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MUSEUM DEVELOPMENTS IN ETHIOPIA [Abstract ID: 0206-16]
Museum development In Ethiopia is a recent phenomenon of the first half of the twentieth century compared with more than three centuries of Ethiopia’s cultural history. Indeed there had been long traditions of Ethiopians and religious institutions, especially the Ethiopian Orthodox church, preserving precious materials, inherited or donated royal artifacts and ceremonial treasures, manuscripts and religious objects kept in churches, warehouses, and individual houses. Collections of artifacts and display to the public were initiated by Emperor Hailselassie in 1944, where the first exhibition of royal treasures was opened in the building of the National Archives and Library. By then, more than 200 ceremonial royal objects of the emperor, the royal family and the nobility were permitted for public exhibition. In 1952, a cultural agreement was signed between Ethiopia and France and as a result the Institute of Archaeology was set up and conducted a research excavation in the northern part of Ethiopia which led to a discovery of valuable antiquities. This event further transformed the concept of museum collections beyond mere royal treasure to the collection of archaeological discoveries and cultural artifacts. The gradual expansion of international research in the fields of paleontology and archaeology in the Omo Valley, upper and lower Awash and the subsequent discoveries of fossils added to the collection of the National Museum of Ethiopia which contributed to the growth and recognition of the National Museum. From the 1960s onwards, museums have been expanded in Addis Ababa and in the Regions. The Ethnography Museum of the Ethiopian Studies, the Aksum Archaeological Museum, the museums of the Ethiopian Orthodox Church, ethnographical museums in Dessie, Mekelle, Jimma and Nekemte were among the early museums of the country. Currently with the new political developments and changes in the country, as the constitution and the cultural policies encourage the rights of people to identify, register, research and collect their cultural heritages, there have been growing demands and public interests which led to the expansion of museums in all the country with a variety of collections in the field of paleontology, archaeology and ethnography.