Karl Mauch

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Karl Mauch

Karl Mauch
Born (1837-05-07)7 May 1837
Stetten im Remstal, Württemberg
(modern-day Germany)
Died 4 April 1875(1875-04-04) (aged 37)
Stuttgart, German Empire
(modern-day Germany)
Fields Explorer
Known for discovery of Great Zimbabwe

Karl Gottlieb Mauch (7 May 1837 - 4 April 1875, Stuttgart) was a German explorer and geographer of Africa. He reported on the archaeological ruins of Great Zimbabwe in 1871 during his search for the biblical land of Ophir.

Exploration and Great Zimbabwe

Some of the ruins of Great Zimbabwe as they appear today

In 1871, Mauch discovered the stone ruins now known as Great Zimbabwe, five years after discovering the first gold mines in the Transvaal. Mauch believed that the ruins were the remnants of the lost biblical city of Ophir, described as the origin of the gold given by the Queen of Sheba to King Solomon. He did not believe that the structures could have been built by a previous local population similar to those which inhabited the area at the time of his excavation, and so pressed ahead with his research. Further research on the site (including one of the first archaeological uses of aviation) illustrated that the structures did indeed have African origin.

Because of the ethnocentrism popular in the 19th century, Mauch and his contemporaries have been intensely criticized for their assumptions about the site by modern archaeologists. The Great Zimbabwe site is now considered to have been built by ancestors of the Shona people between the 11th and 15th centuries CE.[1]

In media and popular culture

The Real King Solomon's Mines was the fifth episode in World Media Rights' Raiders of the Lost Past docudrama series, and focused on the life of Mauch and his quest to discover the fabled mines.[2] The episode was first transmitted in the UK via the Yesterday channel on 23 November 2012, was directed by Gerry Pomeroy, narrated by Jonny Phillips and featured Ross Owen Williams as Karl Mauch. In the week of its first transmission, the Sunday Times Culture Magazine recommended the episode as a pick of the week.

See also

References

  1. ↑ "Great Zimbabwe (11th–15th century) – Thematic Essay". The Metropolitan Museum of Art. Retrieved 12 January 2009. 
  2. ↑ "Raiders of the Lost Past". World Media Rights. 

Bibliography

  • Maquet, Jacques. (1972). Civilizations of Black Africa. New York. Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-501464-2
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