Photograph of two women at the Big Market in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia in Fall 1971. The two women are wearing shemma cloth, a hand woven material ubiquitous in Ethiopia, but particularly in northern Ethiopia. Lorna R. Marsden purchased an example of a shemma cloth designed for special occasions during her travels which she later donated to the Museum of Anthropology in 2016. This image shows its typical and everyday use in the late 1960s and early 1970s in Ethiopia as a body and head wrap, wrap skirt and shawl.
Photograph of a ceremonial procession in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, showing men carrying spears and pitchforks in symbolic display. One of the long-handed spears depicted is similar to one acquired by Lorna R. Marsden during her trip to Ethiopia, and donated to the Museum of Anthropology in 2016.
Photograph of the entrance of what was then thought to be the tomb of the Queen of Sheba in Aksum, Ethiopia as it was being excavated. Lorna R. Marsden purchased several paintings on cardboard from roadside sellers near the excavation site, which were later donated to the Museum of Anthropology in 2016.
Photograph of what appears to be an excavation site somewhere in northern Ethiopia (possibly the tomb of the Queen of Sheba in Aksum, Ethiopia), showing a stone building columns and a stone wall. Also shown is a street with horse carts and pedestrians.
Photograph of the courtyard of St. Mary of Zion Cathedral in Aksum, Ethiopia, with the great crowns on display on a table. This photograph was taken by Lorna R. Marsden during her visit to Aksum, where she purchased several original paintings in shops and from roadside sellers that she later donated to the Museum of Anthropology in 2016.
Photograph of the courtyard of St. Mary of Zion Cathedral in Aksum, Ethiopia, with the great crowns on display on a table, an illustrated Bible on a podium, and an individual standing next to the table. This photograph was taken by Lorna R. Marsden during her visit to Aksum, where she purchased several original paintings in shops and from roadside sellers that she later donated to the Museum of Anthropology in 2016.
Photograph of a group of boys, some of whom are wearing shemma cloth. Shemma cloth is a hand woven material ubiquitous in Ethiopia, but particularly in northern Ethiopia. Marsden purchased an example of a shemma cloth designed for special occasions during her travels which she later donated to the Museum of Anthropology in 2016. This image shows its typical and everyday use by men and boys in the late 1960s and early 1970s in Ethiopia as wrap skirts and as shawls.
Photograph of a group of three people, some of whom are wearing garments produced in Mekele, Ethiopia. These kind of thick-clothed garments were not worn by Ethiopians, but largely by westerners working and living there, or purchased as souvenirs. Garments like these were made by Ethiopians as part of the USAID economic initiative in Ethiopia in 1971-1975, which directed traditional Ethiopian skills towards revenue-producing activities.
Photograph of the Haile Selassie Celebration in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, for the unveiling of a statue in December 1971. This was a special holiday to celebrate Haile Selassie and during which a new statue of the Lion of Judah was unveiled. The procession was not religious but religious symbols and clothing was worn. This photograph shows a procession similar to one shown in a painting on vellum entitled Religious Procession, which Lorna R. Marsden acquired while on this trip to Ethiopia and donated to the Museum of Anthropology in 2016.
Photograph of a stone wall and landscape somewhere in northern Ethiopia, with two men in the foreground. The man on the right is wearing shemma cloth, a hand woven material ubiquitous in Ethiopia, but particularly in northern Ethiopia. Lorna R. Marsden purchased an example of a shemma cloth designed for special occasions during her travels which she later donated to the Museum of Anthropology in 2016, but this image shows its typical and everyday use by men and boys in the late 1960s and early 1970s in Ethiopia as wrap skirts and as shawls.
