Freeland tribune. (Freeland, Pa.) 1888-1921, 1896-08-17
SOUTH AFRICAN RUINS.
Buildings at Zim imbabwe that May Be
of King SoIomon's Time.


1t would seem that, at some far dis
tant date, a people more civilized than
any of the present Kafir tribes had
penetrated into the region we now call
Mashonaland, and had maintained it.
self there for considerable period. Re
mains of gold workings 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 scale larger than we can well
deem within the capabilities of the
Katr 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 a 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 Kafirs 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 a
simple pattern, such as the so-called
"herringbone" pattern. The one excep-
ton Is to be found in the ruins of Tm
babwe, in southern Mashonaland. Here
a wall thirty feet high, and from six to
| twelve or fourteen feet thick, incloses a
large elliptical 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
afIinities of the people who erected this
building, or as to the nature of their
worship. Such indications as we have,
| however, suggest that it was some form
of nature worship, including the wor-
| ship of the sun. We know from other
sources Gncluding the Egyptian mOnu-
ments and the Old TESTAMENT that
! there was from very early times trade
btJNtell llle lNttl SEA anu SOlllt Iull VI
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
We're 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
parcs them with the smaller fragments
of ancient building already mentioned.
Those who built Zimbabwe We're a race
much superior to the Bantu tribes,
| whose mud huts are now to be found
not far from these still strong and solid
walls; and those other remains scatter
| ed through the country We're either the
work of that same superior race, or at
any rate, were built in imitation of their
style and under the influence they bad
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
| no 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 1t Is just
as easy to suppose that they came in
the days of Solomon, fifteen centuries
earlier.-Century.