Cradle of Humanity

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DAY 217: Ethiopia lies in a region known as the Cradle of Humanity, the corner of the globe where it is speculated that Mankind was born—this speculation is supported by paleontological evidence.  Many cultures derived from this Creation of Man in Ethiopia, the earliest written history of it recorded in the Bible.  With such rich roots to explore in early Man and biblical civilization, Ethiopia’s history blurs the line between reality and folklore and has become a gold mine for paleontologists, anthropologists and archaeologists alike.  For tourists, it is also a gold mine; in fact, some consider Ethiopia to be “travel’s best kept secret.”

The easiest way for me to explore Ethiopia’s past was to visit the two main museums that were open presently on a Sunday.  I decided to go to the first one, the National Museum on foot, walking the six odd kilometers from my hotel through the downtown area.  Along the way I was followed by two shady guys that approached me, one who thought I was Japanese and another who thought I was from Madagascar.  I sternly ignored these guys until they got the hint and continued on my way to the museum, stopping for directions at the National Tour Operations office and the fancy Sheraton hotel.

FOR A PLACE THAT HOLDS arguably the most important relic in the study of the evolution of Man, the National Museum was a pretty dusty and abandoned looking place—although as far as museums go, I’d had worse.  Security was fairly tight though; I was frisked at the entry gate and inside, my camera was held for the duration of my visit.  I thought twice about admitting I had a small little spy camera so that perhaps I could sneak in pictures when no one was watching, but then I noticed the grid of multiple hidden camera views monitoring every inch of the exhibition.  (I was only permitted to take photos of the postcards hanging on the wall in the ticket office.)

A majority of the museum was dedicated to artifacts of Ethiopia’s culture and historical past, but the star of the show was the more recently redesigned paleontological exhibition in the basement.  The comprehensive presentation took me through rooms about the evolution of early African mammals, including elephants and giraffes, until I found myself in a room dedicated to the mammal known as Man.  Inside were the remains of the most complete skeleton of what many considered the missing link between Monkey and Man—a phenomenon that if it existed today, would probably end up doing a guest appearance on The Howard Stern Show. Discovered in 1974 by paleontogists and Beatles fans Donald Johanson and Tom Gray, the 3.2 million-year-old skeleton was dubbed “Lucy,” after “Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds.” Only three and a half feet tall, Lucy was actually discovered in the ground with other minerals and is famous all over the world as the hominid that eventually evolved into the present day human race—although more recent research suggests that perhaps she isn’t the direct ancestor, but the “grand-aunt” of Man.

ONCE MANKIND HAD BEEN ESTABLISHED, culture had evolved from the different peoples, particularly the ones spread out across the Cradle of Humanity.  The lifestyles of these people were best explained in the Ethnological Museum, found inside the Institute of Ethiopian Studies on the campus of Addis Ababa University, which was converted from the former palace and grounds of Emperor Haile Selassie.  The beautifully-designed exhibition (picture above) led me through different tribes of Ethiopia, explaining unique aspects of their culture.  For example, the Hamer people of the south have a ritual of passage for men in which one has to walk across the backs of about thirty bulls lined up all in a row, back and forth three times—failing to do so gets him whipped and teased by the women.  The Tsemay people of the south have strange wedding rituals, in which the bride and groom shave and butter each other’s heads.  As weird as that sounds, it’s probably all worth it; after the marriage ceremony, the couple doesn’t have to go to work for up to a year.  And most noticeably, we can not forget the Suri, Karo and Nyangaton people in the west, people who make themselves “attractive” with plates inserted into elongated lips ripped off the face, or with raised markings made in patterns with razor blades.  To each his own taste I suppose—or rather, in this case, to each his own face.

The exhibition continued with other aspects of Ethiopian life, from its three major religions—Ethiopian Orthodox Christianity, Ethiopian Judaism and Islam—to its art gallery upstairs, showcasing the craftwork of local musical instruments and religious artifacts collected over the decades.  The whole thing wet my appetite for seeing the actual religious sites up north in the coming week.

FROM ETHIOPIAN CULTURE AND HISTORY comes its food, which I ordered back at the hotel restaurant.  Contrary to popular belief, the waiter didn’t just bring over a big empty plate, but a big bowl of lamb key wat, a spicy lamb stew served with a big floppy engera, a spongy pancake the size of a big pizza crust that is ripped off by hand into pieces to dip and wrap around the meat and gravy.  No starvation here; the portion was actually too big for me to finish—and all for just under two dollars, a tiny fraction of the cost of what the same dish might have cost me in an Ethiopian restaurant in the New York area.

While some things differ between the Ethiopian things in Ethiopia and The States, some things are the same:  on the Ethiopian television in my room ran the Oprah Winfrey farewell interview with the cast of Friends—even in the Cradle of Humanity, there was no escape from the hype.  Watching Oprah and Friends on the set of the coffeehouse Central Perk reminded me of one interesting tidbit I learned in the Ethnological Museum:  not only was Ethiopia the birthplace of Man, but it was the birthplace of coffee, which was actually named after the southwestern Ethiopian region “Kaffa” where it was discovered.  With that said, I suppose that means the Cradle of Humanity is also the Cradle of Starbucks.


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This blog entry about the events of Sunday, May 23, 2004 was originally posted on May 24, 2004 on the blog, "The Global Trip 2004: Sixteen Months Around The World (Or Until Money Runs Out, Whichever Comes First)," hosted by BootsnAll.com. It is one of over 500 entries that chronicled a trip around the world from October 2003 to March 2005, encompassing travel through thirty-seven countries in North America, South America, Africa, Europe, and Asia. It was this blog that "started it all," where Erik evolved and honed his style of travel blogging. (It starts to come into focus around the time he arrives in Africa.)

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