Angot

Angot (Amharic: አንጎት, translated as "Neck," possibly referring to the province geography) was a historical region in northern Ethiopia. It was bordered on the west by Bugna and the Afar lowlands to the east and southeast, Ambassel to the southwest and Tigray to the north. Portuguese explorer Francisco Álvares wrote that the boundary between Angot and Tigray was the Sabalete River located north-east of Lake Ashenge.^[1][2]

Under the reign of Degna Djan, during the 10th century, the empire kept expanding south, and sent troops into the modern-day region of Ennarea,^[3] while at the same time undertaking missionary activity into Angot. Emperor Dil Na'od is said to have relocated the capital to Ku'bar on the shore of Lake Hayq, south of Angot, and built the Istifanos Monastery. Aksum by that time was no longer the center of the Christian kingdom, and was instead a frontier town, threatened from the west and south by the rising Bete Israel and from the north by invading Beja tribes. Angot was a much more defensible position, a decision that proved wise when Beta Israel captured Aksum during Queen Gudit's invasion. The capital, called Ku'bar or Jarmi,^[4] was probably located in southern Tigray or Angot, however the exact location of this city is currently unknown.^[5]

Angot is mentioned as being north of Bete Amhara in the medieval period.^[6] Angot was on the front line between Abyssinia and the Afar lowlands, and after multiple wars, was occupied by the Oromo tribes of Raya, Wollo and Yejju.^{[citation needed]} In more recent times, it became part of Wollo Province and from 1994 it got split between Amhara and Tigray regions. The northern parts of Angot (Raya Azebo) become part of Tigray, and the rest became part of the Amhara Region under the North Wollo Zone.