/ 25 April 2005

The Gold of Africa Museum

The Gold of Africa Museum in Cape Town is a house of treasures that will dazzle your senses. It houses a collection of gold objects from West Africa and is dedicated to the art of the African goldsmith.

The history of the African continent is shamefully new to most teachers and learners and this collection will help to inspire you to find out more about the heritage of our continent. On display are over 350 pieces of gold artefacts from the 19th and 20th centuries that provide an opportunity to explore some of the history of the ancient empires of Mali and Ghana. There is also a display room that explains southern Africa’s sites of Mapungubwe, Thulamela and Great Zimbabwe which thrived around the 13th century. These topics are contained in the Revised Curriculum Statement for History.

This museum is great for teachers and learners to gain a fascinating insight into the ancient civilisations of Africa, which

centuries ago — long, long before European colonisation — mined, worked and traded in gold.

Address:

The Gold of Africa Museum

Martin Melck House

96 Strand Street, Cape Town

Tel: (021) 405 1540

Fax: (021) 405 1541

Website: www.goldofafrica.com