Ethiopia
A Hidden Empire of
Diverse Peoples
Diverse Peoples Graphic 1 In Ethiopia's Omo Valley, the archaeologists have turned up the earliest human jawbone ever discovered: dating back 2,6 million years. Nearby, the earliest man-made tool recorded, formed from crystal, was also found. Tools from the most ancient times abound, as many as thirty to every square metre. Add to this the fact that eager excavators have discovered the vestiges of a village, in Gamborts, that cannot be less than one and a half million years old, and you have strong evidence to support the long held theory that Ethiopia was the very cradle of mankind.
   But, however far back in the dim mists of prehistory the story of Ethiopia -and of the world-is finally proved to have begun, her present population of 25 million is, without dispute, composed of peoples with the most diverse, the most colourful, ethnic backgrounds.- Starting with the earliest known inhabitants, people of Hamitic stock related to the Berbers of North Africa and the ancient Egyptians, peoples from all over the Middle East and Africa have migrated to Ethiopia over the centuries. Today, the Hidden Empire has one of the most colourful populations to be found anywhere in the world.
   And, as diverse as their back-y grounds, are their customs, costumes` and traditions. In your travels you will meet the nomadic, desert-dwelling Somali and Danakil peoples, with their slender build and characteristic swing= ing stride. Fine-featured Hararis, the women wearing brightly-coloured, tight-fitting trousers and gauzy veils. The handsome Gallas, "recent" arrivals by Ethiopian standards, having immigrated only in the 16th-"century, their beautiful girls wearing their hair in two buns behind the ears, their foreheads		 circled with wreaths of silver, leaves or flowers.
   Amharas, wearing the Ethiopian national costume, the shamma their carefully frizzed hair contrasting sharply with the thousands of tiny, head-hugging plaits of the Tigreans. The Falashas, or "Black Jews" of Ethiopia, zealously preserving their ancient form of Judaism, moving with their own special grace.
   You will hear greetings exchanged in a Babel of tongues: Tigrinya,Gallinya, Amharic, the official language, and many others, for Ethiopia has over 70 languages and about 200 dialects. However, you will find that English, French and Italian are spoken quite fluently.
   For all their exotic diversity, the peoples of Ethiopia are united in their singular beauty and grace, and in their infectious sense of friendliness and gaiety. Time and again in your travels, in the city and in the village, you will stop at the glimpse of a face that might have modelled for an Old Master, be greeted with flashing smiles that come from the heart.
Some faces of Ethiopia, as unique and varied as Ethiopia herself. Faces to match the sunny smiling highlands, the jungle and forests, the savannahs, the modern cities, the legends and history, the rugged mountains, the harsh and beautiful deserts...
Diverse Peoples Graphic 2

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