Great Zimbabwe holidays

Great Zimbabwe, is one of the largest stone structures built south of the Sahara, spread over a 7 sq km site. The word Zimbabwe itself derives from a local Shona word meaning ‘houses of stone’, while the carved soapstone birds found on the site today feature on the country’s flag. Great Zimbabwe was ravaged by European treasure hunters and amateur archaeologists from around 1891 when layer after layer of African artifacts of historical importance were destroyed or removed in pursuit of gold and other treasures. For many years, credit for building Great Zimbabwe, which at its peak had a population of 20,000, was attributed to anyone other than Africans, from the Queen of Sheba and Phoenicians to the Egyptians and Greeks. Even as late as 1970, the Rhodesian government published a law forbidding the publication of material attributing the site’s builders as Africans. It is now generally accepted that the ruins of Great Zimbabwe reflect the culture of the Shona peoples, a Bantu-speaking ethnic group, who reside in the region today.

Explore Great Zimbabwe

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