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Secondary sourcePhotograph15 August 2008

Reception Hall, Menelik II Entoto Palace

Vob08 · 15 August 2008

A 2008 photograph of the reception hall in the Entoto Palace built by Menelik II in Ethiopia.

This hall was part of Menelik II's Entoto palace, where he likely received visitors as emperor.

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Interior of a plain room with pale plastered walls and a bare wooden plank floor. Rows of wooden benches and long grey-painted benches are arranged across the floor. A open doorway with a wooden door is on the left, and a second wooden door is on the right. Small paper notices are pinned to the walls.
Vob08, Reception hall, Menelik II Entoto Palace, 15 August 2008.

About this source

What it is

This 2008 photograph shows the reception hall of the Entoto Palace, built for Menelik II. The room has plain plastered walls, a wooden plank floor, and rows of wooden benches.

Why it matters

As the space where Menelik II would have received visitors or held audiences, this hall gives insight into the practical and relatively modest setting in which important state matters were conducted during his reign.

Look closer

  • What might the arrangement of benches tell you about how meetings or audiences were conducted here?
  • Why might a reception hall for an emperor be built so plainly?
  • What is missing from this photo that would help you understand what actually happened in this room?

This photograph is part of the curated material that grounds the AI version of Emperor Menelik II on Humy.ai — when students ask about related events, the AI can quote it and cite it.

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