MAJOR TOURIST ATTRACTION PLACES FOUND IN ETHIOPIA

THE PLACE WHERE HISTORY BECOMES ALIVE 1

AMRAN ETHIOPIA TOUR AND TRAVEL AMRAN ETHIOPIA TOUR AND TRAVEL AMRAN ETHIOPIA TOUR AND TRAVEL AMRAN ETHIOPIA TOUR AND TRAVEL

Major Tourist attraction places found in Ethiopia

Addis Ababa (The home of the hominid)

Addis Ababa (“New Flower” in Amharic), the

capital city and arrival point for incoming

flights, also the best place to Begin exploring.

Addis Founded in 1887 by Emperor Menelik,

this Sprawling, and vibrant city of 3 million

inhabitants is home to both the headquarters

of the Organization of African Unity and the

United Nations Economic Commission for

Africa. This stunning city has a lot of

chronological and cultural site seeing placing.

Also it is situated above sea level 2,300-

2,500meters. Addis also got 13 months of

sunshine with a faberable temperature. Inside

this Camelot city we also found a lot of

attraction places. In exceptionally historian &

tourist put this city 1st place that people have

to see. So our venture offers the 3,000

mysteries history for you.

Museums

The National Museum of Ethiopia

The Ethiopian National Museum is one of the

leading Museum institutions of the Federal

Democratic Republic of Ethiopia. It is the oldest,

the largest and the richest in its collection, not

only of the entire Nation, but through out Sub-

Saharan Africa. It studies and provides

documentation about

the culture of the

Nation from

prehistoric until the

present.

It provides also

technical advice to

other Museums

through out Ethiopia.



It was founded at 1936/37 and during its 56 years of existence it has changed its location three times. At the beginning, it was located at the national library, and then it moved to the lounge of the National Bank. Finally it moved in the old building of the present compound which was formerly the ministry of foreign affairs. Since 1999 the Ethiopian National Museum, displays its collection in the new building which was purposely built for it!

At first, the National Museum started displaying a few collections donated by the royal family and their close associates.

At present, the National Museum displays numerous artifacts mainly from archaeology. The national museum of Ethiopia has ethnographical, traditional and contemporary art exhibits and historical relics.

The present exhibition halls are divided in four sections:

1. The basement is devoted to paleontology and prehistory.

2. The first floor displays culture items from ancient, medieval and contemporary Ethiopian societies respectively.

3. The second floor is devoted to traditional and contemporary Ethiopian art.

4. At the third floor visitors have good opportunity to see the mosaic of ethnographic records of the country.

We also have …

� The Institute

of Ethiopian

Studies (IES)

Museum

� Entoto Museum

� St George's

Cathedral

museum

� Merkato (an open market)

� The holy trinity museums …



Guassa Plateau

Perched at an altitude of 3200m in the remote Menz Highlands, the 110km2 Guassa Plateau is one of Africa is largest alpine moorland ecosystems, and it have functioned as a kind of community reserve for four centuries. Bisected by the obscure public road connecting Tarmabir to Mehal Meda, the

windswept heather-strewn plateau is of great interest to wildlife lovers for hosting the most easily observed population of the critically endangered Ethiopian wolf along the Northern circuit. The magnificent golden-maned gelada monkey is almost certain to be seen, while 14 endemic bird species are present, including the globally threatened Ankobar serin.

HISTORY TO TELL…

ADWA

Some say it is combination of Two words: Adi – meaning town or land, and WA’ – meaning beware! So, they interpret: “land or town to beware of”.

AKSUM

The word Aksum is a derivation of the Word Kush, a Hebrew word, which, in turn, means Ethiopia.



Dilla The bustling agricultural town of Dilla lies on the southern Rift Valley escarpment amidst misty forested hills that produce some of Ethiopia finest coffee. Several worthwhile archaeological sites lie in the vicinity, notably Tutu Fela and Tututi, where a combined 1500 engraved steal were erected as grave markers between the 9th and 12th centuries. The taller steal at Tututi (up 7.5 meters) have mostly toppled over or been incorporated into newer structures (one rather ignominiously props up a rustic latrine) but the Tutu Fela steal are nearly all still standing. Also of interest, 8km out of Town at Manchiti, is a superb 3000-year-old frieze of rock engravings (pictured overleaf) depicting fifty stylised cattle.

THE (head professor), Saint Yared

Saint Yared receives the Revelation of religious Music from three birds From the Garden of Eden. The name of one Of the three musical Modes used by the Ethiopian Church is Written on their feathers. Axum,

Danakil Depression

This rain-starved stretch of the northern Rift Valley dips to a frazzled nadir of 116 meters below sea level at Dallol (pictured overleaf) – officially the lowest point on the African continent and the hottest place on earth. Tectonically



Hyperactive, the area is studded with active volcanoes such as the continuously eruptive Erta Ale, whose crater hosts a century-old lava lake.

Elsewhere, the inhospitable lunar landscape is pockmarked with malodorous hot springs, Multihued sulphurous deposits and solidified black lava flows, while the local economy depends on a series of salten crusted basins deposited back when the Danakil was a marine extension of the Red Sea. The Afar who work the salt mines, though staunchly traditionalist, no longer welcome strangers by lopping off their testicles & ndash; but their homeland remains a truly challenging destination, accessible only by 4x4 or (for the truly intrepid) by hooking up with one of the regular salt caravans that run there from Mekele.

Periodization of Aksum

• Pre-Aksumite or Yeha cultural cluster from-2000 BC

• Early Aksum until the early of Gadarat-1-71 CE.

• Gadarat Endubis-201-270 CE

• Endubis-Ezana local-270-330 CE

• Ezana International – Kaleb -330-520CE

• Kaleb until the end of the coinage-520-650 CE

• After the end of the coinage-Till the 10th century



Menegasha and Wenchi Only an hour drive west of Addis Ababa, the magnificent 2500ha Menegasha National Forest, protected by imperial decree since the 15th century, swathes the slopes of a 3385m extinct volcano called Wechecha. Mysteriously Neglected by travelers, despite boasting affordable accommodation and a network of walking trails, this highland forest of juniper, hagenia and podocarpus trees offers those with limited time in Ethiopia an opportunity to see typical highland wildlife such as black-and-white colobus and Menelik bushbuck alongside a good range of endemic forest birds. Worth combining a visit with one to Lake Wenchi (pictured on page 95), which is set within the crater of an 3386m tall extinct volcano and hosts an interesting medieval island monastery

Ethiopian Alphabet The Semitic languages of Ethiopia are related to both Hebrew and Arabic. The Ethiopian languages of this family are derived from Ge'ez, the language of the ancient Axumite Kingdom, which was also the language of the country's literature prior to the mid-nineteenth century, as well as part of most present-day church services Eight Natural Sites recognized by UNESCO:

• Axum obelisks

• The Monolic Churches of Lalibela

• Gondar’s Castles

• The lower awash valley

• Hadar, (where Lucy was discovered)



• Tia’s carved standing stones,

• The walls of Harar

• The Simien National Park

Gambella

Best visited in the spirit of travel for its own sake, Gambella lies at the end of a long, rough road connecting Addis Ababa to the swampy Nile Basin via

the lushly forested western highlands. An anomaly among Ethiopian towns, it has a leafy, Languid and decidedly sweaty setting alongside the wide Baro River, evoking misplaced visions of Conradian Central Africa, as underscored by the exceptionally dark and ritually scarred skins of its pipe-smoking Anuwak and Nuer inhabitants (pictured above left). Formerly the terminus of a British shipping route connecting Ethiopia to Khartoum via the Nile, Gambella today

is the archetypal tropical backwater, one who’s richly absorbing sense of place more than compensates for a dearth of formal sightseeing opportunities.

MARCUS MOSIAH GARVEY…

Like the voice of John crying in the wilderness, “Prepare the way of the Lord, make his paths straight,” Garvey came preaching saying, “Look to Africa, when a Black King shall to crowned, for the day of deliverance is near.” “Whom the Psalmist prophesied Princes shall come out of Egypt and Ethiopia shall stretch forth her hands unto God.” Babile



Babile Situated 30km from the walled Muslim city of Harar, Babile lies in a desolate landscape of red earth, low acacia scrub, chimney-like termite mounds and gravity-defying rock formations that appear to be one puff away from collapsing. The village houses the headquarters for the Babile Elephant Sanctuary, whose migratory population of 150 elephants is assigned to the endemic race orleansi. Despite its proximity to Harar, this reserve is little known and totally undeveloped for tourism, but the elephants are quite easily located with the help of a ranger between June and September or from mid-November to early March, when they congregate close to specific water sources. Babile may gain greater recognition should plans to relocate the headquarters from Babile to Harar ever be translated into action.

Gates of… The city is surrounded by gates, six in total—two were added by Emperor Menelik in 1889 and the others four are all original dating from the 16th century. The main one is the Harar Gate (or Duke Gate). It is called the Duke Gate after the first Duke of Harar, Ras Mekonnen. The other three original gates are: Shoa Gate, Buda Gate, and the Fallana Gate. The Fallana Gate is the one Richard Burton (the British explorer not the actor) entered disguised as an Arab merchant. He was the first non-Muslim to enter Harar in 1854. Sekota Straddling a little-used back route between Lalibela and Axum, this hilltop settlement of ancient stone houses once



Served as capital of the delightfully named Kingdom of Wag, which peaked in importance in the 10th century. Only 6km out of town lies Wukro Meskel Kristos (pictured right), a near-monolithic rock-hewn church claimed locally to date to the 6th century, which would

make it the oldest such excavation in the country. Spookily, an adjacent cave is populated by several dozen mummies of agonized expression and mysterious origin depending on doing the telling, Axumite administrators carried there by angels, former Kings of Wag exhumed from their original graves for reburial in a smaller casket, or sinful priests struck dead by God.

The ancient City of Axum: It is for its ancient obelisks as is known said to be the last repository of the biblical Ark of the Covenant. Lalibela The Medieval city of Lalibela: Is a holy City to Ethiopian Christians, with Churches carved out of monolithic rock. The Medieval city of Gondar: Ethiopians 17th Century Capital City with imposing castles. The Island Monasteries of Lake Tana: with centuries-old mural paintings. The Walled City of Harar: An old historical City located in the East.



Hayk

A contender for the most underrated accessible stopover on Ethiopia northern circuit, the small town of Hayk is named after the lake that lies immediately to its north, an ideal spot for casual rambling and highly rewarding to Bird watchers. A thickly wooded peninsula houses the male-only 9th century monastery of Hayk

Istafanos, which became the most powerful religious centre in Ethiopia under the influence of Iyasus Moa, a 13th century monk whose busy daily Routine included kissing the ground a full 10,000 times. Hoarded away in the treasury are several remarkable antiquities, ranging from a heavy stone cross (pictured below) that belonged to Iyasu Moa to hollow sacrificial stones confirming legends that the site served as a pagan shrine prior to its monastic conversion.

The Dorze

Another distinctive people of the region around Lakes Abaya and Chamo are the Dorzes, once warriors, who have now turned to weaving and farming. The Dorze villages are classic example of simple architecture, unlike anything seen elsewhere in Ethiopia, with its towering beehive-shaped structures reaching up to 12 meter high.

Konso The Konso, who inhabit southwest of Lakes Abaya and Chamo, practicing an Intensive form of agriculture on intricately terraced hillside. The Konso have a rich



indigenous culture that finds expression in haunting music and dance. The also Commemorate dead heroes with carved wooden figures known as ‘Waga’ (which means, Literally, something of the grand father). Hammer-Benna

These people inhabit the Turmi and Demeka area, and they are estimated to about 16000 in number. Hammer men and women pay a great attention to the styling and decoration of hair. Hair styling enhances beauty and signifies status, bravery and courage. Men who have killed either an enemy or

big and dangerous animals such as leopard or lion wear Clay hair buns. The ‘jumping of the bull’ ceremony marks the initiation of the young men into the adulthood. The initiate takes a running leap on to the back of the first bull (or cow) and then charges across the backs of the all the others. The jumper must repeat these four times in order to prove his manhood.

Karo The Karos inhabit along the Omo River, Murile/Qorcho and Dus villages. They are one of the least minorities in Lower Omo Valley with a population size of less than five hundred. The body painting and scarification is one of the beauties of these people. Mursi

The Mursi are part of the small remaining group of people in the world whose Women still wearing the lip plates, which is purely symbolic. Even though there are several



theories why lip plates were originally adopted, the practical use is the sign of Beauty and/or indicating the number of cattle required by the wearer’s family for her hand in marriage or perhaps to prevent evil things from entering the body through mouth.

Yabello This minor route focus on the asphalt road to the Kenyan border is legendary among birdwatchers as the place to seek out the ultra-localized Stresemann bush crow and white-tailed swallow. Both can be observed in the acacia scrub of the nearby Yabello Game Sanctuary, along with the endemic Swayne hartebeest and various other dry country ungulates. Twitching aside, the arid badlands around Yabello are very different in character to highland Ethiopia, and are inhabited by semi-nomadic Borena pastoralists at Dublock is worth a diversion from Yabello, as is the ink-black saline crater lake known as Ili Sod (Salt House).

Awramba A short but bumpy side trip from the surfaced Bahir Dar-Gonder road leads to this unique weaving cooperative, founded in 1985 under the doctrine that education and hard work are more reliable alleviants of rural poverty than the traditional placebo of prayer. The only overtly atheistic society encountered in Africa, affording

communal pride of place not to a mosque or church, but to a school and library indeed the village chairman caused quite a stir when he appeared on national television espousing his beliefs to a nation of bemused the ophiles. Foreign visitors are welcome no fee asked, no begging permitted but you can contribute by buying a handspun cotton or wool artifact for half what it would cost elsewhere.

Documents

MAJOR TOURIST ATTRACTION PLACES FOUND IN ETHIOPIA