Kingdom of Mapungubwe

Kingdom of Mapungubwe
c. 1220 (1220)–c. 1300 (1300)
Mapungubwe Hill
Capital	Mapungubwe Hill
Government	Monarchy
Mambo
• c. 1220 – c. ?	Shiriyadenga (according to some Venda traditions)
• c. ? – c. 1300	Tshidziwelele (according to some Venda traditions)
History
• Established	c. 1220 (1220)
• Mapungubwe Hill abandoned	c. 1300 (1300)
Area
• Total	30,000 km2 (12,000 sq mi)
Preceded by Succeeded by Bambandyanalo Leopard's Kopje Kingdom of Great Zimbabwe
Today part of	South Africa, Zimbabwe

Mapungubwe Cultural Landscape

UNESCO World Heritage Site
Location within Limpopo Location within South Africa
Location	Limpopo, South Africa
Criteria	Cultural: (ii), (iii), (iv), (v)
Reference	1099bis
Inscription	2003 (27th Session)
Extensions	2014
Area	281.686602 km2 (69,606 acres)
Buffer zone	1,048 km2 (259,000 acres)
Coordinates	22°11′33″S 29°14′20″E

The Kingdom of Mapungubwe (pronounced /mɑːˈpuːnɡuːbweɪ/ mah-POON-goob-weh) was an ancient state located at the confluence of the Shashe and Limpopo rivers in present day South Africa, south of Great Zimbabwe. The capital's population was 5,000 by 1250, and the state likely covered 30,000 km² (12,000 sq mi).

Around 1000 CE, some Leopard's Kopje people moved across the Limpopo to Bambandyanalo where they practiced agropastoralism, moving large cattle herds to other communities' grazing land which fostered socio-political relations, while also engaging in the Indian Ocean trade via Swahili city-states on the East African coast. Over the centuries, increased wealth among the growing population produced inequalities for which Bambandyanalo's spatial arrangement was unsuited.

Around 1220, amid a dry period, the Mapungubwe elite moved to settle the top of Mapungubwe Hill, followed by the population who settled the surrounding land below. Hills often served as rainmaking sites, and Mapungubwe Hill became the sole such site; its habitation by the leader was substantial in the development of sacred kingship. A large amount of wealth was accumulated via tributes, facilitated by the Limpopo-Shashe confluence being a trade centre, and ivory and gold was exported to the east coast. Following unknown events and shifting trade routes north around 1300, Mapungubwe's population migrated elsewhere. In the present day they are often associated with the Kalanga (Shona) and Venda peoples.

Despite locals having knowledge of the sacred site, Mapungubwe was only rediscovered by the scientific community and colonial government in 1933. The Mapungubwe Collection of artefacts found at the archaeological site is housed in the Mapungubwe Museum in Pretoria. The site is located in the Mapungubwe National Park in South Africa, on the border with Zimbabwe and Botswana. Although traditionally assumed to have been the first state in Southern Africa, excavations in the same region at Mapela Hill show evidence for sacral kingship nearly 200 years earlier.