politburo diktat 2.0

Ethiopia’s “Lucy” to be exhibited in United States

Ethiopia agreed on Tuesday to exhibit its world-acclaimed archaeological find — the 3.2 million-year-old remains of a female hominid known as Lucy — and 190 other heritage items in America, officials said. An exhibition is scheduled for September 2007 at the Houston Museum of National Science and then will move to 10 other U.S. museums. Lucy is expected to return to Ethiopia in 2013. Ethiopian Minister of Culture and Tourism Ahmed Drir and Joel Bartsch President of the Houston Museum of National Science signed the agreement.

“Ethiopia’s rich cultural heritage, and the vibrant country that it is today, is one of the best kept secrets in the world and it is a story that needs to be told much more broadly,” Bartsch said.

A statement said other items including humankind’s earliest stone tools would also be exhibited. The remains of Lucy were discovered in 1974 by U.S. scientist Donald Johanson and described by scientists as one of the world’s greatest archaeological finds. The discovery of the almost complete hominid skeleton was a landmark in the search for the origins of humanity.

The statement said the exhibit would help renew interest in Ethiopia’s tourist attractions and increase the number of U.S. tourists coming to the Horn of Africa country.