1871

German explorer Karl Mark searches for a legendary city. He has convinced lies hidden in wildest
Africa. He spent six years in Africa. His obsession against all odds. Mark discovers immense stone
walls that cover hundreds of acres.

He found the ruins of an ancient civilization. The only one of its kind in Sub-saharan Africa. Mark
believes this discovery will be his crowning achievement.

Mark’s obsession with Africa began as a child. At that time Africa was a land full of mystery dan
dihuni hewan – hewan eksotik.

Mark vowed to one day explore its uncharted lands. Mark’s understanding of Africa was based on
legends that grew out of the bible. She gave the king 120 talents of gold never again gained such as
abundance as these which the queen of Sheba gave to king Solomon.

Karl Mark taught himself cartography, geology, and all those scientists would needed.

1864

Masuk dalam daftar anak buah kapal yang akan berlayar ke Durban, Africa Selatan. Perjalanan ini
carried him to the threshold his goal uncharted Africa.

The next year Mark ventured from the frontier towns and villagers. Mark developed a novel plan he
feigned a sort of madness it succeeded. The Africans pronounced him insane and left him free to do
as he pleased.

1865

Mark berjalan 3 minggu dan melakukan pekerjaan kasar untuk mendapatkan makan dan tempat
tinggal.

Mark created the first maps and sketches of the South Africa interior. Then, he sent his journal to
the Geographical Institute in Germany. They began to publish Mark’s account and to his great
satisfaction potrayed him as a model German Explorer.

German sponsors even began to send small sums to supports his efforts. He also made his first gold
discovery in Southern Africa. Mark never staked a claim to the field. He chose to continue his
exploration. Adventure and respect were what Mark that desperately sought.

1868

He set off an expedition into unexplored Africa. He suffered with long-hunger in his long journey.
While mapping the swampy coastline, Mark contracted Malaria.

Mark revived when the local Africa told him of an abandoned stone city past the Limpopo river.
Resolved to find the fabled city. And in January 1871 he set forth on the adventure he believe was
his destiny.

He crossed the Limpopo River. Until he entered a land unknown of Europeans. Mark offered an easy
target for chief who demanded gifts. His trade notes quickly dwindled.

Dia berburu untuk para warga.

Mark tried negotiation and generosity with his Porter’s. His efforts to win their goodwill failed. 8
months into the trip the villagers disappeared and stole any Mark’s goods.
Dia sempat berpikir untuk bunuh diri. Mark memutuskan untuk percaya kembali bahwa dia akan
segera mencapai tujuannya.

The held ancient walls in the valley below. 6 years of exploration, Karl Mark discovered Great
Zimbabwe.

Mark’s mind Africans built grass huts and lived off the land. It was inconceivable to him that they
could construct such a magnificent city. The local Africans seems to share Mark’s views. All are
absolutely convinced that white people once inhabited the region.

Mark turned to the bible and legend for his answers.

Mark believed that the whole fantastic sight was the Queen of Sheba’s palaces and temples.

Mark mencari bukti untuk memperkuat teorinya. Dia kemudian memotong splinters from a wooden
beam.

Mark believe Sheba had imported the Cedar from Lebanon a land to the North of ancient Israel.

Setelah menemukan apa yang dicarinya, Mark kembali jatuh sakit dan memutuskan untuk kembali
ke Jerman.

1875. Mark meninggal dunia disebabkan oleh banyaknya kritik dan penolakan teori yang
dikemukakan Mark dari para peneliti.

The theories about a lost culture settlement did however find an eager audience especially in the
British colonies of Rhodesia and South Africa.

The imperial mission in Africa was really one of racial superiority. How to have it thought that
Africans had constructed such enormous buildings. As these on such an vast scale was really
unthinkable. No one could have imagined it. No one believed that therefore for imperialism. It was
very important that these buildings of thought to be built by outsiders people other than Africans
almost anyone would do.

50 years later. In 1929, one of the world foremost archaeologist Gertrude Caitlin Thompson scoured
the ruins of Great Zimbabwe for clues to its origins.

Years of hard-work and struggle had one Gertrude grudging respect in a male-dominated field but
Great Zimbabwe posed her greatest challenge yet. All evidence of the identity of the city’s builders
appeared to have been erased. But failure was not an option for Gertrude. Tireless in her pursuits of
the truth. Gertrude would search until she found what she needed the team to unlock the mystery
of Great Zimbabwe origins.

Gertrude experienced about something of value had been gained from the travels of her early
childhood. Pompeii and Rome stand out in memory, because she felt the first stirring of interest in
past civilizations.

But it would few times for these stirring to become passion.

1920

Gertrude sought to escape the easy trapping of her earlier life. She volunteered at archeological dig
in the South of France. She found her new interest to prehistory.

With determination that marked the rest of her life, Gertrude pursued her new passion archeology.
Archeology was still a new and rapidly expanding field. Demand for specialist created an opportunity
for professionals.

The discipline and precision of modern archeology suited Gertrude’s exacting perfectionist nature.

Her dedication brought her to the attention of one of the world’s top Egyptologist. Flinders asked
Gertrude to assisted him on dig in Egypt. Flinders was a demanding and often difficult teacher, but
Gertrude excelled.

1924

Flinders helped Gertrude obtain a small grant for her own dig in Egypt. It was great success. Her
conclusions pushed back the date for the origin of Egyptian Civilization around 5000 years.

Although they have since proved correct, they contradicted Sir Flinders’ own theories. He severed all
support. Gertrude raised the funds herself and continued. She would never relent to threats or
bullying.

Anglo Rhodesia Foundation approached Gertrude about conducting a dig at Great Zimbabwe. They
hope to uncover clues about the mysterious civilization that once flourished there.

She arrived at Beirut imported Potuguese Mozambique just ahead of lijing cyclone.

After a week, she finally reached Salisbury, the Capital of Rhodesia. Rhodesia was named for the
great industrialist and imperialist, Cecil Rhodes. In the Capital of Rhodesia, Salisbury, Gertrude
paused to gather supplies.

In 40 years, white settlers had been creating a bustling farm community in Salsibury but had been
built at the expense of black Africans. White’s lived well overseeing farms and mines, while blacks
were relegated to menial jobs with subsistence wages poor housing and no education.

The white mindset of racial superiority was pervasive poisoning every aspect of life. When one
prominent white woman asked if her son might help with the upcoming excavation, Gertrude said
they could if they would dig alongside the native work. Just as Gertrude expected the request was
promptly withdrawn.

At dinner night, the Governor promoted the idea that Great Zimbabwe’s ruins were of ancient
thereby white origin.

Gertrude countered that her job required objectivity. Gertrude often examined miles of ruins in their
first day there.

Normally a site this size offers numerous options from an archaeologist. But many others have been
there before Gertrude. She was stunned by what they had done.

Generations of treasure hunters and previous archaeologist had laid bare practically all that
remained in brief fulfilment of her task seemed dubbiors. The site of Great Zimbabwe had changed
enormously since Mark time. What had happened in fact was a whole bunch of people had decided
they could would find gold here at Great Zimbabwe and they had literally pillaged, plundered, pulled
walls down done everything prospectors, formed the Rhodesian ancient ruins company to extract
gold.

Cecil Rhodes walked to mark the entrance to his estate and hired men to search Great Zimbabwe for
evidence that it had been built by a white civilization.
In their rush to prove that Zimbabwe was of white origin. Excavators move tons of top soil
destroying artifacts of African origin. The damage was irreparable as for evidence of white
occupation or construction. Nothing was ever unearthed.

The devastated condition of the ruins left Gertrude at an appearent dead end. She and her team dug
at several sites and she paid the laborers bonuses for their hardwork. Nothing she found.

Gertrude arranged for plane that she could inspect the ruins from new perspective. She became one
of the first archaeologist to use aerial observations. As she swept past the hill ruins, Gertrude
spotted a path that from the ground was obscured by vegetation. It led to terraces beneath the hill
walls and had clearly not been used in hundreds of years.

Treasure seekers had overlooked to seemingly in accessible terraces. Next day they move to the hill
terraces. They uncovered wealth of object untouched by anyone but the original inhabitants. All
Gertrude’s found was clearly African. There were changes in the pottery and the pottery design, but
all was African. The only foreign material she found was glass beads and far-east ceramics, but there
firmly dated to about 13th century. So they in fact reinforced the African material that this was a 13 th
century local culture that had trade connections overseas.

Gertrude determined the Great Zimbabwe had been a black African city from the ninth to 14 th
centuries. A major hub in a huge sophisticated trade system. Great Zimbabwe had straddled the
trade route African followed as they carried ivory and gold from the interior to the coast.

Gertrude compiled her finding just in time for British Association meeting. She expected a hostile
reaction to the idea of black Great Zimbabwe, but headed into controversy with usual poise.

She presented her findings on August 2 nd 1929. Instead of degenerate offshoot of another civilization
they have here, native civilization showing national organization of high kind originality and amazing
industry. Gertrude portrayed a living vibrant black African city. In which the walls formed a series of
interlocking courtyards. In one extraordinary paper, Gertrude killed the myth of a lost white
civilization in its place she described a thriving black metropolis. It was estimated to house ten to
fifteen thousand people. The city is large as many in Europe at that time.

Many were scandalized. This remain convinced that Africans were simply incapable creating such a
civilization.

Gertrude’s combative nature worked against her in 1938 on her last major dig. She travelled to
South Arabian. She fought constantly with an association over everything from the food to the
expedition purpose. Gertrude hope to find connections between South Arabia and Great Zimbabwe.
Perhaps the Arab Traders who had brought goods to the African coast from India and China had
influenced Great Zimbabwe builders. Gertrude looked for common architecture art, stone, masonry,
anything that might link the two places. She encountered Arabs who still practice traditional stone
building technique, but their ties to Great Zimbabwe were unclear. Towards the end of expedition,
she became gravely ill, sick and exhausted. She decided to returned for England.

Good foods, greatest legacy was to reveal the high civilization arose in Sub-Saharan Africa. White
settlers could no longer claim Great Zimbabwe as their own. When the black majority in Rhodesia
gained control in 1979, they renamed their country to Zimbabwe, to identify themselves with
Africa’s glorious past. The ruins were once illustrated the folly of prejudices and bias, now stand for
independent dynamic Africa. Gertrude was sure that Great Zimbabwe lies in the still pulsating hearts
of Africa.