Lake Ashenge

BW

The Ashangisee ( Amharic አሽንጌ ሐይቅ, Ashange Hayk ') is located in the Tigray region of Ethiopia on 2438 meters above sea level and has no outlet. According to the Statistical Abstract of Ethiopia 1967/68, the lake is five kilometers long and four kilometers wide, with an area of 20 square kilometers.

History

On August 29, 1542, Ahmad ibn Ibrahim al - Ghazi advanced towards the Portuguese positions near Wofla on the south side of the lake in the Battle of Wofla victoriously, where he da Gama captured the leader Cristóvão and killed.

Another notable fight on the banks of the lake was the Battle of the Ashenge on October 9, 1909, when Dejazmach Abate Bwalu struck the rebel forces of Abraha Araya Dejazmach.

On April 3, 1936, thousands of soldiers from the Ethiopian army were killed with poison gas around the Ashangisee. The soldiers were in the withdrawal from the Battle of Maychew during the Italo-Ethiopian War. As they withdrew, the Italians sprayed the area around the lake with mustard gas. On April 4 saw Emperor Haile Selassie I with despair at the terrible sight of the bodies of his army who surrounded the poisoned lake.