Cyber Ethiopia

The Institute of Ethiopian Studies Museum, situated in the main campus of Addis Ababa University in Siddist Kilo, has been transformed. The old Ethnological Museum has been turned, almost by metamorphosis, into a new Anthropology Museum. The old Ethnological Museum was conceived partly to illustrate phases of Ethiopian economic evolution (hunting and gathering, agriculture, and handicrafts), and partly the culture of the country's geographical regions. (Tigray, Harar, etc.) Birth to Death The new Anthropology Museum, by contrast, takes as its central theme the progression of Ethiopian man-, and women-kind from birth to death, but in the process also displays a multitude of unrelated artifacts of ethnographic interest. Past our dear old friend Entering the Ras Makonnen Building, Emperor Haile Sellassie's former Palace, we climb the stairs, pass our

dear old friend Ambessa, the Stuffed Lion (may his soul rest in peace), after which we turn right past the SOFIES Shop. (There you can purchase some of the best and cheapest tourist items in the town: just you go and see!). You then have before you the historic choice of climbing another flight of stairs to visit the Gallery of Modern Art and the Music Centre, both modernised last year; or of turning left into the exciting new Anthropology Museum. Assuming that you wish to see the latter you turn left, and enter the new and beautifully refurbished Anthropology Museum, with shining glass cases and newly polished floor. There (unless you want to turn things upside-down - which you are of course free to do) you should turn again immediately to the right, and follow humanity's progression from birth to death. Brightly coloured panels You start by considering certain beliefs and myths concerning Ethiopian ethnic origins, which are presented in a series of brightly coloured panels. The approach is essentially Pan-Ethiopian, a little on the lines, if you like, of Donald Levine's classic "Greater Ethiopia. The Evolution of a Multiethnic Society" (1974). You begin with a panel on the Queen of Sheba's visit to King Solomon, and the birth of their son Menelik I. You then come to panels on the beliefs on the Banna people, the Macha Oromo people, and the Gumuz people. Also in this area are panels devoted to the myths of origins: the myth of the King Serpent, and the myth as to how the Ethiopians (or more precisely their goat!) discovered the value of the stimulant Coffee and of the narcotic Chat. Three cheers for the good old goat! (Bless his soul also!) Childhood We then enter the area of the Museum devoted to Childhood, once again conceived in inter-ethnic terms. Here we find a panel on the birth customs of the Hadiya people, of the south-west, followed by a series of exhibits on Ethiopian childhood games. There is thus a long Gabata board, clearly from the south of the country: If you want to know why see my article in "Ethiopia Observer"(1971) vol. XIV. This board is for playing the board-game of that name. There are also several clay animal figurines, and a small children's doll made of cloth. But this is not just about the past: another exhibit is a real Giottoni box: an import from Italy: you know the thing: you put in your lire, and then twist a knob making the small toy football-players kick the ball around. (As I type this out on my poor old Apple Mackintosh computer the household is watching the World Cup on TV). A Jimma chair at the I.E.S Transmission of Knowledge We pass next to the section on the Transmission of Knowledge and Reading. This is illustrated by a fine, and beautifully rubricated manuscript copy of the Psalms of David - the text with which Ethiopian Christian children in Church Schools traditionally learnt to read. Immediately beside it, in the same case, we see several of the characteristic flat wooden writing boards on which their Muslim age-mates begin writing in Arabic, and then - wait for it: a case full of modern English school-books printed for Government Schools by the Ethiopian Ministry of Education. These exhibits are contextualised by photos of keen Ethiopian youngsters of various cultures eagerly reading. Our next port of call is entitled Rites of Passage, i.e. the progress from infancy, through youth, to adulthood. We thus come to a tall circular hut associated with dancing among the Bashada people; and have the opportunity to watch the "Jumping of the Bull" ceremony of the Hammer people, who, on attaining manhood carry out the to us non-Hammer somewhat frightening practice of doing just that. And so on to Marriage, which is highlighted inter alia by a panel introducing Nuer traditions... Religion And next to Religion, with panels on Judaism, Christianity and Islam, with the representation of the interior of an Orthodox Church, examples of Christian and Muslim manuscripts, and a panel on the cultural importance Pilgrimage. We go next to Peace, War, and Peace-Making. This is illustrated by a panel on Conflict Resolution among the Oromos, as well as a film on the subject. There are also two remarkable glass cases, One displays the evolution from old rifles to the machine-gun. (It stops there because Ethiopia is not yet a nuclear power!). The other case shows a variety of swords and daggers. To add a personal dimension there are two further cases displaying traditional Ethiopian warriors, complete with spear, shield, and lion's hair cap, as well as the helmet crown of the kings of Kaffa: an artifact which, you may remember Emperor Menelik gave to his Swiss technician-cum-adviser Alfred Ilg. (Yes, a number of artifacts from the old Ethnological Museum keep on re-appearing, but the general atmosphere of the new Anthropology Museum has been quite transformed). Many other things Proceeding ever onwards through the museum you have the opportunity to see a wide display of Ethiopian material culture. Exhibits in this area include a variety of pots and baskets, a section on the Ethiopian coffee ceremony, and a series of photographs of some of the more important Ethiopian medicinal trees. And many other things, too many to describe here - but all, dear reader, awaiting your visit! The Museum thus contains sections on Agriculture, Pastoralism, and Handicrafts. Exhibits here include the typical Ethiopian highland plough; and an Afar house, made of twigs and matting, as carried on camel-back, with ever so many representations of camels. There is also an important section on Cattle, as well as on the characteristically Ethiopian highland cereal Teff, besides panels on both Coffee and Chat. Hunting and Fishing are represented by a tankwa, or papyrus boat, a number of spears or harpoons, and a traditional fishing net. There is in addition a small section on jewellery, also display cases on the preparation (and weighing) of cotton; spinning and weaving; and the ever so beautiful finished cloth. So much for cotton, but there is also at least one example of dress made out of skin, as well as a wooden cap (like that seen in the very high highlands), and a coat as worn by shepherd boys The grim reality of Death Continuing our journey we leave all these varied artifacts, and come to the grim reality of Death. Here we have panels on burial customs among the Konso, Sidama and Arsi Oromo. This section is vividly manifested by a series of wooden burial statues (wagas) erected by the Konso, and a Sidama grave-stone, and an Arsi Oromo grave (like the ones you see, dear reader, on the road down the Rift Valley), complete with the virtually obligatory cow. And so to Life After Death - about which most of us know relatively little. Passing on we come to a number of fine old Jimma chairs - a treat in itself, as well as extensive display of wooden neck-rests, also known as pillows (on which the previous Italian Ambassador's wife Signora Recoveri helped the museum last year), and a section on Containers. These include pots, and gourds, some of them decorated with cowry shells, as well as various kinds of baskets - with exhibits too numerous to describe. International Cooperation The new museum is the fruit of an internationally planned project. The plan was conceived by the Ethiopian Museum Curator, Ahmed Zecharia, with Carmen Porras from Spain, Natalia Hirsch from France, and Ichirah Hababou Alaguy from Tunisia. Generous financial support was received from Finland, as well as Belgium, France, Germany, Great Britain, The Netherlands, Spain, and the British Council. A Catalogue of this interesting display will in due course be produced.