The first reports of a fabulous stone palace in Southern Africa did not leave Africa until 1552. It was described by João de Barros in his book Da Asia as "a square fortress, masonry within and without, built of stones of marvelous size, and there appears to be no mortar joining them." Portuguese chroniclers of that time believed the stone palace to be the biblical city of Ophir, where the queen of Sheba procured gold …showed first 75 words of 621 total…

…showed last 75 words of 621 total…people of Great Zimbabwe to flee the city. Today, mysteries still cling to Great Zimbabwe. We have only been able to partially anwer the question of who built it. We know they were Africans, but we have yet to figure out what tribe it was. Also, we still have to figure out things like how the residents managed to monopolize the area, to what degree it was a religious center, and why it was abandoned.