The Western Deffufa (duh-FOO-fuh) is one of the oldest monuments in Africa. It was built by the rulers of the Kerman Kingdom around 2000 BCE. When the Western Deffufa was built, it was one of the largest buildings in the region. Today, even though some of the building has crumbled away, it is still around 60 feet tall. That's about as tall as a six-story building! Because the Western Deffufa was so large, it took many workers to build it. The rulers of the Kerman Kingdom used their powerful armies and wealth to force workers to build the Western Deffufa.
The Western Deffufa was made out of a common building material called mudbrick. Each brick had to be individually shaped and then baked in the sun. Then people needed to transport the bricks to the construction site and stack them up to make the walls of the building. This process took a lot of time. It also cost the Kerman rulers a lot of money to feed all of the workers.
What does the Western Deffufa tell researchers about the Kerman Kingdom?