Abuna Atnatewos II (Athanasius) was an Egyptian Copt who served as the Abuna or head of the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church (1869–1876).
Background Originally a Coptic bishop from Egypt, he was brought to Ethiopia by Emperor Yohannes IV, who raised the $20,000 to pay Cyril V, Pope of the Coptic Orthodox Church.Paul B. Henze, Layers of Time: A History of Ethiopia (New York: Palgrave, 2000), p. 146
Abuna Atnatewos actively worked against the influence of Catholic missionaries; Asseggahen wrote to Antoine Thomson d'Abbadie that Atnatewos anathematized the Catholic bishop Massaia, and threatened to excommunicate the inhabitants of Shewa were they to associate with him.Letter dated March 1873, Internal Rivalries and Foreign Threats: 1869-1879, edited by Sven Rubenson (Addis Ababa: University Press, 2000), pp. 144ff
The Abuna supported Emperor Yohannes' campaign against the Egyptian attempt to annex Hamasien.Sven Rubenson, The Survival of Ethiopian Independence (Hollywood: Tsehai, 2003), p. 321 It is reported that Abuna Atnatewos was wounded at the Battle of Gura, later dying on 29 June 1876.Internal Rivalries, p. 253
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