Ethnological Museum in Kombolcha

Excellent collection showing the ethnography of Ethiopia.

It was interesting to learn about the different people that collectively make up the Ethiopians. From how the various religious groups formed, to learning what sets the different cultural groups apart from eachother. I walked through and enjoyed reading at my own pace, but one could probably get more from the experience with a guide.

A must visit museum

We had a great tour, the guide showed us every room and had a lot to tell about everything there was to see.

Its one of the historic places to be. I enjoyed my visit there. The building is aesthetically constructed and preserved, descriptions of all the material are available.For those whom are studying on/ about Ethiopian modern history, tradition, culture its a place worthy of being visited.In general its a place where you can refresh and refill your mind with history and knowledge of the great Ethiopia.

Underutilized, underrated and not given the necessary resources to become what it needs to be; a significant world heritage museum! This place is in dire need of a curator and a budget. In the right hands I can only imagine how many visitors and how much income this place could bring.

Was fitting for a 3 star hotel

An interesting place, was the house of the emperor Haile Selassie. Some of his belongings are displayed. It also has other cultural and religious stuff.

Its a place that you have to visit. Ethnological museum.

Some fascinating insights into different aspects of ethiopian society and history

Best museum so far

Very interesting place to visit in Addis Ababa. History of the capital and the country and also some main trend of ethiopian tribes culture.

Would be more in the museum if other countries could send back the art back to Ethiopia.

Great museum giving an insight into Ethiopian culture and history

Here you’ll get a mixed insight: modern and traditional. It was interesting but a bit hard to follow: lots of written panels, a bit boring after a while.

Nothing much to see but was fairly interesting. Not really worth all the hassle of getting to it. Taxi drivers had no idea where it was and nor did locals we asked. Lot driving around.

I am giving this museum a full five star... ! this museum is telling the whole story about Ethiopia and its people. Interesting is that they show pictures of relics which are a property of the V&A museum in London. They are still working on getting this museum to higher standards. (btw, location at the university campus is beautiful). The last emperor lived in this building and all of his rooms and his wifes rooms are very well preserved.

Good overview of recent history and culture of Ethiopia. Pros: Housed on the campus of Addis Ababa University (a nice place to stroll in green gardensin the former palace of Haile Selassie (of historical significance). Good explanations of artifacts and culture in English and Amharic (The signs are so helpful we didn’t feel the need for a guide.Interesting artifacts. Cons: The building is in disrepair. The presentation is not world class level.

One of the few museums in Africa worth visiting.

It was interesting to visit the museum. Many things to see, but the most interesting thing was Haile Selassie’s bed room.To be honest, I just went there because it was about Haile Selassie as an former RASTA 40 years ago.Anyway, could have been 4 stars if they have kept it well maintained and tidy. The displays could have been presented much better.And I was about to turn around when foreigner had to pay 3 US Dollar to come inside. That is well worth the money but Ethiopians enter for free.

What a great historical site and museum. It is located inside the University of Addis Ababa. You will get know handful information about Haile Selassie the Ethiopian regent from 1916 to 1930 and emperor from 1930 to 1974. He is a defining figure in modern Ethiopian history.You will also get to explore the various and diverse rich ethiopian culture and history from food to sport to cloth etc.It is a must if you are visiting Addis Ababa.

A place worthy to visit to understand something more about our history; interesting to get to know about the Emperor Haile Selassie, and lifestyle and traditions of Ethiopian people during the ages.

Amazing place to see the culture and learn a bit more about it from the on site guides.

A very Interesting museum about the Ethiopian Culture. Its interesting even if you arent keen of museums

It is inside Addis Ababa university and taxis donot know about itI liked it particularly 2nd floor with lots insights into Ethiopian culture

My guide was soaked in the history and the place was quiet and inviting. I was blown away by his telling of the Jewish connection to this day from Shebas conversion as Solomins mistress and their son Mniliks journey with the Arc to Ethiopia as a gift from Solomon which I question as the Arcs place was irrefutably in the Temple in Jerusalem however..wow what a visit.

A historical location, where the palace of Emperor H/Silasie was located, and the office of the President of the first Ethiopian university. Now it is the place where Institute of Ethiopian Studies is found.

A must see for anyone visiting Ethiopia! Youll get a glimpse of Ethiopias rich culture here.

The Museum in the Institute of Ethiopian Studies is rich with huge collections of Arte facts, traditional tools and equipments, historical heritages, and many more. The museum truly comes into its own on the 1st floor, where superb artefacts and handicrafts from Ethiopia’s peoples are distinctively displayed. Instead of following the typical static and geographical layout that most museums fall into, these displays are based upon the life cycle. First comes Childhood, with birth, games, rites of passage and traditional tales. We particularly enjoyed the ‘Yem Tale’, a story of selfishness, dead leopards and sore tails! Adulthood probes into beliefs, nomadism, traditional medicine, war, pilgrimages, hunting, body culture and handicrafts. The last topic is Death and Beyond, with burial structures, stelae and tombs. The exhibition gives a great insight into Ethiopia’s many rich cultures.

Very interesting, make sure to get a guide to show you round.

Provides a rich history and culture of Ethiopia. Itwas a discovery for me to know which community a coffee pot is from by the shape of it. The student guide who accompanied us was very nice in describing the different sections and items if the museum.

This museum is connected to the University - super crowded with students! Our museum guide was very knowledgeable & passionate (Im told hes a lecturer at the Universityabout the cultural history of Ethiopia.Our visit to this museum went smoothly. Our guesthouse host made everything seems seamless!! If youre staying at a guesthouse, take advantage of the service - !!

The museum itself was great. 100birr per person. However the museum is located within the university, which would have been fine if the guard at the gates didn’t insist on keeping my partner’s ID. Given all we had given him was a driver’s licence. But if we hadn’t brought that along, we would have had to give him a passport. This guard just sits at the gate, not even slightly secure behind a counter, there was no technology to photocopy the ID and he insisted on hanging onto it. I was incredibly unhappy with that and had left a sour taste as we headed in. What was worse was when we decided to let him keep it, we came across a couple foreigners who told us they had taken a cab straight into the University and were not asked to present any ID let alone had to leave it with someone who had no way of securing it. We went back to the guard and demanded our ID back with those foreigners, and he still wouldn’t give it back to us. So, pro tip, if you want to go in, go with a cab, DO NOT walk in unless if you want to risk having your passport taken from you and just left lying around on a chair next to him where anyone could have just taken like we had seen most foreign IDs were when we left.I would not support the museum for this reason and I urge the university to change their policy. Photocopy the ID if you have to, but foreigners should not be handing in their passport just to enter the university.

The grounds are beautiful. The museum has a lot of historical items from the emperor and other African countries.

Building with a story and a well built up exposition on traditional Ethiopian life

Good collection of cultural artifacts. The displays could be better organized and the absence of a good gift shop is a missed opportunity. Worth a visit.

Well preserved and combines ancient aspects and modernity. Staff were friendly.

A must see to understand Ethiopian history and culture.Inside Addis Ababa University

Don’t miss it!

Very nice and interesting, liked how the museum brings into the mix the variety of tribes, cultures and religion in different stages of human life.

Definately worthed to go if you want to know Ethiopian culture and the people.

Excellently displayed Ethnography, music instruments and Christian icons. As this was a palace of Emperor Haile Selassie you can visit his old bedroom and bathroom!

Very beautiful place as it was the palace of Haile Selassie. Foreigners entry price is 100birr. Even if you dont want to go inside, there is a very calm and peaceful area outside where you can sit and relax.

Very nice museum, much better and interesting that the more famous National Museum. It offers more than one thing in the same place: it’s inside the university grounds (so you can also take a peek on its other buildings), it’s a very interesting and informative ethnographic museum and at the same time offers a quite comprehensive collection of religious icons mostly from Gondar region. Finally it’s housed in the former royal palace of Haile Selassie, so you can visit his personal chambers.

Excellent exposition of historical arts and other.

Its one of the best museum in addis it shows multi cultural, and diverse tradition of old and recent life of ethiopian people.

Nice ethnographic collection and great history. I particularly feel blessed to see the well preserved imperial bedroom of His Majesty Emperor Hailesilassie I, which he used it till 1960 before moving to his new palace after a coup attempt.

This is a good museum with a collection of quite a number of cultural exhibitions in one place. Some of Ethiopia’s more than 80 tribes are well described with in the Museum. It operates 6 days of the week except on Monday. Opening hours are 8:30AM-5:00PM. It is located inside the main campus of Addis Ababa University, and the building used to serve as Emperor Haileselasse living palace.

Very good museum about the life and rituals of Ethiopians earlier and today. Museum building is the former Emperors residence and now belongs to the university campus.Entrance fee for foreigners around 4 USD equivalent (status June 2017). There are free English speaking guides offering tours through the museum, highly recommended to take such a guided tour (due to limited English written explanations).

A good place to start if you are interested in Ethiopian history and culture. Addis isnt know for its outstanding museums, rather it is known for its mix of cultures from every region and you get a glimpse of this here.