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{{short description|Mountainous place in Ethiopia, where heirs of emperor interned temporarily}}
'''Wehni''' ([[Amharic]]: ወህኒ) is the name of one of the mountains of [[Ethiopia]] where most of the male [[heir]]s to the [[Emperor of Ethiopia]] were interned, usually for life. It was the last
[[File:Monolithe1.JPG|thumb|Mount Wehni, on the left]]
From some undetermined time in history, it was the custom that when the Emperor assumed the throne, his brothers and other male relatives would be taken to a royal prison, where they would live until either they were called forth to become the new Emperor -- or died. Mount Wehni was first used as a prison by [[Fasilides of Ethiopia|Fasilides]], when he exiled his son Dawit there for leading a revolt. The mountain was abandoned as a prison during the [[Zemene Mesafint]]; more precisely in the [[1790s]], as Samuel Gobat learned from one Tekla Selassie, "a relative of the king" (that is, the Emperor of Ethiopia).<ref>Gobat states that it was "about thirty years since this inhuman custom ... was discontinued", and since he wrote that in 1830, this points to a date not much later than 1800. ''Journal of Three years' Residence in Abyssinia'', 1851 (New York: Negro Universities Press, 1969), p. 243.</ref>▼
▲From some undetermined time in history, it was the custom that when the Emperor assumed the throne, his brothers and other male relatives would be taken to a royal prison, where they would live until either they were called forth to become the new
Although [[James Bruce]] first mentions the existence of the royal prison at Wehni, Thomas Pakenham was the first European to visit the site, in 1955. He notes that when he started to search for this half-forgotten complex, there were three possible locations for this prison in the province of [[Begemder]], now part of the [[Amhara Region]] of Ethiopia: the Ethiopian expert [[Steven Wright (scholar)|Steven Wright]] believed it lay three days' journey to the west of [[Gondar]]; a Colonel Shifferaw, who was familiar with the area, knew of two locations to the east of Gondar.<ref>Thomas Pakenham, ''The Mountains of Rasselas'' (New York: Reynal & Co., 1959), p. 27.</ref> Pakenham's explorations determined that it lay in the mountains to the northeast of [[Emfraz]], and recorded his first clear view of it:▼
▲Although [[James Bruce]] first mentions the existence of the royal prison at Wehni, [[Thomas Pakenham (historian)|Thomas Pakenham]] was the first European to visit the site, in 1955. He notes that when he started to search for this half-forgotten complex, there were three possible locations for
:In the docile plain there opened a gorge perhaps half a mile wide, leading to a bowl-shaped valley. It was the valley of Wehni. From the centre rose the scoriated black thumb that was the Mountain. It was in fact twice the height it had first appeared, its sides perfectly sheer to the ground, its top flat and grassy.<ref>Pakenham, p. 59</ref>
Pakenham found at the foot of the mountain a village that "hardly deserved the name". Although he found the inhabitants "wretched and poor", inspecting the local church he found a number of paintings
Unfortunately,
Travel writer [[Barbara Toy]] was the first Westerner to set foot on the top of Wehni, which she accessed in 1959 by helicopter.<ref name=AWW>{{cite news|title=A woman's-eye view of Timbuktu ...|url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article47492885|first=Carol|last=Henty|date=13 February 1963|accessdate=16 January 2014|work=The Australian Women's Weekly}}</ref><ref name=Macm>{{cite news|title=Barbara Toy (author profile)|url=http://us.macmillan.com/author/barbaratoy|accessdate=16 January 2014|work=Macmillan.com}}</ref> She camped overnight on the mountain, and wrote about her time in Ethiopia in her 1961 book ''In Search of Sheba: Across the Sahara to Ethiopia'', published by [[John Murray (publishing house)|John Murray]].<ref>''In Search of Sheba: Across the Sahara to Ethiopia'', 1961, pages 220-235; fifteen photographs on pages 228-229. Toy brought back a winejug from the summit which she later presented to the Institute of Ethiopian Studies at University College, Addis Ababa.</ref>
▲Unfortunately, due to a landslide at some point in the previous 30 years, Pakenham was unable to ascend Mount Wehni. Equipped with climbing gear, he made an unsuccessful second attempt a few months later. He concludes his account of travels in Ethiopia with a description of the compound at the top of the mountain, viewed from the air after having convinced the pilot of the Gondar-Addis Ababa flight to pass by and circle the peak.<ref>Pakenham, pp. 186-190.</ref>
This royal prison at the top of Wehni left its influence on [[English literature]]
== References ==
{{reflist}}
{{coord|12|08|54|N|37|45|59|E|region:ET-AM_type:mountain_source:kolossus-dewiki|display=title}}
[[Category:Amhara Region]]
[[Category:Ethiopian monarchy]]
[[Category:Mountains of Ethiopia]]
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