ...
and
Wonshit." This would place Marra Biete in the area currently occupied by the modern
woreda
Districts of Ethiopia, also called woredas ( am, ወረዳ; ''woreda''), are the third level of the administrative divisions of Ethiopia – after ''zones'' and the '' regional states''.
These districts are further subdivided into a number of ...
s of
Dera
Dera, Dero, Daro, Dhoro, Dahar or Dehra is a word in several languages of South Asia, whose meaning is ' camp', 'mound' or 'settlement'. It appears in the names of a number of places.
Geography India
* Dera, Himachal Pradesh
* Dera Bassi, Moha ...
,
Merhabiete, and
Mida Woremo
Mida Woremo ( Amharic: ሚዳ ወረሞ) is one of the woredas in the Amhara Region of Ethiopia. Part of the Semien Shewa Zone, Mida Woremo is bordered on the south by the Qechene River which separates it from Merhabiete, on the west by the Oromi ...
.
One of the earliest mentions of Marra Biete is in the ''Gadla'', or
hagiography
A hagiography (; ) is a biography of a saint or an ecclesiastical leader, as well as, by extension, an adulatory and idealized biography of a founder, saint, monk, nun or icon in any of the world's religions. Early Christian hagiographies migh ...
, of Saint
Abba Filipos, the third abbot 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 ...
. Another medieval Ethiopian saint,
Gabra Manfas Qeddus, is also said to have visited Marra Biete. Krapf provides a sketchy outline of its later political history. He writes that Marra Biete was first ruled by one Demetrios, who was succeeded by his son Woloo, who in turn was succeeded by Dechen. It was during the reign of Dechen when Morra Biete was annexed to Shewa. Dechen's daughter,
Bezabish, was the first wife or queen of
Sahle Selassie
Sahle Selassie ( Amharic: ሣህለ ሥላሴ, 1795 – 22 October 1847) was a ruler and later King of Shewa from 1813 to 1847. An important Amhara noble of Ethiopia, he was a younger son of Wossen Seged. Sahle Selassie was the father of nume ...
.
[''Journals of the Rev. Messrs. Isenberg and Krapf'', p. 300]
References
{{Amhara-geo-stub
Amhara Region
Provinces of Ethiopia
Shewa