Great Zimbabwe National Monument1
UNESCO World Heritage Site
 | | State Party |
 Zimbabwe | | Type | Cultural | | Criteria | i, iii, vi | | Identification | #364 | | Region2 | Africa | | Inscription History | | Formal Inscription: | 1986
10th WH Committee Session | | WH link: | http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/364 | | 1 Name as officially inscribed on the WH List
2 As classified officially by UNESCO UNESCO (United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization) is a specialized agency of the United Nations established in 1945. ...
A UNESCO World Heritage Site is a specific site (such as a forest, mountain, lake, desert, monument, building, complex, or city) that has been nominated and confirmed for inclusion on the list maintained by the international World Heritage Programme administered by the UNESCO World Heritage Committee, composed of 21 State...
Image File history File links Great-Zimbabwe-2. ...
As of 2006, there are a total of 830 World Heritage Sites located in 138 State Parties. ...
Image File history File links Flag_of_Zimbabwe. ...
A UNESCO World Heritage Site is a specific site (such as a forest, mountain, lake, desert, monument, building, complex, or city) that has been nominated and confirmed for inclusion on the list maintained by the international World Heritage Programme administered by the UNESCO World Heritage Committee, composed of 21 State...
This is a list of the UNESCO World Heritage Sites in Africa. ...
A UNESCO World Heritage Site is a specific site (such as a forest, mountain, lake, desert, monument, building, complex, or city) that has been nominated and confirmed for inclusion on the list maintained by the international World Heritage Programme administered by the UNESCO World Heritage Committee, composed of 21 State...
| Great Zimbabwe is the name given to the remains of stone, sometimes referred to as the Great Zimbabwe Ruins, of an ancient Southern African city, located at 20°16′S 30°54′E in present-day Zimbabwe which was once the centre of a vast empire known as the Munhumutapa Empire (also called Monomotapa or Mwene Mutapa Empire). This empire ruled territory now falling within the modern states of Zimbabwe (which took its name from this city) and Mozambique. They traded with the world via ports such as Sofala south of the Zambezi Delta. Categories: Africa geography stubs | Southern Africa ...
The Empire of Great Zimbabwe also called Munhu mu tapa or Mwene Mutapa or Manhumutapa or Monomotapa or Mutapa was a medieval kingdom (c. ...
Mhunhumutapa or Monomotapa Empire was a medieval kingdom (reaching a peak around the 1440s) located in Southern Africa covering mainly the modern states of Zimbabwe and Mozambique. ...
Great Zimbabwe is modern Zimbabwe's national shrine, where the Zimbabwe Bird (a national symbol of Zimbabwe) was found. It is currently an archaeological site. The stone-carved Zimbabwe Bird is an emblem of Zimbabwe, appearing on the national flag as well as on banknotes and coins. ...
Archaeology or sometimes in American English archeology (from the Greek words αρχαίος = ancient and λόγος = word/speech) is the study of human cultures through the recovery, documentation and analysis of material remains, including architecture, artefacts, biofacts, human remains, and landscapes. ...
Name Great Zimbabwe, or "houses of stone", is the name given to hundreds of great stone ruins spread out over a 500 square km (200 sq mile) area within the modern day country of Zimbabwe, which itself is named after the ruins. The exact origin of the word Zimbabwe is not known, but there are three schools of thought.
 Overview of Great Zimbabwe. The large walled construction is the Great Enclosure. Some remains of the valley complex can been seen in front of it. In the first theory, the word "Zimbabwe" could be a short form for "ziimba remabwe" or "ziimba rebwe", a Shona (dialect: chiKaranga) term, which means "the great or big house built of stone boulders". In the Karanga dialect of the Shona language, "imba" means "a house" or "a building" and "ziimba", or "zimba", mean "a huge/big building or house". The word "bwe" or "ibwe" (singular, plural being "mabwe") in the Karanga dialect means "a stone boulder". Thus, a linguistic analysis of the word "Zimbabwe" clearly indicates that the origin of the word refers to the ancient city of Great Zimbabwe whose huge buildings were built of stone boulders. The Karanga-speaking Shona people are found around Great Zimbabwe in the modern-day province of Masvingo and have been known to have inhabited the region since the building of this ancient city The Great Enclosure is part of the Great Zimbabwe ruins. ...
The Great Enclosure is part of the Great Zimbabwe ruins. ...
Shona (or ChiShona) is a native language of Zimbabwe and southern Zambia; the term is also used to identify those Kintu speaking peoples in Southern Africa who speak one of the Shona languages. ...
A second theory is that Zimbabwe is a contracted form of "dzimba woye" which means "venerated houses" in the Zezuru dialect of the Shona language. This term is usually reserved for chiefs' houses or graves. It should also be noted that the Zezuru-speaking Shona people are found to the North-East of Great Zimbabwe, some 500 Km away. Sub-dialect of the Shona language. ...
A third theory is that Zimbabwe comes from the Shona "dzimba dza mabwe" meaning houses of stone, referring to the ruins of Great Zimbabwe
The first theory could be said to have the advantage of a linguistic analysis that produces an outcome that ties in with the physical nature of the Ancient City of Great Zimbabwe and that is based on the language in use today among the people who are known to have inhabited the ancient city and are found in the surrounding area today. The second theory of the origin of the name "Zimbabwe" brings in the concept of veneration of the ancient city which is known to be associated with Great Zimbabwe as a religious centre and a national shrine. However, a linguistice analysis would seem not to be as sound as that of the first theory. The lack of proximity of the Zezuru-speaking Shona people to the Great Zimbabwe seems to further weaken the second theory. Further to this, the veneration of Great Zimbabwe as a shrine or religious centre seems to have started sometime after its inhabitants deserted the ancient city for reasons historians have found difficult to determine with speculation associating it with over-population and disease. Hence, the attribute of "veneration" could not be said to be as permanent and all-time as the attribute of the city's buildings being built from "mabwe" or "huge stone boulders". The Zezuru theory of "dzimba woye" could be said to be close in sound to a 16th century Portuguese explorer's rendering in "Symbaoe". However, reliance on a linguistic analysis of the language that is closely associated in space and time to the original builders of Great Zimbabwe would appear more reasonable and sound than a reliance on a foreign rendering of an indigenous language. The Portuguese explorer figured out that the name was given to the buildings and that its meaning in the local language was "court", which could be considered to be close to the second Zezuru theory. However, the first theory does not exclude veneration, "court" or "chief's house", since in Shona culture "stone boulders" around Great Zimbabwe and elsewhere in Zimbabwe were/are associated with the chief's courts, veneration and religious shrines, for instance, there is today a "venerated" stone boulder "Dombo raMwari" (Stone of God). "Dombo" is the Zezuru word for "bwe" or "ibwe". There is also a place called "Chibwedziva", which also indicate a culture of venerating stone structures.
Description Built consistently throughout the period from the 11th century to the 15th century[1], the ruins at Great Zimbabwe are some of the oldest and largest structures located in Southern Africa. At its peak, estimates are that the ruins of Great Zimbabwe had as many as 18,000 inhabitants. The ruins that survive are built entirely of stone. The ruins span 1,800 acres (7 km²) and cover a radius of 100 to 200 miles (160 to 320 km). As a means of recording the passage of time, the 11th century was that century which lasted from 1001 to 1100. ...
(14th century - 15th century - 16th century - other centuries) As a means of recording the passage of time, the 15th century was that century which lasted from 1401 to 1500. ...
Categories: Africa geography stubs | Southern Africa ...
Rocky landscape with ruins, by Nicolaes Berchem, ca. ...
In 1531, Viçente Pegado, Captain of the Portuguese Garrison of Sofala, described Zimbabwe thus: January 26 - Lisbon, Portugal is hit by an earthquake - thousands die. ...
| “ | Among the gold mines of the inland plains between the Limpopo and Zambezi rivers there is a fortress built of stones of marvelous size, and there appears to be no mortar joining them.... This edifice is almost surrounded by hills, upon which are others resembling it in the fashioning of stone and the absence of mortar, and one of them is a tower more than 12 fathoms [22 m] high. The natives of the country call these edifices Symbaoe, which according to their language signifies court. | ” | The ruins can be broken down into three distinct architectural groups. They are known as the Hill Complex, the Valley Complex and the famous Great Enclosure. Over 300 structures have been located so far in the Great Enclosure. The type of stone structures found on the site give an indication of the status of the citizenry. Structures that were more elaborate were built for the kings and situated further away from the center of the city. It is thought that this was done in order to escape sleeping sickness. Course and Watershed of the Limpopo River The Limpopo River rises in the interior of Africa, and flows generally eastwards towards the Indian Ocean. ...
The Zambezi (also spelled Zambesi) is the fourth-longest river in Africa, and the largest flowing into the Indian Ocean. ...
A fathom is the name of a unit of length, in a number of different systems, including English units, Imperial units, and United States customary units. ...
Look up monarch in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ...
Sleeping sickness or African trypanosomiasis is a parasitic disease in people and in animals. ...
What little evidence exists suggests that Great Zimbabwe also became a centre for trading, with artifacts suggesting that the city formed part of a trade network extending as far as China. Chinese pottery shards, coins from Arabia, glass beads and other non-local items have been excavated at Zimbabwe.
Nobody knows for sure why the site was eventually abandoned. Perhaps it was due to drought, perhaps due to disease or it simply could be that the decline in the gold trade forced the people who inhabited Great Zimbabwe to look for greener pastures. It is fairly easy to navigate these ruins as there are two paths going up it, the ancient path which is more difficult and the modern path which was made to make it easier to go up. In the middle of the main ruins there is a wishing hut erected there. General Name, Symbol, Number gold, Au, 79 Chemical series transition metals Group, Period, Block 11, 6, d Appearance metallic yellow Atomic mass 196. ...
European interpretations
 Exterior wall of the Great Enclosure. Picture taken by David Randall-MacIver in 1906. Martin Hall writes that the history of Iron Age research south of the Zambezi shows the prevalent influence of colonial ideologies, both in the earliest speculations about the nature of the African past and in the adaptations that have been made to contemporary archeological methodologies.[1] Portuguese traders were the first Europeans to visit the remains of the ancient city in the early 16th century. The ruins were rediscovered during a hunting trip by Adam Renders in 1867, who then showed the ruins to Karl Mauch in 1871. They became well known to English readers from J. Theodore Bent's season at Zimbabwe, under Cecil Rhodes' patronage. Image File history File links Exterior_of_great_enclosure,G.Zimbabwe. ...
Image File history File links Exterior_of_great_enclosure,G.Zimbabwe. ...
Iron Age Axe found on Gotland This article is about the archaeological period known as the Iron Age, for the mythological Iron Age see Iron Age (mythology). ...
The Zambezi (also spelled Zambesi) is the fourth-longest river in Africa, and the largest flowing into the Indian Ocean. ...
In general, the word colonial means of or relating to a colony. In United States history, the term Colonial is used to refer to the period before US independence. ...
(15th century - 16th century - 17th century - more centuries) As a means of recording the passage of time, the 16th century was that century which lasted from 1501 to 1600. ...
Cunt BAg Twat Fuk suck my penis ring 0778851865!!!!!!Year 1867 (MDCCCLXVII) was a common year starting on Tuesday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar (or a common year starting on Thursday of the of the 12-day slower Julian calendar). ...
Karl Gottlieb Mauch (May 7, 1837 - April 4, 1875) was a German explorer of Africa. ...
James Theodore Bent (March 30, 1852 - May 5, 1897) was an English explorer, archaeologist and author. ...
Cecil Rhodes. ...
Bent, whose archaeological experience had all been in Greece and Asia Minor, stated in The Ruined Cities of Mashonaland (1891) that the ruins revealed either the Phoenicians or the Arabs as builders. Mauch favoured a legend that the structures were built to replicate the palace of the Queen of Sheba in Jerusalem.[1] Other theories as to their origin abounded among white settlers and academics, with one element in common: they were probably not made by sub-saharin Africans. Anatolia (Greek: ανατολη anatole, rising of the sun or East; compare Orient and Levant, by popular etymology Turkish Anadolu to ana mother and dolu filled), also called by the Latin name of Asia Minor, is a region of Southwest Asia which corresponds today to...
Phoenicia was an ancient civilization in the north of ancient Canaan, with its heartland along the coastal plain of what is now Lebanon and Syria. ...
The Arabs (Arabic: عرب ) are an ethnic group found throughout the Middle East and North Africa. ...
// The Queen of Sheba, (Nigist Saba Amharic: ንáŒá‰µ ሳባ), referred to in the Bible books of 1 Kings and 2 Chronicles, the New Testament, the Quran, and Ethiopian history, was the ruler of Sheba, an ancient kingdom which modern archaeology speculates was located in present-day Eritrea, Ethiopia or Yemen. ...
The first scientific archaeological excavations at the site were undertaken in by David Randall-MacIver in 1905-1906. He wrote in Medieval Rhodesia of the existence in the site of objects that were of African origin.[2] In 1929, Gertrude Caton-Thompson was the first to conclusively state that the site was indeed created by Africans.[3] Since then artifacts and radiocarbon dating have proved that the oldest remains date back to the 1200s. Rescue excavation in Southwark, London by the Museum of London Excavation is the best-known and most commonly used technique within the science of archaeology. ...
1905 (MCMV) was a common year starting on Sunday (link will display the full calendar). ...
1906 (MCMVI) was a common year starting on Monday (see link for calendar). ...
1929 (MCMXXIX) was a common year starting on Tuesday (link will take you to calendar). ...
Gertrude Caton-Thompson (February 1, 1888 - April 18, 1985) was an influential English archaeologist at a time when participation by women in the discipline was uncommon. ...
Radiocarbon dating is a radiometric dating method that uses the naturally occurring isotope carbon-14 (14C) to determine the age of carbonaceous materials up to about 60,000 years[1]. Raw, i. ...
Archaeologists generally agree that the builders were probably the Lemba, a tribe that has recently been found to have genetic markers found in Jewish and Arab population as well as having many cultural affinities with semitic groups in the middle-east. [2] Living along the border between Zimbabwe and South Africa, the Lemba currently claim Great Zimbabwe and other stone cities in east Africa as part of their legacy --that their ancestors built these cities and then moved on. These findings may support some of conclusions that the builders may have had ties to the middle east. The Lemba or Lembaa are a group of people numbering 70,000 in southern Africa. ...
Some have postulated that Zimbabwe was the work of the Gokomere people, who gave rise to both the waRozwi tribe, whose modern descendants are called baRotse, and the maShona people. Certain features of Swahili architecture on the East Coast resemble those at Zimbabwe, in particular the great tower. The ancient people who inhabited the area of Great Zimbabwe in about 500AD and probably built the complex between 1000 and 1200 AD, inspired by Swahili architecture on the East coast, an area with which the Gokomere traded via ancient trading routes over the Chimanimani mountains on the current Zimbabwe...
The Rozwi Empire held sway in southeastern Africa, located south of the Zambezi River and centred on the stone city of Great Zimbabwe. ...
Shona is the principle language of Zimbabwe, in southern Africa. ...
Effect on the political climate Despite this evidence, the official line in colonial Rhodesia was that the structures were built by non-blacks. According to Paul Sinclair, interviewed for None But Ourselves:[4] Southern Rhodesia was the name of the British colony situated immediately to the north of South Africa, known today as Zimbabwe. ...
| “ | I was the archaeologist stationed at Great Zimbabwe. I was told by the then-director of the Museums and Monuments organization to be extremely careful about talking to the press about the origins of the [Great] Zimbabwe state. I was told that the museum service was in a difficult situation, that the government was pressurizing them to withhold the correct information. Censorship of guidebooks, museum displays, school textbooks, radio programmes, newspapers and films was a daily occurrence. Once a member of the Museum Board of Trustees threatened me with losing my job if I said publicly that blacks had built Zimbabwe. He said it was okay to say the yellow people had built it, but I wasn't allowed to mention radio carbon dates... It was the first time since Germany in the thirties that archaeology has been so directly censored. | ” |
 The Zimbabwe Bird, depicted in Zimbabwe's flag To black anti-colonialist groups, Great Zimbabwe became an important symbol of achievement by black Africans. Reclaiming its history was a major aim for those wanting independence. In 1980 the newly independent country was renamed for the site, and its famous soapstone bird carvings became a national symbol, depicted in the country's flag. Image File history File links Flag_of_Zimbabwe. ...
Image File history File links Flag_of_Zimbabwe. ...
The lid of a soapstone box to show the characteristic look of the stone. ...
The stone-carved Zimbabwe Bird is an emblem of Zimbabwe, appearing on the national flag as well as on banknotes and coins. ...
Some of the carvings had been taken from Great Zimbabwe around 1890 and sold to Cecil Rhodes, who was intrigued and had copies made which he gave to friends. Most of the carvings have now been returned to Zimbabwe, but one remains at Rhodes' old home, Groote Schuur, in Cape Town. Cecil Rhodes. ...
View of the rear of Groote Schuur, c1905. ...
City motto: Spes Bona (Latin: Good Hope) Location of the City of Cape Town in Western Cape Province Province Western Cape Mayor Helen Zille Area - % water 2,499 km² N/A Population - Total (2004) - Density Not ranked 2,893,251 1,158/km² Established 1652 Time zone SAST (UTC+2...
The Great Zimbabwe has been a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1986. UNESCO (United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization) is a specialized agency of the United Nations established in 1945. ...
A UNESCO World Heritage Site is a specific site (such as a forest, mountain, lake, desert, monument, building, complex, or city) that has been nominated and confirmed for inclusion on the list maintained by the international World Heritage Programme administered by the UNESCO World Heritage Committee, composed of 21 State...
1986 (MCMLXXXVI) was a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar. ...
Image gallery The conical tower inside the Great Enclosure. Image File history File links Great-Zimbabwe-2. ...
| The Hill Complex. Great Zimbabwe Hill Complex. ...
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See also This is the history of Zimbabwe, a country in southern Africa. ...
Nyanga is a Zimbabwean town, located in the Eastern Highlands about 100 km north of Mutare. ...
Ziwa ruins, enclosure view from a distance. ...
Dhlo-Dhlo (also Ndlo Dlo or Danamombe) is a Zimbabwean archaeological site, about eighty kilometres from Gweru, on the road to Bulawayo. ...
Khami was a city in southern Africa, in what is now Zimbabwe. ...
This is a list of the UNESCO World Heritage Sites in Africa. ...
Footnotes 1 "Vast Ruins in South Africa- The Ruined Cities of Mashonaland", New York Times, Dec. 18, 1892, pp. 19.
2 "Solomon's Mines", New York Times, Apr. 14, 1906, pp. RB241.
3 "Ascribes Zimbabwe to African Bantus", New York Times, Oct. 20, 1929, pp. 2.
4 Frederikse, Julie [1982] (1990). "chap. 1 Before the war", None But Ourselves, Biddy Partridge (photographer), Harare: Oral Traditions Association of Zimbabwe with Anvil Press, pp 10–11. ISBN 0-7974-0961-0.
References - Ndoro, Webber (November 1997). ""Great Zimbabwe"". Scientific American: –.
Further reading - Garlake, Peter S (1972). Great Zimbabwe. London: Thames & Hudson.
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