Lucy – Our Ancestor, Our Pride, Ethiopia’s Gift to Humanity

In the heart of our beautiful Ethiopia, in the land we now know as Afar, more than 3.2 million years ago walked a small but brave being. She was Australopithecus afarensis – one of our ancient ancestors. Today the world knows her as Lucy. But for us, Ethiopians, she is not just a skeleton displayed in a museum. She is a symbol that our land is the cradle of humankind.

Lucy was discovered in 1974 by an international team of scientists led by Donald Johanson and his Ethiopian colleague Yohannes Hailemariam, in the Hadar region. It was a miracle – they found more than 40% of her skeleton, a treasure unlike anything seen before. She was named “Lucy” after a song playing in the camp at the time – Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds. But for us, she is Dinknesh, which in Amharic means “You are wonderful” – and that is the name she has carried for millennia.

Why is Lucy so special?For the first time, we could say with certainty that our distant ancestors walked upright millions of years before the first humans appeared. Lucy stood on two feet, had a small body, long arms, and a mind that was just beginning to awaken. She is living proof that the roots of all humanity run deep in Ethiopian soil.

Her discovery brought great honor to Ethiopia. Our country is not only the cradle of Christianity and civilization but also the first home of humankind. When people from all over the world look at Lucy today, they are looking into the face of their ancient mother – and that mother stands proudly in our land.

Lucy carries a message to our nation: We are the heirs of history itself, born at the very dawn of humanity. We are a proud people, whose land gave the world life.

በውብ ኢትዮጵያችን ልብ ውስጥ፣ ዛሬ እንደ አፋር የምንጠራው በምድር ላይ፣ ከ 3.2 ሚሊዮን ዓመታት በፊት ትንሽ ነገር ግን በርካታ ጉልበት ያላት ፍጥረት ተመላለሰች። እሷ ከአባታችን አስፈላጊዎች አንዷ ናት – አውስትራሎፒቴከስ አፋረንሲስ። ዛሬ ዓለም ሁሉ እሷን ሉሲ ብሎ ያውቃታል። ነገር ግን ለኛ ኢትዮጵያውያን ሉሲ የቤተ መቅደስ ክምር ብቻ አይደለችም፤ ምድራችን የሰብአዊ ልጅ እናት መሆኑን የሚያሳይ ምልክት ናት።

ሉሲ በ 1974 ዓ.ም በኢትዮጵያዊው ዮሐንስ ሃይለማርያም እና በአሜሪካዊው ዶናልድ ጆሃንሰን በመሪነት የተደራጀ ዓለም አቀፍ ሳይንሳዊ ቡድን በ ሐዳር አካባቢ አግኝታታል። እነርሱ ከአጋጣሚው በኋላ የእሷ አካል ከ 40% በላይ አግኝተዋል፤ ይህ ለሳይንስ ልዩ የሆነ መዝገብ ነበር። በዚያን ጊዜ በካምፕ የተጫወተውን Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds ዘፈን በመከተል "Lucy" ተብላ ተጠርታለች። ነገር ግን ለኛ ስሟ ዲንክነሽ ነው፣ በአማርኛ ማለት "ቆንጆ ነሽ" ማለት ነው – እና ይህ ስም ከአንደኛው ቀን ጀምሮ አብሮባታል።

ሉሲ ለምን በጣም አስፈላጊ ናት?ለመጀመሪያ ጊዜ አባታችን ከብዙ ሚሊዮን ዓመታት በፊት በቀጥ እንደሚሄዱ በየትኛውም አንድ አይነት ጥርጥር ሳይኖር ማረጋገጥ ቻለን። ሉሲ በሁለት እግር ቆማ ትመላለስ ነበር፣ ትንሽ አካል፣ ረጅም እጆች እና እየተነሳ ያለ አእምሮ ነበራት። እሷ የሁሉም ሰው ሥር በኢትዮጵያ መሬት ውስጥ እንደሚያሳይ በሕይወት ያለ ምስክር ናት።

የሉሲ ግኝት ለኢትዮጵያ ከፍተኛ ክብር አመጣ። ሀገራችን እንግዲኛ የክርስትናና የሥልጣኔ አምባ ብቻ ሳይሆን፣ የሰብአዊ ልጅ መጀመሪያ ቤት ናት። ዛሬ የዓለም አቀፍ ሰዎች ሉሲን ሲመለከቱ፣ የአንደኛው እናታቸውን ፊት እየተመለከቱ ናቸው – እና ያ እናት በመሬታችን ቆሟ ታነሳለች።

ሉሲ ለሕዝባችን የምትል መልዕክት አለዋት፡ ከሰብአዊ ታሪክ መጀመሪያ ቀናት ጀምሮ የተወለድን ታሪክ ተወላጅ ነን። ለዓለም ሕይወት የሰጠች ሀገር የምንዋል የክብር ሕዝብ ነን።