Tales of the Great Zimbabwe Trivia Quiz

Answer: Ancestral Shona

Native to Zimbabwe and the surrounding area, the Shona belong to the Bantu group that is divided into the Eastern Shonas and the Western Shonas, and still exists today. At the time the construction of the Great Zimbabwe began, the Ancestral Shona, called the Gokomere culture, made a living by farming, herding cattle and ironworking.

It is believed that the Gokomere culture, known for their beautiful rock art, migrated to the area as early as the 4th century AD. There are approximately 10 million Shona who still inhabit the same general area of the great ruins.

They continue to make a living by farming maize, sorghum, and African groundnuts, and herding cattle and goats. They are also known for their textiles and stone sculptures.

Answer: 1000-1450 AD

At about the same time that Leif Eriksson was exploring Vinland in modern-day Canada, construction began on the Great Zimbabwe, which eventually expanded to hold 18,000 people. There are three groups of ruins on the site, which eventually covered 1,800 acres.

The Hill Ruins appear to have been continuously inhabited during construction and are believed to have had several levels of human habitation. Dating to the 1200s, the Great Enclosure is believed to have contained huts, a community area, and a great tower, 30 feet high and 18 feet in diameter.

The Valley Complex was inhabited by the 1300s, although sources vary on the exact date, and it appears to have been another living area. Modern historians believe that it is possible that the three groups of ruins indicate that new rulers wanted to build a new residence, or perhaps, each group had a different purpose.

Answer: Dry stone

Dry stone is a building technique in which no mortar is used to secure the stones together. The walls of the Great Zimbabwe were constructed using granite stones that were taken from the exposed rock of nearby hills, which easily split to form bricks and slabs. Built with a stabilizing inward slope, the walls formed what is considered to be the largest ancient structure in Sub-Saharan Africa.

In the section called the Great Enclosure the walls were approximately thirty-six feet high in places, extended for about 820 feet, and are estimated to have contained a million blocks in the outer wall.

When Europeans first discovered the Great Zimbabwe, they were convinced that it had to have been built by a foreign power. The first excavations, although carried out rather haphazardly, proved that the structure was indeed built by African people.

Answer: Palace

While many theories abound regarding the use of the Great Zimbabwe, most historians today agree that it served as a royal residence. One theory of the origin of the word 'zimbabwe' is that it derived from the word 'dzimba-hwe', which means 'venerated houses'. That would imply that the Great Zimbabwe was used as the chief's house or perhaps burial site.

It is believed today that the king and the ruling family lived within the great walls, which were built for defense against enemies. The walls also served as a barrier between the ruling family and the common people; some believe the archaeological evidence points to the fact that the common people lived in a slum-like area outside the enclosure.

Answer: Zimbabwe Birds

Eight soapstone sculptures, usually called the Zimbabwe Birds, were removed from the Great Zimbabwe. The birds, about 16 inches tall, had been placed on the tops of blocks of stone that were about three feet tall; it is agreed that they represent birds of prey.

Historians are still debating the purpose of the birds; some think that perhaps a new one was placed at the beginning of the reign of a new king. This would imply, however, the each of the kings had an extremely long term of office. It is more likely, then, that the birds were sacred in some way to the people.

They were removed from the Great Zimbabwe in 1889 by Willi Posselt, who paid the people who tried to stop him with blankets and other items. The birds were subsequently sold to Cecil Rhodes.

Answer: Gold

Raising cattle and crops, as well as mining gold, appear to have been the principal occupations at the Great Zimbabwe. Many artifacts used in mining gold, such as gold-working equipment like crucibles, have been found. It has been estimated that almost 40% of the gold mined in the world at the time, about 600 tons, came from the region of the Great Zimbabwe.

Another important trade commodity there was ivory.

Answer: True

There is a museum near the Great Zimbabwe where artifacts unearthed from the site can be viewed. They include pieces of Persian pottery, a Chinese writing set, coins from Arabia, and brass ornaments from India. Historians believe that the trade was linked with Kilwa, an island in the Indian Ocean off the coast of Tanzania, all the way to China; by the 13th century, the Great Zimbabwe was at the epicenter of a very important trading network. Why did it fall? The answer to that question is still unknown.

By the time the Portuguese arrived in the 16th century, the site had already been abandoned. Perhaps there had been a decline in trade as the natural resources had been exhausted, or maybe a change in climate had led to shortages of food and water.

Answer: Queen of Sheba

Karl Mauch, 1837-1875, visited the site of the Great Zimbabwe in 1871, and wrote that the great stone ruins could never have been built by the natives in the area. After cutting (!) some wood from one of the lintels he concluded that he had found cedar from Lebanon at the Great Zimbabwe. Maybe it was built by the Phoenicians? The Great Enclosure, which the people at the time called 'Mumbahuru', or 'the house of the great woman', must have housed the Queen of Sheba. Perhaps it was Ophir where the Queen of Sheba obtained gold for Solomon's Temple? Mauch elaborated on a theory that had already been set forth by the Portuguese in the 1500s that the site had somehow been constructed to duplicate the palace of the Queen in Jerusalem. Excavations yielded artifacts at the site that were very much like the ones that the nearby people were using.

There is no way that this story is more than a legend!

Answer: Zimbabwes

There are actually about 300 stone complexes scattered throughout the Zimbabwe Plateau; some were built earlier than the Great Zimbabwe, and some were built later. The Portuguese explorer, Vicente Pegado, who was quoted in the introduction, explained that "The natives of the country call these edifices 'Symbaoe', which according to their language signifies 'court'"; the name also includes 'dzimba', the Shona term for 'houses'. One theory of the word 'zimbabwe' is that it originated from 'Dzimba-dza-mabwe', which translates as 'large houses of stone'.

Answer: False

Actually, Zimbabwe, known in the past as Southern Rhodesia, Rhodesia, and Zimbabwe Rhodesia, took its name from the Great Zimbabwe in 1980 when Robert Mugabe became the first prime minister of the country. A matter of great cultural pride, the Great Zimbabwe is a symbol of achievement; as you can see, the Zimbabwe Bird is displayed prominently on the national flag, and is also evident on the country's coat of arms. Unfortunately many of the structures of the Great Zimbabwe were ruined by early treasure hunters.

In 1986 it became an UNESCO World Heritage site.