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The Agaw or Agew (, modern Agew) are a Cushitic peoples ethnic group native to the northern highlands of Ethiopia and neighboring Eritrea. They speak the Agaw languages, also known as the Central Cushitic languages, which belong to the Cushitic branch of the Afroasiatic language family, and are therefore closely related to peoples speaking other Cushitic languages.
The Agaw peoples in general were historically noted by travelers and outside observers to have practiced what some described as a “Hebraic religion”, though some also practiced Ethiopian Orthodoxy, and many were Beta Israel Jews. Thousands of Agaw Beta Israel converted to Christianity in the 19th and early 20th century (both voluntarily and forcibly), becoming the Falash Mura.
Cosmas Indicopleustes also noted in his Christian Topography that a major gold trade route passed through the region "Agau". The area referred to seems to be an area west of the Tekezé River and just south of the Semien Mountains, perhaps around Lake Tana. He also makes a reference to a "governor of Agau", who was entrusted by King Kaleb of Axum with the protection of the long-distance caravan routes from Agau. According to Taddesse Tamrat, Kaleb's governor of Agau probably has his seat of government in the area of Lasta, which would later serve as the center of the Zagwe dynasty.Taddesse Tamrat, Church and State in Ethiopia (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1972), p.50
The Cushitic speaking Agaw formed and ruled during the Zagwe dynasty of Ethiopia from about 1137 to 1270. Post-contemporary sources would subsequently accuse the Zagwe of being usurpers and derided their achievements. The Zagwe rulers were deposed, and the throne was seized by a Semitic-speaking Amhara people dynasty, which would claim to be a resumption of the Solomonic lineage of the pre-Zagwe Axumite Kingdom. Despite this, the new monarchs granted the Zagwe rulers and their descendants the title of Wagshum, allowing them to govern their native regions of Wag Province and Lasta. (2025). 9780631224938, Wiley. ISBN 9780631224938
These scattered enclaves include the Bilen people in and around Keren, Eritrea; the Qemant people (including the now-relocated Beta Israel), who live around Gondar in the North Gondar Zone of the Amhara Region, west of the Tekezé River and north of Lake Tana; a number of Agaw live south of Lake Tana, around Dangila in the Agew Awi Zone of the Amhara Region; and another group live in and around Soqota in the former province of Wollo Province, now part of the Amhara Region, along with Lasta, Tembien, and Abergele.
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