With which crown was Emperor Tewodros coronated 170 years ago?
With which crown was Emperor Tewodros coronated 170 years ago?
By Alula Pankhurst, Eloi Ficquet, Margaux Herman, Xavier de Saint Chamas
Emperor Tewodros was coronated by the Egyptian Abuna Salama 170 years ago, on 11 February 1855. One of his crowns, currently in the National Palace Museum, was restituted and repatriated 70 years ago by Queen Elisabeth and handed over to Emperor Haile Selassie on 8th February 1955. In this blog we speculate about which crown was used in his coronation ceremony and explore the different possibilities.
The storming of Magdala, looting and auction
When the British expedition forces breached the fortress of Magdala Amba on 13 April 1868, they looted quantities of valuables, including over a thousand manuscripts, armaments, church paraphernalia, and royal regalia such as robes, jewelry, and adornments. Order was restored by the officers and most of the soldiers were forced to surrender what they had plundered, which was then auctioned on the Delanta plain on 20-21 April. Many of the valuable artefacts were purchased by the representative of the British Museum. The auction raised £3000 which was distributed among the soldiers as prize money. An inventory of the loot in 27 Museums in the UK and in nine other countries is provided in Andrew Heavens’ book The Prince and the Plunder (2024)1.
How many crowns?
According to the American journalist Henry Morton Stanley2 there were “four royal crowns, two of which were very fine specimens of workmanship and worth a round sum of money… worthy things to be placed in a niche of the British Museum”3. Stanley also mentions ‘the Abuna’s mitre, 300 years old weighing six or seven pounds troy weight’. In this article we describe four crowns and their histories and speculate if any of them might have been the one used for Emperor Tewodros’ coronation.
The gold crown, currently in the Victoria and Albert Museum
This golden triple-tiered crown was donated to the Church of Our Lady Qwesqwam near Gondar by Emperor Iyasu II (ruled 1730–55) and his mother Empress Mentewwab.4

Detail from Acton, Roger (1868), The Abyssinian Expedition and the life and reign of King Theodore, p.67.
It features embossed portraits of the four Evangelists in Ethiopic script, gold filigree, and had a missing cross that once topped the dome-shaped structure. Cormack notes that Napier considered this and a gold chalice to be the only objects of monetary value.5 Richard Holmes, the British Museum representative, purchased them from a soldier for just £4, but were later valued at £2000 by the army Prize Committee. During a parliamentary debate Prime Minister Gladstone stated that he did not believe the crown and chalice should have been taken from Ethiopia, and that they should one day be returned.6 In the end the crown and chalice were purchased by the Treasury and subsequently deposited in the Victoria & Albert Museum in 1872 on a long-term loan by the Treasury.
In the accounts by the British forces, journalists and foreign prisoners this crown is referred to as the Abun’s crown or mitre. The engraving produced in Acton’s compilation of illustrations from the Illustrated London News, describes it as “the golden crown of the Abouna, dome shaped, and properly surmounted with a cross”.7 The Illustrated London News provides a more detailed description and considers that the crown “has evidently been made after the model of the tiara of the Roman Pontiffs. […] The down is evidently of considerable antiquity, and is, perhaps, the most curious and interesting of all the relics taken from the fortress.”8 The attribution by contemporary sources of this crown as belonging to the Abun may be due either to the portraits of apostles and evangelists on the crown, or to the assumption that the style was copied from the three-tiered form of the Roman pontiff’s tiaras, also called ‘triregnum’ or triple crown, or possibly to its association with the chalice, which bore an inscription confirming its provenance.
While this is clearly the most impressive of the looted crowns, was it the one used in Tewodros’ coronation as ‘King of Kings’? Tewodros’ coronation took place on 11 February 1855, two days after the battle of Deresge9 in which he defeated his rival Dejach Wube, the then overlord of Tigray and Simien, who was also aspiring to be coronated.10 However, Tewodros likely took possession of this crown later, as he seized the royal treasures of Gondar only after consolidating his power, particularly between 1864 and 1866.11
The crown restitued by Queen Elisabeth, currently in the National Palace Museum

Detail from Acton, Roger (1868), The Abyssinian Expedition and the life and reign of King Theodore, p.67.
The second crown mentioned by the contemporary sources portrayed in the London Illustrated News is often described as King Theodore’s royal cap. Acton notes: “The King had worn no crown, but he had a splendid cap, which was a gift sent to him by the Patriarch of Cairo, and which Theodore would never wear; it was of red velvet, with gold lace and tassel”.12
Engraving in Illustrated London News, reproduced in Acton 1868:67
The Illustrated London News provides some more detail: “It was at first believed that this was the Royal crown, and it was only when it was taken out to be sketched that the truth appeared evident that it could not possibly be so. The tassel, indeed, is a feature which is incompatible with the design of a crown. After a good deal of trouble, and inquiries made of various people about the camp who were at Magdala, the authorities at least agreed pretty nearly that it was a cap worn by the King, and that it was one which had been sent as a present to Theodore by the Coptic Patriarch of Cairo, but Theodore seldom or never wore it, and at last had given it to the Church of the Saviour at Magdala”.13
Was this the crown that Aba Salama used to coronate Emperor Tewodros? It differs significantly from the traditional crowns of Ethiopian monarchs. With its bulbous shape and dentilated base, it closely resembles the mitres of Byzantine and Coptic patriarchs, reinforcing the idea that it was a gift from the Coptic Patriarch, as stated in several contemporary sources. Furthermore, the presence of a tassel suggests that it was not a standard episcopal mitre, which would normally be topped with a cross. It is possible that it was originally a bishop’s mitre that had been adapted into a secular crown by adding a tassel—an element reminiscent of the fez or tarboosh, which had become part of military dress in the Ottoman Empire since the 1830s.
Another possibility is that, following the Battle of Deresge, Abuna Salama—having switched allegiance from the defeated Dejach Wube to Tewodros—had little time to procure a more traditional crown for the coronation. Dejach Wube had been planning his own coronation and had amassed treasures in the Church of Deresge, which Tewodros appropriated after his victory. The crown may have been among these items.
For over a century the crown remained in the Victoria and Albert Museum. And then during her visit in February 1965 Queen Elizabeth handed back this crown at a farewell dinner organized by Emperor Haile Selassie in her honour on the last day of her visit in Asmara. The Queen returned the crown along with Emperor Tewodros’ seal. The crown is currently on display in the National Palace Museum among the royal regalia.
The crown or “tarboosh cap” in the Royal Collection, Britain
A third crown said to belong to Emperor Tewodros looted at Magdala was sent by General Sir Robert Napier to Queen Victoria along with Tewodros’ robes, seal and slippers. They were subsequently included in a display of ‘Royal Treasures from Abyssinia’ at the South Kensington Museum, where this crown was described as a ‘Tarboosh’ or close-fitting cap, mounted in silver filigree, and it was also loaned to the South Staffordshire Industrial & Fine Arts Exhibition, Molineux House, Wolverhampton, in 1869.14
This crown is currently in the Royal Collection with the description: ”An Abyssinian crown composed of eight silver, shaped-rectangular linking sections, each overlaid with gold filigree and inset with silver studs, with a circular finial from which hang 24 chains ending in cone-shaped finials”.15 However, there is no photograph and the only image of it is an engraving is in Edwin Arnold’s article “Theodore the King”16 , who refers to it disparagingly as “a grubby ‘tarboosh’, with silver bars, sorely the worse for wear and lack of plate powder” (p.379). Given the crown’s appearance it seems rather unlikely that it would have been used in a coronation ceremony. However, it is interesting to note that this crown has a tassel just like the one described earlier, suggesting this may be a key element distinguishing it from ecclesiastical ones with a cross on top.
The restituted silver-gilded crown, which has disappeared
The most elusive of the crowns with an amazing story spanning Germany, Britain, Ethiopia and possibly Italy, is one which eluded the British expeditions forces’ attempts to recall all the objects initially looted by the soldiers.17 This silver gilded crown was purchased from a British soldier by Gerhard Rohlfs, a German traveler and explorer attached to the Napier expedition on the recommendation of the Prussian King Wilhelm I. The odyssey of this crown—sent first to Berlin, then to Queen Victoria following British objections, later returned to Empress Zewditu, and probably looted by the Italians and kept in Rome until it possibly ended up among the Dongo treasures that Mussolini sought to escape with—has been recounted by Peter Gaehtgens, who refers to it as a “phantom” crown.18 In his book on the expedition Rohlfs (1869) does not mention the crown and suggests he returned any objects he had purchased or taken when he was among the first to reach the top of the amba of Meqdela. The crown was handed over to the Prussian King on November 3, 1868 and was deposited in the Ethnographical Department of the Royal Museums in Berlin. The British, displeased with the transaction, questioned the legitimacy of Rohlfs acquisition. The Prussian Ambassador to Britain wrote to Bismarck who in turn informed King Wilhelm, who, as a kinsman of Queen Victoria sought to avoid a diplomatic incident. As a result, the crown was shipped to London in March 1869 and added to the collection of the Victoria and Albert Museum on 30th March 1869.
The crown resurfaced in diplomatic discussions in 1924, when Ras Teferi, then regent of Ethiopia, visited Britain. The British government sought to honor Empress Zewditu and decided to return a looted crown.19 Two crowns in the Victoria and Albert Museum were considered; the more elaborate one was retained, while the silver-gilt crown, described as “highly ornate and rather barbaric,” was returned. Originally listed as a loan from the Secretary of State for India in 1869, its restitution was deemed feasible. It was formally presented to Empress Zewditu on 11 July 1925 by Charles Bentinck, the British Minister in Addis Ababa.
The crown may have been looted again during the Fascist Italian occupation. Richard Pankhurst suggests20 it might have been taken either from the palace or the Monastery of Debre Libanos from which several crowns were plundered. Four crowns were given by Graziani to Mussolini who gave them to the Museo Coloniale where they were placed in the Sala Graziani. The caption reads that they were the crowns of the last four negus of Ethiopia. Moreover, the 1956 Agreement between Italy and Ethiopia specifically mentions a “crown of Emperor Tewodros” among items to be returned.21 However, the photographs of the Ethiopian crowns of the last four emperors including Tewodros, given by Graziani to Mussolini and then exhibited in the Colonial Museum, do not seem to include this one. Nor it is among the crowns later taken by Mussolini when he fled and shown in the background photograph of the partisans who executed him, and are believed to have been taken from Debre Libanos,22 none of which have been traced since. This fourth crown therefore remains a mystery.
Was this crown the “real ancient crown of Ethiopia” as Markham assumed, and the one used for Emperor Tewodros’ coronation? Some doubts remain. Gaehtgens notes that von Thile, in an 1868 letter, stated it was “presumably meant for use in ecclesiastical functions”. Rohlfs himself reported that the crown was not worn by Emperor Tewodros, but held above his head on festive occasions.
Ethiopian sources on the coronation?
Most of the evidence about the looted crowns and the coronation derive from European travelers, missionaries, members of the British expedition, and foreign prisoners held at Magdala. However, there is also the Chronicle of Emperor Tewodros and two illustrations of the coronation that may give some indications.
The text of Chronicle of Emperor Tewodros in Amharic translated into French by Mondon -Vidailhet states that “The Patriarch Abuna Salama consecrated and anointed Kassa following the rules established in the kingdom and, like Samuel, after consecrated him proclaimed him king”.23 There is no specific mention of a crown. However, earlier on the same page the chronicle notes that when Tewodros asked the vanquished Dejach Wube to bring him the treasures owed to him he claimed he has given these all to the Deresge monastery. The chronicler adds: ”Dejach Wube venerated the monastery of Deresge and had accumulated in its sanctuary treasures of gold and silver, and had filled it with jewels, such that the richnesses of the monastery were praised as far as the sea”.
While the chronicle does not offer any concrete evidence of the use of a crown, there is at least one painting and possibly a second depicting Tewodros’ coronation. The first is a mid-19th century painting which was in the Church of Medhane Alem, the Saviour of the World in Adwa, which was under the patronage of Dejach Wube. The painting of a crucifixion surrounded by secular scenes was purchased by the English explorer and archaeologist James Bent, with permission from the head priest, ‘for ten pieces of silver’ and deposited in the British Museum in 1893 where it remains.24
One of the scenes has the title: ‘How Abuna Selama anointed King Tewodros with the oil of kingship to enthrone him at Deresge’. The title itself makes it clear that the scene was painted after Tewodros’ coronation, “to celebrate the coronation of Emperor Tewodros II and his confirmation of Bishop Salama’s doctrine of Tewahedo as the sole, legitimate doctrine of the Ethiopian Orthodox Church”.25
This scene is particularly telling since Emperor Tewodros and his first wife, Tewabech, are both wearing crowns. These crowns have three layers in pyramidal shape with the second and third layers smaller but slightly protruding, and surmounted by a diamond cross-like shape. It is also significant that Abuna Selama is pictured holding a birille flask on his right hand to with the oil for the anointment and a bible in his left hand. The crown in the painting, which is more like the traditional Ethiopian crowns, does not resemble any of those that have been discussed above.
It is interesting to note that another scene in the same painting portrays the Patriarch Abuna Salama wearing a crown celebrating mass at the Church of Mehdane Alem in Adwa.26

How Abune Selama celebrated mass at the Church of Medhane Alem in Adwa. Detail from the painting An Ethiopian Crucifixion. Cutts, et a. 2010. p. 6. ©The Trustees of the British Museum.
The crown in this scene is very similar to the second crown described above and repatriated by Queen Elizabeth, with a bulbous shape and dentilated base. However, there is one crucial differences that it has a cross on top rather than a tassel in the repatriated crown, suggesting the possibility that it might have been repurposed.
A second wall painting at the Monastery of Deresge where Emperor Tewodros was coronated does not have a title. However, it as a crowned figure along with a Patriarch on horses, which Dorothea McEwan has suggested is most likely to be Emperor Tewodros27 with Abuna Selama wearing a koukoulian headgear. In this painting too, the crown is a tiered one with a cross on top, and has alternating blue and red diamond shaped jewels on the lower tier.
The paintings suggest that Tewodros was indeed coronated using a crown, even though the anointment by the Patriarch may be a more important aspect of the ritual. However, neither of the pictorial representations of the crowns correspond to any of the four crowns described above. It may well be, however, that the artists were not present at the coronation and made typical representation of royal crowns.
CONCLUSIONS
While it remains uncertain which crown was used for Tewodros’ coronation, pictorial evidence suggests he was indeed crowned. Having reviewed the extant crowns attributed to Tewodros that might have been used in his coronation 170 years ago, which, if any, would be the most likely candidate? The most plausible candidate may be the crown gifted by the Egyptian Patriarch, later returned by Queen Elizabeth II, currently displayed in the Collections Gallery of the National Palace.
However, the absence of definitive evidence leaves the question open for further historical investigation. The confusion over European terminologies for crown, mitre, cap and tarboosh, as well as the overlap between ecclesiastical and secular regalia, complicates identification. Regardless, the coronation of Tewodros remains a significant historical event, reflecting both his political ascension and the complex interplay of religious and royal symbolism in Ethiopian tradition.
- These can also be accessed on his website www.theprinceandtheplunder.com [↩]
- Stanley’s accounts need to be taken with a pinch of salt. He was responsible for the claim that Emperor Tewodros shot himself with the pistol sent to him by Queen Victoria, a neat story seemingly not corroborated by other sources, but which has since become a popular legend. [↩]
- Stanley, Henry Morton, 1874. Coomassie and Magdala: The story of two British campaigns in Africa. London: Sampson Low, Marston & Co, p.74. [↩]
- See Victoria and Albert Museum https://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O108443/crown-unknown/, and article by Mercier, Jacques, The Gold Crown of Magdala. Apollo, December 2006, Vol. 164, p.46-53 [↩]
- Cormack, Zoe, 2025. ‘The British Museum and the Abyssinian Campaign, 1867-8’, History: Journal of the Historical Association, 1-20. [↩]
- Hansard Papers, House of Commons debate, 30 June 1871 vol. 207 pp.939-52. [↩]
- Acton, Roger, 1868. The Abyssinian Expedition and the life and reign of King Theodore. London: Office of the Illustrated London News, p.75. [↩]
- Illustrated London News, 1868, p.609. [↩]
- Gräber, Gerd, 2005, Däräsge Maryam, inSiegbert Uhlig et al. (eds.), Encyclopedia Aethiopica, Vol. 2. Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz, pp. 99-100. [↩]
- Crummey, Donald, Nosnitsin, Denis and Sokolinskaia Evgenia, 2010. ‘Tewodros II’ in Siegbert Uhlig et al. (eds.), Encyclopedia Aethiopica, Vol. 1. Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz, pp. 822–824. [↩]
- Rubenson, Sven (1966), King of Kings Tewodros of Ethiopia. Haile Selassie I University Department of History, Historical Studies no. 2, p. 71. [↩]
- Acton, Roger (1868), The Abyssinian Expedition and the life and reign of King Theodore. London: Office of the Illustrated London News, p. 75. [↩]
- Illustrated London News, 1868, p.609. [↩]
- Spottiswoode, A Guide to the Art Collections of the South Kensington Museum, 1872, p.20. [↩]
- https://www.rct.uk/collection/search#/72/collection/62936/crown-or-cap [↩]
- Published in The Gentleman’s Magazine Vol.225, 1868, p.38. [↩]
- Markham in his book A History of the Abyssinia Expedition states in a footnote ‘The real ancient crown of Ethiopia is believed to have been stolen after the capture of Magdala, and to be now in Prussia. (1869, p.373, note 1). [↩]
- Peter Gaehtgens ‘Emperor Tewodros’ Magdala Crowns – Reconstruction of an Odyssey’. Beassler-Archiv, Band 65 (2019). [↩]
- Richard Pankhurst, https://twlethiopia.org/article/1-the-crown-of-emperor-tewodros-ii/ [↩]
- Pankhurst, Richard (1969). ‘Ethiopia and The Loot of the Italian Invasion: 1935-1936’, Présence Africaine, 72. [↩]
- However, the photographs of the Ethiopian crowns of the last four emperors including Tewodros, given by Graziani to Mussolini and then exhibited in the Colonial Museum, do not seem to include this one. Nor it is among the crowns later taken by Mussolini when he fled and shown in the background photograph of the partisans who executed him, and are believed to have been taken from Debre Libanos. [↩]
- Campbell, Ian (2021). Holy War. London, Hurst, figures 51 and 52. [↩]
- Mondon-Vidailhet, Casimir (1904). Chronique de Théodoros II, roi des rois d’Éthiopie, 1853-1868, d’après un manuscrit de Welde Maryam, Paris, Guilmoto, p. 8. [↩]
- Mcewan, Dorothea (2021), ‘An Ethiopian crucifixion’ in Ethiopia Illustrated: Church Paintings, Maps and Drawings: An Anthology. Addis Ababa: Ethiopian Academy Press, pp.1-30. [↩]
- Cutts, Heidi et al. (2010). ‘The image revealed: study and conservation of a mid-nineteenth-century Ethiopian church painting’ British Museum Technical Research Bulletin, 4, pp. 1-17. [↩]
- For interesting discussions of this scene see Dorothea McEwan, p.23 and Cutts et al. p.6. [↩]
- McEwan, Dorothea (2021). ‘The wall paintings of Däräsge Maryam Church in Sǝmen Mountains Ethiopia’, in Ethiopia Illustrated: Church Paintings, Maps and Drawings: An Anthology. Addis Ababa: Ethiopian Academy Press:78-79. However, Gerd Gräber in his notice on Däräsge Maryam, Encyclopedia Aethiopica vol. 2 (2005) suggests it may be Dejach Wube, though in fact his planned coronation was subverted by Tewodros’ victory. This was also stated by Beke, Charles (1867). The British Captives in Abyssinia. London: Longmans, p.39. [↩]
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Secrétaire Scientifique (12 février 2025). With which crown was Emperor Tewodros coronated 170 years ago? UN ŒIL SUR LA CORNE / AN EYE ON THE HORN. Consulté le 22 mars 2025 à l’adresse https://doi.org/10.58079/13axd