Mentewab was Empress of Ethiopia, consort of Emperor Bakaffa, mother of Iyasu II and grandmother of Iyoas I. She was also known officially by her baptismal name of Walatta Giyorgis. Mentewab was a major political figure during the reigns of her son the Emperor Iyasu and grandson Iyoas. Empress Mentewab was also known by the honorific of Berhan Mogassa. This was to complement the honorific of her son Iyasu II, who was Berhan Seged.
Itege (Empress) Mentewab lying prostrate at Mary's feet at Nerga Selassie in Lake Tana, 1748.
Stamp of Mentewab by Afewerk Tekle
Mentewab's Castle in Fasil Ghebbi, Gondar, Ethiopia
Ethiopia, officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, is a landlocked country located in the Horn of Africa region of East Africa. It shares borders with Eritrea to the north, Djibouti to the northeast, Somalia to the Northeast, East and Southeast, Kenya to the South, South Sudan to the West, and Sudan to the Northwest. Ethiopia covers a land area of 1,112,000 square kilometres. As of 2023, it is home to around 128 million inhabitants, making it the 13th-most populous country in the world, the 2nd-most populous in Africa after Nigeria, and the most populated landlocked country on Earth. The national capital and largest city, Addis Ababa, lies several kilometres west of the East African Rift that splits the country into the African and Somali tectonic plates.
A Homo sapiens idaltu hominid skull
Aksumite currency of the Aksumite king Endubis, 227–35, at the British Museum.
Fasil Ghebbi, one of the key castles of the Gondarine period.
Emperor Tewodros II (r. 1855–1868) brought an end to Zemene Mesafint