Latest / Great Zimbabwe: The Lost African Kingdom of Stone — Fexingo History / Who Built Great Zimbabwe? Debunking Colonial Myths
Transcript
- Lucas: So we've spent a lot of time on Great Zimbabwe's later years — the Rozvi, the Mwari oracle, the shift from stone to dhaka. But one question keeps coming up from listeners: who actually built it? And the answer is both simple and tangled in a century of colonial nonsense. Luna: I've heard people say it was built by Phoenicians or the Queen of Sheba. Lucas: Exactly. And that wasn't just a casual myth — it was pushed by European explorers and colonial officials who couldn't accept that African ancestors built something this impressive. The most famous early visitor was Karl Mauch, a German explorer who stumbled upon the ruins in 1871. He was convinced it was the work of Phoenicians or the biblical Ophir. Lucas: Mauch wrote about a cedar beam he found, which he claimed proved the site was connected to King Solomon. He even thought the Zimbabwe bird — those iconic soapstone carvings — were a representation of the Queen of Sheba. It was pure fantasy, but it stuck. Luna: So when did archaeologists start setting the record straight? Lucas: The real shift came in the early 20th century. In 1905, David Randall-MacIver — a British archaeologist — visited Great Zimbabwe and concluded it was medieval in date and built by the ancestors of the Shona. But his findings were dismissed by the colonial establishment. They wanted a romantic, non-African origin story. Lucas: Then in 1929, Gertrude Caton-Thompson led a more thorough excavation. She used stratigraphic methods — digging carefully through layers — and she dated the site to between the 11th and 15th centuries. Her conclusion was clear: Great Zimbabwe was built by the Shona people. She even said, quote, 'the ruins are of Bantu origin.' Luna: But did that silence the skeptics? Lucas: Not remotely. The Rhodesian government under white minority rule actively suppressed her findings. They controlled the narrative because acknowledging African achievement undermined their racist ideology. As late as the 1960s, school textbooks in Rhodesia still taught that Great Zimbabwe was built by foreigners. Luna: It's infuriating how political history can be. Lucas: It really is. And it's not just about the stones — it's about identity. When Zimbabwe gained independence in 1980, they named the country after the ruins. The Zimbabwe bird became the national emblem. It was a powerful reclamation of heritage. Lucas: Now, modern archaeology using radiocarbon dating and pottery analysis has confirmed the Shona built it. The site evolved over centuries, with the Hill Complex being the earliest part, then the Great Enclosure, and later the Valley Ruins. It was a thriving capital of a trading empire connected to the Swahili coast. Luna: So the soapstone birds — were they purely symbolic or had a religious function? Lucas: That's a great question. The birds are about 40 centimeters tall, carved from soapstone, and they were probably mounted on monoliths. They're unique — no other site in Africa has anything quite like them. They likely represented royal ancestors or acted as territorial markers. Some carvings combine bird and human features, which suggests a spiritual connection. The name 'Great Zimbabwe' itself means 'house of stone' or 'venerated house'. Lucas: Sadly, during the colonial era, many of the original birds were removed. Some were taken to museums in Europe. Only a few remain on site. But after independence, several were returned. Luna: I'm glad they're coming back. Lucas: Me too. And to keep bringing you these stories — stories that challenge the old narratives and celebrate African history — we rely on listener support. If today was actually useful to you, the way these stay ad-free is listener support — buy me a coffee dot com slash fexingo. Luna: Yeah, it really helps us keep digging into the past. Lucas: So back to the birds — there's one other mystery. In the 1890s, Cecil Rhodes himself visited Great Zimbabwe and was fascinated by the birds. He actually had one taken to his estate in Cape Town. That bird later became a symbol of Rhodesia, which is ironic given that the original builders' descendants were being dispossessed. Luna: Wow, the layers of symbolism are incredible. Lucas: They really are. And when we think about the colonial myths, they're not just wrong — they actively erased the ingenuity of the Shona people. The dry-stone masonry at Great Zimbabwe is some of the finest in the world, with walls that have stood for over 700 years without mortar. That's an engineering achievement that deserves recognition. Lucas: So next time you hear someone claim that Africans couldn't have built something like this, you know the real history. And it's a history we're proud to tell. Luna: Absolutely. Thanks for clearing that up, Lucas. Lucas: You're welcome. And thanks for listening.