Ethiopia plans 'cradle of mankind' museum to boost tourism
By ANDUALEM SISAY in Addis Ababa | Tuesday, July 23 2013 at 16:55
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By ANDUALEM SISAY in Addis Ababa | Tuesday, July 23 2013 at 16:55
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In attempts to boost its tourism, Ethiopia plans to construct a unique museum dedicated to archaeological findings such as Lucy, Selam and other remains of early hominid specimen. Already, The Ministry of Culture and Tourism has secured 4,500 square meters of land in central Addis Ababa around the National Museum. The Museum will be the first of its kind, said Mr. Amin Abdulkadir, Minister of Culture and Tourism of Ethiopia. Of the 14 human origin specimen, 12 are found in Ethiopia. Researchers agree that the evidence makes Ethiopia the cradle of mankind. In addition to boosting country's revenue through tourism, the museum will also play an important role in promoting Ethiopias tourism industry.  Ethiopia's archaeological piece Selam. The country plans to construct a museum to house archaeological findings and other remains of early hominid specimen. PHOTO | FILE. Ethiopias archaeological findings include, the most famous Lucy,the partial skeleton of a specimen of Australopithecus afarensis and the recently discovered fossil Selam, a three-year-old girl who had died 3.3 million years ago. Recently. the 3.2 million years fossil, Lucy, completed its five years tour in the United States bringing home $1.5 million from some 300,000 people who visit her. Lucy, known as Dinknesh in Ethiopia, got its name from the song Lucy in the sky with diamonds by The Beatles because the archeologists were listening to it when they discovered her in 1974 in Afar Depression, North Ethiopia. Currently reports indicate that Ethiopias earning from tourism is much less that its neighbours. While the country earned some $461 million from the sector, its neighbour Kenya has fetched about $1.12 billion. Cultural tourism |