Begemder
Begemder ( በጌምድር bägemdər [ bəɡemdɨr ], also Gondar or Gonder after the capital ) was a province in the north- western Ethiopia.
There are various theories about the origin of the name. One is from Bega ( Beja ) and Medes (country ) ( here the land of the Bega or Beja is meant ), according to an inscription Emperor Ezana of Aksum, the resettlement of 4400 defeated Bedschas in a province Matlia whose position until now unknown is describes.
Another guess is that the first two syllables from the Ge'ez word baggi ` for sheep ( Amharic BAEG ) come, but never herded sheep were there, and Beke believes that this is not possible. Beckingham and Huntingford note that Begemder actually the area west of Lake Tana called where water is scarce, and note that the lack of water points to Bäga ( " dry season " ) as the source of the name.
Development
The earliest recorded mention of Begemder is on Fra Mauro's world map in 1460, where it is described as a kingdom. Also described Kaiser Lebna Dengel Begemder in his letter to the King of Portugal as a kingdom in 1526, but that was part of his empire.
In 1942 Semien was combined with Begemder. Once in Ethiopia, a new constitution was adopted in 1995, Begemder was divided between the new regions Benishangul Gumuz ( Metekel zone), Tigray ( Mi'irabawi zone), and Amhara.