The Great Zimbabwe and Other Ancient Ruins in Rhodesia - Article Analysis Essay

Introduction

Richard Hall wrote the above-chosen source in 1995. Richard was a historian and at the same time a journalist, who was born in East Sussex, and spent part of his childhood in Australia. His family returned to England, where he schooled at Hastings Grammar School, and later at the Keble College in Oxford, where he graduated with a degree in English. He worked in London but then moved to Africa, where he worked as a historian and a journalist. It is during his time in Africa that he wrote the journal. He worked on The Great Zimbabwe ruins site, at a time when European archeologists refused to believed that the ancient Africans had built the ruins.

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The journal's point of view is proving the presence of civilization among the ancient people. The journal relates the ruin's structure and organization to have been achieved as a result of an organized community. The actual walls, the patterns on the walls, the gold found on the ruins, are among facts that prove immense labor, construction skills, a great plan, and patients, which could only establish a civilized community (Hall, 1905). The presence of chevron patterns of decorations, the towers at the east walls and the general plan of the ruins, evidently proves that the ruins might have been used for worshiping purposes (Hall, 1905). Ancient civilized communities like the Babylonians also worshiped, meaning that the society that lived in The Great Zimbabwe was also civilized. Architectural plans of the ruins exhibit high knowledge of geometry and skills among the ancient builders, which could not be archived by uncivilized people. Also, the walls of the ruins show a great experience and knowledge in military defense. Ancient building in the country also proves that the builders had thorough military defense knowledge. On the ruins, ancient gold that was excellently made is evidence of how skillful the ancient people were. Artistic skills enabled detailed decorations on the walls, golds, and on ornaments. Some of the decorations are so small that people could not notice easily, proving an excellent order of workmanship, which all can be achieved by a civilized society only (Hall & Stefoff, 2006: Hall, 1905).

According to Berger, et al. (2016), The Great Zimbabwe was built at a time when a wealthy elite ruled over the region (Berger et al., 2016). The region is related to have been lived by people who grew crops and kept livestock. The ruins were the epicenter of trades and artistry in the region. The ruins are connected to worshiping and religious purpose due to the presence of religious stone, and praying was connected to civilized ancient people (Schlichter, 1893). The ruins are also said to have been the center of civilization of the Shona people. According to Ndoro, the ruins were used as a center for trade as items from far lands like celadon dishes from China and glass from Syria were found on the ruins (Ndoro, 1997). The choosing of its position, on a hill complex also proves evidence of civilization among the ancient people who lived in The Great Zimbabwe. According to Caton-Thompson (1971), the labor and effort used to build The Great Zimbabwe are the same used to build many other ruins in the Rhodesia, which shows evidence of civilized people (Caton-Thompson, 1997).

Reference

Berger, E., Israel, G., Miller, C., Parkinson, B., Reeves, A., & Williams, N. (2016). World History: Cultures, States, and Societies to 1500.

Caton-Thompson, G. (1971). The Zimbabwe culture: ruins and reactions (No. 1). Routledge.

Hall, M., & Stefoff, R. (2006). Great Zimbabwe. Oxford University Press.

Hall, R. (1905). The Great Zimbabwe and Other Ancient Ruins in Rhodesia. The Geographical Journal, 25(4), 405-414. doi:10.2307/1776146

Ndoro, W. (1997). Great Zimbabwe. Scientific American, 277(5), 94-99.

Schlichter, H. (1893). Historical Evidence as to the Zimbabwe Ruins. The Geographical Journal, 2(1), 44-52.