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 ...
. In Amharic the name means the sharpened stone, named for a rock which rolled over the edge of the southern rim of the gorge of the
Mofar River
Mofar River is a west-flowing river of central Ethiopia, and part of the watershed of the Abay. Part of its course is in a deep canyon.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 ...
, this town has a latitude and longitude of with elevations variously given as 2880 and 2915 meters above sea level. It is the administrative center of
Mojana Wadera
Mojana Wedera (Amharic: ሞጃና ወደራ ) is one of the woredas in the Amhara Region of Ethiopia. Part of the Semien Shewa Zone, Mojana Wadera is bordered on the south by Basona Werana, on the northeast by Menz Lalo Midir, on the north by Menz ...
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 ...
.
History
According to
Antonio Cecchi
Antonio is a masculine given name of Etruscan origin deriving from the root name Antonius. It is a common name among Romance language-speaking populations as well as the Balkans and Lusophone Africa. It has been among the top 400 most popular male ...
, Sela Dingay was founded by
Wossen Seged
Wossen Seged (ruled c. 1808 – June 1813) was a ''Ethiopian aristocratic and court titles#Important regional offices, Merid Azmach'' of Shewa, an Amhara people, Amhara noble of Ethiopia He was the elder son of Asfaw Wossen (ruler of Shewa), A ...
in 1804, naming the town after the historic district of Sela Dingay, although the local Debre Mitmaq church had been founded by Emperor
Zara Yaqob
Zara Yaqob ( Ge'ez: ዘርዐ ያዕቆብ; 1399 – 26 August 1468) was Emperor of Ethiopia, and a member of the Solomonic dynasty who ruled under the regnal name Kwestantinos I (Ge'ez: ቈስታንቲኖስ, "Constantine"). He is known for t ...
, where he convened the
Council of Debre Mitmaq
A council is a group of people who come together to consult, deliberate, or make decisions. A council may function as a legislature, especially at a town, city or county/shire level, but most legislative bodies at the state/provincial or natio ...
in 1450 which resolved a rift in the
Ethiopian Church
The Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church ( am, የኢትዮጵያ ኦርቶዶክስ ተዋሕዶ ቤተ ክርስቲያን, ''Yäityop'ya ortodoks täwahedo bétäkrestyan'') is the largest of the Oriental Orthodox Churches. One of the few Chris ...
over the observance of the
Sabbath
In Abrahamic religions, the Sabbath () or Shabbat (from Hebrew ) is a day set aside for rest and worship. According to the Book of Exodus, the Sabbath is a day of rest on the seventh day, commanded by God to be kept as a holy day of rest, as G ...
. In any case, Negus Wossen Seged built a second church for the town."Local History in Ethiopia" The Nordic Africa Institute website (accessed 25 February 2008) When Johann Ludwig Krapf visited Sela Dingay in March 1842, it was the residence of the
Queen Dowager
A queen dowager or dowager queen (compare: princess dowager or dowager princess) is a title or status generally held by the widow of a king. In the case of the widow of an emperor, the title of empress dowager is used. Its full meaning is clear ...
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 ...
by the newly crowned Emperor
Tewodros II
, spoken = ; ''djānhoi'', lit. ''"O steemedroyal"''
, alternative = ; ''getochu'', lit. ''"Our master"'' (pl.)
Tewodros II ( gez, ዳግማዊ ቴዎድሮስ, baptized as Gebre Kidan; 1818 – 13 April 1868) was Emperor of Ethiopi ...
and the death of
Negus
Negus (Negeuce, Negoose) ( gez, ንጉሥ, ' ; cf. ti, ነጋሲ ' ) is a title in the Ethiopian Semitic languages. It denotes a monarch,
Haile Melekot
Haile Malakot (1824 – 9 November 1855) was ''Negus'' of Shewa, a historical region of Ethiopia, from 12 October 1847 until his death. He was the oldest son of ''Negus'' Sahle Selassie an important Amhara noblemen and his wife Woizero Beza ...
in 1855, the dowager queens retired to Sela Dingay, where Bezabish died around 1870 or 1871.
One of the military maneuvers that led to the
Battle of Segale
The Battle of Segale was a civil conflict in the Ethiopian Empire between the supporters of Empress regent Zewditu and Lij Iyasu on 27 October 1916, and resulted in victory for Zewditu. Paul B. Henze states that "Segale was Ethiopia's greatest ba ...
in 1916 was Negus Mikael's occupation of Sela Dingay 14 October. This threatened
Ras
Ras or RAS may refer to:
Arts and media
* RAS Records Real Authentic Sound, a reggae record label
* Rundfunk Anstalt Südtirol, a south Tyrolese public broadcasting service
* Rás 1, an Icelandic radio station
* Rás 2, an Icelandic radio stati ...
Leul Seged's left flank, forcing him to withdraw to
Ankober
Ankober (), formerly known as Ankobar, is a town in central Ethiopia. Located in the North Shewa Zone of the Amhara Region, it's perched on the eastern escarpment of the Ethiopian Highlands at an elevation of about . It is to the east of Debr ...
. Despite his action, the Ras's army was annihilated four days later.
Demographics
Based on figures from the
Central Statistical Agency
The Central Statistical Agency (CSA; Amharic: ማዕከላዊ ስታቲስቲክስ ኤጀንሲ) is an agency of the government of Ethiopia designated to provide all surveys and censuses for that country used to monitor economic and social growth ...
in 2005, Sela Dingay has an estimated total population of 2,707 of whom 1,435 are men and 1,272 are women.CSA 2005 National Statistics Table B.4 The 1994 census reported this town had a total population of 1,482 of whom 721 were men and 761 were women.