Great Zimbabwe, Mashonaland, Rhodesia: An account of two years' examination work in 1902-4 on behalf of the government of Rhodesia — John Shaqi
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
As one strays through the Sacred Enclosure, thoughts come:—What were
the relative positions of magic and religion, especially in the
complicated and closely observed Phallic worship of these ancients;
whence the zodiacal, astronomical, and geometrical knowledge of the
builders; what of the touch of tragedy in their exodus or departure;
the exact meaning of the granite, slate, and carved soapstone monoliths
on the summits of the walls; the origin of the occupiers; was Rhodesia
the Havilah of Genesis; did it provide the Solomonic gold; of the close
kinship of these successful ancient gold-seekers from Yemen or Tyre and
Sidon to the Hebrews of Palestine; and of their intimate connection in
origin, language, and neighbourhood which Holy Writ abundantly declares
existed from the ninth chapter of Genesis until Paul preached in
Phœnicia?
Gazing at the Sacred Tower, one thinks of the Tower of Siloam, and of
the “high places” of Samaria, and of the times when even this form of
worship became the state religion of Judah under Ahaziah; and sitting
at the conjectured site of the ancient altar, where the writer has
found in numbers the stone emblems of their faith, thoughts arise of
the Bethel stones of the Hebrews, the Bethûl or “the dwelling-places
of God” of the Phœnicians, and the Penuel or “Face of God” of the
Midianites.
The Law of Moses adapts the rules and customs and ideas and forms of
worship of far greater antiquity than the Mosaic times. So the new
faith of every age borrows from the old, and the mighty processions of
civilisations and faiths which have encircled this earth from very far
back beyond the days of Abraham go on their even course.
But we must leave the temple and return to camp. There is still the
great Zimbabwe owl sitting on his favourite bough near the “high
place.” The six-foot python crawls in and out of the stones of the
ancient altar. Brightly coloured lizards bask on the once consecrated
walls. Blue jays, honey-birds, and doves here find a shelter. The
trees, orchid-clad and lichen-festooned, throw a weird shadow over all.
Possibly ancients are sleeping near.
As one passes out through the entrance into the full glare of an
African noontide, one feels as if one had just returned from the far
distant mystic past to modern life, for a naked Makalanga waits there
with the message that Sunday lunch was cooked and waiting.
• • • • •
_Midnight in an ancient temple._—It was the night of the full moon
nearest to Midsummer Day in the Southern Hemisphere, and towards
midnight the large population of Makalanga round Zimbabwe would be
celebrating the feast of the full moon with dancing, singing, and
_doro_ drinking. This was evidently a special feast, for its advent
had been the theme of conversation among our labourers for the past
fortnight, and, unlike the other feasts, it was held simultaneously in
each kraal, and not at different kraals in turn on alternate occasions.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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