The eight Zimbabwe birds from the Acropolis are very similar to the sacred falcons of the Egyptian god Horus, who was originally a celestial god. He was symbolised by a falcon with outspread wings.
Did the Dogon acquire their ancient wisdom from the Egyptians, as Robert K. G. Temple postulates? In fact the oldest Egyptian calendar was a Sirius calendar and Isis, the Egyptian goddess, was originally the Sirius goddess.
What are the eight falcon-like birds doing in the African ruins?
We do not know when or by whom Zimbabwe was built. The ruins apparently have no history. But neither do we know when and whence the Dogon came to Mali. The model of a stellar system seems to have been familiar to both the Dogon and the Bantus. Both worshipped the falcon, the symbol of the Egyptian god Horus. Were the Dogon perpetuating the memory of a visit from the gods with their stellar legend of the Sirius system? Were the Bantus doing the same thing with a model of the system laid out on the ground, even though it could only be understood from above?
I do not claim that my contribution provides the solution to the Zimbabwe mystery. I only know that so far no one has said anything at all satisfactory. As the great ellipse of Zimbabwe was not a fortress—the fortress is 100 metres higher up on the Acropolis—it must have been either a residence or a kind of temple. But the residence theory falls down because no signs of occupation for this purpose were found; there are no kings’ names or decorations on the rather barbaric masonry. Nothing resembling a throne was found. No rooms to indicate that men once lived here. And what could a king have had to do with the conical tower inside the ellipse or the pointless second wall running parallel to it?
If the fortress and residence theories are eliminated, we are left with the assumption of a religious cult. When I was staying in Zimbabwe, I could easily imagine a procession of chanting Bantu negroes advancing through the passage between the parallel walls towards the conical tower and worshipping the god Nommo from the Sirius system.
The solutions to the problem of Zimbabwe that have been put forward so far are no more than speculations. That is why I add my own. It is just as valid as any other speculation about Zimbabwe.
After all my studies and travels, I keep on thinking about the grey-haired gentleman from Athens. I must beg his forgiveness.