Sarsa Dengel was
{{ Infobox monarch
| name = Sarsa Dengel
| title = Emperor of EthiopiaThe Emperor of Ethiopia was the hereditary ruler of Ethiopia until the abolition of the monarchy in 1974. The Emperor was the head of state and head of government, with ultimate executive, judicial and legislative power in that country...
| reign = 1550–1597
| native_lang1 =
Ge'ezGe'ez , also called Ethiopic, is a script used as an abugida for several languages of Ethiopia and Eritrea but originated in an abjad used to write Ge'ez, now the liturgical language of the Ethiopian and Eritrean Orthodox Church...
| native_lang1_name1 = ሠረጸ ድንግል śarṣa dingil
| native_lang2 =
AmharicAmharic is a Semitic language spoken in Ethiopia. It is the second most-spoken Semitic language in the world, after Arabic, and the official working language of the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia. Thus, it has official status and is used nationwide. Amharic is also the official or working...
| native_lang2_name1 = 'śarṣa dingil
| death_date = {{Death date|1597|10|4|df=yes}}
| predecessor =
MenasMenas , throne name Admas Sagad I was of Ethiopia, and a member of the Solomonic dynasty...
| successor =
YaqobYaqob I was of Ethiopia, and a member of the Solomonic dynasty. He was the eldest surviving son of Sarsa Dengel; his mother was either Queen Maryam Sena Yaqob I (Ge'ez ያዕቆብ yāʿiqōb, Amh. yā'iqōb) was (throne name Malak Sagad II, መልአክ ሰገድ, mal'ak sagad, Amh. mel'āk seged, "to whom the angel...
| dynasty =
Solomonic dynastyThe Solomonic dynasty is the Imperial House of Abyssinia. Its members claim lineal descent from King Solomon and the Queen of Sheba, the latter of whom tradition asserts gave birth to the first King Menelik I after her Biblically described visit to Solomon in Jerusalem .-Overview:The dynasty, a...
| father =
MenasMenas , throne name Admas Sagad I was of Ethiopia, and a member of the Solomonic dynasty...
| mother = Admas Mogasa
| children =
YaqobYaqob I was of Ethiopia, and a member of the Solomonic dynasty. He was the eldest surviving son of Sarsa Dengel; his mother was either Queen Maryam Sena Yaqob I (Ge'ez ያዕቆብ yāʿiqōb, Amh. yā'iqōb) was (throne name Malak Sagad II, መልአክ ሰገድ, mal'ak sagad, Amh. mel'āk seged, "to whom the angel...
}}
Sarsa Dengel (
Ge'ezGe'ez , also called Ethiopic, is a script used as an abugida for several languages of Ethiopia and Eritrea but originated in an abjad used to write Ge'ez, now the liturgical language of the Ethiopian and Eritrean Orthodox Church...
ሠረጸ ድንግል śarṣa dingil,
Amh.Amharic is a Semitic language spoken in Ethiopia. It is the second most-spoken Semitic language in the world, after Arabic, and the official working language of the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia. Thus, it has official status and is used nationwide. Amharic is also the official or working...
serṣe dingil "Sprout of the Virgin", 1550 - 4 October 1597) was
{{ Infobox monarch
| name = Sarsa Dengel
| title = Emperor of EthiopiaThe Emperor of Ethiopia was the hereditary ruler of Ethiopia until the abolition of the monarchy in 1974. The Emperor was the head of state and head of government, with ultimate executive, judicial and legislative power in that country...
| reign = 1550–1597
| native_lang1 =
Ge'ezGe'ez , also called Ethiopic, is a script used as an abugida for several languages of Ethiopia and Eritrea but originated in an abjad used to write Ge'ez, now the liturgical language of the Ethiopian and Eritrean Orthodox Church...
| native_lang1_name1 = ሠረጸ ድንግል śarṣa dingil
| native_lang2 =
AmharicAmharic is a Semitic language spoken in Ethiopia. It is the second most-spoken Semitic language in the world, after Arabic, and the official working language of the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia. Thus, it has official status and is used nationwide. Amharic is also the official or working...
| native_lang2_name1 = 'śarṣa dingil
| death_date = {{Death date|1597|10|4|df=yes}}
| predecessor =
MenasMenas , throne name Admas Sagad I was of Ethiopia, and a member of the Solomonic dynasty...
| successor =
YaqobYaqob I was of Ethiopia, and a member of the Solomonic dynasty. He was the eldest surviving son of Sarsa Dengel; his mother was either Queen Maryam Sena Yaqob I (Ge'ez ያዕቆብ yāʿiqōb, Amh. yā'iqōb) was (throne name Malak Sagad II, መልአክ ሰገድ, mal'ak sagad, Amh. mel'āk seged, "to whom the angel...
| dynasty =
Solomonic dynastyThe Solomonic dynasty is the Imperial House of Abyssinia. Its members claim lineal descent from King Solomon and the Queen of Sheba, the latter of whom tradition asserts gave birth to the first King Menelik I after her Biblically described visit to Solomon in Jerusalem .-Overview:The dynasty, a...
| father =
MenasMenas , throne name Admas Sagad I was of Ethiopia, and a member of the Solomonic dynasty...
| mother = Admas Mogasa
| children =
YaqobYaqob I was of Ethiopia, and a member of the Solomonic dynasty. He was the eldest surviving son of Sarsa Dengel; his mother was either Queen Maryam Sena Yaqob I (Ge'ez ያዕቆብ yāʿiqōb, Amh. yā'iqōb) was (throne name Malak Sagad II, መልአክ ሰገድ, mal'ak sagad, Amh. mel'āk seged, "to whom the angel...
}}
Sarsa Dengel (
Ge'ezGe'ez , also called Ethiopic, is a script used as an abugida for several languages of Ethiopia and Eritrea but originated in an abjad used to write Ge'ez, now the liturgical language of the Ethiopian and Eritrean Orthodox Church...
ሠረጸ ድንግል śarṣa dingil,
Amh.Amharic is a Semitic language spoken in Ethiopia. It is the second most-spoken Semitic language in the world, after Arabic, and the official working language of the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia. Thus, it has official status and is used nationwide. Amharic is also the official or working...
serṣe dingil "Sprout of the Virgin", 1550 - 4 October 1597) was
{{unicodeThe Emperor of Ethiopia was the hereditary ruler of Ethiopia until the abolition of the monarchy in 1974. The Emperor was the head of state and head of government, with ultimate executive, judicial and legislative power in that country...
(throne name
Malak Sagad I,
Ge'ezGe'ez , also called Ethiopic, is a script used as an abugida for several languages of Ethiopia and Eritrea but originated in an abjad used to write Ge'ez, now the liturgical language of the Ethiopian and Eritrean Orthodox Church...
መልአክ ሰገድ mal'ak sagad, Amh. mel'āk seged, "to whom the angel bows") (1563–1597) of
EthiopiaEthiopia , officially known as the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, is a country located in the Horn of Africa. It is the second-most populous nation in Africa, with over 82 million inhabitants, and the tenth-largest by area, occupying 1,100,000 km2...
, and a member of the
Solomonic dynastyThe Solomonic dynasty is the Imperial House of Abyssinia. Its members claim lineal descent from King Solomon and the Queen of Sheba, the latter of whom tradition asserts gave birth to the first King Menelik I after her Biblically described visit to Solomon in Jerusalem .-Overview:The dynasty, a...
. The son of
MenasMenas , throne name Admas Sagad I was of Ethiopia, and a member of the Solomonic dynasty...
and Admas Mogasa, Sarsa Dengel spent his reign in constant campaigning, repelling
OttomanThe Ottoman EmpireIt was usually referred to as the "Ottoman Empire", the "Turkish Empire", the "Ottoman Caliphate" or more commonly "Turkey" by its contemporaries...
advances inland from the
Red SeaThe Red Sea is a seawater inlet of the Indian Ocean, lying between Africa and Asia. The connection to the ocean is in the south through the Bab el Mandeb strait and the Gulf of Aden. In the north, there is the Sinai Peninsula, the Gulf of Aqaba, and the Gulf of Suez...
; and
OromoThe Oromo are an ethnic group found in Ethiopia, northern Kenya, .and parts of Somalia. With 30 million members, they constitute the single largest ethnic group in Ethiopia and approximately 34.49% of the population according to the 2007 census...
advances from the south.
He was elected king by the
ShewaShewa is a historical region of Ethiopia, formerly an autonomous kingdom within the Ethiopian Empire...
n commanders of the army and the Queen Mother. Upon his coming of age Bahr negus
YeshaqBahr negus Yeshaq was Bahr negus of Ethiopia during the mid to late 16th century...
, who had rebelled against his father, presented himself to Sarsa Dengel and made peace. However, Sarsa Dengel had to confront a number of other revolts: his cousin Hamalmal in 1563, another cousin Fasil two years later. Yeshaq once again revolted with support of the Ottoman Empire; Sarsa Dengel then marched to
TigrayTigray was a province of Ethiopia. The Tigray Region superseded the province with the adoption of the new constitution in 1995. The province of Tigre merged with its neighboring provinces, including Semien, Tembien, Agame and the prominent Enderta province and towards the end of 19th century it...
in 1576, where he defeated and killed in battle the Bahr Negash and his allies,
Özdemir PashaÖzdemir Pasha was a Caucasian Mameluke general for the Ottoman Empire. He joined Hadim Süleyman Pasha's campaign to India , in 1538. Later he became the Governor of Yemen and invaded Ethiopia in 1557 for the Ottoman Empire.He died in 1561 in Sana, Yemen....
and Sultan Muhammed IV of Harar. When the Ottomans attempted to advance inland to capture
DebarwaDebarwa is a market town with a population of about 25,000 in central Eritrea, about 25 kilometers south of the capital Asmara. It is the capital of the Debarwa district in the Debub administrative region...
in 1588, Emperor Sarsa Dengel responded by sacking Arqiqo the following year.
Sarsa Dengel was the first emperor of Ethiopia to confront the encroachment of the Oromo, who had defeated
Nur ibn MujahidNur ibn Mujahid ibn ‘Ali ibn ‘Abdullah al Dhuhi Suha , of the Ahl Suhawyan division of the Marehan branch of the Somali Darod clan, was Emir of Harar in the 16th century...
as he returned home from killing his uncle
GelawdewosGelawdewos was Emperor Gelawdewos (Ge'ez ገላውዴዎስ galāwdēwōs, modern gelāwdēwōs, "Claudius"; 1521/1522 - March 23, 1559) was Emperor Gelawdewos (Ge'ez ገላውዴዎስ galāwdēwōs, modern gelāwdēwōs, "Claudius"; 1521/1522 - March 23, 1559) was Emperor (throne name Asnaf Sagad I (Ge'ez አጽናፍ ሰገድ aṣnāf sagad,...
in battle. In his tenth
regnal yearA regnal year is a year of the reign of a sovereign, from the Latin regnum meaning kingdom, rule.The oldest dating systems were in regnal years, and considered the date as an ordinal, not a cardinal number. For example, a monarch could have a first year of rule, a second year of rule, a third, and...
(1573), campaigning in the south, he defeated the Oromo in a battle near
Lake ZwayLake Zway or Lake Ziway is one of the freshwater Rift Valley lakes of Ethiopia. It is located about 60 miles south of Addis Ababa, on the border between the Regions of Oromia and of the Southern Nations, Nationalities, and Peoples; the woredas holding the lake's shoreline are Adami Tullu and Jido...
. He campaigned against them again in his 15th (1578) and 25th (1588) regnal years.
Sarsa Dengel campaigned against the
FalashaBeta Israel Israel, Ge'ez: ቤተ እስራኤል - Bēta 'Isrā'ēl, modern Bēte 'Isrā'ēl, EAE: "Betä Ǝsraʾel", "Community of Israel" also known as Ethiopian Jews , are the names of Jewish communities which lived in the area of Aksumite and Ethiopian Empires , nowadays divided between Amhara and Tigray...
in
SemienSemien Province was a historical province of northwest Ethiopia, often called Gondar. It was located south and west of the Tekezé River, and north of Lake Tsana. It was south west of Enderta Province, west of Tembien Province, and east of the Sudan. To some extent it covered the territory of the...
in 1580, then again in 1585. He also campaigned against the
AgawThe Agaw are an ethnic group in Ethiopia and neighboring Eritrea.-History:The Agaw are perhaps first mentioned in the 3rd c. AD Aksumite inscription recorded by Cosmas Indicopleustes in the 6th century...
in 1581, and in 1585. He campaigned against the Gambo who dwelled in the lands west of the Chomen swamp in 1590. He made a
punitive expeditionA punitive expedition is a military journey undertaken to punish a state or any group of persons outside the borders of the punishing state. It is usually undertaken in response to perceived disobedient or morally wrong behavior, but may be also be a covered revenge...
against the
Ottoman TurksThe Ottoman EmpireIt was usually referred to as the "Ottoman Empire", the "Turkish Empire", the "Ottoman Caliphate" or more commonly "Turkey" by its contemporaries...
in 1588, in response to their raids in the northern provinces. Sarsa Dengel campaigned in Ennarea twice, the first time in 1586, and the second time in 1597. On the final campaign against the Oromo, his Chronicle records, a group of monks tried to dissuade him from this expedition; failing that, they warned him not to eat fish from a certain river he would pass. Despite their warning, when he passed by the river the monks warned him about, he ate fish taken from this river and grew sick and died.
His body was interred in Medhane Alem church on
Rema IslandRema Island is located in the southeastern part of Lake Tana in Ethiopia, and has a latitude and longitude of . The island is the location of the church of Medhane Alem where the Emperor Sarsa Dengel is interred. When R.E. Cheesman visited the church in March 1933, he found some paintings which he...
. When R.E. Cheesman visited the church in March 1933, he was shown a blue-and-white porcelain jar, which his entrails were brought from the place of his death.