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Ethiopia is jam-packed with various kinds of patrimonies accumulated over the long span of its history. This research has focused on the identification, inventory and conservation of the forgotten Medieval Bétä-Amhara patrimonial leftovers in Ethiopia with particular emphasis on Wasil from 1270 - 1559. Bétä-Amhara was a province of the original Amhara people. It was situated in the present South Wollo Zone of Amhara Region. Wasil was the political and religious center of Bétä-Amhara in the early medieval period. The research discusses issues related to the ideology and identity of Amhara based on the tangible and intangible patimonial leftovers of the early medieval Bétä-Amhara. Imam Ahmad ibn Ibrahim al Ghazi was the leading figure for the devastation of the Bétä-Amhara heritage, and the proselytizing process by forcing the Bétä-Amhara Christians to accept Islam. These caused moral loss for the Bétä-Amhara Christians and paved the way for the Oromo expansion in Bétä-Amhara. For this reason, the former Bétä-Amhara, what became known as Wollo, in general and Wasil in particular are found to be a museum of various peoples, cultures and heritage.
About the author
Mengesha is a young researcher in the Authority for Research and Conservation of Cultural Heritage (ARCCH) in Ethiopia. He has B.A. degree in Applied History, and now he is a second year M.A. student of Heritage Management at Sorbonne University. His forthcoming dissertation focuses on the Patrimonial Legacies of Medieval Ethnic Amhara in Ethiopia.
