Born: 1801 (circa), Eritrea
Died: 1851
Country most active: Eritrea
Also known as: NA
Embet Ilen was a noblewoman and political leader in the 1800s in what is today Eritrea. According to the Dictionary of African Biography, “all sources agree that she was extraordinarily intelligent, a persuasive speaker, an astute politician, and a valorous leader. She is said to have personally commanded men in combat and fought herself like one of them, but she was never taken captive in the field.”
Married to the heir to Hazzega, Ilen’s husband made the ill-fated decision to attack the neighboring Tse’azzega after ascending to the throne in the mid-1820s. He was quickly defeated and fled to Gura’e, though he lived until around 1837. She tried twice to avenge him, but failed, not least because she was also dealing with internal power struggles against her husband’s rebellious nephew, Gabray Habtetsayon. She then allied herself with Shum-Agame Subagadis, governor of Tigray province – although he appointed her governor of the province of Hamasien, he died in 1831. She kept her position by allying with another Wube Haile Maryam, ruler of several provinces. She handed over the regency to her son, Woldemichael Solomon, in the late 1840s and retired to the St. Mary Church of Hazzega, taking up life as a nun.
This was where Kantiba Woldegaber, leader of Dimbezan, paid her a visit. They were old enemies, Woldegaber reputedly having betrayed her husband and then mistreated and abandoned Ilen’s daughter after they married. Ilen went on to defeat him in battle. Despite this, she received him cordially, but when he was murdered after leaving St. Mary, Ilen was blamed and Woldegaber’s relatives attacked. Ilen and two of her young grandchildren were captured and killed, impacting political relations for decades afterward.