Amba Mariam

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Amba Mariam
Amba Mariam (Ethiopië )
Amba Mariam
Amba Mariam
Location in Ethiopia
Coordinates: 11°12′N 39°17′E / 11.2, 39.283
Country ‎ Ethiopia
Region Amhara Region
Zone Debub Wollo Zone
Population (2005)
 - Total 1,899 (est)


Amba Mariam is a village in central Ethiopia (Formerly Abyssinia). It was known as Magdala or Meqdela (መቅደላ meḳdelā) during the reign of Emperor Tewodros II of Ethiopia. Located in the Debub Wollo Zone of the Amhara Region, Amba Mariam has a longitude and latitude of 11°12′N, 39°17′E.

Based on figures from the Central Statistical Agency in 2005, this town has an estimated total population of 1,899, of whom 988 were males and were 911 females.[1]


[edit] History

British Naval & Support ships, Annesley Bay December 1867
British Naval & Support ships, Annesley Bay December 1867

Before Emperor Tewodros II conquered Magdala on 22 September 1855, it had been a mountain stronghold, or amba of the Wollo Oromo.[2] He constructed a number of buildings on the top of the mountain, including a church and a palace. In 1867, he imprisoned several British diplomats inside the fortress over a perceived insult from Queen Victoria. A British military expedition led by Sir Robert Napier landed at Annesley Bay on 4 December and set up a base camp at Zula before advancing on Magdala, which they reached in April, 1868. Abandoned by the nobility and his followers, and after his remaining troops engaged the British forces at the Battle of Magdala. Tewodros withdrew into the fortress on Amba Mariam and killed himself with a pistol a few days later as the final assault began. This incident is fictionalized in the novel Flashman on the March.

The British entered the capital, where they rescued the diplomats. Before departing from Abyssinia, Sir Robert allowed his troops to loot and burn Magdala, including its churches. The expedition looted a large number of treasures and religious items such as tabots, which today one can still see in various museums and libraries in Europe, as well as in private collections. A few items have been returned to Ethiopia, the most important being the crown of Tewodros II, which King George V personally presented to the future Emperor Haile Selassie on his visit to England in 1925.

Little remains of Tewodros's capital; the most visible item being Tewodros's cannon "Sebastopol".

[edit] Notes

  1. ^ CSA 2005 National Statistics, Table B.3
  2. ^ Sven Rubenson, King of Kings: Tewodros of Ethiopia (Addis Ababa: Haile Selassie I University, 1966), p. 52