History Summarized: Great Zimbabwe

[@razanyoussef8760]

I wish Blue had an “artifacts” series. Where he could talk about the history, the makers, the meaning, the importance, or whatever he wanted, about famous artifacts like The Terra Cotta Warriors, or King Tuts mask. He could even go as vague as kinds of swords, or robes, or boats, just talking about whatever his heart desires. Only if he wanted to tho!

[@Mr-Jive]

please, yes (not king tuts mask tho >:)

[@idontknoq4813]

ohmygod that would be so cool.

[@Black.Templar_002]

the grass blade might actually be worth its own episode on smth like this

[@darthironhand4353]

This is a genius idea

[@luigiboi4244]

That would be so GOOD.

[@wunnup3229]

Over 20 years ago when I was in high school, we had a World History project. We'd all pick a country we wanted to do a report on, and we had to report on their history, government, and culture. Trouble was, in order to avoid two or more students choosing the same country, we all had to announce one at a time, and we went last-name-alphabetical. Our teacher advised us to choose multiple back-up countries on the offchance our first choice had been chosen by another student. Exactly that happened for pretty much everybody. My last name comes late in the alphabet, however, so ALL of my back-up countries had been chosen. Teacher got impatient with me because I had literally no idea what to choose. I chose Zimbabwe off the top of my head completely at random, just looking at a map. But the headaches didn't end there. Due to the very bias Blue talks about in this video, it was pretty much impossible for me to actually FIND any information on Zimbabwe back in 2000. Nothing in my public library had anything, nothing on the internet had anything, nothing in the school library had anything. NOTHING. Did not get a good grade on it, and the teacher said I could have worked harder. Me, my mom, my stepdad, and even a few of my friends all searched feverishly to help me. NONE OF US COULD FIND ANYTHING.

[@flashrobbie]

your teacher failed on multiple levels

[@sherylcascadden4988]

I would like a list of ten books that teacher thinks you should have used.

[@wunnup3229]

@@sherylcascadden4988 I really wish I had that list twenty years ago when I was doing this stupid report.

[@wunnup3229]

@@flashrobbie Yeah, she was a real piece, that one. One of her favorite "lessons" was to have us review a chapter from our book, identify it, and and state its significance. Literally everyone in the class was confused because we took it to mean that the identification was the significance. For example, "Lincoln is the US President who signed the Emancipation Proclomation," would be the identification, so shouldn't that already be its significance? She told us we had to "infer" the significance from the definition. But literally none of us knew what the word infer meant, and she refused to tell us, or even so much as spell it so we could look it up in a dictionary.

[@jordinagel1184]

@@wunnup3229I mean, there IS a difference between identification and significance, but that’s not really smg a high school (?) teacher should expect their students to know about if it hadn’t already been explained in their class. And given your teachers reaction, well, it looks like she approached her profession with the wrong expectations

[@saintbambino6488]

I really appreciate how you make an effort in covering non european civilization as you don't see that very often on KZbin

[@thewrustywrench21]

You didn’t see that very often at all up u til the 1800s

[@youtubecreators384]

Damn straight. European civilization has been in the spotlight for centuries. It's about time my neighbors to the south get to have their history told.

[@coquimapping8680]

I recommend “Ancient Americas”, an AMAZING KZbin channel. It makes you interested in cultures you’ve never heard of before.

[@Saber23]

There are a few channels that cover the history of non-European places sometimes solely, it’s just that they don’t really get promoted outside of their communities

[@jamesrich3161]

@dihvocfoscocudvyvdd8101well thats just blatantly false , there were empires , iron smelting and architecture. Civilization was born from farming , africans never had the need to farm because there was already food there. So a permanent change from tribal never occurred

[@smgDarksidegaming]

I think it's really great that you use this 'simpler' kind of format to explore underrepresented areas of history. Hearing about topics we've already heard more details on is boring and these places deserve more attention!

[@AL-lh2ht]

The other thing is much of their history was just not recorded.

[@greensteve9307]

Agreed.

[@KIMMYKIM88]

Wonderful to see the history of an African country. Need more this and of the Caribbean done in respectful ways.

[@abthedragon4921]

I was so happy to see this pop up in my notifications! Great Zimbabwe is one of the coolest structures I've learned about when learning about African history. I hope to one day see it in person, it's so cool! Great video as always, I love when OSP discusses underrepresented cultures and structures.

[@jun_kage]

Hi. Im Zimbabwean, I also haven’t seen it in person 😂

[@stewart2589]

A stone wall around mud huts is cool? Can't wait till you see Roman ruins or Babylon, Ziggurat of Ur, Mughal palaces, Forbidden City, Japanese castles, Chichen Itza, Tikal, Machu Picchu, Tiwanaku or Uzbek mausoleums

[@Katherine_The_Okay]

When even the ruins that have been abandoned for several hundred are beautiful, you know the original settlements must have been something else. I'd love to visit these sites some day. I love all Blue's history videos, but it always makes my day when Blue ventures outside of Europe. It's such a big planet with such a long and varied history, and I love it all.

[@onbearfeet]

As an American kid in a mostly white school in the 90s, I was taught a little about a couple African empires (Mali, Benin) and nothing at all about Great Zimbabwe. Literally the first time I saw a picture of it was on one of those ancient-aliens shows, and they didn't mention the name but claimed (duh) that aliens had built it. When I finally DID find the name years later (thanks, PBS!), it became my go-to example for arguments with racist relatives, both because it's an awesome place built by Black Africans and because THEY didn't learn about it in school either. As I like to say, "Bias leaves holes in our knowledge, and some of those holes are the size of Great Zimbabwe."

[@beepbop6542]

I am racist. I know all about Great Zimbabwe. It won't change their lack of wheels or the crime rate.

[@major_kukri2430]

​@Beep Bop we know you're racist. You've been spamming the comments. Get a life.

[@SomeInfamousGuy]

​@@beepbop6542Times change. I would have said the same thing about the Germanic tribes 2000 years ago. In fact I wish all Germanic peoples had been wiped out during that period; the modern world would certainly be better off.

[@LilFeralGangrel]

@@beepbop6542 all that to confirm that you are indeed biased.

[@beepbop6542]

@@LilFeralGangrel Biased how?

[@TheMarketableJackFrost]

This man has taught me more history than years of the public school system ever could hope to do

[@thomasakagi7545]

Low bar, but still true.

[@samreid6010]

That bar is so low the devil is limbo dancing in hell

[@darkthunder301]

@@samreid6010 and still the devil said "how am I supposed to dance under that?"

[@Beryllahawk]

Better still, he has taught it in a way that we REMEMBER more of it. Absolutely excellent.

[@Admiral.Snakbar]

lol imagine being american.

[@styrax7280]

"contrasting the scale of what a human is with the scale of what they can do" is profoundly concise.

[@Pxrple_M]

Wow... As a some what long term watcher, it's took me by surprise to see my home country as the title. Great Zimbabwe is such a beautiful structure, and a pure shame it wasn't maintained due to colonialism. The topography of Zim aids to how strong the stone structures lasted. Sadly I didn't learn much about it because, colonization also changed how and what we learn as important. We brushed on it a little in school but not to the extent it deserves. Thanks for the video Blue😊

[@davidhouseman4328]

This video has Great Zimbabwe abandoned for Mutapa before colonisation.

[@DTex.45ACP]

Yeah, great...except, great Zim was not even remotely abandoned due to colonization. This is the literal problem. Great Zim was abandoned due to Africans moving to other places. Be truthful.

[@gorvarhadgarson5227]

Blue's hatred in the description of mortar wouldn't exist if evil Zimbabwe used it to create domed architecture.

[@liamwhite3522]

His what in the what? He didn't describe mortar, nor did any of his descriptions on the great Zimbabwe's walls feature hatred.

[@nozzrik4472]

​@@liamwhite3522Read the video description

[@billisanerd9491]

@@liamwhite3522 it is in the description

[@CrownofMischief]

@liamwhite3522 No, no, the OP is talking about Evil Zimbabwe, not Great Zimbabwe. Easy mistake to make

[@thothrax5621]

@@liamwhite3522 so you notice how he said description? Maybe read the DESCRIPTION of the video

[@schwarzerritter5724]

"Ceremonial" is a great excuse archeologists use when they don't know what something was used for.

[@ShanRenxin]

“Ritual Purposes”: from the Academic family of languages, meaning “We don’t know”.

[@Katherine_The_Okay]

@@ShanRenxin Didn't Red use that exact joke in her HP Lovecraft video?

[@aformofmatter8913]

​@@ShanRenxin Unless they reference it being used for "fertility rituals," in which case they do know what it was used for -- it's a sex toy

[@SparkSovereign]

I've always had a fascination for the history of military technology (especially metalworking) and a lot of the political history of Europe, but it's become increasingly clear that's not because everything else is less interesting; it's just what the historians who wrote the material I grew up on cared about. I'm glad channels like yours are able to shine a light on great societies that don't get enough attention, and to very directly take aim at the biases we might end up with just from what holes are in the information we were given in school, even if that information wasn't intentionally misleading. Keep up the great work!

[@Doople]

I know it gets messy when covering the history of places like Africa and South America but I always love hearing about it. Especially from a person who is properly skeptical of information written down by colonizers who have a very strong bias to make things seem a certain way. Always loved hearing about Zimbabwe too, very cool place

[@unusualhistorian1336]

A great video about a criminally overlooked topic!

[@keevr.3902]

I learned about Great Zimbabwe in an art history class, even down to being shown a website that lets you explore it as a virtual tour. It's really cool and the structure itself is fascinatingly gorgeous. All done by human hands...

[@ahitheotter]

It's baffling to me how there are still people to this day and age who will call this unimpressive. People who are constantly trying to make Africans look like these bumbling fools who couldnt build impressive structures or have complex societies/empires. Thank you for shedding some light on one of the marvels of Southern African engineering, craftsmanship and culture, Blue.

[@kertagin1]

its called unimpressive because when compared to other great works it isn't. the ruins of the Minoans are larger and more impressive. working with land couture is nothing new nor is stacking flattish rocks. I respect the work that went into great Zimbabwe but in the context of great works it isn't high up there. working without mortor nothing new and was done many times in many places. the process of getting the stone is inventive but again was used many times for other purposes (as a low cost quick mining method as an example (several instances are found in the UK among other areas). the granite comes of in slabs with two mostly flat surfaces making stacking easy. niether the size nor methods are impressive as many city ruins are larger, many ancient sites are also greater in complexity and artistry (granting that aesthetics is subjective).greater Zimbabwe is without question the site of a major city and there is value in knowing its history and the hows and wearfores but lets not pretend it is the equal of even just the African great works of which the are many. it was a city not vastly large (in reality only average among the majr cities of its time), the products they traded were not unusual, its artistry is interesting but so is Petra among many others. the greater Zimbabwe falls into obscurity because it isn't the equal of the greatest works. it is just among the regular works sure I will grant towards the top of the regular for its more unusual character, but it isn't earth shattering. throw on limited effort by zimbabwe to promote it and yeah its just one more site of antiquity among literally thousands (or more) that are known.

[@Peecamarke]

Has a lot to do with the Eurocentric definition of “impressive” architecture being held as the gold standard (type of materials used, how long it lasts, etc) Really surprised me as well when I learned this, but explains so much of why AMAZING subsaharan architecture is dismissed or labeled as primitive. Smh

[@serenitysubs933]

@@kertagin1 there are many other African works even greater but its still impressive.

[@kertagin1]

@@Peecamarke thats just BS. I cited non European sites deliberately because I knew someone would claim eurocentrism. Machu Pichu is vastly more impressive. it too was made with no motror cover similar area, build to conform to the land (see mountain top) and had basic water collection and plumbing. greater Zimbabwe is over looked because among old city sites it isn't anything special.

[@kertagin1]

@@serenitysubs933 I'm aware that's why I said even compared to other African sites it isn't in the top

[@ReliableDragon]

Fantastic to see Great Zimbabwe getting more of the attention it deserves!! Would be cool if you could get a sponsorship from Wondrium, since it seems to be one of your primary sources, and is such a fantastic source of educational content!

[@YahyeAli123]

Yes, you are finally covering another African civilization! I have waited so long you to cover Great Zimbabwe and it’s finally here.

[@Peecamarke]

Wait, What was the first one? Was it a country other than The Egypt? Legit curious

[@Acidfrog475]

@@Peecamarke Ethiopia, if I recall correctly. I don’t think I know of any other Black History Month videos besides this and the Ethiopia video.

[@Peecamarke]

@@Acidfrog475 thanks I’ll look that up!

[@GustavoJua15]

​@@Acidfrog475 Wait, he's only done Subsaharan African history videos during Black history month? That's kind of depressing... African history (and not just the parts on the periphery of Europe) should be talked about beyond a specific time of the year.

[@Acidfrog475]

@@GustavoJua15 Absolutely, I agree.

[@joshazriel8007]

As a Zimbabwean I'm overjoyed! You ended the video on a much needed high note 🙂. Brilliant work 😁 👏

[@-kisaaa-6949]

As a Zimbabwean this makes me so happy to see our history being talked about 😭🇿🇼

[@2Sor2Fig]

Me too =D

[@RK-cj4oc]

Rhodesian*

[@singletona082]

Be proud of your heritage. They tried taking it from you out of prideful ignorance and jealousy that your people were able to build and create. Now it would be absolutely wonderful if they'd giveall the shit the ystole back.

[@felixbabuf5726]

@@RK-cj4oc Fun fact: Rhodesian Brushstroke was such an effective camouflage that Rhodesia can no longer be seen on any world map!

[@donovanlocust1106]

​@@RK-cj4ocRhodesia doesn't exist anymore. Cope.

[@nothingposted9056]

I first heard of Great Zimbabwe because a friend of mine started gushing about Black Panther and saying Wakanda was based on it Glad to see it being talked about more

[@beepbop6542]

Wakanda kek

[@major_kukri2430]

​@@beepbop6542 go back to 4chan, kid.

[@blazejcholewinski2566]

"Don't be racist. You'll look like an idiot." - Blue. This is a great line.

[@ivanwilliams7413]

I need to call my mom... When I was twelve, we visited her home nation (RSA) for two weeks and visited Zimbabwe. Only mentioning that because that's the last time I heard those city names in 25 years and now, in your video. Kinda unlocked a core memory.

[@adamevaskevich5528]

I literally just had my last lesson on Great Zimbabwe yesterday for anthropology, and the biggest take away was the weird censorship and promotion of aliens in the area, a big part of our class is that anthropology had it's start in racism and it's now the job of anthropologists to undo that old racist works while pushing forward still so a perfectly time video for me I would say

[@Lion_Heart_Zimbabwe]

ETs are responsible for many of the Earth's ancient monoliths. The Pyramids were created by hammer, chisele or sled. Even a child could see the flaws in that theory. Every indigenous race of people have stories of Gods coming down from the sky in ancient times. Zimbabwe has been a hospital for UAP sightings on the past. While Great Zimbabwe is indeed African, I believe it is must older than the Western mainstream scientists care to admit.

[@Lion_Heart_Zimbabwe]

Speaking as a Zimbabwean/African myself.

[@thedukeofchutney468]

Dude I love Subsaharen civilizations. Africa is extremely interesting in that it remained somewhat more isolated from other large civilizations giving them a very unique flair. Edit: For the people continuously saying “Subsaharan Africa wasn’t isolated” they were. You just clearly don’t know what isolated means. Isolated means “far away from other places; remote” as well as “having minimal contact or in common with others”. Subsaharan African civilizations totally fit this description. While there certainly was contact with the rest of the world compared to Europe, the Middle East, East Asia, and South Asia most Subsaharan African civilizations were relatively out of the way and had a good deal of room between themselves and other advanced civilizations.

[@Toonrick12]

Though sadly, the lack of communication caused many problems once Europeans were kicked out of the Americas by their own colonies and where still in an Imperialistic mood.

[@justinarzola4584]

It's unfortunate that a lot of that great history isn't well documented in the west due to most African society's telling accounts orally and not written down.

[@Liliphant_]

Sites like Great Zimbabwe and Mapungupwe may not have been so isolated since Chinese pottery has been found there and they traded with the Swahili Coast

[@jasonhaven7170]

@@Toonrick12 What lack of communication?

[@jasonhaven7170]

They weren't isolated. The Mali Empire had relations with Mediterranean civilisation. Plus, Aksum, Ethiopia, Somalia etc. had relations with Middle-Eastern and Indian Ocean civilisations. Plus, once Portugal went around the coast of Africa, they established an alliance with Ethiopia and the Ottomans established an alliance with Somali kingdoms to fight Ethiopia and Portugal. The Ottomans and Somalia won but all 4 regions continued to have relations.

[@sErgEantaEgis12]

I'm really grateful for this video. For a while I never understood what the big deal was about Great Zimbabwe because every picture I found made it look like the average late neolithic/bronze age settlement in the Mediterranean - cool but not world-shatteringly cool. But you really went in-depth about why it's actually a big deal.

[@sarahchampoux2472]

I had a really great moment with my five-year-old son this morning as I was watching this video. He loves building things, so I replayed the parts about the big stone structures for him. We talked about how it was built hundreds and hundreds of years ago, and they built it so well, it's still standing! He was fascinated! And immediately convinced that it was for the game "marble run" and wanted to go there and play it XD I told him that we don't actually know for sure what the intended purpose was, so...maybe it was a sports or gaming arena? Either way, it was really cool to watch him engage with this piece of ancient history and see the potential for fun and games! Thanks, Blue, for your succinct and entertaining take. Who knows, you might have a little fan growing up to share your passion for architecture!

[@dianeinsertlastnamehere7296]

This video couldn't have come at a better time for me, I'll be traveling to Mapungubwe this week to do research. I'm even more excited than I was to go, now with this knowledge of their culture and history!

[@jeremy1860]

Kudos to you for shining a light on a society so often overlooked 😊

[@MrCoolinschool]

I'm not sure where I heard it, but apparantly the reason that these african cultures moved around so much is because they were at the mercy of Africa's climate shifts and thus were semi-nomadic. Whenever one place grew too hard to live or another became more habitable, they found it better to pack up and move rather than simply stay and wait for the conditions to improve again. This is somewhat murky because we have no records (thanks europe) but it does make sense. Anyway, great video as usual Blue ^_^

[@RK-cj4oc]

You have no records because of yourselfs. Dont blame others for your own shortcomings

[@evonnagale3045]

@@RK-cj4oc You know how easy it is to not be a dick online, right?

[@cleodello]

You see this in Canada as well if you compare the dwellings between indigenous nations. The Haida, example, lived on the west coast where it was more temperate during the winter and they didn't need to move around as much, so their homes are more permanent and quite ornate. Meanwhile the Siksika in northern Alberta, where the climate was much tougher in the winter, used tipis that were designed to easily be moved around. You see the Mongolians doing the same in a similarly cold environment.

[@mateohodge6998]

@@RK-cj4oc Europe colonized Africa and ransacked it they stole and destroyed thousands of artifacts as they are known to do

[@5peciesunkn0wn]

@@RK-cj4oc Someone didn't watch the video all the way to the end it seems. "Don't be racist. You'll look like an idiot." -Blue

[@personwhoexists1841]

I never knew how advanced Great Zimbabwe was! Keep feeding us these underrated nations!

[@DieezahArts]

Because nobody wanted you or anyone else to know, which is why records of great african civilizations have regularly been destroyed, stolen or altered by Europeans (mostly) over the centuries any time they got the chance. That's how Europe was able to pass off some of the greatest scientific and philosophical breakthroughs in history as their own original work and how the ideology of wh.it.e superiority was created and strengthened to support and justify the exploitation and destruction of black nations.

[@NickLupercus]

There is just something so satisfying about that architecture, even without knowing it was done without mortar. It's quite pretty.

[@lorelynn2822]

We did a half-a-period rundown on great Zimbabwe in AP world history last year and I found the stone structures so cool, it’s so cool to learn more about it!

[@Stoneworks]

As the man of Stoneworks, I am very happy right now.

[@Ttegegg]

R K Is on the loose about

[@GrandArchPriestOfTheAlgorithm]

You must hate the Mongols.

[@FadzaiSimango]

Zimbabwean-South African here 👋🏽 (born in South Africa to Shona Zimbabwean parents) I recently discovered your channel (Spider-Man vids = instant subscribe 😋) and it's a pleasant surprise to see you talking about Zim and my people's history 😁 Thanks!

[@sethmiller2532]

This was fascinating! I'd love for you to cover more overlooked pieces of African history.

[@liamtan865]

Same!

[@noahjohnson935]

Ghana, Mali, Ethiopia, Egypt, Kush, and last but not least Zimbabwe are fascinating with how their cultures functioned and have so many great stories to tell. The rest of Africa has interesting regions and histories as well but those I mentioned are just the ones I know a bit more about personally is all

[@atticusrussel3485]

i wouldn't call great Zimbabwe, or the more famous Ghanan, Malian, and a little more debatably Kushite anchient. much of what poeple talk about for them like great Zimbabwe or the malian empires are midevil, if we must put labels to time periods in history

[@justinarzola4584]

the Ghana empire in Mauritania and Mali, not ghana though I'm sure Ghana has some interesting history too with the Ashanti.

[@atticusrussel3485]

@Justin Arzola good catch! It was indeed. The ghanan empire was the predacessor to the Malian empire. I cant say im familiar with the history of the Ashanti apart from their fight with the colonial powers

[@noahjohnson935]

@@atticusrussel3485 I will probably edit it to reflect that better. I wrote it while super late here

[@imanigray]

@@atticusrussel3485 the Ghana empire has roots in the tchitt civilization started around 2000bce Mali has roots in the middle Niger civilization 1000 bce Nubia and kush is as old as Egypt…..

[@Rynewulf]

Its so good to see Great Zimbabwe covered! To this day there are still people online who openly challenge its existence

[@flylikeaniceguy]

You know its a good day when OSP has a new video

[@sluperslonic8624]

makes every Friday even better

[@Katherine_The_Okay]

Amen. Great way to start a weekend.

[@NP3GA]

Things like this is why I wished the world was more connected, imagine how much we have lost because we couldn't reach each other.

[@Icystunt99]

As a Zimbabwean, your pronunciations are some of the best I've ever heard from a non-native speaker. And the content is pretty accurate too.

[@anonymousperson4214]

This is so satisfying! After years of history classes and videos telling me "Great Zimbabwe was a thing and it was built by the local people, we don't have time to say anything more", somebody is FINALLY actually talking about it! Also, the hot water stone quarrying makes my geologist heart very happy 💜 (And for the record, we absolutely had time for it, they could have just tightened up literally any of the lectures on interminable European history and had plenty of time 🙄)

[@michaelscott6022]

*'Modern' Science:* "We have no idea how ancient peoples were able to work stone, metal, and other technologies so easily. It must be the work of aliens!" *'Modern' Artisans:* "What are you on about, we've been doing this for centuries because it's the easiest and simplest way to do it."

[@cam4636]

Anyone who claims to be speaking from a "scientific" perspective while giving aliens the credit is a conspiracy theorist. Don't feed anti-intellectualism.

[@josephb.1425]

If by science, you mean Ancient Aliens, sure

[@dezopenguin9649]

@@josephb.1425 Yeah, I feel like dignifying that thinly-veiled excuse for racism with the word "science" does a grave disservice. Just because silly ideas and narratives remain rooted in the popular culture doesn't mean that the people doing actual research in the relative fields don't know how silly those ideas are (see also, for example, the idea that the pyramids were built with slave labor when historical and anthropological study has long since established that they were not).

[@fandomcringebucket]

​@@dezopenguin9649 FR! Ancient Aliens isn't even the oldest example of "These pesky brown people aren't smart enough to make all this cool shit, it must be [INSERT FANTASTICAL THING HERE]!", that's just straight-up Ye Olde Colonialism™.

[@tuehojbjerg969]

No modern science makes those claims, thats psudoscience channels like "history" channel with the ancient aliens bullshit

[@DenisTravels]

Your pronunciation is amazing. Great work. Proudly Zimbabwean 🇿🇼🇿🇼🇿🇼🇿🇼.

[@pendragon2012]

This is a wonderful topic I always enjoy teaching to my students!

[@adrianbourceanu9145]

It's always so shocking to me that we never learnt anything about African history in school. I get that they had a tight schedule and European was more "relevant" to us, but I'd wish we had at least one chapter in a textbook about how "Hey! This civilisation did cool things! Learn about it!"

[@XSpamDragonX]

Our modern school systems pack too much useless literary and artistic material into too little time and then people wonder why nobody understands math, history, or science. To be fair though, nothing about the fascinating history of Great Zimbabwe is "relevant" in the average person's daily life, especially compared to the English Civil War or the French Revolution.

[@sallymilgate4858]

Yes

[@ritawilbur6128]

I first learned about Great Zimbabwe in my 10th grade world history class back in *ahem* the mid-80s. I was enthralled, and vowed to one day visit it. I did indeed get to visit it in the late 90s, and it was even more magnificent than I'd imagined. However, the racist denial is still alive. I met a White Zimbabwean (I think of him as a Rhodesian) who assured me that Great Zimbabwe could not possibly have been built by Africans. My favorite parts of the complex were that narrow passageway into the big compound - definitely meant to intimidate! - and that amazing building built right into the boulders on top of the hill. The skill and artistry were breathtaking!

[@shanewalkingdead8258]

Did that same rhodhie have an explanation to why people still live there.

[@Lion_Heart_Zimbabwe]

As a white Zimbabwean ( formerly Rhodesian ), I can assure you the majority of us are not racists. Many of us still live in Zimbabwe and are proud to call it home. We are Africans too. Proud of our country and Great Zimbabwe

[@cassstacey]

I didn't think this would interest me, but this might be one of my favourite Blue videos. Blue, you do this so well and your own passion for architecture makes me want to be passionate about it as well. This video was so cool, thanks!

[@Weewization]

Love the video! I feel like he's catching onto the fact that this audience is a sucker for a half video long tangent into architecture mixed in with the history.

[@Domesthenes]

Learning about Great Zimbabwe, and a lot of the other unexplained ruins of the world, has really improved my worldbuilding if nothing else. Also, I LOVE the sarcastic streak that Blue has developed. It's just... *chef's kiss*

[@kab6754]

Thank you for doing all you do Blue, getting the word out and spreading awareness of non-European based cultures and dynasties. Also, thank you for a new travel destination I need to see before kicking the bucket

[@tsoraizw]

Thank you, being watching you for a while. Its nice to see one of our wonders on the main stage.

[@povertymidas]

It takes surprisingly more research to track down the good information about anything on that continent. Any OSP selected info yields many happy hours of looking into things. THANKS BLUE

[@orderlysummit]

As a white Australian whose mother is a 3rd (I believe) generation white Zimbabwean, this is really awesome to learn about. I've only been given information from a coloniser's perspective from my late grandfather, so learning about the history from before white people got involved is something I really need to look more into.

[@CarlosMagnussen]

I'm always super happy when you make a video on African history, because I know next to nothing about it. When I was a kid, I always assumed that big stone cities only began popping up when the colonisers arrived, but after learning about the Pyramids, watching this video, etc., I think that was pretty naïve of me. Humans love building stuff and showing off. Why would the African continent be an exception?

[@BrownGirlsThink]

Thank you for the respect and truth.

[@simonkruger2187]

As soon as I saw "great Zimbabwe" in the notification bar I was already vibrating in exciting - love when native southern-african history gets told

[@jinxcat90]

I've learned more history (and had tons more fun) just binging through your videos than all the years I spent in school. And I'm the kid that loved to read so I devoured the driest books with ease and always had top grades. You don't teach, Blue, you lead TOURS!

[@saulitix]

I'm so glad I found this channel

[@brandonhall7498]

Always good to learn about my ancestors.

[@shonatuber]

This video was well researched, I have had the privilege to visit the site of this ancient civilization. It feels like you have travelled 1000 of years into the past. This is a kingdom of my forefathers and I'm proud of what they achieved. Thank you for telling our own stories to the world. It destroys the unpopular belief that black people were not sophisticated. The evidence is here, we traded with the Arabs, Chinese and Indians way back into time. We could smelt iron, gold and trade in various precious minerals including ivory and leather etc.

[@unraged6004]

Absolutely fantastic video. I love how osp doesn't only focus on Americans Europe and asia

[@Envy_Dragon]

Big fan of Great Zimbabwe, the AI never builds it and +1 trade route cap is always appreciated

[@nathanberlin5904]

love to see African cultures analyzed with such nuance. great vid!

[@mohsinjaved1358]

Thank you OSP! I knew, and still know, nothing about African civilizations other than Egypt. Much appreciated.

[@royspeed3097]

Hey I saw an article recently about how they've just discovered the ingenious ways they managed water in some of those cities. Definitely worth a read

[@jkosch]

This reminds that one of my old professors, paleontologist Frank Riedel (don't get distracted by him being a paleontologist, he mainly works mollusks from the last couple of thousand years and how they can help reconstruct climate dynamics in the late Pleistocene and Holocene). He has spend some years doing research on the Makgadikgadi basin South East of the Okawango delta. He told us that there is a structure that looks a lot like the "towers" of Zimbabwe a little above of one of the paleo-shorelines and that this might show how far West the influence of Great Zimbabwe did stretch.

[@shanewalkingdead8258]

The monomutapa empire stretched to parts to the ends of the khalahari it went as further to parts of south east angola middle of Mozambique. There where ethnic bantu people that arrived on the limpompo region who had megalithics and these people went further than the limpompo region from these people came modern day karanga /kalanga people , venda people..etc.

[@nicolausg7058]

Damn, finaly someone made video about Africa that is not about slavery or colonisation ! For that, I'm turning the notifications on, to not miss more good content.

[@John_Weiss]

1:40 FunLinguisticFacts: 'Bantu' is actually _the_ major branch of the Niger-Congo Language Family, which covers all of Africa south of the Sahara and outside of the Kalahari. Furthermore, 'Bantu' is actually a Dialect Continuum: each "language" smoothly changes into a "new one" as you move geographically. To whit: the dialect of region A is still intelligible to next-door-neighbor region-B, which is in turn still intelligible to its neighbor, region-C, likewise for the next region, 'D', and the next region, 'E'. But, even though you have this geographic chain of mutual-intelligibility between neighbors, region-A _cannot understand_ region-E. The Bantu Dialect Continuum is a massive, _massive_ complex "smear" of interrelated dialects. But note that Africa isn't the only place with a Dialect-Continuum. Germany, Austria, and Switzerland form[ed] a dialect-continuum [until the dialects began dying out in the 20th Century]. Spain & Portugal also are/were part of a dialect continuum with a particularly interesting shape. I'm sure the Wikipedia article on Dialect Continua lists even more. It's pretty fascinating stuff.

[@Sunkissed1422]

This was amazing. Thank you for talking about countries and civilizations that are not usually talked about! Also please please please make a video about Bulgarian history - there's so much to talk about, and it's intertwined with some of your favorite countries xD

[@brachiosnores7829]

Fantastic video! I'd love to see more videos on African architecture outside of black history month as well!

[@TheMI169]

I used to visit the ruins as a kid. The whole place is properly impressive - you really need to be there to get a sense of the scale

[@lsedge7280]

If there's two things I love, it's underrepresented stories from history, and blue seeping sarcasm.

[@SoapstoneDragon]

It's always fun, when my country is mentioned. 🇿🇼🇿🇼

[@CactusJackIV]

Love when things get historical on the channel! Keep up the amazing work, I know all the research can not be easy.

[@Rukdug]

God but I love me impressive architectural and engineering feats, and Great Zimbabwe's Great Enclosure just really takes the cake. I would give anything to be able to go back in time and speak to some of the people who built it.

[@jayes3058]

Great lesson. Thank you. One point... your maps in the video depict the existence of Lake Kariba on the Zambezi river. This lake was only formed in the nineteen-fifties.

[@sirgailplatt3626]

Idk if you've read up much on Zanzibar, but I think it'd be really eye opening to hear more about them

[@kelseysmyth8821]

As someone who lives in Zimbabwe you have more information about the history here than we get taught in the schools ironically because for some reason we're still using history books from the 1970's

[@justinarzola4584]

That's a shame, there aren't any books about the history before then?.

[@shanewalkingdead8258]

Are you sure i was a kid from the early 2000s i remember my zimsec content there where books we used for history most of them where from the 1990s and early 2000s even zimsec history books for form 1 and 2 where from the 1990s and early 2000s all written by zimbabwean authors .

[@Madmires]

That's the 70s the colonial government wouldn't teach the real history.

[@justina3901]

This is so interesting (and important) to learn about. Looking forward to learning more about parts of the world I know disappointingly little about

[@jankobehring4445]

"Let's not get into the trap of over-exotisice this as mysterious and otherworldly" I shall call this the katana-effect

[@Firegen1]

🇿🇼 my other home. *edit* Ok Blue so make me emotional why don't you? Seeing photos just brought back childhood memories.

[@XSpamDragonX]

"Architecture of feelings" wow the projection is just oozing out of this

[@thechangamire3495]

HOLY FUCKING SHIT I NEVER ACTUALLY THOUGHT I'D SEE THIS DAY I'm biased as hell (guess why), but Great Zimbabwe is a personal favorite. I'm really happy that you covered it!

[@Sharlyn_Makanheni]

When I saw the title of the video my immediate reaction was “FINALLY A VIDEO ABOUT US.” For context my dad is zim, so I’m extremely happy to see this

[@JPCorwyn]

Thank you SO much for covering this specific topic! XD

[@Jamie-A]

as a Caribbean person studying African Anthropology, this makes me so happy! i might use this video in my class!

[@Estarfigam]

If you give humanity enough time and determination, they can move mountains.

[@beepbop6542]

The Zimbabweans couldn't be bothered to move a boulder out of the way or make mortar.

[@BasicNoobs]

​@@beepbop6542of course they do. Those are like common war tactic.

[@kriminal7009]

Hey! Poli-Sci major here wanting to add something fun to the conversation. Africa is interesting because historically Africans didn’t have the same idea of land-property philosophy as Europe. In Europe, one invested more into their land, and there was less of it; many parts of Africa, however, did not have this problem. Someone invading? Move somewhere else and farm there. Conflict with family? You can move somewhere else and start a village there. Pre-Colonization, land rights and the preservation of it wasn’t too big of a deal; example being why often times during Arab invasions people would move out the way or assimilate (if given the option, slavery was a big part of Arab conquests). Not that things like animism didn’t exist, but usually there wasn’t much priority on land as literal property since there was so much. Land property has influenced MUCH of European thought and philosophy, so this context can clear up a bit.

[@scotty4189]

5:02 is probably less artistic and more defensive. Castles all over the world employ similar passageways to reach the keep.

[@user-nh1lg7vg3g]

Thank you I'm Irish person zimbawean descent thank you for covering African history

[@Arnsteel634]

Please do more African history and mythology

[@vazak11]

Love seeing this stuff be covered!

[@kainingyao7873]

Looks like a marvel of architecture built with earthbending.

[@arkinyte13]

Thank you for covering civilizations that don’t get much exposure, especially here in the US.

[@BP-dn9nv]

I've always wondered what lost civilizations used to live in more tropical climates. I've always found it coinvent that the oldest known civilizations arose in areas that would preserve them better, so I'm curious if there are any great peoples who've been lost to natural forces.

[@jasonhaven7170]

Much of Mayan architecture was lost to history, but the other Native civilisations talked about it and wrote about it and it was "rediscovered" in the 1800s

[@Katherine_The_Okay]

I know that Mohenjo-Daro is in a desert now, but I have also read that the whole Indus Valley Civilization fell prey to climate change and drying, so they MIGHT have counted as a tropical culture? But so much of what does and doesn't survive depends on material and climate, and on whether subsequent generations of people left the original sites alone or not. North America's "mounds" were stone-faced until they were stripped for building materials (same thing happened in Rome for hundreds of years), the dead sea scrolls wouldn't have survived in a more humid climate (or for that matter a more brightly-lit location since sunlight will also destroy organic material over time), you don't get bog bodies in warm climates, natural mummies only occur in very dry or very cold places, etc. When I was studying archaeology in the 90s, our professors were always very clear that we would never know the whole story. Buildings crumble into the ocean, organic material decays, context is lost, old stories are forgotten or distorted. And that could be depressing, but it's really not, because we're always coming up with new ways to learn more. Even back in the late 90s and early 2000s, we could find where wood structures had been using ground penetrating radar and analyzing soil composition, among other processes we used. Nowhere near as exciting as being the first person into a gilded tomb, but I always found it incredibly satisfying. The important thing is to keep asking questions, to never make assumptions, to be willing to admit that your hypothesis might have been wrong, to know that you don't know it all, and to be willing to look where no one else has bothered to look yet. Sorry for the very long response. I think the tldr version is that there were definitely cultures and cities and groups out there that we know nothing about, and that there always will be, but that we learn more and more every year, and that's a huge part of what makes history so awesome and rewarding.

[@Pseud0nymTXT]

So I have yet to watch the vid but I visited it a month or so ago (camped nearby) and hiked around it and went to the museum where they had a SOLID GOLD NAIL which was apparently used as DECORATION, i.e. hammered into wooden beams and the such which would hide most of the nail in the wood bc they had that much wealth around

[@theanimeunderworld8338]

I always like history on Friday