1. Architectures of Great Zimbabwe and Aksum--Ethiopia

2. Constructed of granite slabs.
Oldest monumental stone structure south of the Sahara
B.P ( AD).
Consists of a series of walls and towers.
Massive stone masonry, without mortar.
Herringbone design patterns,
Triangular patterns
Checkerboard designs
Including numerous colored stones
Other objects from the site include
Bird pillars, fragments of stone platters and ivory
figurines

3. Site might have been inhabited from about 300 AD,
Although the great enclosure was constructed from the 10th-16th cent.
There are three main buildings:
elliptical building/temple
Tall conical tower
Small stone tower and a mass of stone work from other buildings
Possibly a royal Palace of a divine King—Monomotapa
Iron working culture; reputed for their great mines in gold, iron and copper

4. A view of the valley ruin and the Great enclosure

5. Reconstructed entrance into the Great Zimbabwe

6. Staircase into the enclosure

7. Tower of the Great Zimbabwe

8. Outer wall and entrance, the Great Zimbabwe

9. Inside the grounds of the Great enclosure

10. Ruins of the Eastern enclosure

11. Bird with upturned face,
Great Zimbabwe,
Stone

12. One of three birds,
Great Zimbabwe

13. Two Leopards, Ivory ornaments, Great Zimbabwe

14. Fragment of stone platter with animal imagery, Great Zimbabwe

15. Fragments with abstract motifs, Great Zimbabwe

16. Carved stone figurine,
Great Zimbabwe

17. Empire ranked as one of the greatest Empires of all time
Aksum—Ethiopia
Empire ranked as one of the greatest Empires of all time
By 1st half of the 1st millennium C.E, it had:
An extensive maritime trade
Coinage,
Written inscriptions and Literature
Christian faith

18. Juxtaposition of timber frame works with stone masonry
Windows and doors were supported by framework of triangular timber
Friezes of windows and timber panels were constructed high above the nave
Painted vaulted ceilings might have been inspired by Byzantine art
Rock-cut churches

19. Beta Madhane Alemi, Lalibela, largest of rock cut churches,
has a nave and four aisles and surrounded by a colonnade of plain square pillars

20. Monastery of the Old Church at Debre Damo, Aksumite Peoples, Ethiopia

21. Interior of Enda Kidana Mehrat,
Debra Zion,
Domes apparently cut from solid
Rocks with Byzantine influences
Painting derive from a long tradition
of indigenous decoration which continues
today in the metal processional crosses

22. Interior of Imraha Kristos
With Aksumite geometric and interlace
Pattern in the imitation of carving

23. Part of the ceiling with panels portraying natural history of the terrestrial world