Ethiopia is a magnificent country endowed with fascinating natural and manmade – blessings. Historical manuscripts indicate that the nation is the first in Africa to adopt Christianity and Islam. Moreover, it is home to one of the ancient civilizations that ever flourished in this planet.
Thus, the country has a spectrum of historical, cultural and religious tourist attractions, among which 11 have been already registered in the UNESCO heritage list. One of the UNESCO inscribed heritages is the Tiya archaeological site. Tiya is found in Sodo Woreda, Gurage Zone, in the Southern Nations, Nationalities and Peoples State (SNNPS), famous for its astonishing large stone pillars. Most of the stone pillars are adorned with decorations.
Due to this, they are very attractive for tourists and this has helped them to win international recognitions. According to a magazine published by Ministry of Culture and Tourism, 36 carved stones pillars (Menhir) were excavated by German archaeologists in 1935. The carved stones vary in size. Most of them are 1m to 5 m long. The symbols and artifacts found there bears witness to the fact that the place was a prehistoric burial complex.
Because of the incredible heritages it consists, Tiya was listed as world heritage site in 1980. Since then, hundreds of thousands of tourists visit this amazing site every year. Ethiopian Archaeology and Heritage Management, Lecturer at Addis Ababa University, Tamene Shanko told The Ethiopian Herald thatthe history of Tiya passed different time spans and it consists many heritages. ‘‘Tiya holds wonderfully curved stone pillars.
Relatively, it has recent history as compared with other tourist sites. Its existence is dated between the 11th and 13th centuries. Whereas the stele building process was undertaken between 10th and 15th century.Tiya contained middle Stone Age tools, similar to those instruments found at Gademotta and Kulkulti districts. According to him, the pillars have etchings that include swords, circles, false bananas and other many unidentified symbols.
Besides, many ancient artifacts had been found. Ancient equipment, military weapons, naturally ordered stone blocks and tombs were discovered. He added that Tiya is a fascinating tourist site boasting ancient historic heritages which were preserved till this modern time. The stone pillars which have many artifact drawings, are very amazing to see. ‘‘When we talk about Tiya, it includes the Melka Kunture archaeological site and Adadi Mariam church due to their proximity to the route.
All the stones have amazing pictures etched on them,’’ he said. He added, “since the people who were living there had been engaging in fierce wars with each other and neighboring tribes, many skeletons of people who are believed to be killed in war were found. This shows what kind of living standard the people had been pursuing.’’ Although, Tiya archaeological site has been already inscribed in the UNESCO heritage list, when it comes to sensitization works there is a lot to be desired to make it tourists’ destination.
‘‘Tiya has not yet been promoted and publicized very well. The factors which hinder tourism development include lack of sufficient research, lack of infrastructure, accommodation and promotion. Having understood this, the Ministry of Culture and Tourism, Culture and Tourism Bureau and other stakeholders should exert a concerted push,’’ Tamene noted. Ethiopia has massive untapped tourism potentials. However, the potentials have not been exploited fully due to the above constraints.
Governmental and private developers should exert their maximum efforts to preserve, promote and develop tourism heritages and tourism destinations through tackling the challenges confronting the sector. In addition, the nation should tirelessly work to get its remaining heritages in UNESCO’s list. This way the smokeless industry would be a major economic engine that could generate foreign currency earnings.
The Ethiopian Herald, February 10/2019
BY TSEGAY HAGOS
