page_title: Kingdom of Semien
section_title: Establishment
hierarchical_section_title: Kingdom of Semien / History / Establishment
caption_attribution_description: Coin of the Axumite king Ezana
context_page_description: The Kingdom of Semien, sometimes referred to as the Kingdom of Beta Israel, was an ancient kingdom of the Beta Israel centered in the northwestern part of the Ethiopian Empire that came to an end in 1627 during the reign of emperor Susenyos I.
  It was preceded by a number of regions which were in Jewish rule in the north-west part of Ethiopia. The Jewish-Ethiopian tradition dates the establishment of the Kingdom of Semien to the fourth century, right after the kingdom of Axum turned to Christianity during the reign of Ezana of Axum.
context_section_description: According to the Beta Israel tradition, the Jewish kingdom of Beta Israel or kingdom of Semien was initially established after Ezana was crowned as the Emperor of Axum (in 325 CE). Ezana, who was educated in his childhood by the missionary Frumentius, declared Christianity as the religion of the Ethiopian empire after he was crowned. The inhabitants who practiced Judaism and refused to convert to Christianity began revolting – this group was referred to as "Beta Israel" by the emperor. The Beta Israel kingdom was eventually established after a civil war between the Jewish population and the Christian population. The Jewish rebels wanted to distinguish themselves from the people who practiced Christianity and therefore during that civil war the Jewish community began to migrate out of the Empire towards the Semien Mountains region and the province of Dembiya – regions located north of Lake Tana and south of the Tekezé River – at that time this region (Semien) was not an integral part of the Axum Empire and as a result, the Jews began to establish their kingdom in Semien. They crowned the first king, Phineas, a descendant of the Jewish High Priest Zadok, and started a period of territorial expansion eastward and southward.
  During the mid 9th century the empire of Aksum began a new expansion which led to an armed conflict between the Empire forces and the Beta Israel forces. The Beta Israel kingdom under King Gideon the fourth managed to defeat the Axum forces. Nevertheless, during the battle king Gideon was killed. As a result, Gideon's daughter Judith (Gudit) inherited the kingdom from her father and took command. Judith's first challenge was to stop any future invasions to the kingdom by the Christian Aksumite Empire. As a result, Judith formed a military alliance with the Agaw, who also opposed the expansion of the Christian Aksumite Empire.
  Around 960, the large tribal confederation led by Queen Judith, which included both forces of the Agaw tribes and the Beta Israel forces, invaded the capital of Axum and conquered and destroyed the city of Axum (including many churches and monasteries which were burned and destroyed) and imposed Jewish rule over Axum. In addition, the Axumite throne was snatched and the forces of Queen Judith sacked and burned the Debre Damo monastery which at the time was a treasury and a prison for the male relatives of the emperor of Ethiopia, killing all of the potential heirs of the emperor.
  After the fall of the Axum Empire, Queen Judith crowned herself as the empress and appointed governors in the provinces which were conquered. Queen Judith ruled over the territory she conquered for around 40 years, establishing trade relations with the neighboring countries and eventually passing the throne on to her descendants.
  The Golden Age of the Beta Israel kingdom took place, according to the Ethiopian tradition, between the years 858–1270, in which the Jewish kingdom flourished. During that period the world Jewry heard for the first time the stories of Eldad ha-Dani who apparently visited the kingdom. Marco Polo and Benjamin of Tudela also mention an independent Ethiopian Jewish kingdom in the writings from that period. This period ends with the rise of the Christian Solomonic dynasty.
caption: Coins with the image of Emperor Ezana
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