Zagwe dynasty

The Zagwe dynasty was a medieval Agaw monarchy that ruled the northern highlands of Ethiopia and Eritrea. Its kings came from the Lasta region and claimed authority after the decline of the Aksumite kingdom, though the chronology is uncertain: Ethiopian traditions disagree about the number of rulers and the length of their rule, and modern estimates range from the tenth century to 1270. The dynasty is best known for King Gebre Meskel Lalibela, who is credited with commissioning the rock-hewn churches of Lalibela, a complex of monolithic buildings carved into the living rock that became a centre of Ethiopian Christianity. The Zagwe capital was at Roha, later renamed Lalibela, and the kingdom's authority extended over the highlands of Tigray, Wag and Bete Amhara and westward toward Lake Tana. The dynasty maintained contacts with the Coptic patriarchate of Alexandria and sought bishops from Egypt. Its rule ended in 1270, when the last Zagwe king, Za-Ilmaknun, was killed in battle by Yekuno Amlak, who founded the Solomonic dynasty. The memory of the Zagwe survived in Ethiopian chronicles, and their churches remain the most visible monument of the period.