My Day At Great Zimbabwe

Zimbabwe...at last! For nearly 20 years I had wanted to visit this country but the political situation had always deterred me. And top of my list were the ruins at Great Zimbabwe. Finally, in January 2019, the opportunity arrived.

I was staying at beautiful Amalinda Lodge in the Matobo Hills south of Bulawayo and Howard Milzane, the resident historian and naturalist there, agreed to guide me in the ‘Zim Ruins’, a road journey of four-anda-half hours. I was up bright and early at 4.00am and off we set for the site, situated near Masvingo (Fort Victoria before independence).

Great Zimbabwe is what remains of a royal stronghold built by the Shona people—more of a palace complex than a city, constructed to impress rather than for defence purposes—a personal chiefdom, covering a vast area of almost 80 hectares. Construction work began in the 11th century AD and continued until the 15th century AD when the settlement was largely abandoned. However, archaeologists have established that the area was first settled in the 4th century AD by the Gokomere, an Iron Age Bantu people, ancestors of the modern Shona. As a keen amateur archaeologist and having worked on various digs, this history was of particular interest. I had seen pictures and read descriptions but none did this site justice: it was overwhelmingly more impressive than I’d expected.

The stone ruins at Great Zimbabwe are among the largest and oldest in Southern Africa, fashioned from well-cut brick-size granite blocks built as dry stone walls with no mortar. The site is surrounded by hills and consists of three main structures: the Hill Complex (the oldest), the Valley Complex and the Great Enclosure. The area was investigated first by Europeans in 1871 and many theories and interpretations have been argued about the origins of these magnificent edifices. I felt uncomfortable that Europeans had felt that the indigenous African people had not been capable of building these superb structures in stone.

It’s a steep climb up to the Hill Complex, but well worth the effort. This is the spiritual heart of Great Zimbabwe—an area of gigantic boulders—with a view to the Valley Ruins and the Great Enclosure way below. Howard and I sat in a cave and he told me that a shaman would sit here and the chief would come to him frequently to ask for advice or to foretell the future. It is thought that it was in a

section of the Hill Complex, known as the Eastern Enclosure, that eight Zimbabwean soapstone birds were found, carved on the tops of monoliths each the height of a human being, and they can be seen in the museum below. It is conjectured that these could represent bateleur eagles, which are a good omen and serve as protective spirits and messengers of the Shona gods.

Below the Hill Complex is the most impressive and best known architectural group, the Great Enclosure, with its huge conical tower measuring 9 metres (30 feet) in height and 5.5 metres (18 feet) in diameter. This was thought to contain treasure but after investigation was found to be solid. The outer and inner walls are truly immense, and the inner wall creates a passageway that felt cool as we walked around. There would have been houses within this enclosure— the largest occupied by the principal wife of the king and her retinue. It was the duty of the principal wife to instruct the other wives and daughters in female etiquette and behaviour. Sadly, with only a day at the ruins and a long drive there and back, I did not have a chance to visit the Valley Complex, which Howard told me is divided into the Upper and Lower Valley. It is thought that from 10,000 to 18,000 people would have lived in the surrounding countryside during the city’s heyday, where farming, particularly cattle, would have provided their main source of livelihood.

In the four hours that Howard and I spent wandering around the ruins and visiting the museum, I enjoyed benefiting from his knowledge of the history, wildlife and plants of this memorable site. I marvelled at, and was moved by, the skill of the builders who, block by backbreaking block, created these monumental mega structures. I was overawed that the wondrous walls have survived for so long, even though vegetation has damaged some of the stonework.

Great Zimbabwe is outstanding and certainly deserves its name.