Daga Island (
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 ...
: ደጋ ደሴት ''Däga Däset'') is an
island
An island (or isle) is an isolated piece of habitat that is surrounded by a dramatically different habitat, such as water. Very small islands such as emergent land features on atolls can be called islets, skerries, cays or keys. An island ...
located in the southeastern part of
Lake Tana
Lake Tana ( am, ጣና ሐይቅ, T’ana ḥāyik’i; previously Tsana) is the largest lake in Ethiopia and the source of the Blue Nile. Located in Amhara Region in the north-western Ethiopian Highlands, the lake is approximately long and wid ...
in
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 ...
. Southeast of the much larger
Dek Island
Dek Island (Amharic language, Amharic: ደቅ ደሴት ''Däq Däset'') is the biggest island (approximately 16 square kilometers in size) on Lake Tana in Ethiopia. It is administratively included in the Bahir Dar Zuria woreda of the Mirab Gojja ...
, Daga has a latitude and longitude of . The entire island, consisting of a volcanic cone some 300 feet high, is considered holy and no females, either women or farm animals, are allowed on the island.
[R.E. Cheesman]
"Lake Tana and Its Islands", ''Geographical Journal''
85 (1935), p. 496
The primary point of interest of the island is the monastery of
Daga Estifanos
Daga may refer to:
People
* Daga (wrestler), Mexican professional wrestler
* Dagmara Wozniak, American Olympic saber fencer
Geography
* Daga District, Bhutan
* Daga, Bhutan
Daga , also officially referred to as Dagana, is a town in Goshi Gewog, ...
, or "St. Stephen of Daga". When R.E. Cheesman visited the monastery 4 March 1933, he found the monks there were "the most rigid recluses of any in Abyssinia." The original church dedicated to St. Michael had been struck by lightning and burned down before his time, and was replaced by a modern rectangular one. He was allowed in the ''Irkbet'', where church properties and books were kept, and allowed to examine them. In the back of the same building were interred the remains of several Emperors in wooden coffins placed on shelves:
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 ...
,
Dawit I
Dawit I ( gez, ዳዊት) was Emperor of Ethiopia from 1382 to 6 October 1413, and a member of the Solomonic dynasty. He was the younger son of Newaya Krestos.
Reign
Taddesse Tamrat discusses a tradition that early in his reign, Dawit campaigne ...
,
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 ...
,
Za Dengel
Za Dengel ( Ge'ez: ዘድንግል; died 24 October 1604), throne name Atsnaf Sagad II (Ge'ez: አጽናፍ ሰገድ) was Emperor of Ethiopia from 1603 until his death in 1604, and a member of the Solomonic dynasty.
Ancestry
Of Amhara lineage ...
and
Fasilides
Fasilides ( Ge'ez: ፋሲልደስ; ''Fāsīladas''; 20 November 1603 – 18 October 1667), also known as Fasil, Basilide, or Basilides (as in the works of Edward Gibbon), was Emperor of Ethiopia from 1632 to his death on 18 October 1667, and a m ...
, and
Bakaffa
Bakaffa ( Ge'ez: በካፋ) birth name: Missah; throne name Aṣma Giyorgis (Ge'ez: ዐፅመ ጊዮርጊስ), later Masih Sagad (Ge'ez: መሲሕ ሰገድ) was Emperor of Ethiopia from 18 May 1721 to 19 September 1730, and a member of the S ...
.
[
]
References
{{reflist
Amhara Region
Islands of Lake Tana