Yeha
Yeha (Ge'ez ይሐ yiḥa, older ESA 
ḤW[1]) is a village in northern Ethiopia, located in
the Mehakelegnaw Zone of the Tigray Region. It
has a longitude and latitude of . The
Central Statistical Agency has not published an estimate for this
village's 2005 population.
The oldest standing structure in Ethiopia is located in Yeha; it is a tower built in the Sabaean style, and dated to either the 8th or 7th century BC. This tower is one of the reasons some believe Yeha was the capital city of the D’mt kingdom. The walls of its early temple survive, while other ruins include Grat Beal Gebri, with square pillars.
Yeha is also the location of an Ethiopian Orthodox monastery, founded according to tradition credits by Abba Aftse, one of the Nine Saints. In his account of Ethiopia, Francisco Álvares mentions visiting this town in 1520 (which he called "Abbafaçem"), and provides a description of the ancient tower, the monastery, and the local church, which also has been dated to the time of the Axumite Kingdom.[2] This ancient structure houses a museum.
Yeha has also been the site of a number of archeological excavations, beginning in 1952 by the Ethiopian Institute of Archeology. Although interrupted during the Derg regime, excavations were resumed in 1993 by a French archeological team.
Notes
- ^ E. Bernand, A.J. Drewes, R. Schneiderm Recueil des inscriptions de l'éthiopie des périodes pré-axoumite et axoumite. Académie des inscriptions et belle-lettres. Diffusion de Broccard: Paris, 1991, pp. 109-110
- ^ Francisco Alvarez, The Prester John of the Indies translated by C.F. Beckingham and G.W.B. Huntingford (Cambridge: Hakluyt Society, 1961), chapter 35 (pp.140f).
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