Simien

Simien in northwestern Ethiopia was a stronghold of the Beta Israel, the Ethiopian Jewish community. Traditions speak of a Jewish kingdom there, though the Jewish groups of the region were politically divided.

In 1329 Emperor Amda Seyon campaigned in Simien and neighbouring provinces. In the fifteenth century Emperor Yeshaq conquered Simien and Dembiya, whose governors were Jewish, and tied inheritance of land to conversion to Christianity; some Jewish inhabitants consequently lost their lands.