Kingdom of Zimbabwe GRASPEDIT Chart (1100-1450 A.D.)

Geography

Here's a lovely map of Africa. Yes the tiny dot is my civilization. Very impressive if I do say so myself. Great things come in small packages, so I wouldn't judge.



Great Zimbabwe is right on the umniati river (more specifically)

Religion
The great majority of the black population adheres to traditional religion based on reverence for ancestors. The Shona have preserved their ancient reputation for prophecy, divination, and rainmaking; they believe in Mwari, a supreme being. The stone ruins of Great Zimbabwe are regarded as a shrine of deep religious significance, as also are parts of the Matopo Hills.

In traditional religion, the spirit of a deceased person returns to the community and the deceased heads of extended families (the ancestors), have a powerful influence on family life. The spirit ancestors are usually only two or three generations back from the living generation and are the people who passed on the custom of honoring their ancestors and the traditions of the community. They are honored in ceremonies to celebrate a good harvest and in appeals to deal with misfortune. When a spirit becomes angry, it communicates through a medium, or a diviner diagnoses the anger and cause, and appeasement follows. Families seeking to avenge a death or enforce debt payment may consult diviner-healers ( n'anga ). Witches are thought to have the power to raise angry spirits, and the anger of a spirit may or may not be justified in the view of the affected family.  

Death and the Afterlife. Customarily, the dead are buried close to home, and people in urban areas may bring the deceased back to rural areas for burial. Graves are prepared close to the family homestead and are both sacred and feared for their association with death and spirits. A diviner may be consulted to determine the cause of death and prescribe a ritual action; this is followed by ceremonies to settle the spirit and mark the end of mourning. After one year a final ceremony is held at which the spirit becomes a spirit guardian of the family. These ceremonies generally combine traditional and Christian practices.

Read More Here

ArtThe Great Enclosure

The ruins of this complex of massive stone walls undulate across almost 1,800 acres of present-day southeastern Zimbabwe. Begun during the eleventh century.A.D.by Bantu-speaking ancestors of the Shona, Great Zimbabwe was constructed and expanded for more than 300 years in a local style that eschewed rectilinearity for flowing curves. Neither the first nor the last of some 300 similar complexes located on the Zimbabwean plateau, Great Zimbabwe is set apart by the terrific scale of its structure. Its most formidable edifice, commonly referred to as the Great Enclosure, has walls as high as 36 feet extending approximately 820 feet, making it the largest ancient structure south of the Sahara Desert. 

 

Great Zimbabwe's most famous work of art are the eight birds carved of soapstone that were found in its ruins.The birds surmount columns more than a yard tall and are themselves on average sixteen inches tall. 

Social Developments
Great Zimbabwe was a major source of gold. Its royal court lived in luxury, wore Indian cotton, surrounded themselves with copper and gold ornaments, and ate on plates from as far away as Persia and China.

Politics
This was hard for me to find much information that was reliable. If anyone has a question, let me know and I can do some more research.

Economics
At its peak in the 13th and 14th century, Great Zimbabwe thrived on cattle herding, gold mining and commerce with the Swahili port city of Sofala on the Indian Ocean.  It produced cotton and pottery.  Because of its strategic location near these resources and trade opportunities, Great Zimbabwe grew larger than any surrounding town and became the capital city of the Karanga (Shona) nation.

Archaeological evidence suggests that Great Zimbabwe became a centre for trading, with artifacts suggesting that the city formed part of a trade network linked to Kilwa and extending as far as China. This international trade was mainly in gold and ivory; some estimates indicate that more than 20 million ounces of gold were extracted from the ground. That international commerce was in addition to the local agricultural trade, in which cattle were especially important.The large cattle herd that supplied the city moved seasonally and was managed by the court. Chinese pottery shards, coins from Arabia, glass beads and other non-local items have been excavated at Zimbabwe. Despite these strong international trade links, there is no evidence to suggest exchange of architectural concepts between Great Zimbabwe and centres such as Kilwa.


Demographics
Little is known about the Bantu-speaking people who built Great Zimbabwe or how their society was organized. The ruling elite appears to have controlled wealth through the management of cattle, which were the staple diet at Great Zimbabwe. At its height, Great Zimbabwe is estimated to have had a population greater than 10,000, although the majority lived at some distance from the large stone buildings. Only 200 to 300 members of the elite classes are thought to have lived within Great Zimbabwe's massive edifices.

Timeline yay!!! Hope this helps


Intellectual Developments
I struggled to find much on this topic, if there's any specific questions, I can try to do more research

Technology
Great Zimbabwe rose on the Zimbabwe Plateau. Zimbabwe means stone building. Great Zimbabwe was the first city in Southern Africa and was the center of an empire, consolidating lesser Shona polities. Stone building was inherited from Mapungubwe. These building techniques were enhanced and came into maturity at Great Zimbabwe, represented by the wall of the Great Enclosure. The dry-stack stone masonry technology was also used to build smaller compounds in the area. Great Zimbabwe flourished by trading with Swahili Kilwa and Sofala. The rise of Great Zimbabwe parallels the rise of Kilwa

Alexander the Great (Hellenistic Era)-GRASPEDIT CHART

G- Geography
Awesome Alexander Link!!!

This vast empire since the Persian empire before spanned as far from Macedonia to North India at it's peak.Alexander fulfilled his father's wish by invading the Persian Empire after contuining past Turkey and Macedonia. He burned the city Persepolis to the ground as a way "to get back" at the Persian before conquering them.  He soon was faced with one of the most professional armies and withstood their forces all thorught the Persian ports, conquering as he went. He was known as a god in Egypt and a Persian King throughout the empire. He also founded the city Alexandria in Egypt (which still exists today). It was a thriving city of the classical world. Here's a pictureshowing his route and the vastness of the empire. His emprire would be eventually split up into four or five parts/kingdoms after Alexander's death.

R-Religion, Beliefs, Values

 One of the most significant religions of the Hellenistic Age was the dispersion of the Jews. As a result of Alexander's conquest of Palestine in 332 b.c. and the Roman conquest about three centuries later, thousands of Jews migrated to various sections of the Mediterranean world. It has been estimated that 1,000,000 of them lived in Egypt in the first century a.d. and 200,000 in Asia Minor. They mingled freely with other peoples, adopting the Greek language and no small amount of the Hellenic culture which still survived from earlier days. At the same time they played a major part in the diffusion of Oriental beliefs. Their religion had already taken on a spiritual and messianic character as a result of Persian influence. Their leading philosopher of this time, Philo Judaeus of Alexandria, developed a body of doctrine representing the farthest extreme which mysticism had yet attained. Many of the Hellenistic Jews eventually became converts to Christianity and were largely instrumental in the spread of that religion outside of Palestine.    

There were also several other religions taking place throughout Egypt and the Middle East. Here's a link with more information Hellenistic Era Religion

A-Art

Art and Statues- Hellenistic Era

Greek Art

S- Social Developments
Alexander believed that people should live together under one empire, which had positives and negatives to it. While Alexander was constantly establishing cities and trading posts, he frequently left his men behind, and even encouraged them to settle, intermarry, and do as they so wished. His dream was to have everyone live under one "polis" or place. To his advantage, he was treated as a god, and everyone worshiped him has one in every place he conquered. However,, this might have led to his demise in the end. His soldiers constatntly disagreed with him about traveling to India, and they never returned to Macedonia to reap the rewards of success.
After Alexander's death, the widespread concept of a cosmopolis where everyone was accepeted, was adopted by the Romans and Persians alike. The heavy influence of Greek culture also affected the spread of this new idea. All majorities and minorities of the day were accepted, and this continued inot the Roman era.
Source: Alexander's influences

P-Politics
When Alexander died, he left no legitamite heir to follow up his legacy and the empire split up. Each was contolled by different generals and soldiers of his. See this link for more detailed information.
Split of an Empire

E-Economics
Alexander had established several cities based upon trade routes and amongst expanding the empire  to the ends of the earth. Alexandria is just one of the many established in all the cities he founded throughout his empire and reign. Some still exist today, including the "Silk routes"
Hellenisitc Era Economics 101

D- Demography
The Hellentisic era consisted of several influences including Greek, Persian, Egyptian, amongst many other groups from Asia Minor and Northern India. Alexander did permit the mass trade and distribution of his troops to wherever he stopped, so the gene pool was widely mixed throught his vast empire.

I-Intellectual Developments
Several facotrs contributed to the multitude of religions being founded during and after Alexander's death, ellabortiong more on the religious factor of the Hellenistic era.

Hellenistic Philosophy

T-Technology

Alexander had several advances in technology especially his expertise with invasion strategies and his perfecting of his cavalry army. He almost reintroduced the idea of attacking on horseback which was only used for message delivery and traveling of course. His soldiers would start to gallop their horses at a group of people, begin to attack them, which confused them while they attacked someone else, causing distortion easily amongst the enemy troops. However, during the Peloponnesian wars, Alexander actually used enginneers to defeat his enemies. When his army lacked a strong, naval fleet, his engineers built and measured out the proper angles for ballistas and catapults, which was a major discovery and unique way of conquering a city.
Invasion Strategies

About Me

Greetings to All! My name is Empress Theodora of the Byzantine Empire. I was born in the early 6th Century B.C.E. My father worked at the Hippodrome as a bear and animal keeper. When he passed away, my mother began to start my acting career. Soon I became a Monophysite while wool-spinning and still working as an actress. Not after long did I come in contact with Justinian, the hier to the throne of Byzantium and the nephew of the emperor Justin.
I soon gained his attention and he repected me completely. In the year 532, when the factions Blues and Greens started to theaten myhusband's rule on the throne, I advised for him to stay home along wiht his officers and generals to crush the rebellion.
Justianian has consulted me for advice on numerous occasions. He wrote a new constitution to help end the rebellions by public officials. I also established many reforms for women throughout the empire. I expanded women's rights for property ownership during divorces, granting guardianships rights over their children, and outlawing the murder of a wife who committed adultery against her husband.
Justianian and I had no children together, but were happily married until my death on June 28, 548 B.C.E. of an unknown illness.