Ethiopia Reprise: Melka Kunture

Posted on March 19, 2007 by admin

This is the map for the trip to Melka Kunture and surrounds.

March 1 was my big day for visiting the human origins discovery site at Melka Kunture, south of Addis Ababa. Village Ethiopia sold me a little tour that featured Melka Kunture along with a visit to the stelae at Tiya and to the Adadi Mariam church.

The 4WD vehicle driver picked me up at 8:00am and we set off on the trip. I was struck again by the Ethiopian construction crews’ use of wooden scaffolding even for very tall buildings. A herd of goats brought traffic to a halt. The countryside was beautiful.

In fact, all varieties of animals block the road, including these donkeys. I’d describe the terrain as semi-desert because the trees and plants still look green and obviously get some regular water, although in some places the terrain is quite dry.

Farmers living in the tukuls in the countryside tuck their teff mounds nearby. Teff is the staple grain of most of Ethiopia and they use it to make the tasty injeera bread consumed all over the country.

The Melka Kunture human discovery site had a fancy gate, and after checking our papers, the guard let us in. The exhibits at the site are in several tukuls. They describe all the well-known human discovery sites, but Herto is not highlighted, probably because Herto happened after the scientists had set up the Melka Kunture exhibits.

Because the Melka Kunture exhibits display replicas of fossil Homo sapiens skulls along with those of precursor and related species, the site provides an excellent illustration of the human evolutionary process. I focus mainly on the Homo sapiens remains in the photos I present here, including information on the Omo, Melka Kunture, and Herto discovery sites. The fossil skull replicas shown below are: Homo sapiens skull fragements, 300,000 – 200,000 years ago, from Garba III site at Melka Kunture, Ethiopia; Homo sapiens, 90,000 years ago, from Qafzeh, Israel; Homo neanderthalenthis, 45,000 years ago, from Amud, Israel; and Homo sapiens sapiens, 15,000 – 9,000 years ago, from Border Cave, South Africa.

The exhibits display the tools found with each evolutionary ancestor or relative and the presentations on tool-making are the best I have seen, especially as far as illustrating the steps of the Levallois method. Human use of the Levallois toolmaking method represents a major step forward in human thought by being able to conceive of how a tool should appear within the materials at hand, then constructing the tool to the mind’s notion of how it should appear. I present here also the full array of Garba III tools since they represent early Homo sapiens tools.

After finishing with the tukul exhibits, the staff bring the visitor out to view a couple of the actual excavation sites. Archaeologists are not currently excavating these sites, but may return next season for further investigations.

Ethiopia Reprise: Final Days in Addis Ababa

Posted on March 18, 2007 by admin

On February 27 and 28, I readied myself for departure from Addis. I made my final visit to the Internet cafe and the guy there who helped me out.

I took some pictures of the Finfine Hotel because it’s a beautiful place to stay, especially with the thermal waters available for bathing in the ample bathroom.

Public bulletin boards campaign against AIDS.

Schoolchildren walking home on the streets of Addis.

I visited the Ethiopian Ethnological Museum {?} on the University of Addis Ababa campus. They didn’t permit photography inside the museum, so these pictures are of the outside of the museum building and the university grounds, along with a couple of students from southern Ethiopia I met and with whom I chatted.

I called up Paulos from Piazza after visiting the university. I wanted to meet him once more before heading out of town. He invited me back to his place. His apartment is basically one room, an eight-foot cube packed into a little compound with other rooms of similar size where other people live. His friend Abdela Assiz was chewing chaat, a leafy stimulant common in Africa, at his place when we arrived.

Here is the spot where Paulos and I met. The locals call it Satan Bet, which means the devil’s house. When the theater first opened, some residents thought its music and theater productions would corrupt everyone. Now, everyone is used to it.

More National Museum in Addis Ababa

Posted on March 17, 2007 by admin

Continuing on from the previous blog entry, the National Museum in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, has some other impressive modern pieces, such as this statue called “Hair Style”, the painting “Genital Mutilation” by Abebe Zelelew (2003), and “Fetel” by Marta Mengistu (2004).

“Bedebo Fetel” is by an unknown artist.

On the ground floor of the museum is also a section on other historical periods of Ethiopia (and now Eritrea). Many items I am not able to identify because they were not labeled well, such as these pictures of Ethiopian tribal people.

Some are musical instruments like the secular krar and its liturgical counterpart.

How about an Ethiopian game?

I loved these brilliantly carved artifacts, the latter one being a limestone seat niche decorated with a relief of persons and an ibex from the 5th to 4th century BCE in Haoulti, Tigrai, Ethiopia.

Then, from the second half of the first millenium BCE in Hawlti, Tigrai, Ethiopia, we have two red earthenware female figurines and a group of buff earthenware human figurines.

From the second century BCE to the second century CE in Kuhi, Tigrai, comes a buff earthenware tripod pod with “human legs”.

From the fifth to fourth century BCE in Goboshela or Gobochela, Tigrai, comes a limestone and alabaster altar with an inscription in “South Arabic” about a family’s dedication to their god “for the protection of their life” and a stone incense burner from the sixth to fifth century BCE in the same region with the inscription “Ylbb the stone worker has dedicated to Almaqah”.

From the end of the first millenium BCE in Addi-Galamo, Tigrai, a small alabaster altar and, from the sixth to fifth century BCE in the same region, a limestone statue of a female with the inscription in “South Arabian” (looks like a different language to me) of “For god grants a child to Yamanat.”

Then, we see an bronze oil lamp depicting a dog hunting an ibex from before the first century BCE in Matara, now part of Eritrea.

The collection also holds some exquisite female figurines from Matara that look similar to the really ancient Anatolian mother goddess figures, two in terra cotta and one in white stone, date information unfortunately not listed.

Here’s an exquisite amphora used to import wine and olive oil from the Mediterranean to Axum, Tigrai, in the fourth to seventh century CE.

Photo of unidentified anthropomorphic stela from Southern Ethiopia.

Finally, when I left the museum, I wandered around the grounds and came across this cafe in a traditional building called a tukul.

Ethiopia Reprise: Addis Ababa

Posted on March 17, 2007 by admin

After that Sunday (February 25) touring Addis Ababa with Paulos, I had an appointment scheduled with Dr. Berhane Asfaw at the Paleo Lab of the National Museum. Dr. Asfaw is one of my heroes because he was on the team that made the discoveries of three human remains at Herto in the Afar area of the Awash region of the Great Rift Valley in Ethiopia. In fact, he discovered the skull of a child in hundreds of pieces which he painstakingly cleaned and puzzled back together — a remarkable accomplishment which brought us much light on our early origins as the species Homo sapiens. The interview went very well.

After the interview, I visited the National Museum and saw many interesting exhibits, including an excellent replica of Lucy, who was not Homo sapiens, but still an interesting gal who is back there somewhere in the early story of human origins.

The theory of how human ancestors began walking on two feet (bipedalism) instead of four feet seemed simple, but further discoveries have complicated matters.

For my current research, I’m focusing mainly on Homo sapiens, the species of humans alive today. The earliest Homo sapiens on record so far appear around 200,000 to 160,000 years ago. One example is this skull (replica shown below) found in Lower Omo region of the Great Rift Valley in Ethiopia. I tried to go to the excavation site but the location was too remote and the bridge I would have needed to cross to get there has collapsed.

My favorite Homo sapiens remains are those discovered by Dr. Asfaw, Tim White of University of California at Berkeley, and others at Herto in the Afar area of the Awash region of the Great Rift Valley in Ethiopia. They believe the remains are different enough from modern Homo sapiens sapiens to merit a separate sub-species which they dubbed Homo sapiens idaltu (replica shown below). Idaltu means “elder” in the language of the local Afar tribe in Herto village where the archaeologists discovered the remains.

The National Museum in Addis also exhibits old Ethiopian Orthodox illustrated manuscripts and modern Ethiopian art like “African Heritage” by Afewerk Tekle (1967), a painting about the Derg period in Ethiopian history, and “Three Faces of Africa” by Daniel Tohafe (1980).

Other notable examples include “How Long?” by TBD and “Ethiopian Symphony No. 5” by Girmay Hiwet (2001)

Lawrence Arrives Triumphantly in Khartoum…

Posted on March 15, 2007 by admin

Well, that was one possible inspiration. But actually, I entered Khartoum sick as a really sick dog. In fact, it was the same sick from the Simien Mountains I wrote about in the last post. I only spent one night in the hospital until they ran tests that showed I was “normal” in every way (heh) except a stool test showed some pus (eew!). So, I started taking Cipro today and escaped from the IV dextrose drips at the hospital. Thanks to Pasteur, Fleming, and all the other relevant deities and spirits for antibiotics! And cell phones! More later… I’m fine, really. Please don’t worry. I’m at a good friend’s place, very comfortable now and I’ll have lots of time to rest and recover here.

Traveling Sick

Posted on March 12, 2007 by admin

Bleck! When I went on a trek up into the Simien Mountains, I got sick. I was trying to hike uphill at high altitude with a scout and a “horse-man” guiding a horse carrying my bags. Probably because of something I ate or drank the day before (the local talla sorghum beer perhaps?), I ended up puking while on the trail. I think my scout wanted me to keep on hiking, but that was out of the question. So, we flagged down a truck and got up to the camp. I got some great pictures before I got sick. The area has beautiful panoramic landscapes. The next morning we headed back down to Debark on a bus that was so overpacked I couldn’t even reach my camera to take a picture of it. I got out of Debark and back on another really bumpy bus to Gonder, which is pleasant and civilized by comparison. I’m still weak and a bit dizzy without solid food in a few days. But, I think I’m going to try to take the buses for Khartoum starting tomorrow (unless I feel worse tomorrow morning). I may stop by a clinic this afternoon. About half of travelers to Africa end up getting something like this, so it’s not really a surprise. I am a bit homesick at the moment. When I arrive in Khartoum, I’ll try to post more details and pictures. Hugs from Gonder!

The Gonder Castles Are Beautiful

Posted on March 8, 2007 by admin

And I’ll write more about them soon.

But this is just a note to say that I’ve arrived here.

I’m planning to spend a few days in the Simien mountains, then coming back to Gonder and heading over the Sudanese border at Mettama. Theoretically, I should arrive in Khartoum, Sudan, around the target date of March 15.

I will probably have much better Internet access there and catch up on posting to the blog with pictures!

Arrived in Axum

Posted on March 6, 2007 by admin

I arrived in Axum today and the Internet connections are spotty. So, have a look on a map to see where I am.

It’s possible to use google.com to get automatic email notifications when I post a new entry on my blog. If you can’t figure it out on your own, I’ll try to post the directions here soon.

Big hugs to all from Ethiopia!

Near Kidnapping?

Posted on March 4, 2007 by admin

Just a quick note to let everyone know that, although I was in the Afar region of Ethiopia, I was not among the French tourists thought kidnapped or the British diplomats and their Ethiopian entourage who actually were held by Eritrean forces near the Ethiopia-Eritrea border. Instead, I’m back in Addis Ababa after visiting the Bilen Lodge just north of Awash Saba in the very interesting Afar region. More soon…

[Update: It looks like it may have been regional forces opposed to the current Ethiopian government who performed the kidnappings, instead of Eritrean regulars. That’s good news in a way, since it means the war between the two countries probably won’t start again over this incident.]

Touring Addis Ababa

Posted on February 27, 2007 by admin

After I ate a breakfast of tea, eggs, and toast with marmalade at the hotel, Paulos and I met for a bit of sight-seeing on Sunday. Sunday is the weekly holiday in Ethiopia, although just like on weekends in the U.S., some people still have to work to keep things going.

We walked past the heavily guarded and high-walled Presidential Palace over to the United Nations building near Menelik II Square, then past the African Union headquarters, and to the Kidus Istifanos (St. Stephen’s church) where my guidebook says there is a mosaic over the entrance of St. Stephen’s martyrdom. Actually, the mosaic is of the stoning of Mary Magdalene (known here as Miryam), but there is also a painting of St. Stephen’s martyrdom on the front wall of the church covered with a lace curtain. His martyrdom is not, however, depicted with arrows in the traditional European fashion.

Update: Thanks to my friend Steve who points out that St. Stephen was stoned and it was St. Sebastian who was martyred by arrows.

Stardust's Shadow

Category Archives: Africa