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Fitzwilliam Museum in Cambridge and Back to London

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Written on June 13, 2008, at Eat and Two Veg Restaurant, London, United Kingdom

This morning, I had to go to Cambridge and Sarah was off to Kent, so we said our goodbyes. I caught the train to Cambridge and met a nice woman named Emily Esche on the way. She is studying archaeology and is particularly interested in studying human remains. So, we could talk shop. She later sent me an email with great advice for sites around Stonehenge.

When I got off the train at Cambridge, I was stunned by the number of bikes parked outside the station (the pic shows less than a quarter of the bikes).

Bike Parking, Train Station, Cambridge, England Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge, England

I walked to the Fitzwilliam Museum and, since the museum’s 25th dynasty expert is on leaving writing her thesis, I met with a fellow named Anders Bell, who showed me an Assyrian artifact from the museum’s store (i.e. storage area) then directed me to the ancient Sudan gallery and three ancient Egyptian galleries, excellent for research purposes.

Assyrian Artifact, Contemporary With 25th Dynasty Egypt, Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge, England Nubian Fertility Figurine, Copper Alloy, 25th Dynasty Sudan, Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge, Englad Nubian Bust of Female, Copper Alloy, 25th Dynasty Sudan, Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge, England

Faience Beads With Cartouches of Rulers, 25th Dynasty Sudan, Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge, England Faience Beads With Cartouches of Rulers, 25th Dynasty Sudan, Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge, England Pottery Vessels, Sanam, 25th Dynasty Sudan, Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge, England
Alabaster Vessels, Sanam, 25th Dynasty Sudan, Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge, England Faience Amulets in the Form of Wedjat Eyes, a Hand, a Sistrum, Hathor and Bes Figures, 25th Dynasty Sudan, Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge, England Glass, Faience, and Paste Necklaces, 25th Dynasty Sudan, Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge, England
Mirror, Copper Alloy, Sanam, 25th Dynasty Sudan, Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge, England Faience and Steatite Necklaces With Traditional Egyptian Amulets, Sanam, 25th Dynasty Sudan, Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge, England Pottery Vessel and Scarabs, Sanam, 25th Dynasty Sudan, Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge, England

Scarabs, Sanam, 25th Dynasty Sudan, Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge, England Copper Alloy Figure of Metal Worker and Wood Cubit Rod, Late Period From 746-336 BCE, Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge, England Wood Ptah-Sokar-Osiris Box Containing Papyrus Scroll, Late Period, 746-336 BCE, Egypt, Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge, England

Wood Ptah-Sokar-Osiris Box Containing Papyrus Scroll, Late Period, 746-336 BCE, Egypt, Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge, England Wood Ptah-Sokar-Osiris Box Containing Papyrus Scroll, Late Period, 746-336 BCE, Egypt, Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge, England Wood Ptah-Sokar-Osiris Box Containing Papyrus Scroll, Late Period, 746-336 BCE, Egypt, Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge, England

Fish on a Sledge, Probably Part of Coffin for Mummified Fish, Copper Alloy, Late Period, 746-336 BCE, Egypt, Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge, England

Faience Figure of Shu, God of Sunlight and Air, Late Period, 746-336 BCE, Egypt, Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge, England Painted Wood Stela of Woman Offering to Re-Harakhty, Sun God of the Underworld, 22nd Dynasty Egypt, at Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge, England Amun Figure, Copper Alloy, Late Period, 746-336 BCE, Egypt, at Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge, England

Rams Head Fitting, Probably Amun, Copper Alloy, Late Period, 746-336 BCE, Egypt, at Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge, England Prow for a Sacred Boat, Copper Alloy, Late Period, 746-336 BCE, Egypt, in Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge, England Ithyphallic Amun Min Figure, Copper Alloy, Late Period, 746-336 BCE, Egypt, in Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge, England

Bes FIgure, God Who Protected Pregnant Women and Children, Painted Plaster and Wood, New Kingdom Egypt, in Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge, England Tawaret Figure, Goddess Protecting Women During Childbirth, Diorite, Late Period, 746-336 BCE, Egypt, in Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge, England Neith Statue, Goddess of Sais Associated With Warfare, Late Period, 746-336 BCE, Egypt, in Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge, England

Kneeling Priest Figure, Copper Alloy, Late Period, 746-336 BCE, Egypt, in Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge, England Sekhmet Figure, Copper Alloy, Late Period, 746-336 BCE, Egypt, in Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge, England Kneeling Man Figure Holding Osiris Shrine, Serpentine, Late Period, 746-336 BCE, Egypt, in Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge, England

Osiris Figure, God of Underworld, Copper Alloy, Late Period, 746-336 BCE, Egypt, in Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge, England Figure of Woman and Bes, God Protecting Pregnant Women and Children, Copper Alloy, Late Period, 746-525 BCE, Egypt, in Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge, England Uraeus Cobra, Painted Wood Attachments, Late Period, 746-332 BCE, Egypt, in Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge, England

Ear Stela, Limestone, Probably Dynasty 18 Temple of Hatshepsut, Found at Montuhotep Temple, Deir el Bahri, Egypt, in Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge, England Phallic Fertility Figures, Wood, New Kingdom, 1550-1070 BCE, Montuhotep Temple, Deir el Bahri, Egypt, in Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge, England Fertility Figures, Clay, New Kingdom, 1550-1070 BCE, Egypt, in Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge, England

Statue of Priest Holding Large Sistrum in Form of Hathor, Granite, Late Period, 746-336 BCE, Mendes, Egypt, in Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge, England Statue of Priest Holding Large Sistrum in Form of Hathor, Granite, Late Period, 746-336 BCE, Mendes, Egypt, in Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge, England Statue of Priest Holding Large Sistrum in Form of Hathor, Granite, Late Period, 746-336 BCE, Mendes, Egypt, in Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge, England

Statue of Priest Holding Large Sistrum in Form of Hathor, Granite, Late Period, 746-336 BCE, Mendes, Egypt, in Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge, England Statue of Priest Holding Large Sistrum in Form of Hathor, Granite, Late Period, 746-336 BCE, Mendes, Egypt, in Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge, England Statue of Priest Holding Large Sistrum in Form of Hathor, Granite, Late Period, 746-336 BCE, Mendes, Egypt, in Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge, England

Relief of Amenirdas, Sister of Shabaka, or Shepenwepet, Divine Consort Making Offering, Sandstone, 25th Dynasty, 715-700 BCE, Amenirdas Chapel, Medinat Habu, Egypt, at Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge, England Amenirdas Cartouche, Faience, 25th Dynasty, 746-664 BCE, Egypt, in Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge, England Amun Relief, Originally Inlaid, Copper Alloy, 25th Dynasty, 746-664 BCE, Saqqara, Egypt, in Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge, England

Vessel With Marsh Scene and Nubian Identified by Short Wig, 25th Dynasty, 746-664 BCE, Egypt, in Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge, England Nubian Woman, Limestone Sculpture, 25th Dynasty, 746-664 BCE, Egypt, in Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge, England Figurine of Woman Holding Statue of Young Horus, Copper Alloy, 25th Dynasty, 746-664 BCE, Egypt, in Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge, England

Figurine of Naked Woman With Crown, Probably of Fertility Priestess, 25th Dynasty, 746-664 BCE, Egypt, in Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge, England Shabti of Taharqa, Calcite, 25th Dynasty, 690-664 BCE, Egypt, in Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge, England Funerary Cone for Taharqa, Clay, 25th Dynasty, 690-664 BCE, Egypt, in Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge, England

Figurine Probably of Taharqa, Copper Alloy, 25th Dynasty, Probably 690-664 BCE, Egypt, in Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge, England Figurine of Taharqa, Copper Alloy, 25th Dynasty, 690-664 BCE, Egypt, in Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge, England Detail of Figurine of Taharqa, Copper Alloy, 25th Dynasty, 690-664 BCE, Egypt, in Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge, England

Archaized Relief of Sem Priest Looking After the Deceased, Limestone, 25th Dynasty, 746-664 BCE, Egypt, in Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge, England Archaized Portrait of Ruler, Basalt Statue, 25th or 26th Dynasty, 746-525 BCE, Egypt, in Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge, England Archaized Painted Head, Limestone, Late Period, 746-525 BCE, Egypt, in Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge, England

Archaized Relief, Limestone, Late Period, 746-525 BCE, Egypt, in Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge, England Ring With Cartouche of Smendes, Copper Alloy, 21st Dynasty, 1070-1044 BCE, Egypt, Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge, England Statuette Inscribed With Name of Sheshonq V, Glassy Frit, 774-736 BCE, Saqqara, Egypt, in Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge, England

Statuette of Boy Prince or Harpocrates, Limestone, Second Century BCE, Egypt, in Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge, England Bes As Fountain, Marble, About 117-250 CE, Rome, in Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge, England Ape Clinging to Cartouche Dish, Faience, Late Period, 746-336 BCE, Egypt, in Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge, England

Color Palette Inscribed With Name of Ihy, Overseer of Recruits for the Palace, Slate, 5th Dynasty, 2504-2347 BCE, Egypt, in Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge, England Figure of Man, Limestone, About 3500-3000 BCE, Egypt, in Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge, England Bes Furniture Fittings, of Ebony, Wood and Ivory, New Kingdom, 1550-1070 BCE, Egypt, in Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge, England

Locust Figure, Copper Alloy, Late Period, 746-332 BCE, Egypt, in Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge, England Magic Knives to Offer Protection, Ivory, 13th Dynasty, 1794-1648 BCE, Egypt, in Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge, England Cobra Wand Found With Magical Texts and Implements in Tomb 5 Under the Ramesseum, Copper Alloy, Middle Kingdom, 2119-1794 BCE, Thebes, Egypt, in Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge, England

Ibis Wand, Wood, New Kingdom, 1550-1070 BCE, Egypt, in Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge, England Staff Terminals Decorated With Bull and Lotus Motif, Staffs Missing, Copper Alloy, Egypt, in Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge, England Figure of Isis and Horus Dedicated to Hatiufankh on the Base, Copper Alloy, About 200-100 BCE, Egypt, in Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge, England

Horus Standing on Oryx, Dedicated by a Priest of Amun, About 200-100 BCE, Egypt, in Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge, England Horus Standing on Oryx, Dedicated by a Priest of Amun, Copper Alloy, About 200-100 BCE, Egypt, in Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge, England Ring Inscribed With Name of Wearer and Figures of Gods Including Amun, Gold, New Kingdom to Late Period, 1550-336 BCE, Egypt, in Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge, England

Figure of Anubis as Jackal, Painted Wood, Third Intermediate Period, 1070-714 BCE, Egypt, in Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge, England Neo-Assyrian Cylinder Seals, About 950-600 BCE, in Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge, England Neo-Assyrian Cylinder Seals, About 950-600 BCE, in Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge, England

Neo-Assyrian Stamp Seals, About 950-600 BCE, in Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge, England Neo-Assyrian Stamp Seals, About 950-600 BCE, in Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge, England Nubian Fertility Figurine With Short Wig, Copper Alloy, 25th Dynasty, 746-664 BCE, Egypt, in Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge, England

Cemetery Objects, Napatan Period, 700-300 BCE, Sanam Abu Dom, in Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge, England

The next blog entry has a special feature on Pakepu’s coffins. He was a Water carrier who lived in Western Thebes around 700-650 BCE.

I managed to finish my work at the museum in 2½ hours. On the way back to the train station, I took a few pictures of the Scott Polar Research Institute and the wonderful statue of a nude young man outside it.

Scott Polar Research Institute, Cambridge, England Statue of Nude Young Man, Scott Polar Research Institute, Cambridge, England Detail of Statue of Nude Young Man, Scott Polar Research Institute, Cambridge, England

I also walked a bit further down the street and visited the cathedral on the way to the train station.

Old-Style Building, Cambridge, England Cathedral, Cambridge, England Cathedral, Cambridge, England

Cathedral, Cambridge, England Interior of Cathedral, Cambridge, England

Then I hopped back on the train to London to check into the overpriced European Hotel near Kings Cross, into that small basement-level room with a loud bathroom fan and a musty odor with little room for anything else but the bed and the lamp next to it, all for the bargain rate of £45 (~US$90) per night. That’s actually a good deal in central London.

I massaged my body with a hot shower, then headed out to find free wifi, so I could search for vegetarian restaurants and queer bars. The Cafe Sosso closed just as I arrived, so instead I went to the (Quaker) Friends House cafe, which had also closed, but they let me site there in the courtyard and browse with my laptop. I found this excellent veg restaurant called Eat and Two Veg where I just finished an excellent meal of veg sausage on mashed potatoes with fresh-squeezed juice and a fruit cobbler topped with butterscotch ice cream for dessert.

London Is Expensive! British Museum and Egypt Exploration Society

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Written on June 13, 2008, at Eat and Two Veg Restaurant, London, United Kingdom

I reluctantly left Sacrilege in San Francisco and boarded the plane to London via Washington, DC, on June 9, leaving late in the evening and arriving late the following evening.

Sarah, my friend from Zimbabwe, is working in London and kindly prevailed on her housemates to permit me to crash at their place for a couple of nights. One of her housemates, Caroline, is a schoolteacher and I didn’t meet the other housemate, who is apparently from Malaysia and was traveling in Amsterdam.

Sarah lives in a greenish northern suburb of London which is at least a half hour on the metro, or “tube? as they call it here, from central London. The tube ride costs £2 (~US$4) if you pay in cash, or only 90 pence if you use the Oyster card, a kind of metro debit card.

On my first excursion into town, I went to the Petrie Museum for Egyptian Archaeology. I arrived at 11:00 and left around 16:00 after examing ten artifacts up close and personal and many more exhibited in the public collection.

Next, I searched around for a hotel where I could spend Friday and Saturday night. The cheapest room I could find in the Kings Cross area with a bathroom “en suite?, i.e. in the room, not shared, was £45 (~US$90)! The place is called the European Hotel and the expensive room was in the basement, small, and perhaps a bit moldy.

I made it back to Sarah and Caroline’s place before either of them got back home, so I waited on the stoop until Caroline got home before Sarah did.

That evening, Sarah and I ate pizza with Caroline, then Sarah invited me to meet some childhood friends with whom she is still close. They even live in the same neighborhood in London. We went first to a typical English pub where I tried a draft ½ pint of ale. Everyone else drank at least twice as much as I. We met Antony at the pub, then went on to his cute little house and sat in the back garden with Antony’s brother Bobby, who I had met in Zimbabwe on an outing with Sarah to majestic Matopas, along with a girlfriend of theirs also named Sarah, who lived for awhile in Australia.

Antony is a great conversationalist, his banter littered with curses and his stories and political arguments quite entertaining. We drank and drank and drank, then Sarah and I walked home, so waking for our work the next day wouldn’t be too painful.

Next day, we walked again to the tube and she went to work, I to the British Museum. I got some good pictures of 25th dynasty Egyptian artifacts in Gallery 4.

Limestone Stela of Prince Meryre, Athribis, 25th Dynasty, British Museum, London, England Red Breccia Figure of Tawaret or Tuaret, Late Period, Egyptian Gallery 4, British Museum, London, England Shabaka or Shabako Stone, 25th Dynasty, Memphis, in British Museum, London, England

Kneeling Statue of Montuemhat, 25th or 26th Dynasty, Thebes, in British Museum, London, England Basin of Montuemhat, 25th or 26th Dynasty, Possibly Thebes, British Museum, London, England Granite Statue of Amun as Ram With Taharqa, 25th Dynasty, Kawa, in British Museum, London, England

I’ll go back there tomorrow (Saturday) to do more. I had an 11:00 meeting scheduled with Chris Naunton, Deputy Director of the Egypt Exploration Society. Their office is located on Doughty Mews, a cute little cobblestoned street with comfy old brick buildings. The library there had lots of resources to help me with my research, but best of all was the chance to chat with Chris, who has been researching 25th dynasty non-royal officials for at least eight years. Although he was delayed by an emergency meeting due to leadership change within the organization, and although he was obviously dealing with considerable stress over it, he made time to hang out and chat with me and provided a bunch of helpful materials.

I was scheduled to meet Sarah at 18:15 at Charing Cross station, so I managed to go to the Kings Cross station to purchase my round-trip train ticket to Cambridge for the following day, Friday.

I took the tube to Charing Cross to meet Sarah. While I waited, I ate a veggie pasty from a place in the station. Then, I took Sarah out to dinner at an Italian restaurant near the station.

After that, she invited me to a South African bar, where her friend Jeremy had invited a group of Zimbabwean and other friends since he was passing through town on this travels with his girlfriend and hadn’t sen many of his friends, now in London, for some years. It was all about drinking a lot of beer or cider, but surprisingly, people chatted a lot as well. We also tried Amarula Cream, a liqueur from a South African fruit that tasted like Bailey’s. Then Sarah and I left – I was really tired. I nodded off a bit on the tube and struggled to walk the rest of the way back to her place.

Great Zimbabwe: Largest Sub-Saharian Pre-Colonial Structure

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After relaxing for a day at the Ancient City Lodge, I went to visit the Great Zimbabwe Monument site. I had reserved in advance an archaeologist as a guide.

OVERVIEW:

Hill Enclosure
Valley Enclosures
Great Enclosure
Museum
References

HILL ENCLOSURE:

Arriving at the Hill Enclosure, one passes through what was probably an ancient guard station

Climb uphill passing through narrow passages between boulders where defenders could have thrown boulders onto invaders to prevent entry and protect city

At summit, enter past double walls into a clearing where the king’s huts were built (one on top of another over time, possibly demolished as each king died, with new hut built on remains of the old, ending up with the stratified layers several meters deep excavated by archaeologists)

King’s platform short climb above the clearing. Thought to be the chikuva of the Hill Enclosure. A chikuva is traditionally a part of the kitchen far from the entrance where people pray to spirits for protection or good fortune. When a person dies, their relatives lay their body overnight in the chikuva before burial.

One of the famous Great Zimbabwe birds was found in the chikuva, representing what is probably an eagle of as yet unknown species.

Next comes what was probably the homesteads of the king’s closest and most prestigious advisors.

The Recessed Enclosure, named after the recesses in its far wall, is thought to have been the home of the spirit mediums.

A short walk on a downhill path brings you to the Cave where ore was likely stored and where the spiritual leadership likely prepared for rituals. Also, the cave acts as a natural megaphone for communicating messages to the Valley Enclosures and Great Enclosure far below.

Walking uphill along another nearby path, one reaches the Furnace Enclosure used for ore smelting, including iron and possibly gold work.

A bit further uphill is the Ritual Enclosure or Sacred Enclosure. Six birds were found there, then stolen in the late 19th century by a European archaeologist.

Many of the birds have toes that look like human toes.

There were at least two platforms within the Ritual Enclosure, one on each side. Probably two of the birds rested on each platform, facing inwards toward the people sitting around the edge at the rear (downhill side of the enclosure). The king’s advisers and the diviners likely sat on platforms arranged upward on the hill. The king likely presided over the rituals seated on top of a large boulder well above everyone else, a small wall seen on the left side when facing him, probably accompanied by guards.

The ritual likely consisted of drinking beer, chanting, clapping, and dancing until sweaty, which produced states of possession by the spirits.

According to Matenga, three cows were sacrificed: one for the crowd, a second for the spirits, and a third carcass taken to the jungle for the spirit lions. If the carcass was found eaten the next day, it meant the spirits were pleased; otherwise, additional measures might have to be taken to appease the spirits.

Sometimes the purpose of the ritual was to dance for rain.

King’s lineage passed from older to younger brother starting with first wife, then second wife, etc. King usually had over 200 wives living in Valley Enclosures. Continued on to sons if all brothers had served as King.

VALLEY ENCLOSURES:

Thought to be where the king’s wives lived in about 50 households with two to three wives per household.

Judicial court for commoners in one field with appeal only rarely to “supreme court? of King’s council.

Also the location of an enclosure where imported treasures were found, called the Royal Treasury.

GREAT ENCLOSURE:

Theories:

First wife of king may have lived there
Maybe a school of initiation and ethics there
Evidence includes phallic objects found there and a decorated beam with crocodile and other symbols
Children’s play area near front entrance(s)?
OR perhaps the (last?) king shifted residence from the Hill Enclosure to the Great Enclosure

The enclosure has the shape of a womb

The outer and most recent wall of the Great Enclosure curves around like a python biting its tail with the earliest construction at the lower end of the tail and later construction toward the head, including the layer of chevron decoration over the newer part of the outer wall.

MUSEUM:

Power was out at the museum, but luckily I had brought a torch. No pictures allowed. 🙁

Exhibits as far as I remember included:

History of Great Zimbabwe
Models of Enclosures
Crops: sorghum, millet, and one other
Tools: adze, spears, etc.
The Zimbabwe Birds (the piece de resistance!)
The Forge
Cotton and Textiles – Weaving
Trans-Continental Trade
Zoomorphic stool (said to walk around to fetch water on command of magician)

REFERENCES:

Provided by guide:

Hall, Martin. Farming Communities.

Hoffman, Thomas. Snakes and Crocodiles.

Hoffman, Thomas. Symbols of a Nation: Unveiling the Mysteries of Great Zimbabwe.

Matenga, Edward. Bird book (which I purchased there)

Garlake, Peter. Many books.

Mudhenge, Stan. Political History of Munhumutapa.

Pikirai, Innocent. The Archaeology of the Mutapa Empire.

Thanks to Senior Tour Guide Francis Muchemwa, Great Zimbabwe World Heritage Site, P.O. Box 1000, Masvingo, Zimbabwe, tel. +263 039 265084 or 262080, mobile 011 760824, email francismuchemwa@yahoo.com (send copy of book)

Zimbabwe Museum of Human Sciences in Harare

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My arrival in Harare came with fears about how 8000% monthly inflation, food shortages, and a repressive dictator who hates gay people would influence my stay and feelings about Zimbabwe and its people.

I was a bit bewildered on arrival at the airport since I didn’t want to change money at the official rate, which was far below the black market rate. Yet I didn’t know who I could trust to change money on the black market without getting arrested or cheated or whatever.

Luckily, I met Sarah, a wonderful person who helped me figure out how to adapt to life in Zimbabwe right there at the airport. She was asking around about the current exchange rate and helped me meet a Zimbabwe local who gave me a free ride along with my bags in the back of a pickup truck to meet my friend Richard in the parking lot of a well-known hotel.

Richard put me up at his place for the day and night and showed me around town a bit. I saw the grocery stores full of food in Harare, although with prices rapidly becoming unaffordable for people whose salaries weren’t pegged to foreign currencies. He took me to an excellent Chinese restaurant with an interesting twist to the menu… each dish had a price code listed by it and the list of prices corresponding to the codes appeared on the last page of the menu, so it could be updated on a regular, even daily, basis. When it came time to pay, Richard pulled out the bag he carries around everywhere and laid a pile of cash about six inches tall on the table.

The government announced the new 10,000,000 dollar note around the time I arrived in the country, to help with the problem of physically carrying around so much cash for even the simplest of transactions. In most places that do any regular business involving large amounts of cash, they have a cash counting machine, like the one pictured below.

Cash-Counting Machine, Bus Company, Bus Terminal Building, Harare, Zimbabwe I Become a Millionaire, Currency Inflation in Zimbabwe
As soon as I changed money, I became a multimillionaire!

Richard’s father was arriving that day to stay at his place so he helped me find a hotel room. Luckily, we found one that wasn’t horridly expensive as most of them are for foreigners paying a special hard-currency foreigner price in Harare. I stayed at the lovely Bronte Hotel.

Grounds of Bronte Hotel, Harare, Zimbabwe Restaurant at Bronte Hotel, Harare, Zimbabwe

I saw a placard announcing the groups meeting there at the hotel. One of the groups listed was GALZ, which I knew as Gay and Lesbian Zimbabweans. I was shocked to see them listed, since I thought the repression would be so great that they would have to meet in private homes, ever since Mugabe’s “gays are worse than dogs” statement. I had the privilege of popping in one of their meeting sessions to wish them well, letting them know that people all over the world have heard about their struggle and understand the difficult conditions under which they are operating with threats of violence, imprisonment, and death, not to mention public humiliation and loss of employment.

On January 18, 2008, I visited the Zimbabwe Museum of Human Sciences, in Harare, Zimbabwe.

Machanga people

Oral tradition says origins in Hlengwe people who arrived before Soshongana, a Ngoni (Ngohi?) whose real name is Mamukese / Manukosi, son of Chiyangeni. Manukese fled Shaka during Mfecune period. Soshongana found the Hlengwe and established the Gaza state in early 19th century after defeating all tribes…

Machangana men pierced ears using knife, sign of bravery, skin loins, mayadha white cloth, mubodhi head ring, tnbaya(?) urinary chamber

Machangana women wear minceka, salempore (chibhelana / chibhabhela), seashells (mbambamba), leg bangles (madheya(?))

Zvitumbarse drums

Ranzala groundhornbill drum

Thumb piano

Initiation – instructor (mudzhabi)

Girls’ initiation = kombla

Boys’ initiation = mupundu(?)

Food processing: grind (kukanda) food using pestle (musi) and mortar (xthurhi), in chihizo for final processing

Ngula grainbin

Farming–

Crops: mvele (small grains), mashalani (sorghum), mahuva (millet)

Wooden hoes

Conservation of trees as shed for crops (minduti yemerele (or yemevele???))

Singing songs, political or even vulgar, only while pounding grain

Beer pots (mbita)

Head cushion (simbo)

Head rests (mukigeio)

Woven grain storage container

Chieftancy–

Nzalema power in chief’s stomach, vomited at death

Chosen from eldest son of first wife, if chief too young, nephew (tukulu, who is not in line for chieftancy) would hold the post (kuomela)

Chiefs had spear (thlari), elephant’s tusk (lumhondo lwendhlopfu), leopard’s skin, and headring (mubhodhi)

King buried in house seated facing east, elephant tusk buried with him, protruding a bit from grave

Hunting–

Shields from animal hides, arrows (mupatya), spear, and pit traps for big animals like elephants (hardwood poles with sharpened ends vertical in put, animal pierced during fall

Rituals–

Shona– possession by principal ancestors (masvikiro)

Machanga – possession at homestead level (mudzimu)

Traditional healers (N’anga) advise who to lead ritual to ask for rain before people ate produce from the fields

Madhlozi are possessed by spirits from another culture like Ndau (Maronge or Maconge?) or Ndebele

Rituals performed under Marula tree or in Ndumba house dedicated to ancesstors Inside house, white cloth, multi-colored cloth (palu), small multi-coolored clay pot (chikalaulo) and spears/gourd (ndeve)

Old women in menopause (vatsvah) brew the beer for rituals assisted by young pre-menstrual girls who carry water

Inyanga, early iron age from 300 – 1000 CE, pottery known as Ziwa

Late iron age, 1650-1800 CE, Hwisa settlements

GREAT ZIMBABWE:

Soapstones found at Great Zimbabwe, Dhlodio (Midlands), and Mutare Altar site
figural art, bowls with animal images, eight birds on pillars

Stone building tradition from about 1100-1600 CE

Arrows, spears, adze, hoe, plus imported Chinese celadon, glass beads

Iron gongs, gold grinder, grain bins

Millet, sorghum, and r??? (small grain millet?)

Cattle and goat herding: young cattle for the king’s compound, older for rest of population

Not so much hunting

Great Zimbabwe flourished 1250 – 1450 CE with smaller Zimbabwes all over the central plateau (approximately 300 of them extending even into Mozambique, Botswana, and South Africa)

King lived on the Hill Complex – wealth and power from control over subjects

Symbols of authority found: iron gongs, trade items

Zimbabwe Hill – enclosures

Imba Huru: pole and daga (mortar/cement) houses with enclorsure, three entrances

Khami ruins at Bulawayo are second largest after Great Zimbabwe

Others at places like Matendara, Dhlodhlo, and Naletale

All used decorative wall patterns: chevron, check, cord, dentelle, herriingbone, and alternate courses of granite (light) and schist (dark)

Shona concept of mutupo, link to ancestors

Mazimbabwe – plural usage for other zimbabwes around the country

References found at Museum Library:

Garlake, Peter. Life at Great Zimbabwe. Gweru, Zimbabwe: Mambo Press, 1982, reprinted 1991. {Exploring Zimbabwe Series #1}

Garlake, Peter. Early Zimbabwe: From the Matopos to Inyanga. Gweru, Zimbabwe: Mambo Press, 1983. {Exploring Zimbabwe Series #3}

Garlake, Peter S. Great Zimbabwe. London, United Kingdon?: Thames and Hudson, 1973.

Garlake, Peter. Great Zimbabwe: Described and Explained. Harare, Zimbabwe: Zimbabwe Publishing House, Ltd., 1982.

National Museums and Monuments of Rhodesia. Map of the Zimbabwe Ruins. Publication location and date unknown, like pre-independence, i.e. before 1980.

R.N. Hall. Great Zimbabwe. London, United Kingdom: Methuen and Co., first published 1905.

Chauke, Chris. The Great Zimbabwe Monument Traveller’s Guide. Mosvingo, Zimbabwe: The National Museums and Monuments of Zimbabwe(?), publication date unknown.

Mantenga, Edward. The Soapstone Birds of Great Zimbabwe: Symbols of a Nation. Harare, Zimbabwe: African Publishing Group, 1998.

Robinson, K.R. Khami Ruins. Cambridge, United Kingdom: University Press, 1959.

Summers, Roger. Inyanga: Prehistoric Settlements in Southern Rhodesia. Cambridge, United Kingdom: University Press, 1958.

Gathercole, Peter, and Lowenthal, David (eds.). The Politics of the Past. London, United Kingdom: Unwin Hyman Ltd., 1990, updated 1994?, pp. 189-199 (West Africa article), and pp. 291-298 (Nigeria article)

Thanks to Naone Chiruka, Librarian, Zimbabwe Museum of Human Sciences, Box CY 33, Causeway, Harare Zimbabwe (send copy of my book to the library).

Bus Terminal, Harare, Zimbabwe
I left Harare by bus at the bus station pictured above.