T’ena yist’illin! Indamin nash? Dahna nash?
(Hello!, How are you? Are you well?)

A couple of days ago I went to the Institute of Ethiopian Studies located in Emperor Haile Selassie’s former palace that he donated to Addis Ababa University. IES is located on the 2nd and 3rd floors of the palace. It costs 20 Birr to get in and your ticket is good for 3-5 days after purchase. That’s a very good deal. I really wish you guys could have been here. The 1st floor of IES is beautifully set up. The floors are hardwood and there are natural cotton dividers splitting up the sections. The exhibits on the 1st floor primarily audio-visual. On this floor you take a journey through the life of an Ethiopian. It starts off with different creation stories from different ethiopian ethnic groups. Then it goes on to describe the childbearing process from different ethnic groups. From some speakers you can hear the ‘ululation’ as I read (as opposed to lo-lo-ing) of women upon the birth of a child. This is similar to what is described in Sobunfu Some’s book “Welcoming Spirit Home.” Like the Dagara and the Yoruba and the Akan and I am sure many other African ethnic groups the placenta is buried right after birth (no pun intended). They then go on to describe childhood games and stories. Hanging from the ceiling are toys for children. The stories are painted on inverted vee-shaped signs in Amharic and English. On the walls are beautiful photographs of people and places relevant to what is being discussed in each section. From there you move to initiation. I noticed that most of the early part of the exhibit focuses on Southern People. These are generally people who practise traditional African spirituality. Some look like Southern Sudanese people. Interestingly enough, the general attitude towards them is somewhat similar to that of the N. Sudanese to S. Sudanese, minus the slavery that is. Ethiopians on a whole look like any 2nd, 3rd, 4th generation African in America though. it varies greatly. The only thing they have in common in terms of looks is that they are all gorgeous. They showed some who i believe twist their hair and add a red clay to it. Many wear beautiful beaded jewelry (and in some cases not much else) that reminds me of some ppl of Kenya or the Zulu women. One interesting type of initiation involves young men having to run across the backs of 15-30 cows without falling. I believe if they fall they are put in front of the women to be laughed at and I think they are beaten by the men. In addition to still photos they have a video that shows this process. They talk also describe marriage among the ethnic groups. There is a section dedicated to Orthodox Christianity, Judaism and Islam on this floor as well. They describe conflict resolution among the ethnic groups, with concentration on those in the South. The Oromo have a council that is very much similar to the African Council of Elders to be found in 99% of pre-Islamic/pre-colonial Africa described by Chancellor Williams. The Oromo symbol is a great fig tree that has been the site of the passing on of wisdom for a very long time. There are about 20 million Oromo in Ethiopia. They outnumber the Amhara by millions. It is no wonder they take exception to having Amharic imposed upon them. They also had a name for Addis Ababa, Fin Fine I think. I guess I shouldn’t say ‘had’ since, from what I understand, they refuse to call the capital by any other name. I also hear that the Amhara make fun of the Oromo because of the way they speak Amharic, but that’s for a different correspondence. They talk a bit about sport among adults. There is a form of dueling that takes place among a particular ethnic group, that is inappropriately called ‘stick fighting.’ Rather than dueling to the death however they duel until someone falls down.

They describe the coffee ceremony and have a little one setup. They show pictures of different medicinal plants in Ethiopia too. I think after this they describe death. The show the tombstones of different ethnic groups including one which consists of carvings of the person who made the transition and his wife (or wives) and, if he was a warrior, the people he killed, and if he was a hunter, the animals he killed. They showed jewelry from different ethnic groups. they also have the instruments to bee-keeping used by the Somali, Oromo and Gurage. the most interesting thing I saw in this section was the ‘false banana’ plant. Apparently the leaves are used to wrap things (including dabo) the way we do in Jamaica and Puerto Rico with hojas de plantano, but it grows no bananas! The roots however are believed to have the cure for every disease humans could ever get by locals.

The next major section downstairs in Haile Selassie’s bedroom. It is as he left it. there are paintings of himself and his wife. There are also portraits of Menelik and his wife Tiytu. His bed has a luxurious looking spread with his emblem emblazoned in the middle. There are 2 military suits of his and I think an outfit of his wife. There is telephone to the right of the bed and to its left is a small desk. Then you go into the walk-in closet, which incidentally, is about as big as my bedroom. There is a life-size tapestry portrait of the Emperor leaning up against one of the cabinets. Beyond that is the bathroom, from which there is a lovely view of the grounds. Light blue bathtub and his and hers sinks. A very glassy cabinet to keep toiletries I suppose and everything else is Italian marble. You retrace your steps outside of the emperor’s bedroom and go to another room. It has money from the different periods, from salt and bullet money to Maria Teresa coins to dollars, all with pix of the emperor to finally the Ethiopian Birr. There are HUGE vessels for Tej (honey wine), about 4’ tall and 1.5’ in diameter. There are carved chairs and a round table with a built in sauce bowl. That pretty much does it for the 1st floor.

The 2nd floor is 85% dedicated to Orthodox Christianity with lots of religious painting depicting stories such as the martyrdom of St. George and the story of the Queen of Sheba. There are all different kinds of crosses. There is a section that has pictures of mosques in Harar and picture of Menelik and his family and a close European associate name Ilg. All the way on the other side is a cool section with musical instruments. There is the finger piano to be found in Senegal as well as other African countries. There is a LARGE assortment of drums. They play some music through speakers in this section. There is the one-stringed instrument that is player with a bow similar to that of the violin. There is also a four stringed instrument. We were told that the strings were made from the bowels of the sheep, to which they attribute the beautiful sound. There were sistrums too, these are mostly used by priests in the orthodox Christian church the way they were in Ancient KMT by KMTic priests.

Outside of the music room is the most beautiful painting: that of the battle of Adwa. This is a great source of pride for Ethiopians as it was a great victory for Ethiopians and Africans everywhere. During the Battle of Adwa Menelik and his army defeated Mussolini and his Italian army. The painting is beautiful.

I encourage anyone who visits Ethiopia to make a trip to the IES on the BEAUTIFUL grounds of Addis Ababa University.