> RECORD OBS-0397 | status: DEBUNKED | filed 2026-07-31

Home > Unexplained > Great Zimbabwe built by foreigners (Arabs, Phoenicians, Israelites, etc.)

Great Zimbabwe built by foreigners (Arabs, Phoenicians, Israelites, etc.)

Record	OBS-0397
Category	Unexplained/Lost Civilizations
Status	DEBUNKED
Summary	European explorers and colonial-era writers claimed that the ruins of Great Zimbabwe could not have been built by indigenous Africans, attributing them to ancient foreigners such as Arabs, Phoenicians, or the Queen of Sheba. These claims were used to deny African achievement and justified the plundering of the site. Archaeological evidence has since confirmed that the city was built by ancestors of the Shona people.
Origin	The theory emerged in the late 19th century, particularly with German explorer Karl Mauch's visit in 1871, who suggested it was a replica of Solomon's Temple and the Queen of Sheba's palace.
Claimed	The ruins were built by Arabs, Phoenicians, or other non-African civilizations. The site was a copy of Solomon's Temple or the Queen of Sheba's palace. Indigenous Africans were too uncivilized to have built such structures. Artifacts found at the site were of Arab or Phoenician origin.
Evidence / consensus	Archaeological research by David Randall-MacIver (1905) and Gertrude Caton-Thompson (1929) confirmed that Great Zimbabwe was built by local Bantu peoples, ancestors of the Shona, during the 11th to 15th centuries. The artifacts are indigenous, and the wood Mauch thought was cedar is African sandalwood.

> OBSERVER NOTE:
A textbook case of colonial-era racism masquerading as archaeology. The 'mystery' was manufactured to deny African agency, and the evidence was twisted to fit a biblical narrative. Modern science has settled it, but the myth persists in some circles.

Sources

Sources are external and provided for verification. Listing does not imply the Observer endorses their claims.