Debre Werq
Debre Werq | |
|---|---|
Town | |
UTC+3 (EAT ) |
Debre Werq (
woreda
.
History
An early mention of Debre Werq is during the reign of 1559 when, according to explorer
Iyasu I.[3] Cardinal Guglielmo Massaia met with Ras Ali II here in the mid-19th century, describing the town as sitting on a round hill with the church at its summit; the town encircling the church almost extended down to the base of the hill. A debtera, who was head of the church, also appeared to be the civil head of the town.[2] Charles Beke, who visited Debre Werq 25 April 1842, described the town was not only located "on a conical eminence", located the hill at "the fork of two small streams Tazza and Zinjut." (Both of these streams are tributaries of the Chee.)[4]
Paul B. Henze describes visiting the church at Debre Werq in the early 1970s, an event which included finding the church being rebuilt from the foundations, and an unpleasant encounter with a monk over wanting to view the church's collection of manuscripts.[2]
Demographics
Based on figures from the
Central Statistical Agency in 2005, Debre Werq has an estimated total population of 13,908, of whom 6,643 are men and 7,265 are women.[5]
The 1994 census reported this town had a total population of 8,048 of whom 3,495 were men and 4,553 were women.
Notes
- ^ Richard Burton, First Footsteps in East Africa (New York: Praeger, 1966), pp. 183f
- ^ a b c "Local History in Ethiopia" Archived 2008-02-27 at the Wayback Machine (pdf) The Nordic Africa Institute website (accessed 11 March 2009)
- ^ G.W.B. Huntingford, The historical geography of Ethiopia from the first century AD to 1704, (Oxford University Press: 1989), p. 204
- ^ Charles T. Beke, "Abyssinia: Being a Continuation of Routes in That Country", Journal of the Royal Geographical Society of London, 14 (1844), p. 16
- ^ CSA 2005 National Statistics Archived November 23, 2006, at the Wayback Machine, Table B.4