PlaceZimbabwe


 * Welcome to the Place Page! Here you will learn about Human and Physical.**

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People in Zimbabwe were Bantu, Shona, or Karang.
 * Human**__

__**Government**__ A powerful king with help of nobles and native tribes ruled Zimbabwe. Local chiefs watched over smaller areas. They won support of the people by giving them gifts of food. Sometimes the chiefs were replaced if they ran out of food to give as gifts. In the 15th century a local chief, Mutota, led a group of people north to conquer more land. Mutota was successful in expanding the land and was given a new name that was Mwene Mutapa or “Great Ravager of the Land." He made his subjects also people of distant territories to pay him a tax in exchange of gifts and protection. Later on Mwene Mutapa had sons. After Mwene Mutapa died his sons weren’t as successful as their father in ruling the empire. A song named Changa, named himself king of south-central Zimbabwe. During this time the empire had begun to fall apart, making it easier for the Portuguese to conquer.

__**Architecture**__ = = In great Zimbabwe there are three places where stonewalls are found these walls are made from rock and in the older parts of the walls the rocks aren’t chipped to perfect shape. The walls can be as high as 36 feet and and as thick as 19 feet. And guess wat they didnt even use [|mortar].

In the tropical jungle in south Africa there are hundreds of stone ruins. The biggest ones of them are close to Masvingo (also known as fort Victoria), they were know as symbaoe in the early 16th century and then they became Zimbabwe ruins. they are a fortress on a hill also called acropolis and a temple know known as great Zimbabwe. The ruin were built in between the 100s through to 1300.

At the center of the city was the Great Temple. It had posts and huge stonewalls over 30ft high. It was made of over 900,000 stones. This walls protected Zimbabwe from enemies. The Kings's palace was inside the temple. It had fancy stairs, pathways, and hidden passages. Also ceilings were decorated with gold. Stone was used a lot instead of clay, straw, and wood. The stone traces made gardens able to be builton hills, stone boundaries, and prevented cattle from going. Also stonewalls gave privacy and decoration.

The Shona built a famous monument made of stone that’s surrounded the country. It consisted of three main parts: Hill Complex, Great Enclosure, and Valley Ruins. The Hill Complex was used as a center of religion in Great Zimbabwe it is also known as the Acropolis. The second part was the Great Enclosure is a set of two large parallel walls, there were built without mortar. The third part is Valley Ruins were mud huts outside the walls.

This is the Acropolis.

This picture is from: [|http://www.cs.indiana.edu/~tloos/Africa/GZShrine3.jpg]

__**Communication**__ In Zimbabwe they spoke Bantu, Shona, and Karang. They communicated with Muslim merchants on the Indian Coast.

__**Attitude**__ The Shona believed in many things. One of them was that they believed that everything in Earth contains a spirit including rocks. They believed that the spirit in the rock talk to the artist that was making the sculpture. The artist listened to the spirit and worked to get the spirit free.

This is a Shona making a sculpture out of the rock to set the spirit free. This picture is from: http://cultureden.com/images/Shona3_lg-01.jpg

__**Transportation**__ They traveled around on foot horse or camel.

__**Economy**__ The economy in Zimbabwe mainly consisted of agriculture, herding, mining, and trades. Shonas farmed many crops that benefited their civilization. They traded with muslim merchants on the Indian Coast.

__**Religion**__ The Shona believed in one supreme god that was Mwari. Mwari was responsible for natural order they considered him remote for humans. Mhondoro or tribal spirit was consulted through lion spirit mediums about matters of state. A Mudzimu was an ancestor who was consulted on things of healing or personal problems. A Shave was a person that died without a proper funeral. They possessed people they liked and taught them skills. Ngozi was a person who had been murdered on mistreated in life. They made people sick.

__**Physical**

Most of Zimbabwe is covered with savanna grassland. Aloe plants are common in the drier areas, and the low-lying river valleys have baobab, acacia, and teak trees. The higher elevations have grassland and shrubs, interspersed with dense forests and patches of rain forest. Wildlife includes elephants, hippopotamuses, lions, hyenas, crocodiles, giraffes, baboons, and many types of antelope.
 * animal and plant life**__