Gudit is the Classical Ethiopic name for a personage also known as Yodit in Tigrinya, and Amharic, but also Isato in Amharic, and Ga'wa in Ţilţal. The personage behind these various alternative names is portrayed as a powerful female ruler, probably identical to Māsobā Wārq, the daughter of the last Aksumite king, Dil Na'ad, mentioned in an early Arabic source. She is said to have been responsible for laying waste the Kingdom of Aksum and its countryside, and the destruction of its churches and monuments in the 10th century AD in revenge for the church having cut her breast off and selling her into slavery. If she is the same as the Tirda' Gābāz in other Ethiopian sources, she is also said to have attempted to exterminate the members of the ruling dynasty. The deeds attributed to her are recorded in oral tradition and in a variety of historical narratives.
Abune Tekle Haymanot was an Ethiopian saint and monk mostly venerated as a hermit. He was the Abuna of Ethiopia who founded a major monastery in his native province of Shewa. He is significant for being the only Ethiopian saint popular both amongst Ethiopians and outside that country. Tekle Haymanot "is the only Ethiopian saint celebrated officially in foreign churches such as Rome and Egypt." His feast day is 30 August, and the 24th day of every month in the Ethiopian calendar is dedicated to Tekle Haymanot.
Na'od was Emperor of Ethiopia from 1494 to 31 July 1508, and a member of the Solomonic dynasty. His reign was marked by internal tension between territories with the assistance of Queen Eleni. He began construct an extravagant church in Amhara province, called Mekane Selassie. The church was completed by his successor Dawit II in 1530.
Yekuno Amlak ; throne name Tesfa Iyasus was Emperor of Ethiopia, from 1270 to 1285, and the founder of the Solomonic dynasty, which lasted until 1974. He was a ruler from Bete Amhara who became the Emperor of Ethiopia following the defeat of the last Zagwe king.
Amda Seyon I, throne name Gebre Mesqel was Emperor of Ethiopia from 1314 to 1344 and a member of the Solomonic dynasty.
Newaya Krestos was Emperor of Ethiopia from 1344 to 1372, and a member of the Solomonic dynasty. He was the eldest son of Amda Seyon I.
Yagbe'u Seyon, throne name Salomon, was Emperor of Ethiopia from 18 June 1285 to 1294, and a member of the Solomonic dynasty. He succeeded his father Yekuno Amlak.
Lake Hayq is a freshwater lake of Ethiopia. It is located north of Dessie, in the Debub Wollo Zone of the Amhara Region. The town of Hayq is to the west of the lake.
Iyasus Mo'a was an Ethiopian saint of the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church; his feast day is 5 December. In life he was an Ethiopian monk and abbot of Istifanos Monastery in Lake Hayq of Amba Sel.
Haqq ad-Din II was a Sultan of the Ifat Sultanate, the brother of Sa'ad ad-Din II, and the son of Ahmad ibn Ali.
ʿUmar Dīn, reigned 1526–1553, was a sultan ruling over the Sultanate of Adal in the Horn of Africa. He was the younger brother of Abu Bakr ibn Muhammad. According to historian Richard Pankhurst, Umar was of Harari background.
Lalibela, regnal name Gebre Meskel, was a king of the Zagwe dynasty, reigning from 1181 to 1221. He was the son of Jan Seyum and the brother of Kedus Harbe. Perhaps the best-known Zagwe monarch, he is credited as the patron of the namesake monolithic rock-hewn churches of Lalibela. He is venerated as a saint by the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church on 19 June.
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 a manuscript Pedro Páez and Manuel de Almeida saw at Axum, Na'akueto La'ab ruled for 40 years, a suspiciously round number.
Dil Na'od was the last King of Aksum before the Zagwe dynasty. He lived in either the 9th or 10th century. Dil Na'od was the younger son of Ged'a Jan, and succeeded his older brother 'Anbasa Wedem as negus. According to E. A. Wallis Budge, "The reign of Delna'ad was short, perhaps about ten years." However, James Bruce has recorded another tradition, that Dil Na'od was an infant when Gudit slaughtered the princes imprisoned at Debre Damo, his relatives, and forced some of his nobles to take him out of his kingdom to save his life.
Abba 'Ěnbāqom was an Ethiopian polyglot and religious leader of the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church, and translator and author, e.g., of the Anqaṣa Amin. As Abbot at the leading monastery of Debre Libanos he became the Echage, the second highest ecclesiastical office, as well as head of all Ethiopian monasteries, and was often regarded as the most influential person in the Ethiopian Church.
Salama II was Abuna, or head of the Ethiopian Orthodox Church from 1348 to 1388. During his tenure a number of translations into the Ge'ez language appeared, which has resulted with him being remembered as "Abba Salama, the Translator."
Angot was a historical province in northern Ethiopia. It was bordered on the west by Bugna and the Afar lowlands to the east and southeast, Ambassel to the southwest and Lasta to the north.
Wej was a province established in the 10th-century and located in the southwest of what is now Ethiopia.
Abuna Yohannes was an Abuna, or head of the Ethiopian Orthodox Church in the 14th century, during the reign of Emperor Amda Seyon. He was accused of simony by a group of Ethiopian clergy at the Royal Court.
Bartalomewos of Ethiopia was an Abuna, or head of the Ethiopian Orthodox Church from 1398/99 to sometime after 1434; he succeeded Abuna Salama II. His tenure was a period marked by a series of doctrinal disputes in the Church, and at one point Bartalomewos was accused of denying the threefold nature of the Holy Trinity. Emperor Yeshaq appointed a committee to investigate this serious charge, whose members included graduates of the school at Istifanos Monastery in Lake Hayq.
