Land of Legends…

Ethiopia’s culture and traditions date back over   3 000 years, but human habitation began here much, much earlier. Undoubtedly Ethiopia’s greatest archaeological discovery – and one of the world importance – was the finding, in 1974, of an almost complete hominid skeleton, estimated to be at least 3.5 million years old, at Hadar, in the boulder-strewn volcanic floor of Afar region in the Great Rift Valley. Initially named “Lucy” by the team that found the skeleton, “she” was later given a more fitting Ethiopian name, Kinkenesh, which means “thou art wonderful”.

This is only one of the many major scientific discoveries in the area: only twenty year later, in 1994, that scientist dug up the fossilised remains of a chimpanzee-sized ape from 4.4 million years ago at a site seventy-five kilometres south of where “Lucy” was found. The latest find consisted of the 5.8 million year old fossil named Ramadis Ramadis Kadaba.

The fossilised skeleton of Lucy lies at the Ethiopian National Museum in Addis Ababa, along with many other prehistoric discoveries, including Stone Age tools up to 2.5 million years’ old, and vibrant cave paintings. The area where Dinkenesh was found remains an active archaeological site. But the semi-desert area is inhospitable and visitors must check with the authorities beforehand.

The country’s rich tapestry of history is woven with fascinating facts and legends; the often told tale of King Solomon and the Queen of Sheba; the journey of the Ark of the Covenant; the growth of the ancient Axumite Kingdom and the birth of Christianity; the later rise of Islam; the story of King Lalibela and the castles of Gondar.

It was on the edge of the Danakil desert, in November 1974, at a place called Hadar, that fossilised remains of the oldest direct human ancestor were discovered. Palaeontologists were able to reconstruct almost the whole skeleton of a single female. This 3.5 million year old human ancestor was dubbed “Lucy”. Lucy was discovered by an American Palaeontologists Donal Johanson.

The lower Awash valley, where Hadar is located, is registered by UNESCO as a World Heritage Site.  

The ancient city of Axum, with its many old churches, remarkable Stelae and other relics is claimed to be the last resting place of the Ark of the Covenant.

The ark is hidden away inside a well-guarded chapel, looked after by a single monk, and nobody else is allowed to enter, let alone see it. Axum is strongly linked to the legend of the Queen of Sheba, and there are a number of sites associated with her. On the outskirts of Axum, are the ruins of the so-called Queen of Sheba’s Palace, or Taakha Maryam. This has a still-intact flagstone floor, thought to have been a throne room, and a number of stairwells which hint at the existence of at least one upper storey.

There are also private bathing areas of sophisticated design and a well preserved kitchen dominated by two brick ovens. Across the road are some rough-hewn granite stelae, thought to be older than those in Axum’s Park of the Stelae. The largest is said to mark the grave of the Queen of Sheba, although no excavation has yet taken place to prove, or disprove, the theory.

All seven giant stelae are made of single piece of granite and have identical decoration. At the base of each standing stele is a stone altar containing several bowl-shaped cavities, which it is thought served as receptacles for sacrificial offerings to the dead.

Lutz described the huge granite slab as “a rare and wonderful symbol of Ethiopia’s ancient civilisation, and of African spirituality, which remained in the holy city of Axum for perhaps 2 000 to 3 000 years.

There, a fifteen-main team of British, American and Ethiopia archaeologists led by Cambridge Professor David Phillipson has been engaged on a research project seeking to uncover more of Ethiopia’s prehistory. According to Professor Phillipson as much as ninety-seven per cent of Axum history is “still shrouded in mystery”. His team has excavated graves of ancient kings in the vicinity of the lone giant obelisk that still stands.  

Ethiopia’s earliest known capital, Yeha, less than two hour’s drive from Axum, contains the ruins of a large pre-Christian temple erected around the 5th century BC. The building consists of a single roofless oblong chamber 20 meters by 15 meters. The windowless, 10 metres high walls are built of smoothly polished stones, some of them more than 10 meters long, carefully placed without the use of mortar.

South of Addis Ababa, close to the Awash River, lies Melka Konture, an archaeological site since 1965. Here, at the entrance to a gorge, some two million ago, lived early ancestors of mankind.

They left behind tools, as well as traces of meals and shelters. In the lowest levels pebble tools have been found and, in the higher levels people of the Middle and Late Stone Age have left many examples of two-edged hand axes, obsidian scrapers and set of “bolas” – the round stones tied together to throw at animals.

Fossilised bones of a variety of animals have also been found here. Before visiting Melka Konture it is necessary to check with the Antiquities Administration in Addis Ababa.

Recorded histories in which Ethiopia is mentioned date back more than 4 000 years. The earliest records were compiled by two ancient centres of human civilisation, Persia and Egypt – both of which saw the Horn of Africa as an emporium of much prized tropical products. Egyptian hieroglyphic inscriptions indicate that the Pharaons obtained frankincense and myrrh from Ethiopia from as long ago as 3 000 years before the birth of Christ.

Ancient contacts such as these nurtured and strengthened the Semetic Culture of northern Ethiopia, creating a Kingdom that dominated the vital crossroads of Africa and Asia for almost a thousand years.

From the 13th to the 16th centuries, intellectual culture continued to flourish in this ancient land with the establishment of monasteries, with writing of successive royal chronicles – invaluable to scholars for the accurate historical records they contain – and the translation of text into Ge’ez. Imperial splendour grew in tandem with these developments and eventually gravitated to the beautiful fortress city of Gondar.

At the same time, Ethiopia’s mercantile Islamic culture rose up side by side with that of the Christians. The town of Harar, in the east of the country, is a fine example of this alternative strand of Ethiopia’s broad and diverse heritage and occupies a proud place of its own along the historic route.  

Permanent Mission of Ethiopia Geneva :

Tel 022 919 70 10 – Fax 022 919 70 29  

Email info@ethiopianmission.ch 

Website www.ethiopianmission.ch 

Contact: Mr. Atnafseged Zeleke

More Information: Geo-Découverte:

Tel 022 716 30 00 – Fax 022 731 08 02 

Email info@geo-decouverte.ch