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Great Zimbabwe Ruins Valley view from Acropolis

National Museum of African Art

Object Details

General
Title source: Postcard caption.
Image indexed by negative number.
Creator
Andrea Robbins & Max Becher
Place
Africa
Zimbabwe
Topic
Cultural landscapes
Creator
Andrea Robbins & Max Becher
See more items in
African Postcard Collection
African Postcard Collection / Series 48: Zimbabwe (RH)
Extent
1 Postcard (col., 13.5 x 17 cm.)
Date
1992
Archival Repository
Eliot Elisofon Photographic Archives, National Museum of African Art
Identifier
EEPA.1985-014, Item EEPA RH-07-22
Type
Archival materials
Postcards
Picture postcards
Collection Citation
African Postcard collection, EEPA 1985-014, Eliot Elisofon Photographic Archives, National Museum of African Art, Smithsonian Institution.
Collection Rights
Permission to reproduce images from the Eliot Elisofon Photographic Archives must be obtained in advance. The collection is subject to all copyright laws.
Genre/Form
Picture postcards
Scope and Contents
Original caption reads, "Great Zimbabwe Ruins, valley view from "Acropolis" - These ruins, from which the country took its name at the time of independence in 1981, were built by an empire that flourished around 1400 a.d. The ruins are ample evidence of a kind required by the traditional European historian to deem a culture "advanced" or "civilized" (cut stone, complex, mortar-free dwellings to house a far-reaching empire over centuries). However, since their very existence contradicts the particular stereotypes that were used to justify colonialism, willing historians sought to find architects of the ruins other than the local Shona population (Phoenicians, for example), thus challenging the structures' significance as indigenous cultural monuments. Until very recently, their origins were referred to as "mysterious" or "controversial" by some. However, incontrovertible scientific evidence that has been accumulated since the turn of the century places the ruins directly in the historic continuum of the region and its people and is symbolic vindication for the majority population of Zimbabwe as well as for greater Africa."
Collection Restrictions
Use of original records requires an appointment. Contact Archives staff for more details.
Related link
Record ID
ebl-1536871081657-1536871088525-3
Metadata Usage
CC0
GUID
https://n2t.net/ark:/65665/xo734e2ff91-411a-4750-a2d0-18878d9e9aaf

Related Content

  • African Postcard Collection

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