Mentewab

Mentewab Berhan Mogassa
Empress consort of Ethiopia Regent of Ethiopia
Itege (Empress) Mentewab lying prostrate at Mary's feet at Nerga Selassie in Lake Tana, 1748.
Reign	8 Nov 1723 – 19 Sep 1730
Coronation	23 December 1730
Born	c. 1706 Qwara
Died	27 June 1773 (aged 66-67) Qwasqwam Palace, Gondar
Burial	Monastery Church of St Mary of Qwasqwam
Spouse	Emperor Bakaffa Lord Iyasu Milmal
Issue	Iyasu II Woizero Walatta Takla Haymanot Woizero Walatta Israel Woizero Aster Woizero Altash
Full name Mentewab (birth name) Walatta Giyorgis (baptismal name) Berhan Mogassa (throne name)
House	House of Solomon
Father	Lord Manbare of Dembiya
Mother	Lady Yenkoy

Mentewab (Ge'ez : ምንትዋብ min-tiwwāb, Amharic: "How beautiful"; c. 1706 - 27 June 1773), was Empress of Ethiopia, consort of Emperor Bakaffa, mother of Iyasu II and grandmother of Iyoas I. She was also known officially by her baptismal name of Welete Giyorgis ("Daughter of St. George"). Mentewab was a major political figure during the reigns of her son the Emperor Iyasu and grandson Iyoas. Empress Mentewab was also known by the honorific of Berhan Mogasa or "Glorifier of Light". This was to compliment the honorific of her son Iyasu II, who was Berhan Seged or "He To Whom the Light Bows".

Mentewab was born in Qwara province, and was rumored to have had a Portuguese grandparent; because of this, she was often suspected of harboring secret Roman Catholic sympathies. She was a daughter of Dejazmach Manbare of Dembiya by his wife, Woizero Yenkoy. Mentewab married Emperor Bakaffa in Qwara 6 September 1722, becoming his second wife (his first wife having mysteriously died on the day she was crowned immediately following her coronation banquet).

Following the death of her husband, Empress Mentewab took up a romantic liaison with her late husband's nephew. The Empress' much younger lover was derisively called "Melmal Iyasu" (Iyasu the Kept) by members of the court. Mentewab would have three daughters by "Melmal Iyasu", including Woizero Aster Iyasu, who would marry the powerful Tigrean warlord Ras Mikael Sehul.

Empress Mentewab built several significant structures in Gondar, including her own castle in the Royal Enclosure, and a large banqueting hall as well. Most significantly she built a church dedicated to the Virgin Mary at Qusquam (named for a site in Egypt where the Holy Family had stayed during their exile) in the mountains outside of Gondar. Empress Mentewab also built a palace adjoining her church, which became her favored residence.