Magdala (mäg´dälä, măg´dələ), former name of Amba Mariam (äm´bə mär´ēəm), village, Amhara region, central Ethiopia. Emperor Tewodros II (Theodore II) in the mid-19th cent. used Magdala as the base of operations for his conquest of the surrounding Oromo territory. In 1867 he made it his capital and imprisoned several British diplomats there. In 1868 a British military expedition under Sir Robert Napier rescued the prisoners, destroyed Magdala, and prompted Tewodros's suicide. For his exploits Napier was later named Baron Napier of Magdala.

Magdala (măg´dələ), in the New Testament, home of Mary Magdalene. It is identified with Migdal, Israel, a town on the west shore of the Sea of Galilee, and the neighboring site of the former Arab village of Al-Majdal. Excavations begun there in 2009 have unearthed an ancient synagogue and other structures that date to the 1st cent. AD