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Mapungubwe means the "Hill of the Jackal". 

Mapungubwe was occupied as the capital of a large kingdom for about 80 years. Mapungubwe was a complex society or state that developed about 800 years ago. The archeological site is in present-day Limpopo Province.

Mapungubwe was a large kingdom with a political hierarchy and a trade network over most of what is today Botswana, Zimbabwe, southern Mozambique and the northern provinces of South Africa. It had trade links that stretched across the Indian Ocean to the Middle East and to India.

The King and Sacred Leadership

As you learnt in Grade 5, a chief was the ruler of an African farming society, which was medium sized. Mapungubwe was the first state in southern Africa, which means it was much larger than a farming village and it was ruled by important people. 

Rather than having a chief, like the villages did, Mapungubwe had a King. The king of Mapungubwe lived at the top of Mapungubwe Hill. He lived there with members of his family and a few other important people. Most of the people who lived at the town of Mapungubwe settled at the bottom of the hill.

This was the first time in the history of southern Africa that the leaders lived apart from the ordinary people. The king showed his power by living on top of the hill. It was believed that the king communicated with the ancestors on behalf of the people. This is called sacred leadership. It was believed that living on the hilltop brought the king closer to the ancestors.

The king of Mapungubwe was a sacred leader. He was in charge of many of the important ceremonies and rituals. The rain-making ritual was something that was sacred and done in secret. The king at Mapungubwe was in charge of the ritual, but he called in rain-makers who were usually strangers. These strangers were probably San hunter-gatherers who had a special relationship with the ancient spirits of the land.

The Significance of Mapungubwe Hill

The people believed that Mapungubwe Hill was a sacred or holy place. It was a place of the spirits of the ancestors. People would not look directly at the hill because it was sacred.

When people walked up the hill, they walked up backwards, looking quickly over their left shoulder with their eyes cupped by their hands.

Ordinary people were not allowed to climb to the top of the hill. There were two stairways up the hill. Pairs of holes held stone poles to form a narrow stairway. There were stone walls at the top of the stairways. Soldiers who guarded the stairways were called the ‘eyes of the king’.

Distinct Social Classes

The rulers at Mapungubwe lived on top of the hill and the ordinary people lived in the valley below. The social hierarchy was physically obvious as ordinary people lived at the bottom of the hill.