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Primary sourcePainting1899

Menelek II illustration from The Wars of the 'Nineties

1899

An 1899 engraved book illustration of Emperor Menelik II, published shortly after the Battle of Adwa.

This 1899 engraving is a contemporary portrait of Menelik II made shortly after his victory at Adwa.

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Engraved portrait of a bearded man wearing a dark skullcap with a light band, a high-collared embroidered garment, and a large white cross on a beaded cord around his neck. Printed caption below reads: Menelek, Prince of Shoa and Emperor of Abyssinia. Text columns from the book page surround the portrait.
Menelek II, engraving from The Wars of the 'Nineties, 1899. British Library, United Kingdom.

About this source

What it is

This is a printed engraving of Menelik II, Emperor of Abyssinia (Ethiopia), taken from a page of the book The Wars of the 'Nineties, published in 1899. It is held by the British Library.

The engraving shows a bearded man wearing a dark skullcap, a high-collared embroidered garment, and a large cross on a beaded cord. A printed caption identifies him as "Menelek, Prince of Shoa and Emperor of Abyssinia."

Why it matters

The image was made soon after the Battle of Adwa, where Ethiopian forces defeated an invading Italian army, making Ethiopia one of the few African states to resist European colonization. Illustrations like this shaped how readers outside Ethiopia saw Menelik and his country at a moment of great international attention.

Look closer

  • What symbols or clothing in the portrait suggest status or religion?
  • Why might a British publisher have included this image in a book about recent wars?
  • What does the caption tell you, and what does it leave out about Menelik's life and rule?

This painting is part of the curated material that grounds the AI version of Emperor Menelik II on Humy.ai — when students ask about related events, the AI can quote it and cite it.

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