See the ancient ruins that gave Zimbabwe its name, a city of
such size and sophistication that Europeans tried to deny that
that black men had built it. Zimbabwe is a country awash in
natural beauty and wildlife, but at least one of its greatest
historic treasures is man-made. I’m old enough to remember when
this nation cast off the name Rhodesia — the name imposed upon
it by gold-hungry British colonists — and adopted the name
Zimbabwe. But I never knew where the name had come from. Now, I
know. It came from this place. An ancient city of nearly 2,000
acres, with a population that may have been as large of 18,000,
built by the Shona people. It was first built some time around
1200. The country whose adventurers would later colonize this
land didn’t even exist yet. Five hundred years before there was
a Great Britain, there was Great Zimbabwe. The name “Zimbabwe”
is believed to be derived from a Shona word meaning “houses of
stone.” It was called “Great Zimbabwe” to disinguish it from the
many smaller stone se