Zemene
Zemene is a term in Ge'ez and Amharic that means "time" or "era." In Ethiopian historical usage, it appears most famously in the phrase Zemene Mesafint, or the Era of the Princes, describing a period when central royal authority was eclipsed by powerful regional nobles and warlords.
The Era of the Princes is typically dated from the mid-18th century to the mid-19th century, roughly
The end of the Zemene Mesafint came with the rise of Tewodros II, who from 1855 onward
In modern scholarship and culture, Zemene Mesafint is a foundational concept used to analyze the dynamics of