William Hay, Writer: Ethiopia - National Museum of Ethiopia

Thanks to the Concierge at the Best Western Plus Hotel Addis Ababa I was met by guide Mr. Lesanework Hailu of Lesan Tour, (Lesanu.che@gmail.com) (+251 923 48 65 85) in the hotel lobby.. $70 was the cost of the tour with the driver and the car and admissions paid for. What a great way to experience a new city. In the past I’d taken bus tours of the city first day but older I like the slower self set pace. The cost is more than worth it.

I wanted to start at the beginning. So Lesan took me to the National Ethiopian Museum. That’s where the remains of Lucy, our 3.2 million year old ancestor reside.

I loved the drive through city. So much is within walking that I understand now why Lonely Planet has a recommended walking tour.’ Everyone assures me that it’s safe too, only to carry one’s possession in front to avoid pick pockets from behind. Mosquitoes aren’t a concern in Addis either but I used my DEET nonetheless

Lesane told me that Addis Ababa was a very young city, hardly a hundred and fifty years old. Addis means “new” and Ababa means ‘flower”. A beautiful yellow flower grows in abundance here so the Empress named the city thus. Everywhere we drove construction was taking place, very much like Mexico, Malaysia and Azerbaijan. There just aren’t the crowds I associate with China or even Italy, and certainly nothing like Japan. It’s young and bustling, much like Cambodia.. It’s only been a couple of decades back that the Communist Socialist Derg reigned with Red Terror requiring a liberation war. I loved the youth and vibrancy. The young women, especially at the university, were so beautiful, the men handsome.

The National Ethiopian Museum is three levels. In the basement there is a wonderful display of the archeological digs in the Rift Valley which runs through Ethiopia. Like Alaska and Russia, Yemen and Ethiopia appears to have once been connected. The history of the earth’s development was displayed with fossils and charts.. I liked the lay out which reminded me of Washington’s Smithsonian museums. Academic but easy to follow in that sense. Lesane provided me all manner of information. The fossils of ancient boars, hippopotamus and elephants were huge. Lesane was obvious a lover of elephants who inhabit Ethiopian. “They listen with their trunks against the ground to vibrations. They’re even more intelligent than dogs. Like dolphins.” As we walked about looking at the exhibits of ancient spears and bows, I talked with him about my experience of hunting. He shared his love of birds with so many species of birds unique to Ethiopia.

I loved the Lucy exhibit. 3.2 million years old. Walking upright. I loved how the fossils protected in display had beside them the skeletons of the ancestors showing the anatomical placement of the bone fragments found. A skull of a child, called “Lucy’s little sister” was there as well. Rocks used for hunting and lava fragments used for knives before the advent of metal tools were interesting for dating tool making man’s sojourn on earth.

The second floor and third floor had famous Ethiopian Art. Some of the pictures on display were done by the most famous stained glass artisan. He’d paint his work before creating the stained glass masterpieces for the Coptic churches. Since grand dad was a rancher I appreciated the ancient ploughs on display. Horses were very important to Ethiopians as were the oxen. We talked of food preservation and the box the students still use to preserve their foods for a couple of days. “Ethiopians were always great runners. They still have famous marathons here with runners coming from all over the world. They’d carry their food on these long runs in those woven boxes.”

I loved the painting of the mother and child with Emperor Sellasie and his wife present. Emperor Haille Sellasie’s throne was huge. The vestments of Bishops and clothing of different leaders from the east and west of Ethiopia showed the difference in style. Women’s hair styles also could depict their tribal origins.

Ethiopians have traditional or ‘old’ court and ‘new courts’ much like other modern courts. A short film clip showed the traditional court in progress. It seemed similiar to our Aboriginal courts with all the community involved. Often a ‘settlement’ could be agreed collectively to recompense the injured parties, their traditional courts focussing more on compensation than punishment. It made me think our courts could learn more about having the guilty do more for caring for their victims.

A great drum, bigger than the symphony kettle drum. “This was the drum used always for emergencies or political events to call the people. It was sounded on the mountains.” Another drum, a Christian drum, had one end representing the ‘old testament’ and the other end the ‘new testament’ with music played on it in church.

Lesane told me the history of Emperor Hailie Selassie making a state visit to Jamaica, His arrival was associated with t miracles occurred when he stepped on the island causing the people to believe him to be a Godlike and worthy of worship. “They have a community here where they believe it’s the promised land. They come here as Jews return to Israel.”

There were many exhibits of abstract art which would have fit well on the walls of MOMA, New York but I liked more the religious art with it’s particularly Coptic slant. ‘Coptics are the only Christians who believe in the Old Testament and New Testament together, having circumcision for boys before 12 days, not eating pork, and then celebrating the Christian teachings of the Trinitarian God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit.”

There was a haunting picture of the Derg. Having been to Cambodia and now Ethiopia which have survived Communist Dictatorships I felt sad for Venezuela now. Too many western academics remain Vladimir Lenin’s “useful idiots”. I liked better the paintings of Emperor Tewodros who occasioned the British army military rescue of the English diplomats taken hostage. The other painting I liked was called ‘Day of Victory’ depicting the Ethiopians defeating the Italians after Emperor Menelik II exposed the Italian betrayal.

All in all I loved the National Museum. It reminded me in part of the Anthropological Museum in Mexico City. Lesan was an excellent tour guide and would take me from here to a mountain view point of the city, the University of Addis Ababa and the Holy Trinity Cathedral..