The Kingdom of Mapungubwe was an ancient[a] state located at the confluence of the Shashe and Limpopo rivers in South Africa, south of Great Zimbabwe. The capital's population was 5,000 by 1250, and the state likely covered 30,000 km² (12,000 square miles).

The Mapungubwe elite further institutionalised rainmaking into the development of sacral kingship, and the kingdom exported gold and ivory into the Indian Ocean trade via Swahili city-states on the East African coast. Although traditionally assumed to have been the first kingdom in Southern Africa, excavations in the same region at Mapela Hill show evidence for sacral kingship nearly 200 years earlier.[7] Following unknown events and shifting trade routes north around 1300, Mapungubwe's population scattered. In the present day they are often associated with the Kalanga (Shona), Tshivhula, and Venda peoples.

Despite locals having knowledge of the sacred site, Mapungubwe was only rediscovered by the scientific community and colonial government in 1933. The Mapungubwe Collection of artefacts found at the archaeological site is housed in the Mapungubwe Museum in Pretoria. The site is located in the Mapungubwe National Park in South Africa, on the border with Zimbabwe and Botswana.