Emperor of Ethiopia

The emperor of Ethiopia (ንጉሠ ነገሥት, nəgusä nägäst, "King of Kings"), also known as the Atse (ዐፄ, "emperor"), was the hereditary ruler of the Ethiopian Empire, from at least the 13th century until the abolition of the monarchy in 1975. The emperor was the head of state and head of government, with ultimate executive, judicial and legislative power in that country. A National Geographic article from 1965 called imperial Ethiopia "nominally a constitutional monarchy; in fact [it was] a benevolent autocracy". Ethiopian aristocratic and court titles#Imperial and royal titles The title "King of Kings", often rendered imprecisely in English as "emperor", dates back to ancient Mesopotamia, but was used in Axum by King Sembrouthes (250 AD). However, Yuri Kobishchanov dates this usage to the period following the Persian victory over the Romans in 296–297. The most notable pre-Solomonic usage of the title "Negusa Nagast" was by Ezana of Axum; despite this, prior to the beginning of the Solomonic Dynasty, most Axumite and Zagwe rulers went by negus. Its use, from at least the reign of Menelik I onward, meant that both subordinate officials and tributary rulers, notably the gubernatorial vassals of Gojjam (who ranked 12th in the states non-dynastic protocol as per 1690), Welega, the seaward provinces and later Shewa, received the honorific title of nəgus, a word for "king." The consort of the emperor was referred to as the ətege. Empress Zewditu used the feminized form nəgəstä nägäst ("Queen of Kings") to show that she reigned in her own right, and did not use the title of ətege. On the death of a monarch any male or female blood relative of the emperor could claim succession to the throne: sons, brothers, daughters and nephews all inherited at times. Practice favoured primogeniture (first-born child ascending to the throne) but did not always enforce it.