Local History of Ethiopia Mead - Mejo © Bernhard Lindahl (2005)

mead: me'adeni (T) mine /for minerals/

JDS92 Mead (Me'ad) (area) 848 m 10/42 [WO]
?? Meadura, stream in the Awash area ../.. [20]
In 1975 Jon Kalb and Herb Mosca followed a small stream Meadura up to some low
sedimentary foothills. They found basalt handaxes and cleavers, and there seemed to be
thousands of them. At least three or four tuff layers were visible, interlayered with deltaic
and nearshore lake deposits. There were also found fossils of hippos, suids, bovids,
rhinos, and elephants. The site proved to have a size of about two square kilometres.
June 1975: "-- first impression of Meadura was not good, because most of the fossils were
well broken up and most of the stone tools were abraded and patinated. But then /Fred
Wendorf/ saw the several tuff layers that would make dating possible - a major problem in
most Acheulean sites - and fresh, sharp artifacts eroding from at least several levels. Herb
and I /Jon Kalb/ also showed him isolated concentrations of bifaces, flakes, rock cores,
and debris associated with animal remains. Fred was certain they were discrete butchering
sites where tools had been fashioned and used on the spot. Elsewhere he identified a large
area of artifacts and bones that he thought might be a living floor, where people had
camped. We found the remains of a baby elephant in this same area; it might have served
as a snack in the middle of a long day of slaughtering and maiming. Blackened bone
suggested fire use, long suspected of Acheulean toolmakers in Europe and Asia, but
unknown in Africa."
"Fred thought Meadura might be an upper Acheulean site because of the presence of some
advanced-looking artifacts: large, sharp flakes struck from specially faceted rock cores - a
tool-manufacturing technique that is a relatively late innovation, about 300,000 to
400,000 years old."
[J Kalb, Adventures in the bone trade, New York 2001 p 178]

HFF31 Meakudi (Meakuddi, Maikudi, Ma'aquddi) [x]

(with rock-hewn church)
see under Geralta churches - northern
HFE69 Meala (Me'ala) 14°08'/39°18' 2087 m 14/39 [Gz]
(with church Giyorgis), south-west of Adigrat

?? Meant wereda (1996-) ../.. [n]

Within the Bench-Maji Zone which was established in 1996.
Semi-sedentary population.
HEU61 Meara (Me'ara) 13°14'/39°27' 2044 m 13/39 [Gz]
(with church Kidane Mihret), south of Mekele
HFE80 Measake, see Adi Mendi
Meban, a sub-division of the Sudanic people in Ethiopia
HET19 Mebehal 12°50'/39°18' 1822 m, west of Maychew 12/39 [Gz]
mebel: mebil (A) food, eatables
HEL04 Mebel, cf Mabil 11/38 [WO]
HC... Meben Dega (in Chilalo awraja) 07/39? [Ad]
The primary school in 1968 had 68 boys and 12 girls
in grades 1-2, with one teacher.
HEM91 Mebera (area), cf Mabera 12/39 [WO]
HEM93 Mebera 12°36'/39°38' 1610 m 12/39 [Gu Gz]
east of lake Ashenge
HDR37 Mebesh 10°17'/37°15' 1976 m (with church Giyorgis) 10/37 [Gz]
HDJ15 Mebeshi 09°12'/37°03' 1832 m 09/37 [Gz]
HED84 Mebrej 11°39'/37°53' 2348 m, east of Bahir Dar 11/37 [Gz]

HEA94 Mec, see Mek

HEH99c Meca, see Meka
HCE66 Mecale, see Mekale

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HEM02 Mecamecit, see Mekamechit

HEU13 Mecan (Mecam), see Mekan
HED86 Mecan Jesus, see Mekane Iyesus
HED97 Mecan Jesus, see Mokshi
HES69 Mecanna, see Makanna
HES44 Mecara, see Mekara
HEM92 Mecare (Mecarre), see Mekare
GDF67 Mecciara, see Mechara & JDA46

mech (A) Guizotica scabra, a plant related to cultivated

nug, up to 3 m tall growing above 1500 m, with acid-yellow
flowers; mecha (O) nation; mechcha (O) bastard;
Mecha (Macha in many English-language texts, Matcha),
name of a tribe of Oromo living in Shewa,
also a clan of the Mecha/Liban/Kutai/Galani Oromo
HDD86 Mecha (area) 08°57'/38°06' 08/38 [n]
HDD94 Mecha, cf Jibat & Mecha awraja 08/37
HDK08 Mecha (Meccia) (area), cf Macha 09/38 [+ WO]
HDL82 Mecha (Mech'a) 09°51'/38°38' 3068 m, west of Fiche 09/38 [AA Gz]
HEC66 Mecha 11°25/37°08' 11/37 [n]
between Dangila and Bahir Dar
HDD.. Mecha forest (Metcha) see under Ginchi 08/38 [+ x]
?? Mecha Gaji, see Gaji
mecha koricha: koricha (qoricha) (O) medicine,
/figuratively:/ punishment
HDK08 Mecha Koricha (Meccia Coreccia, M. Careccia) 09/38 [LM WO Gu Gz]
(Meccia Kareccia, Metcha Goritcha) 09°06'/38°18' 2677 m
A timber concession was obtained by Costi Papavassiliades around 1930,
and it later was passed on to Eugenio Bertolani.
[Zervos 1936]
HEC67c Mecha sub-district? (-1997-) 11/37 [n]
HEC67c Mecha wereda (centre in 1964 = Merawi Maryam) 11/37 [Ad]

HDS.. Mechakel (Mächakäl, Machakal) 10/37 [Pa]

(historically recorded area), between Dembecha and Debre Markos
When after 1620 the Matcha/Mecha attacked Gojjam, half of them
crossed the Abay via Matakal and the other half via Guman.
[Mohammed 1994]
When Iyasu shortly after 1697 went to the country of the Machakal Oromo
these on two occasions are said to have immediately disappeared.
[Pankhurst 1997]
?? Mechakil (Mächakil, Mächakel) ../.. [n]
During the period of Dejazmach Goshu in the 1840s, the district
of Mächakil was responsible for carrying and pitching tents.
[12th Int. Conf. of Ethiopian Studies 1994 p 1008]

HEC79 Mecham (Mecciam) (village & watercourse) 11/37 [+ It]

mechara: machara (O) 1. any prickly shrub, bramble;
2. kind of climber particularly trailing coffee trees
GDF67 Mechara (Mecciara), cf Machara, Michara 08/34 [+ WO]
HDA62 Mechara (Mecciara) 08°44'/35°00' 1525 m 08/35 [Gz]
near map code GDF67
HDT01 Mechara (Mecciara) 10°00'/38°32' 2085 m 10/38 [AA Gz]
JDA46 Mechara (Mecciara) MS:08°30'/40°20' 1750 m 08/40 [MS Po WO Gu]
Gz:08°36'/40°19' 1790 m

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(with sub P.O. & mission station & church Medhane Alem)
(sub-district & its centre in 1964)

JDA45 Mechata (Mecheta, Micheta, Miceta), cf Micheta 08/40 [MS Po Ad WO]

(with sub P.O. under Asbe Teferi)
(centre in 1964 of Darolebu wereda)
An elementary school building constructed of concrete elements and
with Swedish assistance through ESBU was completed around 1970.
[SIDA 1971]

mechela: machalla, mechella (O) fine leather for saddler´s work;

mechila (A) shrub/small tree growing near water, Salix subserrata
HDL55 Mechela 09°34'/38°52' 2608 m, south-east of Fiche 09/38 [AA Gz]
(with church & quarry nearby)
HEK49 Mecheloa, see Meketewa
HEL27 Mechena, see Mekena
HFE18 Mecheno, see Adi Mekeno
HEK49 Mechetoa, see Meketewa
HEK49 Mechiet, see Meketewa
JD... Mechito (Mech'itu), in the south-east 09/41 [x Gz]
The Fride Hylander family regarded themselves as living there
for a while in 1930 during their long caravan journey?
HED52 Mecho (Mech'o) 11°24'/37°42' 2097 m 11/37 [Gz]
south-east of Bahir Dar near Abay river
HDL60 Mechota (Mech'ota) 09°38'/38°29' 2078 m 09/38 [Gz]
south-west of Fiche
JDA36 Mechta, see Micheta
HDR65 Meckara (Meccara) 10/37 [+ WO]
HES77 Meckarabya Maryam (Meccarabia Mariam) 13/38 [+ Gu]
(village) c1900 m
GDF53 Meckato (Meccato) 08/34 [+ WO]

meda (A,T also transliterated mieda) field, grassy plain

HFE91 Meda Kimtsay (M. K'imtsay) 14°24'/38°32' 1733 m 14/38 [Gz]
north-west of Aksum, at border river of Eritrea
HDM00 Meda Midir 09°05'/39°23' 1667 m, south of Sheno 09/39 [Gz]
HCF43 Meda Welabu (M. Wolabu) 05°47'/39°41' 1214 m 05/39 [Gz Ad]
HCF61 Meda Welabu wereda (M. Wolabu ..) (-1964-2000-) 05/39 [Ad 20]
(centre in 1964 = Oborso)
medacha: meddicha (O) piece of goat or sheep skin
worn as a wrist band during rituals
HCS64 Medacha (Medaccia) 07°52'/37°56' 3074 m 07/37 [LM WO Gz]
HEF46 Medafu 11°17'/39°57' 1418 m, north-east of Dessie 11/39 [Gz]

?? Medak (monastery), in the Ankober region? ../.. [Ha]

"-- a considerable portion of the revenues are now applied to the maintenance of the
monastery of Médak, whose superior, the Alaka Amda Zion, has charge of the heir
presumptive."
[Harris vol II 1844 p 303]
JDH83 Medalalla (area) 975 m 09/40 [WO]
HCJ38 Medalcho 06°39'/37°21' 1673 m 06/37 [Gz]
HCJ38 Medalcho 06°40'/37°24' 1488 m 06/37 [Gz]
HCR86 Medale 08°00'/37°11' 2085 m, cf Madalle 08/37 [Gz]
HDA66 Medale 08°43'/35°22' 1390 m, south-west of Yubdo 08/35 [Gz]
JCC93 Medale (Modallo) 06°18/41°57' 607 m 06/41 [Gz WO]

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HD... Medalle Ebicha, at 72 km from Ijaji ../37 [x]

The Evangelical community at Medalle Ebicha (in the 1970s?) started to build a church
for their 1,300 members, two choirs, and 200 Sunday school children. It was to be a
rectangular building - the Evangelical people do not care much for traditions of Orthodox
church buildings. Because of disunity there were problems to get the project going.
[A Nordlander, Väckelse .., 1996 p 40]
medali (O) weights for scales
HDE53 Medalo (Medalu) 08°39'/38°44' 1880 m 08/38 [Gz x]
village south of Akaki and north of Awash river

HDL85 Medani Alem, see Lemi

HDF06 Medanie Alem, see May Tsemre
JDL12 Medaweyna (Medaueina) (area) 09/43 [+ WO]

medeb (mädäb) (T) terrace; (A) bench made of earth; stall

for merchandise, stand on a market; square of ground; plank
HEK.. Medeb (Meddeb) 11/38 [+ 18]
Dejazmach Welde Gabriel, son and successor of Ras Michael, reigned only for a short
time /in the 1780s?/. His death was occasioned by a musket-ball in a battle against
'Big Ali' at Meddeb near Debre Tabor.
[M Parkyns, Life in Abyssinia, vol II, London 1853 p 109]

medebay (mädäbay) 1. name of a legendary royal family;

2. places where soldiers were quartered in northern Ethiopia
HFD79 Medebay 14°13'/38°24' 1959 m 14/38 [Gz]
north-east of Inda Silase
HFD89 Medebay 14°20'/38°25' 1714 m 14/38 [Gz]
north-east of Inda Silase
HFD99 Medebay (Medebai Tabor, Medebai) (peak) 14/38 [Gz WO Gu]
14°25'/38°24' 1930 m
north of Inda Silase, near the border of Eritrea
The IVth Corps of the Italians had ascended to the Medebay Tabor plateau by the
beginning of March 1936. The Corps consisted of 14 battalions and some artillery.
[Badoglio]
HFE70 Medebay 14°15'/38°29' 1647 m 14/38 [Gz]
north-east of Inda Silase
HFE73 Medebay Maryam (church) 14°14'/38°44' 14/38 [Gz]
north of Aksum
HFD97 Medebay sub-district (Medebai ..) 14/38 [+ Ad WO]
(centre in 1964 = Adi Kidi), cf Mederbai, Medobay
HFD99 Medebay Tabor, see HFD99 Medebay
HFD.. Medebay Tabor sub-district (-1997-) 14/38 [n]
medebi (O) seat of earth at the side of a house

medech: meddecha (O) 1. anklet, "necklace for the feet";

2. mutton kidney
HDU00 Medech (Medich) 10/39 [LM WO]
HBL60c Medecho 04/38 [x]
At 20 km north-north-east of Mega, with very important wells
of the Borana people. 15,000 heads of livestock have been counted
as using them within three days in September-October.

HED08 Medeg (mountain) 10°56'/38°16' 2857,3304 m 10/38 [WO Gz]

HBT46 Meder 04°53'/38°58' 1226 m, north-east of Arero 04/38 [Gz]
mederba (T) sausage tree, Kigelia aethiopum

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HFE09 Mederbey (Mederbei, Mederbai) (pass) 13/39 [+ WO Gu]

mederderiya (A) shelf; medderiya (A) dry masonry wall
mederi (T), midir (A) land, earth; dur (A,T) forest
HCA64 Mederdur, see Tsilmamo
JEG49 Mederi Didda (waterhole) 488 m 12/40 [WO]
HDL04 Medero 09°05'/38°50' 2665 m 09/38 [AA Gz]
north-east of Addis Abeba
JDJ26 Medero (Mederu) 09°14'/42°09' 1866 m 09/42 [Gz]
south-east of Harar
JDJ48 Medero (mountain) 09°25'/42°21' 2526 m 09/42 [Gz]
north-east of Harar
JDJ26 Mederu 09°15'/42°09' 1721 m, cf Medero 09/42 [Gz]
south-east of Harar
HDR65 Medeven 10/37 [WO]
HC... Medfo Gora Abyotfre (a Wabe village) 07/39 [x]
in 1980s in Aminya wereda, on Robe-Seru road

medhane alem (A) saviour of the world

HCL73 Medhane Alem 07°02'/38°45' 2518 m 07/38 [Gz]
south-west of Kofele
HDD87 Medhane Alem (Medani Alem) (church) 08/38 [LM WO]
HDL95 Medhane Alem (Medani Alem)(with church) 09/38 [LM WO]
HEE90 Medhane Alem (Medanie Alem) (church) 11/38 [+ Gu]
HFF42 Medhane Alem Adi Kasho, s.u. Takatisfi 13/39
HFF42 Medhane Alem Adi Kasho (rock-hewn ch.) 13/39 [Br]
medhani alem (T) saviour of the world
HCL73 Medhani Alem (Medani Alem) 07/38 [+ WO]
HDB54 Medhani Alem (Medani A.) (church) 08/36 [+ WO]
HDD84 Medhani Alem (Medani A.) (church) 08/37 [LM WO]
HDE72 Medhani Alem (Medani A.) (church) 08/38 [LM WO]
HDK16 Medhani Alem (Medani A.) (church) 09/38 [+ WO]
see under Ilfeta
HFC37 Medhani Alem (Medani A.) (church) 13/37 [+ WO]
see under Kafta
HES96 Medhani Alem, see May Tsemre

HFF14 Medhanit Hayk Mesal (M. Hayk' M.) 13/39 [Gz]

13°44'/39°45' 2225 m, east of Agula
HDU00 Medich, see Zinz
HDM60 Medida, see Mendida
JDK48 Medigan 09°29'/43°14' 1635 m 09/43 [Gz]
at some distance from the border of Somalia

HDM97 Medina 09°56'/39°59' 1352 m 09/39 [Gz]

north-east of Debre Sina
/This Medina?:/ "-- generals probably detached from the victorious army of Graan, are
represented to have come from Mecca, and to have taken possession of the country - the
legend assigning to the first of these warriors as his capital the populous village of
Medina, which is conspicuous on a cone among the mountains shortly after entering the
valley of the Robi."
[W C Harris, The highlands .., vol II, London 1844 p 315]

HEE56 Medina 11°23'/39°04' 2228 m, south of Bete Hor 11/39 [Gz]

JEA02 Medina 10°55'/40°00' 1399 m 10/40 [Gz]
Medir .., see Midir .., cf Meder

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HEL67 Mediva 12/39 [Gu]

JDN82c Medjetie, see Majete
medo (A) comb
HDA13c Medo, cf Mado 08/35 [Gu]
JCC21 Medo, see El Medo
JCL81 Medo (wide area), see Daga Medo
HF... Medobay sub-district (Medobai ..), cf Medebay 14/38 [+ Ad]
(centre in 1964 = Mai Megwa)

HFE.. Medoge (Madoge) 14/38 [x]

(archaeological site south-west of Aksum)
picts Annales d'Éthiopie, vol 1(Paris) 1955 pl XVI-XVII
pottery vessels found at the site

H.... Medra Zega (historically recorded place) 10/39 [Pa]

The inhabitants of Medra Zega (south of modern Märabété) and Menz, who were then
Muslims, surrounded Emperor 'Amdä Seyon in the 1320s. He nevertheless succeeded in
defeating them, and killed their commander Dädader.
[Pankhurst 1997]

HFD94 Medri (mountain) 14°28'/37°57' 1473/1949 m 14/37 [Gz]

at some distance from the border of Eritrea
HFD95 Medri (area) 1949 m, cf Mederi 14/37 [WO]
HDS09 Medria (Medria Uadia?) (area) 10/38 [WO]
mee (O) let us see!
JEC82 Mee Dorra (Mee-dorra) (waterhole) 11/41 [WO]

Me'en (Mekan, Meken), ethnic group which has seven sections,

numbering about 52,815 according to the 1994 census.
They were described by K. Fukui in 1979, and he estimated their number
to only about 3,000. They call themselves Me'en or Meken, are called
Bodi by others, and speak a language of the Surma group.
[Ethnicity .. 1994 p 49]
Meerab (Me'erab) .., see Mirab ..
HFD70 (Meeteb, small river in disputed area) 14/37 [WO 20]
Meeteb joins the Tekezze river at the south-west border
of the Badme area which was disputed from 1998.
meeti (O) silver
JDH99 Meeto (waterholes), cf Meto 09/41 [MS WO]
HFK16 Mefalus 14°35'/38°07' 1479 m 14/38 [Gz]
at some distance from the border of Eritrea
HEE64 Meftera (Meft'era) 11°29'/38°52' 2700 m 11/38 [Gz]
south-west of Bete Hor
HBK49 Meg, G. (area), see under Mega 04/38 [WO]

HBK39 Mega (area) 03/38 [WO]

/which Mega?:/ With very important wells of the Borana people.
geol At Mega 600 m of arenaceous metamorphic rocks are exposed by recent faulting,
showing transition from purple sandstone and arkose at top through banded quartzite to
granitic facies at base.
Chlorite schists of almost certain sedimentary origin occur between Mega and Moyale.
[Mohr, Geology 1961 p 20-21]
Extending between Mega and Wachile lies a late Pleistocene lacustrine limestone. This
thin but widely spread limestone is later than the formation of the El Sod explosion crater
and earlier than the faulting which uplifted the Mega hills.

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Basaltic cones top the hills of Mega, the eruptions pre-dating the faulting and uplift. The
basalts are scoriaceous and very localised in occurrence.
[Mohr, Geology 1961 p 203, 214]

HBK59 Mega (Megga, Megua, Magua) 04°03'/38°18' 1740 m 04/38 [Gz Br WO Ad]
(by 1954 with sub-post office & mission station)
MS coordinates would give map code HBK49.
Centre in 1964 of Bire wereda.
Within a radius of 10 km there are at km
2S Urabe (Gara Urabe) (area)
6S Danissa (Gara Danissa) (area)
3W Meg (Gara Meg) (area)
5NW Gemelli (area)
7NW Pelato /&?/ Elmito (area/s/)
5N Urgesa (Urghesa) (area) 1659/2306 m
5NE landing ground used in the 1930's
1890s On a second expedition to Borana in 1897, Fitawrari Habte Giyorgis
built a post near the Kenya frontier at Mega.
It was on the slopes of the mountain of the same name which dominates the plain.
The sides of the mountain are rich in water and were once covered by Juniperus forest,
but by the 1930s they were cultivated with maize and other crops. People from the
highlands moved to Mega.
[Guida 1938]
1910s Mega, which was selected after many vicissitudes in 1916, "must be the most isolated
British Consulate in the world." Hodson wrote a book Seven years in Southern Abyssinia
(1929). Hodson after serving at Mega became consul at Maji.
[D Busk 1957]
1930s When the Italians in 1935 published a collection of formal accusations against Ethiopia,
they also stated that the British consul at Mega in early 1933 had been prevented from
making an excursion in the Borana area.
A little before the Italo-Ethiopian war there was a sub-post office under Yirga Alem
and a telephone connection was under construction. The region was called in French
"Province de Borena" and the governor of Sidamo, Ras Desta, had delegated the
governorship to a Kenyazmach residing at Mega.
Mr Gerald Recce was British Consul at that time.
Transport by car for export of products to Kenya and Italian Somaliland had
just started. There were not yet any missions, schools or health institutions in
Province de Borena.
[Zervos 1936 p 335-336]
Dr Hylander's group of the Swedish Red Cross Ambulance, not yet settled on a particular
site, arrived at Mega on 11 December 1935. They were received by Grazmach Abebe, and
a new building with sheet iron roof being constructed for them was half finished. There
were nine Swedes in the group, of which three physicians.
[F Hylander, I detta tecken, Sthlm 1936 p 54]
Mega was occupied by the Italians on 25 June 1936.
Post office of the Italians was opened on 21 January 1937.
Its cancellations read MEGA * GALLA E SIDAMA.
Around 1938 there were about 2,000 inhabitants. There was the Italian
Residenza, telegraph, infirmary.
[Guida 1938]
The roads Mega-Wachile 120 km, Mega-Moyale 117 km and Mega-Yabelo 105 km were
not maintained in the 1930s and not coated.
1940s The first bombing by the Allies of Italian-held targets in Mega
was on 16 June 1940.
[E Rosenthal, The fall ..]

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In January 1941 there were few military successes for Cunningham on the Moyale-Mega
front when the British liberation forces started invading Ethiopia from Kenya.
[Mockler 1984 p 325]
"The real offensive -- did not begin until the first week of February. -- The objective was
limited. It was intended to clear the last remaining Italian troops from Kenyan soil, and
then take the major Italian fortified outpost at Mega --"
"The 2nd Brigade made a circuitous detour northward and then came directly east to cross
the Mega-Yabelo road, cutting off any escape route to the north. This prevented any
reinforcements coming from Yabelo -- Mega was attacked from the west and the south
and southeast, leaving part of the force on the north to block the road to Yabelo. This was
an important strategy because before the attack on Mega itself began, 15 /Italian/ tanks
from Yabelo moved southward, but they failed to break through the South African forces
holding the road blockade. The attackers on the Mega Fort were assisted by three days of
heavy rain, resulting in mud and cold temperatures -- It was very difficult for the troops
who were used to 110 degree desert heat and who were now short on rations and facing
difficult bush barriers; yet on the final day, the infantry charged with fixed bayonets! A
cloud concealed their approach, and the defenders mounted a white flag after only twenty
minutes of resistance. -- Some 600 Italian prisoners were taken while more ran for the
bush."
[R N Thompson, Liberation .., (Canada) 1987 p 106-107]
Thompson makes long excerpt from a report by a South African Corporal:
"We had waited at Mega for about a week before the battle started. On the Saturday night
we were pushed off from the outpost and slipped on to another ridge, where we slept in
our greatcoats, one blanket, and groundsheets. We got up early next morning --
It was terribly hot on that Sunday morning when we started out."
"We'd no idea that in addition to climbing thousands of feet, the getting to Mega meant
the end of the weather. The truck took us as near our objective as it could - a hill where it
couldn't go any further. Then we debussed and started climbing on foot. The hill went up
in steps. You climbed for about twenty minutes - then you got to a sort of flat bit - then
you went up again. All during the first morning we were busy cleaning up outposts. --
Some mortar shells came over, which went well overhead out of range and fell in the
road. -- Our artillery and mortars were not in action yet."
"That afternoon it started raining, and from then on it rained all the time -- and we
couldn't get blankets, greatcoats, anything, because every time the trucks tried to get
through to us, the roads were shelled and they had to turn back. We retired five hundred
yards to get a better place to sleep and there we were told to dig in. -- in the morning it
was raining again and, when we wanted a cigarette, it was all drenched --"
"It was 12 when we got to the landmines. -- one of our majors and a sergeant walked
down to have a look at it. The sergeant was called back, and the major went on alone, and
as he went through the gully he put his foot on a landmine, and the next thing we saw him
go up in the air. The landmine smashed one of his legs badly -- then a machine gunner
walked down the gully, and he went up in the air too. Then the two stretcher bearers ran
down to pick him up, and both his legs were useless -- They started walking back, and the
back stretcher bearer, he trod on a landmine, and the three of them went up in the air. The
fellow on the stretcher, he was killed outright."
"Then we were all afraid to go through the gully for fear of landmines, but Captain
Cochran, he said he'd go through first and we'd walk in his footsteps. So we all got into
single file and we tried to walk exactly in his footsteps. We got safely across - no one was
hurt. Apparently we did walk on landmines - the engineers found out afterwards, but the
fuses were wet and they didn't go off."
"The next few hundred yards were mud, and you couldn't walk more than a few paces at a
time, you got so bogged in it. We then came to a hill we called 'Shivering Hill', and on the
right of the hill was another very, very big one which would take an hour to climb."
"There was an Italian observation post on this hill, and the Major asked the men of 'A'
Company for twelve volunteers to blow it out. He asked a platoon of 42 men, and all

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 Local History of Ethiopia Mead - Mejo © Bernhard Lindahl (2005)

stepped forward. The Major said he only wanted twelve men, so he selected them, and
together with a corporal they started off to climb the hill. They had twelve rifles and two
Bren guns, and there was lots of cover on the hill. And they approached to within 30
yards of the enemy. The enemy could see them coming and fired all the time, but they
didn't fire back until they were in a good enough position, when they opened up. They
fired for about ten minutes when the enemy stopped firing and put up a white flag."
"The Major -- got up himself. An Italian officer got up too. The Major called him over --
The Italian officer spoke to his men and we saw him pointing on the ground, so we
thought he'd told them to ground arms and surrender, and then he suddenly dropped down
and they opened fire again. So our Major, he said, 'Next time they put up a white flag, let
them have it.' Our men went on firing, and up came the white flag again. So as soon as the
Italian officer showed himself, they let him have it and he fell. Some of his men jumped
up and started running away; a few were killed and the rest were taken prisoner. --"
"Then right in front there was another hill, on which was a blockhouse, and we advanced
at that. There were four Breda guns firing at us. We'd good cover and, when we got the
word to advance, we'd dash and land behind some rock. Sometimes they fired rifles at us,
but we did not fire back because we couldn't see them. Out artillery was firing at the
blockhouse."
"We had two aircraft by then and they tried to blow up the blockhouse, but at first they
were pretty wide off the mark. Then one plane went straight up in the air and dived, and
we thought it was going to go right into the blockhouse, but instead he landed a bomb in
the middle of it."
"Then suddenly the mist cleared and we saw the fort and the flag come down off the fort
and all the enemy coming out surrendering. They came out with great big white flags, and
they came without arms or anything, but we got down and lay ready with our rifles in case
of monkey tricks."
"I must say the Italians were masters at camouflage - you had to be right on top of a place
before you recognized it. Most of them were Breda posts, and there were cases of
ammunition, food, water, everything. Only in one place did we find one of the enemy. --
He said, 'Are you going to kill me?' and we said. 'No.'"
"We slept in the fort that night. The prisoners were in the part with a roof, and we had the
part without, and it rained again too, but now we were beside a great big fire, and the
trucks had been getting through, you see, and we got food and tea and were quite happy."
[Thompson 1987 p 108-113]
The East African Army Post Office (EA-APO 64) served at Mega in the period
August 1941-February 1942. Before that there was APO 61 during March-June 1941.
An Ethiopian civil post office was to be opened in 1944.
[Philatelic source]
1940s "We -- started climbing on to Mega mountain, an isolated mass which is the last southern
outpost of the Ethiopian highlands. I have several times had the pleasure of spending a
night or two in the tiny two-roomed house, perched high above Mega village, which is the
residence of H.M. Consul for Southern Ethiopia. I liked this lofty, isolated spot, which
offers fine walks among woods and grasslands and wonderful views over the plain. Once
I met a party of three Greater Kudu, all males with magnificent corkscrew horns, on a
rocky ridge near by. It is a cold and exposed place, often misty in the mornings, soon
chilly after nightfall, and it was very pleasant, after a day here, to come back to a roaring
fire at the consulate."
"It was at Mega that the late Sir Arnold Hodson (afterwards Governor of several colonial
territories) spent most of the period described in his book, Seven years in Southern
Abyssinia. His round tukul is still standing though no longer used as the consulate. In
those days before the coming of roads, Mega really was a remote place, and the Consul's
job one of the loneliest anywhere. The people of Mega must have been amused by the
habits of His Britannic Majesty's representatives. Arnold Hodson tells how he made a
golf-course around the consulate, and one can picture him pusuing his ball in all
solemnity as he took his afternoon's exercise during those lonely years. (D. Busk: A 9-

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hole golf course was an unusual amenity. Hodson could not make greens and used cattle
skulls as "holes"; if the ball touched the skull, the putt was "sunk". By the 1950s this golf
course had disappeared.)
His successor in my time, a very kind host to me and others, was a keen archer who
patrolled the hills with bow and arrows. By now, perhaps, the local community have
learnt to accept the Britishers' irrepressible boyishness without surprise or comment."
"Mega during the Italian occupation, and, still more, during the campaign that put an end
to it, became a hub of communications. Now there are two roads thence into Kenya, the
older through the frontier posts of Moyale, the newer running directly south through the
Huri Hills to Marsabit - a lonely and waterless route. The two routes from the north also
join at Mega, and another track runs to the west -- But there is little traffic in these days,
and Mega has almost reverted to the sleepy remoteness of pre-Italian timws."
[D Buxton, Travels in Ethiopia, London (1949)1957 p 92-93]
1950s The first influence of Christian mission to reach Mega was through Oromo and Burji
people who moved to Kenya and were converted by British mission while settled there
and who later moved back to the Mega region again.
The Norwegian mission decided in 1949 to establish themselves, not in Mega but in
Moyale. That place was found so difficult that in December 1951 the Norwegian Lutheran
Mission (NLM) decided to move their work to Mega instead, hoping this would be a more
strategical location for reaching the Borana.
[S Hunnestad, Nærkamp .., Oslo 1973 p 69, 71]
Missionary Gunnar Kjærland started to prepare for the move from Moyale to Mega,
although the mission there had no motorcar of their own. The missionary in Gidole came
to help them, and the two also went to Addis Abeba to negotiate for the necessary permit.
It took six weeks before they returned from this first trip.
The site under negotiation for a mission station was supposed to be owned by the
governor in Konso, but the Borana said that they had given it as a gift of honour to the
governor's father but not to be passed on to the son. The governor at Mega tried to settle
the case without loss of honour by "recovering" the site to the government, but the case
became so complicated that it took four years until the NLM could start constructing
buildings. In 1954 Mega could be added to the previous eight Norwegian mission stations
in Ethiopia. A clinic was soon opened there (-1955-).
In the meantime they had rented a house with various defects. The nearest post office was
in Moyale, 120 km away, so it might pass 6-8 weeks for the missionaries without letters
or newspapers.
[Hunnestad 1973 p 72-73]
Missionary Kristoffer Hetland (b 1926) with wife nurse Sigrid Amalie (b 1924)
during 1957 arrived as newcomers to the Norwegian station.
Building work could then start rather soon. It had become forbidden to do Evangelical
work in the district, so the evangelists in the field were brought in to the mission station as
building workers, "but they were hopeless as such".
At one time evangelist Stefanus made a cautious tour in the district - carrying no books -
and spread a message that there would be a general meeting in Mega after a fortnight. By
that Sunday about 200 believers took the risk to gather in the town.
The three first to be baptized at the Mega mission in 1957 had been educated for three
years by then. Missionary Reidar Eriksen was posted in Mega at the time when the
teaching had started to take roots.
[Hunnestad 1973 p 74-85]
Population 1,428 as counted in 1956.
The British Ambassador visited the Consulate: "Lenthening shadows brought us to Mega
and a hospitable welcome at the Consulate, which stands high on bare green hills, where
Itainan trenches and gun emplacements can still be seen. The position was a strong one
and, when it was surrendered in 1941 after only a brief resistance, the German-speaking
Tyrolese artillery officer stamped furiously into our lines and asked to be incarcerated
separately from his earstwhile companions."

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A later visit by the Ambassador: "We again took the Marsabit-Furoli route to Mega
whence the Consul, John Bromley, was to accompany us -- We rested for an afternoon as
far as the activities of John's pets would permit. The compound (all the time) and the
house (much of the time) swarmed with livestock. -- As far as I can recall there were two
cats, a monkey, two great Danes, three other nondescript dogs, six official Consulate
donkeys employed to bear water from the village, four calves and a small flock of sheep,
the latter acquired by exchange for great Dane pups at the rate of two lambs per pup."
"The most original pet of all was a half-grown three-legged Kudu. This had been given to
John as a calf and was accustomed to roam the house without fear of those it knew,
including the dogs. Strangers, however, always threw it into a panic and one day on the
arrival of a carload of visitors it hurled itself through the kitchen window, glass and all,
and broke a hind leg. By a lucky chance one of the travellers was a Swiss doctor. He
administered an anaesthetic and amputated the leg just below the knee."
"I fancy that visitors will be pretty rare at Mega when the animal has reached its full
stature. At any rate none are likely to pay a second call to the house. They will prefer to
conduct business across the garden gate. I was relieved that we left the kudu behind the
next day --"
[D Busk, The fountain of the sun, London 1957 p 102, 107]
1960s Gunnar Almelid arrived in 1960 to the Norwegian mission in Mega, and his
wife nurse Annlaug Berit (b 1934) during 1962.
In 1964 arrived Ragnar Ljønes and his wife Rigmor (b 1936), who had
commercial education. The Norwegians thus sent two replacements every
second year to Mega. Because of unrest in the area from early 1966, Ethiopian
police and soldiers were 'tidying up' at Mega just before European Christmas 1966.
Hundreds of "robbers" had come from Kenya and Somalia. Six men were
killed in Mega.
[S Hunnestad, Nærkamp .., Oslo 1973 p 86
The primary school (in Borena awraja) in 1968 had
72 boys and 13 girls in grades 1-2, with two teachers.
Norwegian Mission school had 129 boys and 51 girls in grades 1-6,
with 6 male Ethiopian teachers and one female foreign teacher.
1970s There was no petrol in Mega in mid-1970.
Leader of the Norwegian mission station around 1974 was Haraldur Olafson.
District governor was Balambaras Abbera Maurid.
Through the Norwegians grain was distributed to about 15,000 people
during the famine in 1973-1974. The distribution was led by two former
missionaries to Ethiopia, Omund Birkeland and Reidar Eriksson.
Redd Barna (Norwegian Save the Children) joined from January 1974.
Marta Gabre, first female member of Parliament in Ethiopia, found after a year into the
revolution that she had better flee with her family, and she did it in a car southwards into
Kenya in September 1975:

The police at Mega knew beforehand that the female senator had passed a roadblock
outside Addis Abeba. "Slowly, anxiously we approached Mega." On the outskirts of the
town the headlights revealed a solid fence over three metres high. The Landrover crawled
through a number of pits or furrows. Near the main gate at the police station they could
glimpse that there was nobody at the desk. They seemed to have gone to a bar in the
neighbourhood. A policeman with a bottle in his hand was clearly interested in the
Landrover, which was driving slowly, with only three men visible (Marta and her children
were hiding at the floor).
There was a fork in the road out of Mega. To the left was the countryside and to the right
government buildings and garages. The driver Rebe by mistake turned into the road on the
right, but this may have strengthened the impression of the policeman that they really
were a working crew. They turned round and disappeared southwards into the night. After
about 5-6 km the road became very rough, but a little after midnight they safely passed

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into Kenya.
[Marta Gabre, (Sheltered by the King, 1983), Swedish ed. Flykten 1985 p 157-160]
1990s "Halfvay between Yabelo and Moyale, motorised visitors may want to stop at Mega,
where you can still see the old British Consulate and Fort on a hill outside town. You may
even bump into the Consular's ex-chauffeur!"
[Bradt 1995(1998)]
A vehicle (or convoy?) going from Mega to Moyale was ambushed at a place
Karbete Bonaya Wale on 2 February 1999 by OLA fighters. Among six killed was
a commander Abdulla Mohammed alias Aliyyi Mohammed.
[OLF report via Eritrea]
2000s "After checking the situation /in 1999 or 2000/, and being told that it had been safe for the
last two or three days (read dangerous before that), we carried on south to the next town
of Mega. This was a dusty and barren place, with a roadblock where they actually looked
at you instead of just waving you through. -- fifteen km north of Mega is a turn-off --
which takes you on a good gravel road to the Soda Crater, a further 15 km off the main
road."
[John Graham in AddisTribune 2000/08/18]
picts D Busk, The fountain .., London 1957 p 108
the British consul indoors with a kudu;
S Hunnestad, Nærkamp .., Oslo 1973 p 80-81[pl 8-16]
thirteen photos mostly of people

HEE80 Mega 11°37'/38°30' 2721 m 11/38 [Gu]

south-west of Debre Zebit

megab: migib (A) food, nourishment

HFE39 Megab (Magab, Megew) (village) 13/39 [WO Gz Gu x]
13°55'/39°21' 1959 m, mountain 2404/2427 m
south-west of Hawzen, cf Magab, Megeb
Coordinates would give map code HFF30
The main cluster of Geralta rock-hewn churches are around the villages of Megab and
Dugem. Megab is 13 km from Hawzen. There is no public transport and only a rough
road, so you must either hike or else visit in a hired four-wheel drive vehicle. The terrain
between Hawzen, Megab and Dugem is reasonably flat, but most of the churches can only
be reached by a stiff climb, so, to visit the churches near Megab, you really need to
overnight there. Hikers should calculate spending four or five nights in the area.
[Bradt 1995(1998) p 314-315]

megabi (mägabi) (A) supplier, foster-father

HBK27 Megado, see Magado
JBN44 Megag, cf Migag .. 04/40 [WO]
HF... Megaher (historical? area west of Adigrat) 14/39 [x]

megal (mägal) (A) dark brown /horse/, black horse's coat

HEE79 Megal Tona, see Wegel Tena
megala (mägala) (A,Harari) market place /mainly in Harar/;
magala (O) market
JDB25 Megala (area) 08°20'/41°12' 1226 m 08/41 [WO Gz]

GDU01 Megale (Megelie, Magale, Magalle) 09/34 [Gz Ad WO]

09°58'/34°30' 1514 m
(sub-district & its centre in 1964)
1930s Megale was capital of Beni Shangul at the border of Sudan. On 22 July 1930 old
Sheik Hodjili Al Hassan left Addis Abeba where he had been political prisoner for a
while, to return to Megale. In the meantime his son Al Madi (El Mahdi) had governed the

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province.
French mining interests, led by the Norwegian Harald Juell, had to pay local fees to these
rulers. In one period they monthly paid 200 English pounds, corresponding to a little over
4,000 M.T. dollars.
[H Juell 1935 p 106]
William Avenstrup belong to those who directed mining labour. The workers were housed
in Megale at an altitude of about 1800 m although the workplace was at 700 m but with
much water and many mosquitoes. There was some trouble with the workers and a court
case with El Mahdi as judge. As he spoke Arabic, an interpreter was needed. El Mahdi
also ruled that one Bogale Gabre from Addis Abeba should lose his 'ownership' of a slave
Mohamed. Bogale was whipped at court. Mohamed continued to serve his former master
Bogale as long as they were in Megale.
[W Avenstrup, På djungelstigar (Swedish ed.) 1956 p 220-227]
Per Sandvik arrived to Megale in April /which year in the 1920s?/ when the miners' camp
had recently been moved from Bomo to Megale. The road up to there was partly through
bamboo forest. The camp was first in two bamboo huts rented near the market place, but
later they moved one kilometre away and constructed four buildings, including kitchen,
servants' quarters and stable.
A local man to serve the miners with various contacts was Christos Antonopoulos, who
could speak Greek, French, Amharic and Arabic. There was a German purchaser of skins.
He had lived for two years in the place and learnt to speak Arabic and Oromo.
Monday and Friday were market days. Many kinds of foodstuffs were sold. Imported
goods such as English needles and Japanese cotton was also found. A man who bought
gold sand had a particularly sensitive scale. Among the weights were small red beans.
Coffee beans were used as change money. M.T. silver coins could be used, but small
coins as change money were not readily accepted. Bananas and sweet potatoes could
always be found.
Engineer Marlow led the prospecting to investigate the places for gold which El Mahdi
had indicated. The miners received a new English-speaking interpreter Tasama Mullat.
He had lived two years among Oromo, two years in Khartoum, studied in Alexandria at
the expense of the Emperor but not been given a scholarship for England. He had been a
translator at the British legation before coming to Beni Shangul.
[P Sandvik, I Etiopia efter gull, Oslo 1935 p 67-79]

?? Megale (Megele) (isolated Afar area) ../.. [Yo]

In 1982 the TPLF negotiated permission by the Afar to operate a base at Rabat in the
isolated Megale region. Signs of a road leading to the base had to be wiped out each
morning, so as not to attract attention from aerial observers.
Megale had a clinic, training centre for fighters and militia, a PoW camp, and became the
TPLF's headquarters for the entire eastern part of Tigray.
[Young 1997]
GDU01 Megale wereda (in the 1990s) 09/34 [n]
megali (T) running; meggele (A) suppurate, discharge pus
HDA34 Megalli, T. (hill) 08/35 [WO]

JCH51 Megalo (Magalo, Magallo, Megallo) 06/40 [Gz Gu x Ad]

Gz: 06°51'/40°47' = JCH50;
MS: 06°45'/40°40' 1530/1600/1650 m.
MS coordinates would give map code JCG49
about 20 km more to the south-west.
Centre in 1964 of Gura & Demolie wereda.
Within a radius of 10 km there are at km
5SW Roba Butta (village) 1506 m
9SW Malkei (Malchei) (village)
3N Uluka (Uluca) (cave)

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7NE Logh (village) 1248 m

1930s When Italians were evacuated by train from Addis Abeba on 12 October 1935, Dr
Agostino from Megalo did not arrive in time to join the others (rumours said that he had
been collecting insects along the Awash). He was picked up at Adama/Nazret two weeks
later when a final rest of Italians passed there.
[G L Steer 1936 p 157-158]
In mid-january 1936 the transport caravan of Dr Agge's group of the Swedish Red Cross
Ambulance passed Megalo. The Swedes investigated the former Italian hospital there
[photo p 75] and found that some of the medicines left behind by the Italian doctor could
be useful, and these were sent to Goba.
[K Johansson, På äventyr .., Sthlm 1936 p 77-78]
It was known about the Italian hospital that there had also been dwelling for the doctor
and for some dressers from Eritrea and Mogadisho. Furniture and equipm,ent had been
brought with camel caravans from Lugh. In order to make the hospital popular, treatmen
was free and patients were even given some money daily. When patients started arriving
from far away there was created a little town of houses for them to stay in. The Italian-
protected market became popular as no duties were paid there.
When D'Agostino fled, Grazmach Kasa had taken care of what was left behind, and he
asked Dr Agge to investigate the medicines. Some hunting and army rifles and a tame
young antelope were also found. Agge's group continued southwards on 15 January.
[G Agge, Med Röda Korset .., Sthlm 1936 p 44-46]
Megalo was hit by Italian poison gas bombs in February 1936.
1937 Important market, with a hedge around it. Cultivations of cereals.
Early it was the seat of an Italian commercial agency for Arussi, but its head D'Agostino
was forced to leave at the beginning of the war. A few years later he returned as Maggiore
Medico D'Agostino with his banda and occupied Megalo on 6 January 1937.
[Guida 1938]
pict K Johansson, På äventyr .., Sthlm 1936 p 75 Italian hospital.

Megaria .., see Migaria ..

megariya (T) hearth
HFE76c (Megariya Tsemri (Megaria Zemri) plain in Eritrea?) 14/39 [+ Gu]
HDM22 Megasas, see Megezez
megazo: meggazo (mäggazo) (A) land given for cultivation
megeb: migib (A) food, nourishment;
megebe (mägäbe) (A,T) to feed, to serve
HFF81 Megeb (Megheb) 2482 m, see under Adigrat 14/39 [WO Gu]

?? Megech (Magech, Swe: Magetsch) ../.. [+ x]

River south of Gondar, with a "bridge of Fasil"
pict S Siwertz, En färd .., Sthlm 1926 p 250 old stone bridge seen from below
[F J Simoons, Northwest Ethiopia, USA 1960 fig 9 "the bridge of Fasil".
HEE82 Megech (Megech', Magech) 11°39'/38°36' 2255 m 11/38 [Gz x]
south of Debre Zebit
The Swedish author Sigfrid Siwertz passed there in the first half of 1926.

HET98 Megechi Mikael (Megech'i Mika'el) 13°33'/39°12' 13/39 [Gz]

(church), west of Mekele
HEK17 Megegta 11°53'/38°11' 2742 m 11/38 [Gz]
north-east of Debre Tabor

megele: meggele (A) to suppurate

GDU45 Megele 10°20'/34°52' 1040 m, north-east of Asosa 10/34 [Gz]
HCD73 Megella (Meghella) (island) shore 1285m 06/37 [+ WO]
JCC36 Megenley (Meghenlei, B.=Bur?) (area) 05/42 [+ WO]

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KCH37 Megenlo (Meghenlo, Meghento) 06/46 [+ Wa WO Gz]

(with seasonal waterhole) 06°38'/46°25' 380 m
JEB65 Megenta (mountain chain) 11°28'/41°12' 918 m 11/41 [Gz]
south-east of Tendaho, cf Magenta

HCS92 Meger (village) 08/37 [x]

HCK95? Megere, cf under Durame 07/38 [x]
HCS25 Megeri Abo (church) 07°26'/38°00' 07/38 [Gz]
HCS15 Megeri Kidane Mihret (church) 07°23'/38°00' 07/38 [Gz]
HFE08 Megesta (Megest'a) 13°36'/39°13' 2149 m 13/39 [Gz]
east of Abiy Adi
HFE39 Megew, see Megab

?? Megez (Mägäz) (historically recorded area) ../.. [Pa]

When Susneyos met the Oromo again in 1602 he found them so friendly that when the
people of Mägäz later rebelled, he used the Tuläma Oromo to fight against them.
[Pankhurst 1997]
HDM22 Megezez (Meghezez M., Megasas, Mägäzäz) 09/39 [Gz WO Ad n]
(mountain) MS: 09°15'/39°31' 3596 m;
Gz: 09°17'/39°32' 3304 m;
see under Shola Gebeya & Gina Ager.
geol Mount Megezez, an upstand-type volcano situated close to the Rift System scarp of Afar,
with whose formation it was possibly related, and from which flowed more viscous,
volatile-rich basaltic lavas than obtained for the flood fissure basalts of the Plateau. The
coarse porphyritic and amygdaloidal nature of the lavas, together with the associated thick
tuffs, confirm the peculiar and independent source of these rocks.
[Mohr, Geology 1961 p 130]
HDM22 Megezez (place) 09°18'/39°33' 3230 m 09/39 [Gz]
east of Sheno

HBK59 Megga, see Mega

HFF81 Megheb, see Imba Iwir
HFF53 Meghelta, see May Megelta
KCH37 Meghenlo, see Megenlo
HDM22 Meghezez, see Megezez
HER45 Megina (Meggina, Mägina) (area) 13/37 [Wa x n]
peak 2342 m
HDT24 Megit (area), see under Addis Derra 10/38 [WO]
HER46 Megmna (Megnina) 13°04'/37°10' 2036 m 13/37 [WO Gz]
JCK98 Megwin 07°13'/43°14' 834 m 07/43 [Gz]
JDS92 Meha (hill) 10/42 [WO]
HE... Mehago (centre in 1964 of Koba sub-district) 12/39 [Ad]
JCC99 Mehajob (Mahjabo) 06°17'/42°28' 472 m 06/42 [Gz WO]
at Webi Shebele
HDL19 Mehakel 09°12'/39°14' 1897 m, south-west of Sheno 09/39 [Gz]

mehal ager (A) middle /of/ country

HEE08 Mehal Ager 10°54'/39°13' 3326 m 10/39 [Gz]
HDU86 Mehal Ager sub-district (centre in 1964 = Degaga) 10/39 [Ad]
HES.. Mehal Ager sub-district (Mahl Ager ..) 13/38 [+ Ad]
(centre in 1964 = Weyla)
HET39 Mehal Ager sub-district (centre in 1964 = Adi Shahu) 13/39 [Ad]
HDS46 Mehal Amba 10°20'/38°06' 2489 m 10/38 [Gz]
south-west of Bichena
HEF83 Mehal Amba Sudan (Libso, Lipso) 11/39 [Gz WO]

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11°36'/39°39' 1836 m, south of Weldiya

H.... Mehal Assol (centre 1964 of Assol sub-district) 10/38 [Ad]
HE... Mehal Endebet sub-district (Mahl E. ..) 11/38 [+ Ad]
(centre in 1964 = Sheme Giyorgis)
HEE72 Mehal Gayint sub-district (Mahlgaynt ..) 11/38 [+ Ad]
(centre in 1964 = Arb Gebeya)
HE... Mehal Iste sub-district (Mahl Iste ..) 11/38 [+ Ad]
(centre in 1964 = Mekane Iyesus)
HCA88 Mehal Maji sub-district? (Mehalmarji ..) (-1997-) 06/35 [+ n]
HCA88 Mehal Maji wereda (centre in 1964 = Maji) 06/35 [+ Ad]

mehal meda (A) middle /of/ plain; mehale (T) swear, attest
HDU33 Mehal Meda (Mahal M., Mahil M., Muhal M.) 10/39 [Gz]
10°18'/39°40' 3071 m, north of Molale
HDU34 Mehal Meda (Mahal M., Mahil M., Mähal Méda) 10/39 [Gz MS Br Po]
Gz: 10°14'/39°41' 2988 m, north of Molale
MS: 10°15'/39°25' (with P.O.)
MS coordinates would give map code HDU31.
Centre at least 1969-1980 of Menz & Gishe awraja,
and in 1964 of Gera Midir wereda.
1960s "At three o'clock /24 March 1967/ we reached this village, which is soon to be made the
district administrative headquarters. Sheets of tin and piles of stones and building timber
lie all over the place and I was startled to see a small tractor amidst the half-built houses.
In the six years since Donald Levine wrote Wax and gold there have been many changes
here. He was the first faranj to explore Manz, but now a rough motor-track links it with
Addis and during the dry season a slow bus rattles through twice a week to Mehal Meda,
where one can buy Italian-made wine and beer. The rapid 'progress' of this area is perhaps
owing to Haile Selassie's special affection for Manz - the homeland of the present
dynasty."
"I wanted to spend the night in a settlement, and after half-an-hour at a talla-beit we
continued down the main street. Then someone shouted and looking round I saw two
angry men pursuing us. Within a moment we had been overtaken; they gripped my arm
and claimed to be policemen, saying that I must come with them for questioning. One
man was obviously drunk, neither wore anything remotely resembling a uniform and both
were behaving outrageously. I therefore 'resisted arrest' and during the brawl that
followed - watched by half the village and by a cringing Assefa - the metal buckle of my
bush-shirt was bent, my arms were bruised and the drunk gave me an agonising punch in
the stomach."
"Then a third man intervened. He was wearing the remains of a uniform beneath a filthy
shamma, and in poor English he confirmed that my attackers were policemen and
explained that they wanted to see my passport. I replied furiously that though I have been
in Ethiopia for three months the police had never before demanded my passport - which I
don't have with me, since the Begemdir Chief of Police had advised me to send it to Addis
lest it should be stolen on the way. At this the third man accused me of lying, twisted my
arms behind my back and marched me off to the police station - with the other two in
attendance and a trembling Assefa driving /the donkey/ Satan in our wake."
"On the rare occasions when I lose my temper the loss is total and I was shaking with rage
as we entered the mud shack 'police station'. The police C.O. matched his subordinates.
He sat behind a wobbly desk in a dark little room, wearing a four-day beard and a torn
army great-coat under his shamma. Pushing my way through a group of arguing men I
told him exactly what I thought of the Mehal Meda police force. The insult was added to
injury, for the man who had arrested me said sneeringly, 'Don't be so afraid!' Glaring, I
snapped that fear was the last emotion likely to be aroused in me by such a dishevelled
bunch of no-goods; and I observed spitefully that he and his companions would have their
own reasons to be afraid when I reported this incident to the Addis authorities. For good

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measure I threw in the names of Leilt Aida, Ras Mangasha and Iskander Desta -
whereupon everyone stopped yelling at me."
"After a moment's silence, the C.O. remarked that I had better see the local Governor. I
was then conducted to a recently-built shack, where a neatly-dressed but unimposing man
sat rather self-consciously behind a brand-new, mock-mahogany desk with a pile of
virginal ledgers on either side of the blotting pad. He was soon taken far out of his depth
by the situation, as four men were simultaneously giving him different versions of the
story of my arrest. He brusquely signed that I was to sit on a bench by the wall and wait."
"Ten minutes later an adequate interpreter appeared. Amsalu is the local Medical Officer
and a most agreeable young man. He begged me not to be so angry, though my rage had
already gone off the boil, and he clearly explained the situation to the Governor, Ato
Balatchaw. Now the Big Man was akwardly placed. To release me would be to admit that
I had been 'wrongfully detained'; to keep me in custory, after all this talk about royalty,
might prove calamitous. I suggested, as an honourable compromise, that Leilt Aida be
telephoned by way of establishing my credentials. However, Mehal Meda has no
telephone, so after much discussion and deliberation it was decided that a police officer
would accompany me to Molale tomorrow morning and telephone Makalle from there."
"I was then escorted back to a subdued C.O. who spent the next forty minutes 'taking my
statement' for the records, with Amsalu's assistance. Obviously my account of the incident
was being carefully edited and I would give a lot to know what sort of statement I signed
at the end of this performance."
"I am now relaxing in a minute 'hotel'. Its one earth-floored room contains two small iron-
beds, with broken springs and revolting sheets. Bugs abound and the wall-paper consists
of pictures from American, English, Italian and French magazines, many of which have
been stuck on upside-down."
"Mehal Meda is suffering from collective guilt this evening. Crowds of men and women
have come to call, deploring my unlucky encounter, emphasising that none of the
policemen involved was a Manze and consoling me with gifts of talla, tej, coffee, tea,
roasted grain, stewed beans, curds and hard-boiled eggs. Nowhere in the highlands have I
met with greater kindness."
"Meanwhile Amsalu and the local teachers have been asking me the usual questions about
my own country and my impressions of their country. When Dr Donald Levine was
mentioned affectionate smiles lit up the grave faces of the non-English speakers who were
sitting around us and one elderly man asked eagerly if I knew 'Dr Donald'. I replied that I
hadn't the honour to know him personally but that I had read his book, and at once
Amsalu seized my arm and begged me to send him a copy. He is prepared to spend almost
a month's salary on it, but inevitably Wax and gold has been banned in Ethiopia. -- I
explained that it is not an exposure of official iniquities but a scholarly study of their
culture at its present stage of transition."
"The night wind felt icy as the four teachers walked with me through the village.
Approaching the Governor's shack we heard horrible noises emanating from his transistor
radio and when Amsalu shouted loudly for a servant to come to announce us no one could
hear him. I suggested knocking on the tin door but this appalled my companions, as it is
bad manners for the hoi-polloi to communicate directly with a Big Man. However, when
Amsalu had again shouted unavailingly, several times, I gave up pandering to local
etiquette and hammered the tin sheets resoundingly."
"At once Ato Balatchaw atteared, wrapped in his shamma. He beckoned us crossly into
his living-room, where an apologetic Amsalu produced the precious chit /from the
Governor of Lalibela refound in a notebook/ - and, realising that I need not discuss his
police force with Leilt Aida, the Governor stopped being cross. Five minutes later we
were departing, with a written permit for me to proceed to Molale unescorted."
[Dervla Murphy, In Ethiopia with a mule, London 1968 p 258-261 (1994 p 262-266)]
The primary school in 1968 had 318 boys and 67 girls, with 6 teachers.
Spelling used by the post was MUHAL MEDA (when?) and MAHAL MEDA (-1982-).
1990s In 1990 Daniel Ayana, Shumet Sishagne and Donald Crummey worked in northern

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Shewa on a research grant to study History of Ethiopian Land Tenure and Its Social
Context.
"We were chased out of Mähal Méda in Mänz by a threatened incursion of guerrillas of
the Tegray People's Liberation Front."
[Crummey 2000 p 13-14]
Around 20 January 1990 the ENA news agency said that government forces had
recaptured Mehal Meda from the TPLF.
"The EPRDF has acquired such a reputation for invincibility that army conscripts run
away when the first shots are fired. It is widely believed in Addis Ababa that the Shoan
town of Mehal Meda was taken by a force of four rebels. But this success is giving the
EPRDF leadership problems."
[Africa Confidential, 18 May 1990]
In a government air raid on Mehal Meda on 19 October 1990
four people were killed and five were wounded.
[Africa Watch 1991]
The Mekane Yesus evangelical church finally also reached Mehal Meda (in the 1990s?)
through an evangelist from Wello who spoke perfect Amharic. This church is very much
based in Wellega, but representatives from there speaking Oromo-influenced Amharic
would not be welcome in the Menz Amhara land.
[A Nordlander, Väckelse .., 1996 p 55]

HEM41 Mehal Meda 12°12'/39°27' 1962 m 12/39 [Gz]

south-west of Alamata

HED47c Mehal Semada sub-district (Mahl Semada ..) 11/38 [+ Ad]

(centre in 1964 = Teklu Ketema)
HCG77c Mehal Shako (sub-district & its centre in 1964) 07/35 [Ad]
HEM82 Mehal Wefla wereda (centre in 1964 = Korem) 12/39 [Ad]

?? Mehal Wenz (Mahal Uonz), near Ankober but lower ../.. [Ha]
Described by Harris in the early 1840s as a kind of country seat of King Sahle Selassie, at
lower altitude than Ankober so he preferred it in the rainy season.
(Harris writes Machal-wans.)
Harris visited the King at Mehal Wenz during a period of illness for him, with Dr Krapf
as interpreter. There were several more such visits.
"The first visit that we paid to Machal-wans was on the occasion of the king's
indisposition. The high-priest, the chief eunuch, the purveyor-general, Wulásma
Mohammad, and ten or twelve other of the courtiers, were in attendance; but they were
dismissed after the customary compliments had been passed; and His Majesty, reclining
as usual upon the throne, thus proceeded, through the interpretation of the Reverend Dr.
Krapf, to detail the long catalogue of his ailments."
"'I was returning from the expedition against the rebel Galla. I felt suddenly unwell. My
head grew giddy. The earth turned round. It became blue under my feet. I fell from my
mule. -- The army was in confusion. A governor rebelled. He sought to place his son upon
the throne. The people dashed cold water over me. I recovered my senses. I was able to
resume the command, and order was restored.'"
"The royal swoon -- had been followed by the consignment to captivity for life in the
dungeons of Góncho, of the traitor who had so prematurely sought the elevation of his
son, and who was the proprietor of the Residency. -- But although living in perpetual
alarm of assassination, and never moving abroad without weapons concealed under his
garments, or unaccompanied by a numerous and trustworthy escort, His Majesty's fears
did not extend to his British guests; and during our subsequent visits to Machal-wans, he
hesitated not to trust us all about his person with loaded fire-arms, when none of his
attendants were present."
"Magazines were exploded by means of detonating shells - seven-barrelled pitols and

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 Local History of Ethiopia Mead - Mejo © Bernhard Lindahl (2005)

stick-guns for the first time introduced at court - and a liege subject of the realm was
nearly shot dead by the royal hand, when clumsily making trial of an air cane, from which
a wax bullet had previously been fired -- 'I have seen many strange things from your
country, but none that surpass this engine, which without the aid of gunpowder can
destroy men."
[W C Harris, The highlands .., vol II, London 1844 p 23, 26-29]
A number of craftsmen were lodged at Mehal Wenz in Sahle Sellasie's time.
1880s The engineer Luigi Capucci in the second half of the 1880s made a gunpowder factory for
Menilek at Mehal Wenz. There was first a dangerous fire, but later they succeeded to
really produce powder.

Mehamed, transliteration from Amharic of Mohammed

HDK99 Mehamed (Mehamedo) 09°57'/38°20' 2530 m 09/38 [Gz]
near Tulu Milki
HDS09 Mehamed 09/38 [AA]
HDL35 Mehamede 09°23'/38°54' 2697 m 09/38 [AA Gz]
north-east of Addis Abeba
HDL37 Mehamede 09°23'/39°08' 2673 m, north of Sendafa 09/39 [Gz]

HFE.. Meheno (village) 13/39 [It]

Late January 1936: "repeatedly our battalions were engaged in hard hand-to-hand fighting
with the enemy's columns coming down from the Zeban Chercatà; the village of Mehenò
was taken and lost more than once."
[Badoglio (Eng. ed.) 1937 p 52]
JDH20 Meheso (Mehesso), see Mieso
HEM32 Mehid 12°06'/39°32' 2351 m, south of Alamata 12/39 [Gz]
HEF.. Mehonennya (mountain near Kuta Ber) 11/39? [n]

HEU.. Mehoni sub-district? (-1997-) 12/39 [n]

HEU.. Mehoni wereda (-1994-) 12/39 [n]
HEU13 Mehonie Korbeta sub-district 12/39 [Ad]
(centre in 1964 = Korbeta)
HFD47 Mehra Seitan 13°57'/38°10' 13/38 [x]
KCN58 Meigag Gifa, see Magan Gifa
HBL03 Meili (area) 03/38 [WO]
JDP36 Meinhatolli (recorded in 1841) 10/41 [Ha]
HET92 Meita 13°31'/38°37' 1706 m 13/38 [WO Gz]
JDC85 Meiyisa Rendo (Me'iyisa R.) 08°56'/42°04' 1450 m 08/42 [Gz]
south of Harar

mej (Harar O) water plant found in streams, Veronica

anagallis-aquatica; (A) upper millstone
HDE41 Meja 08°31'/38°31' 2614 m (with church Gebriel) 08/38 [Gz]
HDK25 Meja (waterfalls) 09°18'/38°01' 09/38 [Gz]
Mejo, name of a Kefa clan
HCE96c Mejo (centre in 1964 of Aroresa wereda) 06/38 [MS Ad]
HCL16 Mejo 06°27'/38°57' 2668 m 06/38 [Gz]

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