Great Zimbabwe, Mashonaland, Rhodesia: An account of two years' examination work in 1902-4 on behalf of the government of RhodesiaHall, R. N. (Richard Nicklin)
History
Great Zimbabwe, Mashonaland, Rhodesia: An account of two years' examination work in 1902-4 on behalf of the government of Rhodesia
Hall, R. N. (Richard Nicklin)
Great Zimbabwe (Extinct city); Zimbabwe -- Antiquities
The salute on meeting is by clapping hands. On greeting a man they will
clap the palms with the hands slightly crossed, the forefinger of the
right hand crossing the base of the forefinger of the other; but on
saluting a woman the forefinger is placed to forefinger with wrists
together. The length of time of clapping depends on the position of the
person saluted. On joining a group to talk, eat, or drink the new-comer
claps hands before sitting down and again when the food or drink is
offered him.
Among the Jewish customs of the Makalanga the following may be
noticed. (1) Monotheism and no worship of idols; (2) worship of, and
sacrifices to, ancestors—a practice condemned by the Prophets; (3)
rite of circumcision; (4) despising the uncircumcised: the taunt
of non-circumcision is commonly employed between disputants; (5)
purification and shaving of the head; (6) transferring impurity or
infection from individuals to some animal, which in some instances
is slain and in others purposely lost on the veld; (7) reception by
women of parties returning from hunting or war, as in the case of
Jephthah; (8) feasts of new moons and invocations to new moons; (9)
feasts of full moons; (10) offerings of first fruits; (11) defilement
by touching the dead; (12) defilement of eating flesh containing blood;
(13) abhorrence of swine as unclean; (14) sprinkling the worshippers
with blood; (15) places of refuge for criminals or people believed
but not found guilty of offending tribal custom;[30] (16) observance
of Sabbath, either every five or seven days; (17) marriage only among
themselves, but cannot marry into the same tribe; (18) casting of lots;
(19) sacrifices of oxen in times of trouble, such as drought; (20)
practice of espousal before marriage; (21) brother succeeds to brother
in office and property; (22) brother takes to wife the wives of his
deceased elder brother, and raising offspring, they rank in office as
if they were the children of the deceased; (23) a daughter does not
inherit property or position except on the death of all her brothers;
(24) rigid morality with regard to all fleshly sins, adultery and
fornication being punished with death and outlawry.
Additional parallelisms with Jewish customs could be stated, and all
these peculiar practices, together with the lighter skin and the Jewish
appearance of the Makalanga, distinctly point to the ancient impress of
the Idumean Jews, which can also be traced on the present peoples of
Madagascar and of the coasts of Mozambique and Sofala.[31]
Many of these customs are now falling into desuetude on the advance of
white civilisation. The Molembo tribe of Makalanga is noted for the
preservation and observance of the majority of these Jewish practices,
which are in character distinctly pre-Koranic in origin.
CHAPTER VI
RELICS AND “FINDS” AT GREAT ZIMBABWE, 1902–4 WITH DESCRIPTIONS,
LOCATIONS, AND ASSOCIATIONS[32]
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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