Säwen
fl. late 12th to early 13th century
Orthodox
Ethiopia

Säwen (probably fl. late 12th -13th century A.D.), was an ecclesiastical dignitary during the reign of Emperor Lalibäla of the Zagwé dynasty. He held the office of liqä diyaqonat, or Archdeacon, one of the heads of the secular clergy. A reference to him in a charter granted by the Emperor to the monastery of Däbrä Libanos of Šimäzana shows that he was probably in office during the time of Abunä Mika'él of Fua, Metropolitan of Ethiopia c. 1205-1209 A.D., while another dated charter shows that he was still holding the same office in 1225 A.D.

Kinefe-Regb Zelleke and Belaynesh Michael

C. Conti Rossini, "L'evangelo d'oro di Dabra Libanos," Rendiconti della Reale Accademia dei Lincei, Serie quinta, Vol. X (1901): 187, 190, 191.

This article is reproduced, with permission, from The Dictionary of Ethiopian Biography, Vol. 1 'From Early Times to the End of the Zagwé Dynasty c. 1270 A.D.,' copyright © 1975, edited by Belaynesh Michael, S. Chojnacki and Richard Pankhurst, Institute of Ethiopian Studies, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. All rights reserved.