Highland recorder. (Monterey, Highland County, Va.) 1877-1972, 1896-08-21
SOUTH AFRICAN RUINS.
Buildinge at Zimbabwe that May Be
of King Solomon's Time.

Buildinge at Zimbabwe that May Be
of King Solomon's Time.
It would seem that, at some far dis
tant date, a people more civilized than
any Of the present Kafr tribes had
penetrated into the region we now call
Mashonaland, and had maintained IT.
self there for a considerable period. Re-
mains Of gold-worklngs are found In
many parts Of that country, and even
as far as the southwestern part Of
Matabeleland-rema which show
that mining must have been carried on,
by primitive methods, no doubt, but still
upon q scale larger than we can well
deem within the capabilities Of the
Kaflr tribes as we now see them. There
are, moreover, in these regions, and
usually not far from some old gold
working, pieces Of ancient building exc
cuted with q neatness and finish, as
well as with an attempt at artistic eff
feet which are entirely absent from the
rough walls, sometimes Of loose stones,
sometimes plastered with mud, which
the Kafrs build to-day.
These old buildings are, with one ex-
ception, bits Of wall inclosing forts or
residences. They are constructed OF
small blocks of the granite of the coun-
try, carefully trimmed to be of one size,
and are usually ornamented with
simple pattern, such as the so-called
"herringbone" pattern. The one excep-
ton Is to be found In the ruins of Ilm-
babwe, in southern Mashoaaland Here
n wall thirty feet high, and from six to
twelve OF fourteen feet thick, incloseS
large elllptical space, filed with other
buildings, some of which apparently
were intended for the purposes OF wor-
ship. There are no inscriptions of any
kind, and few objects, except some
rudely carved heads Of birds, to supply
any indication as to the chronological
affinites Of the people who erected this
building, or as to the nature OF their
worship. Such indca tons as we have,
however suggest that 1t was some form
of nature worship, including the wor-
ship Of the sun. We know from other
sources Qncluding the Egyptian monu-
ments and the Old TESTAMENT that
there was from very early times trade
between the Red Sea and some part OF
East Africa; and as we know also that
the worship Of natural forces and OF the
sun prevailed among the early Semites,
the view that the builders of Zimbabwe
were of Arab or some other Semitic
stock, Is at least highly plausible.
Two things are quite clear to every
one who examines the ruins, and COM
pares them with the smaller fragments
of ancient building already mentioned.
Those who built Zimbabwe were q race
much superior to the Bantu tribes,
whose mud huts are now to be found
not far from these still strong and SOLD
walls: and those other remains scatter
ed through the country were either the
work Of that same superior race, or, at
any rate, were built in imitation of their
style and under the influence they nad
left. But whether this race was driven
out or peaceably withdrew, or became
by degrees absorbed and lost in the
surrounding Bantu population, we have
10 data for conjecture. If they came
from Arabia they must have come more
than twelve centuries ago, before the
days Of Mohammed; for they were evil
IDENTIFY not Mussulmans, and it is just
as easy to suppose that they came In
the days Of Solomon, fifteen centuries
earlier.-Century.