Firstly, Christianity or religion led to the expansion of the Ethiopian dynasty through a period of cultural and commercial interaction with outside countries such as Egypt. Moreover, during this dynasty’s period, Ethiopia experienced one of the most stunning architectural developments thus reflecting development. It is this architectural spirit that led the Zagwe leaders of the Ethiopian dynasty to build magnificent churches that have become one of Ethiopia’s natural attractions. Moreover, religion played the role of strengthening the Ethiopian dynasty’s military and administrative prowess. This is because from the readings, it is stated that the Zagwes belonged to a successful political and military class and held administrative and ecclesiastical positions in the kingdom (Reid & Reid 45). This Christian rule, to a great extent, helped the dynasty to grow both spiritually, structurally and commercially.
The religious beliefs influenced the success of the governments in the Ethiopian dynasty by enabling Christian leaders to be part of the administrative, military and political process. Through this, they brought a lot of success to the kingdom by applying their religious ideas to the dynasty’s administration. However, the religious belief that the Zagwes were not the Solomonic leaders of the Kingdom led to the failure of the government by fueling constant conflicts and overthrows of governments (Tibebu & Tibebu 26). These beliefs also contributed to connections between the kingdom and neighboring states such as Egypt and Eritrea by enabling commercial and cultural interaction due to the dynasty’s strategic location along trade routes. It contributed to conflicts with neighboring states over trading routes. This, however, did not increase the isolation of the state or kingdom, but rather enabled the dynasty to bolster its external relations and interactions with other countries during the Zagwe rule.
Works Cited
Reid, Richard and Richard Reid. Ethiopia: Zagwe dynasty,1150-1270. London: Routledge, 2004. Print.
Tibebu, Teshale and Teshale Tibebu. Lalibela and Ethiopian christianity. London: Routledge, 2004. Print.
