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Lebna Dengel

Dawit II
Wanag Seggad
Emperor of Ethiopia
Cristofano dell’Altissimo, Portrait of Lebnä-Dengel. c. 1552-1568.jpg
Contemporary portrait of Lebna Dengel by Cristofano dell'Altissimo
Emperor of Ethiopia
Reign 13 August 1507 – 2 September 1540
Coronation 13 May 1508
Predecessor Na'od
Successor Gelawdewos
Regent Empress Eleni
Born c. 1496
Dabra Damo, Tigray
Died 2 September 1540
(aged 38-39)
Burial Abba Aragwi Monastery, Dabra Damo
Issue Fiqtor Lebna Dengal
Emperor Gelawdewos
Yakob
Emperor Menas
Walatta Hanna
Amata Giyorgis
Sabana Giyorgis
Walatta Kidusan
Tewdada
Sabla Wangel
Full name
Egardos (birth name)
Lebna Dengel (baptismal name)
Wanag Seggad (nickname)
Dynasty Solomonic dynasty
Father Na'od
Mother Empress Na'od Mogasa
Full name
Egardos (birth name)
Lebna Dengel (baptismal name)
Wanag Seggad (nickname)

Dawit II (Ge'ez: ዳዊት? dāwīt), also known as Wanag Segad (wanag sagad, 'to whom lions bow'), better known by his birth name Lebna Dengel (ልብነ ድንግል Ləbnä Dəngəl; 1501 – September 2, 1540), was nəgusä nägäst (1508–1540) of the Ethiopian Empire. A member of the Solomonic dynasty, he was the son of Emperor Na'od and Queen Na'od Mogasa. The important victory over Adal leader Mahfuz may have given Dawit the appellation Wanag Segad, which is a combination of Ge'ez and Harari terms.

Although she was well into her seventies, the Empress Mother Eleni stepped in to act as her step-great-grandson's regent until 1516, when he came of age. During this time, she was aware that the neighboring Muslim states were benefitting from the assistance of other, larger Muslim countries like the Ottoman Empire. Eleni sought to neutralize this advantage by dispatching the Armenian Mateus to Portugal to ask for assistance. However, the Portuguese response did not arrive in Ethiopia until much later, when an embassy led by Dom Rodrigo de Lima arrived at Massawa on April 9, 1520. Transversing the Ethiopian highlands, they did not reach Dawit's camp until October 19 of that year. Francisco Álvares provides us a description of the Emperor:


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