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Overview

Arial view

Chevron capping of walls

One of the entrances

Construction of the first project, the royal enclosures on The Hill Complex, commenced sometime during the 13th century, while the remainder of the city was completed over the next 100 or so years. Building was a labour-intensive venture requiring thousands of hands to hew out millions of granite rocks for the extensive walls. The structure's wonderfully haphazard curving and twisting lines either circumvented or incorporated natural features into the buildings, resulting in an impressive harmony with the landscape. The Hill Structure was probably one of the first of the Great Zimbabwe complexes to be constructed. Instead of ripping out the boulders to erect the chambers, builders followed the path of least resistance, integrating the in the structure as best they could. The Valley Enclosures, a series of 13th century erections, daga hut platforms and small conical tower stretch some 300 meters north eastwards from the sunken passageway. They have yielded some of the site's finest archaeological finds, including metal tools and 'Great Zimbabwe birds' (the Bateleur of Fish Eagle), with their mammal-like feet that became the national symbol.

The elliptical Great Enclosure , nearly 100 meters across and 255 meters in circumference, is the largest structure in sub-Saharan Africa. The mortarless walls reach heights of 11 meters and in places are five meters thick. The outer walls appear to have been built in a counter-clockwise progression. Builders began with the roughly constructed north-west entrance, honing their techniques as they moved around to the north-eastern side, where the walls are highest and most skilfully completed. The enclosure is thought to have been used as a royal compound and a sort of cloister for the Kings mother and senior wives. The object of great speculation is, of course, the spectacular 10-meter high, convex Conical Tower tucked away beneath overhanging trees at the south-western end. The tower was originally capped with three rows of chevron designs.

In the end, Great Zimbabwe probably became the victim of it's own success. By the 15th century, the growing human and bovine populations and their environmental pressures had depleted local resources, necessitating emigration to more productive lands. From such emigrations emerged the smallerdzimbabwe in Fura Mountain (northern Zimbabwe), Khami, Danagombe, Nalatale, and Ziwa. The city declined rapidly and when the Portuguese arrived in the 1500s, the city was nearly deserted. The Nemanwa dynasty took over until they were overthrown in the late 1700s by the Mugabe dynasty. They in turn were toppled in 1834 by a contingent of Nguni under Zwangendaba. By the time German-American hunter, Adam Renders, stumbled upon Great Zimbabwe in 1868, only ruins remained.

Ref. Deanna Swaney / The Author

Website: Visual Arts of Zimbabwe

Great Zimbabwe National Monument.

Website: Uni.of South Dakota

SWANEY Deanna, Zimbabwe, Botswana & Namibia (1995)

Picture courtesy of David Koeller - North Park University