Lalibela

Lalibela, whose throne name was Gebre Meskel, was the most famous king of the Zagwe dynasty, which ruled the northern highlands of Ethiopia between the decline of Aksum and the rise of the Solomonic kings. Traditionally dated to about 1181–1221, his reign is linked above all with the eleven churches carved out of solid rock at his capital, Roha, which now bears his name. The Ethiopian Orthodox Church venerates him as a saint.

Most of what is told of his early life comes from his hagiography, the Gadla Lalibela, written later and full of wonders, so details are uncertain. According to it he was born around 1162 at Roha, in the region of Lasta, the son of Jan Seyum, governor of Bugna in Lasta, and a servant in his household. A swarm of bees is said to have gathered round the newborn, and his name was explained as meaning "the bees recognise his sovereignty" in the Agaw language. The prophecy of future greatness supposedly turned his relatives against him, especially his brother Kedus Harbe, the reigning king, and he spent years in exile, including a long stay in Jerusalem, before marrying Meskel Kibra.

How Lalibela became king is not explained by his hagiography. The historian Taddesse Tamrat suspected he seized power by force while his brother was still alive, and a chronicle from Gojjam describes a battle between the two. Lalibela is said to have won with the support of the Amhara, who were rewarded with posts at court, while the Agaw clans that had backed Harbe were driven from Lasta.

Tradition holds that Lalibela set out to build a second Jerusalem in his own kingdom, and the layout and names at Roha echo the Holy Land: its stream is called the River Jordan. Some scholars connect the project with Saladin's capture of Jerusalem in 1187. Eleven churches were cut downward from the volcanic rock with hammers and chisels, in two main groups linked by trenches and tunnels, with Bete Giyorgis standing apart. A Portuguese visitor of the 1520s was told by local priests that the work took 24 years; later legend said angels helped.

Modern researchers doubt that all the churches belong to one reign. David Buxton argued that the carving probably continued into the fourteenth century, while David Phillipson has proposed that some structures were first cut centuries earlier, in the Aksumite period, and only later linked with Lalibela's name. Excavations suggest the site was mainly a secular settlement before he made it a religious centre.

Unusually for a Zagwe ruler, Lalibela's reign is documented by several texts, including surviving land grants in which he called himself negus, king, and an account by an embassy from the Patriarch of Alexandria around 1210. One tradition says he briefly gave up the throne to his nephew Na'akueto La'ab and then took it back; Taddesse Tamrat thought this hid a short usurpation ended by Lalibela's son Yetbarak. The dynasty fell around 1270 to Yekuno Amlak, founder of the Solomonic line.

Our 1200 map shows the Zagwe kingdom of the Ethiopian highlands during his reign, centuries after the Kingdom of Aksum that appears on our earlier maps.