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Bete Amhara (Amharic language: ቤተ አማራ, Ge'ez: ቤተ ዐምሐራ, translation: "House of Amhara") was a historical region located in north-central Ethiopia, covering most of the later Wollo Province, along with significant parts of North Shewa. The state had 30 districts, including Ambassel, Lakomelza, Laikueyta, Tatakuyeta, Akamba, Ambassit, Atronsa Mariam, Guba Lafto, Tehuledere (most probably located in the northern part of Dessie Zuria, where there is a small lake called Feres Bahir or Bahir Shasho), Amba Geshen, Gishe Bere, Wasal, Wegde, Mecana-Selasse, Debre Tabor, Sayint, Zoramba, Daje, Demah, Efratana Gidim and Ewarza.Travels to Discover the Source of the Nile, In the Years 1768, 1769, 1770, 1771, 1772 and 1773, Third edition, 8 volumes; Ed., Alexander Murray; Edinburgh, 1813 Vincenzo Maria Coronelli, August 1650, Venedig, Paris (1681 bis 1683) The region is the source of much of Ethiopia's clothing, eating culture, language, and education. A Voyage to Abyssinia by Jerome Lobo, Library of Alexandria
The region’s recorded history, in fact, goes back to the first decades of the second millennium. For example, St. George’s Church in the town of Woreilu (whose Tabot is reputed to have been carried by Menelik II at the Battle of Adwa) was established around 1200. The parish of Mekane Selassie (መካነ ሥላሴ), near Neded and the home of the famous cathedral by the same name, served as a favorite royal playground. The construction of Mekane Selassie (meaning: the abode of the Trinity) was begun by Emperor Naod (1494-1508) and completed by his son Emperor Dawit II (royal nom-du-guerre, Wanag Seged). This was a year before the church (along with a large number of monasteries in the region) was sacked in 1531 by a destructive Ottoman-backed invasion. Francisco Alvarez, who had earlier visited the church, confirms that its size was some 150 feet by 150 feet—wholly covered in gold leaf, inlaid with gems, pearls and corals. (2017). 9781315554013 ISBN 9781315554013 Astounded by the wealth and workmanship, the Yemeni chronicler of Ahmed Gragn notes: "The imam asked all the Arabs who were with him, ‘Is there the like of this church, with its images and its gold, in Byzantium, or in India, or in any other place?' They replied, ‘We never saw or heard of its like in Byzantium or India or anywhere in the world.
Due to the origin of the Solomonic Dynasty in Bete Amhara, the regions rulers played a disproportionate role in the politics of the Ethiopian state. In the medieval era, the Tsahife Lam (ጻሕፈ ላም), governor of the Bete Amhara, was the most senior military officer next to the Emperor. Along with that, the Jantirar of Ambassel (the center of Bete Amhara and lordship of Yekuno Amlak himself prior to his ascension as Emperor of Ethiopia), was tasked with protecting Amba Geshen. One of the mountains of Ethiopia where most of the male to the Solomonic Dynasty were interned, the Emperors also kept the imperial treasury there even after it was no longer a royal prison. According to "The Glorious Victories," the soldiers of Amda Seyon were from "Amhara and Shewa and Gojjam and Dämot, (men) who were trained in warfare, and dressed in gold and silver and fine clothes archers, spearmen, cavalry, and infantry with strong legs, trained for war. When they go to war they fight like eagles and run like wild goats; the (movement) of their feet is like the rolling of stones, and their sound is like the roaring of the sea, as says the prophet Herege'el: "I have heard the sound of the wings of the angels, as the noise of a camp." Such were the soldiers of 'Amda Seyon, full of confidence in war."Edward Ullendorff, his review of Huntingford's translation of The Glorious Victories of Amda Ṣeyon, King of Ethiopia, Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London, 29 (1966)
The region is the source of much of Ethiopia's clothing culture, eating culture, language, education system. An example is the fundamental modal system used by music of the Ethiopian highlands called qenet, of which there are four main modes: , , , and . Abba Gorgoryos (1596-1658), the famous monk whose Jesuit association and global travels disseminated invaluable knowledge overseas about Ethiopia, is said to hail from Were Ilu. In a 1650 letter to the German scholar Hiob Ludolf (1624-1704), the Ethiopologist deservedly known as the father of Ethiopian Studies, Abba Gregorius describes himself as follows:
"As to my origins, do not imagine, my friend, that they are humble, for I am of the House of Amhara which is a respected tribe; from it come the heads of the Ethiopian people, the governors, the military commanders, the judges and the advisers of the King of Ethiopia who appoint and dismiss, command and rule in the name of the King, his governors, and grandees.”
According to 19th century traveler William Cornwallis Harris, "Amhára" was a term held synonymous with "Christian," evidence that (the province) "must formerly have exerted preeminent influence in the empire."
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Islamic knowledge and culture was introduced to the region in the 7th century, when a group of Muslims were counseled by the prophet Mohammed to escape persecution in Mecca and travel to Ethiopia. A minority in the Bete Amhara were influenced by these Arab migrants and became Muslim converts.
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