Sofya of Axum

Last updated
Sofya of Axum
Queen consort of Axum
Tenurec. early 320s c. 330
Regent of Axum
Tenure320s-330s
Queen Regnant of Ethiopia (traditional)
Tenure299306 (E.C.) [1] [2]
Spouse Ella Amida
Issue Ezana

Sofya (4th-century), was a queen consort and regent of the Kingdom of Axum.

Contents

Historical background

She was married to king Ella Amida (Ousanas). She was widowed in c. 330, and her son, Ezana of Axum, succeeded her dead husband as king. As her son was still a child upon his succession, she ruled as regent during his minority. [3]

Alternate names

The 1922 regnal list of Ethiopia lists Sofya as a reigning monarch in her own right named "Ahywa Sofya", who ruled by herself from 299 to 306 (E.C.). [1] This king list claims she was the mother of Abreha and Atsbeha, who are credited with introducing Christianity to Ethiopia. [4] In reality it was Ezana who was the first Christian king of Axum and it has been suggested by some historians that he and his brother Saizana were the inspiration for the legend of Abreha and Atsbeha. [5]

A monarch named "Ahywa" is named on some earlier regnal lists reigning directly before Abreha and Atsbeha. A manuscript held in the British Museum as well as a king list recorded by Egyptologist Henry Salt in 1814 both mention a monarch called "Ahywa" who reigned for 3 years. [6] The same manuscript additionally claims that the mother of Abreha and Atsbeha was a woman named Eguala Anbasa, [6] who may be the same woman as Sofya but under a different name. [7]

According to an unpublished short history of kings from Axum the wife of Ella Amida was named "Ahiyewa", who reigned for three years during the minority of her sons, who were both put in the temple of Axum under the protection of the high priest. [8] This suggests that the 3-year reign of "Ahywa" from the regnal lists refers to the regency of Sofya, although the 1922 regnal list extended this to seven years.

The queen is explicitly named Sofya in a book titled Gedle Abreha and Asbeha from the Church of Abreha wa-Atsbeha, where she is named as the wife of king Tazer and mother of Abreha and Atsbeha. [9]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Menelik I</span> Emperor of Ethiopia from 975 to 950 BC

Menelik I was the legendary first Emperor of Ethiopia. According to Kebra Nagast, a 14th-century national epic, in the 10th century BC he is said to have inaugurated the Solomonic dynasty of Ethiopia, so named because Menelik I was the son of the biblical King Solomon of ancient Israel and of Makeda, the Queen of Sheba.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ezana of Axum</span> 4th-century ruler of the Kingdom of Aksum

Ezana, was the ruler of the Kingdom of Aksum. One of the best-documented rulers of Aksum, Ezana is important as he is the country's first king to embrace Christianity and make it the official religion. Tradition states that Ezana succeeded his father Ella Amida (Ousanas) as king while still a child but his mother, Sofya then served as regent until he came of age.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Zagwe dynasty</span> Kingdom in northern Ethiopia and Eritrea (900–1270)

The Zagwe dynasty was a medieval Agaw monarchy that ruled the northern parts of Ethiopia and Eritrea. The Agaw are a Cushitic ethnic group native to the northern highlands of Ethiopia and neighboring Eritrea. Centered at Roha, it ruled large parts of the territory from approximately 1137 to 1270 AD, when the last Zagwe King Za-Ilmaknun was killed in battle by the forces of the Amhara King Yekuno Amlak. The Zagwe are most famous for their king Gebre Mesqel Lalibela, who is credited with having constructed the rock-hewn monolithic churches of Lalibela.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Zara Yaqob</span> Emperor of Ethiopia from 1434 to 1468

Zara Yaqob was Emperor of Ethiopia, and a member of the Solomonic dynasty who ruled under the regnal name Kwestantinos I. He is known for the Ge'ez literature that flourished during his reign, the handling of both internal Christian affairs and external wars with Muslims, along with the founding of Debre Birhan as his capital. He reigned for 34 years and 2 months.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kaleb of Axum</span> King of Aksum from 514 to 542

Kaleb, also known as Saint Elesbaan, was King of Aksum, which was situated in modern-day Ethiopia and Eritrea

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ousanas</span> King of Aksum

Ousanas was a King of Axum. Stuart Munro-Hay believes that it is "very likely" that Ousanas is the king to whom Aedesius and Frumentius were brought. In Eritrean and Ethiopian tradition, this king is called Ella Allada or Ella Amida. Ella Amida would then be his throne name, although Ousanas is the name that appears on his coins. If this identification is correct, then it was during his reign that Christianity was introduced to Axum and the surrounding territories.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Zoskales</span> Early 2nd century King of Aksum

Zoskales was a King of the Kingdom of Aksum

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sembrouthes</span> King of Aksum

Sembrouthes was a King of the Kingdom of Aksum who most likely reigned sometime in the 3rd century. He is known only from a single inscription in Ancient Greek that was found at Dekemhare, Hamasien in modern-day Eritrea, which is dated to his 24th regnal year. Sembrouthes was the first known ruler in the lands later ruled by the Emperor of Ethiopia to adopt the title "King of Kings". He is a probable candidate for the king who erected the Monumentum Adulitanum.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ethiopian aristocratic and court titles</span> List of royal and noble titles in the Ethiopian Empire

Until the end of the Ethiopian monarchy in 1974, there were two categories of nobility in Ethiopia and Eritrea. The Mesafint, the hereditary royal nobility, formed the upper echelon of the ruling class. The Mekwanint were the appointed nobles, often of humble birth, who formed the bulk of the aristocracy. Until the 20th century, the most powerful people at court were generally members of the Mekwanint appointed by the monarch, while regionally, the Mesafint enjoyed greater influence and power. Emperor Haile Selassie greatly curtailed the power of the Mesafint to the benefit of the Mekwanint, who by then were essentially coterminous with the Ethiopian government.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gebre Meskel Lalibela</span> King of Zagwe dynasty from 1181 to 1221

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ezana Stone</span> Stele still standing in Axum, the capital of the ancient Kingdom of Aksum, in present-day Ethiopia

The Ezana Stone is an ancient stele still standing in modern-day Axum in Ethiopia, the centre of the ancient Kingdom of Aksum. This stone monument, that probably dates from the 4th century of the Christian era, documents the conversion of King Ezana to Christianity and his conquest of various neighbouring areas, including Meroë.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">History of Ethiopia</span>

Ethiopia is one of the oldest countries in Africa; the emergence of Ethiopian civilization dates back thousands of years. Abyssinia or rather "Ze Etiyopia" was ruled by the Semitic Abyssinians (Habesha) composed mainly of the Amhara, Tigrayans and the Cushitic Agaw. In the Eastern escarpment of the Ethiopian highlands and more so the lowlands was the home of the Harari/Harla that founded Sultanates such as Ifat and Adal and the Afars. In the central and south were found the ancient Sidama and Semitic Gurage, among others.

Ethiopian historiography includes the ancient, medieval, early modern, and modern disciplines of recording the history of Ethiopia, including both native and foreign sources. The roots of Ethiopian historical writing can be traced back to the ancient Kingdom of Aksum. These early texts were written in either the Ethiopian Ge'ez script or the Greek alphabet, and included a variety of mediums such as manuscripts and epigraphic inscriptions on monumental stelae and obelisks documenting contemporary events. The writing of history became an established genre in Ethiopian literature during the early Solomonic dynasty (1270–1974). In this period, written histories were usually in the form of royal biographies and dynastic chronicles, supplemented by hagiographic literature and universal histories in the form of annals. Christian mythology became a linchpin of medieval Ethiopian historiography due to works such as the Orthodox Kebra Nagast. This reinforced the genealogical traditions of Ethiopia's Solomonic dynasty rulers, which asserted that they were descendants of Solomon, the legendary King of Israel.

Abreha and Atsbeha were brothers and Aksumite rulers who were said to have adopted Christianity in the 4th-century, although this claim is dubious. The story of Abreha and Atsbeha is lifted from that of the historical personages King Ezana and his brother Saizana. Stuart Munro-Hay has also speculated that the myth may have emerged from a confusion with two other religious Aksumite figures: Kaleb of Axum, whose throne name was Ella Atsbeha, and Abraha, an Aksumite general who promoted Christianity in Yemen.

The 1922 regnal list of Ethiopia is an official regnal list that was provided by Ethiopian prince regent Tafari Makonnen which names over 300 monarchs across six millennia. The list is partially inspired by older regnal lists of Ethiopia and chronicles, but is notable for additional rulers whose names allude to ancient Nubia, which was known as Aethiopia in ancient times, as well as various figures from Greek mythology and the Biblical canon that were known to be "Aethiopian".

Regnal lists of Ethiopia are recorded lists of monarchs who are claimed by tradition to have ruled Ethiopia. These lists are often recorded on manuscripts or orally by monasteries and have been passed down over the centuries.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gebre Meskel</span> King of Axum

Gebre Meskel also known as Gabra Masqal was a King of Axum who reigned in the 6th century. He was a son of Kaleb of Axum and brother to Israel of Axum. His reign is most notable for the compositions of hymns by the Ethiopian saint Yared.

AlaqaTaye Gabra Mariam was an Ethiopian scholar, teacher, writer and preacher.

Ayzur or Izoor was a king of Axum who reigned for half a day according to the traditional regnal lists.

References

  1. 1 2 Rey, C. F. (1927). In the Country of the Blue Nile. London: Camelot Press. p. 270.
  2. Ghelawdewos Araia (December 7, 2009). "Brief Chronology of Ethiopian History" . Retrieved 4 September 2022.
  3. McGraw-Hill: The McGraw-Hill Encyclopedia of World Biography: An International Reference Work, 1973
  4. Hein, Ewald (1999). Ethiopia, Christian Africa : art, churches and culture. Ratingen : Melina-Verlag. pp. 99–100. ISBN   978-3-929255-28-7.
  5. Prouty, Chris (1981). Historical dictionary of Ethiopia. Metuchen, N.J. : Scarecrow Press. p. 1. ISBN   978-0-8108-1448-6.
  6. 1 2 Budge, E. A. Wallis (1928). A History of Ethiopia: Nubia and Abyssinia (Volume 1). London: Methuen & Co. pp. 209–210.
  7. Martin Iversen Christensen. "Heads of State of Ethiopia/ Ityop'ya" . Retrieved 7 October 2022.
  8. Selassie, Sergew Hable (1972). Ancient and Medieval Ethiopian History to 1270. Addis Ababa. p. 93.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
  9. Selassie, Sergew Hable (1972). Ancient and Medieval Ethiopian History to 1270. Addis Ababa. pp. 92–93.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)