Yemrehana Krestos (Yəmrəḥannä Krəstos, often referred to as "Yəmrəḥa" in the sources) was the third king of the

Zagwe dynasty The Zagwe dynasty ( Ge'ez: ዛጔ ሥርወ መንግሥት) was an Agaw medieval dynasty that ruled the northern parts of Ethiopia and Eritrea, after the historical name of the Lasta province. Centered at Lalibela, it ruled large parts of the t ...

, ruling during the second half of the twelfth century.Marrassini, Paolo. "Yəmrəḥannä Krəstos", ''Enyclopaedia Aethiopica: Y-Z'', Vol. 5, edited by Alessandro Bausi and Siegbert Uhlig (Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz, 2014), pp. 53-54 His biography is recorded in the ''Gädlä Yəmrəḥannä Krəstos''.

Reign

He was the son of King

Germa Seyum Germa Seyum was King of Zagwe dynasty. Taddesse Tamrat states that he was a son of Mara Takla Haymanot, the younger brother of King Tatadim, and the father of Pentewudem, Kedus Harbe and Gebre Mesqel Lalibela Lalibela ( gez, ላሊበላ), r ...

(Gǝrwa Śǝyyum), and the successor of his father's brother

Tatadim Tatadim was King of Zagwe dynasty. According to Taddesse Tamrat, he was a son of Mara Takla Haymanot. Reign Tatadim's name appears in second place in the long lists of the Zagwe kings. Taddesse Tamrat states that he was the oldest known son of Ma ...

(Ṭänṭäwǝdǝm). His birth name may have been Abraham. Although his uncle tried to kill him, to prevent his succession, his mother hid him. He became a priest and then succeeded his uncle when he died. According to a manuscript

Pedro Páez Pedro Páez Jaramillo, S.J. ( pt, Pêro Pais; 1564 – 20 May 1622) was a Spanish Jesuit missionary in Ethiopia. Páez is considered by many experts on Ethiopia to be the most effective Catholic missionary in Ethiopia. He is believed to be the ...

and

Manuel de Almeida Manuel de Almeida (sometimes Manoel de Almeida, 1580–1646) was a native of Viseu who entered at an early age into the Society of Jesus and went out as a missionary to India. He is noted to have travelled to Ethiopia and Eritrea and Lake Tana ...

saw at Axum, he ruled for 40 years. A council presided over by Yemrehana Krestos condemned Syrian and Egyptian monks who taught that the body of

Jesus Christ Jesus, likely from he, יֵשׁוּעַ, translit=Yēšūaʿ, label=Hebrew/Aramaic ( AD 30 or 33), also referred to as Jesus Christ or Jesus of Nazareth (among other names and titles), was a first-century Jewish preacher and religious ...

was not of the same nature as most human beings, and as a result they were persecuted and driven out of the places in which they were living.

Accomplishments

Yemrehana Krestos constructed a lavish

stone In geology, rock (or stone) is any naturally occurring solid mass or aggregate of minerals or mineraloid matter. It is categorized by the minerals included, its Chemical compound, chemical composition, and the way in which it is formed. Rocks ...

church Church may refer to: Religion * Church (building), a building for Christian religious activities * Church (congregation), a local congregation of a Christian denomination * Church service, a formalized period of Christian communal worship * C ...

in the

Aksumite The Kingdom of Aksum ( gez, መንግሥተ አክሱም, ), also known as the Kingdom of Axum or the Aksumite Empire, was a kingdom centered in Northeast Africa and South Arabia from Classical antiquity to the Middle Ages. Based primarily in wh ...

style, ornamented with objects from Egypt. Located 12 miles northeast from

Lalibela Lalibela ( am, ላሊበላ) is a town in the Amhara Region of Ethiopia. Located in the Lasta district and North Wollo Zone, it is a tourist site for its famous rock-cut monolithic churches. The whole of Lalibela is a large and important site ...

, the Yemrehana Krestos Church was built in a large northeast-facing cave on the western side of

Mount Abuna Yosef Abuna Yosef (Amharic language, Amharic: አቡነ ዮሴፍ) is a prominent mountain in the Lasta massif of the Ethiopian Highlands. At it is the 6th tallest mountain in Ethiopia and the Highest mountain peaks of Africa, 19th highest of Africa ...

. Until the construction of a road in 2000, this church was reachable only after "a long day's arduous journey on foot or mule".

Reputation

Some believe that he is the Ethiopian king who inspired the myth of

Prester John Prester John ( la, Presbyter Ioannes) was a legendary Christian patriarch, presbyter, and king. Stories popular in Europe in the 12th to the 17th centuries told of a Nestorian patriarch and king who was said to rule over a Christian nation lost ...

. Taddesse Tamrat describes him as the king of Ethiopia closest to a priest, noting that he insisted on ruling Ethiopia according to Apostolic canons. Stuart Munro-Hay speculates that " Abu Salih's description of the kings of Abyssinia as priests might have been based on information about this ruler that had reached Egypt. Francisco Alvarez stated that Yemrehana Krestos began the tradition of confining rival heirs to the Imperial throne at

Amba Geshen Amba Geshen is the name of a mountain in northern Ethiopia. It is in Ambassel, South Wollo Zone of the Amhara Region, northwest of Dessie, at a latitude and a longitude of . Part of Ambassel woreda, Amba Geshen is one of the mountains of Ethiopi ...

, although this is disputed.Francisco Alvarez, ''The Prester John of the Indies'' translated by C.F. Beckingham and

G.W.B. Huntingford George Wynn Brereton Huntingford (19 November 1901 – 19 February 1978) was an English linguist, anthropologist and historian. He lectured in East African languages and cultures at SOAS, University of London from 1950 until 1966.Carlo Conti Rossini Carlo Conti Rossini (1872–1949) was an Italian orientalist. He was director of the State Treasury from 1917 to 1925, a member of the Accademia dei Lincei in 1921 and Royal Academy of Italy from 1939. He wrote various works on the historical g ...

incorrectly argued that Yemrehana Krestos was the successor of

Na'akueto La'ab Na'akueto La'ab was King of Zagwe dynasty. According to Taddesse Tamrat, he was the son of Kedus Harbe. Richard Pankhurst credits him with the creation of the church located in a cave a half-day's journey from the town of Lalibela. According to ...

, and succeeded by

Yetbarak Yetbarak ( Ge’ez: ይትባረክ) was King of Zagwe dynasty. According to Taddesse Tamrat, he was the son of Lalibela Lalibela ( am, ላሊበላ) is a town in the Amhara Region of Ethiopia. Located in the Lasta district and North Wollo Zo ...

.Quoted in E.A. Wallis Budge, ''A History of Ethiopia: Nubia and Abyssinia'', 1928 (Oosterhout, the Netherlands: Anthropological Publications, 1970), p. 277

Reign

Accomplishments

Reputation

References

Further reading