Abuna Salama III

Salama III (died 25 October 1867) was Abuna or head of the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church (1841-1867).

Engraving of Salama III from Henry Stern, Wanderings among the Falasha.

Salama was originally brought to the Ethiopian Empire by Dejazmach Wube Haile Maryam. He afterwards attached himself to the party of Emperor Tewodros II for his help to settle the theological disputes dividing the Oriental Orthodox Churches and to gain control over the fractured Church organization.

As Tewodros' power dwindled, however, Salama found himself more often at odds with the emperor until he was made a prisoner (1864), after Tewodros II died he was released he supported the wello rulers and deposed Sahle Selassie but this excommunication did not matter to emperor Sahle Selassie he eventually confined to the village of Amba Mariam (then called Magdala in Wollo Province), where he died of bronchitis aggravated by his detention.[1]