1 / 29

GREAT ZIMBABWE 600 AD to 1450

GREAT ZIMBABWE 600 AD to 1450. ORIGIN: Derived from the Shona phrase meaning “stone enclosure” or “house of rock”. LOCATION. What are some factors that make a location great? W hy would people choose to build a city in a location?. LOCATION of Great Zimbabwe.

candie
Download Presentation

GREAT ZIMBABWE 600 AD to 1450

An Image/Link below is provided (as is) to download presentation Download Policy: Content on the Website is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use and may not be sold / licensed / shared on other websites without getting consent from its author. Content is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use only. Download presentation by click this link. While downloading, if for some reason you are not able to download a presentation, the publisher may have deleted the file from their server. During download, if you can't get a presentation, the file might be deleted by the publisher.

E N D

Presentation Transcript

  1. GREAT ZIMBABWE600 AD to 1450 ORIGIN: Derived from the Shona phrase meaning “stone enclosure” or “house of rock”

  2. LOCATION • What are some factors that make a location great? • Why would people choose to build a city in a location?

  3. LOCATION of Great Zimbabwe • Between the Zambezi and Limpopo rivers • Huge plains surround the city to support agriculture and herding • Believed to have been built on a gold-rich mine • 60 acres • Located on a plateau

  4. What is a plateau?

  5. PLATEAU area of fairly level ground

  6. Great Zimbabwe

  7. SPECIFICS • Buildings are made of stone • Very uniform and straight • Well planned • In the major walls, the stones are perfectly fitted with each other • No mortar(like glue for rocks) was used • The only openings in the wall were for: • the entrance • drainage ditches

  8. Great Zimbabwe walls are similar to those constructed for Medieval castles in Europe WHICH IS WHICH? Great Zimbabwe Medieval Castle wall

  9. Elliptical Building

  10. WESTERN ENCLOSURE/ ELLIPTICAL BUILDING • Outer wall is 32 feet high and up to 17 feet thick in some spots • Stretches over 800 feet • Had up to 20,000 people living in mud huts around building • This was the dividing line between the rich people and the poor

  11. ELLIPTICAL BUILDING • This was the dividing line between the rich people and the poor. Several clues led to this theory: • First, remnants of exotic items from overseas were found within the enclosure. • Second, no evidence of cooking was found within the walled area. Most likely, this means that food was prepared elsewhere by servants and delivered to the wealthy inhabitants upon demand. • And third, evidence of only 100-200 residents is shown, while many thousands occupied the city. • This building was probably used for the King/ruler or for the melting of gold

  12. RANKING OF SOCIETY • Elite Leaders (people considered to be the best because of their power, talent, and wealth) • Kings • Big business leaders • Cattle • Peasants • Built the houses for the “elite” • Looked after the cattle • Grew crops

  13. TRADE Imported (brought into the area) -Chinese porcelain, engraved glass from the Middle East, metal ornaments from West Africa Exported (sent out of an area) gold to East Africa. East African cities on the coast could trade to other countries.

  14. What makes the city so mysterious? • They left behind no written language or oral tradition • Declined for no reason in the 1400s • No evidence of how it was actually constructed • Walls of Zimbabwe are very impressively built

  15. Who lived here? • Shona people • Language: Bantu • Mainly agricultural (both men and women farm) • grow maize (corn) and grain crops • Cattle (taboo-not acceptable-for women to work with cows)

  16. PRESENT PAST

  17. MUSIC Ngoma (drum) Mbira (thumb piano) Ngororombe (pan flute)

  18. What are cattle? COWS!

  19. Why are cattle important? Brainstorm a list of possible uses for cattle.

  20. Biases about Zimbabwe • “Westerners (such as Europeans and Americans) argued that such amazing structures could not have been crafted in Africa without European influence or assistance. These notions reflect ethnocentrism, or the tendency to view one's own culture as the best and others as inferior. With the help of modern dating techniques, today's archaeologists have been able to disprove these arguments and expose the truth. Africans, and Africans alone, were responsible for building this astounding and complex city.”

  21. What does this mean? • What does this say about the Shona people’s abilities? • What does this say about how people in the world used to view Africans? • Do you think this viewpoint has changed? • How do you think the Africans feel about how they are thought of in other cultures? • What is your viewpoint?

  22. Great Zimbabwe Video Complete the 3-2-1 Strategy on a separate sheet of paper. List 3things you learned, 2 interesting facts, and 1 question you still have.

More Related