Notes

Heading: Mapungubwe, The Hill Of The Jackal
In Mapungubwe, there are many things to explore! They believed that the place was holy and the Mambo could communicate with the ancestors. showing this power, his workers made a Golden Rhineceros described as a small, wooden piece carved to the shape of a rhino and covered in gold which can fit in the palm of your hand.

Many leaders carry a sceptre with them and that is not a exeption for the Mambo. The golden sceptre is a long golden staff held by the Mambo.

Most traders also traded beads. The collection contains thousands of glass beads from all over the world; large composite ‘garden roller’ beads from K2; stone beads made from calcite and quartz; beads made from ostrich eggs; beads made from seashells and beads made from the shell of the terrestrial land snail.

The rise and fall of Great Zimbabwe
Great Zimbabwe is a medieval city in the south-eastern hills of the modern country of Zimbabwe, near Lake Mutirikwe and the town of Masvingo. It is thought to have been the capital of a kingdom during the Late Iron Age. Construction on the city began in the 11th century and continued until it was abandoned in the 15th 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 7.22 square kilometres (2.79 sq mi) and could have housed up to 18,000 people at its peak, giving it a population density of approximately 2,500 inhabitants per square kilometre (6,500/sq mi). It is recognised as a World Heritage Site by UNESCO.

Great Zimbabwe is believed to have served as a royal palace for the local monarch. As such, it would have been used as the seat of political power. Among the edifice's most prominent features were its walls, some of which are 11 metres (36 ft) high. They were constructed of "dry stone" (that is, without mortar). Eventually, the city was abandoned and fell into ruin.

The earliest document mentioning the Great Zimbabwe ruins was in 1531 by Vicente Pegado, captain of the Portuguese garrison of Sofala on the coast of modern-day Mozambique, who recorded it as Symbaoe. The first confirmed visits by Europeans were in the late 19th century, with investigations of the site starting in 1871.Some later studies of the monument were controversial, as the white government of Rhodesia pressured archeologists to deny its construction by black Africans. Great Zimbabwe has since been adopted as a national monument by the Zimbabwean government, and the modern independent state was named after it.


The Order of Mapungubwe is South Africa's highest honour, named after the ancient civilisation of Mapungubwe. It was instituted on 6 December 2002, and its first recipient (in the highest class) was former president Nelson Mandela. Mandela received the Order of Mapungubwe in platinum for his "exceptional and unequalled" contribution to the struggle against apartheid, national reconciliation and nation-building, as well as his commitment to peace and justice in the world.