|
Khami
Khami (also written as ''Khame'', ''Kame'', or ''Kami'') is a ruined city located west of Bulawayo, in Zimbabwe. It was once the capital of the Kingdom of Butua of the Torwa dynasty. It is now a national monument and became a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1986. Context The settlement that we see today was a development of the architectural form that emerged at Great Zimbabwe in the 13th century AD and a local Leopard's Kopje culture that built platforms of rough walling on which houses would be constructed. Khami marks an innovation that recognised the environment in which was built. The area around Khami, being riverine, is hot and had problems with malaria. The stone found at Khami (laminar granite) was different from the ones found in other areas of Zimbabwe (biotite). With a mixture of dolerite, this stone was harder to quarry and produced shapeless building stone. It can be estimated that over 60% of the stone produced at these quarries would not be of building quality. ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Kingdom Of Butua
The Kingdom of Butua or Butwa (–1683) was a Bakalanga (western Shona) kingdom located in what is now southwestern Zimbabwe. Butua was renowned as the source of gold for Arab and Portuguese traders. The first written record of the kingdom came from Ahmad ibn Majid in 1502. The kingdom was governed by the Torwa dynasty until 1683 from its capital at Khami. In 1683, the kingdom was conquered by the Rozwi Empire. The foundations of the Khami Ruins show a striking resemblance to the pattern of masonry at the base of the Zimbabwe Ruins. History Foundation and apogee Khami was originally a Leopard's Kopje site, whose inhabitants are thought to be the ancestors of the Kalanga (southwestern Shona). During the time of Great Zimbabwe's dominance over the region, various offshoots split from it to form various states, one such state being the Mutapa Empire. In the early 15th century Angoche traders opened a new route along the Zambezi via the nascent Mutapa Empire and ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Torwa Dynasty
The Kingdom of Butua or Butwa (–1683) was a Bakalanga (western Shona) kingdom located in what is now southwestern Zimbabwe. Butua was renowned as the source of gold for Arab and Portuguese traders. The first written record of the kingdom came from Ahmad ibn Majid in 1502. The kingdom was governed by the Torwa dynasty until 1683 from its capital at Khami. In 1683, the kingdom was conquered by the Rozwi Empire. The foundations of the Khami Ruins show a striking resemblance to the pattern of masonry at the base of the Zimbabwe Ruins. History Foundation and apogee Khami was originally a Leopard's Kopje site, whose inhabitants are thought to be the ancestors of the Kalanga (southwestern Shona). During the time of Great Zimbabwe's dominance over the region, various offshoots split from it to form various states, one such state being the Mutapa Empire. In the early 15th century Angoche traders opened a new route along the Zambezi via the nascent Mutapa Empire and Ing ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Danamombe
Danamombe is a Zimbabwean archaeological site, about eighty kilometres from Gweru, in the direction of Bulawayo and about 35 kilometres south of the highway. It is not often visited due to the poor quality roads in the area. The remains on the site resemble those of Khami. Nearby are the smaller ruins at Naletale, that were occupied at the same time. Etymology Danamombe is the official name according to the National Museums and Monuments of Zimbabwe and has alternative spellings Danangombe, Dananombe and Danan'ombe. It was formerly known as Dhlo-Dhlo or Ndlo Dlo, which was the Ngoni and Ndebele name in use at the time of the British South Africa Company invasion. It is unclear whether the name of Danangombe retains elements of the original name, or of the Ngoni name It is not to be confused with Danangombe Hill near Mutare. Layout The town plan follows a similar layout to Khami but is on a smaller scale. It is therefore a deliberate attempt to sustain the society and culture ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
List Of World Heritage Sites In Africa
The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) has designated 147 World Heritage Sites in Africa. These sites are located in 46 countries (also called "Sovereign state, state parties"). Selection of World Heritage Sites South Africa and Ethiopia lead with both twelve sites; followed by Morocco and Tunisia being home to nine sites; then Algeria, Egypt, Senegal, and Tanzania at seven. Nine countries have only a single site each. Four sites are shared between two countries: Maloti-Drakensberg Transfrontier Conservation Area, Maloti-Drakensberg Park (Lesotho and South Africa), the Mount Nimba Strict Nature Reserve (Côte d'Ivoire and Guinea), the Stone Circles of Senegambia (the Gambia and Senegal), and Victoria Falls, Zambia, Mosi-oa-Tunya / Victoria Falls (Zambia and Zimbabwe). Two sites are shared among three countries: Sangha Trinational (Central African Republic, Cameroon, and Republic of the Congo, Congo) and W-Arly-Penjari Complex (Benin, Burki ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Leopard's Kopje
Leopard's Kopje is an archaeological site, the type site of the associated region or culture that marked the Middle Iron Age in Zimbabwe. The ceramics from the Leopard's Kopje type site have been classified as part of phase II of the Leopard's Kopje culture. For information on the region of Leopard's Kopje, see the "Associated sites" section of this article. Location The site is located 2 kilometers north-east of the Khami World Heritage Site and 24 kilometers west of Bulawayo, Zimbabwe. Bordered by small hills, or koppies, on two sides and sharp ravines on the other two sides. The site is relatively small, measuring 150 by 200 yards in area. History K. R. Robinson conducted several excavations in the area, beginning in 1961. Thomas Huffman, who first excavated Leopard's Kopje in August 1969, is also an important archaeologist of the site. Huffman's excavations found three different phases of occupation, Zhizo, Mambo, and Refuge. Refuge phase The occupation from the 1 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Bulawayo
Bulawayo (, ; ) is the second largest city in Zimbabwe, and the largest city in the country's Matabeleland region. The city's population is disputed; the 2022 census listed it at 665,940, while the Bulawayo City Council claimed it to be about 1.2 million. Bulawayo covers an area of in the western part of the country, along the Matsheumhlope River. Along with the capital Harare, Bulawayo is one of two cities in Zimbabwe that are also Provinces of Zimbabwe, provinces. Bulawayo was founded by a group led by Gundwane Ndiweni around 1840 as the kraal of Mzilikazi, the Ndebele king and was known as Gibixhegu. His son, Lobengula, succeeded him in the 1860s, and changed the name to koBulawayo and ruled from Bulawayo until 1893, when the settlement was captured by British South Africa Company soldiers during the First Matabele War. That year, the first white settlers arrived and rebuilt the town. The town was besieged by Ndebele warriors during the Second Matabele War. Bulawayo attaine ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Great Zimbabwe
Great Zimbabwe was a city in the south-eastern hills of the modern country of Zimbabwe, near Masvingo. It was settled from 1000 AD, and served as the capital of the Kingdom of Great Zimbabwe from the 13th century. It is the largest stone structure in precolonial Southern Africa. Major construction on the city began in the 11th century until the 15th century, and it was abandoned in the 16th or 17th century. The edifices were erected by ancestors of the Shona people, currently located in Zimbabwe and nearby countries. The stone city spans an area of and could have housed up to 18,000 people at its peak, giving it a population density of approximately . The Zimbabwe state centred on it likely covered 50,000 km² (19,000 sq mi). It is recognised as a World Heritage Site by UNESCO. The site of Great Zimbabwe is composed of the Hill Complex, the Valley Complex, and the Great Enclosure (constructed at different times), and contained area for commoner housing within the per ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Zimbabwe
file:Zimbabwe, relief map.jpg, upright=1.22, Zimbabwe, relief map Zimbabwe, officially the Republic of Zimbabwe, is a landlocked country in Southeast Africa, between the Zambezi and Limpopo Rivers, bordered by South Africa to the south, Botswana to the southwest, Zambia to the north, and Mozambique to the east. The capital and largest city is Harare, and the second largest is Bulawayo. A country of roughly 16.6 million people as per 2024 census, Zimbabwe's largest ethnic group are the Shona people, Shona, who make up 80% of the population, followed by the Northern Ndebele people, Northern Ndebele and other #Demographics, smaller minorities. Zimbabwe has 16 official languages, with English, Shona language, Shona, and Northern Ndebele language, Ndebele the most common. Zimbabwe is a member of the United Nations, the Southern African Development Community, the African Union, and the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa. The region was long inhabited by the San people, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ziwa
Ziwa is an archaeological site in Nyanga District, Zimbabwe, containing the remains of a vast late Iron Age agricultural settlement dated to the 15th century. It is one of many sites that compose the Nyanga Iron Age ruins. Ziwa was declared a National Monument in 1946 and is currently under consideration for World Heritage listing. The site contains a large variety of stonework structures including stone terraces running along contours of hills and steep landscapes. Archaeological investigations have also uncovered important aspects of pottery and rock art. Before the declaration of the site as a National Monument, Ziwa had been part of the commercial farms area and was thus under private ownership. A great deal of damage or degradation of antiquities may have been wrought during this period as the farmer used the property as a cattle ranch. Currently a site museum (with tourist facilities such as camping, guided tours, walking trails, bird viewing, etc.) has been established to ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mwenemutapa
The Mutapa Empire – sometimes referred to as Mwenemutapa or Munhumutapa, (, ) – was an African empire in Zimbabwe, which expanded to what is now modern-day Mozambique, Botswana, Malawi, and Zambia. It was ruled by the Nembire or Mbire dynasty. The Portuguese term ''Monomotapa'' is a transliteration of the Shona royal title ''Mwenemutapa'' derived from a combination of two words, ''Mwene'' meaning "Lord" and ''Mutapa'' meaning "conquered land". Over time the monarch's royal title was applied to the kingdom as a whole, and used to denote the kingdom's territory on maps from the period. History Origins There are several Mutapa origin stories, the most widely accepted told by oral tradition is of the princes of Great Zimbabwe. Shona oral tradition attributes Great Zimbabwe's demise to a salt shortage, which may be a figurative way of speaking of land depletion for agriculturalists or of the depletion of critical resources for the community. The first "Mutapa" was a wa ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Retaining Wall
Retaining walls are relatively rigid walls used for supporting soil laterally so that it can be retained at different levels on the two sides. Retaining walls are structures designed to restrain soil to a slope that it would not naturally keep to (typically a steep, near-vertical or vertical slope). They are used to bound soils between two different elevations often in areas of inconveniently steep terrain in areas where the landscape needs to be shaped severely and engineered for more specific purposes like hillside farming or roadway overpasses. A retaining wall that retains soil on the backside and water on the frontside is called a seawall or a bulkhead. Definition A retaining wall is designed to hold in place a mass of earth or the like, such as the edge of a terrace or excavation. The structure is constructed to resist the lateral pressure of soil when there is a desired change in ground elevation that exceeds the angle of repose of the soil. A basement wall is thus one k ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Matabeleland North Province
Matabeleland North is a province in western Zimbabwe. With a population of 827,645 as of the 2022 census, it is the country's second-least populous province, after Matabeleland South, and the least densely Zimbabwean populated province. Matabeleland North and Matabeleland South were established in 1974, when the original Matabeleland Province was bifurcated, eventually losing territory in 1997 when the city of Bulawayo became a province in its own right. Matabeleland North is divided into seven districts, has its capital in Lupane, and Victoria Falls and Hwange its largest towns. The name "Matabeleland" is derived from the Matabele or Ndebele people, the province's largest ethnic group. Matabeleland North is bordered by Matabeleland South and Bulawayo to the south, Midlands to the east, Mashonaland West to the northeast, Botswana to the west, and Zambia to the north, which is separated from Zimbabwe by the Zambezi river. Matabeleland North has an area of , amounting to 1 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
