T he Scottish explorer, James Bruce, who was in Gondar in 1770 and 1771, considered - her his friend and benefactor, describing her as "bountiful and unfailing in good deeds, intensely kind and charitable, extremely devout". He observed that, though she had never been there, she was "perfectly well acquainted" with Jerusalem, the Holy Sepulchre, Calvary, the City of David and the Mount of Olives.

In her last years Mentewab's power waned, so that she could do little more than witness the disintegration of the empire and the decline in the fortunes of her family. However, she still retained some vestiges of her former status. Bruce noted that she was seated with her grandson at state banquets only two or three years before her death in 1773.

While carrying on the Ethiopian tradition of highly devout queens wielding great political power, Mentewab introduced a new element of elegance and artistic refinement which distinguished her from both her predecessors and her successors.

One of these successors, Taytu Betul, married King Menelik II and was crowned Queen of Shewa in 1883, little more than a century after Mentewab's death.

Born near Gondar of a princely family partly of Oromo descent, she had already been married several times before the age of 30, but had no children. Enduring the ups and downs in the political fortunes which befell her previous husbands, she was already experienced in the workings of the Ethiopian power structure before she became Menelik's wife. In 1889, two days after Menelik's coronation as Emperor, Taytu, which in Amharic means "the Sun", was crowned Empress. Thereafter, her official title became "Light of Ethiopia", and these words appeared on her seal.

Taytu acquired the accomplishments that befitted her rank. But she was more educated than the average lady of her day and could read and write Amharic. As her stepfather had administered the monastery at Debre Mewi in Gojam, she had the opportunity to live near a religious community and it is no doubt there that she learned Ge'ez. She was conversant with Christian Orthodox doctrine, composed religious poetry in Ge'ez, could play the begena, a royal lyre supposedly descended from the biblical King David's harp, and was adept at Ethiopian chess, a form of the game closely related to that played in the Middle East in medieval times. It was Taytu who encouraged the Emperor to move the capital from the storm-swept heights of Entoto to the lower altitude and more pleasant climate around the hot springs of Finfine.

A strong-minded woman, Taytu remained a close adviser to her husband throughout his reign. She provided a counter-balance to Menelik who, she considered, was too trusting of the various foreigners intriguing at his court, and too eager to accept the innovations they wished to introduce.

In 1890, in the era of colonialist expansion, there was a dispute between Italy and Ethiopia over the Treaty of Wechale between the two countries. The Amharic text stated that Menelik could avail himself of Italy's good offices in dealing with European powers, whereas the Italian text made it mandatory for him to do so.

On the basis of the Italian text, Italy claimed to have established a protectorate over all Ethiopia. Menelik refused to accept this claim.

In Taytu's presence, the Italian envoy, Count Antoneli, is quoted as having said to Menelik: "Italy cannot notify the other powers that she was mistaken . . . because she must maintain her dignity."

At this point Taytu intervened, saying: "We also have our dignity to preserve. You wish Ethiopia to be represented before other powers as your protectorate, but this shall never be. "

In 1896, when it became clear that the Italians could not longer be kept at bay, and Menelik decided to confront them, Taytu was vindicated in her hostility to foreign powers. She took part in the war of 1895-96 against the Italians, and brought 3,000 of her own troops to Adwa, to join those of leaders from various parts of the Empire.

Internal rivalries were buried in a supreme effort to defend the country. The ensuing Ethiopian victory, exactly 100 years ago, was an event of major importance in African history, and brought about the downfall of the Italian Government.

Taytu was a great businesswoman, generous to her friends but ruthless to her enemies. She managed her vast estates with acumen and directed the huge organization required to feed and provide drink for thousands of soldiers and officers of state at the lavish banquets which Menelik gave several times a week in the great banqueting hall of the Addis Ababa palace.

Thousands worked daily to grind the grain into flour and prepare the honey wine, which was piped into barrels before being served in narrow-necked glass globes.

Among Taytu's ventures was Addis Ababa's first important hotel, which bore her title, Eteghe. Under the name of Taytu Hotel, it still stands today, a memorial to her enterprise and to the picturesque architecture which distinguished the Addis Ababa of her time.

During the last few years of Menelik's reign, as his health gradually deteriorated, Taytu became in practice the ruler of Ethiopia. Having no children of her own, she attempted, in the traditional way, to build up an alternative power base by promoting her relatives and by dynastic marriages. In this she failed, and in 1910 the then newly established Council of Ministers banished her from their meetings to Menelik's sickroom. From that moment her influence declined, and in 1913, as soon as he had died, she was escorted with a small retinue up the very hills of Entoto from which the capital had been moved at her bidding. There, dressed simply, she spent her last five years in prayer and fasting, as she was refused permission to return to her native Gondar.

Like earlier Ethiopian queens, Taytu was a prominent figure in the affairs of state of her time. She knew, as they did, the meaning and intoxication of power. She was not renowned for a sweet disposition, but there is no doubt that she added to the evidence that there have been women in Ethiopian history as important and influential as any man.

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