Great Zimbabwe

 

BBC four part series on the lost kingdoms of Africa, this is part 3 where Dr. Gus Casely-Hayford goes to Greater Zimbabwe. 

Greater Zimbabwe is a city in the southern part of Zimbabwe which was the capital of a kingdom but not certain which king ruled here. They have stone walls with narrow passages that had some significance. 

Before that he went to Manyikeni an architectural site in Mozambique which has got some connection with the Greater Zimbabwe style of buildings. 

The Kingdom of Mapungubwe in present day South Africa is also another place where gold trading used to take place and there were links to the Swahili Coast of East Africa. Its a world heritage site 

Two other places that Gus visited were Kilwa Kisawani and Rhapta and both were gold trading centres. Kilwa Kisawani is in Tanzania and now a World Heritage Site. Moroccan traveller Ibn Batuta apparently visited Kilwa and was mightily impressed by it. Lot of trade used to take place in the ancient past between the east coast of Africa and the Gulf Arab regions, India and China. 

Good series to watch so far. 

8.35 kms

 

8.35 kms of which 3.5 kms in tempo pace. Weather was OK, got a bit of drizzle in the 6th and 7th kms each for a few seconds each. Have a great day folks. 

Ethiopia

 

A BBC four part documentary on the lost kingdoms of Africa takes us to Ethiopia, known as the cradle of civilisation from where ostensibly the first human beings came out of Africa and traveled by foot to various parts of the world. 

Ethiopia has a rich history dating back to pre Christian times when King Solomon and Queen Sheeba's son had connections with Ethiopia. There are legends that it is the birth place of Judaism. 

Dr. Gus Casely-Hayford, art historian and narrator of this documentary takes us to various places in Ethiopia which could possibly show the connection to King Solomon and Queen Sheeba. The kingdom of Aksum probably contains the ark which is zealously guarded by the local administration there. 

Dr. takes us to Harar, Lalibela, Gondor, Dire Dawa which has rock cut caves dating to the pre historic and pre Christian era. Ethiopia has more religious history behind it and tied to it are the monuments of the past built by the kings of that era. There are rock buildings carved out of a single piece of rock, like those found in Hampi and Ajanta in India and hieroglyphics giving messages of the kings of that era. Interesting documentary to watch. 

  

Nubia

 

Interesting BBC documentary on the lost kingdoms of Africa. This four part series starts in Nubia, the extinct kingdom which once encompassed the present day Egypt and Sudan put together. 

Interesting to note that there are apparently more pyramids in Sudan than in Egypt. The documentary shows the ancient rock drums which were used by people to communicate with each other, the rock cut paintings of cattle, the hieroglyphics depicting the life in ancient Nubia more than 5000 to 7000 years ago. 

The whole area was full of vegetation and life and commerce in those days but desert started creeping up over the years and centuries making it what it is today. The presenter goes to a few village settlements to understand their life and the history of the area. 

Apparently frequent battles used to take place over the vegetation of the land and there was one cremation spot where apparently more than 200 men and 5000 heads of cattle were sacrificed. The documentary is a mix of commentary and interviews, so its a good series to watch.   

5.13 kms

 

5.13 kms walk/ run with the kiddo, more walk than run, second run of the day and evening runs are always more stressful than morning ones because of the traffic. Weather was OK having rained during the day. 

8.87 kms

 

8.87 kms Sunday long run in 01.03 hours in humid weather in Bombay. Got some rain at about 3 kms and then it rained when i was walking back home. Running is meditation in motion. You are like focused and zombie like whilst running.

N!ai, the Story of a !Kung woman

 

Iconic documentary made by John Marshall on the life of N!ai of the Jul!hoan tribe in Botswana. 

The documentary took 27 years to make on the life of N!ai a young girl who is married off at the age of 8 to another boy aged 13. She does'nt go to live with him for many years and even when she goes to live as a wife, she does not sleep with him for many years. 

Tough life for the bushmen of that part of the world, and apparently they were happy with their lives until the white people came along with their guns and rules and regulations like not killing giraffe for meat and their bible. 

The documentary has got some very rare footages of their life in the wilderness, a tough life subsisting on roots, fruits and sometime no water for days together. N!kai is a sort of a rebel girl/ woman who has a mind of her own. 

In the later part of the documentary, we see the people wearing clothes, and children go to the school and elderly to the church. The men are sent for military training to fight the then rebel guerilla group SWAPO. 

Interesting documentary to watch.