Senafe

Infobox Settlement
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pushpin_mapsize = 300
pushpin_map_caption =Location in Eritrea
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subdivision_type1 = Region
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subdivision_name1 = Debub
subdivision_type2 = District
subdivision_name2 = Senafe District
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latd=14|latm=42|lats=|latNS=N
longd=39|longm=25|longs=|longEW=E
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Senafe ( _ti. ሰንዓፈ) is a market town in southern Eritrea, on the edge of the Ethiopian highlands. The surrounding area is inhabited by the Saho people.

Senafe is known for the ruins of Metera (also known as "Balaw Kalaw"), the monolithic church of Enda-Tradqan, the monastery of Debre Libanos (built in the sixth century and known for its mummies) and for the local stone outcrops.

History

The original name for Saanafè was Hakir. Local tradition states that the name was changed by a man named Abdullah from Sanaa in Yemen; he settled in the Awdie district of Hakir, and upon marrying a local woman he was quoted as saying "Sana-fen" which means in Arabic "where is Sanaa" he was relating to his hometown; thus the town was named Sanafe; his descendants form a tribe and are also known as Saanafè.

An early record of Sanafe is on the Egyptus Novello map, published in 1454. This map shows Sanafe at the edge of Tigray, connected to two routes, one leading west to Axum, the other south to Lake Ashangi. [Richard Pankhurst, "The Ethiopian Borderlands" (Larenceville: Red Sea, 1997), p. 92]

Senafe is mentioned in an 1794-5 land grant (1787 E.C.) from the Ethiopian Emperor Tekle Giyorgis to Ras Wolde Selassie. [Richard Pankhurst, "History of Ethiopian Towns: From the Middle Ages to the Early Nineteenth Century" (Wiesbaden: Franz Steiner Verlag, 1982), vol. 1 p. 231.] During Italian rule, the town grew notably: when A.J. Shepherd visited Senafe in 1869/1869, he described it as having only "some twelve or fourteen bee-hive shaped buildings ... and as many diminutive barns"; in 1891 Alamanni estimated its population as 1,500, and the Italian "Guido" of 1938 stated the population had increased to 2,000. [Richard Pankhurst, "Economic History of Ethiopia" (Addis Ababa: Haile Sellasie I University, 1968), p. 693.] The modern town suffered extensive destruction during the Eritrean War of Independence and the Eritrean-Ethiopian War, although people are gradually returning from its surrounding refugee camps.

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