Great Zimbabwe

I

Introduction

Great Zimbabwe, historic city in southern Africa that was established in the 11th century ad and flourished for about 300 years beginning in the 12th century. At its height the city dominated much of the present-day country of Zimbabwe. By the end of the 15th century the city had fallen into disuse and was largely abandoned. The stone ruins of Great Zimbabwe are located on a hilltop near the modern town of Masvingo in southeastern Zimbabwe.

II

The Historic State

By the 11th century ad, Iron Age Shona-speaking people had established a village on the hilltop. The rulers of this community originally derived their wealth and power from herds of cattle. However, during the 12th century peoples to the north and west discovered and began mining the rich gold vein on the plateau of what is now central Zimbabwe. By the 13th century the hilltop village had become a major gold trading center, located advantageously between the gold-bearing plateau and numerous African and Arab trading posts on the Indian Ocean coast. The village grew into a city and its Shona rulers, profiting from the gold trade, raised a large army to expand their power and built the elaborate stone structures that gave the city its name. Zimbabwe is derived from the Shona phrase dzimba dza mabwe, which means “houses of stone.” By the 14th century Great Zimbabwe used commercial and military power to dominate a state that ranged from the Zambezi River in the north to the Limpopo River in the south, and from the fringes of the Kalahari Desert in the west to the Inyanga, Vumba, and Chimanimani mountain ranges in the east. Many other smaller ruins built in the style of Great Zimbabwe are scattered throughout modern Zimbabwe, eastern Botswana, and northern Mozambique, demonstrating the scope of Great Zimbabwe’s influence.

Great Zimbabwe had between 10,000 and 20,000 inhabitants shortly before its abrupt decline at the end of 15th century. Historians disagree on the cause of Great Zimbabwe’s fall. Many scholars believe that the city’s population grew so large that it used up the region’s agricultural resources, forcing inhabitants to move away. Another theory is that Great Zimbabwe lost its commercial importance because northern gold-mining regions began transporting gold to the coast by way of the Zambezi River. By the 16th century the city of Great Zimbabwe was almost completely deserted.

III

The Ruins

In the 19th century the ruins of Great Zimbabwe were found and studied by European colonists, who generally refused to believe that black Africans could have built such impressive stone structures. European archaeologists proposed highly improbable theories that an ancient Mediterranean civilization, such as the Egyptians, Phoenicians, Greeks, Hebrews, or Arabs, built Great Zimbabwe. These theories became widely accepted. Even after early and mid-20th-century archaeological research proved that Great Zimbabwe was indeed the work of Iron Age black Africans, the non-African origin of the ruins was taught in many schools in Rhodesia (as Zimbabwe was known in colonial times) until independence in 1980.

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The stonework of Great Zimbabwe is remarkable for its precision. Most structures were built with granite blocks so carefully carved that no mortar was required to hold them together. The focal point of Great Zimbabwe is a high granite outcrop that rises steeply above the valley below. On the summit of this outcrop is a set of stone-walled enclosures known as the Hill Complex. Scholars believe one of the two large enclosures was a place of worship because it contains plastered altars and carved stone birds, which likely represent the spirits of former rulers. The other large enclosure was a residential area, probably either for the king or for the principal spirit medium, the leading official in the Shona religion.

The ruins of the city of Great Zimbabwe are on the hillside and in the valley beneath the Hill Complex. The city consisted of two parts: the residences of the general population and those of the elite. The general population lived in closely packed mud-and-thatch houses and little is known about the way they lived. A small number of elite people lived inside stone enclosures at the center of the city. The sheltered residential areas were hidden by high stone walls. These living quarters testify to the high status and authority of the Great Zimbabwe ruling class.

The largest of the residential enclosures in the city is known as the Great Enclosure. The Great Enclosure has a complex set of architectural features, including outer walls as high as 10 m (32 ft) and as thick as 5 m (17 ft), and a tall, conical stone tower. Archaeologists have different interpretations of this part of the site. Some believe this was the residence of the king’s principal wife, while others argue that it was the king’s compound. In the Great Enclosure, archaeologists have discovered gold and copper ornaments, as well as fine soapstone bowls and carvings. In addition, they have found china, glass beads, and porcelain dating from 14th-century China, Persia, and Syria. The presence of such luxury items from so far away demonstrates Great Zimbabwe’s valuable connections with traders on the east coast of Africa.

The modern nation of Zimbabwe is named after Great Zimbabwe, and images of the soapstone birds found in the Hill Complex appear on the nation’s flag and currency. For today’s Zimbabweans, the ruins of Great Zimbabwe are a source not only of tourism income, but also of cultural pride.