Lake Hayq

The Hayksee or Hayqsee ( Ge'ez ሐይቅ Haik, amh. "Lake" ) is a freshwater lake in Ethiopia. It is located north of Dessie in the Debub Wollo Zone of the Amhara Region (or kilil ). The city is located southwest of Lake Haik. The Hayksee is 6.7 km long and 6 km wide, with an area of 23 km ². It has a maximum depth of 88 m and is located at an altitude of 1908 m.

In the German naming is a case of tautology, since the word Hayk in Amharic means as much as the lake.

History

According to legend, the lake was created in order to avenge a pregnant woman who has been wronged by a princess. God was outraged by this injustice, and in his anger, all plots were transformed in the environment of the woman (except the floor on which they sat ) in water and formed a lake, which destroyed the princess along with her ​​friends and family. Where the pregnant woman was sitting, an island was created (now peninsula ), where the mid-13th century by Iyasus Mo'a the Istifanos Monastery ( Stephanoskloster ) was founded.

A former student of Iyasus Mo'a, Tekle Haymanot, the monastery of Debra ASBOs founded ( renamed in the 15th century in Debre Libanus ) in Shewa. Tekle Haymanot was one of five young wise religious students, the " five lights of Christianity " were for the south of Ethiopia. Iyasus Mo'a also played a role in the overthrow of the Zagwe Dynasty by Yekuno Amlak and helped with the restoration of the Solomonic dynasty. During the ascent to the throne was Yekuno Amläks the Istifanos Monastery from the Istifanos Church.

The church was founded around the 8th century during the Axumite era and was the first in the province of Amhara. However, the events surrounding the establishment are not clear. Some legends tell that there was an Aksumite Palace in Ambasselle against the modern Istifanos monastery on the other side of the lake. Imam Ahmad Gragn plundered and burned the church down in November 1531. The ruins of the church are still visible today. Legend has it that the kings and princes who lived in the palace, the church founded.

The first Europeans, of whom we know that he saw the lake was, Francisco Álvares, who passed by there on 21 September 1520. He mentions in the lake were hippos and catfish and the land around it was planted with lemons and oranges. Shortly before his departure in 1606 marched to Susenyos I. Hayksee area, where he drove a group of Oromo, who had entered the area of the monastery Istifanos.