Sabla Wangêl, the queen of the Kingdom of Heaven

The powerful queen Säblä-Wängēl, also called Wänag Mogäsa, was the wife of King Lebna-Dengel (r.1508-1540) whose regnal name was Wänag-Sagad. Säblä-Wängēl was one of the most important women which Ethiopia has seen from time to time. Among other things, the powerful Queen Säblä-Wängēl played a not insignificant role in the war against Ahmed Graň and his descendants, who ravaged Christian Ethiopia and devastated many churches in the 1540s. She impresses foreigners who describe her with full details in their papers about this expedition they wrote after coming back in Europe. After the death of her husband, Säblä-Wängēl served as Queen mother and regent during the reigns of her sons Gälawdēwos (r.1540-1559) and her grandson Sarsa-Dengel (r.1563-1596). She was given the highest title of received the Itēgē (lit.means Empress) and keep it until she died in 1568. Oral and written relevant traditions keep the memory of the quarrel that appears during the reign of her son Minas (r.1559-1563). As, she started to lose influence and power during the reign of Minas who favored his wife Selus-Hayla (Ädmäs Mogäsa) over his mother and gave the latter the honorific title of Itēgē. Selus-Hayla was unlawfully promoted to the status of Itēgē by her husband Minas, while Säblä-Wängēl was still alive. One of the major church foundations of Säblä-Wängēl is Mangesta Samayat Kidana Mehret, currently known as Mangesto located in her native province of East Gojjam between the rivers Suha and the Yäbärt. It seems that even after the destruction of the church by the Oromos which appends during the reign of Iyasu the Great, Adyam Sagad (r. 1682-1708), the church survived in the memory as a place of great spiritual fathers with abba Zekre and Abba Pawli. Queen Mentewwab during the regency of her son Iyasu II (1730-1755), when she founded the great church of Dabra Tsehay Qwesqwam in Gonder, called their memory as the fathers of the faith of Gojjam and Qwara. One century later, the church is rebuilt by the King Takla Haymanot, King of Gojjam and Kaffa, and his daughter also called Säblä-Wängēl. They give to the church the same apparel of clergymen and lands as it used to be at the time of its foundation. Learned men with great knowledge rewrite manuscripts on the history of this church and of Gojjam and developed really interesting developments of the settlement of the people of Gojjam making their ancestor Queen Säblä-Wängēl as the queen of the Kingdom of Heaven, the center of Gojjam

Rethinking the Royal Matrimonial Practices in the 16th Century and its Consequences on the Status of Queen

A major change in the 16th century’s Ethiopian monarchy is the modification of the royal matrimonial practices: the medieval polygamous monarchs attempt to become monogamous. Therefore, this research proposes an investigation on the reasons of this evolution and on its consequences on the status of the queens at the royal court. In the Ethiopian Christian kingdom, from the 15th century until the 20th century, only kings legally inherited the Crown and reigned in their own names. Thus, one has..

Gene-Centric Meta-Analysis of Lipid Traits in African, East Asian and Hispanic Populations

Meta-analyses of European populations has successfully identified genetic variants in over 100 loci associated with lipid levels, but our knowledge in other ethnicities remains limited. To address this, we performed dense genotyping of ∼2,000 candidate genes in 7,657 African Americans, 1,315 Hispanics and 841 East Asians, using the IBC array, a custom ∼50,000 SNP genotyping array. Meta-analyses confirmed 16 lipid loci previously established in European populations at genome-wide significance level, and found multiple independent association signals within these lipid loci. Initial discovery and in silico follow-up in 7,000 additional African American samples, confirmed two novel loci: rs5030359 within ICAM1 is associated with total cholesterol (TC) and low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) $(p = 8.8×10^{−7} and p = 1.5×10^{−6}$ respectively) and a nonsense mutation rs3211938 within CD36 is associated with high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C) levels $(p = 13.5×10^{−12})$. The rs3211938-G allele, which is nearly absent in European and Asian populations, has been previously found to be associated with CD36 deficiency and shows a signature of selection in Africans and African Americans. Finally, we have evaluated the effect of SNPs established in European populations on lipid levels in multi-ethnic populations and show that most known lipid association signals span across ethnicities. However, differences between populations, especially differences in allele frequency, can be leveraged to identify novel signals, as shown by the discovery of ICAM1 and CD36 in the current report

“Rethinking the royal matrimonial practices in the 16th century and its consequences on the status of queen”

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Vers une histoire des femmes dans l'Ethiopie médiévale

Winner of the 2021 African Studies Review Prize for the Best Africa-focused Anthology or Edited CollectionInternational audienceThis article examines the historiography of the work produced on medieval Ethiopian women and shows the potential of this unexplored field of study. Richard Pankhurst's work on Ethiopian social history in a long term perspective has long been the only study on the subject. Modern Ethiopia, especially in the 16th and 17th centuries, is now the focus of most studies in this still very young field of research, since it is only in the last decade that a few scholars (including the author) have taken an interest in the subject. These studies are major resources for the analysis of the previous period, since they analyse the invariants and changes that have taken place over the last two centuries. Generally speaking, the sources available for the study of women who do not belong to the elite class are hagiographies and travellers' texts, especially those of the 16th and 17th centuries. Archaeological sources can also be used.The major contribution of this article is to underline that while there were social norms based on gender in medieval times, social rank mattered much more in the division of tasks and roles. Like modern society, medieval society seems less conservative on gender issues. Further studies need to be carried out using the wealth of available sources that has been illuminated in this exploratory research.Cet article s’intéresse à l’historiographie des travaux produits sur les femmes éthiopiennes du Moyen Age et montre le potentiel existant de ce champ d’étude encore quasiment inexploré. Les travaux de Richard Pankhurst sur l’histoire sociale en Éthiopie dans la longue durée sont longtemps restés les uniques études traitant du sujet. L’Éthiopie moderne, notamment du 16e et 17e siècle, concentre aujourd’hui la majorité des études de ce champ de recherche encore très jeune, puisque ce n’est que depuis une dizaine d’années que de rares chercheurs (dont l’auteur) se sont intéressés au sujet. Ces études sont des ressources majeures pour l’analyse de la période précédente puisqu’elles analysent les invariants et les changements opérés depuis deux siècles. D’une manière générale, les sources à dispositions pour l’étude des femmes qui n’appartiennent pas à la classe des élites sont les hagiographies et les textes de voyageurs, notamment ceux du 16e et 17e siècles. Les sources archéologiques peuvent aussi être mobilisées.L’apport majeur de cet article est de souligner que si il existait des normes sociales basées sur le genre à l’époque médiévale, le rang social importait bien plus dans la division des tâches et des rôles. A l’instar de la société moderne, la société médiévale semble moins conservatrice sur les questions de genre. D’autres études doivent être conduites et utiliser l’abondance de sources disponibles qui a été éclairée dans cette recherche exploratoire

Figures féminines chrétiennes, exaltation de la dignité de roi et participation politique des reines (Éthiopie, XVe-XVIIIe siècle) / Christian Female Figures, Exaltation of the King’s Dignity and Political Involvement of the Queens (Ethiopia, 15th-18th centuries)

During the 15th century, two kings, Dāwit (1379/80-1413) and his fourth son Zar’a Ya’eqob (1434-1468), promoted the cult of two Christian female figures to legitimize their religious policies and to exalt their own image within the monarchy. Spotlighted were the historical Queen Helena, the mother of Emperor Constantine (272-237), and the biblical Virgin Mary. To justify their increasing involvement within religious affairs, the kings associated their own persons and images with these two feminine characters so as to enhance the sacral dimension of their power. In parallel, they organized and imposed the cults of these women by translating a variety of texts, dedicating to them holy days within the synaxarium, and developing an iconography to give visual support to these new devotions. I argue that one of the consequences of this was to enable, or at least to accompany, female political participation. At the end of the 15th century, the principle of regency was introduced. During the 16th century, queens were regents, they started to build royal churches, the new rank of itēgē was created to replace the old system of the queens’ titulary, and they become advisers to the king or protectors of the clergy. In parallel, their descriptions within the royal chronicles are increasingly linked with Helena and Mary. Hence, queens started to be integrated into the representation of the royal power and family. During the 17th century, they were represented as Mary within the royal and religious iconography. These analogies became the model for representation of the queen’s rank. In the middle of the 18th century, this archetype reached its climax with queen-itēgē Mentewwāb. Twice regent for her son and grandson, she ruled the country for almost half a century. In order to do so, she developed around her a strong propaganda, appearing as Mary and as Helena, as a queen in her own right, and as the true sovereign of the kingdom thereby de facto supplanting the ruling king.Au cours du XVe siècle, les rois Dāwit (1379/1380-1413) et Zar’a Ya’eqob (1434-1468) ont promu le culte de deux figures féminines chrétiennes pour légitimer leur politique religieuse et exalter leur propre image au sein de la monarchie. La reine Hélène, mère de l’empereur romain Constantin (272-337), et la Vierge Marie furent ainsi mises à l’honneur. Afin de justifier leur implication croissante dans les affaires religieuses, les souverains associèrent leur personne et leur image à celles de ces deux femmes, de façon à renforcer la dimension sacrée de leur propre pouvoir. En parallèle, ils organisèrent et imposèrent le culte de ces figures en leur dédiant des jours saints dans le synaxaire, en faisant traduire différents textes et en développant une iconographique susceptible de servir de support visuel à ces nouvelles dévotions. L’auteure soutient l’idée que l’une des conséquences de cette promotion fut de permettre ou, tout au moins, d’accompagner la participation politique des femmes. À la fin du XVe siècle, le principe de la régence fut introduit. Au cours du XVIe siècle, les reines exercèrent la régence et se mirent à construire des églises royales. Le nouveau rang d’itēgē fut créé en remplacement de l’ancienne titulature des reines et les souveraines devinrent les conseillères du roi ou les protectrices du clergé. En parallèle, leurs descriptions dans les chroniques royales les associèrent de plus en plus à Hélène ou Marie. Dès lors, les reines commencèrent à être intégrées à la représentation du pouvoir et de la famille royale. Au cours du XVIIe siècle, les reines furent représentées sous les traits de Marie dans l’iconographie royale et religieuse. Ce type d’analogie devint le modèle pour représenter le rang de la reine. Au milieu du XVIIIe siècle, cet archétype atteignit son apogée avec la reine -itēgē Mentewwāb. Régente de son fils puis de son petit-fils, elle dirigea le pays pendant près d’un demi-siècle. Dans ce but, elle développa une importante propagande la faisant apparaître à l’image de Marie ou d’Hélène, en tant que reine à part entière et véritable souveraine du royaume supplantant de fait le roi régnant.Herman Margaux. Figures féminines chrétiennes, exaltation de la dignité de roi et participation politique des reines (Éthiopie, XVe-XVIIIe siècle) / Christian Female Figures, Exaltation of the King’s Dignity and Political Involvement of the Queens (Ethiopia, 15th-18th centuries). In: Annales d'Ethiopie. Volume 30, année 2015. pp. 71-118

Women and Climatic Changes in Ethiopia: A Gendered Assessment

International audienceWithin the broader issue of climate changes, the current discourse seeks to prioritize adaptation measures in tackling the adverse effects of global warming rather than a reliance only on mitigation efforts (Aguilar, 2009; UNFCCC, 2010). In this process, women are given an increasing role to play, as the gender approach has shown its enhanced potential in creating sustainable development. Indeed, on June 26th 2014, at Malabo (Equatorial Guinea), the Committee of African Heads of State and Government resolved to develop a “Women and Gender Program on Climate Change”. However, behind the motives of this new approach are the same familiar challenges to be met, the same reports on the position of women within the society, the important role of women in situations of poverty, their low educational level, their difficulty in getting access to information and financial credit or in being included in decisions at political, community and family levels. We must wonder about the intrusion of the question of gender within consideration of the need for adaptation to climate change, which is a part of a wider movement linked with development aid in general. The public and private funding assigned to the resolution of this worldwide danger raises the questions of opportunism, financial confusion and/or lack of general consideration towards the actors involved in the promotion of gender equality. But we shall also take the opportunity to measure the transformations this all implies for the Ethiopian associations that advocate improvement of women’s conditions. Finally, can the theme “Gender and Climate” in Ethiopia propose new paradigms for reflection?2The aim of this paper is therefore to understand how women have been recognized as effective and independent actors in answering some of the challenges posed by climate change. At the same time, we want to question the relevance and reliability of a gendered approach in overcoming the problems generated by climate change in the African context in general and the Ethiopian case in particular

"Figures féminines chrétiennes, exaltation de la dignité de roi et émancipation politique des reines (Éthiopie, XVe-XVIIIe siècle)"

International audienceDuring the 15th century, two kings, Da ̄wit (1379/80-1413) and his fourth son Zar’a Ya’eqob (1434-1468), promoted the cult of two Christian female figures to legitimize their religious policies and to exalt their own image within the monarchy. Spotlighted were the historical Queen Helena, the mother of Emperor Constantine (272-237), and the biblical Virgin Mary. To justify their increasing involvement within religious affairs, the kings associated their own persons and images with these two feminine characters so as to enhance the sacral dimension of their power. In parallel, they organized and imposed the cults of these women by translating a variety of texts, dedicating to them holy days within the synaxarium, and developing an iconography to give visual support to these new devotions. I argue that one of the consequences of this was to enable, or at least to accompany, female political participation. At the end of the 15th century, the principle of regency was introduced. During the 16th century, queens were regents, they started to build royal churches, the new rank of ite ̄ge ̄ was created to replace the old system of the queens’ titulary, and they become advisers to the king or protectors of the clergy. In parallel, their descriptions within the royal chronicles are increasingly linked with Helena and Mary. Hence, queens started to be integrated into the representation of the royal power and family. During the 17th century, they were represented as Mary within the royal and religious iconography. These analogies became the model for representation of the queen’s rank. In the middle of the 18th century, t h i s a r c h e t y p e r e a c h e d i t s c l i m a x w i t h q u e e n - i t e ̄ g e ̄ M e n t e w w a ̄ b . T w i c e regent for her son and grandson, she ruled the country for almost half a century. In order to do so, she developed around her a strong propaganda, appearing as Mary and as Helena, as a queen in her own right, and as the true sovereign of the kingdom thereby de facto supplanting the ruling king.Aucoursduxve siècle,lesroisDa ̄wit(1379/1380-1413)etZar’aYa’eqob (1434-1468) ont promu le culte de deux figures féminines chrétiennes pour légitimer leur politique religieuse et exalter leur propre image au sein de la monarchie. La reine Hélène, mère de l’empereur romain Constantin (272-337), et la Vierge Marie furent ainsi mises à l’honneur. Afin de justifier leur implication croissante dans les affaires religieuses, les souverains associèrent leur personne et leur image à celles de ces deux femmes, de façon à renforcer la dimension sacrée de leur propre pouvoir. En parallèle, ils organisèrent et imposèrent le culte de ces figures en leur dédiant des jours saints dans le synaxaire, en faisant traduire différents textes et en développant une iconographique susceptible de servir de support visuel à ces nouvelles dévotions. L’auteure soutient l’idée que l’une des conséquences de cette promotion fut de permettre ou, tout au moins, d’accompagner la participation politique des femmes. À la fin du xve siècle, le principe de la régence fut introduit. Au cours du xvie siècle, les reines exercèrent la régence et se mirent à construire des églises royales. Le nouveau rang d’ite ̄ge ̄ fut créé en remplacement de l’ancienne titulature des reines et les souveraines devinrent les conseillères du roi ou les protectrices du clergé. En parallèle, leurs descriptions dans les chroniques royales les associèrent de plus en plus à Hélène ou Marie. Dès lors, les reines commencèrent à être intégrées à la représentation du pouvoir et de la famille royale. Au cours du xviie siècle, les reines furent représentées sous les traits de Marie dans l’iconographie royale et religieuse. Ce type d’analogie devint le modèle pour représenter le rang de la reine. Au milieu du xviiie siècle, cet archétype atteignit son apogée avec la reine- ite ̄ge ̄ Mentewwa ̄b. Régente de son fils puis de son petit-fils, elle dirigea le pays pendant près d’un demi-siècle. Dans ce but, elle développa une importante propagande la faisant apparaître à l’image de Marie ou d’Hélène, en tant que reine à part entière et véritable souveraine du royaume supplantant de fait le roi régnant

“(Re)writing the history of Goggam in ancient and mediaeval times: the prism of the nineteenth-century regional historiography"

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“(Re)writing the history of Goggam in ancient and mediaeval times: the prism of the nineteenth-century regional historiography"

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