Maychew (Maych’ew)
Maychew, also Maichew (ማይጨው, "salt water"), is a town and woreda in the Tigray Region of Ethiopia. It is located at 665 km north of Addis Ababa along Ethiopian Highway 2. According to Ethiopia’s agro-ecological setting, Maychew and its environs are classified under the Weinadega (semi-temperate zone). Maychew is located in the endoreic basin of the Afar Triangle. The streams near Maychew do not reach the ocean.
After his capture in 1921 by Gugsa Araya Selassie, the deposed Lij Iyasu was detained for two weeks at Maychew.
Near Maychew, on March 31, 1936, the conclusive battle of the Italian invasion of Ethiopia was fought. By means of more sophisticated and powerful weaponry and superior numbers, along with modern training, the Italians routed the Ethiopian forces, and six weeks later marched unopposed into the capital, Addis Ababa. The battle of Maychew was despairing for the emperor.
During the Italian occupation, the inhabitants included about 500 local population and 22 Italians. Facilities included telephone service, an infirmary, a gas station, restaurant, and a Tuesday market.
In the early years of the Ethiopian Civil War, the Derg required that all vehicles travelling north from Maychew be restricted to convoys. By 1980, convoys were deemed necessary to move even the 20 kilometers from Maychew to Mehoni. During the 1984 - 1985 famine in Ethiopia, the commander of the First Division, Colonel Hailu Gebre Yohannis, ordered the theft of food stocks from the NGO World Vision in Maychew to feed his hungry troops. By 8 September 1989, Ethiopian People's Revolutionary Democratic Front forces had captured Maychew and Korem, and afterwards advanced along the main highway southwards.
Between February 1999 and April 2000, SUR Construction built a road segments connecting Maychew with Alamata by way of Mehoni about 68 kilometers in length. A notable landmark in this town is the church Maychew Mikael Bete Kristiyan.
After his capture in 1921 by Gugsa Araya Selassie, the deposed Lij Iyasu was detained for two weeks at Maychew.
Near Maychew, on March 31, 1936, the conclusive battle of the Italian invasion of Ethiopia was fought. By means of more sophisticated and powerful weaponry and superior numbers, along with modern training, the Italians routed the Ethiopian forces, and six weeks later marched unopposed into the capital, Addis Ababa. The battle of Maychew was despairing for the emperor.
During the Italian occupation, the inhabitants included about 500 local population and 22 Italians. Facilities included telephone service, an infirmary, a gas station, restaurant, and a Tuesday market.
In the early years of the Ethiopian Civil War, the Derg required that all vehicles travelling north from Maychew be restricted to convoys. By 1980, convoys were deemed necessary to move even the 20 kilometers from Maychew to Mehoni. During the 1984 - 1985 famine in Ethiopia, the commander of the First Division, Colonel Hailu Gebre Yohannis, ordered the theft of food stocks from the NGO World Vision in Maychew to feed his hungry troops. By 8 September 1989, Ethiopian People's Revolutionary Democratic Front forces had captured Maychew and Korem, and afterwards advanced along the main highway southwards.
Between February 1999 and April 2000, SUR Construction built a road segments connecting Maychew with Alamata by way of Mehoni about 68 kilometers in length. A notable landmark in this town is the church Maychew Mikael Bete Kristiyan.
Map - Maychew (Maych’ew)
Map
Country - Ethiopia
Flag of Ethiopia |
Anatomically modern humans emerged from modern-day Ethiopia and set out to the Near East and elsewhere in the Middle Paleolithic period. Southwestern Ethiopia has been proposed as a possible homeland of the Afroasiatic language family. In 980 BCE, the Kingdom of D'mt extended its realm over Eritrea and the northern region of Ethiopia, while the Kingdom of Aksum maintained a unified civilization in the region for 900 years. Christianity was embraced by the kingdom in 330, and Islam arrived by the first Hijra in 615. After the collapse of Aksum in 960, a variety of kingdoms, largely tribal confederations, existed in the land of Ethiopia. The Zagwe dynasty ruled the north-central parts until being overthrown by Yekuno Amlak in 1270, inaugurating the Ethiopian Empire and the Solomonic dynasty, claimed descent from the biblical Solomon and Queen of Sheba under their son Menelik I. By the 14th century, the empire grew in prestige through territorial expansion and fighting against adjacent territories; most notably, the Ethiopian–Adal War (1529–1543) contributed to fragmentation of the empire, which ultimately fell under a decentralization known as Zemene Mesafint in the mid-18th century. Emperor Tewodros II ended Zemene Mesafint at the beginning of his reign in 1855, marking the reunification and modernization of Ethiopia.
Currency / Language
ISO | Currency | Symbol | Significant figures |
---|---|---|---|
ETB | Ethiopian birr | Br | 2 |
ISO | Language |
---|---|
AM | Amharic language |
EN | English language |
OM | Oromo language |
SO | Somali language |
TI | Tigrinya language |