The Mystery of Great Zimbabwe

The great stone ruins were first uncovered by Portuguese traders in the 16th Century. Sailors continued to visit the site, declaring it to be the remnants of the Queen of Sheba?s palace. For nearly 400 years romantic speculation as to the true heritage of the mysterious stonewalls was passed from word of mouth until it reached the coastal trading ports of Mozambique. In 1552, Joćo de Barros wrote of ?a square fortress, masonry within and without, built of stones of marvellous size and there appears to be no mortar joining them?. The actual ?discovery? of the site was in 1871, by Carl Mauch a young German who had heard the fabled tales of the Queen of Sheba?s palace, and was eager to substantiate the t

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The government also managed to suppress the findings of those who claimed that Great Zimbabwe was built by Africans. Although little is known about the actual tribe that once inhabited its walls, due to the fact that no written or oral traditions have survived the test of time, the site brought hope and heritage to the South African people during a time of hardship.

The immense stone ruins of Great Zimbabwe are located in the southeast of the African country of Zimbabwe, which, interestingly enough, took its name from the site after gaining independence from Great Britain in 1980. When Mauch viewed the site firsthand, the impressive stonewalls aroused much interest in the site, and their immense and almost impossible construction added credence to the myth that the site was the work of foreigners. ? Unfortunately, the racist viewpoint that had been detrimental to Mauch?s visit had once more surrounded the discovery. It consists of a number of interlocking walls and granite boulders, forming intricate patterns including those of chevron and herringbone. As soon as he reached the site in the country previously known as Rhodesia, he set about undertaking a full scale ?archaeological? dig. ?

Despite MacIver?s declaration, the evidence that undoubtedly secured the site as African in origin was not disclosed by the white government of the country then known as Rhodesia. A peculiar stream of consciousness, even to the most amateur archaeologist. The only fact that is supported by every new piece of evidence is that Whites did not build Great Zimbabwe, blacks did, but this definite answer only seems to deepen the mystery regarding the other as yet unanswerable questions. Theodore Bent, a widely travelled, but as yet unqualified archaeologist, he, like his predecessors was adamant of the city?s non black foundation, but was sceptic about the link to the Queen of Sheba.

Recovering from the embarrassment of their first employee, BSA quickly tried to recover, by hiring archaeologist David Randall-MacIver, Hall?s complete opposite. MacIver promptly declared that, on investigation the stone enclosures ?are unquestionably African in every detail and belong to a period which is fixed by foreign imports as, in general, medieval.

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Approximate Word count = 1382
Approximate Pages = 6 (250 words per page double spaced)

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