Gelila Zakarias

Gelila Zakarias is an island in Ethiopia's Lake Tana, located near the northwest corner. The island is a wooded cone with the Iyasus monastery church at its apex. The monastery was flourishing when R.E. Cheesman visited it in 1933, and the abbot invited him to engage in their Lenten fast.

During the Ethiopian-Adal War, on 18 May 1545, Imam Ahmad Gragn led a group of followers to attack Gelila Zakarias, according to the Futuh al-Habasa of Sihab ad-Din Ahmad bin 'Abd al-Qader. Soldiers on tankwa, indigenous papyrus boats, met the rafts carrying the Imam's followers, but they were unable to stop the assailants' rafts. Because all of the defenders were in tankwas, once the Imam and his followers outran them, they landed on the island unopposed and burned down the Iyesus church.

Location: Lake Tana, Ethiopia