Once there was a great empire in southern Africa.
But now all that’s left are thick stone walls and a cone-shaped tower. The Shona people began building Great Zimbabwe in the early 1000s. By the twelfth century, it was the center of a powerful state. The city traded with merchants from as far away as Asia. In the 1400s, its rulers got rich. They took tribute and taxes on trade between the local gold fields and cities on the East African coast. That went on until the 1400s. In the early 1400s, over 10,000 people lived in or near the city. By 1450, no one did.
