Page 64 - Msingi Afrika Magazine Issue 21

Re-Education

The ruins of one of the mosques

reconquering the land that man had And nothing is left to tell the tale
once claimed as his. It is only the of the town that once apparently
intervention of the government buzzed with activity.
that has seen this place preserved,
otherwise, I believe, every trace of it It all will be gone someday
would have been erased and proba- What is it that man considers in his The wall of a tomb in Jumba La Mtwana
bly replaced by some garish hotel or perception of the world, life and cir-
club, considering its prime location cumstance around him? When you
on the beach. regard the greatness of the Benin those civilizations were thriving,
As my husband pointed out, it’s Kingdom, or the vastness of Mansa why did they not succumb to one of
interesting how, no matter what man Musa’s wealth, or the magnificence these things? Why did the destruc-
may build or claim as his, as soon of Ancient Egypt, or the military tion take place when it did? Why
as he lifts his hand from that place, prowess of the Zulu Kingdom does there appear to be a specific
what God created always comes under Shaka and then consider that timing and permanence to their
back into position – as if man never each one of these was eventually destruction that was, apparently,
existed in the first place. Seeds will wiped out and turned into a ruin insurmountable and inescapable?
find their way into those locations, and/or a distant memory of man’s Consider that war, drought, disease
tree roots will topple the mightiest high achievements. When you con- are mere tools. Cause and effect
structures, insects and larger animals sider that this too happened to the based on the state of the heart of
will make rubbish of palaces and Mayan Kingdom, Ancient Babylon, the people are more closely linked to
hotels and things will be restored to Ancient Greece, Ancient Rome, the their decay and eventual demise.
their natural order. And the Baobab British Empire and is now happen-
trees calmly and quietly continue ing to America … do you consider Military historian, Jason Glubb sug-
to produce fruit and reclaim their that perhaps there is a pattern to all gested that empires go through the
territory as giants in the land, as they of these things? I asked myself, if following seven stages:
have for centuries. these ancient and new civilizations The Age of Pioneers (Outburst)
As my husband pointed out when were or are so great, why can they The Age of Conquests
we walked around the ruins and not assure their endurance through The Age of Commerce
stopped by briefly in the museum the ages? What happened along the The Age of Affluence
housing a handful of items related way to bring their destruction? The Age of Intellect
to the former town, “There is nothing The Age of Decadence
there.” The expectation was that It’s not enough to speak of greater The Age of Decline & Collapse
there would be traces of a people, military might or strategy, or sneak- He estimated that empires do not
their former lives, their activities, iness, or drought and disease were last more than 250 years in lifes-
but these were, somehow, just gone. responsible. In the years in which pan and that while each one begins
and is sustained based on similar

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