Interesting Sights Vol. 5

Archive Entry

Chapter 2: A King Bound by Blood

Naturalist, Jon De Bruin

Here, at Pillar Tomb, is where the Ungwanan kings of old are buried, each individual cavity carved into the red earth several meters wide and deep, and then consecrated with a ritual lasting from weeks to months (depending on how long a monarch reigned over his subjects and how well).

It is said that unless an Ungwanan king is buried under these sacred pillars of sandstone, their descendants will forever be doomed to share their fate. Perhaps this is why King Mwenye secretly instructed his followers to lay his body to rest several weeks after the late king was deposed by his traitorous sister – he had not wished for his bloodline to be tainted in such a manner, though, ironically, his blood had already been shed by one of his own.