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- Herausgeber: Heritage Books
- Kategorie: Für Kinder und Jugendliche
- Sprache: Englisch
This is the story of a kingdom that thrived in the heart of Africa, its towering stone walls, its bustling trade routes, and the people who built a city unlike anything the world had seen. How did they do it? What secrets did they leave behind? And why did it all come to an end?
Whether you’re a history buff, a curious traveller, or someone who loves a good mystery, this book brings the forgotten empire of Great Zimbabwe to life in a way that’s easy to understand and hard to put down. Let’s explore the past together, and you might just find yourself amazed at what you uncover.
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Seitenzahl: 63
Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2024
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THE GREAT ZIMBABWE
SECRET OF A FORGOTTEN KINGDOM EMPIRE
COPYRIGHT PAGE
The Great Zimbabwe
Copyright © 2024 Minerva Smith.
No part of this ebook may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods, without the prior written permission of the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations used in reviews and certain other noncommercial uses permitted by copyright law.
Table of Contents
Title Page
Copyright Page
DISCLAIMER
A NAME THAT SPARKS WONDER AND CURIOSITY
THE RISE OF GREAT ZIMBABWE
THE ORIGINS OF THE SHONA PEOPLE
FAVORABLE GEOGRAPHICAL AND ENVIRONMENTAL CONDITIONS
THE KINGDOM’S ARCHITECTURE AND URBAN PLANNING
ADVANCED STONE MASONRY TECHNIQUES
THE ECONOMY OF GREAT ZIMBABWE
SOCIETY AND CULTURE
THE ROLE OF WOMEN IN GREAT ZIMBABWE
ART AND SYMBOLISM: CARVINGS, POTTERY, AND BEADWORK
THE DECLINE AND FALL OF GREAT ZIMBABWE
THE IMPACT OF THE PORTUGUESE IN THE 16TH CENTURY
THE MYSTERIOUS DECLINE
REDISCOVERING GREAT ZIMBABWE
GREAT ZIMBABWE IN MODERN TIMES
GREAT ZIMBABWE AS A UNESCO WORLD HERITAGE SITE
CONCLUSION
DISCLAIMER
The information provided in this book is for educational and informational purposes only. Every effort has been made to ensure that the information in this book is accurate, up-to-date, and helpful. However, no responsibility is assumed by the author or publisher for any loss or damage resulting from the use of this book or the information contained herein.
A NAME THAT SPARKS WONDER AND CURIOSITY
Great Zimbabwe, a name that sparks wonder and curiosity, is one of Africa's most impressive ancient civilizations. It has fascinated historians, archaeologists, and travelers for hundreds of years. This once-thriving kingdom sits in the middle of southern Africa and shows off Africa's deep history, but much about it remains unknown. Great Zimbabwe plays a key role in African and world history, yet people often ignore it. Many of its secrets are still waiting to come to light.
Significance in African History
Great Zimbabwe stood at the center of the Kingdom of Zimbabwe, a strong and important civilization that thrived from the 11th to the 15th century. In its heyday, this kingdom boasted a complex community that showed off mind-blowing skills in building, engineering, and commerce. Its reach went way past its own territory making waves throughout sub-Saharan Africa and touching down on the far-off coasts of the Indian Ocean.
Renowned for its tall piles of rock, the site's most eye-catching pieces are the Great Enclosure and the Hill Complex. They show off the smarts the people back then had for making things and planning cities. They stacked stones without any glue using a clever method called dry-stone masonry, and those walls still stand tough today. They show how savvy and cultured Great Zimbabwe was. It's more than old leftovers; it's like quiet evidence of the times when Great Zimbabwe called the shots with business and artsy stuff.
While Great Zimbabwe’s physical remnants continue to stand tall, its story was, for a long time, left in the shadows of history. The kingdom's rise, its complexity, and its eventual decline were obscured by myths and misinterpretations. European colonists, dismissing the idea that such grand structures could be the work of indigenous Africans, even attributed the construction of the ruins to foreign civilizations. These mistaken conceptions are the very basis preventing the comprehension of the real significance of Great Zimbabwe. In reality, it is an advanced African society that existed long before any European powers set foot on the African continent.
A Glimpse into Its Grandeur and Mystery
Thinking about the majesty of Great Zimbabwe takes you back to an era that's old yet eternal. Its wide ruins feature huge rock barriers and complex corridors sharing tales of a past empire buzzing with life. The core of this empire had the royal castle the residence of a mighty monarch, and maybe even the center of mighty spiritual and political control.
In all of the constructions, the Great Enclosure is the biggest one and shows the magical ability of the people of this Kingdom to create things. These towering barriers themselves stand tall, some spiking to more than 11 meters, and enclose some hidden area within that sparks loads of speculation. Some theorize it could have been where the royals lived, and some others reckon it was for religious stuff or large ceremonies. What these huge buildings meant for the day-to-day goings-on of Great Zimbabwe's folks is still kind of up in the air, which just makes it all the more interesting.
Besides the physical beauty of Great Zimbabwe, there is an aura of mystery concerning its demise. This place has been under discussion for many centuries by historians and archeologists with regard to the reasons for its doom-from drought to political decay, often ending with invasion from outside. Despite considerable investigations, no single reason has yet emerged to explain the fall of the kingdom adequately. That ambiguity hence continues to evoke curiosity as far as the life and times of people who lived there are concerned.
Great Zimbabwe's mystery is not found only in its downfall but also in the civilization per se: How a population, perhaps maxing out at 20,000, could build such grand constructions? How it even managed extremely complex trade networks that went as far as the Indian Ocean? What role the kingdom's elaborate religious practices played in its social and political organization? These and others continue to puzzle would-be investigators seeking to unlock the mystery of a once-great civilization.
The book aims at unpeeling the many layers of history and mystery that surround Great Zimbabwe, bringing to the reader a contextual exploration of the kingdom and what it means to history in Africa and beyond. Through an analytical view of its architecture, culture, economy, and society, we would learn about one more such forgotten African kingdom and of its significance for future generations.
This journey backward will not only showcase the achievements of Zimbabwean greatness but will seek to show what propelled it into greatness and what factors caused it to fall. We will explore the numerous facets of the kingdom, including its rich culture and advanced engineering, as well as its long trade networks linking it to other far-off lands across the Indian Ocean. We will, however, discover the remaining mysteries: the fate of the Great Enclosure; the beliefs, values, and practices of the people; and the ultimate demise of the kingdom.
Not only does this eBook undertake an analysis of the historical and cultural aspects of Great Zimbabwe, but it also attempts to uproot what can be considered distortion in that legacy. In so doing, we may cast the kingdom's achievement in its true light and thus engender a better understanding of African history and its place in the world's historical narrative.
Great Zimbabwe is not merely a ruin; it amounts to an icon of Africa's rich past and the continent's continuing contributions to human civilization. Its people's stories, their victories, and struggles resonate even today with 'lessons' for both the present and the future. Through this eBook, we seek to share those stories, letting those secrets of Great Zimbabwe be heard and understood once again.
THE RISE OF GREAT ZIMBABWE
The story of Great
