"Great Zimbabwe" Topic

"On the southern edge of the Zimbabwe plateau in the watershed between the Zambezi and the Limpopo rivers sits the largest and loveliest archaeological site in sub-Saharan Africa. With its high conical tower, its long, curved stone walls and its cosmopolitan artifacts, Great Zimbabwe attests to the existence of a thriving city that may have dominated trade and culture throughout southern Africa sometime between the 12th and 17th centuries. Its unique architecture and sculpture--particularly the enigmatic birds carved from soapstone--bespeak a rich history, one that archaeologists continue to piece together today. The country of Zimbabwe--formerly Rhodesia, until its independence from England in 1980--was named for this site.

Like many ancient cities, Great Zimbabwe has been shrouded by legend. In the 1500s Portuguese traders visiting Angola and Mozambique--where they established colonies--wrote of a kingdom in the interior of Africa. Their descriptions offered many Europeans the promise of King Solomons mines, for according to the Bible, Solomon would send to Ophir for his gold. In Paradise Lost, John Milton situates Ophir somewhere near the Congo and Angola. This powerful myth of the city of Ophir, populated by Semitic people, shaped the later cultural and historical interpretations of Great Zimbabwe. The fable is, in large part, the reason so many archaeological mysteries remain about the site. Because whereas the story of Great Zimbabwe is ultimately that of early Shona culture and the African Iron Age, it is also a tale of colonialism and of often shoddy, politically motivated archaeology….."
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Amicalement
Armand

A pile of rocks heaped up haphazardly by a bunch of primitive savages.

Such a pile of rocks that the white archaeologists who found the remains convinced themselves they must have been the product of a higher, Egyptian, civilization and not that of the local "primitive savages".

The article neglects to mention that the 'old' theory was that the Great Zimbabwe was built as a gigantic slave pen, and that the locals enslaved their neighboring tribes and sold them to the Arab traders. That was supposedly the reason for the odd corridors that limit how many people can get in and out.

Maybe with the recent political changes there, more study can be made of this fascinating place.

Hope so!…

Amicalement
Armand