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authornfenwick <nfenwick@pglaf.org>2025-02-02 04:46:27 -0800
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+This eBook, including all associated images, markup, improvements,
+metadata, and any other content or labor, has been confirmed to be
+in the PUBLIC DOMAIN IN THE UNITED STATES.
+
+Procedures for determining public domain status are described in
+the "Copyright How-To" at https://www.gutenberg.org.
+
+No investigation has been made concerning possible copyrights in
+jurisdictions other than the United States. Anyone seeking to utilize
+this eBook outside of the United States should confirm copyright
+status under the laws that apply to them.
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+Project Gutenberg (https://www.gutenberg.org) public repository for
+eBook #62501 (https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/62501)
diff --git a/old/62501-0.txt b/old/62501-0.txt
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-The Project Gutenberg EBook of Great Zimbabwe, Mashonaland, Rhodesia, by
-Richard Nicklin Hall
-
-This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and most
-other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no restrictions
-whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms of
-the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at
-www.gutenberg.org. If you are not located in the United States, you'll have
-to check the laws of the country where you are located before using this ebook.
-
-Title: Great Zimbabwe, Mashonaland, Rhodesia
- An account of two years' examination work in 1902-4 on
- behalf of the government of Rhodesia
-
-Author: Richard Nicklin Hall
-
-Release Date: June 27, 2020 [EBook #62501]
-
-Language: English
-
-Character set encoding: UTF-8
-
-*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK GREAT ZIMBABWE, MASHONALAND, RHODESIA ***
-
-
-
-
-Produced by MFR, Robert Tonsing, and the Online Distributed
-Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net (This file was
-produced from images generously made available by The
-Internet Archive)
-
-
-
-
-
-
-[Illustration: THE CONICAL TOWER, ELLIPTICAL TEMPLE, GREAT ZIMBABWE]
-
-
-
-
- GREAT ZIMBABWE
- MASHONALAND, RHODESIA
-
- AN ACCOUNT OF TWO YEARS’ EXAMINATION
- WORK IN 1902–4 ON BEHALF OF THE
- GOVERNMENT OF RHODESIA
-
- BY
- R. N. HALL, F.R.G.S.
- CO-AUTHOR WITH W. G. NEAL OF “THE ANCIENT RUINS OF RHODESIA”
-
-
- WITH AN INTRODUCTION
- BY
- PROFESSOR A. H. KEANE, LL.D., F.R.G.S.
-
- WITH TWO HUNDRED ILLUSTRATIONS, MAPS, AND PLANS
-
- METHUEN & CO.
- 36 ESSEX STREET W.C.
- LONDON
-
- _First Published in 1905_
-
-
-
-
- CONTENTS
-
-
- DEDICATION _Page_ xiii
-
- PREFACE xv
-
- INTRODUCTION, by Professor A. H. Keane, LL.D., F.R.G.S. xxxi
-
- CHAPTER I
- Arrival at Great Zimbabwe—First Impressions—View from Acropolis
- Hill 1
-
- CHAPTER II
- Mystic Zimbabwe—Sunday Morning and Midnight in an Ancient
- Temple—Sunset on the Acropolis 12
-
- CHAPTER III
- A day at Havilah Camp, Zimbabwe 31
-
- CHAPTER IV
- Zimbabwe District—Chipo-popo Falls—Frond Glen—Lumbo
- Rocks—“Morgenster” Mission—Wuwulu—Mojejèje, or Mystic
- Bar—Suku Dingle—Bingura’s Kraal—Motumi’s Kraal—Chipfuko
- Hill—Chipadzi’s Kraal 51
-
- CHAPTER V
- Zimbabwe Natives—Natives and the Ruins—Natives (general) 80
-
- CHAPTER VI
- Relics and Finds, Great Zimbabwe, 1902–4 102
-
- CHAPTER VII
- Notes on Ancient Architecture at
- Zimbabwe—Introduction—Durability of
- Walls—Dilapidations—Makalanga Walls—Remains of Native Huts
- found in Ruins—Passages—Entrances and Buttresses 135
-
- CHAPTER VIII
- Notes on Ancient Architecture at Zimbabwe
- (_continued_)—Drains—Battering of Walls—Soapstone Monoliths
- and Beams—Granite and Slate Beams—Cement—Dadoes—Built-up
- crevices—Holes in Walls other than Drains—Blind
- Steps—Platforms—Ancient Walls at a Distance from Main
- Walls—Caves and Rock Holes 168
-
- CHAPTER IX
- The Elliptical Temple—Plan—Construction, Measurements—Summit
- and Foundations of Main Wall—Chevron Pattern—Ground Surface
- of Exterior 193
-
- CHAPTER X
- The Elliptical Temple (_continued_)—Main Entrances 216
-
- CHAPTER XI
- The Elliptical Temple (_continued_)—Enclosures Nos. 1 to 7 225
-
- CHAPTER XII
- The Elliptical Temple (_continued_)—Sacred Enclosure—Conical
- Tower—Small Tower—Parallel passage 237
-
- CHAPTER XIII
- The Elliptical Temple (_continued_)—The Platform—Enclosures
- Nos. 9 to 15—Central Area—Platform Area—Inner Parallel
- Passage—South Passage—West Passage—North-East Passage—Outer
- Parallel Passage 251
-
- CHAPTER XIV
- Acropolis Ruins—South-East Ancient Ascent—Lower Parapet—Rock
- Passage—Upper Parapet—Western Enclosure 276
-
- CHAPTER XV
- Acropolis Ruins (_continued_)—The Western Temple 297
-
- CHAPTER XVI
- Acropolis Ruins (_continued_)—Platform Enclosure—Cleft
- Rock Enclosure—The Platform—Balcony Wall—Little
- Enclosure—Winding Stairs—Upper Passage—East
- Passage—Buttress Passage—South Enclosures A, B, and C—South
- Cave—South Passage—Central Passage 310
-
- CHAPTER XVII
- Acropolis Ruins (_continued_)—Eastern Temple—Ancient
- Balcony—Balcony Enclosure—Balcony Cave—“Gold Furnace”
- Enclosure—Pattern Passage—Recess Enclosure—North
- Plateau—North Parapet 323
-
- CHAPTER XVIII
- Acropolis Ruins (_continued_)—North-West Ancient
- Ascent—Watergate Ruins—Terraced Enclosures on North-West
- Face of Zimbabwe Hill—South Terrace—Ruins on South Face of
- Zimbabwe Hill—Outspan Ruins 344
-
- CHAPTER XIX
- “The Valley of Ruins”—Posselt, Philips, Maund, Renders, Mauch
- Ruins, and South-East Ruins 363
-
- CHAPTER XX
- “The Valley of Ruins” (_continued_)—No. 1 Ruins—Ridge
- Ruins—Camp Ruins Nos. 1 and 2 398
-
- CHAPTER XXI
- Ruins near Zimbabwe—East Ruins—Other Ruins within the Zimbabwe
- Ruins’ Area 420
-
- NOTES AND ADDENDA 433
-
- INDEX 451
-
-
-
-
- LIST OF PLATES
-
-
- PAGE
-
- Conical Tower, Elliptical Temple, Great Zimbabwe _Frontispiece_
-
- The late Mr. Theodore Bent, F.R.G.S., explorer of Great Zimbabwe
- in 1891, author of _The Ruined Cities of Mashonaland_ xiii
-
- Coin of Byblos, Phœnicia, showing Conical Tower xxxvi
-
- Wooden Bowl with Zodiacal Signs, found near Zimbabwe xxxvi
-
- Cylinder with Rosettes found at Phœnician Temple of Paphos in
- Cyprus xxxviii
-
- Soapstone Cylinder, with Rosettes, found near Zimbabwe xxxviii
-
- “Fuko-ya-Nebandge” xl
-
- Model of Temple xl
-
- “To Great Zimbabwe” 2
-
- Havilah Camp, Great Zimbabwe 2
-
- View from Acropolis, showing Elliptical Temple in the Valley,
- Zimbabwe 10
-
- Conical Tower and Platform (from north), Elliptical Temple,
- Zimbabwe 16
-
- The Balcony, Eastern Temple, Acropolis. The parapet wall of
- Balcony is built upon the suspended boulder 16
-
- Carrying débris from the Elliptical Temple 36
-
- A noontide shelter at the Elliptical Temple 36
-
- The Camp Messenger 46
-
- Labourers at the Elliptical Temple 46
-
- The Chipo-popo Falls, near Zimbabwe 56
-
- Rapping the Moje-je-je, or “Mystic Bar,” Zimbabwe 56
-
- Finger Rock, Morgenster, near Zimbabwe 62
-
- I-Baku (the cave) at Chicagomboni, where Adam Renders, the
- rediscoverer of Great Zimbabwe, lived from 1868 to 1871 62
-
- The Bird Rock, near Zimbabwe 68
-
- View on Motelekwe River 68
-
- A Makalanga, Zimbabwe 80
-
- The Camp Watchman 80
-
- Makalanga “Boys” fencing, Zimbabwe 84
-
- Motumi and Mongwaine, Zimbabwe 84
-
- Makalanga mother and child, Zimbabwe 88
-
- The Mogabe Handisibishe, chief of the Zimbabwe Makalanga 88
-
- Makalanga women and girls at the Mogabe’s Kraal, Great Zimbabwe 96
-
- Soapstone Beams, with Birds, Zimbabwe 102
-
- Front, side, and back views of Soapstone Bird, Zimbabwe 106
-
- Soapstone Bird on Beam, discovered at Philips Ruins, Zimbabwe, in
- 1903 (three views) 108
-
- An old wall crossing over the foundation of a still older wall,
- Zimbabwe 152
-
- Binding of the summits of two separate walls 152
-
- Exterior of Drain, Elliptical Temple 170
-
- Monoliths on the Platform, Acropolis 170
-
- South-east Wall, with Chevron Pattern, Elliptical Temple, Great
- Zimbabwe 198
-
- Chevron Pattern, East Wall, Elliptical Temple 204
-
- North-east Wall, with Chevron Pattern, Elliptical Temple, Great
- Zimbabwe 206
-
- North-west Entrance, Elliptical Temple 216
-
- Entrance to Passage, No. 10 Enclosure, Elliptical Temple 216
-
- Exterior of North Entrance, Elliptical Temple, Zimbabwe.
- Discovered 1903 220
-
- Summit of South-east Main Wall, Elliptical Temple 222
-
- West Entrance from interior, Elliptical Temple 222
-
- Nos. 3 and 4 Enclosures and West Main Wall, Elliptical Temple 228
-
- West Entrance, No. 7 Enclosure, Elliptical Temple 234
-
- South Wall of No. 7 Enclosure, showing part (to left)
- reconstructed, Elliptical Temple 234
-
- Visitors’ Ladder to summit of Main Wall, Elliptical Temple 238
-
- The small Conical Tower, Elliptical Temple 238
-
- The Parallel Passage (from south), Elliptical Temple 246
-
- The Parallel Passage (from north), Elliptical Temple 248
-
- South Entrance to Parallel Passage, looking south, Elliptical
- Temple 250
-
- Part of Platform Area, looking west, showing drain from No. 10
- Enclosure, Elliptical Temple 250
-
- South Wall, with Pattern, No. 11 Enclosure, Elliptical Temple 258
-
- Joint between original and reconstructed walls, Nos. 11 and 12
- Enclosures, Elliptical Temple 258
-
- South-east interior of Elliptical Temple, looking N.N.E., and
- showing excavations, 1902–4 264
-
- Circular Cement Platform, with Steps, and carved Soapstone Beams,
- discovered 1903, Elliptical Temple 266
-
- Entrance to Inner Parallel Passage from South Passage, Elliptical
- Temple 266
-
- East Wall, with Pattern, No. 11 Enclosure, Elliptical Temple 268
-
- Inner Parallel Passage, looking east, Elliptical Temple 268
-
- Zimbabwe Hill, or Acropolis. View from Havilah Camp 276
-
- A turn in the Passage of the South-east Ancient Ascent, Acropolis 284
-
- View from South-east Ascent, Acropolis 284
-
- Lower Entrance to Rock Passage, South-east Ascent, Acropolis 286
-
- View down Rock Passage, South-east Ancient Ascent, Acropolis 286
-
- Entrance to Covered Passage, Western Temple, Acropolis 300
-
- Summit of West Wall of Western Temple, Acropolis, showing small
- tower and monoliths 300
-
- West Entrance to Parallel Passage, Western Temple, Acropolis 308
-
- Buttress Passage, Acropolis 308
-
- The Cleft Rock, from north side, Acropolis 312
-
- Natural Archway, Central Passage, Acropolis 312
-
- View of the Platform from main West Wall of Western Temple,
- Acropolis 314
-
- Dentelle Pattern on Platform, Western Temple, Acropolis 314
-
- Bottom of Winding Stairs, Western Temple, Acropolis 316
-
- West Entrance to South Cave, Acropolis 316
-
- Exterior of main East Wall, showing Dentelle Pattern, Eastern
- Temple, Acropolis 328
-
- Sunken Passage (looking east), Eastern Temple, Acropolis 328
-
- East Entrance to Pattern Passage, Acropolis 338
-
- Pattern Passage, Acropolis, looking east 338
-
- West Wall, Recess Enclosure, Acropolis 340
-
- The Recesses at Recess Enclosure, Acropolis 340
-
- Sunken Passage, section of North-west Ascent, Acropolis 346
-
- Herring-bone Pattern, Water Gate, Acropolis 346
-
- Rounded end of Wall on west side of Maund Ruins, showing steps to
- Platform, Valley of Ruins 384
-
- North-east Wall, Maund Ruins, Valley of Ruins 384
-
- Slate Beam in Recess of Entrance, Philips Ruins, Valley of Ruins 430
-
- The Passage, looking south, Mapaku Ruins, near Zimbabwe 430
-
- • • • • •
-
- Map of Rhodesia xxxii
-
- General Plan of Zimbabwe Ruins 8
-
- Plate I.—Relics 104
-
- Plate II.—Relics 116
-
- Plate III.—Relics 122
-
- Plan of Elliptical Temple 194
-
- Plan of Acropolis Ruins 278
-
-
- LIST OF DIAGRAMS AND PLANS IN THE TEXT
-
- Great Zimbabwe Reserve 7
-
- Section of Floors, No. 15 Enclosure 103
-
- Arabian Glass 128
-
- Arabian Pottery 131
-
- Section of Floors, No. 6 Enclosure 134
-
- South and North Entrances to No. 7 Enclosure, Elliptical Temple
- 163, 164
-
- North-west Entrance, Elliptical Temple 217
-
- North or Main Entrance, Elliptical Temple 219
-
- West Entrance to Parallel Passage, Elliptical Temple 247
-
- Section of Eastern Temple, Acropolis 324
-
- Plan of Eastern Temple, Acropolis 326
-
- Outspan Ruins 359
-
- Posselt Ruins 367
-
- Philips Ruins 376
-
- Maund Ruins 384
-
- Renders Ruins 387
-
- Mauch Ruins 393
-
- South-east Ruins 397
-
- No. 1 Ruins 401
-
- Ridge Ruins 411
-
- Camp Ruins, No. 1 415
-
- 〃 〃 No. 2 418
-
- East Ruins 421
-
- Ruin near Chenga’s Kraal 427
-
- Mapaku Ruins 429
-
-
-[Illustration: THE LATE MR. THEODORE BENT, F.R.G.S.
-
-EXPLORER OF GREAT ZIMBABWE IN 1891, AUTHOR OF “THE RUINED CITIES OF
-MASHONALAND”]
-
-
- THE VOLUME IS DEDICATED
- TO THE MEMORY OF
- THE LATE THEODORE BENT, F.R.G.S.
- EXPLORER OF GREAT ZIMBABWE, 1891
- AND AUTHOR OF
- “THE RUINED CITIES OF MASHONALAND”
-
-
-
-
- PREFACE[1]
-
-
-In preparing this detailed description of the ruins of Great
-Zimbabwe—the first given to the world in modern times—the author has
-aimed at permitting the actual ruins themselves to relate their own
-story of their forgotten past unweighted by any consideration of the
-many traditions, romances, and theories which—especially during the
-last decade—have been woven concerning these monuments.
-
-The only apology offered for this apparently lengthy Preface is the
-mention of the fact that the operations at Great Zimbabwe were carried
-on for six months after the text of this volume had been sent to
-the publishers in England. The Preface, therefore, thus affords an
-opportunity of bringing down the results of these operations to a
-recent date.
-
-
- RUINS’ AREA
-
-The recent examination of the district surrounding the ruins now shows
-the Ruins’ Area to be far larger than either Mr. Theodore Bent (1891)
-or Sir John Willoughby (1892) supposed. Instead of the area being
-confined to 945 yds. by 840 yds., it is now known to be at least 2
-miles by 1¼ miles, and even this larger limit is by no means final,
-as traces of walls and of walls buried several feet under the veld
-have been discovered, not only in Zimbabwe Valley, but in the secluded
-valleys and gorges and on the hillsides which lie a mile and even two
-miles beyond the extended area. Huge mounds, many hundred feet in
-circumference, with no traces of ruins, covered with large full-grown
-trees and with the remains on the surface of very old native huts, on
-being examined have been found to contain well-built ruins in which
-were unearthed small conical towers, gold ornaments, a few phalli, and
-in one instance a carved soapstone bird on a soapstone beam 4 ft. 8 in.
-high, which is more perfect and more ornate than any other soapstone
-bird on beam yet found at Zimbabwe. The examination of such spots and
-of all traces of walls which lie at the outer edge of the extended
-Ruins’ Area would, even with a large gang of labourers, occupy almost a
-lifetime.
-
-Mr. Bent spoke of Zimbabwe as a “city,” and recent discoveries show
-the employment of this title to be fully justified, for not only is
-the Ruins’ Area vastly extended, but the formerly conjectured area can
-now be shown by recent excavations to have been much more crowded with
-buildings than could possibly have been seen in 1891. For instance,
-2,300 ft. of passages have recently been discovered within the heart
-of the old Ruins’ Area buried some feet under the silted soil below
-the veld in spots where the siltation is rapid, the existence of which
-structures had been altogether unsuspected. In some instances the
-native paths, used by visitors inspecting the ruins, crossed these
-passages from 3 ft. to 5 ft. above the tops of the passage walls.
-The enormous quantity of débris, evidencing occupations in several
-periods, scattered over both the old and the extended area, is simply
-astonishing, and judging by the value of “finds” made during the recent
-work, it seems quite possible that further exploration would, in the
-intrinsic value of relics as relics, largely reimburse the expense
-of its continuance, while securing the opening up of fresh features
-of architecture and probably some definite clues as to the original
-builders of the numerous periods of occupation respectively; would
-bring an immense addition to scientific knowledge, while the more
-important ruins themselves, having been cleared of silted and imported
-soils and wall débris, are now ripe for the further examination for
-relics.
-
-
- BURIAL-PLACES OF THE OLD COLONISTS
-
-The secluded valleys, and also the caves in hills, for a distance of
-six miles, and in some cases as far as ten miles, from Zimbabwe have
-been systematically searched in the hope of discovering the burial
-place of the old gold-seekers. The neighbourhood of Zimbabwe contains
-several extensive ranges of granite hills each enclosing many secluded
-and Sinbad-like valleys and gorges, where natives state white men had
-never previously entered. Such spots on the whole of the Beroma Hills
-to the east of Zimbabwe, the south end of the Livouri Range to the
-west, the Bentberg Range to the south, and several hills in the Nini
-district, as well as several parts in the Motelekwe Valley, have been
-systematically searched without avail, though there are in certain
-of these secluded places traces of walls and artificially placed
-upright stones and other signs of human presence which require some
-explanation. The siltation of soil from the steep hillsides of many
-of these most romantically situated valleys has been very extensive.
-These searches could only be carried on after veld fires had swept the
-district of the rank grass which here grows to a height of 12 ft. Mr.
-Bent and other writers have shown that the old Arabians religiously
-preserved their dead, burying them in secluded spots at some
-considerable distance from any place of occupation. The writer is not
-without hope that these burial-places may yet be found. The population
-of Zimbabwe at several different periods must have been immense, and,
-judging by the remains found near some of the oldest types of ruins
-in other parts of the country where the amount of gold ornaments
-buried with each corpse ranged from 1 oz. to 72 oz., the discovery
-of such places in the Zimbabwe district would yield important
-results, especially as, for many reasons, Zimbabwe undoubtedly appears
-to have been the ancient metropolitan capital and the centre of
-gold-manufacturing industry of the original and later Arab gold miners,
-and the place so far has yielded the richest discoveries of gold in
-every form.
-
-The writer is now perfectly assured that no burial-places of the
-original builders will be found under the interior of the Elliptical
-Temple or within 30 yds. of the exterior. Holes have been sunk at
-regular intervals within the temple and immediately outside the walls,
-and boring-rods have been systematically employed, and the position
-and lie of the formation rock ascertained throughout, so that sections
-and levels have been made of the soil and rock under the temple.
-All the results gained from each hole and boring are recorded. But
-beyond discovering buried foundations at the higher level, only virgin
-soil, never before disturbed, was gone through. French and German
-archæologists who visited Zimbabwe during the operations confirmed what
-British scientists have affirmed, that no burials of people of Semitic
-stock would be found within or near to any building so frequently in
-use as the great temple must have been. The severe restrictions with
-regard to cleanliness and sanitation, especially as to the dead, are
-among the most notable features of the old Semitic nations.
-
-
- ABSENCE OF INSCRIPTIONS
-
-No ancient writing has been discovered, though close attention has been
-paid to all stones and pottery likely to bear it, and notwithstanding
-that the interiors of some of the more ancient portions of the ruins
-have been cleared down to the old floors where, if any existed,
-they might reasonably have been expected to be found. Post-Koranic
-lettering was found on highly glazed pottery, also on glass, but all
-such specimens are of a fragmentary character; but experts such as Mr.
-Wallace Budge, the Head Keeper of Egyptian and Assyrian Antiquities
-at the British Museum, state that the glass and other “finds” of
-pottery are not older than the thirteenth or fourteenth century of this
-era. Other pottery thickly covered with dull-coloured glazes—mainly
-purples, greens, and browns—is thought to be somewhat older than that
-on which the lettering was found. Still, as such a very large portion
-of what may be considered as the more ancient of the ruins remains to
-be examined, it may yet be possible to unearth older specimens of Arab
-writing.
-
-
- TWO PERIODS OF GOLD MANUFACTURE
-
-Gold in a manufactured form is found on the lowest and original floors
-of the most ancient portions of the Zimbabwe ruins. In several ruins
-this was found as thickly strewn about the cement floors as nails
-in a carpenter’s shop. Gold ornaments discovered at this depth, in
-some instances from 3 ft. to 5 ft. below any known native floors,
-were always found in association with the oldest form of relics yet
-unearthed at Zimbabwe. Such gold articles are of most delicate make,
-and are doubtless of an antique character, and expert opinion recently
-obtained in England confirms this conclusion.
-
-But there are other gold articles which are ruder in design and make,
-and these by no means are entitled to claim such antiquity. In fact,
-expert opinion declines to recognise them as being in any sense
-ancient; for instance, beaten gold of irregular shape showing the
-rough hammer marks of some very crude instrument, and with holes round
-the edges of such plates very rudely cut—or rather torn—and placed
-in imperfect rows altogether in a haphazard style. This form of gold
-plates is identical in every detail with the copper sheathing with
-which it is always found associated. The same remarks apply equally to
-the gold beads also found with this class of plates which betoken crude
-workmanship, as well as to the iron instruments decorated with small
-gold knobs.
-
-With regard to the location of the later-period gold articles there is
-ample evidence that these are of very old native origin. Such ornaments
-are commonly met with on the floors of, or in close proximity to, the
-old native huts of the types of Nos. 2 and 3 (see _Architecture_, s.s.
-_Native Huts found in Ruins_, pp. 154, 155, _post_), and also in the
-cement huts with small radiating walls on levels several feet above any
-ancient floorings. In every instance such gold ornaments are found in
-association with articles of old native make—such as double iron gongs,
-copper sheathing, and copper assegai- and arrow-heads.
-
-
- ELLIPTICAL TEMPLE
-
- NORTH ENTRANCE
-
-In 1902 the floor of the North Entrance to the temple was exposed to
-a depth of 5 ft. below the surface, as shown in Mr. Bent’s book (p.
-106), while a flight of steps in perfect condition leading up to the
-entrance from the exterior was discovered at a depth of 9 ft. below the
-old surface. This entrance, showing a bold conception and admirable
-construction, is now considered as one of the principal show features
-at Zimbabwe. Further, it is the oldest form of entrance and steps as
-well as the finest of any yet discovered in Rhodesia. A quantity of
-gold was found on the floor and steps of this entrance, which were once
-covered with fine granite cement, also a few true phalli.
-
-
- PARALLEL PASSAGE
-
-This has been cleared throughout to a depth of at least 3 ft., and in
-one place 7 ft. Cement floors were exposed, and these were found to
-be divided into small catchment areas with a drain from each passing
-outwards through the main wall. Five additional drains were discovered
-in this passage. Here were found eight ornate phalli, a portion of a
-gold bangle, some beaten gold and gold tacks of microscopic size, and
-fragments of carved soapstone beams.
-
-
- SACRED ENCLOSURE
-
-This was cleared out to a depth of 4 ft. throughout its whole area, and
-a few phalli of unmistakable form were found, and old granite cement
-floors and steps were uncovered. Explorers and relic hunters had worked
-in this enclosure, and had double trenched it from end to end.
-
-A remarkable discovery was made here of distinct traces of granite
-cement dadoes, 7 ft. high, round the interior faces of the walls of
-this enclosure. In some other enclosures the remains of dadoes can
-still be seen.
-
-The small conical tower in this enclosure has during the last ten years
-been seriously damaged by the large trunk of a tree pushing over the
-summit of the cone. Photographs of this small tower taken in 1891 show
-that it was then almost intact.
-
-
- PLATFORM AREA
-
-This open area, lying to the west and north of the Conical Tower and
-the Platform, corresponds to the open areas immediately in front of
-the altars in old Grecian temples. This was Mr. Bent’s opinion, and
-possibly it answered at Zimbabwe a similar purpose of accommodating the
-worshippers. The area, some 120 ft. by 60 ft., has been cleared out of
-large trees, and of about 6 ft. of soil throughout, and floors—both
-cement and clay—were disclosed, also a fine circular structure of
-excellent granite cement, and ascended by two steps. On and close to
-this structure were found fragments, mainly bases, of carved soapstone
-beams of slender appearance, also some phalli and gold. This platform
-lies slightly off the north line between the Conical Tower and the Main
-North Entrance.
-
-Some of the walls surrounding this area on the west and north sides,
-once considered to be ancient, can now be seen to cross over very old
-native clay huts and native copper and iron-smelting furnaces. The
-soil contained some phalli, which had been converted by the natives
-into amulets, also some Arabian glass—thirteenth and fourteenth
-centuries—Venetian beads, gold wire-work, beaten gold, gold scorifiers
-of native pottery, iron pincers, and fragments of carved soapstone
-bowls with geometric designs.
-
-
- ENCLOSURES 6, 7, AND 10
-
-Gold-smelting operations must have, at some late period, been
-extensively carried on in these enclosures, for on removing from each
-enclosure all débris and fallen stones to a depth of from 4 ft. to 7
-ft., there were found burnishing stones of fine grain and still covered
-with gold, gold scorifiers with gold in the flux, cakes of gold, gold
-furnace slag, beaten gold, and gold dust.
-
-At a still lower depth in No. 6 Enclosure a quantity of granite
-clay crucibles, showing gold richly, were met with, and these are
-undoubtedly of older type than the native pottery scorifiers, also some
-ingot moulds of soapstone of the double claw-hammer or St. Andrew’s
-cross pattern.
-
-
- CENTRAL AREA
-
-This area is only partially excavated, it being covered with old
-native-built walls which cross over bone and ash débris, old native
-huts, an iron furnace, and rich black mould in which the vegetable
-matter was still undecayed. Experimental holes and boring-rods showed
-that some very old foundations ran below the soil upon which the later
-and poorer walls are built. However, a key has now been found which
-will enable further excavations to be made within this area without
-injury to the upper walls.
-
-
- SUMMIT OF MAIN EAST WALL
-
-Along the summit of the east main wall, and only over the chevron
-pattern which faces east, have recently been discovered the traces of
-foundations of small circular towers, both on the inner and outer edges
-of the wall. These correspond in measurement and relative position to
-the small conical towers on the west wall of the Western Temple at
-the Acropolis Ruins, which is decorated with monoliths. Some of the
-best-known surveyors and practical builders in Rhodesia are prepared
-to certify as to the traces of these foundations. This is entirely a
-new discovery, as is also the fact that at one time the summit of the
-wall, only over the chevron pattern, bore beautifully rounded soapstone
-monoliths, the bases being found displaced under the ruck of loose
-blocks which runs along the centre of the summit of this part of the
-main wall. Some carved splinters of these monoliths were found at the
-bases of the wall. A collection of these “finds” has been sent to the
-Salisbury Museum.
-
-
- PROBABLE AGES OF THE WALLS OF THE ELLIPTICAL TEMPLE
-
-All the walls of the Elliptical Temple are not ancient; that is,
-not ancient in the sense applying to the suggested Sabæo-Arabian
-occupation of Rhodesia and also to that of the Solomonic gold period.
-The evidences pointing to this conclusion, and now for the first time
-available, are so obvious and general, and the ocular demonstration so
-positive, that one of the many popular myths concerning Great Zimbabwe
-must, even at the risk of committing a vandalism on cherished romantic
-theories and beliefs, go by the board. The writer prefers that the
-ruins should tell their own story, and this can now be read in the
-walls, in the débris heaps, and in the relics and their associated
-“finds” and locations.
-
-The oldest walls of the temple for which great antiquity may be
-claimed are—the main east wall from north to south, the Conical Tower,
-the Platform, portions of the inner wall of the Parallel Passage
-(reconstructions are present here), and some adjoining walls, and some
-buried walls and foundations, and possibly some other walls on the
-south side, concerning which some doubt exists, as also the west wall
-of the West Passage, a well-built structure which once was extended at
-either extremity. As to the question of obviously much later walls,
-this is involved in the following section of this preface.
-
-
- WEST WALL CONTROVERSY
-
-The writer is fully convinced that the original west wall of the temple
-once extended outwards further west, and that the present west wall
-extending towards the south is of much more recent construction and
-is built on a shorter curve, _also that most of the structures of the
-central and western portions of the building are also of much later
-construction_, and this for many substantial reasons, some of which are
-here briefly stated:—
-
-(_a_) The west wall is considered by all practical builders and
-architects to be far slighter, much inferior in construction, fuller
-of defects, and to contain to a greater extent ill-shaped stones than
-the main wall on the east side, while the foundations are at many
-points far more irregular, and the batter-back of the interior face
-of the west wall is less severe than is the case of the east side.
-Lengths of 25 ft. each of both walls have been examined and compared
-and photographed, and the number of defects of construction recorded.
-The number of false and “straight joints,” false and disappearing
-courses, and stones supported at their corners by granite chips, which
-the west wall contains, is roughly about forty odd to every one of
-such defects in the east wall, which is _the_ architectural marvel for
-symmetry, grand proportion, true courses of most carefully selected and
-assorted blocks (some of which have been dressed with metal tools) of
-any other ancient architectural features at Zimbabwe. All this is an
-ocular demonstration, and is commented upon by the most casual visitor
-to these ruins. This, too, is very patent when seen from the summit of
-Zimbabwe Hill, the view looking down upon the temple revealing most
-obviously the different characters of the walls.
-
-(_b_) In 1903 the writer cleared the soil away from the gap between the
-older and later walls, and found that they were widely different in
-construction; that the later and narrower wall approached the older and
-well-built and wider wall at an oblique angle; and that the end of the
-older wall is broken and not finished off as are other ends of ancient
-walls. In a trench made at a distance of twelve yards west of the gap,
-and on the curve the older wall, if continued, would have passed, a
-mass of buried masonry, which might have been a portion of the old
-wall, was disclosed.
-
-(_c_) Dr. Hahn, the leading expert in South Africa in chemical
-metallurgy, analysed the soil underlying the foundation of the west
-wall, and pronounced it to be composed of disintegrated furnace slag
-and ashes containing gold and iron. The ground to the west of the west
-wall has always been the spot at which gold prospectors have washed the
-soil for gold, and here gold crucibles and scorifiers are to be found.
-This soil contains 73 per cent. of silica, and would make an excellent
-foundation for walls, and the west wall is built right along this bed
-of furnace slag, which is about 2 ft. in depth, many yards wide, and
-extends from north to south.
-
-(_d_) At a few feet from the exterior of the west wall, and _at a depth
-of four feet below the level of its foundation_, and extending as shown
-in trenches and cross-cuts for at least thirty yards from north to
-south, is a floor of granite cement laid on the formation rock, hiding
-its irregularities and making a perfectly level surface. The full
-extent of this flooring has not yet been ascertained. For two feet
-between the level of this cement flooring and the furnace-slag soil
-under the foundations of the west wall is fine silted soil. Evidently
-the later wall was erected at a very considerable period subsequently
-to the laying of the cement flooring and after the siltation of the
-soil, and also after the gold-smelting operations had been extensively
-carried on for a long period.
-
-(_e_) No single relic of any great antiquity has been found by any
-explorer or prospector in the western portion of the temple, while the
-eastern portion has yielded at depth great quantities of phalli and of
-every relic believed to be associated with the earliest occupiers.
-
-The oldest “find” in the western half of the building is pronounced
-by Dr. Budge to be of a period dating from between the thirteenth and
-fifteenth centuries of this era, and other “finds” relate to the same
-and later periods.
-
-
- WRITER’S CONCLUSIONS
-
-The writer is now and for the above and further considerations, and
-after two years’ residence within the ruins, perfectly convinced of the
-following:—
-
-(1) That on the departure of the ancient builders and occupiers the
-temple became a ruin, and remained as such for some centuries, the west
-wall disappearing in the meantime (as explained later); (2) that some
-organised Arab people, possibly a split of the numerous Arab colonies
-and kingdoms which existed down the East African coast, possibly of
-the Magdoshu kingdom, who, according to De Barros, reached Sofala
-(1100 A.D.), exploited the gold mines, and formed a mixed population
-between the Arabs and natives, or possibly the Arabs of Quiloa, who
-secured as suzerain power Sofala and the kingdom of the Monomotapa
-(Rhodesia). One of these peoples is believed to be responsible for
-the ruins of Inyanga, which the writer after examining these remains
-does not consider to be ancient in the fullest sense of the term. One
-of these peoples are also believed to be responsible for making the
-“_old_ workings,” the distinction between which and the “_ancient_
-workings” must always be kept in mind, a distinction which the late Mr.
-Telford Edwards always pointed out and insisted upon, and concerning
-which recent investigations prove him to have been correct; (3) that
-these Arabs made Zimbabwe their headquarters, to which the washed gold
-dust was brought to be converted into ingots for transport; (4) that
-these Arabs carried on extensive gold-smelting operations at the west
-end of the temple in the shelter of the massive walls, which would
-protect them against the prevailing winds and drifting rains; (5) that
-_after_ carrying on these gold-smelting operations extensively and for
-a considerable period, they built a wall across the open space and
-upon their furnace-slag beds, possibly employing native labour (the
-Makalanga being notorious for their skill in wall building); and (6)
-that these Arabs also built several of the enclosures in the central
-and western parts of the temple to suit their special convenience, and
-altogether regardless of the buried foundations of the ancient builders.
-
-
- DESTRUCTION OF THE ORIGINAL WEST WALL
-
-It may be asked what caused the destruction of the original west
-wall. Its disappearance may be accounted for as follows. The south
-and west walls have for centuries borne the full brunt of all the
-torrential rain and storm water which rushes to these points from the
-Bentberg Kopjes, which lie close to the temple on the south side. This
-accounts for the great depth of silted soil which buries the old cement
-flooring. This must have washed the lower portions of the walls till
-the cement foundations decomposed and brought down the structure as it
-has done at other ruins at Zimbabwe. The writer at the commencement
-of his first rainy season at Zimbabwe found a large pool about 30
-yds. in length, 15 yds. in breadth, and 2 ft. in depth up against the
-present west wall, towards which all surface water from the higher
-ground rushed unchanged. This had been going on every rainy season for
-many generations, with the result of forming large cavities under the
-foundations, and of keeping the wall in a constant drip with damp even
-at noontide, and of causing the spread of large moss over the walls,
-while shrubs and small trees grew out of the walls at some height from
-their base. Trenches and runs-off and banks soon cured this evil, and
-now the walls have changed from being black with damp to being grey
-with dryness. The moss has naturally flaked off, and the trees and
-shrubs in the walls are dead, owing to lack of moisture.
-
-
- THE ACROPOLIS RUINS
-
- WESTERN TEMPLE
-
-Operations in this temple since the description of the earlier work
-was embodied in the text of this volume have been carried on to June,
-1904. Soil to a depth of from 3 ft. to 5 ft. was removed from the whole
-of the eastern portion of this area. The excavations showed several
-layers of native clay floors one above another. The “finds” were those
-known to be of native origin, though not made by natives of to-day. The
-later or native period of gold manufacture was greatly in evidence,
-beaten gold, gold tacks, and gold wire being frequently met with in
-association with copper sheathing, copper assegai- and arrow-heads, the
-copper containing no alloy.
-
-A trial hole sunk to a depth of 6 ft. below this cleared portion of
-the temple area, or 9 ft. below the surface as it appeared in 1903,
-showed in its sides the lines of several clay floors and the side of a
-Kafir clay hut, now quite decomposed and soft. At the bottom of the
-pit a rough pavement of closely-fitting stones of irregular shape and
-size was come upon, and the articles found were identical with those
-discovered at a higher level.
-
-The clearing of the area also disclosed clay sides of huts with the
-remains of short walls of stone radiating from the sides of the huts.
-The wall which Mr. Bent considered might have been the “altar” was
-found to be the radiating wall of a similar hut built upon a higher
-level. These small radiating walls are a general feature of exceedingly
-old native huts found at several places at Zimbabwe.
-
-A large circular platform of granite cement was also disclosed. This
-spot yielded beaten gold of native make.
-
-
- A ZIMBABWE REVIVAL
-
-The writer believes that between the thirteenth and fifteenth
-centuries, or slightly earlier, a great influx of people took place
-at Zimbabwe, and that the majority of the minor ruins in the Valley
-of Ruins were built about this period. This is shown by the number of
-walls built across exceedingly old débris heaps of native origin, by
-the “finds” of Arabian articles on their lowest floors, and by the fact
-that no relic of greater age than that period has been found. Two or
-three of the better-built minor ruins have the appearance of greater
-age, and some of the relics found in this class of ruins are of the
-oldest type. No one who had not spent considerable time at Zimbabwe
-could have any possible conception of the immense population present
-here at a period of but a few centuries ago. The remains of their stone
-walls are scattered thickly over the valleys and hillsides of Zimbabwe.
-The Makalanga state these are all Makalanga of generations long passed
-away. Some are constructions by indigenous peoples, and certainly they
-are not ancient, though largely built of stones quarried from the
-ancient ruins, and the “finds” are those of old native type, including
-Arab articles.
-
-
- PRESERVATION OF RUINS
-
-The thanks of all scientific circles, and of South Africans generally,
-are due to Sir W. H. Milton, Administrator of Rhodesia, whose great
-interest in the preservation of the ancient monuments in these
-territories is well known, and to whose direction is due the recent
-and timely preservation work at Great Zimbabwe. The author desires
-to express his personal indebtedness to Sir William Milton for
-the adequate arrangements made by him while engaged in his recent
-researches at the Great Zimbabwe.
-
-
- PLAN OF ELLIPTICAL TEMPLE
-
-The clearing of the Elliptical Temple and its vicinity has enabled Mr.
-Franklin White, M.E., Bulawayo, to prepare the latest and so far the
-most perfect plan of that building, and this he has kindly placed at
-the service of the author.
-
-Indebtedness is also expressed to Professor A. H. Keane, LL.D. (author
-of _The Gold of Ophir_), for the contribution of the _Introduction_ to
-this volume; to Mrs. Theodore Bent for generously permitting the use in
-this volume of illustrations from _The Ruined Cities of Mashonaland_;
-to Mr. Gray, Chief Veterinary Surgeon, Salisbury, Mr. H. S. Meilandt,
-Government Roads Inspector, Bulawayo, and Trooper Wenham, B.S.A.P.,
-Victoria, for permission to reproduce certain photographs of the ruins,
-and also to the Directors of the British South Africa Company for
-permission to include the map of Rhodesia in this work.
-
- HAVILAH CAMP, GREAT ZIMBABWE,
- RHODESIA, S.A.
- _1st June, 1904_.
-
-
-
-
- INTRODUCTION
-
- BY A. H. KEANE, LL.D.
-
-
-An archæological work of absorbing interest, such as the volume here
-presented to the reader, needs no introduction. Nor are the following
-remarks meant to be taken in that sense, but only as a sort of “missing
-link” in the chain of evidence between past and present, between the
-Arabian Himyarites and the Rhodesian monuments, the forging of which
-the author has entrusted to me. In _The Ancient Ruins of Rhodesia_,
-of which _Great Zimbabwe_ is the inevitable outcome, Messrs. Hall and
-Neal did not discuss the problem of origins, speculation was distinctly
-eschewed, and although their personal views were, and are, in harmony
-with those of all competent observers, they made no dogmatic statement
-on the subject, leaving the main conclusion to be inferred from the
-great body of evidence which they patiently accumulated on the spot
-and embodied in their monumental work. In _Great Zimbabwe_, of which
-Mr. Hall is sole author, and the rich materials for which he has alone
-brought together, the same attitude of reserve is still maintained,
-perhaps even more severely, and therefore it is that he has now invited
-me to develop the argument by which, as he hopes and I believe, the
-wonderful prehistoric remains strewn over Southern Rhodesia, but
-centred chiefly in the Great Zimbabwe group, may be finally traced to
-their true source in South Arabia, Phœnicia, and Palestine.
-
-In _The Gold of Ophir, whence Brought and by Whom_,[2] where several
-chapters are devoted to this subject, I inferred, on plausible grounds,
-that the Havilah of Scripture—“the whole land of Havilah where there is
-gold”—was the mineralised region between the Zambesi and the Limpopo,
-and that the ancient gold-workings of this region were first opened
-and the associated monuments erected by the South Arabian Himyarites,
-followed in the time of Solomon by the Jews and Phœnicians. I further
-endeavoured to show that all these Semitic treasure-seekers reached
-Havilah (the port of which was Tharshish, probably the present
-Sofala) through Madagascar, where they had settlements and maintained
-protracted commercial and social intercourse with the Malagasy natives;
-and lastly, that the produce of the mines was by them sent down to
-the coast and shipped at Tharshish for Ophir, the great Himyaritic
-emporium on the south coast of Arabia, whence it was distributed over
-the eastern world. It followed that the scriptural “gold of Ophir” did
-not mean the gold mined at Ophir, which was not, as hitherto supposed,
-an auriferous land, but a gold mart.[3] The expression meant the gold
-imported by the Jews and Phœnicians from Havilah (Rhodesia), _viâ_
-Tharshish, Ophir, and Ezion-geber in Idumæa, at the head of the Red Sea.
-
-It is needless here to recapitulate in detail the arguments that I have
-advanced in support of this general thesis. But I should like to point
-out that if one or two of them have been invalidated by my critics,
-several have been greatly strengthened by the fresh evidence that has
-accumulated since the appearance of _The Gold of Ophir_.
-
-Of course, incomparably the most important mass of fresh evidence is
-that which has been brought together by Mr. Hall himself during his
-two years’ researches amid the central group of ruins, and is now
-permanently embodied in _Great Zimbabwe_. Yet the work has in a sense
-been but begun; it has reached down only to the ancient flooring which
-has still to be explored; and we are assured by Sir John Willoughby,
-a most competent authority, that after two months’ exploring the
-wonderful Elliptical Temple with a large gang of labourers, two years
-will yet be needed to complete the surface work of that structure
-alone, without touching the old floors. Mr. Hall infers that three
-further years will be required for the Acropolis itself, besides the
-“Valley of Ruins,” with the groups of buildings extending in all
-directions for over a mile from the temple. A mere glance at some of
-the finely reproduced photographs creates a sense of awe and amazement
-at the huge size and solidity of the containing walls with their
-patiently interwoven chevron and other patterns, and at the vast
-extent of the ground covered by these great monuments of a forgotten
-past. Their erection must have taken many scores of years, one might
-say centuries, and their builders must consequently have dwelt for
-many generations in the land which they so diligently exploited for
-its underground treasures. Here and in all the other strictly mining
-districts they carried on their operations in the midst of hostile
-native populations, as is sufficiently evident from the strongholds
-crowning so many strategical heights, from the formidable ramparts and
-the immense strength of the outer walls, everywhere rounding off in
-long narrow passages leading to the inner enclosures.
-
-[Illustration]
-
-Under such conditions it will naturally be asked, whence did the
-foreign intruders obtain their food supplies? The answer to this
-question is suggested in _The Ancient Ruins_, where it is pointed out
-(p. 208) that the auriferous reefs of the central Zimbabwe district,
-and generally of all the districts in immediate proximity to the
-fortified stations, show no traces of having ever been worked for
-the precious metal. “Possibly the reason for the ancients ignoring
-the gold-reefs of this district [Zimbabwe] lies in the fact that
-the country round about is exceedingly well suited for agricultural
-purposes, the soil being rich and water plentiful, and all vegetable
-growths prolific and profuse. The large population of ancients,
-together with the enormous gangs of slaves, would naturally consume
-a vast quantity of grain, and this necessity would create a large
-agricultural class, who, for their own safety and for the protection
-of their crops and fruits, would naturally carry on their operations
-within such an area as could be safeguarded by the fortresses of
-Zimbabwe.”
-
-It might at first sight be supposed that the food supplies were drawn
-chiefly from the extensive agricultural settlements of the Inyanga
-territory, on the northern slopes of Mashonaland, which drain through
-the Ruenga and its numerous affluents to the right bank of the Zambesi.
-This Inyanga district may be roughly described, from the archæological
-point of view, as an area of old aqueducts, of old terraced slopes,
-and of old ruins of a less imposing type than the Zimbabwe remains.
-In a notice of _The Ancient Ruins of Rhodesia_ contributed to the
-_Geographical Journal_ for April, 1902, I first drew attention to the
-surprising analogy, or rather identity, between these terraces and
-those of the South Arabian uplands visited by General E. T. Haig in the
-eighties. So close is the parallelism that Haig’s description might
-almost change places with Mr. Telford Edwards’ account of the Inyanga
-works quoted in _The Ancient Ruins_, p. 353 _sq._, as thus:—
-
-
- TERRACED SLOPES TERRACED SLOPES
- (SOUTH ARABIA) (SOUTH AFRICA)
-
-“In one district the whole “The extent of these ancient
-mountain side, for a height of terraces is astonishing, and
-6,000 ft., was terraced from top there is every evidence of the
-to bottom. Everywhere, above, past existence of _hundreds of
-below, and all around, endless thousands of inhabitants_. It
-flights of terraced walls meet would be quite impossible to
-the eye. One can hardly realise convey any idea of the immensity
-the enormous amount of labour, of labour implied in the enormous
-toil, and perseverance which these number of these ancient terraces.
-represent. The terraced walls I saw at least 150 square miles
-are usually from 4 to 5 ft. in composed of kopjes from 100 to 400
-height, but towards the top of ft. in height literally strewn
-the mountain they are sometimes with the ruins. A contemplation
-as much as 15 or 18 ft. They are of the enormous tonnage of stones
-built entirely of rough stone and earth rudely built into these
-laid without mortar. I reckoned terraces left me amazed. It
-on an average that each wall appears to be abundantly clear
-retains a terrace not more than that the terraces were for the
-twice its own height in width, purpose of cultivating cereals of
-and I do not think I saw a single some sort. The terraces as a rule
-breach in one of them unrepaired” rise up in vertical lifts of about
-(Haig, _Proceedings Geographical 2 or 3 ft., and extend backwards
-Society_, 1887, p. 482). over a distance of mostly 7 to 12
- ft. The terraces are all made very
- flat and of dry masonry, not of
- hewn stone.”
-
-But Mr. Hall, who visited the Inyanga territory in May, 1904, now finds
-that the terraced slopes,[4] the so-called “slave-pits,” and the other
-remains, although “old,” are not “ancient.” That is to say, they date
-not from Himyaritic times, but probably from the eleventh or twelfth
-century of the new era, when parts of Rhodesia were reoccupied by
-large numbers of Moslem Arabs from Quiloa and their other settlements
-along the east coast. Hence, although the terraced slopes still form a
-connecting link between South Africa and South Arabia, the South Arabia
-here in question is that, not of pre-, but of post-Koranic times.
-
-Of course, the ruined houses and ruined aqueducts are too much
-obliterated to supply any clear points of comparison. But their mere
-presence, and especially the vast extent of ground covered by them,
-will suffice to confirm Mr. Telford Edwards’ estimate of the vast
-numbers of civilised peoples who inhabited the rich Inyanga valleys
-in prehistoric times, and whom we may now call Sabæans, Minæans, and
-others Himyarites.
-
-Were the houses still extant, we should expect to find them covered
-with the same decorative mural motives as are still seen both on the
-Zimbabwe monuments and on the public buildings of Sana, present capital
-of Arabia Felix. Manzoni, who visited this city three times between
-the years 1877 and 1880, figures a mansion six stories high, which is
-richly ornamented with two such motives—the chevron and the vertical
-block pattern—closely resembling those everywhere occurring on the more
-ancient Rhodesian walls. The chevron, which is seen both in single and
-double courses exactly as on the great walls of the Elliptical Temple,
-is absolutely identical, while the block design differs only in being
-quite vertical at Sana, whereas it is slightly tilted, or else two rows
-of blocks converge to produce the herring-bone pattern on the Rhodesian
-walls, as at Little Umnukwana and many other places. The reader
-will find Manzoni’s mansion reproduced in Mr. D. G. Hogarth’s _The
-Penetration of Arabia_, 1904, p. 198, and he will there notice that the
-various motives fill up all the space between two parallel horizontal
-lines, as is so often the case in Rhodesia.[5] Here, therefore, style,
-motive, general treatment, everything corresponds between the Rhodesian
-remains and the decorative fancies still flourishing in Sana, heir to
-the cultural traditions of the neighbouring Mariaba and of the other
-ancient Himyaritic capitals in South Arabia.
-
-[Illustration: COIN OF BYBLOS, PHŒNICIA, SHEWING CONICAL TOWER
-(FIG. I)]
-
-[Illustration: WOODEN BOWL WITH SIGNS OF ZODIAC FOUND NEAR ZIMBABWE
-(FIG. 2)]
-
-In _The Gold of Ophir_ frequent reference is made to the relations,
-social and commercial, established between Palestine and Madagascar
-certainly as early as the time of Solomon, and possibly even during
-the reign of his father David. On this point I might have spoken even
-more confidently, for I have since received a communication from M.
-Alfred Grandidier, by far the greatest living authority on all
-things Malagasy, who calls my attention to the evidence supplied in
-his monumental work, _Histoire Physique, Naturelle et Politique de
-Madagascar_ (1901), of intercourse between the Jews and the natives
-of Madagascar and neighbouring islands even in pre-Solomonic days.
-Documents are quoted to show that the Comoros, stepping-stones between
-Madagascar and Rhodesia, were peopled in the reign of Solomon “by Arabs
-or rather by Idumæan Jews from the Red Sea,” and that the people of the
-great island preserve many Israelitish rites, usages, and traditions,
-cherish the memory of Adam, Abraham, Lot, Moses, Gideon, but have no
-knowledge of any of the prophets after the time of David, “which seems
-to show that the Jewish immigrants left their home at a very remote
-date, since if the exodus had been recent they could not have forgotten
-the great names posterior to the time of David.” Hence he concludes
-that “there is nothing surprising in the presence of an Idumæan colony
-in Madagascar, for we know that from the very earliest times the Arabs
-of Yemen had frequented the East African seaboard at least as far as
-Sofala.” These words lend further support to my identification of
-Tharshish with Sofala, and in a note it is added that “the Jews and
-Arabian Semites were not the only peoples who had formerly commercial
-relations with the inhabitants of the African seaboard. From time
-immemorial these southern waters were navigated by the fleets of the
-Egyptians, probably even of the Chaldeans, Babylonians, Assyrians,
-Phœnicians, Tyrians” (_op. cit._, p. 96). And again at p. 100: “From
-the earliest times the Indian Ocean was traversed by Chaldean,
-Egyptian, Jewish, Arab, Persian, Indian, and other vessels.”[6]
-
-My statements regarding the long-standing relations of the Northern
-Semites with the peoples of Madagascar and South Africa as far as
-Sofala are thus fully supported by the greatest authority on the
-subject. But there are some minds so constituted that they seem
-incapable of accepting a new revelation. They can do nothing but _stare
-super vias antiquas_, and will strain every nerve to minimise the force
-of facts and arguments pointing at conclusions which run counter to
-their deep-rooted prejudices. I here reproduce the famous “Zimbabwe
-Zodiac” (Fig. 2.), which was found near Great Zimbabwe, and shows the
-twelve signs of the Zodiac carved round the rim, as described by the
-late Dr. Schlichter in the _Geographical Journal_ for April, 1890. This
-specialist tells us that “the signs coincide in every respect with
-other finds which Bent and others have made in Zimbabwe. One of the
-pictures is an image of the sun analogous to the sun-pictures which
-Mauch and Bent found on the monoliths of Zimbabwe, and _analogous also
-to finds in Asia Minor which belong to the Assyro-Babylonian period_.”
-But a writer in the _Guardian_ attempts to destroy the significance of
-this document by asserting that the Zodiac or its nomenclature is of
-Greek origin and consequently of no great age. Now the Hon. Emmeline M.
-Plunket has recently (1903) published a work on _Ancient Calendars and
-Constellations_, in which she maintains that the Babylonian Calendar,
-with its Zodiacal signs, dates from 6000 B.C., that is, about 8,000
-years ago. It is true that this estimate is not clearly made out. But
-on the other hand, the reader may be assured that Miss Plunket does
-not hold by the “Greek” theory. Nor does F. Delitzsch, who reminds us
-that “when we distinguish twelve signs of the Zodiac and call them
-Ram, Bull, Twins, etc., in all this the Sumero-Babylonian culture is
-still a living influence down to the present day.”[7] Nor does Sayce,
-who points out that the Babylonian account of the Flood occurs in the
-eleventh book of the epic of Gisdhubar corresponding approximately
-with the eleventh sign of the Zodiac, at that time _Aquarius_, just
-as the fifth book records the death of a monstrous lion by Gisdhubar,
-answering to the Zodiacal _Leo_ and so on. He further observes that
-“the Zodiacal signs had been marked out and named at that remote period
-(certainly before 2000 B.C.), when the sun was still in Taurus at the
-beginning of spring,”[8] and, let me add, when the Greeks had not
-yet been heard of, but when the great Gnomon, or Conical Tower, had
-possibly already been erected by the Semitic builders of Great Zimbabwe.
-
-[Illustration: CYLINDER WITH ROSETTES FOUND IN PHŒNICIAN TEMPLE OF
-PAPHOS, IN CYPRUS
-(FIG. 3)]
-
-[Illustration: SOAPSTONE CYLINDER, WITH ROSETTES FOUND NEAR ZIMBABWE
-(FIG. 4)]
-
-That this and the numerous other conical towers still standing amid
-the crumbling ruins of Rhodesia are all cast in a Semitic mould
-will be at once seen by comparing them with the conical tower of a
-temple, figured on a medallion found at Byblos in Phœnicia and here
-reproduced (Fig. 1.). The comparison may also be extended to the
-two embossed cylinders—one from Great Zimbabwe, the other from the
-Temple of Paphos, in Cyprus, here also reproduced (Figs. 3 and 4) from
-Bent’s _Ruined Cities_, pp. 170, 171. These two objects, so strikingly
-similar in general design, reminded Bent of Herodian’s description of
-the sacred cone in the great Phœnician Temple of the Sun at Emessa,
-in Syria, which was adorned with certain “knobs or protuberances,” a
-pattern supposed by him to represent the sun, and common in phallic
-decorations, such as are constantly turning up with every shovelful of
-débris removed from the Zimbabwe Temple Enclosures.
-
-But although thousands of stones have been washed and carefully
-examined for inscriptions, none have so far been discovered. As the
-inscription which stood originally above the gateway of Great Zimbabwe,
-as reported by the Arabs to the Portuguese pioneers early in the
-sixteenth century,[9] has since disappeared, there are no known written
-documents connecting these monuments with South Arabia or Phœnicia,
-except a few scratches on the rim of an earthenware vessel figured
-by Bent and by him supposed possibly to be of Himyaritic type.[10]
-As, on the other hand, South Arabia is covered with Himyaritic rock
-inscriptions, some of considerable length and hitherto reputed to be of
-great age, their absence from Rhodesia has naturally caused surprise.
-This negative argument has even by some of my critics been allowed to
-outweigh the overwhelming positive evidence derived from the monuments
-themselves, from the hundreds of old gold-workings already described
-or recorded, from the multitude of objects—phalli, birds, conic
-towers—which have been found in the ruins, and are, beyond all doubt,
-intimately associated with Semitic religious observances. But I think
-it may now be shown that this “negative argument” is no proof at all
-of non-Semitic origins, but, on the contrary, affords strong indirect
-evidence of the great antiquity of these Semitic remains in Rhodesia.
-
-It is to be noticed, in the first place, that although the Phœnicians
-are believed to have migrated from the Persian Gulf to the
-Mediterranean about three millenniums before the New Era, no Phœnician
-inscriptions have yet been anywhere discovered in the Mediterranean
-lands older than about the seventh or the eighth century B.C. Before
-that time the Phœnicians, like the kindred Canaanites and Israelites,
-were rude, uncultured peoples, with no knowledge of letters, except,
-perhaps, of the hieroglyphs, cuneiforms, and other scripts of their
-Egyptian, Assyro-Babylonian, Hittite, and Cretan neighbours. Even the
-Moabite Stone, if it be genuine, is post-Solomonic, since its reputed
-“author” was the Moabite king, Mesha, contemporary of Jehoram of Israel
-and Jehoshaphat of Judah. How, then, could the unlettered Jews and
-Phœnicians of the time of David, Solomon, and Hiram leave any written
-records of themselves in Rhodesia? After that epoch the intercourse
-with South Africa was interrupted, because “Jehoshaphat made ships of
-Tharshish to go to Ophir for gold; but they went not; for the ships
-were broken at Ezion-geber” (1 Kings xxii. 48). And then the star
-of Jacob waned, and the scattering of the Ten Tribes of Israel was
-presently followed by the dire calamities that fell upon Judah, and put
-an end for ever to all further quest of treasure in the Austral seas.
-
-[Illustration: “FUKO-YA-NEBANDGE,” THE MASHONALAND RELIC, DISCOVERED
-NEAR ZIMBABWE
-(FIG. 5)]
-
-[Illustration: MODEL OF ELLIPTICAL TEMPLE, ZIMBABWE
-(FIG. 6)]
-
-In the second place I find that Semitic students are gradually coming
-to the conclusion that the age of the South Arabian rock inscriptions
-has been greatly exaggerated, especially by Glaser, whose authority
-was at first naturally accepted almost without demur. The language is,
-no doubt, Himyaritic, that is to say, the oldest known form of Arabic.
-But that language survived for many centuries after the New Era in the
-Axumite empire, Abyssinia, where it is called _Geez_, and in Yemen
-till some time after the Mohammedan irruption, and is still current in
-the island of Sokotra, and in the Mahra district east of Hadramaut,
-where it is called _Ehkili_. Hence the language of the inscriptions
-is no test of their antiquity, though many afford intrinsic evidence
-that they date certainly from at least a few hundred years before the
-New Era. The subject is at present _sub judice_, and no more can be
-said until the full results are known of the extensive researches now
-in progress throughout Yemen. Here a large number of agents of the
-French Ministère de l’Instruction Publique have been at work since
-the year 1901, and thousands of impressions or rubbings have already
-(1903–4) been received in Paris. Some have even begun to appear in
-the _Nouveaux Textes Yéménites_, edited by M. Derenbourg, and several
-of the inscriptions are stated to be in a hitherto unknown alphabet
-quite different from that of the Himyaritic document which forms the
-frontispiece of the _Gold of Ophir_. Great revelations may therefore be
-pending; but, meanwhile, so much may, I think, be safely inferred, that
-the Himyarites who first arrived in Rhodesia, worked the mines, and
-built the monuments, some dating from apparently 2000 B.C., had little
-or no knowledge of letters, or at least had not yet begun to cover
-the rocks of their South Arabian homes with well-formed and carefully
-constructed inscriptions. Thus is also explained the absence of all
-such documents from their new homes in Rhodesia, where one may now
-almost venture to predict that none will ever be found. Nothing can be
-inferred from the vanished inscription over the Great Zimbabwe gateway,
-since the gold-workings appear to have been resumed for a time by the
-later (post-Mohammedan) Arabs, who were fond of decorating the façades
-of their mosques and other public buildings with the ornamental but
-relatively recent (eighth century) Cufic characters.
-
-Mention should perhaps here be made of Professor Gustav Oppert’s
-_Tharshish and Ophir_ (Berlin, 1903), in which the learned author
-claims to offer “a final solution” of the problem. But he leaves the
-question exactly as it stood over three decades ago, is still lost in
-the tangle of time-worn etymologies, and takes no notice at all of
-the revelations made by Messrs. Hall and Neal in the _Ancient Ruins_.
-The vast body of archæological evidence derived in recent years from
-the Rhodesian remains is thus completely ignored, and fresh light
-excluded from the only source whence it might have been drawn. On the
-other hand, Professor Oppert, rather than admit a Tharshish in the
-Indian Ocean, suggests that the _Tharshish_ of Kings and Chronicles
-either means “the sea,” possibly the origin of the Greek word θἁλαττα
-itself, or else was by the authors of those books foisted into the
-texts instead of Ophir. Hence where _Tharshish_ occurs as the objective
-of Solomon’s gold expeditions we are to read _Ophir_, although the
-original Ophir is allowed to have been where I place it on the south
-coast of Arabia. Now the Greek word θἁλαττα is Homeric, and when the
-Homeric poems were first sung there were no Greeks in the Indian
-Ocean. Hence, even if the wild etymology could be admitted, it would
-not serve, and this essay cannot be accepted as “a final solution of
-the old controversy.”[11] It is pleasant to be able to add that my
-solution has been accepted as final by some of Professor Oppert’s
-fellow-countrymen—the editor of the _Coloniale Zeitung_ amongst
-others—who declares that “the problem seems now really solved.”[12]
-
-Let me conclude with a question. Those who still reject my solution,
-who cast about for the gold of Ophir all over the Indian Ocean—Egypt,
-Arabia, Persia, India—anywhere except South Africa, what do they
-propose doing with the hundreds of old Rhodesian workings, which are
-known to have yielded at least £75,000,000 in their time, and with
-the stupendous Semitic monuments connected with these workings, of
-which Mr. Hall here presents the public with scores of photographic
-reproductions, drawn exclusively from the central Great Zimbabwe group?
-Where does India, the spoilt child of the etymologists, stand beside
-these remains, which betray such undoubted evidence of their South
-Arabian origin?
-
-
-
-
- GREAT ZIMBABWE[13]
-
- CHAPTER I
-
- Arrival at Great Zimbabwe—First Impressions—View
- from Acropolis Hill
-
-
-On the 21st May, 1902, I arrived at Victoria in Mashonaland, _en route_
-to the ruins of the Great Zimbabwe, which lie about seventeen miles
-south-east of the township. In 1891, when the late Mr. Theodore Bent
-visited Zimbabwe, he occupied exactly one week in covering the distance
-between Victoria and the ruins. Unfortunately for him and his party, he
-had been advised to follow the Moshagashi Valley, instead of taking the
-higher ground towards the west, and consequently he experienced great
-difficulty with his wagons in crossing spruits, rivers, and swamps,
-which are numerous in that direction.
-
-There is now an excellent road to Zimbabwe, and the distance can be
-covered by a cyclist well within an hour and a half, while visitors
-driving can now arrive at Zimbabwe early in the morning and spend the
-whole day among the ruins and yet be in town in ample time for the
-evening meal. The distance by road is seventeen miles, and by a native
-path cutting across country it is reduced to fifteen miles.
-
-Victoria is a town with barely one hundred white inhabitants. It is the
-centre of the largest and finest grain country of Southern Rhodesia,
-and the opening up of the gold, copper, and coal areas of the Sabi
-district will tend to increase its importance.
-
-The Acting-Civil Commissioner, Mr. Lawlor, arranged for requisitions to
-be made for stores, plant, etc., required for the work at the ruins,
-and the Officer Commanding the British South Africa Police provided
-wagon and ten mules to transport stores out to Zimbabwe. The Native
-Commissioner, Mr. Alfred Drew, sent out M’Guti, a native police boy,
-to the chief Mogabe, who lives near the ruins and rules over a large
-tract of country and is practically independent, to find fifteen “boys”
-(afterwards increased to forty) to be at our camp at Zimbabwe at sun-up
-on Saturday. The work of collecting stores and plant filled up the rest
-of the day.
-
-Early the following morning we loaded up the wagon and left for
-Great Zimbabwe, arriving at the main ruins at midday. The wagon was
-off-loaded, and in the shade of a large candelabra-shaped euphorbia
-tree we lunched, while the “boys” carried the stores up on to a low
-granite knoll, where were three spacious native huts, built for the
-Civil Commissioner, and occupied by Lord Milner in 1897. Of course,
-half the population of Mogabe’s kraal came down the kopje sides in
-black strings to watch all that took place, and a jabbering, laughing,
-noisy crowd they were. There was not a pair of trousers or a vest among
-the lot, and all were absolutely bare, save for their aprons. I liked
-their appearance better than that of the average Matabele, for they had
-better and more genial faces, and were not at all haughty and reserved.
-
-The camp is within a few feet of the north side of No. 3 Ruins (see
-map), and faces the south side of Zimbabwe Hill, and the Acropolis
-Ruins are on the summit of a very precipitous cliff, 90 ft. high,
-forming part of the side of the hill, the ruins being 220 ft. directly
-above the camp. The camp of Mr. Theodore Bent, the archæologist, was a
-third of a mile to the south of our camp. Ours is the more convenient
-spot, as it is half-way between the two principal ruins, and close to
-its east side lies “The Valley of Ruins,” beside which the situation is
-far healthier.
-
-[Illustration: “TO GREAT ZIMBABWE”]
-
-[Illustration: HAVILAH CAMP, GREAT ZIMBABWE]
-
-Leaving the “boys” to move the stores and plant from our outspan up to
-the huts, we started for a visit to the Elliptical Temple, which can be
-seen from the camp. My friends, Mr. Herbert Hayles, of Victoria, and
-Mr. J. R. A. Gell (cousin of Mr. Lyttelton Gell, one of the directors
-of the British South Africa Company), had accompanied me out to
-Zimbabwe to show me the lie of the Zimbabwe Reserve, and to protect me
-for the first night of my stay in the event of any visits from ancient
-ghosts.
-
-Approaching the west entrance to the Elliptical Temple one is
-confronted by the following notice:—
-
-“_The public are warned that digging or prospecting for gold, whether
-alluvial or otherwise, or for curiosities and relics of any sort
-within the Zimbabwe Reserve, is strictly prohibited without special
-permission, and that any person or persons found so doing or in any
-way damaging any of the ruins or cutting or damaging any tree or trees
-within such Reserve will be prosecuted. And notice is also hereby
-given that nobody will be allowed to erect any habitation of any kind
-whatever within the Reserve without special permission. By Order._”[14]
-
-But turning from this prosaic notice to the walls themselves, one
-saw that every stone of this stupendous and imposing structure had
-gained glories from the hands of Time, and yielded a magnificent
-subject for the painter’s brush. The walls were white with lichen,
-but on their surfaces were splashed art colourings of almost every
-possible shade—bright orange and red, lemon-black, sea-green, and pale
-delicate yellow—while drooping from the summits were heavy festoons of
-the pink-flowered “Zimbabwe creeper.” Over the fallen blocks spread
-sprays of passion flowers, convolvuli, and other delicate creepers, and
-clusters of St. John’s lilies and large scarlet gladioli rose stately
-above beds of rich vegetation. Here was one of Nature’s most perfect
-chromographs!
-
-To describe this grand ruin in one chapter would be an utterly
-impossible task, and any statement of one’s first impressions on
-walking about the temple ’mid its massive Titanic walls must be
-altogether inadequate. At any rate, one experienced an overwhelming
-and oppressive sense of awe and reverence. One felt it impossible to
-speak loudly or to laugh. And yet the ancient builders were what is
-termed Pagan—Phallic worshippers with Baal and Astoroth among their
-divinities, but a people so skilled in Zodiacal, astronomical, and
-other sciences as to amaze and perplex the savants of to-day. Standing
-close by the Sacred Cone, near which, according to Colonel Conder, the
-Syro-Arabian archæologist, the altar was placed, one felt disinclined
-for conversation. Above on a bough was a large owl, with prominent
-ears and beautiful yellow eyes, who stared at our daring to trespass
-on the verge of mystery. At our feet lay innumerable cast-off skins
-of snakes. One thought of the poet Lowell’s _Lost Angel_, where,
-speaking of a man so deadening his conscience by constant refusals to
-listen to the appeals of his attendant good angel, he finds that the
-angel has at last left him alone. Then was the temple of his heart
-become desecrated, “the owl and snake inhabit there, the image of the
-God has gone!” The owl and snake inhabit the Temple of Zimbabwe, the
-altar of which is now broken down and desecrated, but the odious and
-unmistakable emblems of Nature Worship are still to be found by the
-score. Reverence of the hoary age of these buildings seizes one, for
-some accredited archæologists give the age of some of these ruins as
-anterior to the time of Moses. One wonders whether Professor Keane’s
-contention is correct, that Ancient Rhodesia was the Havilah of
-Genesis, especially when one thinks of the estimated £75,000,000 of
-gold believed to have been taken by the Ancients from the surface of
-the gold-reefs of this country before and during the Biblical-Ophir
-period.
-
-But our stay within these massive walls was brief. The writer would
-have over two years in which to wander in their labyrinthine passages,
-and to examine their architectural features, and compare them with
-those of Rhodesian ruins elsewhere, but his friends must start back to
-Victoria before sunrise next day. On our way to the other important
-ruins—the Acropolis or Hill Fortress—we visited the grave of Major Alan
-Wilson and his party[15] who were killed on the Shangani during the
-flight of King Lo ’Bengula in 1893.
-
-We climbed up the 230 feet to the Acropolis ruins, but our visit here
-also was brief. We clambered round the summits of the walls of the two
-temples, which have a score of monoliths still standing, more or less
-erect, and penetrated some of the most intricate passages. The feeling
-experienced here was one of intense wonder and bewilderment at the
-stupendous walls erected at such a height, walls which must have taken
-years to build, and all of granite blocks. The view from the summit
-is among the finest in Rhodesia. We watched the sunset glow fading on
-the white walls of the Elliptical Temple below, and then descended to
-prepare the huts for the night and arrange the stores in their proper
-quarters. Later, when the round moon one day off the full was shining,
-we sat outside the huts watching the effects shown on the western
-temple on the hill where the monoliths high up above us stood out
-against the greenish moonlit sky. At 4 a.m. the mules were inspanned in
-the wagon, and my friends took their departure, leaving me alone among
-ruins and natives.
-
-As soon as the sun was fairly up, M’Guti, the native police boy,
-arrived from Mogabe’s kraal, followed by a crowd of “boys,” all most
-anxious for work. The majority were young men, and the total clothing
-of the crowd did not amount to three square yards of calico. They all
-squatted down in a semi-circle in front of the main hut while M’Guti
-delivered a long oration, but as he was wearing khaki regimentals and
-had his steel handcuffs (evidently a badge of authority) lying in front
-of him, the sustaining influence of office possessed him. Finally, all
-the details were settled, a roll was made up, and the names recorded.
-
-Later, the Mogabe, Handisibishe, and his headmen arrived, and a
-long _indaba_ took place, M’Guti interpreting. Mogabe recognised
-the likenesses of Mr. and Mrs. Bent, and that of the previous
-Mogabe—Chipfuno, his brother. Salt and tobacco sent Mogabe happy away,
-and next day a large gourd of _doro_ (native beer) and some sweet
-potatoes arrived at the camp as a present.
-
-The view from the summit of the Acropolis may be described as follows:—
-
-_South._—Towards the south and in the nearer distance, and 250 feet
-below in the valley, the venerable and lichened walls of the Elliptical
-Temple rise out of luxuriantly green vegetation. So much below
-the Acropolis cliffs is this temple that one sees over its broken
-north walls into the interior and on to the floors of some of the
-enclosures. The summit of the conical tower peeps out from among the
-giant fig-trees that flourish in the interior of the building. At this
-distance the white monoliths along the eastern wall, though clearly
-defined against the dark foliage, seem dwarfed. In almost the same line
-of view, but slightly eastwards and nearer, and on the north-east side
-of the temple, is the “Valley of Ruins,” full of enclosures, passages,
-entrances, and walls, which up to 1902 had remained practically
-unexplored by white men. Nearer still is the wagon-track passing
-Havilah Camp and winding eastwards towards the Mapaku Ruins (“Little
-Zimbabwe”) and the Motelekwe[16] River seven miles distant. A hundred
-yards east of the temple on an open granite space overlooking the
-Valley of Ruins is the site of the camp of Dr. Schlichter, who visited
-the Zimbabwe ruins in 1897. Immediately behind this spot and between it
-and the foot of the Bentberg (_Motusa_) is the veld land ploughed by
-Messrs. Posselt in 1888–9.
-
-[Illustration: GREAT ZIMBABWE RESERVE]
-
-Still looking south and slightly eastwards of the temple is the
-Schlichter Gorge, down which the Mapudzi flows towards the south.
-At the southern end of the gorge is a succession of ranges of kopjes
-of fantastic shape descending into, and again rising from, the
-Mowishawasha Valley, and becoming lost in the blue distance. The
-Bentberg Kopje, which forms a dark background for the temple, shows its
-immense flanks of granite glacis and boulders. Here some fifty years
-ago was the chief local kraal of the Barotse, who had settlements among
-the Makalanga of this part of the country, and on the north-eastern
-side of the hill are still to be seen the remains of ancient walls,
-while a clump of castor-oil trees at the foot of the hill on this side
-marks the site of Theodore Bent’s camp (June and July, 1891).
-
-Slightly to the west of the temple and almost immediately in front
-of it are No. 1 Ruins, the walls of which are crowned with aloes and
-euphorbias. Less than a hundred yards west of these ruins are the
-Ridge Ruins, on a bare granite ridge, on the east side of which was
-the camp of Sir John Willoughby, who excavated portions of the ruins
-(November and December, 1892). Fifty yards behind the Ridge Ruins is
-the Zimbabwe Spring, marked by a group of trees, where most excellent
-water can be obtained, even during the driest season. It was close
-to these trees that Messrs. Posselt had their camp in 1888–9. Nearer
-than Ridge Ruins is the little graveyard where is the granite tomb of
-Major Alan Wilson and his party. Just a few yards nearer is Havilah
-Camp, where one can just see the natives moving to and fro across the
-open spaces between the huts. Behind the Bentberg and further south is
-broken country, with Lumbo Rocks, one of the landmarks of the district,
-rising from the summit of a rugged hill like a column piled up against
-the sky, its lichen mantle showing brilliant red in the sunset. Here
-is the line of high ground which separates the plateau of Mashonaland
-from the lower valley of the Limpopo River, the incline in the contour
-being both steep and abrupt. This also divides the watershed of
-the Motelekwe from that of the Tokwe.[17] In this southern view are
-scattered many Makalanga kraals, several of which are perched up in
-almost inaccessible rocky eyries; also some romantic valleys, kloofs,
-and stretches of park-like land studded with patches of thick woods.
-
-[Illustration: GENERAL PLAN OF ZIMBABWE RUINS showing the general
-position of each ruin ]
-
-_South-west._—Looking towards the south-west and in the near distance
-is the rising ground between the Bentberg and Rusivanga[18] kopjes,
-and the native path leading over it to Bingura’s kraal. At the foot of
-Rusivanga and 150 yards from Havilah Camp, and on a knoll on which is
-a large old tree, was for some time the camp of Adam Renders, known by
-the natives as _Sa-adama_, who rediscovered Zimbabwe in 1868, and who
-was here visited by Mr. George Philips, the ivory trader of the very
-early days, and by Dr. Karl Mauch, the latter of whom gave in 1871 the
-first information of the ruins for almost three hundred years. Here
-Renders traded extensively for ivory. Previously to Dr. Mauch’s visit
-Renders lived at Nini, eleven miles south-west of Zimbabwe.
-
-Beyond the nearer ridge is a deep and wide valley on the near side of
-which is Bingura’s kraal, and from this valley the land rises towards
-the southern extremity of the Livouri Mountains some ten miles from
-Zimbabwe, and in the immediate distance, though much nearer the Livouri
-Range, is Providential Pass, through which the hunter, Mr. F. C.
-Selous, led the Pioneer Column in 1890. In the same line of view, but
-slightly nearer, is where Renders’ first station was located.
-
-_West._—Looking due west there are two kopjes—Rusivanga and
-Makuma—which close in the Zimbabwe Valley on that side at a third of
-a mile distance. Further west of the two kopjes is a wide undulating
-valley some six or eight miles wide which runs along the east side of
-the Livouri Mountains, and this is studded at intervals with low and
-bare granite kopjes. The kraal of the dynastic chief Cherimbila is at
-Rovali, at the southern extremity of the range. The highest point of
-the Livouri is Niande, a hill in the centre of this range with steep
-and almost inaccessible sides. Behind the Livouri Range is seen the
-high conical summit of the Cotopaxi Mountain, which forms one of the
-principal landmarks of this portion of Southern Mashonaland. Towards
-the south end of the Livouri Range is a large hill called Mowishawasha.
-_Washa_ is always associated by the natives with power and authority.
-The natives never climb to the top of this hill without going through
-some form of devotion on their way up; also on passing close to the
-hill they will stop and clap hands. Natives will not state the actual
-reason. Probably an important Makalanga chief of some past times was
-buried there. Near to this hill is a smaller one known as Tchib-Fuko,
-which also has some native superstitions attached to it. It was in this
-district the wooden platter with the zodiacal signs was discovered by
-Mr. Edward Muller, also the pot “Fuko-ya-Nebandge.”
-
-_North-west._—To the north-west, and on the opposite side of the valley
-at the foot of Zimbabwe Hill, and beyond the _Outer Defence Wall_ which
-encloses the Zimbabwe ruins on the west and north sides, is a low
-granite knoll called Pasosa, with outlying huts belonging to Mogabe’s
-kraal. A few yards behind the huts is a ruin (Pasosa, No. 1), with a
-second ruin (Pasosa, No. 2) 60 yards farther north. The country beyond
-in this direction is the valley land of the Moshagashi River, which
-is some six to eight miles broad, the horizon showing low hills, over
-which are the line of houses and trees of Victoria township, fifteen
-miles distant as the crow flies, and beyond again are the uplands of
-the range north of Victoria. The principal kraals in this direction are
-Baranzimba’s (two miles) and M’Tima’s (three and a half miles).
-
-[Illustration: VIEW FROM ACROPOLIS SHEWING THE ELLIPTICAL TEMPLE IN THE
-VALLEY, ZIMBABWE]
-
-_North._—In the north is the lower continuation of the Moshagashi
-Valley, at this point some eight miles broad. Here the granite
-formation of Zimbabwe terminates and the slate commences. The principal
-kraal, and by far the largest in this area, is that of Chinongu, which
-is four miles from Zimbabwe. Extending from N.N.W. to N.N.E. are the
-high and romantically shaped Besa Mountains, and at their eastern
-extremity can be seen in the blue distance the Lovugwe country.
-
-_North-east._—To the north-east, at a distance of eight miles and
-cutting the sky-line, is the range of the Inyuni Hills. Their sides are
-exceedingly steep and, being slate, their contours contrast pleasantly
-with those of the kopjes of the granite formation. In the nearer
-distance is Motuminshaba, a granite kopje four miles away, and farther
-east Tchivi, another granite kopje three miles distant. The land
-towards the east-north-east descends to the Motelekwe River, the valley
-of which can be seen with Arowi, a huge, isolated granite kopje rising
-twelve miles distant, on the far bank of the Motelekwe. In this area
-kraals are numerous.
-
-_East._—The Beroma Range (written by Bent as “Veroma”) fills in the
-whole of the background towards the east. These hills, which run north
-and south, appear to be fully four miles long. The most northerly
-point of this range is formed by a large rounded granite kopje called
-Sueba,[19] and between this hill and Chenga’s[20] kraal is the path
-leading over the nek to the Mapaku Ruins (“Little Zimbabwe”) eight
-miles distant. On the west side of Beroma is a line of lower hills
-forming its shoulders. The southern end of the Beroma Range is formed
-by the high rounded Mount Marsgi, with a series of cliffs on its west
-side, and at its base M’Tijeni’s kraal. Marsgi overlooks the Schlichter
-Gorge. This is the point from which our description started.
-
-
-
-
- CHAPTER II
-
- MYSTIC ZIMBABWE
-
- Sunday Morning and Midnight in an Ancient Temple—Sunset on the
- Acropolis.
-
-
-Wandering about the Elliptical Temple at Zimbabwe on a Sunday morning
-one is faced at every turn with texts for innumerable “sermons in
-stones.” The hoary age of these massive walls is grandly and silently
-eloquent of a dead religion—a religion which was but the blind
-stretching forth of the hand of faith groping in the Dawn of Knowledge
-for the Deity and seeking the Unknown. Lowell urges that none should
-call any faith “vain” which in the evolution of religion has led
-mankind up to a higher level. The builders were “Pagans.” Granted, but
-the world four thousand years ago was in its infancy, and infancy is
-but a necessary prelude to development in any department of life and
-thought. The progressive stages of Old Testament faith demonstrate this
-fact most patently. We of the Christian Era, with our two thousand
-years of religious enlightenment, have yet to learn of the “many things
-I have to say unto you, but ye cannot bear them now.” The evolution of
-the Christian Ideal has not yet reached its final stage—it has still to
-be perfected. But the period of infancy in development should not be
-too hastily condemned as “vain.”
-
-The spires that adorn our churches, the orientation of ecclesiastical
-buildings, the eastward position of the dead, the candles on the
-altars, and what is more, the idea conveyed by sacrificial offering,
-have their origin in the ancient faiths and world-wide litholatrous
-and solar ideas of the Semitic peoples, whether of Yemen or Phœnicia,
-who built their temples in every part of the then known world which
-came under their influence. In these, as in many more such instances,
-parallelisms become identities, but identities adapted by the Christian
-Church to convey in an old-world form a figure of a higher faith. The
-continuity between this old temple at Zimbabwe, Stonehenge, and the
-modern cathedral, is complete.
-
-When one reviews the forms and practices, so far as they are known,
-of the Semitic builders of the Great Zimbabwe, what a flood of light
-shines in upon the history and worship of the Hebrews. The writings
-of the Prophets live afresh, and the mystic chapters of Job become
-full of pregnant meaning. A key is provided to the secret of Abraham
-offering his son, to Jacob’s pile of stones, to Jephthah’s vow, to
-the Syro-Phœnician woman’s conversation at the well, and to a hundred
-points of biblical lore which would otherwise barely attract attention,
-much less provoke interest. These old Semites—of whom the Hebrews were
-a younger branch—stinted not their worship, and knew the ecstasy of
-sacrifice. Their best beloved they gave—their dearest, in the belief
-that the gift which was offered without a pang was not prized by
-Deity. Bearing this in mind, the Old Testament is found to be replete
-with unfailing interest, charm, and point; it becomes, in fact, a
-marvellously new book even to the biblical student.
-
-The builders of the temple at Zimbabwe have now, it is believed,
-slept through three millenniums, if not four, yet the religious faith
-of the Semitic family was so strong, so real, and so forceful, that
-its ramifications can be found in the faith of the Christian Church
-of to-day. Nor can this be wondered at. One has but to glance round
-these temple walls to read in granite blocks the fact that to the
-builders their religious faith was of primal importance. Here is
-clearly envisaged the fact that to them their religion was very real,
-so much so that were Europe devastated to-morrow, it could scarcely
-show in proportion to its other buildings such monuments to religious
-faith as can be seen in Rhodesia to-day. Their finest art, their best
-constructive skill, and the patient labour of long years, were lavished
-upon these buildings which thickly stud the country. Thoroughness and
-devotion are written large on the orientated, massive, and grandly
-sweeping walls of the Elliptical Temple at Great Zimbabwe. One cannot
-call their faith “vain” when one realises that it led them out from
-themselves towards something higher, while for them it must be
-remembered the True Light had not shined. Struggling though blindly to
-improve their relationship to Deity provided a no mean factor in the
-religious progress of the world.
-
-While these ancient Semitic colonisers of Rhodesia have slept their
-many-centuried sleep, what epochs of the world’s history have come
-and gone, and what empires have risen and decayed! Ah! see that
-lichen-mantled granite block low down in the cyclopean wall. It has a
-little chip of stone under one corner as if to steady it. The ancient
-mason was a careful worker. The chip is still there to-day. One can
-move it with a finger. Was it there when Moses led the Hebrews towards
-the Promised Land, or there when young Joseph was sold as a slave into
-Egypt? Who shall say? Civilisations have come and gone, but the chip is
-there, and affords not merely an evidence of the careful mason, but a
-sermon on the brevity of life, the utter smallness of pomp and power,
-and the absolute absurdity of pride. Still the little granite chip has
-served its purpose for some four thousand years, and it may yet be
-there occupying its humble position at the end of the next millennium.
-The oldest fanes of Europe, whether of Greece or Rome, cannot so
-deeply move to awe-inspiring feeling as can the massive walls of the
-temple at Zimbabwe, for these old empires are believed to have been
-almost unborn when Zimbabwe was at its zenith. Thus the walls compel a
-listening to their sermons.
-
-As one strays through the Sacred Enclosure, thoughts come:—What were
-the relative positions of magic and religion, especially in the
-complicated and closely observed Phallic worship of these ancients;
-whence the zodiacal, astronomical, and geometrical knowledge of the
-builders; what of the touch of tragedy in their exodus or departure;
-the exact meaning of the granite, slate, and carved soapstone monoliths
-on the summits of the walls; the origin of the occupiers; was Rhodesia
-the Havilah of Genesis; did it provide the Solomonic gold; of the close
-kinship of these successful ancient gold-seekers from Yemen or Tyre and
-Sidon to the Hebrews of Palestine; and of their intimate connection in
-origin, language, and neighbourhood which Holy Writ abundantly declares
-existed from the ninth chapter of Genesis until Paul preached in
-Phœnicia?
-
-Gazing at the Sacred Tower, one thinks of the Tower of Siloam, and of
-the “high places” of Samaria, and of the times when even this form of
-worship became the state religion of Judah under Ahaziah; and sitting
-at the conjectured site of the ancient altar, where the writer has
-found in numbers the stone emblems of their faith, thoughts arise of
-the Bethel stones of the Hebrews, the Bethûl or “the dwelling-places
-of God” of the Phœnicians, and the Penuel or “Face of God” of the
-Midianites.
-
-The Law of Moses adapts the rules and customs and ideas and forms of
-worship of far greater antiquity than the Mosaic times. So the new
-faith of every age borrows from the old, and the mighty processions of
-civilisations and faiths which have encircled this earth from very far
-back beyond the days of Abraham go on their even course.
-
-But we must leave the temple and return to camp. There is still the
-great Zimbabwe owl sitting on his favourite bough near the “high
-place.” The six-foot python crawls in and out of the stones of the
-ancient altar. Brightly coloured lizards bask on the once consecrated
-walls. Blue jays, honey-birds, and doves here find a shelter. The
-trees, orchid-clad and lichen-festooned, throw a weird shadow over all.
-Possibly ancients are sleeping near.
-
-As one passes out through the entrance into the full glare of an
-African noontide, one feels as if one had just returned from the far
-distant mystic past to modern life, for a naked Makalanga waits there
-with the message that Sunday lunch was cooked and waiting.
-
- • • • • •
-
-_Midnight in an ancient temple._—It was the night of the full moon
-nearest to Midsummer Day in the Southern Hemisphere, and towards
-midnight the large population of Makalanga round Zimbabwe would be
-celebrating the feast of the full moon with dancing, singing, and
-_doro_ drinking. This was evidently a special feast, for its advent
-had been the theme of conversation among our labourers for the past
-fortnight, and, unlike the other feasts, it was held simultaneously in
-each kraal, and not at different kraals in turn on alternate occasions.
-
-At nine o’clock all was still and restful. There were no signs whatever
-of the forthcoming festivities. Passing through Baranazimba’s kraal,
-on the way to Havilah Camp at Zimbabwe, one found the population had
-retired to rest. At Mogabe’s kraal the only sign of active life was
-shown by the village dogs. The night was hot and close, and outside
-the huts natives were sleeping, each in his blanket. Arrived at
-Havilah Camp, one found a score of labourers, sublimely free from all
-anxieties, sleeping on the bare granite outside their huts, but so
-oppressive was the air that in their slumbers they had thrown off their
-blankets, and were lying in every conceivable posture, and snoring and
-talking in their sleep as if dancing and beer-drinking were matters
-that had not the slightest interest for them. The large full moon
-was yet some distance from its zenith, but the valleys were flooded
-with a greenish-grey mistiness, which lay over the high grass and
-ran up into the kloofs and gorges. The light made distant objects
-distinctly visible, throwing a mantle of romance over every clump,
-ridge, and kopje, while it was possible to read tolerably small print
-without the aid of artificial light.
-
-[Illustration: CONICAL TOWER AND PLATFORM (LOOKING SOUTH), ELLIPTICAL
-TEMPLE, ZIMBABWE]
-
-[Illustration: THE BALCONY, EASTERN TEMPLE, ACROPOLIS
-THE PARAPET IS BUILT UPON THE SUSPENDED BOULDER]
-
-For fully another hour the silence was unbroken. At last the desultory
-beating of a village drum at Mogabe’s kraal was heard. Later a drum
-was sounded at Chenga’s kraal, and another at Bingura’s kraal. The
-villagers were waking up for the feast. One of our labourers sat up,
-stretched himself and yawned, and commenced shaking his sleeping
-comrades. Within a few minutes Havilah Camp was all life. One native
-reached for his leggings of large nuts with dried kernels inside,
-others a horn, flute, piano, or harp, but all took two knobkerries,
-some having assegais. Those who possessed strings of wild-cat tails
-tied them round their waists. The early hours of evening had been
-devoted to greasing their bodies and limbs, and in the light of the
-moon their skins shone like burnished metal. Then began a general
-practising of dance steps, leapings, war-cries, and most hideous
-howlings. Meanwhile quite a dozen drums were being sounded up on
-Mogabe’s Kopje, and these were answered by similar numbers at Chenga’s
-and the other kraals. Horns were blown, parties of Makalanga, singing
-and shouting, were passing along the native tracks in front of our
-camp, each party going to its own kraal. Soon our labourers left
-in gangs for their respective villages and disappeared in the long
-mist-covered grass. Being all young men with a superabundant fund
-of spirits, they made a most fearful din in the course of their
-progress homewards. By this time the Zimbabwe kopjes resounded with
-singing, especially of girls’ singing, for the women-folk started the
-festivities with screams and yells, and the loud beatings in three-two
-time of innumerable drums. The great full moon was now fast approaching
-its zenith. Our camp, save for the watch-men, the _kya_ (hut) boy, and
-the picaninni, once more became still and lifeless.
-
-Theodore Bent saw in these new and full-moon feasts some connection
-with the cult of Nature Worship of the ancient Semites, who are
-believed to have built these ruins and to have mined for gold in
-Southern Rhodesia, as it is conjectured, some three thousand years
-ago. The women, who at this moment are dancing in the villages,
-have on their bare stomachs, worked into the skin, a “breast and
-furrow pattern,” identical to that found on many of the oldest of
-the prehistoric relics discovered in our ancient ruins, an undoubted
-emblem, Bent contended, of the ancient conception of Fertility. The
-men who will be dancing have worked in their skins, mainly in bands
-round their waists, the three radiating bars, similar in form to the
-Welsh bardic emblem of the Origin of Life. The articles they will
-wield in their dancing are carved with chevron pattern, one of the
-most ancient of all emblems of Fertility. But although the flesh
-decorations are now merely luck signs, neither man nor woman would on
-any account be without them. With these signs they say they will not
-be sick, will have plenty of wives and boys to work for them, and many
-girls on account of whom to receive _lobola_ (marriage present to the
-father—practically purchase money). Anon, in the pauses of the dance,
-they will drink beer from pots with herring-bone pattern encircling the
-lips, a beer made of red millet, prepared, says Bent, in the same way
-and known by the same name as the beer prepared in Arabia to-day, where
-its methods of preparation and its name have been handed down from
-immemorial age.
-
-But to-night will be the finest opportunity for the next twelve months
-of seeing the Elliptical Temple by moonlight. Sleep this hot, close
-night is impossible, especially with the sounds of noisy revelry
-proceeding simultaneously from all points of the compass. My native
-boy is disinclined to follow me to the temple, but after bargaining
-with him for an _Isi-hle_ (present), he at last grudgingly consents.
-He mutters something about the place being bewitched, that there are
-many horrid things there, and alludes to the _M’uali_, the chief spirit
-of Makalanga awe and dread; but as within the two years’ residence at
-Zimbabwe I have only discovered two natives, and these elderly men, who
-would willingly go into any of the ruins, especially the temple, after
-darkness had settled down, I am not at all surprised at his reluctance
-to follow me there. However, he is mindful to take his stoutest
-knobkerries with him.
-
-Looking back at the Acropolis Hill, and at its long line of precipice,
-one sees the ancient walls on the summit gleaming white in the
-moonlight, while the tall monoliths stand clear against the sky. In
-the passages on the hill one might almost expect on such a night to
-come face to face with Rider Haggard’s She at any corner, or to see
-her draped form issuing from one of the numerous caves which still
-pierce the cliffs. But we must turn our backs on the Acropolis Hill,
-and make for the Elliptical Temple, passing the little graveyard
-where the remains of Major Alan Wilson and his Shangani heroes rest
-in their granite tomb in the grove of euphorbia trees, whose branches
-cast black, sharp-cut shadows on the ground. Then across an open
-granite space, and up the long parallel passage on the east side of
-Ridge Ruins, out through its intricate southern entrance, and on to
-the level ground which runs up to the foot of the temple walls. The
-clumps of tall, old-world-looking aloes and euphorbia trees lining the
-walls of No. 1 Ruins on the left of our path appear strange even by
-daylight, but in the midnight radiance of the full moon they assume
-intensely weird and fantastic forms thoroughly in harmony with the
-outlines of the ancient buildings. The lonely grave of Thomas Bailey,
-an Australian gold prospector, lies close to the right-hand side of
-the path. He died in 1893 while searching for relics within the temple.
-
-The temple walls covered with white lichen appear to have been
-whitewashed for centuries, and these gleam brightly with light in
-distinct contrast to the dark veld and bush from which they rise; and
-so white are they that at a fair distance one can see every course,
-block, and joint in their dry masonry. The broad bases of the walls
-in comparison with the widths of their summits—though a full-sized
-wagon and a team of sixteen oxen could stand upon the top of the more
-substantial portion of the walls—their sloping sides, and the utter
-absence of any feature of any style of architecture known in Western
-Europe, lend a strikingly Eastern appearance to the building, which is
-sufficient in itself to forcibly take one’s mind back some two or three
-thousand years. Meanwhile the noise of village drums, the blowing of
-horns, and the deep wild choruses of crowds of men, mingled with the
-voices of women and girls, were waxing louder and more incessant as
-midnight approached.
-
-Standing in No. 5 Enclosure, just within the west entrance, the
-interior of the temple is seen to be full of light and shadow. But all
-is serenely calm and still as if possessed by the silence of the grave.
-The high, massive walls encircling the temple deaden to faintness the
-voices of the villagers. The close air, heavy with the scent of verbena
-wafted in from the veld, is oppressive in the extreme. An inexplicable
-sensation of trespassing in forbidden precincts possesses one. The
-native looks scared. Midnight visits to ruins are not his particular
-fancy.
-
-Certainly the many visitors who travel hundreds, if not thousands, of
-miles to view these ruins, and who only see them by the glare of day,
-miss nine-tenths of the charm, fascination, and inspiration which the
-walls of the temple at Zimbabwe have in store for those who walk its
-courts in the stillness of the night when the midsummer moon is at the
-full. This is the time to see Zimbabwe aright, for Zimbabwe by day and
-Zimbabwe by night presents two entirely different aspects.
-
-Trees throw gigantic shadows on the walls and darken the inner
-courts, and the floors are chequered by moonbeams shining through
-the foliage overhead. One somehow becomes possessed with the idea
-that these walls are peopled with the spirits of prehistoric age,
-who are moving, as of old, about the temple floors and passages,
-still performing their ancient priestly offices. The movement of
-every shadow against the walls suggests the passing from point to
-point of some three-millenniumed spectral form, too engrossed in its
-sacred avocations to heed the mortal presence of two strangers of the
-twentieth century after Christ. Would that these hoary-aged walls could
-speak and tell us of the scenes which took place here when the Great
-Zimbabwe was in all its glory! Assuredly a midnight hour spent in this
-ancient temple overwhelms one with most novel sensations, some slightly
-queer and shivery, others awe-inspiring and soul-stirring.
-
-While still standing just inside the west entrance some thoughts
-suggest themselves. The ancients being Nature worshippers of one of
-the earliest cults, so says Bent, had sought in the erection of their
-temple to compel the concentration of thought on the heavens alone, for
-even the reduced heights of the summits of the walls, averaging from 22
-ft. to 31 ft., shut off, except for gaps, all views of the surrounding
-landscape. Nothing is visible save the moon and a skyful of silent,
-glittering stars. The Pleiades, by the rising and setting of which the
-Makalanga mark their sowing and harvesting, are sinking towards the
-W.N.W. horizon, and Orion, which is prominent in the star-pictures
-of the natives, is following down in their wake. A large area of the
-sky is hidden by the bright radiance of the full moon. But such high
-massive walls enclosing the temple, and limiting the view to the sky
-alone, strike the mind of the stranger unread in the lore of ancient
-Semitic faiths as the purposed design of the ancient architects,
-especially so when it is recollected that some of the ancient floors
-are at a much lower level than the interiors as seen to-day. And just
-as Britishers in Rhodesia unconsciously turn their gaze at night
-towards the stars which lie low near the northern horizon, so in the
-contracted view afforded by the temple walls we can well imagine that
-during their midnight vigils the eyes of the ancient colonists from
-the north would, as naturally, frequently and lingeringly glance over
-the northern wall to gaze on stars known to them in their Homeland. It
-may be noted, too, that the ancients, as conjectured by Bent and other
-writers, do not appear to have been greatly interested in the alien
-stars of the Southern Hemisphere, for in all the ruins in Rhodesia,
-so far as discoveries have been made, there are no massive stone arcs
-surmounted with monoliths with mural decorations of old-world emblems
-of fertility on their outer faces, and with the raised platforms
-approached by steps, facing towards the south, for all such that are
-known are directed to some other point of the compass.
-
-Small fragments of granite chips from ancient blocks lie about the
-floor, and these gleam like stars on the dark ground, and have
-light-haloes of their own. These suggest the splendid sight these
-ancient walls must have been when all the newly dressed granite
-blocks in the faces of the walls sparkled as they must once have done
-as the fragments gleamed in this glorious moonlight. The walls must
-have glittered like a fairy palace, as did the castle walls of lordly
-Camelot. To-day we approach the temple on the same level as the veld,
-the ground outside having been raised to this level by the silt of
-ages, but the recently discovered granite cement floors outside the
-building show that the ancients had to ascend some five feet or more
-to gain the threshold of the entrance. With such higher elevation for
-its walls, the temple, when freshly built, or perhaps for centuries
-afterwards, must have been on moonlit nights a most bewitching sight of
-splendour. But its glories to-night are those which it has gained from
-the hand of Time.
-
-But on gaining the central area of the building the inexplicable
-sensations awakened by the weird and strange surroundings and past
-associations are intensified, and one’s nerves are forced to be more
-alive to anything unusual happening. Large bats and night-moths fly
-unpleasantly close to one’s face. Treading on a rotten stick, and the
-falling of large dry leaves which rattle on the stones below, make
-noises sufficient to cause one to turn round expecting the approach
-of some ancient spectre. A frog in some dark and dank corner startles
-one with a loud croak of “_Work!_” The hoot of an owl makes the native
-start. A low moaning, soughing wind now springing up sweeps round the
-temple and rustles in the upper branches of the trees.
-
-The temple is now lovely in the extreme. The shadows on the walls are
-now in quick movement. Fireflies swing their tiny lamps over dark
-enclosures. The white radiance of the moonlight completely invests the
-conical tower, its intense whiteness being heightened by the large,
-thick, and dark-foliaged trees on either side. If but Time’s hour-glass
-were turned back for some long centuries’ space, what tales could not
-this tower unfold, what secrets of ancient faiths disclose!
-
-One passes down the ancient stairs, lately uncovered, which lead into
-the Sacred Enclosure, and finds the long, deep-sunk Parallel Passage
-wrapt in sepulchral darkness, and realises the force of the dark lore
-of ancient priestcraft and of prayers muttered at midnight. It is
-pleasant to regain the interior of the temple, where broad streams
-of moonlight flood its surface. Seated on the east wall of No. 10
-Enclosure, and immediately facing the conical tower, one has a good
-view all round the temple. Under the dark shades of walls and trees
-a hundred spectres might be lurking unseen. Amidst such surroundings
-a score of ancient scenes are pictured in one’s mind—the approaching
-priests with processional chant emerging through the north entrance
-from the Sacred Enclosure, the salutation to the emblems of the gods,
-the light of altar fire and torch reflected upon the walls and upon
-the sacred golden fillets bound round the brows of the priest, the
-incense-laden air, the subdued murmurings of the waiting crowd of
-worshippers, the invocations of the deity by priests who stand upon the
-high raised platform in front of the conical tower, the mystic rites,
-dark enchantments, and the pious orgies. The very air feels as if it
-were teeming with mystery and midnight loneliness. Here appear to rise
-“_the thin throng of ghosts ... with beckoning hands and noiseless feet
-flitting from shade to shade_.”
-
-The rising wind now wafts into the ancient shrine the confused
-shouting, singing, tom-tom beating, and general clamour of the natives
-dancing in the villages on the hills around. The air has become
-decidedly cooler. One is glad to have visited the temple at this hour.
-It is one of the experiences of a lifetime.
-
- • • • • •
-
-_The Acropolis at sunset._—In the soft sunlight of a glorious late
-afternoon, when calm broods over all and a profound solitude invests
-the immense panorama of valley, mountain, and sea of jagged kopje
-ranges as beheld from the summit of the Acropolis Hill some 300 ft. at
-least above the Zimbabwe Valley, one views a scene of indescribable
-loveliness. The sharp-cut ranges of hills, deep gorges flanked by
-cliffs, great crags of rock, and the long and broad Moshagashi Valley
-with its scattered kraals and patches of native plantations are all as
-silent as sleep.
-
-The Acropolis itself is still. The long and labyrinthine passages give
-back no echoes. The temple courts are empty. The tall monoliths, like
-ghostly sentinels, point upwards to the sky, and the sunlight is fast
-fading on the ancient dentelle pattern at the Western Temple. These
-massive ruins, once teeming with a dense and busy population of Semitic
-colonists of prehistoric times, with their innumerable evidences of
-Phallic worship and extensive gold-smelting operations, are as quiet as
-the grave. The cry of a baboon, or scream of an eagle returning to its
-eyrie high up on the cliffs above the Eastern Temple, alone break the
-impressive silence enfolding one of the greatest archæological wonders
-of the Southern Hemisphere.
-
-At this height and on a hill so isolated from its neighbours, and
-just at sunset when shadows are already gathering in the deep defiles
-in the cliffs upon its summit, an inexpressible sensation of intense
-loneliness and solitude asserts itself. No other human foot will tread
-these ancient approaches to the Acropolis till the sun has risen once
-again. There is no white man round about for miles, and the natives
-will not venture near the ruins after sunset. Two hours ago the herd
-was mindful to drive the goats from the high points on the face of
-the hill down into the valley. The natives will solemnly inform the
-stranger that as night approaches the spirits of their departed
-ancestors buried in the caves of the hill awaken, that the ruins are
-then bewitched. It may be easily understood that in minds made craven
-with centuries of slavery to a succession of invaders, and haunted,
-till the last decade, with constant dread of Swazi and Matabele raids,
-the standard of Makalanga valour is low indeed, and that at nights they
-shun these scenes of ancient life is not in the least surprising.
-
-Ascending the hill through the sunless Rock Passage, the air is cool
-and draughty, but on emerging at the upper end one is faced by the rich
-blinding glow of the setting sun, and here the air is still warm. As
-we pass through the Western Enclosure and through the gap in the main
-west wall of the Western Temple, a view down the sheer drop of the
-hill into the valley below presents itself. The Elliptical Temple is
-just losing its last faint touches of the golden tint of sunset. The
-“Valley of Ruins” is already in shadow, and its chaos of walls looks
-now even more chaotic and bewildering than it did in the full light of
-day. Mogabe’s cattle wending their way up Makuma Kopje to the kraal for
-the night, the bleating of sheep and goats already penned, the far-away
-talk of women and girls returning from collecting firewood with their
-bundles on their heads, and the laughter of small parties of natives
-returning homewards from their plantations, all speak of departing
-day. The lofty lichened sides of Lumbo Rocks are still bright orange
-in the sunset, but the nearer side of the Bentberg has become dark and
-black in shadow, showing up the walls of the Elliptical Temple in the
-foreground with striking clearness. The long ravine of Schlichter Gorge
-is now blurred in grey distances, while the Motelekwe and Mowishawasha
-valleys have already lost the sun for some minutes. The kopjes cast the
-same backgammon-board-shaped shadows across the valleys just as they
-did three and four thousand years ago when the tired ancients watched
-the drawing-in of day.
-
-But turning a glance round to the Western Temple, still at this height
-bathed in golden sheen, one sees only the ancient walls and passages
-silent and deserted. This area might have been a busy spot for the
-ancient occupiers at this hour of the day, for monoliths, decorative
-mural patterns, and conical towers are now all aglow with sunset
-brightness, and here at this time of day, as the shadow of the slanting
-granite beam fades on the dentelle pattern on the platform, they might
-have read as on a dial face, in light and shade, the progress of
-the season of the year. The call to prayers and the chanting of the
-evening hymn of the devout at sunset might at this same hour very many
-centuries ago have rung round the selfsame hallowed walls which look
-down sphinx-like and blankly upon the modern visitor.
-
-It is easy to fashion a tale of ancient scenes in such a spot and ’mid
-such surroundings. Such a scene may have been—the parties of ancient
-worshippers approaching the temple up the Higher Parapet or by the
-sunken passage in the Platform Enclosure, or along the East Passage,
-filling the amphitheatre and watching the bringing of the sacred
-vessels possibly from the now dank and evil-smelling Platform Cave to
-some spot near the centre of the temple, perchance at the centre of the
-arc of the great curved wall, which is directed towards the setting
-sun; the disappearance of the priests through the Covered Passage and
-their reappearance on the Platform, which faces west and overlooks
-the interior of the temple, or listening to priestly orations, the
-announcement of the actual sunset to the worshippers. Possibly, too,
-the chief priest may have announced the commencement of the “Feast of
-the New Moon.”
-
-At this moment the “boys” in Havilah Camp are yelling and dancing most
-frantically. Something unusual must have happened to cause the sudden
-outbreak of unearthly din. Right in the dazzling glow of the sun, and
-low down in the sky, and barely discernible by the eye of white men,
-is the slender silver scimitar of the young moon. A noisy night of
-beer-drinking, dancing and singing, and tom-tom beating will follow.
-
-But the dank smell of decay has now usurped the place of the
-sweet-smelling incense of the ancient ritual. The monoliths still point
-upwards, but who to-day can explain their plan and purpose, or read the
-silent intimations their shadows were wont to convey?
-
-The associations of the ruins of the Hill Fortress lie even more with
-the ancient military occupiers than with those of priests and worship.
-Traverses, buttresses, screen walls, intricate entrances, narrow and
-sunken passages, rampart walls, banquettes, parapets, and all other
-devices of a people conversant with military engineering and defence,
-are in great evidence all over the hill. These in their ingenuity,
-massive character, and persistent repetition at every point of vantage,
-baffle and astonish the best experts of modern military engineering
-science. The ancients were military strategists, and the Acropolis a
-stronghold, and its most prominent feature was defence.
-
-At this sunset hour no companies of ancient soldiery descend from
-the fort (East Ruins), at the foot of the Ancient Ascent, to relieve
-guard and take up their night watches on the wall barriers. In the
-now dim and scanty twilight one can wander at will through the two
-hill temples, the residential quarters, and into the caves which once
-might have held the gold stores of this part of the country. There is
-no officer on duty to challenge one’s approach. The sentry recesses
-in the narrow passages and at the entrances appear singularly empty.
-Fate finally came to relieve guard many centuries past, eventually
-permitting some semi-civilised Abantu people, such as the Makalanga, or
-“People of the Sun,” to desecrate the ancient temple floors with their
-copper and iron furnaces and bone and ash débris heaps. But the lively
-bustling crowds of ancients and of mediæval Makalanga, who both in
-turn, and for very long periods, densely populated Zimbabwe Hill, are
-no more.
-
-One passes along shoulder-wide and tortuous passages, where at every
-corner one might expect to come face to face with Rider Haggard’s She,
-and enters some enclosure whose sides are formed by the perpendicular
-flanks of cliffs and boulders, where the ancients fashioned their gold
-into beads, wire, plates, and ingots. The intricate entrance still
-guards the spot where gold crucibles, beaten gold, and gold burnishing
-tools of the ancient artificers have been found in profusion. There is
-now no sound of hammering the precious metal on the rounded dolorite
-anvils, nor reddish glow of light on the cliff sides, as when the
-furnace was uncovered for the removal of the heated crucibles. The
-prehistoric workshop is now desolate and damp, and a fitting spot for
-the loathsome, crawling creatures which inhabit its dark recesses.
-
-But daylight is dying fast. Glancing down through the gaps in the outer
-walls are seen specks of firelight at near and remote kraals where the
-evening meal is being prepared, and round which the advent of the new
-moon will soon be celebrated. An adjoining cave with yawning depth
-and dense blackness does not now appear particularly inviting to the
-visitor, and yet here relic-seekers unanimously declare was where the
-ancients kept large stores of gold dust. The Eastern Temple is in
-semi-darkness, but as one crosses its floor one sees the hole from
-which some fifty phalli were taken, and the exact spots from which
-soapstone birds were removed. Here was the site, as Bent conjectured,
-of the ancient altar. In this temple, it is believed, the ancients
-celebrated their daybreak ritual, for the arc of the main wall
-decorated with dentelle pattern, and on which once stood some of the
-soapstone birds, faces the rising of the sun. Passing along Central
-Passage, which is perpetually in shadow owing to huge tall boulders
-on either side, but is now in deepest blackness, crossing Cleft Rock
-Enclosure, and descending the sunken passage to the outer face of the
-great west wall of the Western Temple, one arrives where a slight
-afterglow of the sunset still lingers over the brow of Rusivanga.
-
-Again one enters into the deep shadow of a sunken and earth-smelling
-passage with high side walls, and so rapidly descends the north-west
-face of the hill, glad to emerge once more into the cool fresh air
-at a lower level of some 100 ft. High in the west is Venus, the
-evening star, shining brightly—Venus, or _Almaq_, “illuminating,”
-the goddess of the earlier star-worshipping Sabæans of Yemen, whose
-worship the best-qualified scientists believe was practised by the
-original builders of Zimbabwe. She complacently shines down upon her
-ruined shrines, and wonders doubtless why these natives should convert
-the sacred emblems of her worship into pipe-bowls for smoking hemp.
-The Pleiades have set, for the harvest time is almost over. Orion is
-sinking towards the western horizon as if with disgust at the land
-where mere Kafirs[21] call him “The little pig and two dogs.”
-
-
-
-
- CHAPTER III
-
- A DAY AT HAVILAH CAMP, ZIMBABWE
-
-
-Early to bed, our Makalanga labourers are proportionately early to
-rise, and as soon as there is sufficient light to enable them to see
-they are up, stretching their limbs, waking the echoes of the valley
-with their noisy yawnings, which jar on the lilt of the dawn-anthems of
-the birds, and sit crouching round fires with their blankets over their
-shoulders.
-
-The sun will soon be coming up behind the blue Beroma Range, just
-over the romantically shaped rocks at Chenga’s kraal. The peaks of
-the range are already edged with the fire of the coming light. At
-last a notched portion of the sun appears over the distant mountain
-heights. Now everything is coloured crimson. The granite cliffs and
-massive boulders, the tall grass, the ruined walls, even the mules
-outspanned in the valley in front of the camp, are all crimson. The
-usually dirty-coloured grass roofs of the huts are for some minutes
-most gorgeously beautified. For the only time in the day the dentelle
-pattern on the conical tower and on the eastern face of the Eastern
-Temple, the chevron pattern on the Elliptical Temple, and the huge
-herring-bone pattern on the ancient water gate, and certain of the
-slate and granite monoliths, are fully bathed in rich sunshine. Other
-ancient decorative patterns on the walls will have the full sun shining
-upon them only at midday, while others will only be fully sun-bathed as
-the sun is setting.
-
-But at present everything is crimson. The wreaths of mist which lie
-over the tall grass filling the valleys, and which just before were
-blue, now connect kopje and kopje, making the Acropolis and other
-summits crimson isles rising from out a crimson sea. The only objects
-that decline to take on the prevailing tint are some old-world-looking
-trees with green, metallic leaves. Were the picture of Zimbabwe with
-this misty colouring resting over it reproduced on canvas the artist
-would at once be condemned as extravagant. But Nature has more than one
-colour on her palette. The crimson melts in a rich golden hue which
-succeeds it. The cliffs, grass hut-roofs, and mist-wreaths become
-golden. The mules are transformed to gold, and the battered old wagon
-looks for once quite respectable with its golden buck-sail. But the
-gold in its turn also fades, the mist-veils lift and melt away, and
-the land once more regains its wonted tawny, sun-bathed appearance so
-suggestive of lions.
-
-Day has not yet had a fair chance to become commonplace, but in
-Havilah Camp life is beginning to stir. Three naked boys have gone to
-the spring for water, others collect wood, clean the pots, and draw
-_rapoka_ meal and salt from the stores, while a tall pillar of bright
-blue smoke ascends in the still air from the boys’ fire. From our
-height can be seen a score of native villages, each with its column of
-blue smoke.
-
-Two or three sit by the _Isafuba_ game-holes, and of course
-disputations at once ensue. Others settle down to work of their own,
-such as grass-hat making, carving sticks with chevron patterns, drying
-tobacco leaves, crushing snuff, dressing skins, or performing the
-duties of barbers. The boys are most industrious when engaged upon
-their own work. Others are off to inspect their bird and game traps, of
-which they seem to have at least a hundred within a short distance from
-the camp, while the rest sit and watch whatever happens to be going on.
-
-Down the side of Makuma Kopje, where Mogabe’s kraal is situated, come
-young men in twos and threes, some of them with musical instruments,
-such as Makalanga pianos, a flute, and a one-stringed harp with gourd
-attached to increase the sound, and of course all are singing. These
-on descending Makuma disappear in the ten-foot grass which fills the
-valley till they are near the camp. Other young men come from Chenga’s
-kraal in the opposite direction two miles away. These latter are the
-boys to work. Our best workmen come from Chenga’s, for Mogabe’s men
-have not been improved by tips and favours from visitors to the ruins;
-besides, belonging to the kraal of the paramount and dynastic chief,
-they deem themselves to be somewhat superior to all direction or
-reprimand by white men. Though Mogabe’s people know “how to be happy
-though Makalanga,” Chenga’s people seem to be even more genuinely
-contented with their environment.
-
-By 7 a.m. the camp is in full life, and all the boys are present with
-at least a dozen brothers and followers. The trap-owners have returned
-with rats, small birds, and possibly a rock-rabbit. A boy is given a
-note to take to Victoria, seventeen miles distant. He places the letter
-and his pass in a cleft stick, holds it out in front of him, and is
-off. He will be back in camp an hour after sundown, perhaps bringing a
-load of 35 lbs. on his head. A thirty-four miles’ journey is preferred
-to a day’s work in the temple, so that there are always willing runners
-into Victoria. There are eggs, poultry, milk, honey, melons, pumpkins,
-rice, and sweet potatoes for sale or barter for salt, and these can
-always be obtained for half the original price asked for them.
-
-Then there are burns to be dressed, quinine to be administered, or
-a lung-sick boy to be dosed. The “Parade State of the Malingering
-Brigade” is carefully kept down to the lowest possible limit. One is
-amazed at the way the boys bear their injuries. A severe wound which
-would put an ordinary European on the sick list is to them a mere
-trifle, and without flinching they will take a burning stick from
-the fire and rub it up and down inside a gaping flesh wound till the
-bleeding has ceased. Should any one of them meet with serious injury,
-the rest will laugh immensely as if it were a huge joke. In this
-respect they are very callous. Toothache, a cold, or a slight touch
-of fever renders them most pitiable objects. The soles of their feet
-resemble hides, and one or two large thorns which would completely lame
-a European is a matter almost too insignificant for them to notice.
-They think nothing of standing on hot burning embers while lighting
-their pipes at a fire. On cold nights they sleep near a fire and will
-roll into it, but they are such remarkably sound sleepers that it is
-not until the next morning they discover they have been burnt. How
-they manage to save their skins from thorn scratches is a mystery, for
-all day they are walking with naked bodies through bushes and thorn
-creepers. Yet their skins are beautifully smooth and glossy, and are
-always without the slightest scratch.
-
-But the pots of _rapoka_ meal under the euphorbia trees are now being
-stirred, and each pot has its circle of men to whom dyspepsia appears
-to be utterly unknown. Sometimes the boys bring a sack of dried
-locusts. Locusts are esteemed as a dainty, and make an occasional
-change in the menu, or possibly small red beans, or monkey-nuts, or
-toasted mealie cobs are feasted upon. While the meal is being devoured
-one could hardly imagine there was a native within a mile. The
-stillness of skoff-times (meal-times) in camp serves the purposes of a
-well-regulated chronometer. Teeth-cleaning is their first business of
-the day. On rising from sleep and after each meal this is religiously
-performed. Each takes a mouthful of water and rubs his teeth vigorously
-with a forefinger, using what water is still remaining in his mouth
-to wet the skin of face, neck, breast, and hands, squirting it out
-in doles as required. To hurry them back to work before their teeth
-had been cleaned would cause them to regard the _Baba_ with looks of
-genuine horror.
-
-At 7 a.m. the ganger, a man who has worked in the ruins for Bent,
-Willoughby, and Schlichter, comes to the hut door to report that the
-men are now ready to start work. Then follows the roll-call, each
-raising his hand and passing on one side to a separate group as his
-name is read out. A boy absent for two days on account of alleged
-sickness is reported to have gone to a distant kraal to attend a “beer
-dance” where he danced the whole night through. A fine is entered
-against him. Makalanga split on one another in a fashion which English
-schoolboys would never permit. Our fines are rarely enforced, but the
-mere entering them in the book has a most wholesome effect.
-
-One feature in the roll-call generally strikes visitors as interesting,
-that is, the rhythmic sound of the names of the boys. To an Englishman
-these names would appear to be more suitable for girls than for men.
-In fact, all the names of the men are pretty, so pretty that it
-seems inappropriate to apply them to great fellows like some of our
-labourers. But like their ideally graceful and poetic gestures, while
-pronouncing each other’s names they unconsciously manage to throw into
-the pronunciation a delicate softness, rhythm of intonation, and charm
-of expression that are rather fascinating to the European listener. An
-Englishman totally unacquainted with the local language, and wrongly
-pronouncing the names, could not rob them of their poetry.
-
-The roll completed, all set off in Indian file either to the Elliptical
-Temple or the Acropolis, singing in chorus in a Tyrolese style, one man
-giving the recitative, which is almost always of a purely extempore
-and local character. When once within the ruins, blankets are thrown
-off and the forty boys make, with a background of light-coloured,
-lichen-draped walls, a dark mass of humanity, for, save their
-insignificant aprons fastened with a bark string to their waists,
-and their necklaces of blue beads and amulets, and brass bangles on
-arm and leg, they are practically naked, and the sun shines on their
-glossy chocolate-tinted skins as on burnished metal. The Makalanga have
-exceedingly strong social instincts, and prefer to work together in one
-mass even in a small area. To separate them into small gangs would mean
-little or no work done.
-
-On wet days, or for a few succeeding days, the work is confined to
-carrying out blocks, which have either fallen from the walls or been
-piled up by the long succession of archæologists and gold relic
-collectors who have worked within the ruins. These are carried held
-up high over their shoulders at arms’ length, or else on the tops of
-their heads, where natives carry anything from the size of a pill-box
-to a 40 lb. load. They never carry anything with arms downwards. In
-fine weather, leaf mould full of roots and seeds, and past excavators’
-soil-heaps are removed outside in boxes, the narrow entrances
-precluding the general use of wheelbarrows. Relics would be lost in the
-wet and clayey soil were it removed in wet weather. All the boys work
-_en masse_, each picks up his box or block, and when all are loaded up
-they start in one unbroken line for the débris heap outside, singing
-choruses with recitatives all the way out and on their return. The
-boxes are carried on one shoulder, a knobkerrie being used as a lever
-over the other shoulder to hold up the back of the box. The procession
-of boxes seems interminable—“Milkmaid,” “Armour Beef,” “Lime Juice
-Cordial,” “Highland Whisky,” “Raisins,” “Coleman’s,” “Mazawattee,”
-supplemented by buckets, but above all by “Nectar Tea.” Each box has a
-branded notice uncomplimentary to ships’ boilers. But “Nectar” is the
-great triumph of Zimbabwe.
-
-It is a huge box, carried on two short poles, with “Nectar Tea”
-emblazoned on its sides in blue and white. It courtsies and bobs
-its way to and fro in a most stately fashion, and after it has left
-the pile which is being removed, a great reduction in the débris
-remaining can be noticed. The boys have no particular affection for
-this omnibus. They are believed to _bulala_ (knock about) this box on
-purpose to ruin it, for several times a day they will bring it with no
-sorrow on their faces with the information that the box is _meningi
-gura_ (plenty sick), each time fatally _gura_, but a few nails cure it
-of its injuries. Long may “Nectar Tea,” in the interests of archæology,
-continue to courtesy and bob its way through the western portal of the
-Elliptical Temple.
-
-[Illustration: CARRYING OUT DÉBRIS FROM ELLIPTICAL TEMPLE, ZIMBABWE]
-
-[Illustration: A NOONTIDE SHELTER. WEST ENTRANCE TO ELLIPTICAL TEMPLE]
-
-The boys when working well will in a day do about as much work as a
-quarter of the same number of English labourers. They are inclined to
-be industrious when the _Baba_ is in sight, but they immediately drop
-down on their haunches with knees up the moment his back is turned.
-This is a moral certainty. Then singing ceases, for when working they
-are always singing. Any excuse for a passing diversion is immediately
-seized upon. On the shout of _inyoga_ (snake) they drop their tools at
-once, seize their knobkerries and jump into the jungle heedless for the
-time being of thorns and creepers. In respect of snakes they are not
-cowards. Inside the bush a perfect pandemonium is going on which never
-ceases till either the snake, generally a python or a black mamba, has
-been slain or has escaped into some pile of ancient blocks.
-
-Another day, after a brief absence from the temple, I found about forty
-women and girls from Mogabe’s kraal had arrived in the temple to watch
-their sons, brothers, and sweethearts at work. This they frequently do.
-The boys on this occasion, believing _Baba_ to be further off than he
-really was, were chasing the dusky Cleopatras up and down the parallel
-passages, in and out of the enclosures, and dodging them round the
-base of the Sacred Cone. One burly Junoesque, bead-and-bangle-bedecked
-mother was having a most delirious and frantic ride round the temple
-courts in our only wheelbarrow, which is an iron one. As the barrow
-bumped along at full tilt against the stones it would each time
-shake her up terribly. The shrieking, screaming, and laughter of the
-girls and the yelling of the boys made the temple ring with a noise
-sufficient to make the priests of the ancient Phallic cult whirl in
-their graves with horror. But—_Baba!_ and in thirty seconds the boys
-were all hard at work with most pious looks on their faces, and singing
-a well-known mission hymn. These great, fine-grown, frank-looking
-fellows, with their enviable ivories and provokingly pleasant smiles,
-are far worse than little children to manage. Their characters are
-perfectly riddled with frivolity, and their minds astonishingly
-mercurial. Every incident they notice is to them humorous, even the
-preservation work at the ruins is regarded by them as a sheer waste
-of time. Not one of them if he tried hard could keep silence for two
-minutes together. He must either talk, laugh, sing, whistle, or perform
-some absurd antic. Their utter guilelessness and naïve simplicity are
-in many respects both surprising and entertaining. To blame them before
-their fellows kills what little spirit they possess for work, while
-praise, even though barely merited, will cause them to redouble their
-efforts. To be in the slightest degree friendly or familiar with them
-is to completely destroy one’s influence over them; the granting them
-any favour is regarded by them as an undoubted sign of the donor’s
-weakness, and of the virtue of gratitude they are absolutely destitute.
-
-One wonders at the dual character which each possesses. In some
-respects a Makalanga is more moral than many a European, while in
-others the depth of his immorality cannot be plumbed. In some matters
-they are as pure-minded as Adam and Eve in the Garden, and know not
-that they are naked. In their hands their women’s virtue is safe. But
-contact with the “educated native,” especially a Cape Kafir, before
-their minds are prepared to receive even the most elementary education,
-works on them untold mischief.
-
-But the boys may be divided into two classes, one industrious and
-honest, the other lazy and thieving. These diverse characteristics
-appear to run in separate families. M’Komo stole Mrs. Theodore Bent’s
-honey. Three of his nephews in my employ stole meat, sugar, tobacco,
-or anything else in the _kya_ (hut) they took a fancy to. Another
-nephew proved to be a veritable Iago in a _moocha_ (a small leathern
-apron worn by men), and was always making mischief, not only among the
-boys, but also between the boys and the _Baba_. Of course these members
-of this family, notwithstanding its exalted connections, were warned
-off the camp, and are not allowed to be seen visiting it. Brothers of
-unsatisfactory boys are never taken on the works, but should there be
-any vacancy at the end of a month, and the supply of labour is greater
-than our demand, the places are offered to the brothers of trustworthy
-boys, and these always prove a great success.
-
-But to return to the Temple. About eleven o’clock the _kya_ boy arrives
-with half a dozen wee picaninnies carrying kettle, tea-pot, etc. The
-_kya_ boy comes in for an amount of chaff from the gang. They call
-him a “Moccaranga shentilman,” because, for two hours in the morning
-and for the same time in the afternoon, he can _lala_ (rest), seeing
-that he starts work at 5.30 a.m. and is not free till about 8 p.m.
-Further, he has perquisites in the shape of meat, tobacco, and tips
-from visitors, and also in a diluted form acts as a sort of _baas_
-(master). But the _kya_ boy takes all the chaff in good part, and gives
-back quite as much as he receives. The picaninnies, armed with bows and
-arrows, indulge in target practice, and make it ruinous to stick up
-lunch biscuits at forty paces.
-
-Probably Mogabe with his headmen will arrive to watch the boys working,
-and then I know what to expect. It is bound to come. After a long
-silence he remarks that he is glad to see the _Baba_. Another long
-silence, and then—“A _Baba_ always gives presents to his children.” I
-assume a complete indifference to his remark. Mogabe is diplomatic, but
-his diplomacy is very thin. After a long pause he observes—“The _Baba_
-will make me a present of money.” I inform him I have none to give.
-Another long pause ensues, then, pointing to a hatchet, he remarks—“The
-_Baba_ will give me this.” I explain that the hatchet is the property
-of the Chartered Company, and not mine to bestow. He fails to see the
-point of my statement, and bluntly says so. He pauses to consider what
-else he can ask for, and after a long cogitation says “Salt, _Baba_.”
-At last Mogabe is reasonable, and I instruct the _kya_ boy to fetch him
-half a cup of salt. Mogabe is profuse in his thanks, and his speech is
-floreated with eulogies of the _Baba_.
-
-Now my turn begins. Mogabe and the elders of his headmen have a sixty
-years’ knowledge of the ruins, and he is acquainted with everything
-that took place at Zimbabwe during the time of Chipfuno his brother,
-who was the previous Zimbabwe chief. Pointing to a gap in an obviously
-ancient wall which had been rudely filled in with blocks, I ask him
-who filled up the gap. After a long consultation with his headmen, he
-says that the Makalanga did it to keep in the cattle, for this part of
-the temple was used as a cattle kraal, and that was when Chipfuno was
-a young man. Another gap was filled up when Chipfuno was a young man.
-I then hand him over some pieces of pottery with geometrical patterns
-not at all crudely executed, which we have just unearthed, and ask
-him if the Makalanga made them. For ten minutes he and his headmen
-are closely examining the pottery, noting the quality of the clay,
-the correctness of the pattern, and the glaze on both sides. Yes, the
-Makalanga made it, but not the Makalanga who are now alive, nor their
-fathers’ fathers. The pottery was of Makalanga make, but _meningi dara_
-(very old). The assertion he emphasises by gesture, manifestly meaning
-a great age. Mogabe thus confirms the expert opinion of antiquarians
-that this class of pottery was made by the mediæval Makalanga. Mogabe
-comes to see us at every place we work at, and his opinion on “finds”
-belonging to recent generations of Makalanga may be taken, so old hands
-affirm, as perfectly reliable. The information so obtained is valuable
-both as to later walls and to articles found.
-
-Sometimes the chiefs Baranazimba or Chenga arrive at the ruins, and an
-_indaba_ (conference) as to “finds” and built-up entrances always takes
-place, but the weekly _indaba_ with Mogabe always commences with the
-same old rigmarole. It is a sheer waste of time to discuss anything
-ancient with them, for since the new jail at Victoria has been built
-they all solemnly declare that the _marungu_[22] (white men) built
-the ruins for a “Tronk!” All their old poetic explanations as to the
-presence of the ruins, such as they were built “when stones were soft”
-or “when days were dark,” have now gone to the winds. The ruins were
-prisons!
-
-But the _kya_ boy has arrived with the salt, and Mogabe is happy. He
-wraps the salt up in the corner of his blanket, and is off to his kraal
-at once. When any _marungu_ arrives in a Cape-cart at the camp Mogabe
-is down the side of his kopje a few minutes afterwards, and arrives
-there also. It is the same old story, only then the visitor is given
-_his_ opportunity of demonstrating his liberality. “I am glad to see
-the _Baba_. A _Baba_ always gives presents to his children.” Mogabe,
-like his fellows all over South Africa, is a born beggar, and yet he
-possesses seventy head of cattle, is rich in wives, grain, and labour,
-rules over a large area of country, receives a monthly allowance
-from the Government as chief, and a further allowance for warning
-unauthorised prospectors for ancient relics from the ruins.
-
-Mogabe’s day has gone. Still, notwithstanding his true Kafir fawning
-nature, there is something about the aged chief one cannot help
-respecting. He is intelligent, and he looks it, and his face, if
-white, would be taken for that of an educated European, for, like most
-Makalanga, he has little or nothing negroid in his features. Before
-the advent of the Chartered Company he was constantly at war with
-his neighbours, sacking villages, kidnapping women and children, and
-generally murdering. His last fight was in November, 1892, when he
-engaged the Amangwa people, the battle taking place just outside the
-western wall of the Elliptical Temple. His own people seem to somewhat
-neglect him, except in some tribal arrangements and in affairs in which
-he represents the Native Department. Formerly it was the rule that he
-ate first and his people afterwards; now he comes into our camp at
-skoff-times and asks the boys for some of their _rapoko_, porridge,
-and if they should happen to be mindful of his presence they will pass
-him a handful, but sometimes he sits there unheeded. He has now sold,
-perhaps for a mere song, the famous necklace of Venetian beads which
-Bent failed to induce him to part with. But there is a look in his eyes
-that gives one the impression that the old man does not at all relish
-the benefits of civilisation, and that he is pining for a return of the
-good old days of blood-shedding.[23] Mogabe’s biography would be worth
-writing.
-
-But Mogabe is in my good books, for he gave me permission to move some
-Makalanga graves made in certain of the passages on the Acropolis. Bent
-merely told Chipfuno that he was going to move the selfsame graves,
-and he at once withdrew all the labourers, and this not only caused
-Bent considerable difficulty, but he was not afterwards allowed to
-open the passages. Twelve years later Mogabe gives his consent on the
-understanding that he is given half a cup of salt, that the remains
-were to be properly re-interred, and that the boys who did the work
-should be allowed to go to their kraals to purify themselves. This
-purification is no mere excuse, but is an actual cleansing of those
-engaged in this particular undertaking. The boys informed me that until
-they had washed they could not eat, and that their fellows would keep
-away from them. The bones were not touched by hand, but were moved with
-two sticks. Once I picked up a solid copper bangle, which must have
-come, judging by the presence of scattered human bones, from some grave
-disturbed years previously by some excavator for relics. The boys were
-genuinely horrified when I touched it, but more so when I put it on my
-wrist. They said I must take it off at once and wash myself, and this
-horror at what I had done possessed them for several days and was a
-constant theme of conversation.
-
-_Tjiya!_ (cease work!) is sounded, and the boys take up the cry, and
-spring like chased buck helter-skelter through the western entrance
-into the hot, sultry atmosphere, singing, laughing, yelling, and
-caterwauling, just like boys let out of school. The relentlessly
-broiling heat and glare of noontide make one long for the beautifully
-cool shade of the huts.
-
-Arrived at the camp, some of the boys lie at full length on the hot
-boulders and so take sun-baths, others resume their own carving
-or other work, some make music, or play with dollasses, or fence,
-while the majority gather round the various sets of game-holes and
-play _isafuba_, but there is a camp rule, found by experience to be
-necessary, that _isafuba_ cannot be played until the cooks state that
-the pots have commenced to boil. So fascinating is this game that
-formerly we found the cooking operations often became neglected.
-
-_Isafuba_ is one of a group of games, the origin of which is explained
-on pages 79, 80 of _The Ancient Ruins of Rhodesia_. In our camp are
-several sets of game-holes; one set has four rows of sixteen holes
-each, and another two rows of twelve holes. This last is generally
-patronised by the picaninnies. Some of the _isafuba_ games have
-different moves, numbers of holes and counters, and the games vary
-slightly in different districts.
-
-From two to five players sit on each side. Each of the partners on
-either side appears to have an equal right of moving the counters. The
-two lines of holes near each set of partners is not intruded upon by
-the counters of the opponents, but opponents clutch up the counters of
-the opposite side when such counters have no counter either in the hole
-behind or in front, and this snatching up of counters is governed by
-rules which in some moves closely resemble those of chess, while double
-counters in a hole are as influential as kings in draughts.
-
-Some of the moves strongly remind one of “fox and geese,” each side
-moving in turn, and later in the game, when the holes are full of
-counters, each side chases the other along parallel lines of holes to
-the end of the set. This chasing is a cause of great excitement, and
-is concluded in a perfect babel of shouting, each player as he moves a
-counter in the chase calling out _in-da!_ and when the final hole is
-reached, _ga!_
-
-Always while in camp there is a perpetual shouting of _in-da! in-da!
-in-da!_ followed by the triumphant shout of _ga!_ The subject of heated
-discussion during the game is as to the amount of cheating the other
-side has effected, and the tumult caused by the discussion of this
-topic, especially with an extraordinarily talkative people like the
-Makalangas, can only be but partially imagined. The perpetual _in-da!
-in-da! in-da!—ga!_ trespasses into one’s dreamland. After a week of
-this never-ceasing _in-da!_ the sets of holes were ordered to be
-removed to a more reasonable distance from the hut door; still, one
-cannot even now escape this perpetual and monotonous din. Yet in all
-their excited disputations they have never once got beyond mere words.
-The picaninnies sometimes join in at the larger sets, but a prompter
-always assists them.
-
-It is the custom for the losers, and not the victors, to record the
-state of the series of games. This is done by placing large stones,
-one for each game lost, on the side where the losers sit. The losers
-invariably have to provide the stones. When all the large stones within
-arm’s reach have been used up as records and the losers have to get
-up to fetch a stone, there is general laughter in the camp, even from
-those who are not immediately watching the game. The stakes are for
-“sisspences,” or for _doro_ (native beer), but both winners and losers
-share alike. Towards the end of a month, when wages are becoming due,
-the game causes increased excitement, and plenty of _doro_ is brewed by
-speculative villagers to meet the probable demands of the boys.[24]
-
-The two most pernicious vices of the Makalanga are their inveterate
-love of _I’daha_ (wild hemp) smoking, and of _doro_ drinking.
-
-The former acts as opium, and incapacitates for work, dulls the
-intellect, destroys every atom of will-power, and tends, if persisted
-in, to shorten life. An _I’daha_ smoker is readily known by the glazed
-look in his eyes, and by his miserable appearance. On our arrival here
-_I’daha_ pipes were introduced into the camp, but they were very soon
-destroyed, and the smoking of _I’daha_ is now an offence punishable
-by dismissal without _mali_ (money). This rule has effected a great
-improvement in the general tone of the men and in their capacities for
-work. So injurious to brain and health is this vice that in some parts
-of South Africa _I’daha_ smoking is prohibited under a penalty. One of
-the most distressing features of this practice is the painful fit of
-loud coughing which always follows the use of the pipe.
-
-_Doro_, brewed from _rapoko_ (a red millet), is drunk very extensively
-by the Makalanga in this district, seeing that this part of the country
-yields grain in such enormous quantities. But the natives do not regard
-_doro_ as a mere beverage. At new and full moons, or at the rising or
-setting of the Pleiades, which determine the sowing and harvesting
-seasons, _doro_ is provided by the native farmers in lieu of wages, and
-on these occasions it is drunk most extensively by people of all ages.
-The men delight in gulping it down in quantities with the avowed and
-deliberate intention of getting drunk as soon as possible. The state of
-stupefaction induced by _doro_ is one of their most exquisite delights.
-On Saturday mornings the one topic of conversation of the gang is as to
-how much beer they will drink on _I’zhuba Kuru_ (Sunday), how soon they
-will get drunk, and what they will do when they are drunk. On Mondays,
-in spite of their “large heads” and sodden appearance, discussions take
-place as to who were the most drunk. The one who lost most control of
-himself is considered a hero. In their opinion the man who was most
-intoxicated honours himself, and can afford to boast.
-
-Even those who are in many other respects the most hopeful young men
-equally delight in getting absolutely intoxicated. The lads from eight
-years of age imbibe _doro_ most copiously, while boys of twelve get as
-drunk as their seniors. The brains of the natives are so small that the
-_doro_ acts upon them speedily, and two hours’ drinking will undo all
-the benefit of two years’ contact with civilisation. Then all their
-innate savage nature reasserts itself in every violent form, and their
-swaggering insolence, inspired by _doro_, is intolerable. But the evils
-of _I’daha_ smoking and _doro_ drinking are not of modern origin,
-but are ingrained in their blood and bone by many past centuries of
-devotion to these practices.
-
-The rarefied air of these highlands conducts sound over long distances,
-and triangular conversations are constantly in progress between the
-villagers at Mogabe’s kraal, our boys at the camp, and those working
-on the Hill Ruins, though each point is at least a third of a mile
-distant from the others. These conversations are carried on without
-the slightest straining of the voice or even shouting, the secret
-apparently being the slight raising of the voice and speaking very
-distinctly and very slowly. From their vantage position on the hill
-the boys are always on the look-out for natives passing and repassing
-between the villages. While the passing natives are, as one would
-believe, outside the hearing limit a conversation with the boys has for
-some time been in progress. Our boys will give the usual salutation,
-and if this be replied to all well and good. But should it not be
-replied to, or not promptly, the boys will at once start in chorus to
-slang the passer-by and all his relatives, commencing with his mother.
-So long as the passer-by is within earshot, so long do these slanging
-matches continue. Each boy endeavours to cap each previous remark with
-something more pungent, and as he succeeds the rest cheer him. Natives
-state that the sound of their voices travels quickest and furthest in
-the early mornings.
-
-[Illustration: THE CAMP MESSENGER, ZIMBABWE]
-
-[Illustration: LABOURERS AT THE ELLIPTICAL TEMPLE, ZIMBABWE]
-
-The visits of _marungu_ to the ruins are highly interesting occasions
-for the natives. The news of any approaching arrival is shouted down
-from Mogabe’s kraal a third of a mile away, for from Mogabe’s Kopje
-there is a four miles’ view of the road from Victoria. Long before the
-Cape-cart or horsemen can enter our valley from over the ridge between
-Rusivanga and Mogabe’s kopjes it is known where we are working, how
-many visitors are arriving, the description of vehicle, and if there
-is a lady in the party. Arrivals always attract a score or more naked
-picaninnies, who accompany the conveyance from the ridge at the foot
-of the Rusivanga down to the camp. But such visits are infrequent, and
-three weeks or a month pass without a white man arriving at Zimbabwe,
-and when, after such intervals, they do arrive, their faces look
-strange _because they are white_, while the sound of the English
-language is strikingly odd. On some rare occasions as many as three
-camps of visitors have been fixed up on the outspan. A patrol of the
-British South Africa Police calls about once a month, and the troopers
-generally introduce themselves with some such salutation as “Well,
-still alive? Not murdered yet?”
-
-Humorous incidents are not absent in the work of excavation in the
-ruins. For instance, after working for some hours in a trench near
-the Sacred Enclosure, and passing all soil over boards and through
-fingers in the search for relics, a common clay pipe of English make
-was found intact at a depth of over 3 ft. At another spot, after hours
-of careful but unrewarded work in a trench, at a similar depth a very
-late brand of soda-water bottle was found. Both these finds delighted
-the boys infinitely more than had they unearthed a cartload of phalli
-or other prehistoric relics of value. In some respects the boys are
-extremely practical. The question “_aliquid novi ex Zimbabwe?_” can in
-two senses be answered in the affirmative. Such modern articles found
-“at depth” afford only another proof that the soil in the interior of
-the temple, as stated elsewhere, has been turned over and over again by
-archæologists, and also by unauthorised prospectors, for ancient gold
-and other relics.
-
-After _tjiya_, when the day’s work is done, there is still an hour or
-so of daylight left, and this is usually occupied in wandering among
-the kopjes or along sequestered valleys, keeping an eye open for fresh
-traces of the ancients, or in examining and measuring some one of
-the minor ruins which stud the valley, or in calling at a village to
-arrange for labour, or in looking out for buck and guinea-fowl for the
-pot.
-
-Meanwhile the sun is setting in a gorgeous west, and the golden glow
-is already fading on the temple walls. Then come the shadows of night,
-and these settle down rapidly. By the time the hut is reached the _kya_
-boy has lit the candles, laid the table, and is ready with the skoff.
-The boys are sitting round their fire or finishing a game of _isafuba_
-in the semi-darkness. Their evening meal is being cooked. One of them
-has brought a gourd of _doro_, and another a pot of fat, in which each
-handful of porridge is dipped before being eaten.
-
-Sitting on the stoep of the hut at this time of the day is a perfect
-rest. The air is agreeably cooled by a light breeze, which is laden
-with the scent of verbena. The night is calm and peaceful. Large
-bats fly swallow-wise, fire flies dart in all directions, glow-worms
-shine steadily in the grass, and birds, frogs, and insects join in
-mild choruses. The call of a boy in our camp to some companion up on
-Mogabe’s Kopje is repeated half a dozen times by the precipices of
-Zimbabwe Hill, where the echoes die out in a series of sharp raps.
-The large full moon rises serenely from behind the trees on Beroma
-Range, and bathes the country in delicate soft light, imparting a
-greenish-grey tint to the mist-veils which fill the gorges, throwing
-a deeper suggestion of mystery and awe over the wide expanse of bush
-where the lion holds his court.
-
-The boys, having finished their meal, now indulge in post-prandial
-rhetoric, and dialectic ping-pong. The ruddy glow of the fire reddens
-the huts and shines on the naked bodies and limbs of the crowd, making
-them resemble polished ebony, while as their tall and well-proportioned
-figures with kingly walk pass and repass in the flickering lurid light
-they appear to resemble shades from across the Styx. Such a scene is
-at least Dantesque, and to many might seem weird. But the boys are
-as happy as their hearts can wish. Their joviality is irrepressible.
-Harmony from their instruments, rhythmic chants, peals of laughter,
-wild recitatives, constant talking, with perhaps a wrestling match and
-a war-dance executed in simulated form thrown in, fill up two hours,
-by the end of which they are all under their blankets, sleeping and
-snoring as only natives can.
-
-“Porridge,” the _kya_ boy’s under-study, and eight years old, has
-brought in the hut door, which also acts as drawing-board and stoep
-table, and has gone to the kitchen-hut, where he rolls himself up in
-his tiny blanket.
-
-An occasional bark of a baboon or wolf, or yelp of jackal, or hoot of
-owl, is heard in addition to the usual nightjar and frog choruses. The
-sounds of the village drums, and of singing and dancing at Mogabe’s
-or Chenga’s kraal, where the full-moon feast is being celebrated, are
-wafted down to us. The night is perfectly lovely, but for Havilah Camp
-the day is past and over.
-
-But the moon—itself a dead world—looks down upon the ruins of a dead
-city and on the graves of a forgotten race, as it has done ever since
-the stern policeman Fate ordered these ancients to “Pass on!”
-
-
-
-
- CHAPTER IV
-
- ZIMBABWE DISTRICT
-
-
- _Chipo-popo[25] Falls_
-
-These are about two miles and a half north-east of Zimbabwe, on the
-Motelekwe Road. The Chipo-popo, which is a perennial stream with its
-source on the south side of the Beroma Range, crosses the road and
-runs towards the Moshagashi River, which it joins four miles lower
-down. Immediately to the north of the drift (ford) the stream descends
-abruptly down granite ledges into a deep ravine, on the east side of
-which is Chipo-popo kraal. The falls are reached by leaving the road at
-thirty yards on the Zimbabwe side of the drift and going between some
-large boulders on the north side of the road. This is an interesting
-spot at any time, but especially so when rains have swollen the
-torrent. A path from Chipo-popo kraal leads to Oatlands Farm, four
-miles north-east of Zimbabwe, where Naidoo, an Indian, has an extensive
-market-garden. The walk to the falls and to Oatlands Farm is a very
-easy afternoon’s exercise.
-
- • • • • •
-
-_Frond Glen._—This is a very pretty, secluded, and sheltered spot in a
-deep ravine about half a mile east of the South-East Ruins. A stream
-from the valley, which extends eastwards from the Elliptical Temple,
-passes through it in a south-easterly direction. On the banks of
-this ravine are to be found tree-ferns, palms, royal ferns (_osmunda
-regalis_), and maiden-hair ferns. The scenery and atmosphere of this
-glen are said to be somewhat similar to those of some tracts on the
-southern slopes of the Himalayas. To reach the glen one should leave
-the Motelekwe Road at three-quarters of a mile east of Havilah Camp,
-cross the small valley on the south to the South-East Ruins, and then
-go due east from the ruins, the land descending towards the glen.
-
- • • • • •
-
-_Lumbo Rocks._—These strikingly picturesque cliffs, which form a
-prominent landmark for miles around, are a little over two miles
-south of the Elliptical Temple, and are approached by the native path
-leading from Zimbabwe to the Morgenster Mission. These granite crags
-rise perpendicularly for about a hundred feet from out of the summit
-of a rocky kopje, and form a rude square-sided column of precipice,
-which is divided into four portions by very narrow fissures, which run
-through it on all four sides from base to summit. Visitors should climb
-this hill and inspect the rocks. There are numerous granite boulders
-split into fantastic shapes all round this kopje. The headman, Lumbo,
-now has his kraal about a third of a mile to the west of these rocks.
-Chipadzi’s kraal lies one mile to the south-east of Lumbo Rocks, and
-half a mile nearer Zimbabwe, and on the west side of the path to the
-mission is the deserted kraal of Baranazimba, situate on a high rugged
-kopje among gigantic boulders which rendered the kraal most difficult
-of approach. This chief is a relative of Mogabe. His new kraal is on
-a kopje close to the Victoria-Zimbabwe Road about four miles from the
-ruins.
-
- • • • • •
-
-_Morgenster_ (“_Morning Star_”) _Mission_.—One of the prettiest walks
-from Zimbabwe is to this mission station, which is barely three and
-a half miles distant in a south-south-westerly direction. The path
-passes between the _Elliptical Temple_ and the _Bentberg_. About two
-miles along the path and close to the right-hand side is Baranazimba’s
-old kraal perched up high among the boulders of a kopje. The path
-then crosses a nek between Baranazimba’s and the _Lumbo Rocks_, and
-descends into a narrow valley and up a high ridge, on which, cutting
-the sky-line, is a tall and prominent _Finger Rock_, which is only a
-few hundred yards from the mission, which lies just over the ridge.
-Morgenster is on a much higher elevation than the Zimbabwe Valley. The
-walk is highly interesting to anyone fond of romantic scenery. Rugged
-kopjes, with cliff-boulders on which huge granite masses are most
-delicately poised, lie along the right-hand side of the path for a
-great part of the distance to Morgenster.
-
-The mission was founded in 1891 by the Rev. A. A. Louw, of the Dutch
-Reformed Church, Dr. John Helm, the medical missionary, joining the
-station in 1894. Several other European missionaries are attached to
-the staff, and there are numerous outlying stations.
-
-The mission settlement is ideally situated on the south face of a
-high ridge overlooking the Mowishawasha Valley on the south and the
-N’Djena Valley and Motelekwe River on the south-east. Its position is
-marked by clumps of tall blue gum-trees. The buildings comprise the
-residence of Mr. Louw, the houses of Dr. Helm and other missionaries,
-and a school-house. Morgenster is celebrated for its banana plantation,
-the number of its lemon trees, and its large irrigated gardens. The
-Mahobohobo trees are very numerous in the vicinity of the station.
-
-The district in which the mission is situated is known to the natives
-as Amangwa, this being in former times the country of the once powerful
-tribe of Amangwa, who were driven away from the Zimbabwe district by
-the present local Makalanga on their arrival almost seventy years ago
-from the Sabi district. A kopje within a third of a mile on the east
-side of the mission was, until very recently, occupied by a local tribe
-of Makalanga, who built up rampart walls of unhewn stones to fortify
-the kopje against the attacks of the Matabele about 1893.
-
-Morgenster is also celebrated for the immense panoramic view of the
-Motelekwe Valley, extending for at least forty miles, where the
-tumbling sea of rugged kopje summits fades into the blue distance.
-The view is so extensive, impressive, and grand that one can never
-tire beholding it. As far as the eye can reach the land can be seen
-descending towards the south. The nearest point of the Motelekwe River
-to the mission is four miles. There are a great many villages in the
-valley.
-
-A peculiar interest attaches to this view of the Motelekwe Valley,
-for along it appears to have been the main route of the ancient
-gold-seekers from the coast to Zimbabwe, and so into the interior
-of the country. Along the Motelekwe is a chain of ruins (see
-_Ancient Ruins of Rhodesia_), of which the Mapaku Ruins, eight miles
-east-south-east of Zimbabwe, are the nearest. Some of these ruins
-are of major importance, and two at least are decorated with the
-chevron pattern, and occupy areas almost as large as the main ruins
-at Zimbabwe. This line of forts, or “blockhouses,” is extended along
-the Sabi River for a considerable distance into Portuguese territory.
-In viewing this valley from Morgenster, the thought that within sight
-lies one of the ancient roads to the coast, and that along it passed
-the gold- and ivory-laden caravans, makes the contemplation of the
-Motelekwe Valley one of absorbing interest.
-
-The sharp-cut kopje with steep glacis sides, about a mile and a half
-south of the mission, is Rugutsi. This divides the scenery of the
-Motelekwe from that of the Mowishawasha Valley on the south. This also
-is a fine view, but not so extensive as that of the Motelekwe Valley.
-An absolutely bare, granite, balloon-shaped kopje lies to the west.
-
-Two miles due south of the mission, in the Mowishawasha Valley, is a
-natural stronghold known as Wuwuli.
-
- • • • • •
-
-_Wuwuli._—This village, which is two miles south of Morgenster, is
-situated in a deep and narrow ravine immediately west of the Rugutsi
-Kopje, which forms such a prominent feature in the landscape of the
-Mowishawasha Valley, as seen from the mission. Formerly this place was
-of considerable importance to the local Makalanga, for during the times
-of the Matabele raids the natives between this place and Zimbabwe took
-refuge in the very extensive caves which run under the north side of
-the ravine. A strong perennial stream flows through the caves. Here, in
-time of danger, women, cattle, and grain were hidden. When Mr. and Mrs.
-Bent visited this village, in 1891, the natives were opposed to their
-inspecting the caves, and they were only permitted to go a certain
-distance inside. Now that raidings have ceased the caves are deserted,
-save for bats, and we were permitted to view the caves without any
-demur on the part of the villagers.
-
-The present chief is Bungu, a brother of the present dynastic chief
-Mogabe by another mother. The former Mogabe, Chipfuno, resided at this
-kraal as well as at Zimbabwe, and it was here he was shot in 1892.
-
-When visiting this village we saw a man undergoing a cure by
-blood-letting. Incisions were made in the flesh of the leg, and horns
-of yearling cattle placed over them. The air was then sucked out of the
-horns through small holes in the top, and the holes were then stopped
-with wax. The horns clung to the flesh, owing to the vacuum which drew
-the blood. Bungu’s attention was drawn to an old iron-smelting furnace,
-on which was the usual female breast and furrow pattern. He said the
-natives did not smelt iron now because they could buy their garden hoes
-from the white men, and they were therefore saved the trouble of making
-them.
-
- • • • • •
-
-_Mojejèje, or “Mystic Bar.”_—There are two of these mystic bars at
-Zimbabwe, one being on the Motelekwe Road, a quarter of a mile east
-from Havilah camp and opposite Middle Kopje (_Chamananga_), and the
-other about a mile from Zimbabwe, on the path to Bingura’s. The one
-on the Motelekwe Road is formed by a bar of aphite crossing a granite
-glacis, over which the road passes, but the one on Bingura’s Path is
-an arbitrary line drawn across a piece of granite, over which the path
-crosses. Each bar is at right angles to the path. At either end of
-each bar is a pile of stones, which show evident signs of having been
-hammered upon the bar for generations past. A native on a long journey,
-arriving at one of these bars, will take a stone from the pile on one
-side and with it tap the whole length of the bar, and lay the stone
-on the pile on the opposite side. Natives crossing the bar in passing
-between their kraals and their plantations, or going a short distance
-only, do not tap the bars. The idea in so tapping the bar is that by so
-doing the back is strengthened for the journey, and also that the man
-they are going to see may be at home, that the food will not be cooked
-till they arrive, and that their journey may be successful. There is no
-appeal to spirits or ancestors in performing this act.
-
- • • • • •
-
-_Suku Dingle._—This is situated but a few yards from the left-hand side
-of the lower path leading from Zimbabwe to Morgenster, and is about 400
-yds. north-east of _Lumbo Rocks_, about two miles from Zimbabwe. The
-dingle runs east and west, and is deeply wooded and narrow. This is
-a good spot for fern collectors. Down the dingle runs a happy little
-stream in perennial flow. The stream’s bed is formed of white clay. The
-sides of the banks have been trenched extensively for a perfectly white
-soil. This is used by the natives for whitewashing the outside of huts
-and for making the check patterns on their interior walls. It is quite
-possible that the ancients knew of this spot, and used the material in
-making their more choice pottery. The natives know of no other place in
-this district where the same material is obtainable, and they come
-from many miles’ distance to fetch it.
-
-[Illustration: THE CHIPO-POPO FALLS, NEAR ZIMBABWE]
-
-[Illustration: RAPPING THE MOJE-JE-JE, OR “MYSTIC BAR,” ZIMBABWE]
-
- • • • • •
-
-_Bingura’s[26] kraal._—This kraal, which is situated two and a half
-miles west-south-west of Zimbabwe, is well worth a visit, the walk
-itself being interesting and the situation of the kraal romantic.
-Possessors of cameras will find at this kraal ample opportunities of
-making “shots” at native life, as well as of taking typical views of
-the Zimbabwe scenery. The path to Bingura’s crosses the valley lying
-between Havilah Camp and Rusivanga, and then leads up through native
-plantations to the broad nek on the horizon between Rusivanga and a
-kopje just west of the western end of the Bentberg. On the nek is
-another _Mojejèje_, or “Mystic Bar,” crossing the path, where it passes
-over open granite. The ascent to the nek is for almost a mile, and the
-path from the nek dips down the western side of the ridge into a wide
-valley, and passes through the farmstead of a Basuto mission-boy named
-“James.”
-
-The kopje on the summit of which Bingura’s kraal is located is of
-horse-shoe shape, and the huts of the kraal are along the line of
-summit at intervals among huge boulders. The almost inaccessible
-position this kraal occupies, and its rocky surroundings, is also
-paralleled by the now deserted kraal of Baranazimba, which is on the
-summit of a very high hill protected by precipitous cliffs, and lies on
-the right-hand side of the path leading from Zimbabwe to Morgenster.
-The men from this kraal, like those of Chenga’s, have not been spoilt
-by contact with white men as are many of the men of Mogabe’s kraal.
-So far Bingura has not yet left his natural stronghold, but the
-probability is that once the neighbouring fields become poor through
-over-cultivation he may, like his neighbours, move his kraal into the
-open country.
-
-Starting to ascend the hill, one hears at a hundred yards’ distance
-the noise of falling water in a ravine at the north foot of the hill.
-The path ascends steeply up fissures and along narrow ledges, and over
-slippery slopes of black granite worn white with the passing of many
-feet. Bingura’s hut is about half-way up the hill, and here on a small
-flat area are about a dozen huts, and on still higher ledges on the
-north and west faces of the hill are more dwellings almost hidden,
-even when near to them, among huge boulders, also many circular clay
-granaries perched on rocks out of the reach of white ants. The large
-number of these granaries testifies to the industry of Bingura’s
-people. The tree boughs were festooned with mealie cobs drying in the
-sun. A large, flat rock was covered with locusts, and quantities of
-melons, pumpkins, and gourds were laid outside the huts. Women were
-winnowing _rapoka_ corn and cleaning rice. Bingura’s youngest wife,
-a fine and very good-looking young woman, was sewing pink beads in
-chevron pattern on to her skin apron, and every man, woman, and child
-appeared to have some occupation. There were more manifest signs of
-business here than at any other kraal in the district. Here they have
-less regard for the need of apparel than any of the inhabitants round
-about. Bingura is a small man of about fifty years of age, but as agile
-as a buck, and has a quick shrewd glance. This is in every respect the
-most interesting village in this district.
-
- • • • • •
-
-_Motumi’s kraal._—This kraal is about one mile west of Bingura’s, and
-is situate in open country and is worth visiting. Motumi is a very
-good specimen of a Barotse headman. He is fully seventy years of age,
-but is still hale, hearty, and straight. The features of the people at
-this kraal are very fine, and most of the men and boys are well-made.
-They are a very industrious people and never seem to be idling in their
-kraal. Motumi is above the average native in intelligence and can
-give an account of what is now Matabeleland long before the Matabele
-arrived, with long lists of place-names in that country as then known.
-Matgwain, his eldest son, is exceptionally intelligent. Motumi’s people
-speak Chicaranga, and most of their characteristics and customs are
-also those of their neighbours, the Amangwa, to whom they are allied by
-long generations of marriages.
-
-_Chibfuko._—This hill adjoins the Mowishawasha Hill, which is about
-seven miles west-south-west of Zimbabwe. _Washa_ is always associated
-in the mind of the natives with power and authority. Chibfuko is never
-ascended by the natives. Either the hill itself, or something on it,
-causes them to revere or dread it. They never pass by without kneeling
-and clapping hands to it. It is said that they hear girls singing on
-its summit. The hill has a few caves highly suggestive in appearance of
-ancients and hidden relics. In this district valuable relics taken from
-the ruins have been discovered. Mr. Drew, Native Commissioner, is of
-opinion that many generations past some powerful Makalanga chief must
-have been buried on the hill and that this originated the native awe
-for the place, but the natives will not divulge the reason. To reach
-the hill Bingura’s path must be taken.
-
-_Chipadzi’s kraal._—This kraal is three miles south from Zimbabwe, and
-it may be visited on the same round as Suku Glen, Lumbo Rocks, and
-Morgenster. The walk is an interesting one, but there is nothing of
-note in the kraal itself, save the view of the Mapudzi Valley which
-it overlooks. The Morgenster path must be taken for 1,000 yds. south
-of the temple, where a well-defined native path branches off to the
-south-east. Later the path descends into a long, narrow valley till
-it approaches the kraal. The scenery in this valley is very fine. A
-small perennial stream, which at one point disappears under the ground
-for a quarter of a mile, flows down the valley, and on either side
-of it are palm trees and tree-ferns, each with a trunk some 3 to 8
-ft. in height, also large areas covered with the royal fern (_Osmunda
-regalis_). Mahobohobo trees are plentiful, and orchids are abundant on
-the branches of the larger trees. The kraal comprises about a score
-of huts. There is a very grand view towards the east of the Mapudzi
-Valley down which flows the Mapudzi, a stream which has its rise on
-the east side of the Elliptical Temple. The ravine is at least 200
-ft. immediately below the kraal which overlooks it. The two large and
-prominent kopjes on the south are Moroma, the nearer one, and Rugutsi.
-Morgenster is one mile west on the summit of the high land on that side.
-
-_Mapaku, or “Little Zimbabwe”._—A walk to these ruins is one of the
-most interesting in the vicinity of the Zimbabwe. They lie south-east
-of Zimbabwe at a distance of less than eight miles, and the path runs
-through the romantic scenery of the Beroma Hills and the Motelekwe
-Valley. The best way to reach the ruins is through Chenga’s kraal, past
-Mandiara’s, which overlooks the lower country on the south side of the
-Beroma Range, and past the picturesquely situated kraal of Mapaku,
-which is at the foot of a tall cliff a quarter of a mile north-west
-of the ruins. The ruins are not extensive (see description of Mapaku
-Ruins, chapter xxi.), but are well worth inspection. To return to
-Zimbabwe the path may be taken to some large pools in the Motelekwe
-River, and from there through Gobele’s kraal near to, and on to,
-Chipadzi’s kraal, which is about three miles from Zimbabwe. Making the
-round journey as suggested enables the visitor to see native life as it
-is lived beyond the ordinary tracks of the white man. The best time of
-day to take this walk is to start just before sunrise and arrive at the
-ruins before the heat can be felt, and so return to Zimbabwe in good
-time for lunch.
-
-_Schlichter Gorge._—This is the ravine a mile to the south-west of
-Zimbabwe, down which flows the Mapudzi stream southwards. The walk
-in certain parts is somewhat rough, while in the rainy season owing
-to swollen tributaries and dense jungles of tall reeds it is almost
-inaccessible. To approach it one takes the path down the valley at the
-south foot of East Ruins, and directly east of Maund Ruins, and follows
-a small stream, the banks of which are shaded by trees and covered
-with royal fern. In the dry season there is very little water flowing,
-but there are always small pools. The path crosses this stream at its
-junction with the Mapudzi, the right bank of which must be taken. Where
-the sides of the valley close in the rocky sides of the hills must
-be climbed and then descended again. Along the course of the stream,
-which is densely wooded at the gorge, and flows between large boulders
-causing numerous pretty waterfalls even in the dry season, are some
-delightfully shaded pools, round which orchids and palms, and also
-ferns of rarer species, are to be found in great quantities. Where the
-gorge opens out at its southern end on to a wide valley a steep path,
-which leads up to Chipadzi’s kraal, must be taken. From the kraal a
-fine view of the gorge is obtained.
-
-_Chicagomboni Hill_ (_Nini district_).—This is where the rediscoverer
-of the Great Zimbabwe ruins, Adam Renders, a German-American, lived
-from 1868 to 1871. Renders was known to the natives as “Sa-adama,”
-and to this day the Makalanga speak well of him, and are particularly
-anxious that all Europeans should know that everything which “Sa-adama”
-bought from them he always paid for. Mogoma, an old man of exceptional
-intelligence, is the native chief in this locality, and knew Renders
-intimately, as the latter lived in his village and made it the centre
-for his elephant-hunting expeditions, on which Mogoma often accompanied
-him. One of Renders’ hunting “boys” still lives in the neighbouring
-village of M’Tibi. Elephants in those days were very plentiful,
-especially in the Beka and Mali districts. Renders, the natives say,
-was a tall, strong man. He first arrived in Mr. Stokes’ wagon. Mr.
-Stokes was a well-known preoccupation pioneer whose native name was
-“Setokwe.” Mogoma’s kraal has been moved from the hill to the valley on
-the south-west side. The chief states he never knew of the waterfall
-near Renders’ hut as described by Mr. Philips, and certainly owing to
-the formation of the rock it is difficult to see where there could have
-been one. In other respects the description of the spot where Renders
-lived in the Nini country (R. G. S. Journals, Dec., 1900, and Feb.,
-1901) is accurate, save that Chicagomboni is eleven miles south-west of
-Zimbabwe. Mogoma has distinct recollections of the visits of Dr. Mauch
-and Mr. Philips to Renders about 1871, and states that Cherimbila, the
-paramount chief, also visited Renders at this spot. Both Renders and
-Dr. Mauch took Mr. Philips to see Zimbabwe, but they did not stay long
-there.
-
-After living in Mogoma’s village a little over two years, Renders moved
-to Chirimbila’s kraal, a few miles north of Mogoma’s, and lived there
-for three years, when he died. He was buried close to the kraal.
-
-The Chicagomboni Hill is at the south-western extremity of the Livouri
-Range, and on the west side has a precipitous drop of about 700 ft.
-Half-way up the face of the cliffs is a narrow ledge running across
-them, and at the northern end of the ledge, and on a raised rock
-platform, was Renders’ abode, the remains of which can still be seen.
-Mogoma’s old kraal was on this ledge. At the point where was Renders’
-hut, the cliff, at a height of 60 ft. above the ledge, protrudes
-outwards some 50 ft., thus forming a lofty and gigantic roof over the
-place were Renders lived. This is known as _I-Baku_—the cave. There are
-some narrow fissures in the face of the cliff which open out on to the
-ledge, but not one of these is worthy of the name of cave. In these
-Renders stored his trading goods and ivory.
-
-[Illustration: FINGER ROCK, “MORGENSTER,” NEAR ZIMBABWE]
-
-[Illustration: I-BAKU (THE CAVE), CHICAGOMBONI, ZIMBABWE, WHEREIN ADAM
-RENDERS, THE REDISCOVERER OF GREAT ZIMBABWE, LIVED FROM 1868 TO 1871]
-
-From this point is gained one of the finest and most extensive views
-in Rhodesia. It extends over M’Chibi district, the valley of the Tokwe,
-the Belingwe Hills, the Selukwe Hills, and the high ground further to
-the west and north-west. Three hundred feet directly below is Mogoma’s
-new kraal and the adjoining village of Passi. Anyone staying a few days
-at Zimbabwe should not miss visiting this spot. The path from Zimbabwe
-leads past Motumi’s and Masua’s kraals, ascending all the way. Any of
-the “boys” at Mogabe’s kraal would act as guide, but on arrival at
-the hill it would be well to send for Mogoma, or one of his headmen,
-as this would dispense with the necessity of descending some hundreds
-of feet to the valley, in addition to which the approach to the ledge
-being hidden among large rocks, it is difficult to reach it without a
-local guide.
-
-_A jaunt along the Zimbabwe and Motelekwe ancient road._—One often
-wondered along what part of the country on the south or east of
-Great Zimbabwe lay the ancient road from the coast to this old-world
-metropolitan centre. Several suggestions more or less possible have
-been made since the preoccupation days as to the ancient road. That
-the ruins at Mapaku (the caves), seven miles distant towards the
-south-east, formed one of the posting stations on such a road may be
-considered as highly probable. Visitors have generally favoured the
-conjecture that the road from Zimbabwe to Mapaku must have passed to
-the north of the Beroma Range, which, seen from Zimbabwe, from which it
-is two miles distant, forms a continuous granite rampart some 600 ft.
-high, four miles long, and about one and a half miles broad, stretching
-from north to south. This range appears to present a solid obstacle
-to any approach from Zimbabwe. A detour round its north end and along
-its eastern base as far as Mapaku would make the distance at least ten
-miles. Moreover, on this line the kopjes and valleys have recently
-been thoroughly searched for any traces of ancient occupation, and
-none have been found. This therefore shows that such suggested route,
-had it actually been the ancient road, would have been altogether
-undefended for ten miles in an awkward country where the valleys,
-gorges, kloofs, and boulders would have provided splendid vantage
-points for attacks on the gold- and ivory-laden convoys proceeding from
-Zimbabwe to the coast.
-
-Schlichter Gorge, running south at the east end of Zimbabwe Valley, has
-also been suggested as the ancient approach to Zimbabwe. Certainly,
-viewed from the Acropolis, this would appear to be the only natural
-road, but the position of the gorge, as can be seen when visited,
-negatives the suggestion. The gorge at its southern end is practically
-impassable. It is filled up at several points with solid sections of
-cliff which have fallen into it from the steep sides on either hand,
-and though the Mapudzi stream finds its way under these obstructions,
-the traveller must climb the almost perpendicular sides some seventy to
-a hundred feet to descend again beyond the obstructions, and further on
-repeat the climbing to pass a further barrier. In this gorge and on the
-summit of its cliffs there are no traces of walls to defend the defile,
-while an enemy could easily destroy the convoy, for the pass forms a
-veritable military trap. The distance from Zimbabwe to Mapaku in this
-direction would be at least nine miles.
-
-Thus these two conjectured routes may for many reasons be dismissed
-as impracticable. But there remain two other possible routes to be
-considered, and both of these pass over the Beroma Range. The first,
-the one traversed by Mr. Bent and by all visitors to Mapaku, keeps to
-the Motelekwe track past East Kopje (Mazanda) till opposite Chenga’s
-kraal, through which the path leads, and up the long trough-like valley
-on the Beroma Range, which depression is formed by the two parallel
-lines of the summits of the range. On the east line of summit are
-two depressions, and visitors are taken by the northern of these past
-Mandarali kraal, which is on the edge of the cliff facing east, then
-down the side of the range and along its base southwards to Molinije’s
-kraal at Mapaku. This line of route makes the distance a little over
-seven miles. The local natives say that this path from Zimbabwe to
-Mapaku is a very long one. On it a careful search has failed to
-discover any traces of ruins.
-
-A well-defined line of route protected at several strategic points
-by ruins of buildings indicates, beyond doubt, the actual road of
-the ancients. This makes the distance barely six miles, which is the
-shortest to Mapaku, and along it runs a much-frequented native track,
-used by the numerous long string of “boys” coming up, between the
-harvest and the sowing, from the districts of the Lower Motelekwe and
-the eastern stretches of the Lundi and Limpopo rivers, to seek work in
-the gold district west of Victoria. The ruins protecting this route
-form a chain of forts, which occur at intervals of about one mile and
-a quarter. On the Zimbabwe-Mapaku section of this route there are the
-remains of five substantial and well-constructed ancient buildings.
-It is along this section and a further section of the chain of ruins
-extending from Zimbabwe to Majerri that the trip here described was
-taken.
-
-At 3.30 a.m. the six boys to carry blankets, food, cooking utensils,
-survey and photographic apparatus, botanical case, insect bottles,
-rifle, and a few tools, were waiting ready to start for the Majerri
-Ruins in the Motelekwe district, some twenty miles south-east of Great
-Zimbabwe. The moon was almost at the full, but would set an hour before
-sunrise. This is the best time of day to start on a walking expedition,
-as one may then hope to break the back of the distance before the sun’s
-heat could be felt. Five boys took up their loads, each about 35 lbs.,
-and our guide marched on ahead with the rifle. Our little party passed
-down the Motelekwe track till the East Ruins were reached. It was
-perfectly light and a greenish-grey mistiness invested the Valley of
-Ruins, the Acropolis, and the Elliptical Temple. Walking silently we
-passed through the ruins of the dead city to the point where the old
-road to the coast leaves Zimbabwe.
-
-At East Ruins the track to the upper reaches of the Motelekwe, and to
-Arowi, rounds off at the foot of East Kopje towards the north-east.
-Our path took us slightly south of east. But the Beroma Range looked
-like a Titanic wall of granite cliff barring our passage in that
-direction. “Sheba’s Breasts” (_Sueba_, black; _marsgi_, a corruption of
-the word meaning bald-headed), a pair of bare and round-topped hills
-on the southern end of the summit of the range, stand clearly against
-the greenish sky, and above them the morning star is just appearing.
-_Sueba_ is marked on all maps of Rhodesia as “Mount Sheba”; but the
-names “Sheba’s Breasts” and “Mount Sheba” are very modern indeed,
-dating back only to 1891. This pair of hills can very well be seen
-from the Tokwe, where the old Pioneer Road from the Lundi crosses that
-river. Evidently some member of the column familiar with Mr. Rider
-Haggard’s works, knowing that Great Zimbabwe lay just behind those
-hills, bestowed these names upon them, and so they have been known ever
-since.
-
-Our path led down a slight valley from East Ruins to the Mapudzi
-stream, and here the Beroma was found not to be such an obstacle to
-our progress as was at first imagined, for on its west side is a broad
-defile leading up to the ledge of land a third way between the base
-and summit of the range, and at the top of the defile, and a hundred
-yards to the left, is a well-built ruin which guards the approach up
-the defile. Chenga’s Ruin, as it is called, occupies a position well
-chosen for defensive purpose, and presents several good architectural
-and constructive features. Here the coastward-bound convoy would first
-realise they had quite left Zimbabwe behind them, and would start
-to count the fifteen to twenty days of their tedious and, no doubt,
-highly dangerous journey to the sea, which should bear them in their
-gold-laden argosies homewards, either to the port of Eudaemon (the
-present Aden), or to the _Moscha_ (“harbour”) of Ophir, metropolis of
-the ancient Sabæans, or else, if later, to Ezion-Geber, the Jewish and
-Phœnician port on the Red Sea during the reign of King Solomon.
-
-Chenga’s Ruin is outside the Zimbabwe ruins’ area, and is the first
-posting station on the road to Sofala. In 1540 the Moslem Arab traders
-in gold and ivory informed the Portuguese that the journey from Sofala
-to Zimbabwe required from fifteen to twenty days (twelve to fifteen
-miles a day), so that the later Arabs must have travelled on foot
-taking native carriers. They too may have used as caravansaries the
-line of ancient forts that stretches from Zimbabwe towards Sofala along
-rivers whose valleys form the natural outlet to the coast for the
-populations of Southern Rhodesia, for they could thus find admirable
-protection at easy intervals for the night, or halt within the walls
-built, possibly, by their remote ancestors. So the ancients leaving
-Chenga’s Ruin might know they had at least fifteen days of tramping
-ahead of them, for no evidence of their employing oxen, horses or
-camels, or any wheeled vehicles, has come to light. The journey may
-have even been longer, owing to the delays of the slave gangs and
-carriers with their burdens of gold and ivory, and to the caution
-needed in passing through a land clearly shown by the protecting
-forts to have been hostile territory. The weary stretch of the Sabi
-Valley lay before them—Sabi, a name which students of Chicaranga and
-of other native languages state has no known derivation, and of which
-the natives emphatically affirm “It is but a name. It means nothing to
-us.” It has therefore been repeatedly conjectured that the name Sabi,
-Sabæ, or Saba has a connection with the river with which they must
-have been very well acquainted. From scriptural accounts we find that
-such duplication of names of places was a practice of the old Semitic
-peoples, as in Havilah, the local and pastoral country, and Havilah,
-the foreign and mineralised country, in a superlative sense the gold
-land, “and the gold of that land is good” (Genesis ii. 12). Instances,
-in fact, occur almost everywhere from the remotest time down to the
-founding of New South Wales, Nova Scotia, New York, and a hundred other
-well-known places.
-
-Chenga’s Ruin was absolutely unknown to white men, as also were the
-Beroma Ruins, until quite recently. The local natives repeatedly
-denied the existence of any ruins on the Beroma Hills, and this denial
-on their part, so authorities on Makalanga customs say, is perfectly
-natural and to be expected, for all the ruins of this chain, like so
-many others throughout the country, have been used by the Makalanga
-up to the present day as burial-places, and being well aware of the
-clearing of the Zimbabwe ruins, they feared lest these other ruins,
-too, should be explored. But since they have learnt that in the work
-at Zimbabwe the graves have been respected, they appear to be less
-nervous, and as it is known for many miles round that substantial
-rewards will be paid for information as to other and fresh ruins, they
-sometimes volunteer their information and offer themselves as guides.
-Thus some nine additional ruins have now been discovered and inspected.
-But the three ruins on the Beroma Hills which at strategic points guard
-our path were found by the author on making a systematic search of all
-the hills in the district of Zimbabwe.
-
-From the ledge on the west face of the Beroma Range on which Chenga’s
-Ruin is situated the ground rises gently towards a broad depression
-in the western crest of the range into a long valley, which runs from
-north to south and from end to end of the top of the hills. The path
-after passing through the farmstead of David (a native teacher) passes
-up the valley southwards for half a mile and then turns east at a
-sharp angle towards the most southerly of the two depressions on the
-eastern crest. Within a few hundred yards, on the right-hand side of
-the path where it turns east, and on a low, rocky knoll, is a second
-ruin—Beroma Ruin—which is well-built, and has a rather fine, rounded
-entrance. The southern half of this ruin is now reduced to a few
-piles of granite blocks. On the south-west side of this ruin is one
-of “Sheba’s Breasts,” Marsgi. On the south side of the path is Sueba,
-the other “Breast.” Half-way between Beroma Ruin and Sueba, and on
-the south side of the path, is a cluster of tall, pillar-like rocks,
-which look in the serene moonlight, and at a little distance, like a
-cathedral built of white stone. The natives call these rocks Rusinga.
-On the left-hand side of the path, on the ridge of the depression on
-the eastern line of summits, is a tall column of huge boulders, which,
-when seen from the south side, exactly resemble one of the soapstone
-birds on beams found by Mr. Bent at Zimbabwe.
-
-[Illustration: THE BIRD ROCK, NEAR ZIMBABWE]
-
-[Illustration: VIEW OF MOTELEKWE RIVER NEAR GOBELE’S KRAAL]
-
-On Sueba is another ruin which overlooks the depression, through which
-the path runs south-east down the east side of the Beroma Range towards
-the Mapaku Ruins, which form the fourth posting station from Zimbabwe.
-Climbing Sueba, one can at once see that this line of route, owing to
-the topographical structure of the range, is not only the most direct
-from Zimbabwe, but the most natural for anyone crossing the Beroma
-Range.
-
-Just as the path starts on the descent to the Mapaku Ruins the
-scenery to the north-east and south, as viewed by moonlight, is truly
-magnificent. Towards the north-east the sky-line is formed by the
-jagged crest of the romantic Livouri and Inyuni Hills, while the
-Moshagashi Valley is wrapped in a mantle of greenish mist, above which
-towers the lofty Arowi Peak in solitary grandeur. Here the ancients on
-their way to the coast would have their last view of Zimbabwe.
-
-We arrive at Mapaku kraal (_Baku_, “cave”; _Mapaku_, “caves”) just
-as the light is sufficient to make the main features of the scenery
-perfectly distinct. Here the sub-chief Molinye and his people are
-already stirring and squatting round fires in the open. The kraal is
-situated at the east base of a cluster of high cliffs, and these cliffs
-are full of caves and deep fissures used as passages. The kraal which
-formerly occupied these rocky vantage grounds is now removed to level
-ground, and built without a fence of any kind. Molinye is a younger
-brother of the Mogabe Handisibishe by the same mother, and takes the
-name of their father, the Mogabe-Molinye. He is an intelligent man and
-very active. He considers himself the custodian of the neighbouring
-ruins of Mapaku, and just as his brother at Zimbabwe says to all
-visitors, “Here is Zimbabwe. One shilling!” so Molinye’s first remark
-to visitors is, “Here are the caves. Two shillings!” or “Here are the
-ruins. Two shillings!” Molinye is very proud of the caves, for here his
-people successfully defied the Matabele and Amaswazi raids. In these
-caves the women, children, cattle and grain were safely hidden, and
-the approaches to them could well be defended by two or three men as
-against a hundred of the enemy.
-
-Molinye’s tall figure leads the way to the Mapaku Ruins, which since
-1891 have been known as “Little Zimbabwe.” Here our breakfast is laid
-out in the central enclosure, and Molinye sits enviously watching
-the boys eating “bully beef.” Evidently he will not be happy till he
-receives a tin, and he is given one. Still he is not content, and urges
-the payment of a further two shillings for taking us to the ruins. He
-only knows two words of English, and these are “Two shillings,” but
-having already paid him one florin, which is more than his due, he
-fails to draw a second, and is at last content with a box of matches.
-Natives always ask for about ten or twenty times more than they expect
-to receive.
-
-The sun is just showing above a long black hill—Ingumaruru—and as
-we have ten to twelve miles to cover before we reach Majerri’s, our
-journey is taken up afresh. There is another ruin at Mandindindi’s,
-lying on our route, but our time will not permit us to visit it on this
-trip.
-
-From Mapaku the path leads south to the right bank of the Motelekwe,
-about a mile and a half away and near Gobele’s kraal, which is from
-this point of view backgrounded at some distance by the steep and
-rocky Goruma Hill. Here the river is wide, and has, even in the dry
-season, large pools many acres in area. The granite rocks in the bed
-of the river are pierced with round holes a few feet deep, all of
-which have been made by the action of the water. The path then passes
-through Gobele’s kraal and down a small defile towards a drift across
-the river. This drift is only used by the people of the neighbouring
-kraals, and the paths on each side of it are very narrow, while
-the crossing is rather tortuous and slippery. From above the drift
-we continue on the path south-west to the south end of the Goruma
-shoulders at a quarter of a mile distant. We were now at least a mile
-and a half from the river, which has turned south-east through some
-dark-looking, tall kopjes, and from the higher ground we could see that
-the rivers which flow to the Motelekwe form swamps just before reaching
-it, and by keeping on the high ground these are avoided and the rivers
-are more easily crossed. In fact, by taking this path we cut off an
-eastward bend in the Motelekwe, striking it again at a wide, easy, and
-natural drift some eight miles farther on.
-
-About a mile from Gobele’s we come to the Meziro, a perennial stream,
-300 yds. from which on the east side of the path is the Rumeni Ruin,
-built on the slope of a hill. This ruin occupies an area of 111 ft.
-from east to west and 63 ft. from north to south. The highest wall is
-now only about 6 ft. high. The style of building is peculiar—a large,
-well-built, rounded buttress being at the north entrance, and the walls
-show both superior and inferior workmanship, while the western side is
-formed of arcs of circles end on end. The Meziro flows south and east
-of the ruin in the valley below.
-
-Two hundred yards back along the path and about one hundred yards from
-it on the west side is an old Makalanga wall with portions of the
-wall of an oval enclosure. The structure is of no great age, and is
-definitely claimed by the natives as the work of some few generations
-past. Its total length is 54 ft., and the area of the enclosure is 16
-ft. at its longest parts. Some old Makalanga clay flooring has been
-used as building material at different points in the wall.
-
-The journey south, and later south-east, is continued, and the Meziro
-and Mazili rivers crossed, while the following kraals are passed in
-order—Chinaka’s to the left, Skarduza’s on the right, and Manamuli also
-on the right. In front is a very high kopje with almost perpendicular
-sides. This is Rushumbi, a noted landmark for many miles round. The
-path leads past the south of this hill and up another hill, where is
-Marota kraal. This hill, which has a very considerable elevation, is
-exceedingly steep on the south side, and there is an extensive view
-from the summit down the Motelekwe and Tokwe valleys. Marota was the
-largest kraal seen on this journey. Half an hour’s walk from Marota
-brought us to a natural drift on the Motelekwe, which here bends
-south-south-east. The river-bed at this point is about 200 yds. wide,
-and in the dry season is very easy to cross, from sandbank island to
-sandbank island and scrambling over large granite rocks with smooth
-glassy surfaces. There is no doubt that this is the best drift within
-a good many miles either up or down the river, and it lies, as seen in
-the distance from Mount Sueba, the eastern “Sheba’s Breast,” exactly in
-the natural and unbroken line of country up which is the easiest and
-most natural approach to Zimbabwe from the south-east, thus avoiding
-bewildering mazes of kopjes and rough country which lie on either side.
-The topography of the country clearly points out the ancient route, and
-it is along this that our present journey is made. At this drift we
-saw a boy of about nine years of age with a skin no darker than that
-of an ordinary Spaniard and with almost perfect features. Both parents
-were ascertained to be Makalanga.
-
-From the east bank of the drift the path ascends for a distance of
-nearly two miles between the drift and the Majerri Ruins, which at
-this distance lie half a mile to the south of the path on a line of
-kopjes to the south-west of another Mapaku (“the caves”). This Mapaku
-must not be confused with the Mapaku we had visited during the small
-hours of the day, for wherever there are caves there is a local Mapaku;
-hence there are several places of this name within a score of miles
-from Zimbabwe. The name of the headman at this Mapaku is Munda, and
-on sending to his village, one of his men will act as guide to the
-ruins, which are rather difficult to find by anyone unacquainted with
-the district. On our way from the drift we passed several very long
-game-drive fences and large game pits, and saw two herds of wild pigs
-and several large buck.
-
-By three o’clock in the afternoon we had reached the ruins, and a camp
-for the night was made in one of the enclosures. Soon afterwards the
-boys were busy with hatchets cutting away brush from the sides of the
-walls, so that a survey could be made and photographs taken. The ruins
-are much larger and better built than we had been led to believe. There
-are sixteen enclosures, also a passage 290 ft. long running from end
-to end of the ruins. Chevron pattern is on the west face of a very
-substantial wall of what appears to have been an important enclosure.
-We worked at the measurements till it was dark, when we partook of
-our evening meal. The full moon rose a little later and flooded the
-ancient building with light, so that further examinations could be
-made. The enclosure in which our camp for the night was formed was made
-most picturesque with the lights of moon and fire, the walls gleaming
-white with the heavy mantle of lichen which covered them. This white
-appearance of the walls is a prominent feature in all the ruins of the
-Motelekwe chain, most probably accounted for by the mists that usually
-hang over the line of the river.
-
-The talking and singing of the boys, the music of their Makalanga
-pianos, seemed in perfect harmony with the solemn stillness of the
-ruins and of the night. We turned in early, and at five in the morning
-we were again busy completing measurements and noting up descriptions
-of architectural features and styles of construction. At ten o’clock
-the principal parts of the ruins were photographed, and at eleven we
-set out on our return to Zimbabwe.
-
-The objective of our next expedition down the Motelekwe Valley will be
-another set of ruins still further south-east. There are other ruins
-beyond these again, and we hope to be able by such expeditions to
-obtain full descriptions, with photographs and plans, of all the ruins
-of the Motelekwe chain.
-
-Munda, the headman at Mapaku (Majerri), states that only three white
-men have ever seen these ruins, two came together and one alone, but
-that these visits were made some years ago. One of the Messrs. Posselts
-was of this number.
-
-On this journey we found the women were all decorated with the furrow
-pattern on their bare stomachs. The “female breast and furrow pattern”
-was on all washing-tubs, drums, granaries, and furnaces, and also on
-some doors, and further worked out in clay on the sides of the huts.
-Check pattern adorned some of the huts, but mainly the inside walls.
-Some very well-built semi-circular walls for screening open fires were
-found at some of the villages.
-
- • • • • •
-
-_Some of the denizens of the Zimbabwe district._—These are most
-numerous in the Elliptical Temple when the size of its area is
-considered, for this building abounds in bird, animal, reptile, insect,
-and plant life. Protected by high walls all round, it provides an
-area free from the disturbing effects of grass fires, sheltered from
-cold winds, and full of rank tropical vegetation and jungle. Here the
-gorgeous lapis-lazuli and turquoise blue of the jays and the brilliant
-scarlet and rich metallic green of the honey-sucker flash brightly in
-keen contrast to the white lichened walls. Yellow and grey hornbills,
-barn owls and owlets, wagtails, weaver birds, pigeons and doves, and
-little birds with yellow, white, red or blue or mottled breasts and
-wings, are constantly to be seen in the temple courts. One large barn
-owl has its usual perch on a branch near the summit of the Conical
-Tower, while “Go-away” birds are incessantly urging us to “Go away!”
-
-Numerous squirrels climb the walls and spring along their summits.
-Chameleons, one minute pale green, the next a mottled yellow, grey,
-and black, climb with aristocratic movements up the orchid-clad
-trunks of trees, pausing at intervals to fold their front paws in a
-comic attitude of prayerfulness. Large and small lizards of brilliant
-colourings, mainly magenta, Prussian and electric blues, and a
-startling orange, bask upon the ancient stones. Puff-adders, grass
-snakes, and mambas haunt the place, the latter climbing the highest
-trees and ascending steep, smooth sides without any apparent necessity
-for picking their way up rough surfaces. Pythons have been seen, and
-a python’s nest with about two dozen white leathery eggs, from which
-the young had been recently hatched, was found in the centre of the
-temple. On commencing work here in May, 1902, scores of cast-off
-snake skins of all sizes up to 5 ft. in length were found all about
-the temple. Scorpions which hide under the stones suggest to one the
-necessity of being careful in sitting down. Centipedes and large
-millipedes, snails with white spiral shells from 6 in. to 9 in. long,
-frogs, which on wet days persistently urge us to “Work! work!” abound,
-while after sundown crowds of large night-moths and bats flutter in
-the air. Brilliant butterflies, dragon flies, and fire flies, gigantic
-spiders, spiders which make their trap-doors of clay, hornets, bees,
-beetles, mosquitoes, and other stinging insects, and those which assume
-imitative forms. Tortoise-shells and porcupine quills were found, but
-no tortoise or porcupine. The number of skeletons of wild animals
-found in the grass was sufficient to suggest thoughts of Noah and his
-zoological cargo.
-
-The birds of the Zimbabwe district include quantities of blue jays,
-hornbills, honey-birds, honey-suckers, bee-eaters, several sorts of
-rollers, crested kingfishers, South African thrushes and babbling
-thrushes, shrikes, swifts, swallows, and martins, weaver birds, owls,
-corncrakes, night jars, woodpeckers, larks, wagtails, doves, pigeons,
-white storks, herons, secretary birds, bush crows, vultures, hawks,
-guinea-fowl, sand grouse, quails, and partridges, while paaw (bush
-bustard) is sometimes met with.
-
-Two ostriches with black and white feathers once approached within
-100 yds. of Havilah Camp. A covey of African grey parrots fled over
-the huts going south in the springtime. One bird of the plumage and
-shape of an ordinary skylark soars high in the air, remaining in one
-position, but instead of singing it flaps its wings loudly for some
-minutes together. It is best heard just before sunrise.
-
-During the dry season game animals are not plentiful in this locality,
-but when the grass has started to grow after a veld fire they arrive in
-fairly good numbers. Reed buck, sable antelope, and springbok have been
-within sight of the camp.
-
-Lions for some years past have not been seen at Zimbabwe, though they
-are in continuous residence on the Livouri Range, some eight miles to
-the west, and also at one or two other places about the same distance
-from Zimbabwe. But with the advent of buck they are known to come
-within two or three miles of our camp. Their spoor has frequently been
-seen on the road between Zimbabwe and Victoria, and they have recently
-killed donkeys within five miles of Zimbabwe. On one occasion only
-have we heard lions roaring, and they must have been almost two miles
-away. Jackals are a nuisance, and come to the camp for poultry. Large
-leopards have been shot in the neighbourhood during the author’s stay
-at Zimbabwe.
-
-Natives state that within their time herds of tusker elephants have
-been wont to frequent the Zimbabwe Valley, and they point out certain
-trees which have been damaged by them. The elephants have now gone
-south-east. The traces of two ivory trading stations of the late
-sixties are still to be seen at Zimbabwe.
-
-Eagles soar above Zimbabwe Hill and the topmost line of cliffs. Two
-eaglets fallen from the nest were found in the Acropolis ruins, one
-each spring. One died of its injuries, and the other lived for two
-months at our camp. The boys were fond of feeding “the big chicken,”
-and it eventually died in consequence of its gluttony. Hawks abound on
-the hill, and there are also kites and owls. Large black crows with a
-white patch on the back of the neck, and with vulture-shaped beak, also
-crows with white breast and wing tips, but with a raven-shaped beak,
-are constantly flying round the hill. Here are also wild tebie cats and
-tiger cats, ant-bears, conies, squirrels, and at least five species of
-large baboons. The constant parading of the latter to and fro on the
-summit has formed a well-beaten track. These creatures bark and cry—the
-crying is exactly like that of a human being. Toward noon they usually
-descend to the valley and romp about on the open granite spaces. So
-destructive are these particular baboons that the local Makalanga have
-been obliged to abandon their gardens on the south side of the hill.
-Their spoor has been frequently found within our camp. The reptiles
-here are large pythons, mambas, iguanas, and lizards of all colours.
-
-The plant life found in the temple was very rich and diversified, and
-each specimen was of larger growth and bloom than those of the same
-species growing outside the walls. Here are many sorts of elegant
-ferns, but mostly small, including maiden-hair fern, also the ordinary
-bracken. Stag’s-horn moss and plants of carnose foliage grow in
-the joints of the walls. Beds of scarlet cannæ, Cape gooseberries,
-raspberries, crimson and mauve gladioli, convolvuli, large and small,
-white, purple, yellow, and mauve, verbenas, heliotrope, azaleas, also
-a flower exactly like the daffodil, and arums or St. John’s lilies,
-flags, mauve-flowered peas, a blue flower like borage, and blue and
-yellow ground orchids, covered the surface of the interior. Nettles
-and nettle trees, stinging plants, and thorns of all sorts formed
-prominent features in the vegetation of the temple. The trees within
-the walls were numerous, and included varieties of hard and soft
-woods. Some were of gigantic girth and height, rising to 60 ft. Wild
-fig-trees and evergreen hardwoods predominate. The “Zimbabwe creeper,”
-a climbing plant peculiarly local, is a great feature in all the ruins
-at Zimbabwe, and so far has not been found elsewhere in Rhodesia.
-This creeper resembles jessamine in leaf and stalk, only it has light
-pink, bell-shaped pendent flowers growing in clusters at the end of
-each spray, these being about the shape and size of a foxglove flower.
-Orchids with yellow flowers grow on the trees, from which are also
-suspended lichen festoons some 3 ft. long. The monkey-rope trees once
-interlaced the tops of the trees with their runners and created a
-semi-darkness in the temple even at brightest noontide.
-
-On the hill tobacco, once cultivated here by the natives, now grows
-wild. Large beds of scarlet cannæ, Cape gooseberries, hemlocks, and
-blackjacks are seen in most parts of the hill, while every flower of
-the veld is represented. Monkey-ropes, wild vines, wild orange, fig,
-nut, greengage, currant, and raspberry flourish here. The kafir-baum,
-which flowers profusely when leafless early in the spring, and abounds
-at Zimbabwe, provides a striking contrast of brilliant scarlet to the
-grey granite cliffs in front of which it flourishes. The flat-topped
-umbrella trees (_mimosa_) impart an odd effect to the hill. The
-Zimbabwe creeper grows very extensively on the north and west sides
-of the hill. Cacti, euphorbia, and liliums, also bulbous plants, are
-multifarious, while tall aloes give an old-world appearance to the hill.
-
-Palms with fronds 10 ft. long, tree-ferns 8 ft. high, and large
-areas of _Osmunda regalis_ (royal fern) are to be seen in most of
-the glens and gorges of this locality. The blue lotus lily (_Nymphæa
-stellata_) grows in most pools of water, while the yellow everlasting
-flower (_Helipterum incanum_) is plentiful, and the bright red
-sealing-wax-coloured flower (_Erythrina kaffra_) shots the veld grass
-as daisies do an English meadow. The sugar bush (_Protea mellifera_)
-though present is not found in quantity. Bamboos grow in the
-neighbourhood, also sugar-cane, and wild cotton. The mahobohobo is not
-indigenous to the country, but is the most usual tree found here. Its
-area covers many square miles of this district. Like the wild fig, the
-mahobohobo fruit ripens in the spring only.
-
-
-
-
- CHAPTER V
-
- ZIMBABWE NATIVES
-
-
- 1. NATIVES AND RUINS
-
-It may easily be imagined that researches as to the origin of the ruins
-cannot be furthered by inquiries instituted among the present native
-peoples as to any history or tradition concerning these structures.
-The chief value, however, of such inquiries is that they enable us to
-realise in what conditions both the ruins and the district have existed
-during the last few centuries. But such inquiries only take us back
-to a period of two hundred years short of that time when Portuguese
-writers referred to these buildings.
-
-The migratory character of the South African natives is well known.
-Not only whole nations move, but the tribes among themselves move
-also, thus making it exceedingly difficult to trace their migrations
-except for a few generations back. The Portuguese historians of the
-sixteenth and seventeenth centuries referred to the Makalanga nation as
-occupying this country with their centre at “the Great Zimbabwe,” where
-resided the Monomotapa, or supreme chief, and where was “the mightie
-wall of five and twenty spans thick.” Three hundred years after this
-was written we find a dense population of Makalanga (“the People of
-the Sun”) still occupying Southern Mashonaland and forming the great
-bulk of its inhabitants.[27] In this respect, though their various
-tribes have frequently changed localities, the Makalanga as a general
-rule have not followed the migratory custom of South African peoples.
-Makalanga are to be found in both Matabeleland and Mashonaland, but
-mainly in the latter province, where the Chicaranga language, which Dos
-Santos in 1602 described as “the best and most polished of all Kafir
-languages which I have seen in this Ethiopia,” is still the language
-of the nation. Makalanga are also to be found in Barotseland, whither
-the Barotse[28] and their dependents the Makalanga migrated, in 1836–8,
-just previously to, and at the time of, the Matabele invasion of what
-is now known as Matabeleland.
-
-[Illustration: A MAKALANGA, ZIMBABWE]
-
-[Illustration: THE CAMP WATCHMAN (KUMURI)]
-
-But for nearly four hundred years the historical relations and the
-very existence of the Makalanga and their history were forgotten. From
-being a powerful and semi-civilised people (see _The Ancient Ruins of
-Rhodesia_, chapter x.) they have become a people of no account—mere
-“Makalaka,” as the people of the present Bechuanaland scornfully
-called them in reference to their present slavish position. To their
-successive conquerors they have always been but “dogs of slaves.”
-
-So far as the purely local natives are concerned, the following notes,
-based upon a series of conferences of the oldest native authorities
-held at Zimbabwe during 1902 and 1903, at which Mr. Alfred Drew,
-Native Commissioner, the Rev. A. A. Louw, Dutch Reformed Mission
-near Zimbabwe, and Dr. Helm, Medical Missionary, and other admitted
-authorities on native language and customs, have taken part, will
-explain the local occupations for almost if not more than one hundred
-and fifty years. The local Makalanga, Barotse, and Amangwa are
-agreed upon the correctness of the statements here recorded, and the
-information so obtained has also been verified by the above-named
-gentlemen in other quarters.
-
-(_a_) In this portion of Southern Mashonaland the Makalanga have
-formed, since long before 1570, the greatest portion of the population,
-especially in the Zimbabwe district. This is both history and also
-well-rooted tradition among the natives, going back for very many
-generations.
-
-(_b_) The Makalanga have been subject to several successive conquerors,
-of whom the Barotse in Mashonaland and the Matabele in Matabeleland
-were the last. They have only very indistinct traditions as to their
-previous conquerors.
-
-(_c_) The Barotse occupied both provinces, establishing central
-strongholds in all districts. They collected tribute from the
-Makalanga, and this was taken every year from all the centres to the
-_Mambo_ or _Mamba_, the dynastic chief, for the time being, of the
-Barotse. And these Mambos resided at Thabas Imamba. Both Makalanga
-and Barotse were, and still are, most excellent builders with stones.
-[Mr. Drew minutely cross-examined the natives with regard to the
-situation or identity of Thabas Imamba]. This is the fixed belief of
-every Barotse who is questioned on the subject, and the old men say
-it is also within their own knowledge. Before this fresh evidence
-was obtained, the authors of _The Ancient Ruins of Rhodesia_ had
-published a similar statement on the strength of evidences secured in
-Matabeleland. Mr. Neal also stated that no ruin in Rhodesia showed more
-evidences of extensive and prolonged occupation than did the ruins on
-Thabas Imamba.
-
-(_d_) Jerri’s people (Barotse) never lived at or near Zimbabwe, as
-white men had believed they had, but they left what they called “The
-Great Buildings of Stone” (Khami) west of where Bulawayo now stands
-in 1836–7, and moved to Jerri Mountains, seventy miles south of
-Zimbabwe. They left Khami immediately before the Matabele arrived.
-On passing through Zimbabwe they encamped for one night only on a
-hill one mile west of the ruins. There are many old men who remember
-these circumstances, while the general local belief is that Jerri’s
-people lived at Khami Ruins, which are well known to the natives here.
-[It has always been contended that this tribe of Barotse resided at
-Khami for very many generations, but there are very many evidences in
-support of this established belief, which are now in hand, and are now
-forthcoming.]
-
-(_e_) The head kraal of the Zimbabwe Barotse was at the foot of the
-south-east side of the Rusivanga Kopje, and not on the summit, where
-the walls and the remains of very substantial huts are old Makalanga.
-The Barotse also had a large kraal on the north-east side of the
-Bentberg overlooking the Elliptical Temple. [The present Barotse
-headmen claim the pottery in the débris at these places as having
-been made by their people some four or five generations back, if not
-earlier.]
-
-(_f_) The Zimbabwe Makalanga did not reside in the ruins, as this in
-later generations was opposed to their traditions, but they used the
-ruins up to ten years ago as cattle kraals and places for carrying on
-their copper and iron-smelting operations, for offering sacrifices,
-and for burial-places. Once they occupied them as residences, but
-possibly the fear of the ruins at night caused them to desert them as
-residences, probably owing to the increased number of graves which they
-contained. The Barotse did not appear to have been inspired by this
-fear, for they have occupied ruins all over the country.
-
-All the remains of native huts and many of the native articles found
-in the ruins must be at least six generations old, if not much older.
-When the present Mogabe Handisibishe took up his residence on the
-north side of Zimbabwe Hill, in the ruins of the Acropolis, there had
-been no Makalanga occupations for many generations previously. All
-the remains of Makalanga huts found on the Acropolis, and round the
-faces of the hill, and outside the area occupied by Mogabe’s kraal,
-belong to Makalanga, who had ceased to occupy them for very many years
-previously. When Mogabe arrived these remains were considered by his
-people to be exceedingly old.
-
-(_g_) The present Zimbabwe Makalanga originally came from Masungye, in
-the direction of the Lower Sabi. Mogabe is the dynastic title of each
-succeeding chief of this tribe. The Mogabe-Molinye moved to Jena and
-finally to the Beroma country, in the neighbourhood of Zimbabwe. The
-succeeding Mogabe, a son of Molinye, moved up from Beroma to Mangwa
-(Morgenster), four miles south of Zimbabwe, from which place he drove
-out the Amangwa people, who occupied the Zimbabwe district and the
-country for a considerable distance round about. The next Mogabe,
-Chipfuno, a son of the previous Mogabe, settled at Wuwuli, five miles
-south of Zimbabwe, and later his younger brother, Handisibishe, the
-present Mogabe, succeeded Chipfuno in the dynastic rule. Handisibishe
-is seventy years of age, but Chipfuno was much older.
-
-The connection between the present Zimbabwe Makalanga and the Zimbabwe
-ruins only dates back authoritatively for some sixty or seventy years,
-but their opinion as to the age of the native remains at the ruins, as
-found by them when they arrived, added to a similar account based on
-the longer residence of the Barotse and Amangwa, and on their history
-and traditions, enables investigations to be carried back at least
-eight generations.
-
-(_h_) The oldest known natives who have resided at Zimbabwe are the
-Amangwa, who were driven out by Mogabe Handisibishe. These were
-originally a tribe of pure Makalanga, but by marriage with their
-erstwhile over-lords, the local Barotse, many of their people have
-acquired some of the distinctive features of the Barotse, while a large
-proportion are still in every respect true Makalanga. These people now
-reside in Nini district, eight miles south-west of Zimbabwe, their
-nearest kraal being Bingura’s, which is two miles distant. They can
-speak with regard to the state of the ruins as they were conditioned
-some generations ago. They state they never occupied the Acropolis
-ruins except when Amaswazi raiding parties were in the district,
-and then only as a temporary refuge, and that many large walls have
-completely fallen down. The Amangwa were once a numerous and powerful
-people. Their kraals were built in the valleys, close to the ruins and
-on the nearest kopjes.
-
-[Illustration: MAKALANGA “BOYS” FENCING, ZIMBABWE]
-
-[Illustration: MOTUMI MONGWAINE ]
-
-Mogabe Handisibishe took advantage of a famine in the Zimbabwe district
-when he attacked them, and perpetrated great cruelties on their women
-in order to make them divulge where the relics from the ruins were
-hidden, but the Amangwa did not yield on this point. It is curious
-that so many relics of prehistoric value have been found in the Nini
-district where the Amangwa now reside. The wooden bowl, carved with the
-zodiacal signs, the soapstone cylinder, etc., were discovered in Nini,
-and the best native authorities affirm that the Amangwa still have
-relics in their possession.
-
-(_i_) The correct name for Zimbabwe is _Zim-b[=a]b-[=gw]i_, meaning
-“buildings or houses of stones.” The natives never apply the name
-_Zim-bab-gwi_ to the Elliptical Temple, but always speak of it as
-_Rusingu_, “the wall.” _Zim-bab-gwi_ is only applied to the ruins on
-the hill.
-
-(_j_) The natives have no recollection or tradition with regard to the
-Monomotapas, the dynastic chiefs of the mediæval Makalanga who resided
-at Zimbabwe.
-
-(_k_) Barotse, Amangwa, and Makalanga have built walls in and near the
-ruins. They state that their ancestors used to construct excellent
-walls. [Mr. Drew, N.C., is of opinion that the Barotse now build better
-walls than do the present Makalanga. The Makalanga were always famous
-as good builders with stone.]
-
-(_l_) The natives show little or no interest as to the original
-builders of the ruins. Some will say they were built by white men for
-prisons, others will affirm the ancestors of their tribe built them.
-Some tribes make definite claims to have built them, but Mr. Drew
-considers these claims to be only poetic expressions conveying the idea
-that such tribes had lived for so very many generations in the ruins
-that they knew of no occupiers before them, and so imagine that their
-ancestors must have built them. Of course, their claims to have built
-minor walls within the ruins are, in many instances, obviously well
-founded.
-
-(_m_) The natives assert, when pressed as to who removed the relics
-from the ruins, that large birds came out of the sky, took them, and
-carried them into the heavens.
-
-(_n_) “Fuko-ya-Nebandge”—the Mashonaland relic—possesses an unique
-history and a weird romance, and is also of great intrinsic value
-for such in Rhodesia as revel in researches into the history of past
-occupiers of this country. The image is made of pottery, and is
-hollow, the head (which has not been discovered) forming the stopper.
-It was discovered by Mr. Harry Posselt in a cave near Zimbabwe. It
-stands 11 in. high, and is about 16 in. long, and is marked with
-geometric exactness with zebra stripes all over its body. The pot is
-black, but the stripes are of a dull red colour. The name of it is
-“Fuko-ya-Nebandge” (“the king’s favourite adviser”), and for at least
-some generations of Makalanga it has exercised a potent magic spell
-over the minds of the natives. It has now been secured for the museum
-at Bulawayo.
-
-The following is Mr. Posselt’s account of its discovery:—
-
-In 1891 he was encamped at Fern Spruit, south of Victoria, near which
-point are some hills. His Mashona boy informed him that among these
-hills could be heard by anyone going near them the sound of cattle
-bellowing, girls talking and singing, and that up on the hills was
-a pot full of beads, but the local natives were too much afraid of
-venturing up there in search of the pot, as it would mean certain
-death. He did not ascend the hills, but his drivers and leaders went
-up, but heard and saw nothing unusual. Until 1899 he had quite
-forgotten the incident, but in August of 1900 he happened to be near
-these particular hills collecting labour for the Chamber of Mines, and
-conversed with a chief living there. He asked the chief the native
-name of the hills, and the chief told him about the pot containing the
-beads. He further told him that long ago a native went out hunting
-on the hills, and found the pot with the beads in. The chief’s story
-was to the effect that the native seeing the pot wanted to take the
-beads out, and putting his hand into the pot, the pot got hold of his
-hands and he could not shake it off, and he was obliged to carry the
-pot poised on his head with his hand still fixed inside it. When he
-arrived at the kraal his people prevented him entering it, as he might
-bring evil upon the tribe. He was consequently compelled to encamp on a
-stream near the kraal until his hand dropped off. He was fed secretly
-by some of his people. After his death, instead of being buried in the
-usual way, they pushed him with long sticks into a cave.
-
-The pot was left there for some considerable time afterwards, and it
-was eventually discovered in another cave in the same hills, and was
-regarded, and still is to this day, by the natives as a mystery, and
-held in awe by them, and their belief was that if anyone approached the
-cave he would die. If the pot changed its colours to dark red it meant
-certain death.
-
-After he had secured the pot the natives came from near and far to
-see it. One old native then told him of another pot, made like a mare
-zebra, and that the “female pot” contained beads that glittered, and
-that the pot in his (Mr. Posselt’s) possession was the “male pot.” The
-native was ignorant of what gold was. The two pots, so he stated, used
-to travel by themselves from their cave to Fulachama, a distance of
-eight miles, to obtain water from the stream where they drank, coming
-and going so often as to make a path. This Kafir asked where the
-“female pot” was, well knowing Mr. Posselt had not found it.
-
-After his discovery he went to a chief who lives close by to where the
-pot was found. This chief used to live in Zimbabwe. He said that the
-chief who now lives in Zimbabwe was an enemy of his, and had supplanted
-him, and that he had all the relics. To compel him to disclose the
-place where the relics were hidden he resorted to torture, cutting off
-women’s breasts and putting nose reims through men’s noses. Before
-the ex-Zimbabwe chief was expelled from Zimbabwe he was in the habit
-of offering up sacrifices of black oxen, and on each occasion used to
-collect and display relics taken from the ruins. These consisted of
-“yellow metal with sharp points” brought down from the top ruin, also a
-yellow stick about 3 ft. 6 in. long with a knob on it, also a bowl or
-dish, by information most probably of silver. The stick is now stated
-to be in the possession of the chief.
-
-
- 2. LOCAL NATIVES (GENERAL)
-
-The Zimbabwe district is very thickly populated by Makalanga. These
-formerly lived in natural strongholds on the summits of rocky kopjes
-difficult of approach, but now in almost every instance they have
-removed their kraals from their almost inaccessible eyries, and have
-built their villages on open country, without erecting any fences
-whatsoever for their protection. Thus, locally, Mogabe has left his
-hill fortress and caves, Baranazimba his strongly defended rocks, Lumbo
-his rock-pillar, and now these three kraals, as in many scores of
-other instances, are built in open country in absolutely indefensible
-positions, with no post, rail, or thornbush to bar approach. At night
-one can pass through almost any village unchallenged save by a Kafir
-dog. Large stores of corn are in their granaries. Their belongings
-are strewn about outside their huts, and everything is open to
-the spoiler. But the inhabitants sleep soundly, assured and content,
-because they recognise they are safe under the rule of a civilised
-Government.
-
-[Illustration: MAKALANGA MOTHER AND CHILD, ZIMBABWE]
-
-[Illustration: THE MOGABE, HANDISIBISHE, CHIEF OF THE ZIMBABWE
-MAKALANGA]
-
-Slightly more than a decade since all was most terribly different.
-Tribe fought with tribe and village with village. Repeated Amaswazi
-and Matabele raids “wiped out” without warning and without mercy whole
-populations, capturing slaves, seizing the women, and killing, as was
-their practice, the old people and children. None dared to stir from
-his rocky fastness to cultivate his little patch of ground. Little
-wonder is it that the spirit of these people was broken.
-
-To-day these Makalanga, who are essentially an agricultural race, have
-covered the erstwhile devastated country with their plantations, and
-converted these parts into the “Granary of Rhodesia,” and the leading
-grain-producing district of this part of Mashonaland. Standing on
-Zimbabwe Hill either at sunrise or sunset, one sees scattered over the
-open country scores of columns of smoke rising from the villages, each
-with its large area where the Makalanga work in absolute security,
-and one is forced to realise that untold benefit has undoubtedly been
-conferred upon the natives by the British occupation.
-
-The Makalanga of Zimbabwe district are considered to be, in
-intellectual and physical qualifications, above many of their tribes
-elsewhere. In some respects they are marvellously intelligent and quick
-to perceive, shrewd, calculating, and clever, while in others they are
-astonishingly dull, so that it is almost impossible to get them to
-understand the simplest matter. They certainly evince far more feeling
-and sensitiveness, are more amenable to direction, and readier and more
-anxious to work, and are more honest and reliable than the average
-Matabele. Physically, they are as a whole somewhat shorter in height,
-are less robust, and have not the weight and strength of the Matabele,
-but their vigour and agility give them the greater advantage. Yet there
-are very many Makalanga in this district equal to any Matabele in
-height, strength, form, and endurance.
-
-More than the French nation among Europeans, the Makalanga are
-distinguished for their taste, tact, and courtesy among the Kafir races
-of South-East Africa, only in their case the graceful movement, kingly
-walk, politeness, neatness, rhythm of speech, and poetic expression,
-are not the outcome of study, but are perfectly natural qualities bred
-in the race.
-
-The contact of these people for many generations with the Portuguese
-is shown in their speech. This is a feature noticeable in all native
-tribes in Mashonaland, which were at any time located in or near
-Portuguese territory. As stated below, Mogabe’s people originally came
-from the direction of the border. The terminations of some of their
-words are as distinctly Portuguese as one may hear at Lisbon or Oporto.
-Their connection with the Portuguese caused them to follow the rule
-common to that and some other Latin nations, viz. the interchange of
-_R_ and _L_. _Selukwe_ thus becomes _Serukwe_, _Belingwe Beringwe_,
-_Bulawayo Burawayo_, while in almost every word used by their people
-further west containing _L_ the latter is substituted for _R_. Locally
-they call themselves Mokaranga (_mo_ is a Chicaranga plural prefix),
-“the people of the sun.” The Portuguese writers, De Barros (1552), Dos
-Santos (1570), and Livio Sanuto (1588), give their name as _Mocaranga_.
-_Makalaka_, the name of derision bestowed upon them by the tribes in
-Bechuanaland, is known to them, but is never used by them, nor is
-_M’Holi_ (slaves), a title which some of the more degenerate Makalangas
-in Matabeleland have adopted as their personal and tribal name.
-
-The _totem_ or distinguishing sign of the local tribe of Makalanga is
-_moyo_, the heart. Each tribe has its own totem, which may be the leg
-of a certain buck or some particular bird. Should a bird or an animal
-be the totem the tribe bearing that sign do not eat of the flesh of
-such bird or animal, nor will they kill them. A man of one totem must
-not marry a wife of a tribe bearing the same totem, but must seek one
-of a tribe of Makalanga having another totem. Thus, as they affirm,
-“Heart must not marry Heart, nor Lion marry Lion.” This rule enforced
-through past ages has no doubt tended to maintain and improve their
-physical condition, and accounts for their fine figures, splendid
-health and general freedom from illnesses, and the almost utter absence
-of deformity and lunacy. A tribe of the Baduma people also bears the
-totem of the heart. The sub-tribal totem of the local Barotse[29] is
-the lion. The lion, which is also the totem of the local Amangwa, only
-includes rapacious animals, such as wild cats, wild dogs, etc. Certain
-families in the same tribe or kraal have distinguishing signs, or what
-may be termed sub-totems. The totem system also prevailed amongst the
-early Semitic peoples prior to biblical times, and was later a feature
-of Hebrew history; for instance, “The Lion of the tribe of Judah.” The
-totem of the Ephraimites was a bull.
-
-In addition to the animal or bird that may constitute the totem
-there are other animals and birds which they venerate, and will not
-kill, eat, or touch. The slaying of such creatures is regarded as a
-crime against the whole of the tribe. The spirits of dead ancestors,
-relatives, and chiefs are supposed to reside in such birds and animals.
-The principal bird of local reverence is the _Harahurusei_ (Bird of
-God), which is the _chapungo_, a large and beautiful bird, quite black
-except its tail, which is red. The peculiarity of this bird is that
-it soars overhead exactly as does a bird of prey. The natives assert
-that the nest, eggs, or feathers of this bird have never been found
-by anyone, nor do they know on what food it lives. A native will not
-proceed on a journey if the chapungo appears in the air or settles on
-the ground in front of him, but will at once return home. Natives hail
-the bird and ask it for favours.
-
-The local natives will not eat the following: Common grey hawk, black
-crow, owl, wolf, crocodile, snake, or wild dog. Some will not eat hippo
-or eland flesh. They will not kill the chapungo, owl, wild dog, heron,
-and certain small birds. But while these are the general practices of
-local Makalanga tribes, certain families in different tribes frequently
-have additional and special objects of veneration, and any one native
-may have some particular object for his own personal veneration. The
-tribal custom with regard to not partaking of the flesh of certain
-birds and animals is very strictly adhered to, even though natives
-starve. To touch such, living or dead, is a defilement, and the remains
-can only be moved by using sticks.
-
-Of insects, they eat locusts, two kinds of cricket (_mashu_ and
-_zukumge_), a caterpillar (_masonya_), a worm called _mambene_, and
-different kinds of ants, including _shua_ and _madjuro_, but especially
-flying-ants. All these insects they consider dainties, and cook them in
-the soup-pot into which they dip each handful of _rapoka_ porridge. The
-soup is made of fat, ground monkey-nuts, and many other ingredients.
-
-The natives are known to draw certain star-pictures in the sky; for
-instance, Orion is made out to be “two pigs and a dog.” The three stars
-in the Belt form one of the principal subjects of children’s songs.
-They, of course, know the Morning and Evening Star, while the Pleiades
-in their rising and setting mark the sowing and reaping seasons.
-They evidently only see six stars in the latter, as they call them
-_Tshimtanatu_, which means anything containing six.
-
-They believe the sun returns across the sky at night when everyone is
-sleeping, and that it travels from west to east ready to start over
-again at daybreak, but high up in the expanse of the heavens and hidden
-from sight by unseen clouds. They ridicule the idea of the earth being
-round.
-
-Eclipses of the sun or moon foretell war or some other great calamity.
-They most usually say of them that the sun or moon is “rotten,”
-frequently that they are “sick.”
-
-They generally believe that each moon dies, and that every new moon
-is _new_ in the strict sense of the word. Some, however, think that
-it does not die altogether, but leaves a seed or germ, which in turn
-grows big and then small until only the seed is left. The rising and
-setting of the Pleiades, the new and full moon, are occasions of great
-rejoicings, dancing, and beer-drinking.
-
-Sacrifices are still made by local natives. Formerly a large number
-of black oxen were killed at one sacrifice, but since the scourge of
-rinderpest visited Rhodesia goats have been substituted. The last
-sacrifice at Zimbabwe took place in February, 1904. The local natives
-sacrificed in the Elliptical Temple, but they have no settled point
-within the temple where they hold these ceremonies. The sacrifice was
-conducted during the prolonged drought then prevailing. The natives
-kept the ceremony private until after it was over, and the rain had
-arrived.
-
-Makalanga of several tribes from near and far used to come to the
-Elliptical Temple for sacrifices, and these were offered up within the
-walls, but at different spots inside; while on several occasions the
-ceremony took place just outside the walls. Once every village had
-its own ceremony, and these took place in January, black bulls being
-offered for males and black cows for females.
-
-The sacrifices now made are to the spirits of departed chiefs, and are
-offered on the suggestion of witch-doctors, who receive fees for their
-advice, and who, to make money, declare that the spirit of some dead
-chief or relative is angry and must be appeased. Some portion of the
-meat was taken to the spot supposed to be haunted by the spirit, and
-the rest is eaten by those present, the bones being sometimes burnt or
-thrown into a river; but recently they have been left about the spot.
-Sacrifices were usually offered to secure success in any venture to be
-undertaken, or to obtain good harvests. Till recently they practised a
-similar rite to that known in Mosaic times, and in this instance also
-the animal was not killed, but was led out on to the veld and purposely
-lost. If found it was not killed. The natives are aware that this rite
-was once observed by their people, but state it is not practised now.
-
-The Makalanga undoubtedly believe in the immortality of the soul, but
-they have very vague ideas as to a future life beyond a thorough faith
-in the transmigration of souls. They do not conceive the existence of
-a Creator or Supreme Being, their highest conception being _M’uali_, a
-spirit, who can make their crops a failure and their herds sick, and
-to this spirit they offer sacrifices. The _M’uali_, judging by native
-account, is not in any way an ennobling spirit, and they are constantly
-in dread of him. The witch-doctors in order to acquire wealth for
-themselves interpret the wishes of the _M’uali_ in the light of their
-own purposes and interests.
-
-With regard to burials the customs, even among the Makalanga, vary
-considerably. In some instances the bodies are laid lengthwise and on
-the left side facing the north. This seems to have been the original
-custom of these people, but it is not now a general one. Burial in
-a sitting position is very commonly met with. On the Acropolis,
-during the preservation work (1902–3), about fifty Makalanga graves
-were found, and the remains in a score of instances were removed.
-Practically all were in a sitting position, only three having been
-buried lengthways. These were discovered in entrances and passages, the
-bodies having been laid on the surface, soil and stones, taken from the
-nearest wall, placed round and over them. None of these were very old,
-and most were Mogabe’s people. Their bark hunting-nets, assegais, pots,
-and other personal belongings, were placed on the top of the grave, and
-not inside with the corpse.
-
-The Baduma, who live in Gutu’s country, and also the Barotse, still
-embalm or, rather, dry the bodies of their chiefs, and also the dead
-of certain families, though generally the bodies are buried lengthways
-on their right side, facing the sun. The body is placed in the hut
-on a bier made of poles near a large fire, and continually turned,
-any blisters which may appear being carefully broken, until the body
-is dry. Then it is wrapped up in a blanket and hung from the roof.
-Annual sacrifices are made to the spirits, and the bodies are regularly
-visited and kept in order by a person appointed for that work. The
-rain-makers, who live on the Sabi, also dry their dead.
-
-The manufactures of the Makalanga are fast declining. In very rare
-instances may be found villages where bark and cotton are still woven.
-Limbo from the stores is so cheap and attractive looking that it has
-practically driven out the local article, and the clay whorls used in
-spinning cotton are now discarded. Their once famous iron and copper
-smelting industries almost disappeared on the advent of cheap and
-substantial tools. At one time every village had its blacksmith and
-its furnaces and forges, but during the last few years iron-working
-has become far less general. Derembghe, near Mr. Nolan’s farm, in the
-Victoria district, is the only representative of the old industry.
-Pottery is still made, but at Chikwanda, near Arowi and east of
-Zimbabwe, the people make pottery of a superior quality. This is also
-the case at Mazuwa’s, in Nini district.
-
-The people are essentially a race of agriculturists and cattle
-breeders, and dislike working in mines. Though they are most
-industrious in their own plantations, yet they will not work for a
-white man for more than a month or two in a year, preferring to spend
-the rest of the year in absolute idleness. Many are adepts in brass or
-copper wire-work, with which they adorn their sticks and weapons. They
-are also very skilful in wood-carving, basket-making, and in tanning
-and preparing skins.
-
-The Makalanga of this district are certainly above the average
-type of natives in the possession of both intellectual and physical
-qualifications. Light skins, Semitic noses, fine features, with an
-absence of high cheek-bones, small, well-shaped hands—are frequent
-features met with among them. The men, who wear but insignificant
-aprons, are well proportioned, are as straight as an arrow, and have
-athletic figures. Large turquoise-blue beads of glass form the neck
-ornament of men, women, and children in this district, and these
-contrast effectively with the colour and polish of their skins. Both
-men and women frequently wear a narrow band of pink and white beads
-round their heads. Brass bangles are worn on wrists, arms, legs, and
-ankles, the women and girls wearing these in great profusion.
-
-Women are bare to the low hips, and wear a short skin skirt reaching
-almost to the knees. This is most generally adorned with chevron
-pattern of pink and white beads. Their stomachs are covered with two
-sets of lines worked into the flesh, one set under each breast. This
-pattern is very general here, and is identical with the “breast and
-furrow” pattern found not only on the fronts of the clay furnaces,
-pillows, drums, and granaries, but on the ancient relics and sacred
-emblems (phalli) discovered in the ruins. Bent and other writers
-believe that these flesh-markings are a survival of the occult idea
-of Fertility. There are generally about thirty rows of these lines or
-cicatrices, and their regularity is most surprising.
-
-The men are practically bare-skinned, and have their waists, shoulders,
-and sometimes each side of their foreheads, marked with a row of bars
-in threes, thus: /|\ /|\, and these closely resemble the sign of Light
-as seen in the Welsh bardic symbol. These, many natives state, are luck
-signs, and they would not be without them, for with them on their skin
-they believe they shall always be healthy and strong and have many
-wives and children. Other natives state that the flesh-markings on the
-men’s bodies are but ornaments to attract the attentions of women,
-while others assert they only bear the marks because it is a custom.
-Each male has a forelock, some of these being erect and others pendent,
-the latter being usually threaded with pink and white beads. These
-often reach below the eyes. They are very proud of their forelocks, and
-will spend most of their spare time in trying to pull them out longer.
-
-[Illustration: MAKALANGA WOMEN AND GIRLS AT THE MOGABE’S KRAAL,
-ZIMBABWE]
-
-Witchcraft still possesses a tremendous influence over the native mind,
-although the practice of it is punished by imprisonment, but it is most
-difficult to obtain evidences in most cases of offence. Before the
-country was occupied by the British the witch-doctors practically ruled
-the people, and their influence in many known instances was greater
-than that of dynastic chiefs. The inclination of the people is to
-revert to the old practices, and fear of punishment alone prevents them
-doing so. There is no doubt that some of the infanticides and murders
-happening to-day are the results of witch-doctors’ machinations.
-
-Though every native appears to have a good idea of medicine and of
-the uses of certain herbs and roots, and to be able to cure simple
-complaints, yet the remedies for more serious matters are in the
-hands of the medicine-men, who keep all such knowledge to their own
-profession.
-
-A rain-maker for a large present would, until recently, kill a child of
-one of his many wives, and as long as the mother mourned for her child
-the rain was supposed to continue.
-
-The Makalanga undoubtedly possess a keener appreciation of music
-and singing than many of the other native races in this part of the
-continent. When at work, digging, hoeing, or threshing, they sing
-continually, and in one morning they will spontaneously render fully a
-dozen different songs and a large number of extempore recitatives and
-choruses interspersed, also a few part-songs and catches. They sing
-going to and returning from labour, and always sing at their work, and
-when they cease singing one may be certain they are idling. There is
-far greater harmony and variety of music produced from their pianos,
-and their songs are brighter and more spirited, than any music or song
-a Matabele can evolve, and the dreary monotonous chant of the latter
-is almost entirely absent. The subjects of their songs are numerous,
-and comprise many items which only a people who live face to face
-with Nature could sing without offending the decencies as regarded by
-civilised people, and in these songs the smallest child most lustily
-joins. They will sing impromptu songs having reference to the tools
-they happen to be using, or to anything they may chance to see. The
-Native Commissioner is a great subject of their songs. They have
-war-songs, lullabies, songs to the bride, to the child just able to
-walk, to the new moon, to the butter they are making, besides a number
-of children’s songs.
-
-They also have a large number of proverbs which somewhat resemble those
-employed at Home, thus:—
-
- _Translation._ _English Equivalent._
-
- “The grass which is in the belly “A bird in the hand is worth
- of the wild ox is his own; that two in the bush.”
- which is in his mouth he might
- die with.”
-
- “Difficulty makes a plan.” “Necessity is the mother of
- invention.”
-
- “Water spilt cannot be gathered “No use crying over spilt milk.”
- again.”
-
- “He is strong at the dish”; “He is a good trencherman.”
- said of one who does not work,
- but knows well how to eat.
-
- “Comes out with holes in his “Escaped by the skin of his
- skins (garments).” teeth.”
-
- “A tame dog is the one that “Do not trust one who looks
- eats at the skins.” very innocent.”
-
- “Who has thrown out my basket “Who has meddled with my
- of seed?” affairs?”
-
- “The short hare cannot eat the “Don’t attempt things too high
- tall grass.” for you.”
-
-The natives can make fire (_sika_) very easily. The woods usually
-selected for this purpose are _Zumbani_ and _Bg̊ebg̊a_. One piece is
-rounded, and the lower point is inserted in a small hole in the other
-wood, and then twirled with the palms of the hands round rapidly till
-sparks are emitted, and then very dry grass is placed at the bottom
-of the rounded stick, when it will light. Should the wood be slightly
-damp, a very small pinch of sand is placed in the hole to increase the
-friction. The _sika_ sticks can obtain fire almost as quickly as can a
-magnifying glass.
-
-On felling a tree in clearing a plantation it is a general custom in
-this district for the native to make a small ring of grass and lay it
-on the tree stump, and then to spit on the ring and to cover it with a
-large stone. Natives state, in explanation of this practice, that their
-people have always done it, but they cannot say for what purpose.
-
-The pottery whorls found in very old native huts are known to many
-natives, but not to all, for the author has heard natives explaining
-their purpose to other natives. These whorls had sticks inserted
-top-fashion through the centre hole, and were spun rapidly between the
-hands. These were used for drawing the threads from the mass of cotton,
-also, some say, in producing fire. The children find them and use them
-for tops. The whorls which are found in ruins, and which are doubtless
-antique, are made of soapstone and are excellently finished.
-
-The natives decorate the wooden doors of their huts, also the interior
-walls—check pattern being general for this purpose. The best decoration
-of doors is to be found in Gutu’s and Chibi’s districts.
-
-The native name for Victoria is _Duruben_, or _Durubeni_, sometimes
-_Vitori_. _Duruben_ is derived from the Dutch word _dorp_, and _Vitori_
-is an attempt to pronounce Victoria. _Campeni_ is the name of the old
-township of Victoria, which used to be known as The Camp. Several
-isolated settlements of white people towards the south are called by
-the natives of those districts _Durubeni_, the termination being that
-of the locative case. The hillock in Victoria, near the gaol, used to
-be called “_Gòna Zhon_” (“They failed to capture the elephant”). The
-open veld about Victoria was called “_Bani ro moteio_” (“The plain
-without trees”).
-
-The salutation _Moro!_ or _Morra!_ employed by the natives is simply
-a corruption of the Dutch word _Morgen!_ _i.e._ Good Morning! In Cape
-Dutch _Morrè!_ is used, and from this the word _Morro!_ was evidently
-derived. The natives agree in stating that it is a Dutch word brought
-into the country by Dutch hunters and Cape Boys long before the
-British arrived. They ridicule all idea of its being of native origin,
-and state that in some districts it is not used. The practice of
-handshaking on meeting is one which the natives state has been copied
-from the white men.
-
-The salute on meeting is by clapping hands. On greeting a man they will
-clap the palms with the hands slightly crossed, the forefinger of the
-right hand crossing the base of the forefinger of the other; but on
-saluting a woman the forefinger is placed to forefinger with wrists
-together. The length of time of clapping depends on the position of the
-person saluted. On joining a group to talk, eat, or drink the new-comer
-claps hands before sitting down and again when the food or drink is
-offered him.
-
-Among the Jewish customs of the Makalanga the following may be
-noticed. (1) Monotheism and no worship of idols; (2) worship of, and
-sacrifices to, ancestors—a practice condemned by the Prophets; (3)
-rite of circumcision; (4) despising the uncircumcised: the taunt
-of non-circumcision is commonly employed between disputants; (5)
-purification and shaving of the head; (6) transferring impurity or
-infection from individuals to some animal, which in some instances
-is slain and in others purposely lost on the veld; (7) reception by
-women of parties returning from hunting or war, as in the case of
-Jephthah; (8) feasts of new moons and invocations to new moons; (9)
-feasts of full moons; (10) offerings of first fruits; (11) defilement
-by touching the dead; (12) defilement of eating flesh containing blood;
-(13) abhorrence of swine as unclean; (14) sprinkling the worshippers
-with blood; (15) places of refuge for criminals or people believed
-but not found guilty of offending tribal custom;[30] (16) observance
-of Sabbath, either every five or seven days; (17) marriage only among
-themselves, but cannot marry into the same tribe; (18) casting of lots;
-(19) sacrifices of oxen in times of trouble, such as drought; (20)
-practice of espousal before marriage; (21) brother succeeds to brother
-in office and property; (22) brother takes to wife the wives of his
-deceased elder brother, and raising offspring, they rank in office as
-if they were the children of the deceased; (23) a daughter does not
-inherit property or position except on the death of all her brothers;
-(24) rigid morality with regard to all fleshly sins, adultery and
-fornication being punished with death and outlawry.
-
-Additional parallelisms with Jewish customs could be stated, and all
-these peculiar practices, together with the lighter skin and the Jewish
-appearance of the Makalanga, distinctly point to the ancient impress of
-the Idumean Jews, which can also be traced on the present peoples of
-Madagascar and of the coasts of Mozambique and Sofala.[31]
-
-Many of these customs are now falling into desuetude on the advance of
-white civilisation. The Molembo tribe of Makalanga is noted for the
-preservation and observance of the majority of these Jewish practices,
-which are in character distinctly pre-Koranic in origin.
-
-
-
-
- CHAPTER VI
-
- RELICS AND “FINDS” AT GREAT ZIMBABWE, 1902–4 WITH DESCRIPTIONS,
- LOCATIONS, AND ASSOCIATIONS[32]
-
-
- 1. SOAPSTONE ARTICLES
-
-Sir John Lubbock once observed that one antiquarian relic found by
-itself was no testimony as to any particular ancient occupation of
-the spot at which it was discovered, but that the discovery of many
-identical relics in one place, and under identical conditions, might be
-considered as evidence of such occupation. Single specimens are known
-to have been transported from one hemisphere to another during the
-course of three or four thousand years.
-
-At Great Zimbabwe it is not, except in a few instances, with single
-relics that we have to deal, but with those found in tens and scores,
-practically in identical and corresponding locations, and under
-exactly similar conditions. So regularly are these relics situated on
-certain floors that, with a few exceptions explained later, one is
-always certain as to the class of relics which will be met with on any
-particular floor which is being cleared. Of course, these relics and
-“finds” are not distributed generally on their respective floors, and
-frequently the realisation of one’s hopes of meeting with them were
-greatly deferred, while on other occasions half an hour’s work yielded
-them in quantities. Still, when once found, they were generally
-abundant—at least, on those floors that were expected to yield them.
-
-[Illustration: SOAPSTONE BEAMS WITH BIRDS, ZIMBABWE
-
-_South African Museum, Cape Town_]
-
-A small quantity of articles having claim to some antiquity were found
-out of relative position to the bulk of similar relics. For instance,
-phalli, which were found in quantities on certain floors in the eastern
-half only of the Elliptical Temple, also at the Eastern and Western
-Temples on the hill, and at Philips Ruins in the Valley of Ruins, have,
-in some few instances, been found singly, but most frequently fractured
-or damaged, in positions which could not have been those occupied by
-any of the ancient inhabitants. Single specimens are sometimes found in
-the débris piles immediately outside the entrances to the three temples
-and Philips Ruins. Those found lower in such piles were no doubt thrown
-out by old native peoples who would not be aware of their purpose. Some
-of these have been converted into amulets or charms, while others are
-known to have been used for making _daha_ (hemp) pipe-bowls. Those
-phalli found in the higher portions of such débris piles are shown
-by the stratification of the débris to have been brought out by the
-numerous relic hunters by whom the excavated soil from the interiors
-was deposited on these débris heaps outside. This experience extends
-also to almost all the more antique relics found at Zimbabwe.
-
-[Illustration: Section of Floors of part of N^o 15 ENCLOSURE Elliptical
-Temple looking North-West & shewing locations of “Finds” 11902–31.]
-
-The _phalli_ found at Zimbabwe must now amount to at least one hundred,
-of which more than half have been found recently. It is very probable
-that on further examination of the lower floors of these four ruins
-other specimens will be met with. The phalli found vary in size and
-design. The largest (Pl. I., fig. 6) stood 7½ in. high, was perfectly
-plain, but highly polished. The smallest were seven-eighths of an
-inch long, but each had its base bevelled and a ring carved round the
-summit. Except where the base is fractured, all stand erect on any
-tolerably flat surface. The bases show signs of extensive scratchings,
-as if they had been constantly moved. The average heights of the
-phalli are from two to four inches. Round the bases of many of the
-recently discovered phalli are small bevels, sometimes in two circles.
-The majority were unadorned, but their identity was unmistakable. The
-more ornate specimens bore the “female breast and furrow” pattern,
-one had chevron pattern round its bevelled base, several showed the
-circumcisional markings, and on the top of one (Pl. I., figs. 12 and
-13) were carved in relief rosettes formed of a circle completely
-surrounded by eight small circles, the latter a pattern which is
-frequently found on soapstone beams and bowls, and is also used to form
-the eyes of one of the soapstone birds found at Zimbabwe.
-
-Worked and decorated _soapstone beams_ have been found only in four
-localities within the ruins’ area, viz. (1) the Elliptical Temple, on
-the summit and at the bases of the main east and south-east wall
-within the limits of the chevron pattern; (2) also in quantities on
-the summit and at the base of the circular granite cement platform
-which lies to the north of the Conical Tower; (3) on the summit and
-at the bases of the north wall of the Western Temple on the hill; (4)
-on the summit and at the bases of the arc wall of the Eastern Temple,
-decorated with dentelle pattern and facing east; (5) on or near the two
-granite cement platforms in the interior, and on the site of Mr. Bent’s
-“altar,” also in the same temple; and (6) on the summit and at the
-bases of the arc wall facing east at Philips Ruins, the fragments of
-beams found at this latter place being exceedingly numerous. Splinters
-of soapstone beams are found in the soil in the larger ruins, showing
-that some of the beams fell from their position and became fractured
-after the filling in with soil which took place at least one hundred
-and fifty years ago. Few, if any, worked soapstone beams were found in
-any of the Valley Ruins, save at Philips. All beams have been worked,
-and the marks of the tools and their sizes can still be seen on many;
-some are also carved, the chevron pattern predominating.
-
-[Illustration: _PLATE I._ “Relics & Finds” Great Zimbabwe 1902–3
-
-Methuen & C^o]
-
-A portion of a soapstone beam, 2 ft. 6 in. long and 1 ft. 5 in. in
-circumference, formed part of what is known to have been a very tall
-and slender pillar, which was once surmounted by a bird. This stood on
-the north wall of the Western Temple on the Acropolis, and was found
-in 1902. The beam is completely covered with most delicately carved
-chevron pattern.
-
-A carved soapstone beam, 11 ft. high, which showed signs of once being
-taller, stood on the platform of the Western Temple on the Acropolis.
-It fell about 1890, and broke into two parts, and these Mr. Bent
-removed.
-
-A section of a soapstone beam (Pl. I., fig. 3), carved into rounds
-resembling a chain of connected balls and decorated with spiral lines,
-was found in No. 15 Enclosure of the Elliptical Temple, on the lowest
-floor and 2 ft. below the foundation of the north-east wall of that
-enclosure.
-
-A curiously carved piece of soapstone (Pl. I., fig. 2), evidently a
-portion of a beam, was found close to the circular platform in the
-Platform Area at the Elliptical Temple, among the numerous soapstone
-beams found at some depth at that spot. The fragment has so broken that
-it resembles a slipper with a band across the instep. The whole face of
-it is covered with small raised circular knobs.
-
-Eight carved _soapstone birds_ and _birds on beams_[33] are known to
-have been removed from the ruins prior to 1902, and they were mostly
-found on the Acropolis. Two, it is known, were taken to Johannesburg
-in 1890, and about the same time the lower portion of a bird (of which
-the upper portion was found by the author in 1902) was removed and sold
-to Mr. Rhodes. In 1891 Mr. Bent removed four birds on beams and also
-the lower portion of another bird, but he did not discover any of them,
-as the position of all these was well known to settlers both before
-the occupation and previously to this visit, many attempts having been
-made to buy these relics from the Mogabe Chipfuno, who persistently
-refused to part with them. These four birds on beams and another beam
-on which had once been a bird were standing more or less erect and
-fixed in granite cement on the Eastern Temple on the Acropolis, which
-for years previously had been used as a cattle kraal, and the holes and
-places in which they once stood, and from which Mr. Bent removed them,
-can be seen to-day. But on the authority of very early visitors, and
-of the Mogabe Handisibishe, there are still two birds unaccounted for.
-Possibly the mention of this fact may lead to their recovery. There
-is a general belief that one of these birds is in a certain museum in
-Austria, and this is quite possible, seeing that at least two Austrian
-scientists have visited this country. The total number of birds
-known to have been found at Zimbabwe prior to 1902 was eight.
-
-[Illustration: FRONT, SIDE AND BACK VIEWS OF SOAPSTONE BIRD, ZIMBABWE]
-
-In 1902–3 the author unearthed the upper portion of the fractured bird
-(Pl. I., fig. 1), the lower portion of which was found on the Acropolis
-in 1890, together with a section of the beam upon which it once stood.
-The head, neck, and shoulders of this bird are 9½ in. long. Up the
-neck, front, and back is a carved protruding rib. This portion of the
-bird is in an extremely good state of preservation, and the carving
-shows more artistic skill than do any of the birds on beams in the Cape
-Town Museum.
-
-In 1903 the author discovered the tenth carved soapstone bird on
-beam. This was found in Philips Ruins, the most interesting buildings
-outside the Acropolis and Elliptical Temple. The bird and beam, which
-are still intact, were found on the east side of a high and massive
-wall and at the south side of a small conical tower in the North-East
-Enclosure of these ruins, being buried in soil and block débris to a
-depth of 3 ft. It was upside down, with the base resting against the
-side of the cone, from the summit of which it most probably had fallen,
-as the cone, which is approached by two steps and a platform on its
-east side, was covered with granite cement, while the base of the beam
-bears marks of its having once stood embedded in granite cement. All
-the birds at Zimbabwe found standing, with one exception, had the bases
-of the beams fixed in excellent granite cement. This bird and beam are
-undoubtedly not only in the best state of preservation of any yet found
-at Zimbabwe, but show evidence of more artistic workmanship having been
-bestowed upon them than any of those previously discovered. Up the face
-of the beam is carved a crocodile 16 in. long, and round the _cestus_
-beneath the bird’s feet, which is 3 in. deep, is carved work—on one
-side a large double row of chevron pattern, similar to the pattern
-on the east wall of the Elliptical Temple, and on the opposite side
-a single row of chevron, surmounted by two large embossed circular
-discs; the back edge of the beam is plain, and the front edge above the
-crocodile has two small embossed circular discs. The bird stands 11
-in. high, the total height of the beam and bird being 5 ft. 5 in., its
-width 8 in. on the flat sides, and 2½ in. on its end edges.
-
-_Miniature soapstone birds_ on pedestals have been found by other
-explorers of Zimbabwe, but the writer discovered only a portion of one
-of such birds.
-
-In Mr. Bent’s work are given the opinions of several of the best-known
-scientists of Europe, who, by means of the birds and associated relics
-found at Zimbabwe, connect the worship carried on there with that of
-the ancient Sabæan people of South Arabia, who worshipped the goddess
-Almaquah (Venus), the Morning Star. See Preface, also pages 181–87 of
-_The Ruined Cities of Mashonaland_.
-
-The best-made _soapstone bowls_ are found on the lower granite cement
-floors of the ruins and far below any native clay floors, the southern
-side of the Acropolis, the eastern half of the Elliptical Temple, and
-Philips Ruins yielding these in quantities. The fragments of bowls
-with carved processions of horned animals, of which a dozen pieces
-have recently been discovered, and which fragments represent different
-sized bowls, were found only on the lowest floors, and these only on
-the Acropolis. This was also the experience of Mr. Bent. But there is
-an exception to this rule, viz. that the ancients, or some people of
-a period prior to the Makalanga, had, on the bowls becoming broken,
-thrown the fragments over the west and south edges of the Acropolis
-Hill, where fragments may still be found among and under the wall
-débris which has fallen down the precipitous sides of the hill.
-Probably before these fragments became, at a later date, completely
-covered by further falls of wall débris, native people of a remote age
-converted some of these into slabs for the _isafuba_ game, and cut the
-sets of game-holes on their flat bases and on the inside of the higher
-rims, while they have also rudely scratched the usual native designs
-on the opposite side to the carving—crude designs which are obviously
-in striking contrast to the artistic work of the original makers of the
-bowl. Such portions, and but a few only, have been found on very old
-native clay floors on the Acropolis.
-
-[Illustration: FRONT AND SIDE VIEWS OF SOAPSTONE BIRD ON BEAM,
-DISCOVERED BY AUTHOR AT PHILIPS’ RUINS, ZIMBABWE, IN 1893]
-
-The fragments of the soapstone bowls recently found vary in style,
-size, and carving, and these fragments represent at least thirty
-different bowls. Mr. Bent also found fragments representing some ten
-different bowls, and as there still remain large areas of lower floors
-to be opened out, there may be still further evidences of even more
-extensive use of these articles by the ancients of all periods at
-Zimbabwe. The diameters, judged by the radii of the segments, vary
-from 1 ft. 1½ in., which is the smallest size yet found, to 1 ft. 3¾
-in., the largest so far discovered. The heights of the outside of the
-rims range from 2 in. to 3½ in., the majority being about 2¾ in. The
-rims, which are all without flange, except in one instance, are from
-1⅛ in. to 1⅝ in. in thickness. The bases of the bowls have about the
-same average thickness, but in a few cases they are somewhat thinner.
-The insides of the bowls from rim to rim are always beautifully flat
-and smooth. The bottoms are thickly covered with fine scratches, as if
-the bowls had been constantly pushed along the top of stone or fine
-cement work. The insides of some of the bowls show signs of having been
-subjected to very great heat previously to the breaking of the article.
-It may well be imagined that bowls of these dimensions, cut out of
-solid soapstone, itself an exceedingly heavy stone, must have been of
-great weight, and that without considering any contents they might have
-held.
-
-A few bowls only were plain—that is, with no decorative pattern on the
-outside—though all are finely worked, and the plainest has rounded
-sides which slightly project at the top of the rim. The designs on the
-relics vary, and include procession of horned animals (Pl. I., fig.
-4), zebras, dogs, a bird, and a man. The decorations on the majority
-of the bowls comprise (1) herring-bone, plain; (2) herring-bone on
-cords, _i.e._ two parallel cords with their respective lines of strands
-inclining opposite ways, and thus together forming a herring-bone
-pattern; (3) cord pattern, the strands of the parallel cords both
-inclining in the same direction. These cords in (2) and (3) are found
-both vertically and horizontally. In the case of cord pattern of any
-sort the cords are carved in lengths, the lengths being divided by
-plain protruding squares at intervals; (4) circular discs sunk into
-the surface, the discs being either plain or covered with rings within
-rings till the centre is reached; (5) a chain of diamond-shaped panels
-with centres completely filled up with lines parallel to the outer
-lines.
-
-A pattern (6) (Pl. I., fig. 5), new in Zimbabwe relics, was recently
-found on the rim of a soapstone bowl discovered in Maund Ruins in
-the Valley of Ruins. This consists of two wave bands crossing and
-recrossing each other throughout their length, and thus making a
-continuous line of perfect circles. This is very correctly carved, and
-the artistic merit of its workmanship is equal, if not superior, to
-that of any soapstone relic yet found at Zimbabwe.[34]
-
-Among other soapstone “finds” made recently at these ruins are two
-fragments of two _double claw-hammer-shaped ingot moulds_ (Pl. I.,
-figs. 7 and 8), each fragment being the major portion of such mould.
-These were cut into the broken section of an ornamented beam. Moulds of
-this shape are not, therefore, necessarily ancient, though the form may
-have been handed down from ancient times. Mr. Selous, some years ago,
-discovered considerable quantities of copper ingot moulds in actual use
-by the natives of Katanga, and these were almost the identical shape of
-the ingot mould discovered by Mr. Bent at Zimbabwe. The Administrator
-of North-Eastern Rhodesia reported in March, 1900, that ingots of
-copper in the form of a St. Andrew’s Cross were common articles of
-trade in the Katanga district. It must also be recollected that three
-such ingots have been found in Southern Rhodesia. Though old, their
-appearance does not in any instance suggest antiquity. The author,
-taking these points into consideration, does not believe that the ingot
-mould discovered by Mr. Bent can be any evidence of the occupation of
-this country by the Phœnicians, and this opinion is further confirmed
-by the locations of the moulds found. (See _The Ancient Ruins of
-Rhodesia_, pages 128 and 141; also Appendix thereto, Note C.)
-
-A straight _bar mould_ (Pl. I., fig. 9) which shows signs of
-considerable use has also been found, but on an upper clay floor. It
-is believed that this was used for moulding copper bars. The natives
-of Kafue, the Molembo people of modern times, and the local Barotse,
-all these being races of skilful copper workers, are known to have made
-identically shaped copper bars.
-
-Other soapstone articles include a _ball_, a few _whorls_, _amulets_,
-and _daha pipe-bowls_, the latter being of Makalanga make, while it
-would be extremely difficult to say to which period the other articles
-belonged.
-
-
- 2. GOLD ARTICLES[35]
-
-_Gold_ in almost every form has been found in quantities on several
-of the lower floors of the ruins, and from its locations must have
-been produced and worked, not only by ancients, but by very old Kafir
-people, possibly under Moslem Arab supervision, for concave fragments
-of Kafir pottery of a very far back period (and so pronounced by
-Dr. Hahn and other experts) have been used as crude _scorifiers_,
-and the gold can still be seen on them in the flux, while other
-undoubted Kafir remains, some of which are claimed to be Makalanga of
-an exceedingly old make, are found associated with the scorifiers.
-The mediæval Makalanga, as early Portuguese records show, not only
-produced gold but manufactured it, especially into gold wire. It may be
-conjectured that this style of metal work was due to Arab influence,
-for the earliest Portuguese records frequently testify that the Arabs
-possessed important colonies in the country of the Monomotapa, colonies
-sufficiently influential to mould the policy of successive Monomotapas,
-especially as against the incursion of Portuguese, and that the main
-purpose of the Arab intruders in the country was to obtain gold
-and ivory. Until the last decade, when the cheap and ready-made
-European goods became obtainable by the natives, the Makalanga can be
-conclusively shown to have been a nation of metal smiths capable of
-producing most excellent work, and of drawing very fine wire, while
-to-day their art of making wire bangles and covering articles with work
-in correct patterns is such that the difference between the quality of
-the native work and that produced by machinery in Europe can hardly be
-detected. It must be remembered, too, that previously to, and for some
-time after, the occupation, it was possible to buy gold beads from the
-natives in Mashonaland. These might to a large extent have been found
-in ancient ruins, but the majority of such articles so bartered for
-from the natives consisted of Kafir-made copper and iron bangles with
-gold beads at intervals round the circle.
-
-Gold and gold articles of the more delicate and artistic manufacture
-belong mainly to the period of the ancients, but gold, as shown by
-tradition, history, and “finds,” was also a product of mediæval
-Makalanga, as can be further demonstrated by any excavator of very old
-Makalanga floors, and of this the proofs exist abundantly.
-
-The small _gold crucibles_ of granite clay similar to those described
-on page 221 of Mr. Bent’s work, and found on the lowest floors and in
-rock holes and fissures used for depositing débris, where they must
-have been thrown away as rubbish after the small cakes of gold had been
-removed, although they still contained in the flux large beady pieces
-of gold. A large number of these have been found in positions where the
-Kafir clay scorifiers are not met with. It would be well in considering
-the “finds” of crucibles not to treat them with the pottery gold
-scorifiers, for, so far as discoveries lead, they undoubtedly appear to
-belong to entirely different ages.
-
-Several sizes of _gold beads_ have been found. There is no doubt that
-some places in certain enclosures of the older ruins will yield a fair
-quantity when the soil on the lower floors is systematically treated.
-Several beads are perfectly round, others are round but with flat ends,
-others again show two facets encircling them and meeting at the widest
-point.
-
-_Beaten gold_ to the amount of about 6 ozs. was found on the lower
-floors. This was discovered in the form of plates usually about 1½
-in. to 2 in. by 1 in., each plate having small holes round the edges,
-in many of which holes the gold tacks still remained. One piece was
-wider at one end than at the other, and this is believed to have been a
-sheathing encircling a section of a piece of ebony found with it, the
-ebony stick being thick at the top and tapered towards the end. There
-were remains of embossed designs on two pieces of beaten gold, one of
-diamond pattern and the other a plain circle with curved radiating
-marks.
-
-_Gold tacks_ were most usually found with the beaten gold. These are of
-microscopic size. The majority have wedged-shaped heads, and the others
-flattened heads. It is believed that these tacks served to fasten the
-gold sheathing on to wooden articles used by the ancients.
-
-_Bar-gold_ and _gold-cake_ were found on the lowest floors in the
-Elliptical Temple and North-East Passage respectively. _Gold dust_ is
-found in certain enclosures only, but on the lowest floors. Over two
-hundred pannings of the soil in various enclosures have been made. The
-soil of some enclosures is absolutely destitute of any trace of gold,
-so also is the veld soil brought into the ruins by native people over
-one hundred and fifty years ago. In some places outside the ruins
-pannings show gold, and pieces of beaten gold and gold wire have been
-found in such places.
-
-One complete _gold bangle_ of twisted wire, most artistically wrought
-and weighing 2½ ozs., was found on the bed-rock in an enclosure on the
-Acropolis Hill. Another complete gold bangle was found on the lowest
-floor of No. 15 Enclosure of the Elliptical Temple. Short pieces of
-twisted gold wire of various gauges have been found at several ruins.
-Most of such pieces are parts of broken bangles.
-
-_Gold scorifiers_ of native pottery were found in quantities on an
-intermediate floor in No. 6 Enclosure of the Elliptical Temple,
-together with a pair of iron pincers and Arabian glass. The report made
-by Dr. P. Daniel Hahn, PH. D., M.A., Professor of Chemistry, South
-African Chemical and Metallurgical Laboratory, Cape Town, on these
-scorifiers, is as follows:—
-
- “The several fragments of scorifiers sent for analysis did not
- all contain sufficient flux to be removed without being mixed
- up with the substance of the scorifier. A fair quantity of flux
- could, however, be separated in sufficient purity for analysis.
-
- “The flux was composed of:—
-
- Silica 77.616%
- Ferrous Oxide .464%
- Aluminic Oxide 6.703%
- Lime 7.095%
- Magnesia 7.421%
- Gold .363%
- Sodic Oxide .210%
- Potassic Oxide .106%
-
- “No Borate or Fluoride was found in the flux.
-
- “The composition of this flux is remarkable, inasmuch as the
- alkalies are present in very small proportion only, while the
- alkaline earths prevail. Also the amount of silica is very
- high.
-
- “The flux melted readily when it was heated on a platinum lid
- in a muffle furnace at the temperature required for expelling
- auriferous lead.”
-
-Dr. Hahn has further informed the author that pieces of scorifiers are
-fragments of native pottery similar to that found in different parts of
-South Africa, and he adds, “They are certainly not European but native
-pottery.”
-
-
- 3. COPPER ARTICLES
-
-Discoveries of copper in several forms are made on intermediate and
-higher levels. So far no copper article has been found by any explorer
-at Zimbabwe which could be claimed as being ancient, though doubtless
-the ancients worked also in copper, and it is quite probable that
-copper articles made in pre-Kafir times may yet be found. Such copper
-articles as have been found show a decided Kafir form, the copper
-battle-axes and barbed spearheads, bangles, beads, and wire-work
-closely resembling the iron articles still made by the natives,
-though of a somewhat superior design and make, and some of these in
-all probability, judging by their location and the associated finds,
-covered a period extending from mediæval times until comparatively a
-few years ago. The floors and immediate vicinity of native huts of
-the oldest construction yield copper articles abundantly, while later
-native floors have a larger percentage of iron articles.
-
-Three pounds’ weight of thin and narrow strips of _copper sheathing_
-with tack-holes round the edges and copper tacks were found on one of
-the higher levels, and at a depth of several feet below were granite
-cement steps and buttresses of excellent construction. This sheathing
-had evidently covered some wooden article.
-
-The copper used in most instances is pronounced to be pure metal and
-free from the usual alloys. The metal in these is of so pliable a
-nature that _spearheads_ can be easily twisted by hand into almost any
-shape. One spearhead was copper and tin, but the latter was present
-in very small proportion. Several articles once thought to be bronze
-are now pronounced to be of copper only. A small piece of a bar of
-tin was found on an intermediate floor. _Copper wire_, mostly in the
-form of bangles, is very plentiful on intermediate floors, also large
-_cakes of copper_ and _copper slag_, but so far the actual remains of
-copper-smelting furnaces _in situ_ have not been met with at Zimbabwe,
-though judging by the amount of copper slag and _copper ore_ found at
-the extreme east of the Acropolis ruins, copper-smelting was carried
-on in that locality during the period when the gold scorifiers made
-of native pottery were being used. Here were found portions of clay
-_cupolas_ which had been used for copper-smelting, circular and deep,
-about the size of a small teacup. The fine and delicate _copper chain_
-found in Renders Ruins is believed to be of Arab origin, and used to
-suspend the lamp-holder found with it. Pieces of a small _copper box_,
-and several solidly made _copper bangles_, and _copper finger-rings_
-in snake form with the extremities coiled, were also found in Renders
-Ruins on the same level where the copper chain and several articles of
-Arab origin were discovered.
-
-
- 4. IRON ARTICLES
-
-Objects made of iron are found in all floors, but mainly on
-intermediate and upper floors. Makalanga iron tools, ornaments,
-weapons, and iron slag are found in great profusion on the upper
-floors, especially in the black surface mould and among grass and shrub
-roots. Modern native-made _iron hoes_ are as a rule without any sign
-of bevel to strengthen the blade, but iron hoes with a peculiar bevel
-down the centre of the blade on both sides are found among native
-articles of a rather superior character and at slightly lower depths.
-These latter have a depression stamped down the centre of the blade
-which raises a bevel on the opposite face, while on the opposite
-side another depression has been stamped parallel with the raised
-bevel on that side, thus providing a rib on each face, which greatly
-strengthens the hoe. This class of bevel has been pronounced by experts
-to be an old form employed also in other parts of the world, and local
-authorities on Makalanga iron-work assign this make of hoe to several
-generations ago, while the Makalanga themselves state that such hoes
-are found in very old deserted villages of their people, but have not
-been made during their time, but used to be so made by their fathers’
-fathers.
-
-[Illustration: PLATE 2.
-
-Methuen & C^o]
-
-_Iron chisels_ (Pl. III., figs, 1 and 2) are found on almost all
-floors, and were it not for noting the actual spots where they are
-found and the associated articles, it would be difficult to state,
-so closely do they resemble each other, which of them were antique
-and which old or modern native. This difficulty is increased when old
-Kafir iron-chisels and picks are found to be greatly corroded, while
-some of the iron tools found in positions suggesting a great antiquity
-are sometimes found in an almost perfect condition. The sizes of the
-various chisels used by the ancients on blocks in the oldest portions
-of the ruins, and also on the soapstone beams, are still clearly
-distinguishable.
-
-_Iron picks_ are found on older native floors, and these vary in make
-and design, and may be classified as follows:—
-
-(_a_) Double-pointed picks made of a short, thick piece of iron tapered
-at each end, the middle part of which is held by a short iron handle
-(Pl. II., fig. 11). These have also been found in old workings in
-both Matabeleland and Mashonaland, and especially in the Mazoe and
-neighbouring districts. Several of the early writers on this country
-state that these picks had been supplied to their native labourers
-by the mediæval Portuguese, but it is impossible at present to state
-whether this belief be correct or otherwise. Certainly these picks have
-been mostly found in districts once occupied by the Portuguese. There
-is a character in the design, class of iron used, and the make that
-does not suggest a native origin.
-
-(_b_) An iron pick (Pl. III., fig. 3), similar to the one shown on
-page 217 of Mr. Bent’s book, but in a better state of preservation,
-was recently found at Zimbabwe. It is almost certain that this class
-of pick once had wooden handles up the middle of which was a hole, and
-through it passed the iron bar which bound the pick and the handle
-firmly together.
-
-(_c_) The pick (Pl. II., fig. 11) is formed by a bar of iron which is
-bent back a few inches from the top, and in the front of the bend is a
-hole running up the centre inside the bent-back portion, and into this
-hole the haft of the pick is fixed. These have been found complete.
-
-All three classes of picks are found on intermediate and upper clay
-floors, yet the local natives affirm that they have never known them to
-be made, though they are aware of their purpose.
-
-Included in the finds of iron articles was a well-made _iron spoon_
-with a long handle squared at the end. This was found among the Arab
-belongings in Renders Ruins, also an _iron spearhead_ (Pl. II., fig.
-16) with peculiarly designed spaces in its edges as if for inflicting
-a more than usually serious wound. An _ornamented spearhead_ (Pl. II.,
-fig. 15) with its point decorated with bead-like bevels diminishing in
-size from base to point. An _iron lamp-stand_ (PI. II., figs. 17 and
-18) with eight bent-up arms (with which was found 12 ft. of fine copper
-chain in lengths of about 18 in. with pottery affixed at intervals) was
-also found with the Arab articles.
-
-_Iron bangles_, both solid and of wire-work, are found on upper floors
-in the black surface mould and among grass roots. Some of these must
-be exceedingly old, and in the wire bangles the fibre or zebra hair
-(this, in some instances, being found intact), round which the wire
-was twisted, has completely disappeared. In many instances some traces
-more or less distinct of the fibre or hair still remained. Twisted
-iron wire-work, evidently imported wholesale, has been found at one
-spot only, and in great quantities in the form of coils, and not cut up
-into lengths for use as bangles. The coils, which are now fused, must
-have contained very many feet of this twisted wire. The same applies to
-coils of twisted brass wire in large coils found also at the same spot,
-which, as is shown later, was evidently an old Arab trading station.
-
-_Iron nails_ (Pl. II., figs. 2 and 4) are not limited to any particular
-floor, and are found almost everywhere in the ruins. But these vary
-considerably in make. The oldest form of nail and the best designed
-is that found at greatest depth. This is wedge-shape headed. Another
-form of exceedingly old class of nails is that where the head is formed
-by doubling the nail back for about half an inch. But the head is not
-welded, the bottom part of the bent-back portion being slightly tapered
-where it meets the side of the nail. These nails in several instances
-were made difficult of extraction from the wood by being barbed and
-notched, and in some cases, especially of a rivet class of smaller
-nails, the nails, when the iron was hot, were twisted in the centre
-only, and a rude sort of screw was thus made with protruding edges.
-It can be seen that several twisting operations were required to form
-these spiral bandings, and that these separate twistings do not connect
-together as in a perfect screw. The larger nails are from 4 in. to 6
-in. long, the rivet class varying from 1½ in. to 4 in.
-
-_Iron shoes and collars_ once having served as bands round wooden
-posts, possibly to keep them from splitting, especially in a climate
-where there are daily such rapid changes from heat to cold, and which
-plays such havoc with the modern imported timber. These bands, which
-average almost an inch in width, generally passed twice round the post,
-and the shapes of the circumference of the post are square, oblong
-(these are the most frequent), or circular, but always perfectly
-exact, showing that the ancients and older inhabitants of the ruins
-used wood that had been specially shaped with tools, and not the rough,
-unworked poles used by old and present natives, many of which can be
-still seen never to have been touched with any tool save in cutting
-it from the tree and in lopping off small branches. These shoes and
-collars are found on very old floors, their greatest length or diameter
-being 4¾ in.
-
-One important fact is clearly demonstrated by the presence in
-quantities on the older floors of nails and shoes, and it is that the
-original builders and their more immediate successors extensively
-employed woodwork in the fittings of all the enclosures, some of it
-being of large dimensions, and in all probability worked with tools,
-and not used in the rough state. The general distribution of these
-nails and shoes throughout the enclosures, and at some depth, convinces
-one that substantial wooden fittings once existed in these enclosures,
-for the large sizes of the older forms of nails and the make of the
-shoes and collars preclude any suggestion of many of them having been
-used in woodwork which could have been easily removed.
-
-A _forked iron instrument_ (Pl. II., fig. 5), with six gold bosses
-riveted with gold on to the iron, is certainly of a very antique
-character, though possibly not an article belonging to the original
-builders, for the condition of the iron and its location, while
-pointing to some antiquity, rather precludes any idea of its being
-of the earliest date. This was found in the Western Temple at the
-Acropolis ruins, at a point near, but not so deep as, the spot which
-Mr. Swan styles “the centre of the arc of the curved and decorated main
-wall of the Western Temple on the hill.”
-
-The _iron pincers_ (Pl. II., fig. 2), found with the gold scorifiers
-on an intermediate floor in the Elliptical Temple, are of simple
-construction, and are made of a bar of iron tapered at each end and
-doubled together, the doubled end being hammered close, but not
-welded. Traces of flux are on the tapered points. A second pair of iron
-pincers, but not in such good condition, were found on an intermediate
-floor in the Acropolis ruins.
-
-Some six pairs of _double iron gongs_ were also recently found, but not
-in any position or associated with articles suggesting antiquity. These
-were found on old Makalanga floors, also among grass roots and in black
-surface mould. Yet the type and pattern of gong is undoubtedly ancient,
-being found in Egypt and seen in the ancient paintings in that country,
-but like the rod of iron, the pillow, the ingot mould, and a score of
-other articles used not only by Makalanga but by other peoples of this
-continent, the form and make of these gongs have been handed down from
-time immemorial. The local natives know the use of these gongs, and
-say that they were beaten with an iron striker (Pl. II., fig. 20), but
-they have not seen any at Zimbabwe since they arrived seventy years
-ago, nor can they say that their own people ever made them, but they
-suppose that the old Makalanga, who, up to at least one hundred years
-ago, are known to have lived in the Zimbabwe ruins, made and used them.
-These gongs are known to local natives who have travelled, and these
-say they have seen them in use in the Zambesia districts, where they
-are used to greet the arrival of chiefs and the appearance of the new
-moon, also as a signal of warning. The two gongs are bound together
-by an iron band, which forms the handle. One pair was found on the
-floor of a hut built on block foundations with the usual clay-rounded,
-bevelled, and circular base, exactly similar to those on the filled-in
-plateau of No. 1 Ruins at Khami (see Chapter VII., section “Native
-Huts found in Ancient Ruins,” _post_, p. 152). The gongs found at
-Zimbabwe average 16½ in. high, and their sides are hammered together
-out of two thick sheets of soft iron. They have no clappers, and are
-intended to be struck from without. They have frequently been found
-in Kazembe country between the Zambesi and Lake Tanganyika, where
-the natives state that the gongs are not made now, and that they are
-very old (_Anthrop. Journal_, 1901, Article 39). Dr. Holub (vol. ii.,
-p. 147) gives an illustration of a double iron gong of crude make and
-design, still in use among the Barotse as a musical instrument. Sir
-H. M. Stanley states that these double iron gongs were in use by the
-natives of Urangi (Upper Congo), and also at Mangala on that river.
-His illustrations of these gongs show great similarity to those found
-in various parts of Southern Rhodesia. Several writers on South-East
-Africa describe an identical iron gong still in use among the natives.
-Each gong gives a different sound to its companion gong.
-
-A _single iron gong_ (Pl. II., fig. 22) was also found among old native
-articles. The gong is oblong, and has an ornament at each end made
-of tapered strips of iron coiled into circles, and these ornaments
-strongly suggest that the gong was only used when suspended. It is 13½
-in. long and 5½ in. deep. No explorer in this country appears to have
-seen a gong of this description. Its style and make are altogether
-unique.
-
-One iron rod or sceptre, 3 ft. 5 in. long, was also found in a position
-not suggestive of antiquity. This was recognised by the natives as
-the rod of a chief, being a native symbol of power. Some of the
-dynastic chiefs of the Makalanga still possess these iron rods. The
-end of the rod is bent back to form the handle. Mr. Bent says the iron
-sceptres borne by Makalanga chiefs have their parallels in the north
-of the African continent! Ruling “with a rod of iron” is a scriptural
-description of despotic government.
-
-Pieces of worked iron, with rings let through the top ends and
-broadening at the base, where there is a different shaped hole of a
-distinct form on each base, appear to have been _keys_ (Pl. II., figs.
-7 and 8). These were found with the Arab belongings in Renders Ruins.
-
-[Illustration: _PLATE 3._
-
-—Relics & “Finds”—
-Great Zimbabwe 1802–3.
-
-Methuen & C^o]
-
-There are still to be seen the remains of native _iron-smelting
-furnaces_, one being in almost perfect condition, but all are
-exceedingly old, and were found standing seventy years ago, when the
-present Makalanga came to live at Zimbabwe. The “female breast and
-furrow” pattern is on every native furnace. Portions of _blow-pipes_
-and great quantities of _iron slag_ are found on the higher floors of
-clay in several of the ruins.
-
-
- 5. BRASS ARTICLES
-
-So far as investigations lead, no relics of brass have been found on
-the lower floors of any of the ruins at Zimbabwe. But on the upper
-clay floors brass in several forms is found in abundance. It will be
-remembered that in 1514 Duarte Barbosa wrote, “The people of Monomotapa
-come to Sofala charged with gold, and give such quantities that the
-merchants gain one hundred for one.” This was written soon after the
-first arrival of the Portuguese at Sofala, and given in a description
-of Arab trade on the coast, which they found to be flourishing. But
-before that period the Arab barter article for the gold was mainly
-brass, though “coloured stuffs and beads of Cambay” were also used
-for the purpose of barter, for the Arab trade with this country dated
-back long before the arrival of the Portuguese. The Arab writer, Omar
-ibn l’Wardi, stated (_circa_ 1200 A.D.), in alluding to South-East
-Africa, “The most remarkable produce of this country is its quantity of
-native gold ... in spite of which the natives adorn their persons with
-ornaments of brass.” So to-day a native will gladly pay an enormous
-amount over the cost price for any attractive-looking but shoddy brass
-article. The brass ornaments of women weigh from 1½ lbs. to 3 lbs.,
-while the men spend hours in polishing and rearranging their brass
-bangles. Therefore it is not surprising that brass wire, brass wire
-bangles, and solid brass bangles, should be found on the clay floors of
-the ruins. The quantity imported as barter goods for gold must have
-been simply enormous, especially in view of the prevailing custom of
-these people from time immemorial to bury with their dead all their
-personal ornaments.
-
-There is one class of brass bangle that deserves some attention, and
-this is found in positions suggesting a greater age than any other
-finds of brass articles. This is a twisted wire bangle, but the wire
-is flat and exceedingly narrow. In many of these the hair or fibre
-round which it was coiled has disappeared with time. Coils of this
-make of wire-work ready to be cut into lengths for bangles were found
-in Renders Ruins. This and some coils of very fine rounded wire-work
-were discovered in a fused condition. Brass beads both imported and of
-native make are plentiful.
-
-
- 6. FOREIGN STONES
-
-Every enclosure in the ruins at Zimbabwe which has been recently
-examined yields stone altogether foreign to the granite formation
-of the district. Many tons of _slate_ have been brought here from
-a distance of at least eight miles, and also large quantities of
-soapstone from a similar distance, while _dolorite_, once used as
-anvils, was discovered, also _diorite_ used as hammers, _quartz_,
-_jasper_ stone showing gold, _serpentine_ stone, _calcedony_ pebbles,
-_crystal_ pebbles, _metamorphic slate_, _mica schist_, _ironstone_
-and _copper ore_, and one or two small fragments of _flint_, and some
-_natural wind-worn stones_ of peculiar form. A lithologist could
-very easily add considerably to this list. Two pieces of water-worn
-diorite of the shape of rolling-pins were found in the débris below
-the Platform at the Western Temple on the Acropolis. The finding of
-one such stone might not in itself be considered of any moment, but
-the discovery of two such pieces similar in shape may possibly have
-some significance for the student of the litholatrous practices of
-the ancients. The same might be said of several stones discovered
-here, many of which in quantities naturally assume suggestive shapes,
-while some are of purely imitative forms and not artificially treated.
-Several of the quartz pebbles showed gold very richly. All these, with
-the exception of the quartz, ironstone and copper ore, were found on
-the lowest floors.
-
-There were also found water-worn stones, mostly slates, with artificial
-depressions which had undoubtedly been used as tools, in some instances
-as burnishing stones, these latter being found associated with the
-older form of gold crucibles, and some of these had been most probably
-selected on account of their shape admirably suiting the fingers of the
-right hand. Some small slabs of slate found at considerable depths show
-evidences of having been extensively used as whetstones for sharpening
-edge tools.
-
-About one ton and a half of metamorphic slate, called by Mr. Bent
-“black slate,” and similar to that used in the mural decorations on the
-north face of the wall of No. 11 Enclosure and on the north-east wall
-of the Platform, was found among the débris in the Sacred Enclosure and
-in Nos. 9, 11, and 12 enclosures of the Elliptical Temple, especially
-at the base of the wall containing the pattern formed by means of
-these stones. All loose blocks are now stacked together in the Sacred
-Enclosure (west) at the angle formed by the Platform and the wall
-dividing off No. 9 Enclosure. At least some four tons of these blocks
-had been brought to Zimbabwe, the nearest point being on the Motelekwe
-River, at eight miles east-north-east of Zimbabwe. It is somewhat
-remarkable that no such blocks were found in the western half of the
-Elliptical Temple, nor on the Acropolis, nor at any other ruin in the
-locality.
-
-Beds of small splinters of imported quartz have been found at several
-points within the ruin’s area, the largest being on the west side of
-No. 1 Ruins and on the north side of the summit of Rusivanga Kopje.
-Splinters of quartz are found on all cement floors and on such floors
-as are made of burnt clay. Some of the quartz showed traces of gold,
-but most of the pannings were blank. It has never been supposed that
-the original builders carried on extensive quartz-crushing operations
-at Zimbabwe, but that the gold was brought to Zimbabwe in the form of
-dust to be smelted into ingots, both for export and local manufacture.
-Possibly the quartz was brought here for testing purposes, for these
-people who were so well acquainted with the nature of quartz-mining
-must have had some centres throughout the country where quartz could be
-tested, and it is quite natural that the “assay office” of the ancients
-for the surrounding districts might have been at Zimbabwe.
-
-
- 7. BEADS
-
-In addition to beads of gold, copper, and brass, several other
-descriptions of these articles have recently been found at Zimbabwe.
-
-The most important are two large beads similar to one found by Mr.
-Bent, and to which he attributed a great antiquity, also some broken
-pieces of similar beads. These are black, and are covered with flowers
-resembling primroses, and the flower is outlined by parallel white
-lines. The spaces between these lines are filled in with dark brown and
-violet glaze. These were all found at great depth. The local natives
-had not seen beads of this make before.
-
-Beads of ivory and bone, also opaque glass beads—green and yellow,
-porcelain beads of sea-green colour and ribbed, have been found, the
-glass and porcelain beads being quite unknown to the present natives. A
-diamond-shaped calcedony bead,[36] some clay beads bearing chevron and
-herring-bone patterns, were found on the lower clay floors.
-
-
- 8. WHORLS
-
-Pottery whorls of about 1½ in. to 3 in. in diameter have been found in
-hundreds. These were used by old natives for drawing the threads out
-of a mass of cotton. A stick was passed through the centre, and the
-bottom end was inserted in the cotton, while the upper part was twisted
-round quickly between the palms of the hand. Most whorls are cut out of
-fragments of native bowls and pots. Many old natives will explain how
-they were used. These clay whorls are found in old deserted villages
-and in Makalanga débris heaps. The native children search for them, and
-use them as tops. It is said they were once also employed in creating
-sparks for a fire, but to-day the natives twirl the sticks between
-their palms without using a whorl. A few soapstone whorls have been
-found, but not in any position suggesting antiquity. The Makalanga of
-but a generation past were adepts in carving soapstone.
-
-
- 9. GLASS POTTERY AND CHINA
-
-These finds are so numerous and diversified that they require a
-special work for their proper treatment. Some two hundred specimens
-selected from the bulk have been collected, and these with particulars
-as to their locations and associated articles, with specimens found
-elsewhere in Rhodesia, will be laid before an expert for technical
-classification, when another avenue of research with regard to the
-ancient and mediæval occupiers of this country, both native and
-foreign, will certainly be opened up. Meantime a brief reference to the
-finds, or some of them, will here suffice.
-
-Two portions of glass prisms, fragments of Venetian glass of dark
-green colour, being as thin and sometimes thinner than an ordinary
-watch-glass, have quite recently been found. Sections of two bowls
-of Arabian glass[37] covered with very fine and delicately engraved
-tracery of scroll-work of flowers and tendrils. The engraving is so
-minute that it can only be seen in a strong light.
-
-Over and across the engraved designs are hand-painted flowers of
-primrose shape, each flower outlined in white, light blue, and pink,
-the buds being pink and white, and the stems a dark red. The shape
-of the bowls was that of the modern finger-glass. All these were
-discovered at considerable depths.
-
-[Illustration: Arabian Glass
-
- _Trace of Post-Koranic lettering.
- Painted in Blue._
-
- _Painted Flower._
- _Inner circle_ _Torbay Red._
- _Middle do._ _White._
- _Outer do._ _Blue._
-]
-
-Most of the pottery was found in hundred-weights in débris heaps and
-scattered throughout all the clay floors in all the ruins with the
-exception of some enclosures in the Valley of Ruins. But such pottery
-can be shown to be of native make. To anyone casually inspecting the
-pottery it may appear as of one and the same make, save perhaps in the
-colour of the clay of which it is made. But there are wide differences
-in the pottery, both in the clays, the make, designs, ornamentation,
-colourings, and also in their locations and in their manufacturers,
-just as among the present natives.
-
-The Barotse pottery, for instance, is of a more substantial make than
-is that of any known period or tribe of Makalanga. The patterns are
-large, bold, and entirely geometrical, and are coloured yellow, red,
-or black, with the designs painted in strong contrast to the general
-colour of the pot. Thus black patterns are laid on yellow and red
-grounds, red patterns on yellow and black, and yellow patterns on black
-and red. A collection of Barotse pottery made by Major Corydon from
-north of the Zambesi is a facsimile in make and design of the Barotse
-pottery found at Thabas Imamba, Khami, Zimbabwe, and other ruins known
-to have been occupied by Barotse up to seventy years ago. A collection
-of pottery from Khami which was brought for comparative examination to
-Zimbabwe was at once claimed by the local Barotse as being of Barotse
-make, while the local Makalanga not only emphatically denied that it
-was of their class of make and design, but added that it was the work
-of the Barotse people. The encircling bands of ornamentation on Barotse
-pottery vary from 1½ in. to 3 in. or more in depth.[38]
-
-Thus Makalanga pottery has its own peculiar characteristics which are
-easily discernible on examination. It is generally found to be black
-with a highly polished surface. The bowls and pots have a lighter and
-more delicate appearance, and the excellent quality of clay used, and
-its thorough manipulation, enables it to be much thinner in make yet
-equally as strong as those of coarser make; the coloured decoration
-also is altogether absent, while the pattern is more neatly executed,
-and is enclosed in encircling bands of from only half an inch to one
-inch in depth. Further, the Makalanga have always decorated their
-pottery with protruding bosses of shapes and designs peculiar to
-themselves, the female breast pattern predominating. There are at
-least fifty different sorts of such protruding designs already found
-on undoubted Makalanga floors, and these have been selected for
-examination. The pot shown in the illustration facing page 90 of _The
-Ancient Ruins of Rhodesia_ is of very old Makalanga work, of which many
-scores are found represented at Zimbabwe.
-
-Finds of native pottery bear no traces of the potter’s wheel. All
-native pottery is made by hand.
-
-Very common sun-burnt earthenware, more earth than clay, and very
-light, is found in great quantities everywhere in the ruins, most of
-this having no decoration.
-
-Old Makalanga smeared the body of a pot with several thin coats of
-different-coloured clays, and sections of such pottery show the lines
-of smearings very distinctly.
-
-The best quality of pottery was found on one of the lowest floors in
-the Elliptical Temple. The fragments are very heavy for their size,
-and the surface is coated with soapstone clay, giving them a light
-greenish-grey colour. These must be exceedingly old if not ancient.
-
-The china discovered includes Nankin china identical in every
-particular with the Nankin china discovered at these ruins by Mr. Bent
-and others, and with that found in Mazoe and so many other districts
-where there still exist distinct evidences of occupation by the early
-Portuguese. The china, or porcelain, is covered completely with a
-highly rich glaze of bright blue and sea-green shades, and the articles
-when pieced together resemble in shape, an ordinary soup-plate. The
-edges are bevelled in sections of circles, the bevels extending in
-fluted form to the base, where can be seen evidences of the use of the
-potter’s wheel. The fragments found represent three different plates.
-These were discovered at some depth, but not on any ancient floor.
-
-One find made among the Arab belongings in Renders Ruins consists of
-excellent china of a light brown colour, about a quarter of an inch
-thick, and covered with a high glaze of blue, white, and gold enamel,
-the white forming the background. There are at least four bands of
-pattern encircling what was a large open bowl with upright edges. The
-conjectured Arab lettering is laid on with blue enamel and is outlined
-with fine scroll-work tracery in gold. The inside is glazed white, and
-has lines of faint blue enamel artistically drawn without being of any
-set pattern. The pattern on the lowest band is of palm fronds in brown
-paint and in outline only.[39]
-
-[Illustration]
-
-Some very thin pottery covered with white enamel some inches only
-down from the rim towards the outer and inner base, with thick
-perpendicular bars of dull blue glaze. Excellent pottery of brown clay,
-very thickly covered with glaze of sea-green and deep lake colours, was
-found near the same spot.
-
-
- 10. A MEDIÆVAL ARAB TRADING STATION
-
-One of the most interesting discoveries recently made was at Renders
-Ruins in the Valley of Ruins. In a corner of one of the enclosures of
-these ruins, and at some depth, and all within a few feet, were found
-the glazed pottery with Arab lettering, an iron lamp-stand and copper
-chain, an iron spoon of great age, copper snake-rings (pronounced not
-to be of native make), and several other articles suggesting some far
-back period of an Arab occupation, most probably of mediæval times.
-Over this collection of finds was a deep bed of soil silted by rains
-from higher ground, and on this surface were fragments of a Makalanga
-clay floor broken up by the roots. The Arab traders gave the first
-description of these ruins to the Portuguese, and Barbosa (1514), De
-Barros (1552), and Livio Sanuto (1588), mention the existence of Great
-Zimbabwe on the strength of information concerning it received from the
-Arab gold and ivory traders.
-
-In all probability this was an Arab trading centre of mediæval times,
-and by “taking stock” of the barter goods, some corroboration of this
-suggestion may be obtained. The “stock in trade” consisted of:—
-
- 2 pints of small yellow and green glass beads which are unknown
- to present natives.
-
- 1 pint of similar beads of larger size, also unknown to present
- natives.
-
- 100 (at least) porcelain beads, ribbed, and of sea-green
- colour, also unknown to natives.
-
- 15 lbs. of twisted iron wire-work in large coils for making
- bangles, and cut up into lengths for bangles.
-
- 5 lbs. of twisted brass flat wire in large coils also, not cut
- into lengths for bangles.
-
- 5 lbs. of twisted brass rounded wire, ditto.
-
- 4 doz. brass flat wire bangles and a great quantity of
- fragments of other bangles.
-
- Cowrie shells.
-
-The mediæval traders might have received the following from the
-natives:—
-
- 2 elephant tusks (decayed).
- 2 wart-hog tusks.
- 20 (about) pieces of beaten gold.
- Several pieces of broken gold-wire bangles.
-
-As the Arabs traded for gold produced by the natives, and also for
-ivory, no doubt they or the natives would fossick in the ruins, then
-much clearer of débris, for gold which they or the Arabs might have
-known was to be found in the enclosures. The beaten gold was all found
-within a few inches, and though its edges were pierced with tack-holes,
-pannings of the soil showed no gold tacks. As the Makalanga of those
-times were at their zenith of power, it is quite possible they did the
-actual searching themselves, and then parted with their finds to the
-Arabs, who, as history shows, only occupied the land on sufferance, the
-Arabs making their usual gain, which, according to Barbosa, was “one
-hundred for one.”
-
-It might well be asked why these old Arabs left their goods behind
-them. The fickle policy of successive Monomotapas might be a sufficient
-explanation of their apparently hasty exodus. According to Portuguese
-records Kapranzine, the Monomotapa in 1620, sided with the Portuguese
-as against the local Arabs, and the succeeding Monomotapa “Pedro” in
-1643 maintained this policy. But the disappearance of the Arab traders
-from Renders Ruins will in all probability always remain an unsolved
-enigma. But one question may be asked with regard to the beads found
-here—Were they “beads of Cambay”?
-
-A large piece of coral still in perfect condition was found with the
-Arab articles. It has been stated, with what truth the author cannot
-say, that finely ground coral powder makes an excellent metal polish,
-and that the Arabs and Indian metal-workers on the coast use it for
-this purpose. Certainly the Arab traders up country would constantly
-require to refurbish their brass goods, and so keep them attractive for
-sale to the natives. Fragments of coral have been found in other ruins
-at Zimbabwe, also at ruins in different parts of Southern Rhodesia very
-much further inland from the coast than is Zimbabwe.
-
-[Illustration: Section of Floors of part of N^o. 6 ENCLOSURE Elliptical
-Temple looking South-East & shewing locations of “Finds” (1902–3)
-
- 1. _Modern Kafir articles & traces of Iron smelting furnaces._
-
- 2. _Excellent native pottery, pottery gold scorifiers, iron
- pincers, beaten gold, Arabian glass, burnishing stones,
- coral, very old yellow & green beads, large iron nails, crude
- soapstone moulds, Nankin china._
-
- 3. _Fragments of soapstone beams._]
-
-
-
-
- CHAPTER VII
-
- NOTES ON ANCIENT ARCHITECTURE AT GREAT ZIMBABWE[40]
-
- Introduction—Durability of Walls—Dilapidations—Makalanga
- Walls within the ruins—Remains of Native Huts found in
- Ruins—Passages—Entrances and Buttresses.
-
-
-Since 1892, when the late Theodore Bent published his work on _The
-Ruined Cities of Mashonaland_, and 1893, when Sir John Willoughby
-issued his monograph on _Further Explorations at Zimbabwe_, though
-much has been discovered concerning the varying architectural types of
-ancient ruins throughout Southern Rhodesia, little has been added to
-our previous meagre store of information concerning the important group
-of ruins at Great Zimbabwe.
-
-But in the work now in progress of preserving these ruins from
-preventable decay and dilapidation, and of clearing away the block
-débris from the faces of the walls and the huge piles of soil débris
-deposited within the ruins by a long succession of explorers, both
-authorised and unauthorised, there have been within the last two years
-rescued from oblivion many important architectural features, the
-existence of which was altogether unsuspected by previous writers. Many
-of the interiors of the ruins are now exposed to view, thus enabling
-examinations, comparison, and measurements to be taken which before had
-been altogether impossible. Within the last eighteen months Zimbabwe
-has revealed many of the long-buried secrets of the ancient architects
-which were hidden from the eyes of Bent, Schlichter, and other
-scientific explorers of the ruins.
-
-Zimbabwe is stored with surprises for archæologists and antiquarians.
-Absorbing romance is buried deep below its floors. Its soil is richly
-charged with long-ungazed-at gold and prehistoric relics of high
-intrinsic value. The mysteries of the absence in Zimbabwe of any
-definite records in the form of inscriptions,[41] and also of the
-non-discovery within the Zimbabwe area of the burial-places of the
-ancients, have yet to be solved.
-
-It has quite recently been held by scientists at home that the late
-discoveries of ancient ruins in Rhodesia, with their classifications
-into types and probable time-sequences and periods of distinct forms
-of architecture, have so advanced investigations in this country
-that, until similar work has been carried on among such of the ruins
-of Southern Arabia as are believed to synchronise with, or be the
-architectural prototypes of, the earliest of the Rhodesian monuments,
-it would be idle to speak dogmatically as to the lands of origin of
-the succession of ancient builders and gold miners who toiled so
-industriously in this portion of South-East Africa.
-
-Still, but so far only as authentic discoveries have been made, the
-suggested occupation by the Sabæo-Arabians as outlined in chapter iii.
-of _The Ancient Ruins of Rhodesia_ affords for the present a good
-working hypothesis for the student in Rhodesia whose aim should be to
-closely watch the operations of archæologists and antiquarians in the
-land of ancient Yemen, while at the same time recording with the utmost
-exactness and fullest detail all and every possible architectural
-feature of such of the ruins in Rhodesia as may fall within the
-description of the First Period of Zimbabwe
-
-Architecture, of which the Great Zimbabwe is undoubtedly a most
-perfect example. This work will awaken the most piquant interest and
-fascination, for in this direction may be found the definite solution
-of our local problem as to which particular wave of the Semitic
-migrations is responsible for the erection of certain of our ruins.
-
-That the Great Zimbabwe will be found to be pregnant with clues to
-solve the mystery is undoubted. Notwithstanding two years’ work in
-clearing the ruins of fallen walls and silted-in soil, nine-tenths of
-the ruins still remain practically buried. Sir John Willoughby, after
-spending two months in exploring the Elliptical Temple with a large
-staff of labourers, writes that it would take at least two years to
-complete the exploration of that building, and this without touching
-anything ancient or piercing ancient floors, but simply leaving the
-building clear of all débris and just in the same condition, save for
-dilapidations, as the last race of ancient occupiers knew it. If,
-therefore, the Elliptical Temple would require this amount of time
-to be spent upon it—and this is a fair estimate of work yet to be
-done—then the Acropolis ruins must require at least a further three
-years to be spent upon them, and this calculation does not include
-the large number of ruins in the Valley of Ruins, which, if situated
-elsewhere in the country, would be considered of major importance.
-But the area of the Zimbabwe ruins, as known to Sir John Willoughby,
-was only 945 yds. by 940 yds. To-day, after carefully searching the
-surrounding kopjes, kloofs, and valleys, other ruins and walls, and
-traces of ancient walls, can be found at a distance of a mile from the
-Elliptical Temple. The Bentberg has its northern face covered with
-walls. Rusivanga Kopje shows foundations of walls and débris. Near
-Bingura’s kraal, a mile to the south-west, is a ruin, while extensive
-beds of imported gold quartz—the nearest reef being some miles
-distant—with piles of ancient blocks are to be discovered after a grass
-fire in almost all directions within the distance of a mile, and fresh
-traces of old peoples, other than those early Makalanga, are to be met
-with in the course of almost every walk. Thus the probabilities of new
-and important discoveries are incalculably great.
-
- • • • • •
-
-_Degree of durability of walls._—(_a_) As may be seen by anyone
-inspecting the walls, as well as on perusing the published description
-of many ruins of the earliest types, the elliptical and curved form
-of building has proved the most durable. In many instances the
-elliptical structures are more or less intact, while the angular and
-less skilfully built additions, extensions, and alterations of a later
-period have largely become ruinous and chaotic.
-
-(_b_) This is accounted for by the more excellent workmanship in the
-construction of the ruins of the elliptical type, which have far
-broader foundations, are more massive, have a decided batter-back both
-inside and outside, bonded courses, the blocks of each course being
-more carefully selected, and the summits tied with “throughs,” while
-the angular type of ruins, with their plumb walls built on straight
-lines, with independent faces either side and carelessly filled-in
-interiors, and a less superior workmanship, have caused these walls to
-suffer more than the older type of ruins.
-
-(_c_) Walls built on curved lines are in a far better state of
-preservation than those built on straight lines, the curves having
-served to strengthen the walls.
-
-(_d_) Rounded ends of walls and rounded buttresses have proved to be
-far more durable than angular ends or squared buttresses, though most
-of these latter erections are obviously of a later date.
-
-(_e_) The portions of divisional walls near main walls are in a better
-state of preservation than the other portions which are in the open
-parts of the ruins. This is owing to the protection and support of the
-larger walls. Many of the divisional walls are practically independent,
-and therefore more liable to collapse, but if not independent the
-number of entrances passing through them practically makes them such.
-
- • • • • •
-
-_Dilapidations._—At Zimbabwe both the ravages of time, as well as
-preventable damage during the last decade, have brought about the
-wholesale destruction of walls as seen to-day in their dilapidated
-condition. This is the plaint of all who have known the ruins since
-the time of the occupation. These all bemoan the fact that on each
-renewed visit to the ruins some wall is found to have disappeared, or
-some new bulging out of the massive structures threatens serious and
-immediate destruction, which no amount of lateral support or pinning
-up can now possibly prevent. Many such visitors complain that the
-decorative patterns are becoming less perfect. Photographs show this to
-be the case. In fact, so much dilapidation has taken place within the
-last few years that it is a common remark of pioneers that “the ruins
-are becoming less and less every year,” while intense disappointment
-and vexation are expressed by “old hands” when they revisit the temple
-after an interval of a few years at the serious reduction in the height
-of the Conical Tower. Photographs of the tower taken as recently as
-1896 represent the summit as being higher than is seen to-day, while
-almost every photograph taken within the last two or three years of any
-single part of these ruins shows portions, if not the whole, of walls,
-with their distinctive features that have completely disappeared. To
-those who venerate these ancient edifices nothing can be sadder than a
-comparison of the ruins as seen to-day with the ruins as they were some
-years ago.
-
-But before dealing with the dilapidations of later years it might be
-well to examine the history of such of the dilapidations as can be
-read in the wall débris heaps which line the bases of every wall, for
-these débris heaps can be read with the same facility as one can read a
-book. These dilapidations are what might be termed legitimate, being
-the natural results of the ravages of time, which no means taken could
-possibly have avoided, and which have extended for very many centuries
-on end since the latest of the ancient occupiers disappeared.
-
-In Tintern, Melrose, and many another old building at Home we have
-ruins even now incomplete, owing to the dilapidations of but a few
-hundred years. But the most ancient ruins of Great Britain, excepting,
-of course, Stonehenge, the round towers of Ireland, the Druidical
-circles of Wales, the stone circles and cloven stones of the Isle of
-Man, and the reputed pagan temples found elsewhere, and certain of the
-Roman remains of which at present little is known, possess histories,
-and _Domesday Book_, and even much later records, state the names of
-the actual builders of these castles and abbeys. These buildings have
-a stamp upon them of modernity which is altogether absent at Zimbabwe,
-in comparison with the age of which the term “ancient,” as applied
-to those at Home, elastic as it is, sounds strangely inappropriate.
-And yet after a comparatively short period of non-occupation of these
-castles and buildings only sections of them can now be seen. Guides
-will state that the walls have been quarried for material for farm
-buildings, most probably for the erection of the adjoining mansion, and
-that portions were destroyed by lightning.
-
-But Zimbabwe, with its minimum age of some three millenniums,
-stands far more firm, more intact, and complete than any one of the
-comparatively few-centuried old ruins to be found anywhere at Home.
-Planted in South-East Africa at over two hundred miles inland from the
-coast, in the midst of populations that know nothing whatever of its
-origin, Zimbabwe’s massive and imposing walls reveal even to the most
-casual and indifferent of visitors the plan, purpose, and design of the
-original builders. Yet has it been subjected for three millenniums to
-the destructive agency of lightning storms, the frequency and severity
-of which in South-East Africa are well known. Severe earthquakes must
-have shaken its foundations, but the massive walls remain practically
-intact. Arab tradition speaks of violent earthquakes in South-East
-Africa during the fifth century, while the condition of some of the
-ruins in Rhodesia, where the walls have fallen _en bloc_ sideways on to
-the ground, testifies to frequent, general, and violent earth-movements
-and earth-strains having taken place. The South-East African cyclones
-passing over it during thirty centuries probably have caused further
-dilapidations. Still, though so many walls at Zimbabwe remain more
-or less intact, it would be impossible to estimate the extent to
-which many walls may have suffered, or what have possibly disappeared
-altogether from the effects of earthquakes, for it would be difficult
-to suppose that these extensive ruins—some walls being built on the
-actual brink of precipices—have escaped all the destructive effects of
-earth-movements and storms which have occurred during the last three
-thousand years.
-
-The action of sub-tropical rains for centuries has destroyed whole
-lengths of walls. For instance, a trench which occupied half a dozen
-labourers two days to excavate was, after a heavy shower lasting but an
-hour, completely filled up by mud streams from a higher level. There
-is hardly a wall on the Acropolis Hill that has not had to bear some
-added weight of silted soil from higher levels, and these in places
-have been so extensive that when accumulated on the upper sides of
-walls the effect has been to push the wall bodily over. In this way the
-terraces of enclosures round the north, west, and south faces of the
-Acropolis have in most instances been entirely filled up and buried,
-while in others the outer and down-side wall has been burst through
-and destroyed. Streams of water during storms of real African violence
-have worn deep channels along the bases of some of the walls, exposing
-the foundations which bridge across the holes, the water causing the
-decomposition of the cement bed of the foundations and making the
-wall throughout its complete height to sway downwards and to bulge
-threateningly outwards. Some of these water-made holes up against the
-bases of the walls contained damp and moisture all through the dry
-season, especially those on the south side of walls where the holes
-were protected from the sun. In as many cases as possible for the time
-engaged on the preservation work (1902–4) these spots were levelled,
-and catchment areas were made, so that for the future no rain-water can
-lodge there, but the waving lines of the courses in the walls still
-show where these holes existed.
-
-In a similar way block débris falling from higher levels has lodged
-behind lower walls and eventually pressed them over. In some instances
-on the Acropolis a mass of walling has fallen from a great height and
-completely demolished walls below. These were no gradual dilapidations,
-but instances where sections of the higher wall had gone completely
-over _en masse_. Such falls almost entirely explain the damage done
-to the outer walls of the South-East Ancient Ascent, lengths of which
-have evidently been made good by Kafirs of a very old period, as the
-well-built ancient foundations can be seen below the later walls.
-
-But some walls have also been seriously damaged by falls of huge slabs
-and boulders from the faces of the granite cliffs, buttresses have been
-broken, entrances and passages completely blocked up if not utterly
-demolished. These falls, though later than the times of the ancients,
-occurred very long ago, for the depressions in the cliffs from which
-these slabs and boulders fell are now become weather-stained, but the
-shapes of the depressions and of the slabs and boulders still agree. It
-is conjectured that the gap in the central portion of the main wall of
-the Eastern Temple was caused by the fall of an immense boulder from
-the summit of the sixty-foot cliff on the north side of the temple.
-By the moving forward of a boulder for six feet from the position it
-occupied at the time of the ancients—and they had utilised this boulder
-in forming the west entrance of the same temple—the entrance was
-completely blocked up.
-
-But there is a process of dilapidation going on continually, a
-process which, judging by the débris piles, has been operating for
-many centuries. When walking near a wall one has to be very careful
-not to walk under any of the overhanging blocks on the summit of the
-wall. Some of these blocks are very delicately poised on the edges of
-the walls, so much so that it seems as if a shout would cause them
-to fall. Wherever possible these blocks have been drawn back flush
-again with the face of the wall, but in very many cases the walls
-are so ruined that it would be dangerous work to do this. It is one
-of the unfortunate effects of this ancient dry masonry that when one
-block topples over a small cascade of blocks usually follows it. Such
-falls, followed by cascades of blocks, are continually taking place.
-One hears them night and day, especially after rains, and frequently
-these cascades, especially those from walls above the precipice
-on the Acropolis, will continue uninterruptedly for some minutes
-together. There are many points in walls so threatening to collapse
-that no builder’s art of shoring-up could possibly prevent their fall,
-for sooner or later they must come down with a crash. Natives give
-the information that from the time of their childhood they always
-remembered these falls taking place when no one was near the walls.
-Probably the noise of falling blocks, especially at night, has served
-to inspire the local natives with some of the dread in which after
-sundown they regard the ruins. After a heavy shower one can always find
-some damage done to the walls. This is mainly due to the quantity of
-silted soil behind walls, which, becoming overgutted with water, forces
-the walls over. The only remedy, and that a partial one, would appear
-to be to remove the silted soil from behind the walls, but to complete
-such operations a large gang of labourers would have to be engaged for
-many months. Still the complaint of the early pioneer that the walls
-at Zimbabwe are gradually becoming not only less but fewer remains
-perfectly incontrovertible.
-
-But there is an infinitude of other causes working for the dilapidation
-of the ancient walls at Zimbabwe, and some of these are undoubtedly
-preventable. It was for the purpose of removing such causes of damage
-that the recent work of preservation was undertaken on behalf of the
-Rhodesian Government, and these operations it is the purpose of this
-volume to describe.
-
-The Great Zimbabwe, as also the many associated ruins scattered
-throughout Southern Rhodesia, has been subject to wholesale destruction
-of its walls by the growth of trees, the presence of damp, the falling
-of immense trees across walls, the quarrying of its walls by past and
-present natives for building material, for cattle kraals, and other
-purposes. All the ruins at Zimbabwe afford ample evidences of the
-ravages caused by vegetable growth, and no ruin appears to have escaped
-some measure of destruction from this cause.
-
-In 1902 the Elliptical Temple was found to be full of large trees of
-immense girth, some being at least sixty feet in height. The shelter
-from the chilly winds prevailing at night and in the dry winter
-season, and the protection from damage to bark by grass fires provided
-by the high and massive walls, together with the perpetual state
-of damp from wet season to wet season prevailing within the walls,
-the close, hothouse temperature most favourable to the promotion of
-growth, provided an area in which trees and plants could flourish most
-luxuriantly.
-
-The trees within the temple are almost all hard woods of slow growth.
-One tree, not by any means a large one, showed by its rings an age of
-over a hundred years. The numerous fig-trees must be of great age.
-The three immense hard-wood trees in the centre of the building may
-possibly be a hundred years old. The rest of the temple was as full of
-soft-wooded trees as space permitted, while the branches of trees near
-the main walls crowded over the tops of the walls towards the outside.
-Undergrowth of monkey-ropes, wild vines, thorn creepers, and large
-bushes formed a dense jungle through which it was almost impossible to
-pass, while the damp maintained the soil in a wet, soggy state, the
-trees being covered with orchids and long, trailing festoons of lichen,
-the shaded walls being one mass of creepers, green moss, lichens, and
-ferns, and dripping with damp. Certainly such growth made the temple
-beautifully picturesque, and added greatly to its weird, desolate, and
-solemn appearance.
-
-But a succession of “dust-devils” or “wind twisters” that very
-frequently pass over the country in the breathless sultry hours of
-noon passed over Zimbabwe on the second day after our arrival, and at
-once demonstrated what damage the trees were inflicting on the ruins.
-Branches were set crunching and thumping on the summits of all the
-walls, soft-wood trees bent and swept the walls of loose blocks, two
-huge hard-wood branches remorselessly scraped noisily up and down the
-sides and on the top of the Conical Tower, while small trees growing
-on the actual summits of the walls shook and bent and still further
-loosened the blocks among which their roots extended. During the few
-minutes these “twisters” lasted the labourers studiously avoided the
-walls from which the ancient blocks were falling. Under every branch
-that crossed over a wall was a deep depression in the summit caused
-by the branch thudding upon it. Many of the trees growing close to
-the walls had, with long years of banging against the side of the
-wall, lost all their bark on their inner sides, and these had become
-perfectly flat. All this havoc, caused by rocking trees and sweeping
-branches, and by huge broken limbs falling upon interior walls, must
-have been going on for many years. The effect has been to cause the
-removal of the “throughs,” ties, and large bonding stones with which
-the ancients secured the summits of the walls, and these once gone
-the wall was subject to rapid dilapidation. Later, during high winds
-which prevailed for some days, it was most distressing to hear the
-noise of the trees grating and heavily beating against the walls,
-and the constant falling down of ancient blocks. The effects of such
-destruction can be seen to-day in the broken edges of the summits
-and in the deep depressions which occur at intervals along the lines
-of both main and divisional walls. Even the chevron pattern has been
-irretrievably damaged by branches of trees growing outside the temple,
-while the little tower in the Sacred Enclosure has, within the last few
-years, been thrown over by a huge branch.
-
-But in 1902–4 all trees growing near walls were felled, all projecting
-branches and rotten limbs were removed, as well as all trees which
-caused damp to collect on walls, while a general thinning out was made
-of all branches which interfered with a general view all round the
-building. Such trees as had done all the possible harm they could do
-and all trees standing at a distance from walls were left standing.
-The result has been to make the temple less “picturesque” than in its
-neglected state, but it still remains picturesque. The temple now
-appears to be larger, and its massive proportions now made visible
-stand out far more prominently than before.
-
-The present trees appear to have been the first that ever grew within
-the temple area. In the soil removed from ancient floors there were
-no signs of any older generations of trees having existed. The first
-appear to have arrived with the soil brought in by the past Makalanga
-in the course of their usual practice of converting ancient enclosures
-into platforms on which to erect their huts. The trees evidently
-flourished in the soil made rich by huge piles of bones of oxen and
-buck, the remains of feasts and sacrifices. Except in a few instances
-where rain-water was unable to escape, and has caused the ancient
-cement flooring to become decomposed, the roots of the trees rarely
-pierce below the ancient floors, the surfaces of which are covered with
-matted roots closely interwoven in masses like the roots of a large
-plant growing in a small pot.
-
-The jungle growth of small trees, bushes, and creepers would seem to be
-the result of excavators, who have broken up the hard clay floors of
-the old Makalanga and thus ventilated the soil below, as those places
-where most excavation work has been done have produced the greatest
-quantities of trees and the densest jungles. Until the whole of this
-foreign soil is removed down to the level of an ancient floor this
-jungle growth will always spring up afresh.
-
-But the growth of creepers such as monkey-rope, wild vines, and a
-climbing plant known as “Zimbabwe creeper,” has wrought untold havoc,
-but mainly on the faces of the walls. These creepers pierce into the
-joints of the dry masonry and emerge at a point some feet higher up.
-Later the branch inside the wall swells and forces out of the face of
-the wall all the blocks between the points where it enters into and
-emerges from the wall. This destruction of the walls by creepers is
-seen in many places at every one of the numerous ruins at Zimbabwe.
-Monkey-rope at the Elliptical Temple and wild vine on the Acropolis
-have been the most destructive agents of any of the creeper plants. The
-“Zimbabwe creeper” was found to be growing on the temple walls with
-its roots on the summits. This plant covered the main walls as with a
-thick green mantle, at some points completely hiding the entire surface
-of the walls. It also had its roots in the interstices of the Chevron
-Pattern, from the blocks of which it hung in festoons of over one
-hundred-weight each. This constant strain on the pattern has effected
-some destruction in addition to the injuries caused by the overhanging
-boughs of trees. The dilapidation of the walls of the Elliptical Temple
-is fairly typical of the dilapidations at all the ruins at Zimbabwe.
-
-But there are also minor causes for the dilapidation seen in the walls
-outside the larger ruins. The restless herd of some seventy cattle
-belonging to the Mogabe climb the lower walls with ease, and will walk
-along their whole length clanking the ancient blocks, and awkwardly
-clamber down broken ends of walls and gaps, bringing down a cataract
-of blocks as they descend. Some two hundred goats appear to live on
-the walls. Large baboons can be seen taking their morning exercise on
-the walls of the Acropolis, and as these scamper about and chase one
-another the blocks fall off the walls. Natives pull out the faces of
-the walls to secure honey, or in ferreting out small animals for food.
-
-It must also be remembered that the ancient walls have been quarried by
-Makalanga of past times and even by the present local Makalanga, all
-of whom have extensively used the ancient blocks for their inferior
-walls. But perhaps the greatest amount of dilapidation was effected
-when the large enclosed areas of the ruins were filled up and converted
-into raised platforms. In these instances, which are very numerous, the
-divisional walls suffered most, the blocks from their summits being
-thrown into the area till the interior was raised from 4 ft. to 7 ft.
-above the ancient floors, when clay floors were laid upon the filling
-in.
-
-On entering the Elliptical Temple of the Acropolis one of the first
-questions asked by visitors is—Are all these walls ancient? It is to
-the interest of our local archæological researches that such a question
-should be fairly dealt with, and the frank admission made that certain
-of the walls are not ancient. In examining the evidences against the
-antiquity of such walls a further proof is secured, were it needed,
-that such of the walls as are ancient possess undoubtedly the true seal
-of antiquity.
-
-_Makalanga walls within ancient ruins at Zimbabwe._—It would be
-preposterous to expect anyone who visited the ruins to believe that
-every single wall one saw at Zimbabwe, whether at the Elliptical Temple
-or on the Acropolis, was necessarily ancient.
-
-Some of the slighter-built walls within the ruins, which are of poor
-construction, and were once thought to be ancient, can now be shown
-to have been built by the Makalanga, the evidences of whose long and
-successive periods of occupation of these ruins are not only most
-obvious to all explorers and are confirmed by finds and conditions
-generally, but are a matter both of actual history as well as of
-tradition among the local natives themselves. Some of the ruins have
-been used by them for kraals, others—the smaller ones—were converted
-into cattle kraals with the huts outside the walls, while some have
-served both purposes. It is highly probable, judging by the state of
-the wall-débris, that the natives, in converting an ancient enclosure
-into a cattle kraal, have found portions of the divisional walls to be
-so dilapidated that they have rebuilt those portions after their own
-peculiar and recognisable fashion in order to keep in the cattle, at
-the same time building up gaps and entrances.
-
-While, according to statements of natives and judging also from the
-state of the ruins, there has been no occupation of the Elliptical
-Temple as a place of residence for the last three generations,
-still there are Makalanga walls to be seen, both here and in the
-Acropolis, at which latter ruins was the kraal, till four years ago,
-of the present Mogabe; and on the Acropolis are walls of Makalanga
-construction, both old and comparatively recent. The western enclosures
-of the Elliptical Temple have been used as cattle kraals up to the
-early seventies.
-
-The following are some of the evidences of Makalanga construction of
-walls within the ruins:—
-
-(_a_) The definite and circumstantial claim of the Makalanga to have
-built certain walls, and their ability to assign particular generations
-for the erection of other walls.
-
-(_b_) The construction of such walls is identified with obvious
-Makalanga buildings in their kraals, where there are no ancient ruins.
-The purpose of the later walls is in many instances patent, especially
-when the smell of the modern byres still lingers in the soil of the
-areas used by natives as cattle kraals enclosed by such walls.
-
-(_c_) Stones once part of the faces of ancient walls are used in the
-construction of those walls, the weather-stained, lichen-covered, and
-decomposed faces of the blocks being turned inside the walls either
-sideways or backwards, while the walls show no sign of age, and have a
-comparatively fresh appearance. Slate and granite monoliths, as well
-as ordinary slate beams which had once been lintels, have been used as
-building material.
-
-(_d_) Débris heaps of ancient blocks have been used as foundations, and
-sometimes these heaps acted as sections in the length of wall.
-
-(_e_) Frequently such walls are built in a very irregular line along
-the almost buried summits of ancient walls, and across filled-in
-entrances and even passages, the foundations of such walls projecting
-from underneath the Makalanga walls on either side.
-
-(_f_) Some of the Makalanga walls are built over damp, black leaf mould
-containing undecayed vegetable matter and also ordinary Kafir articles,
-the mould being over a stratum of red clay foundations of Makalanga
-huts, and with two or three feet of soil and stones between the clay
-and any floor below for which antiquity could be claimed. Makalanga
-pottery has been used to support and wedge up uneven ends of blocks.
-
-(_g_) The made foundations of Makalanga walls are of common clay, those
-of ancient walls being of a splendid quality of granite cement.
-
-(_h_) Nothing ancient or even approaching to antiquity is ever
-discovered on the levels of the bases of Makalanga walls, but round
-about their bases quantities of Makalanga articles may be found, some
-perhaps of better make and quality than now produced by them.
-
-(_i_) Local natives can to-day build very fair stone walls, but these
-have straight joints and are without tie or bonding, the courses are
-most erratic, and the line of wall wavering. The common feature of
-Makalanga wall construction is to build the stones up exactly over one
-another, giving the appearance to the wall of being built on columns.
-Their stone walls of cattle kraals can be seen in many deserted
-villages, as well as other of their walls where there are no ancient
-ruins. The Makalanga graves in the passages, both in the Elliptical
-Temple and in the Acropolis, were very well built in with cross-walls.
-
-(_j_) The Makalanga since mediæval times have always been known as
-builders in stone. Their circular hut and granary foundations of stone
-can still be seen in many parts of the country, especially on the
-clay floors of filled-in enclosures of ancient ruins of the terraced
-order. This art is mentioned by Mr. Selous and by almost all writers
-on this country before the Occupation, and pioneers and early settlers
-have affirmed this to be the case. Bent gives the names of Makalanga
-villages which he visited where these contained stone buildings of
-native construction. The names of other villages where such buildings
-are to be found are given by other writers. Bent actually saw their
-stone-building operations being carried on at Chipanza’s kraal.
-Professor Bryce describes a Makalanga village with stone buildings, but
-just as the arts of mining, smelting, wire-twisting, and cloth weaving
-are now fast disappearing on the advent of the cheap imported article,
-and on the natives finding other objects upon which to spend their
-time and labour, the art of stone building is becoming neglected. Old
-pioneers visiting the ruins are unanimous in affirming that such walls
-so built and so conditioned are of undoubted Makalanga construction.
-There are stone buildings at Cherimabila’s kraal, nine miles west from
-Zimbabwe. Mr. Drew considers the Barotse to be now the best stone
-builders in this district.
-
- • • • • •
-
-_Other walls not ancient._[42]—But there are other walls in these ruins
-which are not believed to be ancient, and these have not been erected
-by recent generations of Makalanga, but possibly by mediæval Makalanga,
-or by Arabs, who had large influential colonies in this country,
-especially at the various Zimbabwes of the successive Monomotapas.
-The arguments against these walls being ancient are just as numerous
-and equally as cogent as those just enumerated, but the consideration
-of such walls is dealt with in detail in the description of the walls
-themselves.
-
- • • • • •
-
-_Remains of native huts found in the ruins._—In many of the enclosures
-of the ruins at Zimbabwe are to be found on the present surfaces, and
-frequently, if the floor of the interior is not formed by the rock
-formation, on two floors beneath it, the remains of at least three
-entirely different descriptions of native huts. This is a feature
-constantly met with in ancient ruins throughout Southern Rhodesia,
-and in the early days of investigation these remains occasioned
-considerable perplexity to the explorer. In some ruins only one type of
-such structures is found, in others two classes of such dwellings, and
-in others three if not four different types of structure, all the three
-main types presenting different features in plan, construction, and
-material.
-
-That these erections are not ancient is a matter of ocular
-demonstration.
-
-(_a_) This is shown by their position on the clay floors laid over the
-débris which has been filled into the enclosure to the depth of
-from 3 ft. to 7 ft. above any ancient floor, hiding rounded entrances,
-passages, and smaller sub-divisional walls, and burying, as at some
-ruins, the ancient decorative patterns on the walls. The examination
-of the material employed, and the class of its make so similar to the
-remains of native huts in old deserted villages, all negative any
-suggestion of antiquity.
-
-[Illustration: AN OLD WALL CROSSING OVER THE FOUNDATION OF A STILL
-OLDER WALL, ZIMBABWE]
-
-[Illustration: BINDING OF THE SUMMITS OF TWO SEPARATE WALLS, ACROPOLIS
-RUINS]
-
-(_b_) The stonework of the foundations is, as is shown later, of a
-totally different character from that in undoubted ancient walls, and
-is practically identical with the stone foundations of granaries still
-to be seen in any of the villages, some of which are not twelve months
-old.
-
-(_c_) The “finds” in these structures do not suggest ancient
-occupation, but they include articles of superior native make and
-design, some of which are either not now used by Makalanga or Barotse,
-or are only met with in rare instances, but are claimed by local
-natives as having been made and used by previous generations of their
-people. For instance, double iron gongs, such as are plentifully found
-north of the Zambesi and in the higher Congo districts, where they may
-still be seen in actual use, pictures of which occur in works of travel
-in Central Africa; or copper bangles of exceedingly fine wire, which
-ornaments have fallen into desuetude and can be but seldom met with
-now; or carved soapstone daha pipe-bowls, for the making of which the
-Zimbabwe Makalanga, even at the time of the Occupation, were famous.
-
-(_d_) Several of these structures at Zimbabwe are claimed by the local
-Makalanga and Barotse to have been built by their respective people of
-previous generations. The Barotse lived on the Bentberg at Zimbabwe
-up to fifty or sixty years ago. The remains of their old kraal can be
-seen to-day. The circular shallow stone foundations of their huts,
-the courses rising in “cat-steps,” the immense rounded clay rims
-which supported the poles of the sides of their dwellings, are still
-in evidence. These were erected on platforms made by filling in the
-spaces between the inner sides of ancient enclosure walls and the slope
-of the hill, a practice to be noticed on all the faces of Zimbabwe
-Hill, except the eastern.
-
-The different types of such structures so found in the ruins may be
-described as follows:—
-
-(1) The ordinary clay ruins of a present-day Makalanga hut, with clay
-floors, butt-ends of side poles still in position, clay ruins on floor
-marking off the fire-place, the stand for pots, the higher floor for
-sleeping-place of occupants and the lower floor for goats. These are
-found on the present surface or immediately under black leaf mould
-soil, and resemble huts built in local kraals, only they are neater,
-of better make, and of slightly superior quality of clay. The articles
-found here are similar to those belonging to present Makalanga.
-
-(2) The foundations of huts with large rims of clay with rounded
-edges on both sides, the diameter being some 9 ft. to 12 ft., and the
-rims 16 in. in length and about the same width, the poles being fixed
-along the centres of the rims. The material in the floor and in the
-rim is of a superior quality of clay, which builders state it would
-be misleading to describe as cement. Under the clay floors, which are
-about 3 in. thick, are platforms of stones laid flatwise in three or
-four courses, the outer faces of the courses receding from 1 in. to 3
-in. behind the faces of the courses below. Sometimes the stonework is
-laid upon a bed of clay. This class of hut is found upon a lower level
-than the undoubted Makalanga dwelling. In the Eastern Temple this type
-of remains was uncovered at a depth of 3 ft. below the surface, and
-there were no less than two clay floors, each with a layer of ashes,
-and two granite cement floors below it. These can be seen in the trench
-made alongside the stone foundation. Glass beads of old make, copper
-spearheads, and thick copper bangles, beaten copper and copper tacks
-were among the principal finds discovered in this type of building.
-In and near such remains were found the four double iron gongs (May,
-1902-March, 1903), piles of animal bones split open in ordinary Kafir
-style for marrow, broken pottery, and quantities of ashes.
-
-(3) On still lower levels were found the floors and lower portions of
-the sides of huts made of a red-coloured cement without poles fixed in
-the cement sides. This is not ordinary daga. The inside faces of the
-walls, as well as the floors which are beautifully smooth, have been
-baked with fire, and fragments will ring almost like metal, portions
-having become white with the heat. This cement has in most instances
-been faced with a thin yellow glaze. On the floors are quantities of
-small rims very neatly bevelled, with three or four parallel faces on
-the top, the ends of the rims being rounded off. The bevelled rims
-are from 1½ in. to 4 in. wide. The roofs of these buildings were
-supported by poles inserted in the cement floors outside the huts at
-the distance in many instances of 1 ft. The posts round the outside of
-the huts were from 1 ft. 6 in. to 2 ft. 4 in. apart, and, judging by
-their butt-ends, which have been preserved by the cement, were made of
-hard woods, including mahobohobo, which is plentiful at Zimbabwe. The
-best examples of these huts, of which some score can be seen, are in
-No. 1 Enclosure in the Elliptical Temple, in the North-West Enclosure,
-Acropolis, and on the cleared section of floor in the Western Temple.
-These huts stand on cement platforms without stone foundations, and the
-platforms are about 1 ft. high, and the top edges are neatly bevelled.
-In two of these remains at Zimbabwe have been found gold dust, iron
-spring pincers with flux on the top, pottery, gold scorifiers, and the
-crudely-shaped soapstone moulds.
-
-Old pioneers assert that these buildings are of Makalanga construction.
-The Makalangas themselves claim these as having been built by their
-people in a very remote past. Similar buildings, but without traces
-of gold-smelting, are known to have been built by the Makalanga in
-different parts of Southern Mashonaland.
-
-Mr. Alfred Drew, Native Commissioner for Victoria district, who
-arrived in this country in 1890, and is a recognised authority on old
-Makalanga buildings, expresses his entire agreement with the above
-descriptions of old native clay huts, also with the conclusions arrived
-at concerning them.
-
-(4) There is another class of native hut which is not very frequently
-found in Southern Rhodesia, but is commonly met with in Basutoland
-and Swaziland, and in other territories further south. At Zimbabwe
-there are four such huts on the higher floors of filled-in ruins. This
-class of hut is constructed of cement of a good quality and of great
-thickness, with no poles to support the roof. It is circular in form,
-and from its exterior sides are four, sometimes five, short radiating
-walls of stones extending outward some 5 ft. or 6 ft. The walls are
-about 4 ft. wide, and in height reach almost to the top of the cement
-sides of the hut. The entrance usually has an immense cement buttress
-on either side, while between each radiating wall, and at the base of
-the side of the hut, runs a cement bevel rounded on its outer edge as
-if to form a seat. This bevel is about 14 in. high and 16 in. wide. In
-all weathers and at any time of day the occupiers could have sat in
-some one of these partially open spaces between the radiating walls
-sheltered from sun, rain, or wind. The remains of two such huts were
-found in the Western Temple on the Acropolis, and one of the radiating
-walls of one of them, which was more exposed and less ruined than the
-other short walls, was fixed upon by Swan as an “altar.” This wall is B
-wall, mentioned in the description of the Western Temple, which follows
-in Chapter XV.
-
- • • • • •
-
-_Passages._—Every writer on Zimbabwe appears to have been greatly
-struck with the number of passages both at the Elliptical Temple and
-on the Acropolis, and particularly with their labyrinthine character.
-During 1902–4 further passages were discovered and opened out, and
-these had a total length of 2,130 ft. The total length of passages
-opened out, or which can be clearly traced, now amounts to 5,202 ft. As
-is shown later in this section, this by no means exhausts the tale of
-passages to be found at Zimbabwe.
-
- _Elliptical Temple_:—
-
- Situation of Passages. Cleared. Traced.
- Parallel Passage 193 ft.
- Inner Parallel Passage 71 〃
- South Passage 73 〃
- *West Passage 30 〃 30 ft.
- *South Entrance to No. 10
- Enclosure 14 〃
-
- _Outside Elliptical Temple_:—
-
- Outer Parallel Passage 125 ft.
- *North-East Passage (remainder
- of length included in the
- “Valley of Ruins” passages) 50 〃
-
- _Acropolis or Hill Ruins_:—
-
- South-East Ancient Ascent 349 ft. 1260 ft.
- Higher Parapet 78 〃
- Central Passage 103 〃
- *Sunken Passage, Eastern Temple
- (traced further) 28 〃
- North Passage, Eastern Temple 23 〃
- *South Cave Passage 46 〃
- Covered Passage (cleared in 1902) 10½ 〃
- Parallel Passage 71 〃 20 ft.
- *Cleft Rock Enclosure to foot of
- Platform stairs 10 〃
- Winding Stairs 14 〃
- Upper Passage 28 ft.
- East Passage 80 〃
- Buttress Passage 39 〃
- *South Passage 38 〃
- Pattern Passage (upper portion
- cleared in 1902) 51 〃
-
- _North-West Ascent_:—
-
- *Sunken Passage in Platform
- Enclosure 72 ft.
- Ditto through main wall 16 〃
- Ditto on Northern Parapet 28 〃
- *Ditto from Northern Parapet to
- Visitors’ Part 223 〃
- *Ditto from Visitors’ Part to
- Water Gate 150 〃 510 ft.
-
- _Minor Ruins_:—
-
- *Outspan Ruins 56 ft.
- Ridge Ruins, Parallel Passage 246 〃
- *Ridge Ruins, other passages 25 〃
- No. 1 Ruins 142 〃
-
- _Valley of Ruins_:—
-
- *North-East Passage 600 ft.
- Passage referred to by Mr. Bent 300 〃
- *Posselt Ruins, Parallel Passage 65 ft.
- *Philips Ruins 51 〃
- *Maund Ruins 24 〃
- *Mauch Ruins 99 〃
- *Renders Ruins 31 〃
- ————————— —————————
- Totals 2,752 ft. 3,620 ft.
-
- * These passages were discovered in 1902–4.
-
-In addition to these totals of lengths of passages cleared out or
-traced, there are many other passages still buried in débris, the
-outcrop of their side walls being seen here and there on the surface
-near several ruins. Many, of course, must be completely buried under
-the veld, for some were lately discovered at least 3 ft. below the
-surface, with native paths crossing them in all directions, while it
-is quite reasonable to suppose that with the great area of ruins yet
-unexplored very many more passages will yet be found, especially when
-it is recollected that the discovery of one buried passage has most
-frequently led to the discovery of several side passages.
-
-Traces were found of two other passages leading from the base to the
-summit of the Acropolis Hill, and these remain unexplored, and each
-would be fully 900 ft. in length, while traces of several lines of
-passages are to be seen encircling at various heights the south, west,
-and north faces of the Acropolis Hill. These also at present remain
-unexplored.
-
-There are many points of interest concerning these passages:—
-
-(_a_) Passages were evidently constructed as part of the plan of the
-fortifications, but in some instances only as means of communication
-between certain buildings within the fortified area and for securing
-privacy. In the one class of passage buttresses and traverses are
-repeated with a marvellous redundancy; in the other class of passage
-not a single buttress or traverse is to be found.
-
-(_b_) In passages leading from main ruins to exterior buildings the
-walls of the passage nearer the main ruins are better built, and the
-steps and floors are better constructed in the portions nearer the
-main ruins than are those of the more distant portions of the passage.
-So imperceptibly do the better-built portions merge into the less
-superior class of wall that it is extremely difficult to ascertain the
-exact point where the change in the quality of the construction takes
-place, though the difference in the class of building at one end of
-the passage and that of the other is most obvious. But though this
-difference in the construction of the passage walls is so apparent,
-there is no suggestion that portions were of a later period, for
-they are built upon one plan, have one line of direction, serve as a
-complete communication with one obvious and particular point, and one
-length of the passage without the other would be purposeless, so far
-as the intention of the builders may be gathered. With regard to the
-passages ascending the Acropolis Hill, the completeness of the plan of
-these passages is best seen from the summit of the hill or from the
-summit of Makuma Kopje on the opposite side of the valley, from which
-heights respectively a complete view of those passages in their entire
-length is to be obtained.
-
-(_c_) Excepting some of the passages in the Elliptical Temple and a few
-others on the Acropolis, all the passages at Zimbabwe are exceedingly
-narrow and tortuous, many being only shoulder wide, while, owing to
-their winding lengths, it is not possible to see many feet on ahead.
-Such of these passages as have their floors below the levels of
-adjoining enclosures have in many places their side walls bulged by
-the weight of earth and débris behind into the passage-ways, and in
-some such instances the side walls have collapsed and blocked up the
-passages.
-
-(_d_) Almost every passage appears to have originally been paved with
-blocks which were covered over with granite cement, but the cement,
-except in a few instances, has decomposed and been washed away by
-centuries of rains, though abundant traces of it remain.
-
-(_e_) Sunken passages built very much below the levels of the ancient
-floors on either side of them are numerous. The best instances of
-sunken passages are the North-East Passage between the Elliptical
-Temple and the Valley of Ruins, also the North-West Ascent to the
-Acropolis (upper portion), and the sunken passage in the Eastern
-Temple on the Acropolis.
-
-(_f_) The walls of the ascents to the Acropolis as originally built
-would have precluded any outsider from seeing, even if standing on
-an adjoining kopje, the movements of people passing up and down the
-ascents; and to-day as a native ascends these passages it is almost
-impossible to see him till he reaches the summit, except as he is
-passing gaps or walls which have become considerably dilapidated. Some
-of the outer walls of these ascents are still 10 ft. in height.
-
-(_g_) The Elliptical Temple and the Western Temple on the Acropolis
-have each long and narrow and deep parallel passages on the inside of
-their main walls, and it is possible that the Pattern Passage served
-for a similar purpose at the Eastern Temple. The Parallel Passage in
-the Elliptical Temple communicated only between the North Entrance and
-the Sacred Enclosure where are the conical towers, and this passage has
-no communication with any other portion of the interior of the temple.
-Several of the known writers on these ruins, including Bent, have
-conjectured that these parallel passages in the temples were reserved
-for the use of the priests.
-
-(_h_) Cliffs and large boulders have been frequently utilised to form
-lengths of passages. Instances of this practice are to be seen on
-the Acropolis in the Rock Passage of the South-East Ancient Ascent,
-Buttress Passage, North Passage, and elsewhere. In some instances the
-walls are made to go out of their line so as to include neighbouring
-boulders, the sole object, so it would appear, being to deprive any
-invading force of the vantage offered by the height of the boulders for
-an attack to be made on the passage.
-
-(_i_) There are no evidences that any of the passages, except as stated
-later, were ever roofed. Possibly the winding stairs and the sunken
-passage in the Eastern Temple were originally covered over, as a great
-quantity of long, flat slate beams were found on their floors. It is
-believed that a single wall once crossed over the sunken passage in
-Platform Enclosure at about 15 ft. from its upper end, for when this
-passage was opened in 1902 slate beams were found at this spot, but at
-no other point in the passage. The passage through the main west wall
-of the Western Temple, which was blocked up by a Makalanga-built wall,
-of course, was covered over by the main wall, while the Covered Passage
-in the same temple remains intact as originally built. Moreover, the
-widths of many of the passages though narrow on their floors are
-wide at the summits of their side walls, and their irregular form
-precludes suggestion of any roofing having been placed over them, some
-being doubly as wide as the longest of the slate and granite beams
-found, beside which the general absence of long slate and granite
-beams on the floors of the passages would seem to further negative
-any such conjecture. The West Passage leading to the South Cave was
-not artificially roofed over, but the outer wall was raised up to the
-height of the boulder which overhangs the passage.
-
- • • • • •
-
-_Entrances and buttresses._—When in 1891 Bent approached Zimbabwe
-through North Bechuanaland, Gwanda, Tuli, and Belingwe, he passed
-through the centre of that area in which the earliest of the many
-ancient ruins of Rhodesia are located. All the ruins he described or
-mentioned had rounded ends of walls and rounded buttresses, all angular
-features being conspicuous by their absence. This fact appeared to
-him so striking that he was constrained, after comparing these ruins
-with Zimbabwe, to believe that such rounded features belonged to the
-earliest period of Zimbabwe architecture. Fully a score of competent
-writers on our ruins, whose valuable and trustworthy contributions,
-based on personal examination of the same area, have been welcomed by
-the leading scientific associations of Great Britain and Germany, are
-also emphatic as to the rounded entrances and buttresses being one
-of the chief distinctive features of the earliest Zimbabwes. This is
-further demonstrated in the detailed descriptions of almost one hundred
-ruins within the same area which are given in _The Ancient Ruins of
-Rhodesia_, in the great majority of which ruins angular features,
-except in reconstructions of a later period, are altogether absent.
-
-[Illustration: South Entrance N^o. 7 ENCLOSURE Elliptical Temple
-
-W. _Divisional Walls_ B. _Buttresses_ s.s. _Steps_]
-
-But the Great Zimbabwe being the finest type of that early class of
-ancient building, it may be interesting to know that Bent’s conclusion
-is thoroughly confirmed by these ruins.
-
- ENTRANCES
-
- Ruins. Rounded. Angular.
- Elliptical Temple 23 1
- (One other entrance is partly
- rounded and partly angular.)
- Acropolis 31 4
- (One of the angular entrances is
- of obviously later construction.)
- No. 1 Ruins 10 1
- (One entrance is partly rounded
- and partly angular.)
- Valley Ruins 33 4
-
- BUTTRESSES
-
- Ruins. Rounded. Angular.
- Elliptical Temple 24 Nil.
- (Two buttresses are partly angular
- and partly rounded)
- Acropolis 19 3
- No. 1 Ruins 8 Nil.
- Valley Ruins * *
-
- * All rounded except three as so far discovered.
-
-All ends of walls which are still intact are rounded, there being only
-a few examples so far discovered of angular-ended walls.
-
-[Illustration: North Entrance N^o. 7 ENCLOSURE Elliptical Temple
-
-W. _Divisional Walls_ B. _Buttresses_ s.s _Steps_ P. _Portcullis
-Grooves_]
-
-The above figures show conclusively that these rounded features,
-excluding the ends of walls which are almost always rounded, are in a
-far greater proportion than 146 to 13 which are angular, and at least
-three of the latter, if not others, for reasons explained elsewhere,
-can be shown to have been erected at a much later period, one being
-built upon a floor of common Makalanga daga, and another débris
-containing ordinary Kafir articles of no very great age.
-
-All the entrances in the main outer walls, save one, are rounded, the
-few angular entrances being found, with two exceptions, in slighter
-walls, mainly divisional, some of which were erected later possibly to
-suit the immediate convenience of later occupiers, for divisional walls
-had been removed, reconstructed, or entirely fresh ones erected in new
-directions in almost every ruin, and in some instances the foundations
-of the later walls cross at right or oblique angles over the reduced
-summits of older divisional walls.
-
-Walls of the earliest period widen out as they near entrances. This
-feature is not present in plumb and angular walls of later construction.
-
-There is no evidence whatever in the rounded entrances that they were
-ever covered over, but in two angular entrances on the Acropolis the
-butts of the broken slate lintels still remain in the side walls.
-
-Although there are not sufficient proofs to enable one to definitely
-determine whether the rounded entrances as a rule were once covered
-over, some of the evidences to negative the covering in of rounded
-entrances may be noted:—
-
-(_a_) Had such entrances been roofed in, the collapse of the lintels
-must have brought down far more of the walls than have fallen.
-
-(_b_) The courses of the blocks at the necessary height above the floor
-of the entrances on either side do not always correspond.
-
-(_c_) The top courses near the summit of the walls on either side
-of the entrances show distinct signs of curving inwards towards the
-entrances. This is particularly noticed on the east side of the
-north-west entrance to the Elliptical Temple.
-
-(_d_) No splinters of slate or granite beams which could have been used
-as roofing were found in any of the very many rounded entrances.
-
-(_e_) Two intact rounded entrances, one open up to the summit on either
-side to a height of 19 ft., one entrance being at the east end of
-Pattern Passage on the Acropolis.
-
-No main entrance has buttresses on either hand on the outer side,
-possibly because these would have provided any attacking party with
-excellent shelter. All buttresses of such entrances are on the inside.
-Divisional entrances which have buttresses have them on the inside only.
-
-The entrances through a wall of the earlier period are carried over
-the common foundation in the opening forming the steps, which were
-evidently constructed before the side walls were erected. These steps
-are large, broad, and high, and where intact look most imposing. Such
-entrances resemble stiles, as they are much higher than the levels of
-the floors on either side.
-
-The entrances through an angular wall of a later period have steps
-which are not part of either side walls, but were built in after the
-entrance passage had been constructed, and these show poor workmanship
-and are very shallow, and recede only two to four inches. As the levels
-of the enclosures on either side have filled in over the original
-floors, such “cat-steps” have in some instances been built over the
-original large steps for the purpose of raising the floor of the
-entrances, seeing that the enclosures on either side had been filled in
-some feet above their original levels.
-
-Directly opposite the main entrance of the “Outspan Ruins” is a large
-circular buttress, as if it were intended to divide any attacking party
-into small numbers.
-
- • • • • •
-
-_Cause of dilapidation to entrance buttresses._—The entrance buttresses
-with portcullis grooves are in most instances comparatively small, some
-projecting only two to three feet towards the interior of the building,
-and these are built up against main and divisional walls, and are in
-point of construction altogether independent erections, there being no
-dovetailing or binding between the buttresses and the walls.
-
-In some of the entrances the side lintels of slate, granite, and
-unworked soapstone beams have been found built into the portcullis
-grooves. In _The Ancient Ruins of Rhodesia_ it was noticed that at
-several of the ruins therein mentioned stone side lintels were found
-_in situ_. The stone lintel posts _in situ_ at Zimbabwe had not then
-been discovered. The tallest of such stone lintels at Zimbabwe is 8 ft.
-above the ground. The buttresses appear to have been built after the
-stone posts had been erected, for the walls at the sides of the lintel
-follow the irregularities of the side faces of the beams.
-
-The great destruction which has occurred to these structures might
-possibly be accounted for by (1) the weight of the stone lintel on
-getting off the perpendicular, which would lever down the buttress into
-which it was built; (2) the foundations of buttresses are not so deep
-as those of the main wall up against which they were built; (3) when
-some later people, possibly natives, deliberately built up and blocked
-the entrances they might have used the blocks of these buttresses
-for their building material; (4) the passage-way between each pair
-of buttresses being so very narrow, damage could easily have been
-wrought by ordinary traffic; and (5) the main walls are much higher
-than the summits of the buttresses, and the walls on either side of the
-entrances being always more dilapidated on the summits, the falling of
-huge masses of masonry on to the buttresses immediately below might
-have effected their destruction.
-
-
-
-
- CHAPTER VIII
-
- NOTES ON ANCIENT ARCHITECTURE AT GREAT ZIMBABWE
-
- (_Continued_)
-
- Drains—Battering of Walls—Monoliths—Soapstone Monoliths and
- Beams—Granite and Slate Beams—Cement dadoes—Built-up
- Crevices—Holes in Walls other than Drains—Blind Steps
- and Platforms—Ancient Walls at a Distance from Main
- Walls—Cement—Caves and Rock Holes.
-
-
- DRAINS IN ELLIPTICAL TEMPLE
-
-_Drains through main walls_:—
-
-1. At (352 ft.);[43] from Parallel Passage to exterior of temple; has
-a decided fall outwards; curves round at half through towards south;
-covered with large slabs; inner hole 1 in. below granite cement floor
-of passage, which slopes downwards from either side towards hole;
-interior opening 14 in. high, 9 in. wide; exterior opening, 12 in.
-high, 6 in. wide.
-
-Between Nos. 1 and 2 drains the cement floor rises a few inches to a
-raised step-barrier 4 in. high, 3 ft. 10 in. broad, from which the
-flooring slopes down to No. 2 drain, thus forming catchment areas for
-each drain to clear off rain-water, so that each drain only had such an
-area to clear which its capacity would allow.
-
-2. At (391 ft.); from Parallel Passage to exterior of temple; decided
-fall outwards; curves towards north-east; covered with large slabs;
-cement floor of passage level with floor of drain; interior opening 11
-in. high, 11 in. wide; exterior opening 17 in. high, 11 in. wide.
-
-[Facing this drain and on the west side of the passage is the drain
-(No. 7) from No. 14 Enclosure, described later.]
-
-3. At (442 ft.); from Parallel Passage to Outer Parallel Passage;
-fairly straight; steep fall outwards; covered with large slabs;
-interior opening 12 in. high, 8 in. wide; exterior opening 15 in. high,
-6 in. wide. [It was from this drain that fragments of cement lining
-were taken.]
-
-4. At (476 ft.); from Parallel Passage to Outer Parallel Passage;
-partially obstructed at half-way through by stones and dirt; very
-decided fall outwards; curves slightly towards east; covered with large
-slabs; interior opening 11 in. high, 7 in. wide; exterior opening 10
-in. high, 10 in. wide.
-
-5. At (515 ft.); from Parallel Passage to Outer Parallel Passage;
-interior opening buried in débris supporting wall threatening to
-collapse; exterior opening 10 in. high, 6 in. wide; covered with large
-slabs; exterior portion shows decided fall outwards; clear for 8 ft.,
-probably further.
-
-6. At (549 ft.); from No. 2 Enclosure to exterior of temple; clear for
-13 ft. from interior; exterior opening buried under very old Makalanga
-clay floor; covered with large slabs; interior opening 11 in. high, 8
-in. wide; shows a fall outwards.
-
-[Drains Nos. 1–6 pass through main wall at points where it is from 13
-ft. 6 in. to 16 ft. wide.]
-
-_Drains through divisional walls_:—
-
-7. From No. 14 Enclosure to Parallel Passage facing drain 2 at (391
-ft.); exterior opening 12 in. high, 7 in. wide; shows outward fall;
-covered with large slabs; passes through wall 6 ft. wide at drain
-level; interior end blocked up.
-
-8. From No. 11 Enclosure to Sacred Enclosure (east); on north side of
-small conical tower; penetrated for 6 ft., at which point it is blocked
-up; rises sharply inside; exterior opening 9 in. high, 6 in. wide;
-interior opening blocked up and covered over.
-
-9. At north end of South Passage; from South Passage to Parallel
-Passage; decided fall outwards; covered with large slabs; clear for
-5 ft.; interior opening 10 in. high, 8 in. wide; blocked up at outer
-opening by débris supporting dilapidated wall.
-
-[Pieces of granite cement lining also found here in 1892 and 1902.]
-
-10. From No. 1 to No. 3 Enclosures; at south corner of No. 3; exterior
-opening 11 in. high and 7 in. wide; shows fall outwards; covered with
-slabs; curves towards south; clear for 6 ft. 6 in.; interior opening
-covered by clay floor of Makalanga hut.
-
-11. From No. 15 Enclosure to Inner Parallel Passage; fall outwards;
-exterior opening 12 in. high, 8 in. wide; interior opening blocked up
-and covered over by soil and wall débris; clear for 5 ft.
-
-_Drains at entrances_:—
-
-12. Through south entrance to South Passage; discovered by Sir John
-Willoughby; under centre of steps; outlet on lower face of steps.
-
-13. Under step and parallel with wall at entrance to Sacred Enclosure
-(west) from No. 9 Enclosure; two similar drains on Acropolis.
-
-_Drains through an outer wall_:—
-
-14. On north-west side of southern end of North-East Passage; through
-base of wall 4 ft. 6 in. wide; eastern exterior opening 8 in. high, 9
-in. wide; covered with lintels; clear for 3 ft.; extended eastwards as
-an open drain 8 in. wide towards foot of steps of north entrance to the
-temple.
-
-15. Through wall dividing No. 10 Enclosure from Platform Area. This has
-a fall eastwards, and is in a good state of preservation.
-
-[Illustration: EXTERIOR OF A DRAIN, ELLIPTICAL TEMPLE]
-
-[Illustration: MONOLITHS ON THE PLATFORM, ACROPOLIS
-
-(_Also see p. 315_)]
-
-
- DRAINS AT ACROPOLIS RUINS
-
-16. In Western Temple, in divisional wall “A” (see plan and
-description); drain-hole passes 5 ft. from north to south; northern
-opening 9 in. high, 11 in. wide; impossible to state the fall owing to
-stones and dirt inside; fragments of cement lining were found here in
-1891, 1892, and 1902. [The interior of this temple was on the north
-side of wall “A,” as well as on the south side of wall “D,” much higher
-than between these two walls, which form a small amphitheatre (Bent)
-within and at the west end of the larger amphitheatre formed by the
-main walls of the temple. This is obvious to anyone examining the
-interior. Practical builders have recently stated their belief that
-when the lower and western side of this smaller amphitheatre is cleared
-of débris drains will be found at the base of the main west wall,
-which, so far as discoveries have been made, is the widest ancient
-wall in Rhodesia. The whole interior of the temple, and the formation
-rock over which, but not upon which, it is built, slant at all points
-downwards to the foot of the inner face of the main wall.]
-
-17. On west side of Upper Passage and leading from _Little Enclosure_;
-exterior opening 9 in. high, 6 in. wide; clear for 3 ft. inwards;
-interior opening covered with débris.
-
-18. East corner of South Enclosure A; through south wall; 4 ft. long;
-fall outwards; covered with large slabs; exterior opening 12 in. high,
-8 in. wide; interior opening dilapidated.
-
-19. East entrance of Eastern Temple leading from temple to Gold Furnace
-Enclosure; under pavement of entrance; still 5 in. deep.
-
-
- DRAINS IN VALLEY OF RUINS
-
-20. In B section of Posselt Ruins in a divisional wall at extreme
-north-west end of ruins.
-
-21. In B section of Posselt Ruins in a divisional wall on north side 4
-ft. wide.
-
-22. In B section of Posselt Ruins in main south wall.
-
-23. In Philips Ruins through a substantial wall east of large curved
-wall.
-
-24. In Philips Ruins through wall on east side of previous drain.
-
-25. In Mauch Ruins in divisional wall.
-
-26. In Mauch Ruins in east main wall.
-
-27. In Mauch Ruins in east wall of the outer enclosure.
-
- • • • • •
-
-_The battering of walls._—The backward incline of both faces of walls
-from their bases to summits is a general characteristic in ancient
-architecture at Zimbabwe, and in all other ruins which belong to the
-earliest known type of ancient buildings in this country. This feature,
-so far as examinations have been made, is conspicuous by its absence
-from all buildings of the second or later period. So noticeable is
-this feature in the main walls of the Elliptical Temple that visitors
-viewing the walls from the interior constantly affirm their belief that
-the walls have commenced to lean over towards the exterior, and when
-viewing the exterior faces of the identical walls declare that the
-walls are leaning inwards and must ultimately fall inside the building.
-This is a mere optical delusion.
-
-The main walls, portions of which are believed to have stood some
-3,500 years, are, if given the same conditions to which they have been
-subjected in past times, quite likely to be standing at the end of
-another millennium, if not longer, for the battering-back is a most
-important element of their massive strength, and has proved to be the
-main factor in securing their durability. Of course, some main walls
-in certain places show signs of bulging out and of damage caused by
-earth movements, possibly earthquakes, also by lightning, the sinking
-of foundations by water or damp, or growth of trees within their
-open dry masonry during the long period since their erection. Some
-faces of the walls show a complete swagging from end to end of their
-lengths, and yet the batter-back has preserved the walls practically
-intact throughout with each block occupying its original relative
-position. The appearance of such walls strongly suggests the effects of
-earthquake, and while these earth-movements would destroy a plumb wall,
-a wall with a severe batter-back, such as is seen in all the older
-walls at Zimbabwe, would on this account be comparatively safe from
-such effects.
-
-In some instances the battering is very severe and exceeds that of
-1 ft. in 6 ft., and the native labourers can scale such with ease.
-Looking at the rounded extremities of any of the most ancient walls,
-one notices that their sides resemble the lines of a lighthouse as
-popularly conceived, in many instances the batter-back being more
-severe near the base and near the summit, and many of such rounded ends
-of walls where still perfect show very graceful lines of battering. So
-carefully is the batter-back worked out in the courses that looking up
-or down the face of the wall one can scarcely see a quarter of an inch
-of face of protruding block out of the line of the battering.
-
-To secure the batter of the walls the blocks are not slanted downwards
-at their inner side, but are laid on a true dead level reaching from
-face to face of the wall on either side, and in their outer courses
-their outside edges are placed back from the outer course below. So
-slightly do these courses recede one above another that in the height
-of only a few courses it would be almost impossible to detect the
-presence of any battering, while it is very decidedly noticeable in a
-height of some few feet.
-
-Bent’s estimate of the extent of the battering of walls at Zimbabwe,
-namely, 1 ft. in 6 ft., is fairly exact with regard to many of the
-walls, but excessive with regard to others, such as the main walls of
-the Elliptical Temple, while for many walls it is perfectly correct.
-The battering in most instances being more perceptible near base and
-summit than on the intermediate face of the wall, and the summits in
-many cases having disappeared, the batter-back, as ascertained by
-plumb lines, has consequently been considerably reduced. Where the
-original summits are still practically intact, and where there have
-been no bulging out of the faces of the walls, and the top courses on
-the edges do not lean outwards as they frequently do, on account of
-creeper and tree growths, the 1 ft. in 6 ft. is frequently approached,
-for instance, south wall _Western Temple_, 4 ft. 8 in. in 31 ft.;
-_Pattern Passage_, 2 ft. in 13 ft. In low walls 1 ft. in 6 ft. is very
-frequently reached.
-
-The main walls of the Elliptical Temple, as shown in the _Table of
-Battering_ (see _Elliptical Temple, Main Wall_, Chapter IX.), are much
-less than 1 ft. in 6 ft., a fair average for inside faces being 1 ft.
-in 11 ft., but at some points it is only 1 ft. in 15 ft., and for
-outside faces 1 ft. in 10 ft. and 1 ft. in 8 ft.
-
-(For the battering of the _Conical Towers_, see descriptions of those
-structures.)
-
- • • • • •
-
-_Monoliths._—In most of the ruins of both major and minor importance
-at Zimbabwe, numerous beams of slate and granite, varying from 4 ft.
-to 14 ft. in length, have been found, some of the slate beams showing
-signs of having been treated with tools. It has been the custom of
-many writers to call these beams “monoliths.” In the greater number
-of instances these beams can be shown never to have been employed as
-monoliths. So far, at Zimbabwe, authenticated monoliths have been
-discovered only at the Elliptical Temple, and the Eastern and Western
-Temples of the Acropolis and Philips Ruins. Many of the beams found
-in these buildings are not and never were employed as monoliths, and
-the greatest possible care has to be taken in discriminating between
-monoliths and ordinary beams.
-
-Monoliths have their bases marked and worn by the stones in the sides
-of the holes on the summits of the walls in which they now stand or
-once stood, as if they had later become loose and had moved or even
-oscillated constantly while still in a fairly upright position. The
-marking of such as have fallen shows that they were made by rubbing
-against the edges of the enclosing blocks when the monoliths were in a
-perpendicular position, while some of the jagged notches on the bases
-must have been made when the monoliths were in a slanting position.
-The stumps of beams left in the side walls of entrances and passages
-which were once covered by slate and granite lintels, and across which
-the upper portions of the walls were carried, do not show the same
-markings; in fact, such ends of slate and granite lintels are not found
-to be worn by the friction caused by contact with the edges of blocks,
-and besides, these lack all evidence of having occupied a perpendicular
-position, or of having been exposed to the weather. Monoliths are
-decomposed and weather-worn on all faces, but there is generally more
-lichen on their south faces.
-
-Further, the bases of monoliths, plain or carved, especially those
-of soapstone and slate, are found to have their lowest extremities
-water-worn into smooth faces or grooves at such points round their
-faces where the bases did not come in contact with the enclosing
-blocks, and this smoothing has obviously been caused by rain-water
-running down the faces of the monoliths to the lowest part of their
-bases, till at last, especially those of slate, the bases which
-were once of greater circumference have become worn and tapered.
-The thickness of the wall and the depth to which the bases of the
-monoliths were built into them would prevent the sun’s heat drying the
-damp bases, and would so keep them moist for a long time after every
-shower. This constant moisture has caused the bases to splinter while
-the exposed portions of the monoliths remained practically intact.
-This water-wearing and the splintering on account of damp are absent
-in beams employed for any purpose in a horizontal position, and these
-usually show unmistakable signs of having been very well preserved from
-the effects of the weather, and the extremities of such beams do not
-taper, neither have they become splintered, and are usually as wide as
-the main portion of the beam.
-
-Undoubted monoliths of granite and slate have been found used by
-Makalanga as building material for their walls, and also as posts
-for cattle kraals. Also, in many cases, as posts for graves, and for
-decoration of Makalanga walls.
-
- • • • • •
-
-_Soapstone monoliths and beams._—Monoliths of soapstone have only been
-found in the three temples, but in greater profusion in the Eastern
-Temple on the Acropolis, and at Philips Ruins. Here they were found by
-their sections to have been of various diameters, but every one had
-been shaped with tools, some being artistically, others only crudely,
-decorated, but the majority were plain. Chevron pattern was evidently
-the favourite design employed. The Makalanga are believed to have
-used some of the broken sections of soapstone monoliths and beams for
-carving their _I-daha_ pipe-bowls, in making which they are known to
-have excelled. This would save them the necessity of transporting the
-material to Zimbabwe from the soapstone formation, the nearest point of
-which is twelve miles in a north-western direction. Natives to-day have
-been seen taking away very small splinters of soapstone found in the
-débris heaps. These they cut with a knife into any crude shape that may
-be suggested to their passing fancy. The number of bases of soapstone
-monoliths is far greater than the number of splintered or broken
-sections found in the wall-débris heaps along the foot of the walls.
-
-Several sections of rounded soapstone beams were also found among the
-blocks on the summit of the main wall of the Elliptical Temple, and
-other sections were also discovered here in the débris at the foot
-of either side of the main wall. These sections, though plain, are
-beautifully finished, but being the lower portions above the bases, are
-without pattern. Probably the higher portions were decorated, as the
-decoration in several instances of soapstone beams discovered does not
-extend low down on the monoliths. The radii of the sections found in
-the Elliptical Temple varied considerably, while some had flat-worked
-faces with narrow ends artificially rounded.
-
-The discovery in all three temples of so many bases and sections of
-different sized soapstone monoliths suggests the question: Have the
-present standing slate and granite monoliths been, at any rate in some
-instances, erected at a later period to replace fallen or fractured
-soapstone monoliths?
-
-(_a_) Splinters of undoubted soapstone monoliths, some carved with
-geometrical patterns, have been found in large quantities in the lowest
-strata of wall-débris at each of the three temples only; sometimes they
-were found on the formation rock and below the wall débris, but at
-the foot of all the faces of the walls on the summits of which are at
-present only slate and unhewn granite are monoliths still more or less
-complete and erect.
-
-(_b_) On the summits of walls on which are slate and granite monoliths
-numerous small fragments of rounded lengths of soapstone, identical
-with soapstone beams and some similarly carved, have been found. These
-instances were frequently noticed in all the temples, May-November,
-1902, but especially in the Elliptical Temple, where are now only
-granite and slate monoliths.
-
-Bent deduced from the various succeeding styles of Zimbabwe
-architecture that the ancient style of workmanship changed its form
-some time between the period of the earliest builders and the later
-ones, and this would explain why the original monoliths were of more
-artistic form, with carvings and decorations. How far this has any
-connection with the theory of the probable substitution, patent, at
-any rate, in some instances, of plain and unhewn granite and slate
-monoliths for the fallen and ornate soapstone monoliths, it might be
-premature to enlarge upon at present, for, judging by the condition of
-the oldest walls on which certain granite monoliths are fixed, some of
-these monoliths sunk deep into the summits of the walls were obviously
-erected when the walls were originally constructed. For instance, one
-carved soapstone monolith was found built into a wall on the north side
-of the Western Temple to a depth of 5 ft., while the original height of
-the wall could not have been more than 8 ft.
-
-However, both ancient architecture and relics unquestionably prove that
-between the earliest and the latest periods of ancient occupation there
-was a marked falling off and decadence in the conception and erection
-of both buildings and in the character of the articles found.
-
- • • • • •
-
-_Number of monoliths still more or less erect._—The number of monoliths
-still erect, or which have fallen, is as follows, but the number may
-be further increased as the débris at the bases of the temple walls is
-examined:—
-
-At Elliptical Temple.—Nine granite monoliths still erect, nine fallen;
-no slate monoliths erect, five fallen; two granite monoliths, one of
-which is fractured, stand in No. 5 Enclosure.
-
-At Eastern Temple, Acropolis.—There are no soapstone monoliths now
-standing, but a considerable number of sections of slate and soapstone
-monoliths, including bases, were found in the débris. Mr. Posselt, who
-resided at Zimbabwe before the Chartered Company took possession of
-the country, states that in 1888 three soapstone beams, with birds
-on their summits, were standing in the interior of the left-hand side
-of the West Entrance, and one at the northern end of the summit of
-the main east wall, on which is the dentelle pattern. The three beams
-stood on a small raised platform, and as this temple was then used as a
-cattle kraal, the cattle rubbed against them and eventually pushed over
-the beams.
-
-At Western Temple, Acropolis.—There are twelve slate and four granite
-monoliths still standing on the walls, and four slate monoliths, three
-still intact, have been found in wall-débris. Originally those on the
-south and west walls were exactly equi-distant. Bent found and removed
-several sections of different soapstone monoliths, both decorated and
-plain, but he found no soapstone bird in this temple. In 1891 the lower
-portion of a soapstone bird was discovered and taken to Johannesburg,
-and its whereabouts are at present unknown. In August, 1902, the head
-and neck of this same bird were found, as also a length of the beam
-upon which it stood, and this is beautifully carved with chevron
-pattern. This beam originally stood on the summit of the north wall.
-
-All slate monoliths are plain, but many of those of slate have been
-rounded with tools of which they bear the markings.
-
-Several monoliths have fallen since 1888. One immense granite beam
-which occupied an upright position immediately north of _The Platform_
-in the Elliptical Temple has disappeared since 1891. A monolith in
-the interior facing the _Western Entrance_ has fallen within the last
-few years, while a tall granite beam at the same spot has broken off
-just above the ground within the same period. Another tall granite
-beam occupied the _Central Area_ in the temple, and this has also
-disappeared within the last seven years.[44] Relic prospectors of the
-nineties appear to have excavated round the spots occupied by monoliths
-and caused their fall.
-
-The finest specimen of a bird on a soapstone beam yet discovered at
-Zimbabwe was found by the author in _Philips Ruins_ in February, 1903.
-
- • • • • •
-
-_Slate and granite beams._—These are plentifully found in all the
-enclosures. Sections and splinters of slate beams are found in
-entrances which have portcullis grooves, one still standing in
-position 8 ft. above the floor. Slate beams used as entrance posts in
-portcullis grooves were erected before the building of the entrance,
-as the enclosing blocks follow the irregularities of the beams. Wood
-posts found in some portcullis grooves in poorer built walls are not
-considered ancient, and their comparative modernity is testified to by
-experienced builders who have very recently examined a collection of
-such posts. Mopani hard wood and mahobohobo have not been used in all
-such instances, some of the posts being of soft wood. Wooden posts have
-not so far been found in well-built entrances. The posts outside the
-clay huts of old Makalanga are older in appearance and condition than
-the majority of the posts found in the poorer entrances, though they
-very closely resemble one another in measurements and in the wood used.
-In one instance the groove was too large for the wooden post which had
-been wedged in with granite splinters, the granite being only slightly
-weathered.
-
-Slate and granite beams were also employed for the bonds and ties of
-walls, also for ties in sharply curved walls, also for supporting the
-roofs over covered passages.
-
-The nearest point to the slate formation is seven miles in a
-north-easterly direction. It is believed that the long granite beams
-were brought from the Lumbo Rocks, one and three-quarter miles to the
-south, where a great quantity of exactly similar shaped beams are to be
-seen lying scattered round the high perpendicular column of granite,
-the sides of which split off into the shape of the long monoliths found
-on the Acropolis.
-
- • • • • •
-
-_Cement dadoes._—One of the discoveries made recently in clearing the
-lower portions of interior faces of walls from débris, which appears to
-have covered them for centuries, is that some portions of such walls
-have been found to be covered with the remains of excellent granite
-cement dadoes. This is particularly to be noticed on three walls of the
-_Sacred Enclosure_, on the south wall of _No. 11 Enclosure_, and at the
-_Little Enclosure_ and the _Upper Passage_ on the Acropolis, and in
-other ruins where portions of this dado still remain.
-
-These dadoes extended to a height of 7 ft., the cement being found in
-patches still intact and in the joints of the blocks to this height,
-the courses above this height being entirely free from traces of cement.
-
-In passages and narrow places great quantities of this cement lay on
-the original floors along the bottoms of the walls on either side, some
-fragments showing on their backs the ribbed markings of the courses
-up against which the cement had been pressed, also bevelled edges, as
-if from the top and ends of such dadoes. This was particularly the
-experience on clearing out the _Parallel Passage_ in the Elliptical
-Temple. It is possible that these dadoes had once facings of white
-soapstone clay, beautifully smoothed, for this was found on some
-fragments of such cement dadoes, and the facing, when cut with a knife,
-powdered exactly as soapstone does.
-
-It can be noticed by anyone that the lower portions of the walls which
-once had dadoes have their block faces somewhat roughly built as
-compared with the upper portions of the walls. This appears to suggest
-that the original builders, in erecting the wall, had calculated upon
-certain portions of the faces being covered with dadoes. These rougher
-surfaces would provide a better hold for the cement than would the
-smoother faces of the walls above.
-
-The cavities in the dry masonry of the main walls of the Elliptical
-Temple contain cooled air even at noontide, and this rushes out from
-between the courses with such a force as to make it impossible to light
-a match close to them, while it is a very easy matter to carry on a
-conversation through a wall 15 ft. thick and 32 ft. high.
-
-To the original builders who, as is shown elsewhere, thoroughly
-understood and appreciated the art of sanitation, it is quite probable
-that these dadoes were considered necessary, especially as these dry
-masonry walls are the homes of snakes, lizards, and other unpleasant
-reptiles and creatures which probably were more abundant here three
-thousand years ago when, as competent scientists affirm, the climate
-was more humid. Whether for the exclusion of sound, for the securing
-of privacy, for the protection of their dwellings from reptiles, or to
-avoid the tearing by rough granite blocks in very narrow passages of
-such garments as they might have worn, or for the purpose of artistic
-effect—and these ancients practised several fine arts—the fact has
-recently been revealed that at any rate some of the ancient walls were
-once covered with these cement dadoes.[45]
-
- • • • • •
-
-_Built-up crevices._—On the Acropolis Hill cliffs and boulders form
-such prominent features that these have often been employed as sides
-of enclosures. The ancients were in many instances at great pains to
-build up crevices and fissures in rocks, especially where these are in
-or near the enclosures. Even small crevices only a foot or so wide,
-and penetrating into the face of the cliffs and rocks for but two
-or three feet, the front being the only part giving access to such
-fissures, are carefully built up flush with the face of the rock. Some
-large perpendicular fissures in the cliffs have been so built up to an
-immense height. One fissure on the south side of the Rock Holes Path
-has been built up for 40 ft. above the ground. This fissure is from 1
-ft. to 3 ft. wide. The effect caused by this column of blocks running
-up the face of the cliff is very strange. Some fissures are so narrow
-that very small blocks have been used. From some of such fissures the
-built-up courses have fallen away, leaving a few courses, here and
-there at different heights wedged in between the sides of the fissures,
-and occasionally one sees a single block wedged into a fissure at
-an immense height above any ruin. This building-up of crevices and
-fissures is to be found almost over the whole face of the hill where no
-ruins are now to be seen. If two boulders are near together, it may be
-taken as almost a moral certainty that on examining the boulders they
-will be found to be connected with a wall, even if the space be only a
-foot or two wide.
-
-In a similar manner the holes under overhanging boulders have been
-neatly built up so as to effectually hide the hole. The natives have in
-two or three instances removed sufficient of the blocks to enable them
-to pass a corpse through, after which, with their peculiar style of
-building—column form—they have filled up the gaps with walling.
-
- • • • • •
-
-_Holes in walls other than drains._—This peculiar feature of ancient
-architecture is especially prominent at the Acropolis, also in East
-Ruins, and in almost all the ruins in the Valley of Ruins. There
-are holes, generally square, in the lower parts of the walls at two
-or three feet above any ancient floor. They are found only on the
-inside faces of walls, not one as yet having been discovered on the
-outer face. That they are intentionally made is a matter of ocular
-demonstration, for many have lintels either of large granite slabs or
-of slate beams. The blocks of the side framings are all built flush
-with each other. Their peculiarity is that they do not extend back
-into the wall for more than the length of a block, in one case of two
-blocks, and the internal packing blocks in the wall are seen inside.
-One such recess on the Acropolis shows traces of having once been lined
-with granite cement. The bottom portion of a similar recess in Upper
-Passage also has remains of cement lining. The largest recess is to be
-seen on the west side of a divisional wall in East Ruins. This is 3 ft.
-high and 1 ft. 10 in. wide. No such recess has so far been discovered
-in the Elliptical Temple, but at least fifty have been found elsewhere
-among the ruins.
-
- • • • • •
-
-_Blind steps and platforms._—In several enclosures in the principal
-ruins at Zimbabwe, but mainly at the Elliptical Temple, and in the
-angles formed by the meeting of side walls of the enclosures, are to
-be seen small raised platforms approached by two or three steps. These
-steps could not have led to higher positions than the small platforms,
-that is, they could not have been intended for mounting to the summit
-of the wall, for the bottom steps are at far too short a distance from
-the walls in comparison with their heights, besides which, the steps
-and platforms are perfect in themselves, and their summits, judging by
-the condition of the cement floor, terminated as is seen to-day. Nor
-are there any signs on the faces of the walls above such platforms of
-any steps, or that the blocks in the angles of the walls were at any
-time protected from the weather by any higher structure.
-
-These blind steps surmounted by miniature platforms are made of blocks
-thickly covered with granite cement similar to that found on the lowest
-floors of the temple—the steps being large and deep and boldly rounded
-off. The shape of these erections reminds one of the steps and raised
-platforms which are frequently seen in stableyards at home, and were
-once very generally used as mounting blocks.
-
-Bent, unfortunately, discovered only one of these platforms, and this
-was the one on the north side of the Sacred Enclosure (west), and when
-he saw it the platform was covered with débris, evidently débris,
-judging by its age, put there by Dr. Mauch, who had been exploring
-in this portion of the enclosure. This débris was foreign to this
-particular spot and had evidently been removed from nearer the Conical
-Tower. Bent therefore conjectured that these blind steps once led to
-the summit of the south wall of The Platform. The height of the wall
-here, 12 ft., could not have been surmounted by these steps, for if
-carried upwards with the same class of step as below, they would have
-failed to reach half-way up the wall.
-
-These erections might have served a similar purpose for the enclosures
-in which they were erected, as did the large Platform immediately
-in front of the Conical Tower for the whole of the Temple. The best
-examples are in the north-east corner of No. 12 Enclosure, the south
-corner of No. 7 Enclosure, both in the Elliptical Temple, and in the
-south-east corner of the Western Temple and in the north, east, and
-west angles of the Eastern Temple, both on the Acropolis. Possibly the
-platform and steps in the South Passage of the Elliptical Temple were
-used for a similar purpose, for this latter structure, though not built
-into any angle of walls, is of exactly similar construction to the
-others.
-
- • • • • •
-
-_Ancient walls at a distance from any main ruins are of a less
-superior construction._—There is another class of building found in
-walls erected at a distance from any main ruins, and these, though
-constructed in a somewhat rougher form, are otherwise all built upon
-the principles of the First Period of Zimbabwe architecture. These
-walls can be clearly shown to have formed part of the original purpose,
-plan, and construction as the main ruins, and prove that the original
-ancient builders, while devoting their best skill to the temples and
-residential portions of the building, were satisfied with a somewhat
-inferior quality of workmanship for their more distant walls, and for
-such of their outlying buildings as were used for some purpose, judging
-by the finds, other than those of workshop or residence, most probably
-as forts, workshops, stores for grain, or as the housing places of
-slaves.
-
-The close connection between the well-built walls of the main ruins
-and these outlying walls and buildings is, in many instances, easy to
-establish, and this may be shown as follows:—
-
-1. The sole difference between the construction of the main ruins and
-the outlying buildings lies in the quality of workmanship and material,
-these outlying walls showing all other features of first-period
-architecture to the exclusion of any feature of the second or later
-periods of construction.
-
-2. Connecting passages between the inner portions of main ruins and
-the outlying buildings are well built in and near the main ruins, but
-are excellently constructed as distance is reached, though the line of
-foundations throughout, as also the cement flooring, are one and the
-same.
-
-3. Undoubted ancient floors are laid up to and against such walls.
-
-4. Relics of prehistoric character, similar to those discovered within
-any of the main ruins, have been found beyond main walls in connecting
-passages and in the more distant ruins.
-
-These evidences as to the early period during which some of the more
-distant walls were erected are also found in other large ruins of
-Southern Rhodesia, but at Zimbabwe, where the Acropolis affords such
-a commanding view of the lines of walls of the outer ruins and of the
-directions of recently unburied passages of great length, and of the
-sweep of the walls connecting main ruins with outlying buildings, the
-original purpose of many of the walls and minor ruins appears to be
-very manifest.
-
-In these outer walls the blocks are of far greater size, their shape
-is frequently irregular, and unhewn stones are employed, but their
-faces are even on either side and the internal parts are neatly filled
-in with stones. All these walls have the usual Zimbabwe batter-back,
-have rounded entrances, and the steps are not built in between the side
-walls, but are formed by the courses of the foundations. Plumb walls
-and angular entrances are very rarely met with.
-
- • • • • •
-
-_Cement._—The original builders of the Zimbabwe ruins, as well as
-those of later ancient periods, can be seen to have shown a peculiar
-partiality for the employment of cements for all constructive work save
-that of building the walls, which are all, without exception, of dry
-masonry. Evidently the ancients, judging by the immense quantity of
-cement work throughout the ruins, much of which is still in splendid
-condition, deliberately avoided the use of cement in the construction
-of the walls. Probably in this respect, and in the employment of blocks
-of a certain size, they were but following the methods of building to
-which they were accustomed before their arrival in this country.
-
-(1) The cement work of the oldest periods has been pronounced by
-practical builders to have been made of crushed fragments of decomposed
-granite mixed with a large proportion of lime, the latter being found
-in Suku Glen (see _Suku Glen_) in extensive areas. This cement is
-exceedingly hard, and has a glaze on the outer surface which, once
-broken, has caused the internal body of cement to rapidly decompose
-into yellow soil. Thus on the faces of steps, dadoes, and all
-perpendicular work, the cement is more intact, while on flat surfaces
-where rain-water could not be carried away owing to the stopping up of
-drains the cement floors are in many instances considerably ruined.
-Tree roots are rarely found to have penetrated any cement floor which
-was in a whole condition, and where a root has so penetrated the
-cement, the root, acting as a conductor of water, has caused all the
-cement along the line of root to become decomposed. All the roots of
-trees which have recently been removed from above cement floors are
-flat, while some of them assume the shape of the structure that was
-underneath. In one instance the roots of an immense fig tree, which was
-thought to be over one hundred years old, had wound round and round a
-circular cement platform which they had failed to penetrate.
-
-This class of cement has been very extensively used by the older
-occupiers for (_a_) flooring, (_b_) dadoes, (_c_) covering steps and
-platforms, (_d_) construction of steps and platforms made entirely of
-cement, (_e_) raised rims for dividing floors into separate catchment
-areas, so confining rain-water over certain areas to particular drains,
-(_f_) foundations of walls, (_g_) for short, low divisional walls made
-entirely of cement.
-
-(2) There is another class of granite cement which closely resembles
-the first-mentioned, and this is found on the higher levels. It is
-also yellow, but in it occur pieces of granite, and it has a decidedly
-coarser appearance. This is not so lavishly laid, being only one or
-two inches thick, whereas the former cement is most frequently found
-to have a thickness of at least 6 in., that is, in those instances
-where the structures are not entirely composed of this cement. A great
-quantity of this cement work can be seen on the Acropolis or in the
-Valley of Ruins.
-
-(3) A further class of cement is of a dull reddish colour, containing
-more soil than granite. Practically it is clay, but so fine and well
-polished that it deserves the designation of cement. This work had been
-burnt white, and its material is very strong and far superior to the
-best clay used by the oldest native occupiers.
-
-(4) A greyish-coloured cement, in which there are large proportions of
-lime. This is found in ruins. On the summit of Rusivanga Kopje there
-are floors and walls made of it. There is difference of opinion between
-builders and native authorities as to the makers of this cement. It is
-most certainly superior to any such material made by the natives of
-to-day. It closely resembles, if it is not identical with, the material
-used in building the two classes of huts Nos. 1 and 2 (see _Native huts
-found in ruins_). The natives state it is not of any known Makalanga
-make. It is found in large slabs, as if from the side walls of circular
-huts, fully 14 ft. in diameter, also in bevelled ruins of all sizes.
-This cement can be seen in some of the ruins, also on Zimbabwe Hill,
-where the natives state there has been no occupation, excepting, of
-course, Mogabe’s brief residence, for at least five generations.
-Judging by the high-class quality of Kafir “finds” here, it is quite
-possible that this cement is that of the mediæval Makalanga.
-
-(5) The other descriptions of _daga_ (clay) vary in quality from
-fairly good to most inferior. These are mere veld soil, without being
-mixed with lime, and are seen in portions of distinctly old Kafir huts
-resembling the types Nos. 2 and 3. It is also to be found in quantities
-on the Bentberg and on Rusivanga Kopje. In many trenches can be seen
-three or four layers of this _daga_ one above another, each layer being
-about one inch thick, and there are layers of ashes between the floors.
-
- • • • • •
-
-_Ancients and caves and rock holes._—There are innumerable rock holes,
-chasms, and large fissures among the cliffs and boulders of the
-Acropolis Hill, but there is only one—the Balcony Cave—that actually
-deserves the title of cave, though this name is bestowed upon them all
-by several writers. Perhaps Balcony Cave approaches nearest to the
-general conception of what is a cave. But the holes under beetling
-boulders which constitute these “caves” are as a rule shallow, low, and
-narrow.
-
-There are no evidences in any of these holes, so far as they have been
-examined, that the ancients cut into the rock or quarried to make or
-improve these holes, the faces of the rock being all natural, and
-devoid of any traces of their having been worked. Sir John Willoughby
-makes a similar statement as to the rock never having been cut. It is
-also noticeable that small spurs of formation rock jutting up through
-the floors of enclosures have never been cut away. But the ancient
-builders were very clever in artificially improving the fronts of the
-rock holes, so as to add extra space to the size of the holes. This
-was done in at least two instances, though there are traces of its
-having been done elsewhere. A wall was built at some feet immediately
-in front of the hole, and this was carried up so high that its summit
-was connected with the cliff or boulder which rose above and arched
-outwards in front of the hole. This is seen at South Cave, where a wall
-was carried up to the over-arching boulder, thus more than doubling the
-area of the cave (see descriptions of each cave).
-
-There are a series of such rock holes on the north-east side of the
-hill and on the south of Rock Holes Path. The covered holes between
-the large boulders look very romantic, and their appearance suggests
-the probability of there being large caves here, but the appearance is
-most deceptive. The greatest number of such hollows are to be found at
-the east end of the Acropolis Hill, and some few of these are worth
-visiting, but the irregular and rugged contour of that face of the
-hill makes climbing there a most difficult matter, besides which our
-labourers have recently killed two tiger-cats at these holes, and they
-state that there are more of such animals there.
-
-Some few only of the caves near the main ruins of the Acropolis have
-had cemented floors, the formation rock being in most instances
-sufficiently smooth and level to make it unnecessary to lay cement
-floors. Platform Cave has at least three levels of cement flooring one
-above another.
-
-The purposes for which these caves have been used cannot be determined,
-for the finds made in them were very meagre and common, most being
-Makalanga hoes, spearheads, brass wire bangles still containing hair or
-grass, and fragments of pottery of poor and modern make. The only caves
-which yielded anything of antique character were Platform and Balcony
-Caves. In the former were sections of soapstone monoliths and fragments
-of soapstone bowls. In the latter were about a dozen large slate beams
-and plain soapstone beams. The soil in this cave has often been panned
-by visitors, as there has always been an idea that gold dust was once
-stored here. Almost all the pannings showed faint traces of gold, and
-one or two rather richly. Theodore Bent, Sir John Willoughby, and also
-many searchers for relics, have practically cleared the most important
-of these caves of all finds.
-
-A cave hole under an immense boulder on the south side of the Gold
-Furnace Enclosure is about 15 ft. square, but one has to crouch low
-down to move about in it. Here have been found quantities of quartz,
-copper ore, and ironstone, pieces of beaten copper and copper wire,
-sections of gold crucibles, and pottery whorls. No industry could
-have been carried on in this low-roofed area, but gold-, copper-, and
-iron-smelting were evidently conducted in the adjoining and higher Gold
-Furnace Enclosure, and this hole or chasm, as Bent calls it, was used
-for depositing the debris from such furnaces.
-
-Nearly all the rock holes on Zimbabwe Hill had been used for some
-purposes—up to four years ago by the Makalanga as burial-places, the
-hill abounding in such graves. Now the local Makalanga are prohibited
-burying on this hill, and at the same time their kraal was removed from
-the Acropolis. The bodies were placed in the corners of these rock
-holes and piled over with stones; the pot, assegais, knobkerries—and in
-one instance a large bark-string hunting-net, 5 ft. high and about 30
-yds. long—which belonged to the deceased, were laid upon the top of the
-stones.
-
-There are no Bushman paintings in any of these caves, nor on the
-immense rocks which are strewn all over the hill. Nor does the district
-round about possess any of these paintings. Almost every kopje within
-a few miles of Zimbabwe has very recently been carefully examined for
-walls, relics, caves, and paintings, several of the hills having been
-within the last few months ascended several times from various points.
-Natives, farmers, and prospectors state that these are altogether
-absent from this portion of the Victoria district.
-
-But caves and rock holes are very numerous on some of the kopjes which
-are within an easy walk of the ruins, and if some of these were cleared
-out some discoveries might possibly be made. It will be recalled that
-both the ancient cylinder with rosettes, the wooden platter with the
-signs of the zodiac, and the notorious pot “Fuko-ya-Nebandge” were all
-found in caves at some little distance from Zimbabwe.
-
-
-
-
- CHAPTER IX
-
- THE ELLIPTICAL TEMPLE
-
- Main Walls—Plan—Construction—Measurements—Summit—Foundations—Chevron
- Pattern—Ground Surface of Exterior.
-
-
-_Plan of main wall._—Though popularly spoken of as the “Circular
-Temple,”[46] the building is of elliptical plan, “a form of temple,”
-says Bent, “found at Marib, the ancient capital of the Sabæan kingdom
-in Arabia, and at the Castle of Nakab al Hajar, also in that country.”
-The resemblance between the temple at Marib and the Elliptical Temple
-at Zimbabwe is remarkable, and several scientists of repute, who have
-considered the plans of both these ruins, emphasise the remarkable
-resemblance, not only in the plan, but in the forms of worship
-practised by the ancients, as evidenced also by the relics discovered
-at both temples. For instance, Professor Müller, of Vienna, the great
-South Arabian archæologist (_Burgen und Schlösser_, ii. 20.) compares
-these two ruins as follows:—
-
- _Marib._ _Zimbabwe._
-
-Plan, system of curved walls, Practically the same.
-geometrical building, orientation.
-
-Inscription on Marib is in two rows, Two rows of chevron pattern run
-and runs round a fourth of the round a fourth part of the
-circumference. circumference.
-
-Half of elliptical wall, on side of The same at Zimbabwe, where the
-inscription, is well built and well pattern side of the wall is well
-preserved, but opposite side is built. The other portion is rough.
-badly built and ruined.
-
-Temple was dedicated to the goddess Highly probable that Zimbabwe was
-Almaquah—the star Venus, which is a Sabæan Almaquah temple, as it is
-called in the Himyaritic tongue orientated and geometrically built
-Ialmaquah, or Almaq = illuminating. for astronomical purposes, as in
- all cases of such buildings used
- for the worship of Almaquah.
- Sacred birds found at Zimbabwe are
- said to represent Venus the
- “Morning Star.”[47]
-
-Herr Brugsch believes the images of the birds found at Zimbabwe
-emphasised a Sabæan occupation, while M. Naville is especially of
-opinion that there exists a strong connection between Venus, the star
-of the Sabæans, and the goddess worshipped at Zimbabwe. The evidences
-pointing to the close connection of the South Arabian temples and
-Zimbabwe are almost inexhaustible. On this point Bent and Schlichter
-are at one with each other (see _Petermann’s Mitteilungen_ 1892; also
-_The Gold of Ophir_ by Professor A. H. Keane; and M. Arnaud’s plan of
-the temple at Marib).
-
-Professor Müller also states that the elliptically formed wall appears
-to have been always used in the temple buildings of ancient Arabia, and
-states that at Sirwah the Almaquah temple is built in an oval form. In
-these old temples, he says, sacred inscriptions to the deities were set
-up on stylæ (stone beams). At Zimbabwe some scores of carved soapstone
-beams have been discovered in the three temples, also ten birds perched
-on tall soapstone beams and three other birds detached from their
-beams, also four miniature birds on pedestals carved out of soapstone.
-
-The Elliptical Temple at Zimbabwe is a much larger building than that
-at Marib, having a circumference of about 833 ft. as against the 300
-ft. of the Marib temple.
-
-On entering the building it is at once seen that the most massive
-and excellently constructed portions of the main wall extend
-from slightly north of the North Entrance to the east and south and
-south-west, and that the other portions, particularly the north-west
-and west, are slighter, and though showing fairly good workmanship,
-it is not nearly so well built as the other portion of the wall, the
-average width of the summit of the poor wall being barely a third
-of the average width of the better-built portion. The general line
-of the summit is also fairly level, but it averages some 5 ft. to 8
-ft. less in height than that of the northern and eastern walls. The
-distinct character of the two portions of the main wall is very plainly
-noticeable on viewing the temple from the summit of the Acropolis Hill.
-
-[Illustration: THE ELLIPTICAL TEMPLE Great Zimbabwe
-
-_Methuen & Co._]
-
-But this temple does not stand alone in showing its main wall massive
-and exceptionally well built at one point of its circumference and
-slighter built on the other part. This feature is common to many ruins
-in Rhodesia, excepting, of course, ruins of forts and those ruins
-built upon the angular plan and terraced. Bent was fully aware of this
-feature, and cites instances of its occurrence. Mr. Swan does the same,
-and so does Schlichter. At some time or another before the north-west
-and west wall was built that portion of the original wall had become
-dilapidated, and the temple had become “half-moon,” “section of a
-circle,” or “crescent” shaped, these being the terms applied by all
-writers, without exception, to such of the circular ruins in the First
-Period Ruins’ Area,[48] where portions of the main wall had fallen
-down. The published plans of ruins demonstrate this fact. Probably
-Zimbabwe will again become a “section of a circle,” for it stands to
-reason that the weaker wall will be the first portion to disappear.
-
-The massive and well-built portions of the ruins, built upon a system
-of curves, almost always bear the mural pattern of the oldest types,
-while the slighter portions are without pattern. It is so at Marib,
-it is so at Zimbabwe, and it is so in some score of ruins built upon
-the same principles, as shown in the Elliptical Temple. This has been
-found to be so invariable a rule that on sighting a building of this
-class of ruin even at some distance one can almost fix the position
-of the pattern, that is, if the wall is not so reduced in height that
-the decoration, if originally any, has not disappeared. Assuming no
-principle of orientation to attach to such ruins, there yet remains
-something to be done in explaining the directions of the massive curved
-and decorated walls of the circular ruins, for the existence of so many
-scores of parallelisms can hardly be explained away as being but so
-many coincidences.
-
-It has now (June, 1903) for the first time been shown by ocular
-demonstration that the slighter wall, though ancient, is a
-reconstruction of a still more ancient wall which curved outwards more
-to the north and north-west. Recently some thirty tons of granite
-blocks which lay in the gap on either side of it were removed, and the
-foundations at this spot uncovered, showing the meeting in a mis-joint
-at an oblique angle of two distinct walls, the foundations of the
-massive north wall being 9 ft. 10 in. wide, and that of the later wall
-6 ft. wide, while the class of building in the two walls is obviously
-distinct. The face of the end of the north wall was extended further
-outwards towards N.W. 40 ft., and the line of its foundation, according
-to its curve, points in that direction, where, it is believed, the old
-extended foundation has been come upon at 36 ft. outside the later
-wall. The slighter wall approaches the massive wall from W. 80. The
-bases of the foundations are practically on the same level.
-
-Though the later wall is not so well constructed as the older wall, it
-must not be taken as poorly built. (See “_Construction of main wall_,”
-later.)
-
-The wonderful feature is that no joint in the wall has so far been
-discovered in its south-west portion. Practical builders who have
-examined the wall on this side for such a joint are perplexed at
-not being able to discover it, and some consider, from certain
-circumstances noticeable, that it must have been at the West Entrances
-where this later wall was commenced, in which case no such joint would
-in all probability be found.
-
- • • • • •
-
-_Construction._—The construction of the main wall from the north to the
-east, and round to the south and south-west, is admittedly by far the
-finest specimen of ancient constructive work yet found in Rhodesia; it
-has consequently been made the standard by which the best-known writers
-and greatest authorities judge of the quality of the work shown in
-other walls in the country. Certainly two large and important ruins in
-the Lower Sabi Valley, which are much larger in area but with lower
-walls than Zimbabwe, closely rival the Great Zimbabwe in construction
-and boldness of design. But with regard to the more massive and highest
-portion of the main wall every practical builder who visits Zimbabwe
-is amazed at the equal distribution of the joints, the conscientious
-bonding of the outer courses, the good quality of stone selected, the
-careful dressing and the regularity of the sizes of the blocks, the
-neat packing throughout the whole width of the wall, and the tiling of
-the summits of the wall with “throughs.” The filling-in of the wall
-has been most conscientiously executed, and is seen to have been done
-course by course with the faces of the wall, as the courses throughout
-are pronounced to correspond with the outer courses of the wall on
-either side, and some builders have positively stated that some sort
-of a levelling instrument must have been used. “Straight joints” for
-more than two or three courses are absent, and these are rare, “false
-courses” are also rare, and there is little seen of chips levelling up
-the corners of the blocks.
-
-The marvellous symmetry of the batter-back of the dry masonry,
-especially in the boldly conceived and most excellently constructed
-sweep of the wall on its inner face from north to north-east and
-south-west, secures the admiration of every visitor, and forms one
-of the chief features by which the Great Zimbabwe stamps itself on
-one’s memory. The scrupulously careful workmanship displayed here, and
-particularly in the courses near the Chevron Pattern and on the outer
-face of the north-east portion of the wall, show undoubtedly the most
-superior of any ancient building yet discovered in Rhodesia, if not
-also of the important ruins lying at some distance, to the south-east,
-of which only sketch-plans and a few photographs are yet to hand. The
-massive solidity and excellent construction, together with its batter
-(see _Architecture_, section “Battering of Walls”), which this wall
-displays, have, no doubt, secured its wonderful preservation in spite
-of earthquake, effects of tree and creeper growth, and the ravages of
-some millenniums of time.
-
-The construction demonstrates the fact that the ancients in their own
-home in the north were thoroughly well-practised in the building with
-either stone blocks or bricks. Moreover, as suggested by Bent and
-Schlichter, the extensive use of granite cement in making floors both
-inside and outside the ruins at Zimbabwe proves that it was by design
-that the ancients adopted the system of building with dry masonry.
-
-Concerning the construction of the north-west and west portions of
-the main wall there has been much controversy, Bent and Schlichter
-being emphatic in stating that not only was it most inferior to that
-of the other portions of the main wall, but that it was obviously
-of later construction on contracted lines, but still ancient. These
-two archæologists could have arrived at this conclusion only by the
-measurement of the wall and by its quality of workmanship. Sir John
-Willoughby, on the other hand, contended that it is built as well as
-any other portion of the main wall. It is certainly not poor building
-that renders it less easy to climb along its summit, the difficulty
-being the number of loose stones which line the top owing to the
-summit having been threshed by branches of large trees.
-
-[Illustration: SOUTH-EAST WALL, WITH CHEVRON PATTERN, OF ELLIPTICAL
-TEMPLE, ZIMBABWE]
-
-This wall—now recently shown to be a reconstruction in a later ancient
-period[49]—is in every point better built than many walls on the
-Acropolis, and is superior in workmanship to many of the divisional
-walls of the Elliptical Temple. The outer face is fairly well
-constructed.
-
- • • • • •
-
-_Measurements of main wall._—The circumference of the outer face of the
-main wall taken at the level of the threshold of the entrances measures
-about 831 ft. As the foundations throughout the circumference are, as
-is shown later, some 3 ft. to 5 ft. below this level, and as the usual
-Zimbabwe batter-back prevails, the circumference of the foundations of
-this building may safely be estimated at a further 40 ft., which would
-make a total circumference of the base of the temple some 873 ft.
-
-The circumference of the inside face of the entire main wall measured
-at a corresponding level is about 776 ft. 6 in., the foundations, as
-shown later, being from 3 ft. to 5 ft. below the level at which this
-measurement was taken.
-
-Granite slabs with painted figures now mark the distances both outside
-and inside round the main wall, commencing in either case at the south
-side of the West Entrance and going south. The distances on the outside
-are marked at every 50 ft., and those on the inside at every 20 ft. A
-small black spot is painted on the wall just above each slab to denote
-the exact spot in each length measured.
-
-In this description of the Elliptical Temple all measurements in
-angular brackets are exterior measurements of the main wall only, and
-those in rounded brackets are those of interior measurements of the
-main wall, all commencing at the south side of the West Entrance and
-going south. For instance, “The North-West Entrance is situated between
-the following points in the main wall—[656 ft.] and [660 ft.] and (606
-ft. 6 in.) and (611 ft.),” or “A large granite beam lies at the base of
-the main wall at (338 ft.).”
-
- MEASUREMENTS OF EXTERIOR OF MAIN WALL COMMENCING AT SOUTH SIDE OF THE
- WEST ENTRANCE AND GOING SOUTH
-
-Position Point Height above Height above Width of Batter-back
-of wall. of cleared bottom of present of face of
- compass surface. foundation. summit. wall.
- faced.
-
- [0 ft.] W. 7 ft. 6 in. 11 ft. 6 ft. 6 in. 8 in.
-
- Between [0 ft.] and [10 ft.] summit of wall rises from 7 ft. to
- 22 ft.
-
-[10 ft.] — 22 ft. 23 ft. 10 in. 4 ft. 2 in. 2 ft.
-[25 ft.] — 21 ft. 6 in. 23 ft. 6 in. 5 ft. 6 in. 2 ft.
-[50 ft.] — 22 ft. 24 ft. 6 ft. 6 in. 2 ft. 6 in.
-
- Between [98 ft.] and [104 ft.] are traces of a wall of this width
- running towards S.W.
-
-[100 ft.] S.W. 22 ft. 24 ft. 6 ft. 6 in. 2 ft. 6 in.
-[150 ft.] S.S.W. 22 ft. 6 in. 24 ft. 6 in. 6 ft. 6 in. 2 ft. 6 in.
-
- Between [161 ft.] and [166 ft. 6 in.] are traces only of wall of
- this width protruding from main wall towards S.W.
-
- Chevron Pattern commences at [189 ft.] and extends to [455 ft.
- 6 in.].
-
-[200 ft.] S. 22 ft. 8 in. 25 ft. 2 in. 10 ft. 2 in. 1 ft. 10 in.
-[250 ft.] S.E. 25 ft. 26 ft. 6 in. 8 ft. 2 in. 2 ft. 6 in.
-[300 ft.] S.E. 29 ft. 30 ft. 6 in. 8 ft. 6 in. 1 ft. 8 in.
-[350 ft.] E. 29 ft. 31 ft. 6 in. 9 ft. 6 in. 1 ft. 4 in.
-
- At [380 ft.] outer end of drain-hole through main wall.
-
-[400 ft.] E. 30 ft. 31 ft. 9 in. 7 ft. 4 in. 2 ft. 6 in.
-
- At [425 ft. 9 in.] outer end of drain-hole through main wall.
-
-[450 ft.] E.N.E. 32 ft. 34 ft. 9 ft. 6 in. 3 ft.
-
- From [450 ft.] to [565 ft.] is Outer Parallel Passage.
- Chevron Pattern ends at [455 ft. 6 in.].
- At [482 ft.] outer end of drain-hole through main wall.
-
-[500 ft.] N.E. 33 ft. 35 ft. 6 in. 12 ft. 2 in. 3 ft. 6 in.
-
- At [510 ft. 6 in.] outer end of drain-hole through main wall.
- At [530 ft.] line of summit falls to 28 ft.
-
-[550 ft.] N.E. 19 ft. 21 ft. 13 ft. 4 in. 1 ft. 4 in.
-
- Summit of wall very considerably dilapidated.
- At [560 ft.] outer end of drain-hole through main wall.
- At [571 ft. 6 in.] to [576 ft. 6 in.] steps of North Entrance.
-
-[575 ft.] N.E. 11 ft. (not examined) 14 ft. 2 ft. 6 in.
-
- West side of North Entrance, 11 ft. high, rises to 17 ft. at
- [580 ft.].
-
- Between [586 ft.] to [590 ft.] wall this width, forming
- north-west side of North-East Passage, protrudes from main
- wall towards N.E.
-
- From [610 ft.] to [620 ft.] is gap in main wall and mis-joint of
- earlier and later walls.
-
-[625 ft.] N. 16 ft. 6 in. 19 ft. 5 ft. 1 ft.
-
- Original height of wall reduced to 16 ft. 6 in. on west side of
- gap.
-
-[656 ft.] N.N.W. 17 ft. 19 ft. 3 ft. 6 in. 1 ft. 10 in.
- (ruined)
- East side of North-West Entrance.
-
-[660 ft.] N.N.W. 17 ft. 19 ft. 5 ft. 6 in. 1 ft. 10 in.
-
- West side of North-West Entrance.
-
-[675 ft.] N.W. 17 ft. 18 ft. 6 in. 5 ft. 2 in. 1 ft. 10 in.
-
- Face of wall bulges outwards above foundations.
-
-[700 ft.] N.W. 18 ft. 19 ft. 10 in. 4 ft. 6 in. 1 ft. 6 in.
-
- For several feet on either side of [700 ft.] summit of wall is
- considerably depressed by tree boughs hitting it.
-
- A wall connecting No. 1 Ruin with Elliptical Temple protrudes
- from main wall between [705 ft.] and [710 ft.].
-
-[750 ft.] W.N.W. 21 ft. 23 ft. 4 ft. 8 in. 2 ft. 6 in.
-[800 ft.] W.N.W. 20 ft. 6 in. 22 ft. 4 in. 4 ft. 10 in. 3 ft.
-
- From [814 ft.] to [829 ft.] the line of summit breaks downwards
- abruptly from 20 ft. to 8 ft. in height.
-
-[827 ft. 9 in.] W. 8 ft. (not examined) 6 ft. 10 in.
-
- This is the north side of West Entrance.
-
-[831 ft. 9 in.] This is the south side of the West Entrance, where the
- first measurement started.
-
-
- MEASUREMENTS OF INTERIOR FACE OF MAIN WALL COMMENCING AT SOUTH SIDE
- OF THE WEST ENTRANCE AND GOING SOUTH
-
-Position Side of Height above Batter-back of Point in interior
-of wall. temple. cleared surface. face of wall. of temple.
-
-(0 ft.) W.N.W. 7 ft. 6 in. 8 in. No. 5 Enclosure
-
- Between (0 ft.) and (10 ft.) is a large rounded buttress
- projecting into the temple. (See description of West
- Entrance.)
-
- Between (0 ft.) and (10 ft.) summit rises sharply from 7 ft.
- 6 in. to 18 ft. 6 in., measurement from present surface of
- interior soil.
-
-(10 ft.) W.N.W. 18 ft. 6 in. 2 ft. No. 5 Enclosure
-(20 ft.) W.N.W. 21 ft. 1 ft. 10 in. 〃
-
- Measured from bottom of trench showing an old cement floor now
- decomposed.
-
-(40 ft.) W.N.W. 21 ft. 1 ft. 8 in. No. 5 Enclosure
-
- Measured from bottom of trench showing an old cement floor now
- decomposed.
-
-(60 ft.) W. 21 ft. 4 in. 1 ft. 6 in. No. 5 Enclosure
-
- Measured from bottom of trench showing an old cement floor now
- decomposed.
-
-(80 ft.) W. 21 ft. 6 in. 1 ft. 2 in. No. 5 Enclosure
-
- Measured from bottom of trench showing an old cement floor now
- decomposed.
-
-(100 ft.) W. 18 ft. 6 in. 1 ft. 9 in. No. 6 Enclosure
-
- Measured from top of débris on summit of low divisional wall.
-
-(120 ft.) S.W. 20 ft. 10 in. 2 ft. 1 in. No. 6 Enclosure
-
- Measured from red clay floor, believed to be of Makalanga
- construction.
-
- At (134 ft.) to (138 ft.) are traces only of a divisional wall.
-
-(140 ft.) S.W. 21 ft. 8 in. 2 ft. 2 in. No. 6 Enclosure
-
- Measured from a yellow granite cement floor.
-
-(160 ft.) S.W. 22 ft. 4 in. 2 ft. 2 in. No. 6 Enclosure
-
- Measured from a yellow granite cement floor.
-
-(179 ft. 3 in.)
-
- Angle of walls.
-
-(180 ft.) S.W. 21 ft. 6 in. 2 ft. No. 6 Enclosure
-
- Measured from a yellow granite cement floor.
-
- At (180 ft.) step-down of foundation of 5 ft.
-
-(200 ft.) S.S.W. 17 ft. 6 in. 1 ft. 2 in. No. 8 Enclosure
-
- Measured from summit of old excavated débris, Sacred Enclosure
- 5 ft. high (since removed). (west)
-
-(220 ft.) S.S.W. 22 ft. 1 ft. 6 in. No. 8 Enclosure
-
- Measured from summit of old excavated débris, Sacred Enclosure
- 5 ft. high. (west)
-
-(240 ft.) S. 23 ft. 6 in. 3 ft. No. 8 Enclosure
-
- Measured from summit of old excavated débris, Sacred Enclosure
- 5 ft. high. (west)
-
- The large Conical Tower stands between (246 ft.)
- to (264 ft.).
-
-(260 ft.) S. 26 ft. 6 in. 2 ft. 10 in. No. 8 Enclosure
-
- Measured from yellow granite cement floor. Sacred Enclosure
- (east)
-
-(280 ft.) S. 26 ft. 6 in. 2 ft. 4 in. No. 8 Enclosure
-
- Measured from yellow granite cement floor. Sacred Enclosure
- (east)
- The roughly built buttress at (286 ft.) to (303 ft.)
- is not ancient.
-
-(300 ft.) S. 28 ft. 2 ft. 6 in. No. 8 Enclosure
-
- Measured from yellow cement floor. Sacred Enclosure
- (east)
- There are doubts as to the antiquity of buttress
- at (306 ft.) to (319 ft.).
-
-(320 ft.) S.S.E. 29 ft. 2 ft. 4 in. No. 8 Enclosure
-
- Measured from yellow granite cement floor. Sacred Enclosure
- (east). At West
- Granite monolith (conjected) fallen from wall at Entrance to
- (340 ft.). Parallel Passage.
-
- Drain-hole through wall at (352 ft.).
-
-(340 ft.) S.S.E. 28 ft. 10 in. 2 ft. 2 in. Parallel Passage
-
- Measured from cement floor.
-
- At (352 ft.) is a drain-hole.
-
-(360 ft.) S.S.E. 30 ft. 6 in. 2 ft. 2 in. Parallel Passage
-
- Measured from cement floor.
-
-(380 ft.) S.E. 30 ft. 4 in. 3 ft. Parallel Passage
-
- Measured from cement floor.
-
- Drain-hole at (391 ft. 6 in.).
-
-(400 ft.) S.E. 29 ft. 3 ft. 2 in. Parallel Passage
-
- Measured from cement floor.
-
-(420 ft.) E.S.E. 30 ft. 4 in. 3 ft. 2 in. Parallel Passage
-
- Measured from cement floor.
-
-(440 ft.) E.S.E. 30 ft. 6 in. 4 ft. Parallel Passage
-
- Measured from cement floor.
-
- Drain-hole at (442 ft.).
-
-(460 ft.) E. 31 ft. 3 ft. 6 in. Parallel Passage
-
- Measured from soil surface.
-
- Drain-hole at (471 ft.).
-
-(480 ft.) E. 31 ft. 2 ft. 4 in. Parallel Passage
-
- Measured from soil surface.
-
-(500 ft.) N.E. 27 ft. 2 ft. 10 in. Parallel Passage
-
- The summit of the wall is much dilapidated. Between (500 ft.)
- and (520 ft.) the wall is broken, there being a large gap of
- this width, the bottom of which is 14 ft. above present level
- of floor.
-
-(520 ft.) N.E. 13 ft. 6 in. 1 ft. 6 in. Parallel Passage
-
- Between (520 ft.) and (530 ft.) is the North Entrance. Wall on
- east side 6 ft. high, on west side 6 ft. 6 in. high, but on
- each side rises sharply within a few feet of the entrance.
-
- From (536 ft.) to (544 ft.) are remains of small banquette
- below summit, and at 6 ft. above ground.
-
-(540 ft.) N.N.E. 18 ft. 1 ft. 8 in. No. 2 Enclosure
-
- Drain-hole at (549 ft.).
-
-(560 ft.) N.N.E. 12 ft. 2 ft. No. 2 Enclosure
-
- Centre of line of summit is 3 ft. higher than reduced inside
- edge.
-
- Between (566 ft.) and (570 ft.) is the mis-joint in earlier and
- later walls.
-
-(580 ft.) N. 3 ft. — No. 2 Enclosure
-
- At (580 ft.) the wall on west side of gap rises abruptly.
-
-(600 ft.) N. 18 ft. 1 ft. 10 in. No. 3 Enclosure
-
- Measured from an old cement floor.
-
- Between (606 ft. 6 in.) and (611 ft. 6 in.) is the North-West
- Entrance.
-
-(620 ft.) N.W. 6 ft. 10 in. No. 3 Enclosure
-
- At (614 ft.) this wall rises perpendicularly to 16 ft.
-
-(640 ft.) N.N.W. 16 ft. 6 in. 1 ft. 6 in. No. 3 Enclosure
-
- Measured from granite cement floor.
-
-(660 ft.) N.N.W. 19 ft. 6 in. 1 ft. 4 in. No. 3 Enclosure
-
- Measured from granite cement floor.
-
- Depression on summit caused by a tree.
-
-(680 ft.) N.N.W. 20 ft. 6 in. 1 ft. 2 in. No. 4 Enclosure
-
- Measured from granite cement floor.
-
-(700 ft.) N.N.W. 20 ft. 6 in. 2 ft. No. 4 Enclosure
-
- Measured from granite cement floor.
-
-(720 ft.) N.W. 18 ft. 6 in. 1 ft. 4 in. No. 4 Enclosure
-
- Measured from granite cement floor.
-
- Depression on summit caused by a tree.
-
-(740 ft.) N.W. 19 ft. 2 ft. 1 in. Wall separating
- Nos. 4 and 5
- Measured from base of divisional wall. Enclosures
-
-(750 ft.) N.W. 18 ft. 10 in. 1 ft. 10 in. No. 5 Enclosure
-
- Measured from surface of soil.
-
- Near (54 ft.) summit of wall drops to 9 ft. at north side of
- West Entrance.
-
-(763 ft. 6 in.) W.N.W. 7 ft. 10 in. No. 5 Enclosure
-
- Opening of West Entrance between (763 ft.) and (766 ft.).
-
-(776 ft. 6 in.) This is the south side of West Entrance, where first
- measurement started.
-
-[Illustration: CHEVRON PATTERN ON EAST WALL, ELLIPTICAL TEMPLE]
-
-_Summit of main wall._—For some fairly extensive lengths along the
-summit of the more massive portion of the main wall the blocks and
-stones are higher on the centre of the floor of the summit than at top
-outer edges on either side, from which edges the measurements of the
-heights above the exterior and interior surfaces of the ground were
-taken. Branches of trees beating in high winds upon the summit, the
-weight of heavy festoons of creepers hanging from the summit, and the
-growth of monkey-ropes and wild vines in the joints of the dry masonry
-have destroyed some of the upper courses on either side of the wall.
-Therefore to the heights stated in the foregoing tables should be
-added at least 1 ft. or 2 ft., this being a fair average height of the
-whale-back ridge along portions of the summit of the wall.
-
-An interesting question arises: What was the original height of the
-massive portion of the wall? There are some evidences that the original
-height could not have been more than six courses above the chevron
-pattern which runs on a true level on the upper and outer face of the
-wall between [189 ft.] and [455 ft.]. The greatest number of courses
-now remaining over this pattern is five, but these are only found at
-two points and for the length of a few blocks. At most points above
-the pattern there are no upper courses remaining; at other points one
-or two courses are perfect for some distance; the most frequent are
-three courses; while at several points there are four courses. To the
-heights given in the tables can safely be added 1 ft. to 2 ft. Were the
-obviously missing courses to be restored, the raised ridge along the
-centre of parts of the summit would be cleared, for these ridges of
-stones are formed of blocks once carefully packed, all on their flat
-sides, between side walls, and are similar to the existing internal
-portions of other well-built walls at Zimbabwe.
-
-Adding this further height of from 1 ft. to 2 ft. to the tabulated
-heights, we can carry the investigation much further. The upper faces
-of the blocks of the fourth and fifth courses above the pattern are too
-free from decomposition, weather-stain, and lichen to have formed the
-topmost courses; in fact, their upper surfaces are decidedly fresh,
-as if the courses above them had not long disappeared, and when it is
-recollected that experience shows that the exposed top surfaces of
-blocks are found to take on signs of decomposition and of exposure to
-weather, and also to become covered with lichen quicker than the side
-faces of blocks in the body of the wall, and that the upper courses
-would have given some evidences of long exposure, which they do not, we
-may be certain that the wall was carried a further course, or possibly
-two courses of the wall higher than the fifth course above the pattern.
-Therefore at many points along the highest portions of the wall, as
-shown in the tables, 2 ft. 6 in. may be added to the tabulated heights,
-and this would include the height of the six courses above the pattern
-throughout its whole length.
-
-Whether the original summit was higher than these six courses is a
-matter of conjecture. Possibly the wall was two or three courses higher
-than the six courses. Here, as elsewhere in the first-period ruins in
-Rhodesia, the best-built portion of the edifice is that which bears
-the decorative designs. This appears to be an invariable rule in such
-older ruins. But at this temple the whole wall, and especially the
-courses immediately above and below the pattern, are the best-built
-portions of the most superior wall of the building, the courses being
-far truer. Moreover, a good quality of stone is employed, giving the
-impression that it was specially selected for the purpose, so much so
-that their back parts are as well squared as their front faces. It is
-most obvious, as practical builders claim, that the pattern itself and
-its enclosing courses show the best workmanship on the part of the
-ancients, and this notwithstanding that this wall is admitted by all
-to stand pre-eminent among excellently constructed walls to be found
-anywhere in Rhodesia.
-
-[Illustration: NORTH-EAST WALL, WITH CHEVRON PATTERN, ELLIPTICAL
-TEMPLE]
-
-In removing the wall débris at the outer base of the wall containing
-the chevron pattern for the purpose of forming catchment areas for
-draining the ground near the wall, two classes of stone blocks were
-found, a quantity of large, shallow, flat stones similar to those lying
-in the middle parts of the summit of the walls, and also a quantity of
-well-shaped blocks as used both in the pattern and in the enclosing
-courses, but it was estimated that there were not enough of these
-blocks to have carried the outer face of the wall more than some two
-courses above the fifth course above the pattern. It is impossible to
-draw any corresponding inferences with regard to débris on the base of
-the interior side of the wall, for excavators have moved this out of
-all relative position to the wall from which it fell.
-
-But there is also some evidence as to the original height of the wall.
-Such of the undoubted monoliths as still stand more or less erect on
-the summit of the wall—and as is shown later, not every upright stone
-on this wall is necessarily a monolith—have no signs on their faces of
-having been built in by blocks up to any height above the level of the
-six courses above the pattern. In the case of any fallen monolith from
-the faces of which supporting blocks or any of them have disappeared,
-it can be ascertained to what depth the base of the monolith was built
-into the wall, and in this respect there is some evidence to guide one
-in estimating the original height of the ancient wall so adorned. The
-wearing of their sides by the edges of supporting blocks can almost
-always be noticed, in addition to which the rain of many centuries is
-guided to the base by the position of the supporting blocks which guide
-the water downwards, thus causing small rimlets to form on the lower
-part of the beams, especially those of slate or soapstone, where the
-rimlets have become in time beautifully smooth and glazed. Therefore
-it is highly probable that the height of the six courses above the
-pattern, with the present height of the wall above its foundations as
-given in the tables, formed the original height of the massive portion
-of the enclosing wall.
-
-The discovery in December, 1902, of what are believed to be traces of a
-line of small round towers on the outer edge of the summit immediately
-over the chevron pattern—and these are referred to later—affords very
-strong evidence as to what was the original height of the wall, and
-points to the limit of six courses above the chevron pattern. The line
-of small round towers (recently found to have been conical) on the
-outer edge of the west wall of the Western Temple on the Acropolis have
-their foundations a few inches below the present summit of the wall.
-The foundations of the towers on the wall at the Elliptical Temple,
-now being described, have their foundations on the present surface of
-the central ridge along the summit of the wall, but were the pattern
-made good at the height of the six courses alone, the positions of
-these foundations would be identical in several respects with those of
-the towers on the Acropolis. Thus these foundations provide a fourth
-important corroborative clue as to the original height of the wall.
-
-Along the floor of the summit are laid some large, broad, but shallow
-slabs of granite of irregular form, while down below on either side
-were a score of others which have fallen off the wall. Bent suggested
-that the summit was once paved with these slabs. In view of the four
-proofs just adduced with regard to the original height of the wall
-being somewhat higher than is seen to-day, the purpose of the slabs
-could hardly be that of providing a pavement for the summit. Most
-probably they were the “ties” or “throughs” to bind the wall at its
-top courses, as invariably found near the summits of the best class of
-walls, especially so in all rounded ends of walls, summits of rounded
-buttresses, and in the Conical Tower where, near its summit, the back
-and inside ends of the blocks are frequently longer than in the lower
-courses where they are short. Many of these slabs on the main wall
-lie across the wall on its present surface, but these are frequently
-covered with laid blocks. The best instances at Zimbabwe of the “tying”
-and bonding of the highest courses of walls are to be seen on the
-Acropolis, but this feature is elsewhere in Rhodesia common in several
-ruins which are not built upon the angular principle. It is natural to
-suppose that, if the ancients not only carefully tied the upper courses
-of almost all walls with “throughs,” and also tied several points
-between base and summit, this main wall bearing the decorative pattern,
-and once having on its summit, as is now believed, both round towers
-and soapstone beams, the ancients, admittedly being skilful builders,
-would regard the effective tying and bonding of such a wall as an
-important necessity, especially as the wide and commodious summit was,
-as stated by Bent, in all probability a look-out and much-frequented
-elevation. The stones which are uncovered are decomposed and lichen-and
-moss-covered on their upper faces, but are on their under side as fresh
-and as clean as if they had just been brought from the quarry. Some
-visitors, supposing these tie-stones to have been fallen monoliths,
-have placed four of them in an upright position where they now stand,
-but unlike all true monoliths, they are not weathered or time-eaten
-all round, and two so erected have all their faces perfectly clean and
-fresh.
-
-The summit of the north-west portion of the main wall is fairly level,
-save at north-west and west entrances where the wall is reduced in
-height, and also at several points where large branches of trees have
-beaten off the blocks of the upper courses. The narrow width of the
-summit, as shown in the foregoing tables, and the number of loose
-stones lying upon it, make it somewhat awkward for walking along it,
-still this can be done far more easily than might be supposed from Mr.
-Swan’s description. The battering-back of its outer and inner faces
-appears to point to its original summit being only slightly higher than
-its present top at its highest point. If the wall were once more than
-three or four courses above its present highest point, the débris must
-have been removed, for no greater quantity of blocks were found than
-would have sufficed to make good that height.
-
- • • • • •
-
-_Foundation._—For such massive walls it is astonishing to find that the
-bottom courses of the foundation are not more than from 2 ft. to 3 ft.
-6 in. below the present level of the ground immediately surrounding the
-building. The foundation has been examined at eighteen equi-distant
-points along the outer circumference, and in no single part does it
-rest on formation rock, the nearest proximity of which is at a further
-depth of 4 ft. on the north, 5 ft. on the west, 9 ft. on the south, and
-4 ft. on the east. Nor are the bottom courses formed of large blocks,
-as is so frequently seen in foundations of other ruins, but blocks
-no larger than those in the upper courses have been employed almost
-without exception. Near (177 ft.) there is a step-up in the foundation
-westwards of 5 ft. 9 in. Near [625 ft.] there runs for a few feet a
-very narrow step-back in the three lowest courses of the foundation,
-but this is the only point in the circumference of the wall where this
-feature can be noticed.
-
-The foundation bed upon which the wall is built is purely artificial.
-Evidently the ancient architects prepared a level surface for the wall,
-because there is only from 3 ft. to 5 ft. difference in the level of
-the foundations all round, notwithstanding that on the south-east the
-ground towards the “Valley of Ruins” and the temple which is erected on
-the edge of its slope commands the “Valley of Ruins.”
-
-The surface of the prepared foundation consisted of fine cement, now
-decomposed[50] to firm dry sand. This cement is in places at least
-3 ft. deep, is laid on the granite formation for 10 ft. and 15 ft.
-beyond the wall on both inside and outside the building, and later,
-when the lower courses of the foundation had been laid, a further
-flooring of cement was laid, making the side of the lower portion of
-the foundations at least 1 ft. 6 in., if not 2 ft. 6 in. deep.
-
-The enormous amount of time and labour required to be expended merely
-in preparing the surface on which to erect the temple is bewildering to
-contemplate, and fairly rivals as a demonstration of patient labour,
-length of time of construction, and good workmanship the massive walls
-themselves. The decomposed cement, which has now become mere sand, was
-very finely ground, there being not the smallest splinter of granite in
-its composition. The cement being yellow suggests that the ancients,
-to save breaking up large pieces of stone, were content to collect
-small fragments of granite which had become decomposed, and therefore
-were easier to grind, for everywhere in this locality, especially in
-damp places and near any granite boulder or glacis, are to be found
-quantities of small granite chips all yellow with decomposition.
-Possibly granite sand from neighbouring streams might also have been
-utilised.
-
-
- CHEVRON PATTERN
-
-On the upper portion of the exterior face of the south-east main
-wall is the celebrated chevron pattern which forms one of the most
-interesting features at the Elliptical Temple. This pattern runs
-for 265 ft. 6 in. from [189 ft.] to [456 ft. 6 in.] on the line of
-measurement of the exterior circumference of the temple, that is, from
-south-south-east to east-north-east.
-
-The pattern is in two rows or bands, which together are 18 in. deep,
-and Bent states that “it extends along the part of the wall which
-receives directly the rays of the sun when rising at the summer
-solstice.” The portion of the main wall carrying the pattern is in the
-form of an arc, and is the best-built and most substantial part of the
-wall. Granite monoliths still stand more or less erect on the summit
-of the wall above the pattern, but not elsewhere. Over the pattern
-are the foundations of what appear to have been small circular towers
-resembling in size and position those on the main west wall of the
-Western Temple on the Acropolis.
-
-In 1903 a quantity of sections of worked soapstone beams were found on
-the summit of the wall over the pattern. On no other portions of the
-summit are there traces of monoliths, round towers, or soapstone beams.
-Bent was unaware of the existence of the traces of round towers or of
-the soapstone beams on the wall over the pattern, yet he writes, as
-seems perfectly correct, “Those parts only of the wall which receive
-the direct rays of the sun when rising at the summer solstice are
-decorated by this symbolical pattern.” This statement equally applies
-to the Eastern Temple on the hill and to the large curved wall in
-Philips Ruins, also to the Western Temple, only in this latter case
-the great main wall, which is in the form of an arc and is decorated,
-receives on its face the rays of the setting sun at the winter
-solstice. A very strong corroboration of this statement is afforded by
-several other of the more important ruins in Rhodesia which are built
-upon the curved plan.
-
-In this pattern the blocks are placed on end with the top of each
-supported by the neighbouring block on one side, thus forming a series
-of triangular spaces with the bases alternately up and down. The
-sides of these angular spaces are about 7 in. long, and the openings
-have been neatly filled in with small stones set back inside 2 in. or
-3 in. from flush with the face of the wall. The pattern is somewhat
-dilapidated in places owing to creeper growths on the wall and to the
-swinging of large tree branches, which in every wind beat the pattern
-and loosened the stones forming it.
-
-Chevron pattern was in ancient times the symbol for Fertility. It
-closely resembles the Egyptian hieroglyphic symbol for water, and also
-the zodiacal sign of Aquarius, and represents the sea on such Phœnician
-coins as have engravings of ships.
-
-This pattern is found on several of the ruins of the oldest type, and
-not on such as by their style of architecture may be considered to be
-of a later ancient period. It is found in several of the large ruins
-between Zimbabwe and the Sabi, also at Umnukwana Ruins. A portion of
-chevron of small size is to be seen at Dhlo-dhlo.
-
- • • • • •
-
-_Ground surface of exterior of main wall._—Till August, 1902, the area
-surrounding the Elliptical Temple was mere veld and bush, and trees and
-shrubs grew so thickly near the main wall that it was impossible at
-certain points to penetrate the jungle to make a complete examination
-of the wall, while piles of soil from excavations lay along the base
-of the wall, and some up against the wall itself, in some cases to a
-height of 6 ft. above the average level of the exterior ground.
-
-Trenches and deep holes, the main wall forming one side of them, were
-lined with mud, and filled with ferns and plants which could only
-flourish in a situation which was perpetually damp. There was every
-evidence that these trenches and holes were filled with water during
-each wet season, and that they retained a considerable amount of
-moisture even during the dry seasons. At two points this constant state
-of damp held by these cuttings had caused the foundations, which at
-no place rest on the bed-rock, to sink some inches, thus imparting
-wave-like lines to the courses of the wall close to such holes.
-
-To remove this source of injury to the wall by causing it to sink and
-also by stimulating tree and creeper growths which were damaging the
-wall, it was decided to remove all such débris piles, and also the
-veld soil, most of which had in the course of ages silted down from
-the lower slopes of the Bentberg some 200 yds. distant on the south
-side of the temple, and to leave a floor of hard soil which would
-serve to drain off all rain-water and protect the bases of the walls
-from being washed by the storm streams from the higher ground. This
-work was carried out for a width of some 6 to 8 yds. round the entire
-circumference of the temple. Five catchment areas were formed on the
-north-west, west, south, and east sides, and from each such area a
-run-off now leads all rain-water into a hole sunk in the ground at some
-12 yds. distance from the main wall.
-
-These five holes, as shown later, have proved useful in demonstrating
-certain features connected with the temple which so far had been
-impossible of examination:—
-
-(1) The rock formation is at almost every point some feet below the
-lowest course of the foundations of the main wall, in most cases 3 ft.
-to 4 ft., and in one instance—the south—fully 6 ft.
-
-(2) The ground outside the temple has been raised by the silting of
-soil from the slopes of the Bentberg, by the spreading out of both
-ancient and old native débris piles, by the levelling-up of the surface
-for laying clay floors of Makalanga huts, and by block débris from
-the main and several minor walls. This filling-in, both natural and
-artificial, averages to a height of at least 5 ft. above the level
-known to the ancients, thus reducing the comparative elevation of the
-temple to that extent. It is now clear that the temple once stood on a
-comparatively higher and far more imposing elevation than it stands at
-present.
-
-(3) The granite plateau which underlies the soil upon which the temple
-is built is irregular, and resembles on a larger scale the granite
-plateaux which extend eastward from the temple.[51]
-
-
-
-
- CHAPTER X
-
- THE ELLIPTICAL TEMPLE
- (_Continued_)
-
- MAIN ENTRANCES
-
-
- _North-West Entrance_
-
-This entrance is on the north-west side of the temple at (606 ft. 6
-in.) to (611 ft. 6 in.) inside, and [656 ft.] to [660 ft.] outside. As
-in the case of _North and West Entrances_, the foundations of the main
-wall are carried from side to side of the entrance and from the floor
-of the passage, and in them the outer steps are built. The east side
-wall is 4 ft. wide where it starts to curve inwards to form the passage
-and at 6 ft. above the floor of the entrance. The west side is 7 ft.
-wide where it starts to round inwards and at 6 ft. above the entrance
-floor.
-
-Evidently this entrance was not of the importance of either of the
-other two portals to the temple. No internal passages converge upon it;
-it is less massive, and its purpose appears to have been limited to
-serving as a communication with _No. 1 Ruins_ only, as a substantial
-wall which encloses these ruins runs round to the north-west main wall
-of the temple between [705 ft.] and [710 ft.], where it joins it at
-right angles to the main walls. These enclosing walls thus cut off on
-either side the exterior of the _North-West Entrance_ from the other
-portions of the exterior of the temple, and in these enclosing walls no
-signs have so far been discovered of there having been any entrances.
-
-[Illustration: NORTH-WEST ENTRANCE, ELLIPTICAL TEMPLE]
-
-[Illustration: ENTRANCE TO PASSAGE, No. 10 ENCLOSURE, ELLIPTICAL TEMPLE]
-
-This entrance is built on well-curved lines, but the rounded faces
-of the two side walls do not exactly face one another, since the
-outside face of the west side projects some 12 in. further north than
-that on the east side, the west wall being wider than the east one,
-though on their inside faces they are flush with each other. There are
-no buttresses on the outside of this entrance. The summits of the side
-walls, some 6 ft. above the outside level, are less ruined than those
-of the other two entrances; the gap between the two summits including
-the width of the entrance is only 8 ft. 6 in., the broken faces of the
-upper portions of the walls rising perpendicularly on either side.
-
-[Illustration: North-West Entrance
-
-ELLIPTICAL TEMPLE
-
-N^{o.} 3 Enclosure]
-
-This entrance is 2 ft. 9 in. wide in the centre. The wall on the west
-side is perfect up to 5 ft. in height, and that on the east side to 6
-ft. 6 in. There are two steps on the outer side, and these are formed
-by the courses in the foundation being carried across the entrance and
-curved inwards at the centre of the passage.
-
-On either side of the entrance in the interior of the temple there are
-plumb and angular buttresses of poor construction resting upon soft
-soil. Each projects 5 ft. 6 in. into _No. 3 Enclosure_, and each is 1
-ft. 9 in. high, the width between their straight faces being 2 ft. 8
-in. Each buttress is rounded off on the outer side and joins the main
-wall, that on the east side being 7 ft. long, and that on the west side
-9 ft. 6 in. long.
-
-When Bent arrived at Zimbabwe in 1891 he found this entrance built
-up to a height of 9 ft. This had then been done some fifty years
-previously by the Makalanga when the previous Mogabe Chipfuno was
-only a boy. This walling-up was for the purpose of closing in _No. 3
-Enclosure_, which was used as a cattle kraal. It is highly probable
-that the Makalanga took the upper portions of the two buttresses which
-are on either side of the inside of this entrance for building material
-in so walling it up, for these buttresses, judging by the absence of
-stone débris and the condition of the faces of the main wall where
-the buttresses were once built up against it, appear to have been
-deliberately denuded of their courses for at least some feet of their
-original height.
-
-Bent removed the walling-up, but left its foundation in the entrance
-at 2 ft. below which the paved passage and steps were unburied in
-September, 1902. This foundation of the Makalanga wall was laid across
-a pile of blocks thrown promiscuously on to the floor of this entrance,
-and this again rested on soil black with charcoal, decomposed vegetable
-matter, and bones of buck split open for the marrow, and this débris
-contained broken articles of Makalanga make, but of superior quality to
-those made by them to-day.
-
-
-_The North Entrance_
-
-This entrance is in the north-east wall of the temple, and its exit
-faces north-east, twenty-five degrees, and is situated between the (523
-ft. 6 in.) and (536 ft.) points of the measurement of the inside base
-of the main wall from the south side of the west entrance, and between
-the [566 ft. 6 in.] and [571 ft. 6 in.] points of the measurement of
-the outside base of the main wall from the south side of same entrance.
-It has always been known as the North Entrance, as it is on the north
-side of the centre of the temple. Bent terms it the North Entrance, as
-do other writers, and in our description it will be so styled.
-
-Its massive size and excellent construction exceed those of any
-other known ancient entrance, unless it be the West Entrance, which,
-however, at present remains uncleared, and, except for the dilapidation
-of the higher portions of its rounded sides, it is certainly the
-best-preserved entrance so far discovered at Zimbabwe. Until November,
-1902, the existence of its symmetrical and massive steps was altogether
-unsuspected, for these and the outer face of the entrance had been
-buried to a depth of 5 ft. in débris, the major portion of which could
-not have been disturbed for apparently many scores of years. The
-opening out of this entrance and also of the walled-in area immediately
-in front and to the north of it has revealed another leading
-architectural feature in addition to those already known at this
-temple. Photographs of the North Entrance, as it previously appeared,
-now only represent the tops of the side walls of the entrance.
-
-[Illustration: North or Main Entrance
-
-ELLIPTICAL TEMPLE
-
-Zimbabwe]
-
-Though its outer side faces towards north-east, twenty-five degrees,
-the entrance passage itself runs somewhat obliquely through the wall,
-the south end being slightly more to the east than is the outer end,
-and standing in the middle of the south end the line of passage further
-to the north than does its outer face, and there is a view of the
-eastern end of the Acropolis, the lower portion of which is at present
-hidden by a pile of granite block débris removed from the interior of
-the temple.
-
-The main walls on either side of the entrance are exceedingly massive
-and exceptionally well built, the entrance and steps forming a
-handsome piece of dry masonry, which reveals the artistic plan and
-bold conception of the ancient architects, admirably executed by the
-builders. On the east side the wall is 15 ft. 6 in. wide at the points
-where the main wall starts to curve in forming the east side of the
-entrance, and this measurement is taken at 13 ft. above the level of
-the outside area. On the west side the main wall is 14 ft. 6 in. wide
-at the points where the wall starts to curve in forming the west side
-of this entrance, this measurement being taken at 12 ft. above the
-level of the outside area.
-
-The entrance passage is 15 ft. 9 in. long. It is 7 ft. 10 in. wide at
-the foot of the steps on the north side, and 12 ft. wide at the south
-end between those points on either side where the walls start to curve
-in forming the entrance. The steps occupy 4 ft. 4 in. of the north end
-of the length of the passage, and the rest is paved level; but at the
-south end the flooring is slightly uneven owing to roots having moved
-some of the paving blocks. The level at the south end terminates in a
-step-down, which runs from the south face of one side wall to the south
-face of the other side wall. The present heights of the reduced
-walls of the entrance are: east side, 7 ft. 6 in.; west side, 6 ft. 10
-in.
-
-[Illustration: EXTERIOR OF NORTH ENTRANCE TO ELLIPTICAL TEMPLE
-
-(DISCOVERED 1903)]
-
-There are six rows of steps each 7 in. high, and each row in its centre
-recedes 10 in. beyond the one below it, the row curving inwards at its
-centre. The walls on either side of this entrance are not separate
-walls, but a common foundation runs under both, forming the floor of
-the passage, which floor is 3 ft. 4 in. higher than the level of the
-outer area.
-
-The steps are formed by the courses of blocks of the outer face of the
-wall on one side passing to the outer face of the wall on the opposite
-side, where they are continued, making a curve inwards, each curve
-receding with mathematical precision behind the curve in front. The
-courses on either side assume a fan-like form, thus making the curved
-courses of the steps wider in the middle than on the sides. The steps
-were built before the side walls of the passage were erected, and their
-marvellous regularity demonstrates the foresight of the builders. The
-end blocks of each row are partly built into the walls on either side.
-The courses in the main wall at this point are remarkably even and
-correct, the courses on the one side corresponding with the courses on
-the other. These steps are identical in measurement with all steps, so
-far discovered, found built in any ancient wall of the oldest type of
-ruin, and are of altogether different construction from those of the
-angular and terraced ruins of the later period in which the angular
-side walls of an entrance are first erected, and the steps afterwards
-built in between them.
-
-Bent frequently refers to this entrance as the main entrance of the
-temple. In so doing he is in all probability correct, though many of
-the facts concerning it, which give it an importance not possessed by
-either of the other two entrances, were then unknown to him. These were
-discovered in November, 1902. But the fact that three passages—Parallel
-Passage, Inner Parallel Passage, and South Passage—all converge
-on this entrance shows that it must have possessed considerable
-importance. But the recent clearing away of the débris to a depth of
-some 6 ft. has revealed the lower portion of the entrance with its
-well-constructed flight of steps, as well as the admirably proportioned
-structure of the entrance, which can now be seen to be by far the
-finest entrance to the temple.
-
-But the further discovery in November, 1902, of the long-buried
-North-East Passage, and the clearing out of the Outer Parallel Passage,
-both of which converge on the outer face of this entrance, have
-disclosed the fact that an even greater importance attached to this
-entrance than Bent or Sir John Willoughby could have supposed, for the
-existence of the North-East Passage was unknown to them, seeing that
-the summits of its side walls were buried at least 2 ft. under the
-veld. This passage, with buried enclosures on either hand, has now been
-cleared out for 108 yds., with traces of an extension for a further
-70 yds. in a direct line towards the south-east Ancient Ascent to the
-Acropolis, and as the large area, known as the “Valley of Ruins,” lies
-along this route, and is connected with the passage by numerous side
-passages and openings, the importance of the North Entrance is very
-considerably enhanced, and Bent’s conjecture is shown to be fully
-confirmed.
-
-
- _Western Entrance_
-
-This is the second largest entrance to the temple, and would appear
-to have been of some importance. It is by the _West Entrance_ that
-visitors now usually enter the building. The gateway opens directly
-into _No. 5 Enclosure_.
-
-The entrance is situated between [827 ft. 9 in.] and [831 ft. 9 in.] on
-the line of the measurement of the circumference of the exterior of the
-building, which starts on the south side of the entrance, and between
-(763 ft. 6 in.) and (766 ft. 6 in.) on the line of the measurement
-of the circumference of the interior of the main wall, which also
-starts on the south side of this entrance. (See _Main Wall_.)
-
-[Illustration: SUMMIT OF SOUTH-EAST MAIN WALL, ELLIPTICAL TEMPLE]
-
-[Illustration: WEST ENTRANCE FROM INTERIOR, ELLIPTICAL TEMPLE]
-
-The south side is formed by the boldly rounded end of the main
-wall, which is here reduced in height to 7 ft. 6 in., or including
-foundations to 11 ft. The reduced summit is 6 ft. 6 in. wide, and has
-a batter of 8 in. At 10 ft. from the side wall the main wall rises
-abruptly from 7 ft. to 22 ft.
-
-The north side is formed by the main wall, which has a rounded end. Its
-height is 8 ft., but rises sharply to 20 ft. The reduced summit is 6
-ft. wide, and there is a batter of 10 in. on the face of the side wall.
-
-The passage-way is 4 ft. 2 in. wide between the rounded ends of the two
-walls, and it has a total length of 20 ft. 6 in., 9 ft. 6 in. being
-over the foundation and 11 ft. over the semi-circular platform, which
-supports the two rounded buttresses on the inner side of the entrance.
-Unlike the _Main Entrance_ this passage passes through the wall at
-right angles.
-
-The semi-circular platform projects into _No. 5 Enclosure_ for 11 ft.,
-and upon it, and on either side of the entrance, are two buttresses,
-that on the south side being 9 ft. high and 10 ft. wide at the back;
-the one on the south side being very much dilapidated is now only 6 ft.
-high on the north side and 6 ft. wide at back. These buttresses and the
-platform are one structure, the courses in the buttresses are carried
-across the passage in a semi-circular form, thus forming steps.
-
-The problem as to the entrance having ever been covered over is at
-present an open one, and there is much to be said on either side. The
-old men of the Amangwa state that it once had wooden beams across, and
-that the entrance was blocked up with stones. The _North-West Entrance_
-was in 1891 found by Bent, who reopened it, to have also been built
-up at a very late date, and so completely blocked. (See _Entrances_,
-Chapter VII.)
-
-On the exterior, and on either side of the entrance, stood, till 1903,
-very large débris heaps, each of which was at least 8 ft. high and
-many yards in circumference. These on being removed were found to
-represent several distinct occupations of the temple, and two-thirds of
-their height was accounted for by native occupations and the removal
-by explorers of débris from the interior of the building. The native
-portion contained ashes and bones in large quantities, iron assegai
-heads, hoes, brass and iron wire bangles, clay whorls, and ordinary
-native pottery. Some few small relics were found in the soil which
-had been taken from the temple. In the lowest portion, which was not
-thicker than 18 in., were found phalli, splinters of soapstone beams,
-excellent pottery, gold crucibles, beaten gold and gold wire. There
-were several layers of ashes, but very few animal bones. The two heaps
-had been piled up against the main wall.
-
-
-
-
- CHAPTER XI
-
- THE ELLIPTICAL TEMPLE
- (_Continued_)
-
- ENCLOSURES NOS. 1 TO 7
-
-
- NO. 1 ENCLOSURE
-
-This enclosure is on the north side of the temple, the outer face of
-its north-eastern wall being 18 ft. south-west of the _North Entrance_.
-This is the most perfect of all the enclosures. It is roughly circular,
-and there are no angular features in the body of the wall, though both
-entrances have their outer corners squared. The area is: north to south
-56 ft. 6 in., and east to west 55 ft. 6 in.
-
-The average height of the walls all round the enclosure is 7 ft. above
-the present surface of the filled-in area. At the north-east end the
-summit of the wall is 11 ft. above the bottom of an old hole excavated
-at that point, and in the hole the foundation is exposed. On the
-north-west side the summit of the wall is 9 ft. above the red cemented
-floor of an old Makalanga hut which had solid clay sides.
-
-The walls are very substantial, being 5 ft. 6 in. wide and 4 ft. and 5
-ft. above the surface of the area, as it was before clearing operations
-were commenced.
-
-There are two entrances, one on the north side and the other on the
-east side.
-
-The north entrance leads from _No. 3 Enclosure_, and is 2 ft. 6 in.
-wide, and its walls are rounded on the inside and angular on the
-outside, the side walls being between 3 ft. and 4 ft. high. There are
-four rows of steps, somewhat rudely constructed, each being about 10
-in. from front to back. A small parapet wall carries the steps from the
-lower level of _No. 3 Enclosure_.
-
-The walls of the east entrance are rounded on the inside and angular
-on the outside. The entrance is 2 ft. wide, 5 ft. long, with a level
-floor for this length, the foundation being carried across the opening,
-and the walls on either side are 4 ft. high. There is one step inside
-at the end of the 5-ft. length, and one step outside from the floor of
-_South Passage_. There are no portcullis grooves to this entrance. On
-the inside of this entrance is a stone platform which might once have
-carried buttresses.
-
-This enclosure has been subjected to the filling-in process more than
-any other enclosure of the temple, probably because of its proximity
-to the _North-West Entrance_ through which the material could easily
-have been brought in from outside. On the present surface there are
-remains of an old Makalanga hut, which must be more than sixty years
-old, seeing that the Makalanga have not resided in the temple for over
-that period. At a depth of from 1 ft. 6 in. to 2 ft. below this surface
-the remains of a still very much older Makalanga hut have been exposed.
-This was constructed of red clay, beautifully polished, the flooring
-being on a very true level. This class of old huts had their clay
-sides altogether independent of the roof, which was supported by poles
-inserted at a distance of some inches from the outside of the walls.
-(See _Architecture_—_Makalanga Huts_.)
-
-The only “finds” made here were fragments of large soapstone bowls
-carved with herring-bone and cord patterns, small clay animals, assegai
-heads, and pottery of old, but not ancient, design or make, and
-comparatively recent native pottery.
-
-A drain passes through the west wall of this enclosure, and has a fall
-into _No. 3 Enclosure_.
-
-Bent stated that this enclosure was not a portion of the original
-building. There are indications that this conjecture is correct. The
-walls are built without any regularity in courses and of stones of all
-shapes and sizes, the west wall crossing over the foundations of an
-older wall.
-
-
- NO. 2 ENCLOSURE
-
-This is a pear-shaped enclosure at the north-north-west side of the
-temple, and is built up immediately against the main outer wall from
-(530 ft.) to (578 ft.), and is on the west side of the _North Entrance_.
-
-It is 47 ft. long from south-east to north-east, and 13 ft. wide from
-north-east to south-west at its broadest part.
-
-From (560 ft.) to (565 ft.) the main wall is considerably broken,
-having fallen outwards. It is between these points that there is a
-narrow break in the foundations, which supports the view regarding the
-reconstruction of the western wall at a later ancient period, a matter
-dealt with in the description of the main wall, and in the Preface.
-
-This enclosure has only one entrance, and this is at the south-east
-end. It has rounded walls, is 8 ft. long, 2 ft. 2 in. wide, and the
-wall on the south-west is 4 ft. high, and that on the north-east side 7
-ft. high. The floor of this enclosure is between 2 ft. and 3 ft. below
-the floor of the adjoining _North Entrance_, and there is one stone and
-one cement step in the entrance passage of this enclosure.
-
-A substantial wall, 4 ft. to 8 ft. high, and 4 ft. wide at 4 ft. from
-the ground, but evidently of later construction, is on the south side,
-and separates this enclosure from _No. 3 Enclosure_, but it has a deep
-depression on its summit, and is very considerably ruined for about 20
-ft.
-
-There is a drain-hole through the main wall at (545 ft.).
-
-This enclosure has suffered very considerably at the hands of
-unauthorised searchers for ancient gold relics, some of the flooring
-having been torn up, and the foundations of part of the southern wall
-have been undermined.
-
-Here in a débris heap was found the large plain flat-rimmed soapstone
-bowl which was lent by the late Rt. Hon. C. J. Rhodes to the South
-African Museum at Cape Town.
-
-
- NO. 3 ENCLOSURE
-
-This is the most north-westerly enclosure of the temple, the north-west
-main wall from (590 ft.) to (660 ft.) forming its north-westerly
-boundary. The south side is formed by _No. 1 Enclosure_, the west by
-_No. 4 Enclosure_, and the north and east by _No. 2 Enclosure_.
-
-The area is keystone-shaped, being 76 ft. long on its north-west side,
-45 ft. 6 in. on its west side, 71 ft. on the south side, and 50 ft. 6
-in. on the north and east side.
-
-The _North-West Entrance_ to the temple is at (606 ft. 6 in.) to (611
-ft. 6 in.) on the north-west side of the enclosure. (See _Main Wall,
-North-West Entrance_, for description.)
-
-The entrance in the west wall between _Nos. 3 and 4 Enclosures_ was not
-at the present gap in the débris of this wall, as the gap was made for
-the convenience of visitors. The foundations of this wall end abruptly
-at 25 ft. from its east end, this portion of the wall being in a fairly
-good condition for 14 ft., and being from 3 ft. to 6 ft. high.
-
-The entrance to _No. 1 Enclosure_ is in the south wall at 45 ft. to 49
-ft. from the west wall.
-
-The east entrance has rounded sides, is 2 ft. wide, and the side walls
-are 4 ft. high. This entrance leads from _South Passage_, and is
-immediately inside the _North Entrance_ to the temple.
-
-A drain from _No. 1 Enclosure_ is in the angle formed by the west and
-south walls.
-
-Possibly this enclosure was once subdivided, but when mediæval and even
-later Makalanga occupied the temple for their residence and cattle
-kraal the sub-divisional walls were removed. That this portion of
-the temple was used for this purpose is demonstrated both by “finds”
-and the condition of the enclosure, and these support the native
-assertion to this effect. The remains of a wall runs north-west from
-the south-west corner of the enclosure towards the west side of the
-_North-West Entrance_. This is 16 ft. long, 2 ft. high, and 3 ft. 6 in.
-wide. A second wall is believed to have once stood between the west
-side of the entrance to _No. 1 Enclosure_ and the north and east side
-wall.
-
-[Illustration: Nos. 3 & 4 ENCLOSURES AND WEST MAIN WALL, ELLIPTICAL
-TEMPLE]
-
-At (640 ft.) is a long granite slab, which has evidently fallen from
-the summit of the main wall. Probably it was a tie or “through” stone,
-as the summit of the main wall had been bonded with similar stones.
-
-In the angle formed by the north-east and north-west walls are
-the remains of a large rounded buttress now only 2 ft. high.
-Possibly this might be one of the platforms with “blind steps” (see
-_Architecture_—_Blind Steps_) which are found in the angles in several
-of the temple enclosures.
-
-This enclosure appears to have been filled in with stones and earth at
-a very late period, as the filling-in contains at all depths portions
-of Makalanga pottery and lumps of iron slag. The ancient floor is
-believed to be some 2 ft. below the present surface.
-
-
- NO. 4 ENCLOSURE
-
-This is the most westerly of the temple enclosures. Its form resembles
-that of a keystone with the broad side on the west main wall, along the
-inside of which it extends for 67 ft. from (666 ft.) to (730 ft.)
-
-It is bounded on the north side by the divisional wall separating
-it from _No. 3 Enclosure_, and this side is 47 ft. 6 in. long. This
-wall extends from the outer face of the west portion of the wall of
-_No. 1 Enclosure_ for 14 ft., from which it is in a good state of
-preservation, except for reduction in height, it being now only between
-4 ft. and 6 ft., while the rest of the wall is ruined, and is lost in a
-line of débris which marks where the wall once stood. At the west end
-of this débris are a few blocks still retaining their position, and
-these show where the north wall joined the main wall. As on the north
-side of this wall, where there is now no trace of entrance between
-_Nos. 2 and 3 Enclosures_, so is it on its south side, where the face
-of the wall is even more ruined than on the opposite side.
-
-On the south side this enclosure is bounded by the divisional wall
-between it and _No. 5 Enclosure_. This wall is 58 ft. long, and bends
-southwards in the middle of its length for 5 ft. from a line between
-the two extremities of the wall. At the east end of the wall it is 6
-ft. high for 5 ft. in length, when it is reduced to 2 ft. with débris
-3 ft. higher lying along the summit. The west end of the wall is very
-poorly built, and as this enclosure has also been used by the Makalanga
-as a cattle kraal, probably finding the wall broken down at its
-western end, they rebuilt it in order to keep in the cattle. The wall
-throughout is built on a raised cement foundation only slightly wider
-than the wall itself.
-
-Though there is at present no trace of any entrance between this and
-_No. 5 Enclosure_, there are reasons for believing that traces of one
-may be discovered near the spot where a large fig tree grows on the
-line of wall.
-
-The east side is 33 ft. in length, and is formed for 10 ft. from the
-north side by the west outer face of the wall of _No. 1 Enclosure_,
-which is here 11 ft. high; for the following 12 ft. by the opening into
-the _West Passage_ which runs parallel to the south-west and west sides
-of _No. 1 Enclosure_; and for 13 ft. by the outer and west face of the
-_West Passage_, the wall of which is 10 ft. high, and is well built,
-substantial, and in a good state of preservation.
-
-The whole of the interior of this enclosure has been deliberately
-and rudely filled in with soil, débris, also with stones which have
-fallen into it, and for almost 2 ft. in depth it is covered with rich
-vegetable mould. [This latter was removed in 1903.]
-
-
- NO. 5 ENCLOSURE
-
-This enclosure is immediately inside the _West Entrance_ to the temple,
-the western and south-western main wall forming its boundary on those
-sides from (735 ft.) to (760 ft.) on the north side of the entrance,
-and from (0 ft.) to (100 ft.) on the south side of the entrance, thus
-making its length on the side of the main wall to be 130 ft.
-
-The area was once subdivided, but at present it is difficult to say
-exactly where the sub-divisional walls ran, though the faint traces of
-these are to be seen in several directions, but all appear to radiate
-from the eastern side of the enclosure towards the inside face of the
-main wall.
-
-The north side is 59 ft. long, the south wall of _No. 4 Enclosure_
-being its northern boundary. The face of this wall at its eastern
-extremity is well built, but the western portion of it is very poorly
-constructed. The probable cause of this difference in the building of
-the wall was explained in the description of _No. 4 Enclosure_, and
-also in the Preface.
-
-The eastern side for 36 ft. in length from the north side is formed
-by a very well-built wall which forms the southern extremity of _West
-Passage_. This wall is now only 6 ft. in height, but the great amount
-of wall-débris lying at its bases suggests that it was once some 7
-ft. higher. It is 6 ft. wide on its present summit. From this point
-to the southern end of the enclosure the rest of the eastern side is
-open space, with traces of substantial wall foundations all along this
-length. The total length of the eastern side of this enclosure is 93 ft.
-
-The south side, which is 37 ft. long, is formed by faint traces of a
-wall which divides this area from _No. 6 Enclosure_, extending from the
-west outer side of _No. 7 Enclosure_ to the main wall.
-
-The width at the centre of this enclosure from east to west is 57 ft.
-
-A flat granite monolith stands at 30 ft. north-east of the north
-buttress of the _West Entrance_ with a flat face towards the west. It
-rises from the ground 6 ft. 9 in., is 3 ft. broad, narrowing to 1 ft.
-10 in. at the top. It is 3 in. thick, and leans slightly towards the
-east. No artificial markings can be discovered on either of its faces.
-
-A triangular-shaped granite beam stands 2 ft. 11 in. above the ground
-at 26 ft. north-east of the south buttress of the _West Entrance_. A
-fractured portion of the beam, until lately buried, lies near. This
-section is 8 ft. 2 in. long. Twelve years ago this beam was complete.
-It then had a tilt towards the north, and its base must be deep to have
-supported its heavy weight in a leaning position.
-
-Other sections of fractured granite monoliths were buried at this
-spot; one set of sections exceed together 8 ft., without taking into
-consideration a section which is missing.
-
-The latest floor of this enclosure is at least 2 ft. below the present
-surface, the soil on the top being vegetable mould thickly matted with
-roots of wild vines and other creepers. [In August, 1903, this top soil
-was removed from the whole area. Several pieces of beaten gold and some
-Arabian glass were found lying on the hard soil underneath it.]
-
-
- NO. 6 ENCLOSURE
-
-This adjoins _No. 5 Enclosure_, which forms its western boundary. The
-south side is formed by the south main wall of the temple from (100
-ft.) to (179 ft. 3 in.). The north and north-east side is formed by
-the south wall of _No. 7 Enclosure_. This wall is from 5 ft. to 11
-ft. high. The eastern side is formed by the west wall of the _Sacred
-Enclosure_, which is from 8 ft. to 11 ft. high.
-
-The measurements of this area are: south side, 79 ft.; north side, 58
-ft.; east side, 22 ft.; and west side, 31 ft.
-
-This enclosure has two entrances. Probably another entrance may be
-discovered on the western side on the removal of débris.
-
-The northern entrance is at 35 ft. to 37 ft., measuring from the
-eastern end of the north wall. This leads into _No. 7 Enclosure_. It
-has rounded walls, and the floor forms part of the foundation. There
-are no portcullis grooves.
-
-The eastern entrance is at 13 ft. to 15 ft., measuring from the north
-end of the east wall. This leads into the _Sacred Enclosure_. Its walls
-are rounded, and there are portcullis grooves. The steps are built into
-the wall. On either side of the entrance there are traces of rounded
-buttresses.
-
-Monkey-rope roots have done serious injury to the eastern end of the
-north wall, and have caused a depression of 5 ft. from the average
-height of the reduced wall.
-
-This enclosure is interesting because it showed three floors below the
-soil surface. On removing the mould which form the top surface for a
-depth of 1 ft. to 2 ft., was found the common red clay foundation of
-a Makalanga hut, about which lay iron hoes, assegai-heads, and also
-pottery of no great age. Below this, for a further depth of 1 ft. to 1
-ft. 6 in., was a promiscuous filling-in of blocks and soil, and below
-this again was a very hard soil, probably of decomposed cement, and on
-this hard surface was a pile of about 20 lbs. weight of portions of
-pottery scorifiers and small crucibles, all of which showed gold richly
-on the flux. These had evidently been piled up as rubbish, for they
-were all found within an area of 2 sq. ft., and no other portions of
-scorifiers or crucibles were found elsewhere in this enclosure. A pair
-of iron pincers made of two pieces of iron welded together at one end,
-an iron gong, and a soapstone amulet were discovered together, while
-on the lowest floor was a portion of a large soapstone bowl carved
-with herring-bone on cord pattern, and the fractured bases of what are
-believed to be true phalli. This lowest floor is 9 in. deeper than the
-one on which the gold crucibles were found, and is made of whitish
-cement, and has been exposed for about 4 sq. ft. in the north-east
-corner of the enclosure at 11 ft. below the summit of the east wall.
-
-The reconstruction of the north wall at its eastern end is very
-conspicuous. This reconstruction is referred to in the description of
-_No. 7 Enclosure_.
-
-In the soil débris pile, which had been removed from _No. 7 Enclosure_
-into this enclosure in 1891 by Bent, was (in August, 1902) found a
-piece of glass, being the lip portion of a bowl. This had bosses on its
-surface, with gold rims round each boss, indicating that the upper part
-of the neck of this bowl was once covered with gold enamel. This glass
-is believed to be identical with that found by Sir John Willoughby,
-and pronounced by authorities at the British Museum to belong to the
-thirteenth century.
-
-
- NO. 7 ENCLOSURE
-
-This enclosure is on the south side of the temple, the south and
-south-west wall running for 55 ft. parallel with the main wall at a
-distance of about 21 ft. This enclosure, next to _No. 1 Enclosure_, is
-in the best state of preservation of any chamber within the temple.
-Its area is 54 ft. 6 in. from north to south, and 39 ft. from east
-to west, and its form resembles a quarter section of a circle, with
-its rounded side extending from south-west to north, the centre of
-which quarter-circle is at the south-south-east end of the area. The
-present surface of the area is very uneven, owing to the operations of
-excavators and searchers for relics.
-
-There are two entrances still more or less intact, one on the
-south-west side leading into _No. 6 Enclosure_, and the other at the
-north corner, but facing west. Possibly there was also an entrance on
-the east side, where a gigantic fig tree, 50 ft. high, now stands.
-
-The south-west entrance (see section) is protected on the inside by
-rounded buttresses on either side, which project 2 ft. 6 in. into
-the enclosure. These buttresses, of which only the lower courses now
-remain, are built upon, and at each end of, a semi-circular base 11 ft.
-long protruding 4 ft. 6 in. into the enclosure, the face courses of
-which curve inwards, one above and behind, the other between the side
-buttresses, and so form steps up to the entrance, the courses above
-the steps being carried round the buttresses. There are no traces of
-portcullis grooves. This is a form of steps found in the entrances
-through the main wall of the temple, and in the entrances in many
-ruins of the oldest or first-period style of architecture, whether at
-Zimbabwe or elsewhere in the country.
-
-[Illustration: WEST ENTRANCE TO No. 7 ENCLOSURE, ELLIPTICAL TEMPLE]
-
-[Illustration: SOUTH WALL OF No. 7 ENCLOSURE, SHEWING PART (TO LEFT)
-RECONSTRUCTED, ELLIPTICAL TEMPLE]
-
-The north entrance is of exactly similar construction, but is in a
-better state of preservation, the one buttress remaining being still 5
-ft. high. This entrance has portcullis grooves.
-
-The best-built portion of the walls of this enclosure is undoubtedly
-that of the curved wall which extends from south-west to north. This is
-a fine piece of work, and the face of the wall is very regular. This
-wall is from 11 ft. to 13 ft. high on the inside, and 11 ft. to 14 ft.
-high on the outside, and is 4 ft. 6 in. wide in its present summit, the
-line of which is even except at its extremities. Judging by the block
-débris, this wall might once have been fully 2 ft. to 3 ft. higher.
-The centre of the outward curve of the wall is 11 ft. west from a line
-drawn between the extreme points of the curve.
-
-The south wall may be divided into two sections, the westerly portion
-being well built, and the easterly portion very poorly constructed,
-having numerous straight joints, disappearing and false courses, and is
-built of stones of all sizes and shapes. This latter part is evidently
-a reconstruction at a later date and on the old foundations. Where the
-joint was made between the old and the later walls is very clearly
-discernible, while there is a deep depression in the summit of the wall
-at this point. These depressions almost always exist in joints between
-old and later walls. This wall is 32 ft. long, between 8 ft. and 9 ft.
-high, and is 4 ft. wide on its reduced summit.
-
-The eastern side is in four lengths: (1) a small portion of wall in
-the south-east corner 6 ft. long, 6 ft. high, and 4 ft. wide; (2) a
-gap of 14 ft., evidently made by past and present trees; (3) a wall 7
-ft. high, 13 ft. long, and 3 ft. wide on its summit (the lower portion
-of this section is built up against (4), but in the upper section it
-is built into it); and (4) a wall 16 ft. long, 9 ft. high, 4 ft. wide
-on summit. This wall has been partly ruined at its western end by the
-roots of a large tree.
-
-The connection between sections (3) and (4) where the lower portion
-of (3) is built up against and is independent of (4), while the
-upper portion of (3) is built and bonded into and forms part of (4),
-has an exact parallel in the west wall of _Recess Enclosure_ on the
-_Acropolis_, where the lower portions of two walls are independent of
-each other, but their higher portions are bonded and built as one wall.
-
-In August, 1902, some thirty tons of explorers’ débris of old date
-were removed from this enclosure, and a floor of granite cement was
-disclosed at its south end, in the middle of which, and forming part of
-the cement work, is a raised circular platform 7 in. high, 16 ft. 10
-in. in circumference, and with rounded sides. Close to it was found a
-rounded piece of diorite extensively marked with hammerings, as if it
-had been used for an anvil.
-
-Along the base of the south wall is a cemented edging 6 in. high, 17
-ft. long, with rounded edges, protruding 8 in. to 12 in. from the wall.
-In the south corner are two blind steps made of granite cement (see
-_Architecture_—_Blind Steps_).
-
-
-
-
- CHAPTER XII
-
- THE ELLIPTICAL TEMPLE
- (_Continued_)
-
- Sacred Enclosure—Conical Tower—Small Tower—Parallel Passage.
-
- No. 8
-
-
- THE SACRED ENCLOSURE
-
-This enclosure, which contains the _Conical Tower_ and the now ruined
-“_Little Cone_,” lies on the south-east of the temple area, the main
-east wall from south-east to east-north-east being its eastern boundary
-from (186 ft.) to (315 ft).
-
-In shape it is long and narrow, the _Conical Tower_ practically
-dividing the area into two almost equal sections: _Sacred Enclosure_
-(_east_), and _Sacred Enclosure_ (_west_).
-
-The length of this enclosure measured along the inside face of the main
-wall is 129 ft. 2 in. The northern side is formed by sections of walls
-which in the main run parallel with the south wall of the temple. The
-northern sections of walls are at the following distances from the main
-wall: at the extreme west 25 ft.; at (186 ft.) 31 ft.; on either side
-of the _Conical Tower_ 26 ft.; at (300 ft.) 17 ft.; and at the extreme
-east 5 ft, this last portion for 13 ft. being greatly narrowed by large
-buttresses on either side up to the entrance of the _Parallel Passage_.
-
-The northern wall sections commencing at the west end are as follows:—
-
-A wall 28 ft. long forming the south wall of _No. 11 Enclosure_. The
-first section of 20 ft. is indifferently built, but the last 8 ft. well
-constructed. The joint between the two classes of walls is obvious,
-and the inferior wall is considerably dilapidated at its western end,
-especially at the western entrance. The highest portion is 9 ft. 6 in.
-above the present surface of the interior.
-
-The second section is the south wall of _The Platform_, which rounds
-on a length of 24 ft. into _Sacred Enclosure_ (_west_) for 7 ft., and
-recedes again directly north of the _Conical Tower_. This rounded wall
-is exceedingly well built. Its summit is practically level, and its
-height is 11 ft. to 14 ft., according to the rise and fall of the floor
-or steps of the enclosure.
-
-The third section is a wall 48 ft. long, extending from north of the
-_Conical Tower_ to the entrance of the _Parallel Passage_. From the
-south side of this wall, and just inside the north entrance, is a
-wall 13 ft. high, 5 ft. wide, narrowing as the _Conical Tower_ is
-approached, projecting towards the north-east side of the _Conical
-Tower_. The last 27 ft. of this third section is evidently of a later
-period construction. The joint of the older and later walls is very
-clearly defined, and there is a depression on the summit at this point.
-The height of the wall varies from 14 ft. to 16 ft.
-
-The _Sacred Enclosure_ has four entrances—south-west, west, north, and
-east.
-
-The south-west entrance is from _No. 6 Enclosure_. This has rounded
-walls and portcullis grooves, and is 5 ft. high on either side, 2 ft.
-wide, and runs through a wall 4 ft. 10 in. thick. On the inside of
-this entrance are the remains of steps which relic prospectors have
-destroyed. The floor of the entrance is 4 ft. above the floor of the
-enclosure.
-
-The western entrance, which leads from _No. 9 Enclosure_, is also
-rounded, and had portcullis grooves, and its floor was once paved with
-cement. This entrance is in a very dilapidated condition, owing to
-trees and creepers.
-
-The north or main entrance to this enclosure is rounded on either side,
-and has portcullis grooves. It is 2 ft. 10 in. wide, and is directly
-north of the _Conical Tower_, between which and this entrance the
-floor is substantially paved with cement, and has cement steps leading
-down into the enclosure on the west side of the _Conical Tower_.
-
-[Illustration: VISITORS’ LADDER TO SUMMIT OF MAIN WALL, ELLIPTICAL
-TEMPLE]
-
-[Illustration: THE SMALL CONICAL TOWER, ELLIPTICAL TEMPLE]
-
-The east entrance leads from the _Parallel Passage_, and measurements
-of it are given in the description of that passage.
-
-The buttresses on either side of the inner side of the eastern entrance
-have not the appearance of being ancient, unless they had once
-collapsed and been roughly rebuilt at a much later period.
-
-The eastern section of this enclosure has been cleared of débris down
-to the level of a yellow granite cement floor. In several places this
-flooring has been destroyed by roots of both past and present trees of
-great size. This section appears to have had to absorb all rainfall
-from the south-east area of the temple, as this enclosure is at a much
-lower level than the adjoining enclosures, and this may account for
-the decomposition at some points of the cement floor. The clearing to
-the cement floor has also been carried round the base of the _Conical
-Tower_, which now stands upon an almost level floor. The spot where
-Bent sank the hole through the cement can plainly be seen on the south
-side of the tower. The clearing also disclosed a granite cement step
-at the north entrance with a level cement floor on the inner side
-between it and the north side of the tower. This floor is 2 ft. above
-the cement floor round the base of the tower, from which raised floor
-two granite steps between the tower and _The Platform_ lead down to the
-floor of the western section of the enclosure.
-
-In the western section the floor along the base of the main wall is
-buried in débris to a depth of 1 ft. 6 in. to 5 ft. From the base
-of the northern wall of this section to the centre of the area is a
-cemented floor laid on a pavement of blocks, but in some places the
-cement has become decomposed. In the west corner of this section of the
-enclosure is a floor raised 3 ft. above the cement floor, but this is
-very roughly built, and appears to have been a filling-in by some late
-occupiers of the temple. On the east side of this raised floor, and
-acting as its retaining wall on that side, are the remains of a wall
-4 ft. high and 4 ft. wide projecting from the reconstructed portion
-of the north wall, and most probably of even a later date than the
-obviously reconstructed wall, seeing that it is built up against it.
-
-In the angle formed by the 28-ft. section of the north wall of the
-western area and the wall of _The Platform_ is a set of “blind
-steps,” two in number, and with a platform 8 ft. by 6 ft. square,
-the steps and the platform being covered with granite cement (see
-_Architecture_—_Blind Steps_).
-
-Small portions of granite cement are to be found in the joints of
-the blocks of the main wall up to a height of 7 ft., and also to
-a similar height on the north wall of the eastern section of this
-enclosure, while in the angle of this latter wall and the buttress
-built up against it are the remains of a granite cement dado (see
-_Architecture_—_Cement Dadoes_).
-
-
- THE CONICAL TOWER[52]
-
-This celebrated tower, which forms one of the chief architectural
-features of the Zimbabwe ruins, stands in the centre of the Sacred
-Enclosure, dividing it into two areas. The south-east of the tower is 3
-ft. 10 in. from the main wall of the temple (at 255 ft.) from the south
-side of the west entrance. It is 31 ft. high on its south-east face; 30
-ft. on the south-west side; 26 ft. 6 in. on its north-east side; and
-29 ft. on the north-west side. These measurements are taken from the
-actual foundation, which is only a few inches below the granite cement
-flooring surrounding its base on all sides but the north. The average
-height of the reduced summit of the tower in 1894 was 32 ft., and it
-was then far more level than as seen to-day. Bent believed the original
-height to have been 35 ft., at which point he thought it once had a
-level top, 4 ft in diameter. Photographs taken in 1891 give a very good
-impression of what the tower was like previous to the dilapidation,
-which took place immediately after that time.
-
-It is difficult to state the exact circumference of the base throughout
-the extent of the foundations, as a granite cement raised floor, with
-steps, is constructed up against the base of the north side, but it may
-be taken to be about 57 ft. 6 in. The measurements of the circumference
-of the tower at different heights are as follows: at 5 ft. above floor
-53 ft. 8 in.; at 10 ft., 50 ft. 4 in.; at 15 ft., 46 ft. 1 in.; at
-20 ft., 39 ft.; at 25 ft., 32 ft.; at 27 ft. 6 in. (where the broken
-portion of the summit commences), 30 ft. 2 in. The average battering
-back of the tower, so far as the broken edges of the present summit
-will permit of approximately correct measurements being taken, is, at
-the following heights, as follows: at 10 ft. above floor 1 ft. 7 in.;
-at 15 ft., 1 ft. 10 in.; at 20 ft., 2 ft. 6 in.; at 25 ft., 4 ft. 2
-in.; and at 27 ft., 5 ft. 5 in.
-
-The battering is far more regular on the west and south sides, where it
-is also a few inches less severe. To secure the inclining back of the
-sides of the cone, the blocks from front to back on its circumference
-are laid on the flat on a dead level, and yet so slightly do the blocks
-of one course lie back beyond the edge of the faces of the blocks
-of the course below that, except at one or two points, it is almost
-impossible to notice where the batter takes place. Even the blocks in
-the bulge on the north side have been ascertained to be still perfectly
-level.
-
-There is a slight bulging on the east and north-east sides at 10 ft.
-to 15 ft. above the floor, and this somewhat reduces the extent of
-battering-back on those sides at that height. This bulging creates an
-optical delusion, for visitors almost always declare that the tower has
-tilted slightly to the north-east. But this tilting has now been proved
-not to exist. There are many causes which may have brought about
-the bulging. A large branch of hard-wood tree, the trunk of which is
-believed to have been over one hundred years old, had for years, even
-in light breezes, scraped up and down this side of the tower, and also
-it was on this side that most of the monkey rope, creepers, and bushes
-were growing out of the crevices of the tower from base to summit.
-
-The foundations are exceedingly shallow, being only some 10 in. to 18
-in. below the granite cement flooring. The foundation of the main wall
-near this point is only 10 in. below the same flooring. The lowest
-course of blocks of the tower is of the average size of the blocks used
-in the face of the structure. These rest on what was originally granite
-cement, but which, with the dripping of storm water for centuries
-down the large area of the face of the tower, has now become mere
-yellow sand. This, however, remains very firm, and still makes a good
-foundation. The foundations have not at any point sunk below their
-original level, but there are evidences that its enormous weight has
-caused the tower to settle firmly on to its bed.
-
-The present reduced summit of the tower, where it is intact, slants
-down from the west and south and south-east edges some 4 ft. towards
-the north-east, but the block débris on the summit only slants for 2
-ft. in the same direction. In the centre of the summit is a hole sunk
-down into the top of the tower some 4 ft. It will be remembered that
-Dr. Karl Mauch (1871) admitted having made this hole for the purpose
-of ascertaining whether the tower was solid. The hole was once much
-deeper, but debris has filled it up to 4 ft. from the summit. Mauch
-also made a second hole in the west face of the tower at 5 ft. from
-the floor. This also showed the tower to be solid. Theodore Bent
-(1891) also made a hole for a similar purpose. This is on the south
-face, and extends from the foundation to 4 ft. above the flooring, and
-he pronounced the tower to be perfectly solid. A certain Rhodesian,
-bent, as he confessed, on finding “The Treasure Chamber”(!), made
-another hole on the east side, at 5 ft. from the ground, and with the
-same result, but this hole is so neatly built up afresh that it can
-only just be located. The hole made by Mauch remained unbuilt up until
-1902, and several courses above it have consequently sagged. In 1902 a
-thin wire rod inserted in this last hole and passed through joints of
-internal dry masonry for 8 ft. towards the centre showed the tower to
-be solid.
-
-The dentelle pattern, which Mauch stated ran round the eastern portion
-of the summit of the tower, is now represented by only ten blocks.
-These form three sets of double courses of the dentelle pattern, as
-on the summit of the eastern face of the Eastern Temple on the hill,
-and two blocks of a lower course more to the east, and two loose
-dentelle blocks lying on the summit of the tower. One extremity of the
-pattern was undoubtedly, as can be seen on close inspection, facing
-the south-east, but it extended some little distance round towards the
-east, but how far it is now quite impossible to ascertain. Mauch owned
-to having destroyed a portion of the pattern in making the hole on the
-summit.
-
-The pattern was formed by two rows of wedge-shaped blocks placed to
-project 2 in. beyond the face of the wall, while above them, just as in
-the dentelle patterns elsewhere, were placed heavy blocks and throughs
-or ties, as if to bind effectively the stones forming the patterns,
-as the introduction of a decorative pattern in ancient walls anywhere
-in Rhodesia can be seen to have proved a point of weakness in the
-durability of the faces of the walls. The summit of the tower has been
-greatly dilapidated by small trees and bushes growing on the top, the
-stumps and roots of which can still be seen.
-
-The best idea of the symmetry and accuracy of the contour of the tower
-can be obtained by standing on the summit of the main wall, near the
-top of the visitors’ ladder.
-
-
- THE SMALL TOWER
-
-The base of this stands in _Sacred Enclosure_ (_east_), at 5 ft. 2 in.
-north-east of the large tower. Its circumference at the cement floor
-is 21 ft. 7 in. At 4 ft. above the floor it has a circumference of 19
-ft. 10 in., the dilapidation not being so serious as to prevent this
-measurement being taken. The present reduced height is as follows: west
-side, 3 ft. 2 in.; south side, 4 ft. 6 in.; east side, 6 ft. 6 in.; and
-north side, 5 ft. 3 in.
-
-Unfortunately this tower, which Bent proved to have been solid, has,
-within the last few years, been subject to serious dilapidation.
-Photographs taken in 1894 are now but a record of the appearance of
-this tower at that time, for now, on comparing the photographs with the
-tower, they have become obsolete. A large branch of the tall hard-wood
-tree, which stands 3 ft. from the east side of this tower, had thrown
-over the summit on to the floor on the west side, and in 1902 nothing
-of the tower was left save the outer face of the wall, the internal
-blocks having been taken out by some unauthorised relic prospectors.
-These were replaced, and all the blocks which belong to the tower
-preserved.
-
-Bent (p. 115) states:—
-
- “The religious purport of these towers would seem to be
- conclusively proved by the numerous finds we made in other
- parts of the ruins of a phallic nature, and I think a quotation
- from Montfaucon’s _L’Antiquité Expliquée_ will give us the
- keynote of the worship: ‘The ancients assure us that all the
- Arabians worshipped a tower, which they called El Acara,
- or Alquetila, which was built by their patriarch, Ismael,’
- ‘Maximus of Tyre says they honoured as a great god a great
- cut-stone. This is apparently the same stone resembling Venus,
- according to Euthymius Zygabenus. When the Saracens were
- converted to Christianity they were obliged to anathematise
- this stone, which formerly they worshipped.’ This tower (at
- Zimbabwe) doubtless corresponded to the sacred tower of the
- Midianites, called Penuel, or the ‘Face of God,’ which Gideon
- destroyed (Judges viii. 7). Allusions to these towers are
- constant in the Bible, and the Arabian historian, El Masoudi
- (940 A.D.), further tells us that this stone or tower was eight
- cubits high, and was placed in an angle of the temple, which
- had no roof. Turning to Phœnician temple construction, we have
- a good parallel to the ruins of the Great Zimbabwe at Byblos
- (in Phœnicia), as depicted on the coins; the tower, or sacred
- cone, is set up within the temple precincts, and shut off in
- an enclosure. Similar work is also found in the round temples
- of the Cabiri, at Hadjar Kem, in Malta, and the construction
- of these buildings bears a remarkable resemblance to that of
- those at Zimbabwe, and the round towers, or nuraghs, found
- in Sardinia may possibly be of similar significance. MM.
- Perrot and Chapiez, in their _History of Art in Sardinia_,
- speak of these nuraghs as forts or temples, around which the
- primitive inhabitants of the island once lived. They are
- truncated cones, built with stone blocks of different sizes,
- narrowing at the top. The stones are unhewn as a rule, and
- laid on without mortar. Here, too, we have a parallel for our
- monoliths, mention of unhewn stone, and also for the phalli,
- specimens of which are to be found carved on stone, and here,
- too, the intricate plan of the fortresses suggests at once a
- parallel to those at Zimbabwe; hence it would appear that the
- same influence was at work in Sardinia as in South Africa. In
- Lucian’s _De Syria Dea_ we find a description of a temple at
- Hierapolis, in Mesopotamia, in the propylæa of which, he tells
- us (p. 16), ‘there stood two very large phalli, about thirty
- cubits high.’ Our tower at Zimbabwe stood apparently twenty
- cubits high, and ten in diameter. He further says (p. 29),
- ‘these phalli are solid, for when a priest had to ascend he had
- to put a rope round himself and walk up.’”
-
-Dr. Schlichter, 1898, remarks:—
-
- “We have in the Great Zimbabwe an enormous gnomon (dial
- calculating point) before us, comprising a total angle of
- 120°. Taking all the details into account, I found that the
- obliquity of the ecliptic was somewhat more than 23° 52´, which
- brings us (considering that we have a good Chinese observation
- of the same period) to a time somewhat 1100 B.C. for the
- erection of the Zimbabwe ruins.”[53]
-
-
- THE PARALLEL PASSAGE
-
-This passage, which is one of the most interesting features of ancient
-architecture at Zimbabwe, is 220 ft. long, and extends from (329 ft.)
-from the _West Entrance_ to (513 ft.) from the same point, and runs
-along the inside of the east and north-east of the main wall of the
-temple, that is, from the _Sacred Enclosure_ to the _North Entrance_ of
-the temple.
-
-The ancient priests could by means of this long, deep, and exceedingly
-narrow passage reach the _Sacred Enclosure_ from the exterior of the
-temple altogether unobserved, seeing that along its whole length it has
-no communication with any other part of the interior of the temple. It
-is therefore possible that this passage might have been exclusively
-used by the ministers of the sacred rites. In it have been found the
-bulk of the phalli yet discovered at Zimbabwe, and a number of both
-plain and decorated phalli were found here in August, 1902, when the
-débris which had covered its floor was being removed. The same surmise
-might be made with regard to the purpose of the _Parallel Passage_ at
-the _Western Temple_ on the _Acropolis_.
-
-The summit of the main wall on the outer side throughout the length
-of the passage averages from 28 ft. to 31 ft. above its present floor
-(see _Tables of Measurements of Main Walls_). The inner parallel wall
-varies in height, owing to dilapidations caused by past and present
-trees. This wall averages from 8 ft. to 16 ft. in height. The long
-and narrow passage between such high walls imparts a most weird and
-romantic aspect to this portion of the temple. The high, magnificently
-sweeping, and massive walls tower on either side for a considerable
-distance on a bold masterly curve that displays in the well-built
-and regular courses of the walls design and workmanship which always
-strongly impress the modern builder with unfeigned surprise and wonder.
-
-[Illustration: THE PARALLEL PASSAGE, FROM SOUTH, ELLIPTICAL TEMPLE]
-
-At the extremity near the _Sacred Enclosure_ the passage is 4 ft. wide,
-but at 30 ft. further north-east it is 3 ft. 6 in. wide, at 55 ft. it
-narrows to 2 ft. 6 in., which width is maintained for about 40 ft., at
-the end of which it widens out owing to the inner parallel wall being
-here built upon a comparatively straight line. At (440 ft.) it is 4 ft.
-6 in. wide, at (460 ft.) 5 ft. 6 in. wide, at (480 ft.) 7 ft., and at
-(513 ft.), which is its northern extremity, it narrows to 2 ft. 6 in.
-Between (490 ft.) and (513 ft.) there is a large gap in the main wall,
-where its inner face has collapsed into the passage. The bottom of the
-gap is about 6 ft. above the present level of the passage floor.
-
-[Illustration: _West Entrance to_ PARALLEL PASSAGE Elliptical Temple]
-
-Between (349 ft.) and (362 ft.) the inner parallel wall has collapsed
-into the passage, but the débris has now been cleared away. Between
-(470 ft.) and (500 ft.) the inner wall has been reduced by falls to a
-height of only 6 ft. 9 in.
-
-The north wall of the _Sacred Enclosure_ (_east_) is continued for
-55 ft. as the west wall of the passage. This section is obviously
-a reconstruction of a later date, the joints with this wall and the
-rest of the older and better-built wall at the south end can be seen
-near the small conical tower in the _Sacred Enclosure_, the opposite
-side of this joint being distinctly noticeable in _No. 11 Enclosure_.
-The joint at the north-eastern end of this reconstructed section of
-wall can be seen near (375 ft.), where the older wall recommences.
-This less excellently reconstructed wall shows a far greater amount
-of dilapidation than does the older portion. This circumstance is to
-be noticed in more than a score of other instances of reconstruction
-of lengths of older walls, the invariable experience in Zimbabwe
-architecture being that the reconstructed portions are much less
-lasting, although they are of later date, and these reconstructions
-always show a depression in their summits at the joints with the older
-portions of the wall.
-
-The entrance into this passage from the _Sacred Enclosure_ is the east
-entrance mentioned in the description of that enclosure, and is at (320
-ft.). It is formed by rounded buttresses, 7 ft. high, on either side of
-the passage. The entrance is 2 ft. 6 in. wide, 9 ft. long (including
-the steps at either end), and has portcullis grooves of unusually large
-size. It is approached from the _Sacred Enclosure_ by three large,
-broad, and deep block steps, which are still in a very good state of
-preservation, not one block being missing or even out of place. The
-floor is excellently paved with blocks. On the passage side of the
-entrance are three block steps also in a splendid condition, but these
-are narrower, as the rounded foundation of the west buttress projects 7
-in. into the passage further than the upper portion of the buttress.
-
-Immediately inside this entrance, and against the base of the main
-wall, is a raised level with rounded edges made of granite cement.
-This is 7 ft. long, 1 ft. 10 in. wide, and 3 in. higher than cement
-flooring, and 6 in. high at its north-east end above a step-down in the
-floor. Between this raised cement level and the west wall of the
-passage is a cemented floor 4 ft. 4 in. long, with a rounded face at
-its north-east end, this face forming the step-down just mentioned. The
-floor from this point northwards to (335 ft.) has been broken through
-by excavators, but from (335 ft.) northwards to (425 ft.) the cement
-flooring still remains intact. From (425 ft.) to the northern end of
-the passage the floor has been torn up by explorers.
-
-Evidently the ancients were thoroughly well versed in the art of
-sanitation, for the lengths of cemented flooring are divided into
-catchment areas, separated from each other by raised step-barriers 4
-in. high, 3 ft. 10 in. broad, laid across the passage. These are made
-of granite cement and have rounded edges. The floor has a slight fall
-on either side of these raised barriers, and in the lowest part of
-each area is a drain-hole passing through the main wall, the object
-evidently being to divide up the rainfall so that each drain should
-only have such a quantity of water as its capacity would allow it to
-carry off. The drain-holes passing outwards and downwards through the
-main walls are at (352 ft.), (391 ft. 6 in.), (442 ft.), and (471 ft.).
-These are believed to have once been lined with yellow granite cement.
-It is possible that other drains from this passage-way may yet be found.
-
-Near (396 ft.) is a drain-hole leading into the passage from _No. 14
-Enclosure_.
-
-The floor at the extreme north end of the passage has not yet been
-uncovered, as it would be unsafe to remove any more depth of soil owing
-to the threatening condition of the wall at the gap before mentioned.
-
-Near (338 ft.) is a flat granite beam 6 ft. long, which has evidently
-fallen from the summit of the main wall.
-
-The _Parallel Passage_ and _Sacred Enclosure_ were used by old and
-recent generations of Makalanga as places in which to deposit their
-ash, pottery, iron, and bone débris, and this was found in places to
-a height of 3 ft. and 4 ft. The bones were of animals, mostly of buck,
-but some of oxen, and all had been split open for the marrow, as is
-usually found to be the case in all Makalanga débris heaps whether at
-any ruins or at their villages. Being sunless and damp these two places
-for occupation purposes appear to have been avoided by them.
-
-[Illustration: SOUTH ENTRANCE TO PARALLEL PASSAGE, LOOKING SOUTH,
-ELLIPTICAL TEMPLE]
-
-[Illustration: PART OF PLATFORM AREA, LOOKING WEST, SHEWING DRAIN FROM
-No. 10 ENCLOSURE, ELLIPTICAL TEMPLE]
-
-
-
-
- CHAPTER XIII
-
- THE ELLIPTICAL TEMPLE
- (_Continued_)
-
- The Platform—Enclosures Nos. 9 to 15—Central area—Platform
- area—Inner Parallel Passage—South Passage—West
- Passage—North-East Passage—Outer Parallel Passage.
-
-
- 8a. THE PLATFORM
-
-This is a raised platform standing immediately in front of the
-_Conical Tower_ at a distance of 4 ft. from north to north-west. The
-proximity of this structure to the _Conical Tower_, its position in
-front of it, its summit commanding a view of the interior of the
-temple, particularly of the interior of the _Sacred Enclosure_, its
-peculiar form as compared with other structures in the temple, and the
-excellent workmanship displayed in its walls, as well as the decoration
-of green chlorite schist on its east wall, would appear to show that
-it possessed some highly important significance in the minds of the
-ancient worshippers. So much is this so that visitors most frequently
-remark that this structure must have been the “pulpit” from which the
-priests addressed the crowd of worshippers.
-
-_The Platform_ possesses no angular feature. Its plan is oval, the
-entrance is rounded, and the curves of the walls are excellently worked
-out. The southern and eastern half of this building now only remains
-intact, the northern half, though still traceable, having been pushed
-over northwards by a huge tree.
-
-The inside area of the southern half is 14 ft. from north to south, and
-16 ft. from east to west. The heights of its sides are as follows: east
-side, 9 ft. from granite cement step on floor of _No. 11 Enclosure_;
-west side, 10 ft. above floor of _No. 9 Enclosure_, including 3 ft.
-height of terraced wall; south side, 12 ft. above floor of _Sacred
-Enclosure_ (_west_), and 11 ft. from top of “blind steps” in the same
-enclosure; the north side is ruined. The wall on its present summit is
-from 2 ft. to 2 ft. 6 in. wide.
-
-On the inside, and at a height of from 2 ft. to 4 ft. below the summit
-of the wall, is a raised platform 2 ft. wide running round the inside
-of the wall. This platform, which, in fact, is banquette work, is
-paved with stones, and these are covered with granite cement. This
-banquette was approached by well steps ascending up in the centre of
-the interior, and these were made of blocks covered with granite cement.
-
-The entrance to _The Platform_ is on the north-east side, but only one
-side is now remaining. It is 9 ft. high and is rounded. The large upper
-granite cement step on the floor of _No. 11 Enclosure_ led up to this
-entrance. The decorative pattern on the outer face of the north-east
-wall is described in the account of _No. 11 Enclosure_.
-
-This _Platform_ appears to have served an identical purpose as that of
-the elevated _Platform_ at the _Western Temple_ on the _Acropolis_, and
-as that of the _Ancient Balcony_ which commands the interior of the
-_Eastern Temple_ on _Zimbabwe Hill_.
-
-Bent stated that in 1891 a tall unhewn granite monolith stood erect
-immediately north of _The Platform_, but there is no trace now of its
-existence, and several old residents of Victoria say it must have
-disappeared before they first visited the ruins.[54] The positions
-of all three of the platforms suggest some purpose in the ancient
-religious services.
-
-
- NO. 9 ENCLOSURE
-
-This enclosure lies to the north of the western end of _Sacred
-Enclosure_ (_west_), to the east of _No. 7 Enclosure_, to the west
-of _The Platform_, and to the south of the south passage to _No. 10
-Enclosure_ and of _No. 10 Enclosure_.
-
-Its area is: north side, 26 ft; west side, 26 ft.; east side, 42 ft.;
-and south side, 24 ft.
-
-The south side is formed by the wall dividing this enclosure from
-_Sacred Enclosure_ (_west_), and this is 9 ft. high, and shows the two
-classes of building as does the opposite side. The west side for 6 ft.
-from its south end is formed by a wall of this length, and which is 6
-ft. high. This wall at its northern end terminates abruptly and leans
-northwards, being supported by a bank of soil débris. The rest of this
-side is formed by the bank of soil débris as far as the south passage
-to _No. 10 Enclosure_. The north side is formed by the south wall of
-that passage and of _No. 10 Enclosure_. The passage wall is 6 ft. high,
-and the enclosure wall 8 ft. high. The east side for 14 ft. from the
-south end is formed by _The Platform_, and a terraced wall projecting
-westwards for from 5 ft. to 7 ft. The rest of the eastern side was an
-open space, until recently covered with soil débris.
-
-An entrance from _Sacred Enclosure_ (_west_) is in the south-west
-corner, and this is described in the account of that enclosure. This
-entrance on the north side has two stone steps covered with granite
-cement. The entrance from _No. 10 Enclosure_ is described in the
-account of the passage to that enclosure.
-
-At the south side there is a mass of granite cement rendered shapeless
-by roots of trees and creepers, and also considerably decomposed by
-annual accumulations of rain-water, as this is the lowest part of the
-enclosure. Traces of rounded faces can be seen at several points in
-this cement.
-
-On the eastern side the floor is made of granite cement. This is only
-4 in. thick, and underneath it are several thin layers of floors made
-of granite cement.
-
-It is believed that the angle between _The Platform_ and the south wall
-once held “blind steps.” The quantity of decomposed granite cement
-found in this corner, together with traces of two steps on the terraced
-wall, rather confirms this belief.
-
-
- NO. 10 ENCLOSURE
-
-This enclosure lies on the north side of _No. 7 Enclosure_. Until
-August, 1902, nothing was known concerning it, nor could it have been
-examined during the last fifty years. The Makalanga, as previously
-stated, whose last occupation of the temple as a kraal was some sixty
-years ago, had filled it in with stones and rubble and laid a common
-clay floor over the filling-in, as was their usual practice in almost
-all the ancient ruins in Rhodesia which they occupied. On this clay
-floor was built a circular hut of clay. The filling-in completely
-buried portions of the walls of the enclosure.
-
-In addition to this filling-in, the area had been used as a
-dumping-ground for soil excavated from neighbouring enclosures, and
-so much so that the soil heap was at least 6 ft. higher than the
-filling-in by the Makalanga, and it contained some twenty-five tons of
-soil, all of which has now been removed.
-
-In form the enclosure has the shape of a quarter of a section of a
-circle, the square sides being on the south and west.
-
-The south side is 27 ft. 6 in. long, the south entrance to this
-enclosure being at 20 ft. to 23 ft. from the west end. The south wall
-is the divisional wall between _No. 7 Enclosure_ and this enclosure.
-It is massive and very well built, and is still from 6 ft. to 7 ft. in
-height.
-
-The west side is 31 ft. 6 in. in length. The first 21 ft. from its
-south end is well built, and is in a good state of preservation save
-for a reduction in its summit. It is 4 ft. wide at present level of
-ground. The northern extremity of the 21-ft. length is rounded. The
-wall at its southern end is 8 ft. high, but for 10 ft. at its northern
-end it averages only 4 ft. to 5 ft. in height. At 21 ft. to 23 ft.
-along the west side of the enclosure is the western entrance, the
-northern side of which is formed by a rounded buttress, now only 2 ft.
-in height. The rest of the wall towards the north is very dilapidated.
-
-The east side, which curves outwards towards the east, measures 40 ft.
-along the face of the wall. The length of 27 ft. from the north end is
-formed by a wall of this length, which is 3 ft. to 4 ft. high and 3 ft.
-wide. This wall is obviously of poor and late construction as compared
-with the west and south wall of this enclosure, and crosses in the
-middle of its length, at right angles, an old substantial foundation
-running east and west. The foundation of the upper wall is laid on the
-block and soil débris on the summit of the buried wall. Probably this
-buried wall was the north side of this enclosure at a lower level, and
-this would have once made the enclosure square in form. The eastern
-wall terminates at its south end with an angular buttress 2 ft. 6 in.
-wide, which protrudes westerly 16 in. into the enclosure, where it
-terminates abruptly in a broken end. From the 27-ft. point to the sound
-end of the wall is a very well-built substantial wall 4 ft. 6 in. wide
-at base, but for 5 ft. from its north end it is 1 ft. only above the
-present floor, but for the rest of its length it is 6 ft. in height.
-Where the wall so rises in height it is rounded across the wall, and
-this may have been the south side of an eastern entrance into the
-enclosure.
-
-Though this enclosure has been cleared, the coarse red clay of the
-Makalanga still remains in the centre of the area, but in the angles of
-this enclosure and along its south side is some yellow granite cement
-of a far greater age.
-
-On the yellow granite cement a quantity of what appear to have
-been gold-burnishing tools were found. All these were originally
-water-worn, but showed signs of having been artificially worn as tools.
-Five of these showed gold richly on the sides used for burnishing,
-others also showed gold. This was the only enclosure in this temple
-where such tools were found, and the number of them discovered at and
-near one spot suggests that this enclosure was in pre-Kafir occupation
-days a gold-burnisher’s workshop, just as _No. 7 Enclosure_ was
-evidently a goldsmith’s workshop, while for corresponding reasons _No.
-6 Enclosure_ was a chief place for the smelting of gold. A quantity
-of pottery made of soapstone clay, the first of such pottery yet
-discovered, was found in this enclosure.
-
-
- SOUTH APPROACH TO NO. 10 ENCLOSURE
-
-This is formed by a passage 10 ft. long, which enters this enclosure
-at its south-east corner. It is probable that this passage was much
-longer, and that it once extended to the north-west corner of the
-_Sacred Enclosure_, where is an entrance facing the passage.
-
-The west side of the passage is formed by a wall 14 ft. 6 in. long, 4
-ft. high, and 3 ft. 6 in. on its present reduced summit, which wall is
-also the east wall of _No. 7 Enclosure_.
-
-On the east side is a very well-built wall 10 ft. 6 in. long, 4 ft.
-6 in. high, and 3 ft. wide on its present summit, with a finely
-constructed rounded end tapering upwards and facing south. The rounded
-end is 7 ft. high, and rises from the floor of _No. 9 Enclosure_, which
-is on the east side but on a lower level.
-
-The south end of the passage is 4 ft. wide, but the north end is 6 ft.
-6 in. wide, but is narrowed to 2 ft. 6 in. by a rounded buttress 4 ft.
-6 in. high, and this and the rounded wall opposite, which forms the
-other side of the entrance, have upright portcullis-like grooves.
-
-The floor of the passage is paved with flat shallow stones covered for
-2 in. in depth with granite cement.
-
-
- NO. 11 ENCLOSURE
-
-This immediately adjoins on the north side of _Sacred Enclosure_
-(_east_). On the west side it is bounded by _The Platform_, on the east
-by a large rounded buttress which separates it from _No. 12 Enclosure_,
-but its northern boundary, if any, is at present difficult to determine.
-
-Through this enclosure is the northern entrance to the _Sacred
-Enclosure_, and this entrance is within 8 ft. of the north face of the
-_Conical Tower_. Evidently both from its close proximity to the _Sacred
-Enclosure_, the _Tower_, and _The Platform_, the ancient occupiers
-considered this enclosure to be of importance, and the splendid
-construction of the massive steps leading toward the tower would appear
-to further confirm the correctness of this conjecture.
-
-The area is, south side 18 ft.; west 14 ft.; east 14 ft.; and north 17
-ft.
-
-The wall on the south side is 13 ft. high at its western end, but
-is reduced by dilapidation to 6 ft. at the entrance to the _Sacred
-Enclosure_. At its highest point are five parallel horizontal bands
-of green chlorite schist[55] separated from each other by two courses
-of granite blocks. This wall is excellently built, and most patently
-differs in style and excellence of construction from the same wall
-which also forms the southern side of _No. 12 Enclosure_, and the
-difference strongly suggests that during the later ancient occupation
-the part of the wall which was continued into the adjoining enclosure
-fell down and was rebuilt only in a poorer style. This can also be seen
-on the opposite face of the wall in the _Sacred Enclosure_.
-
-The wall on the west side is the outer face of the east wall of _The
-Platform_. This is 9 ft. high, measuring from the granite cement step
-at its base, and 10 ft. long. At the north end of this wall, which is
-rounded, is the approach to the summit of _The Platform_. On the face
-of this wall, and starting from the entrance to the _Sacred Enclosure_,
-is a decoration of seven parallel and horizontal rows of green chlorite
-schist, with two courses of granite blocks between each. Each row
-begins close up to the entrance, but all terminate towards the north of
-the wall, each lower row extending some 6 in. more north than the one
-above it.
-
-On the east side the rounded buttress projects 6 ft. 6 in. from the
-south wall, and is still 4 ft. 6 in. high, and 11 ft. long measuring
-towards the east. This length may be divided into two portions, the
-eastern part which is angular and of poor construction, being in all
-probability a later erection to support the joint in the superior and
-poorer portions of the south wall, also the western portion already
-described. On the north side of this buttress is a granite cement floor
-raised 4 in. above the floor of the enclosure, and the step is rounded
-along its edge. The western and northern sides of this buttress were
-once faced with granite cement 3 in. thick in the form of a dado. A
-portion of this cement still remains on the north side, and the quality
-of the cement is identical with the cement found in dado fashion on the
-faces of other walls in the temple and on the _Acropolis_. The eastern
-addition to this buttress does not appear ever to have had a cemented
-dado.
-
-The most striking features of this enclosure are its most excellent
-granite cement floor and its massive rounded steps. Until October,
-1902, this enclosure was filled up to a height of 5 ft. above the
-present opened-out floors. The lowest strata of filling-in, 2 ft.
-thick, had been made by rains washing in the soil from adjoining and
-higher enclosures, the drain-hole through the south wall having become
-blocked. There was no vegetable matter in this stratum. The stratum
-of filling-in above the lowest one was a deliberate filling-in and
-levelling-up by Makalanga of a very early period, for this débris
-contained articles such as pottery, assegai-heads, clay whorls, which,
-though strongly resembling those of the present Makalanga pattern, were
-of a somewhat better quality than those made by them either to-day or
-within the last few generations. This stratum of filling-in was done
-at one and the same time, for the line of stratification was perfect
-and unbroken. Above this stratum was one of ordinary _daga_ (clay) and
-not cement, and this contained articles more closely resembling those
-of present Makalanga make, but this stratum must have been filled in,
-judging by the quantity of débris found, more than seventy years ago,
-for according to local native accounts it was fully seventy years ago
-when the Makalanga ceased to occupy the _Elliptical Temple_ as a place
-of residence, though sacrifices of oxen on certain feast days, as
-mentioned by Mauch, Phillips, and Bent, and local chiefs, took place in
-the temple down to thirty years ago, if not somewhat later. Above this
-stratum and forming the surface was a stratum of very rich leaf mould
-about 18 in. thick, and this was matted with vegetable growth.
-
-[Illustration: SOUTH WALL WITH PATTERN, No. 11 ENCLOSURE, ELLIPTICAL
-TEMPLE]
-
-[Illustration: JOINT BETWEEN ORIGINAL AND RECONSTRUCTED WALLS, Nos. 11
-& 12 ENCLOSURE, ELLIPTICAL TEMPLE]
-
-On digging out the roots of a large parent monkey-rope tree, which
-had done considerable damage to the south wall of this enclosure, and
-which tree appears in all the old photographs of the _Conical Tower_,
-a section of an ancient floor was discovered at a depth of 5 ft. Some
-twenty tons of filling-in were removed, and the whole of the cement
-floor as seen to-day was exposed. The old visitors’ path crossed this
-enclosure 5 ft. above this cement floor.
-
-The cement work in this enclosure is most excellent, hardly a scratch
-being seen upon its surface. It is the finest and most perfect specimen
-yet found either at Zimbabwe or any ancient ruin in Rhodesia. The
-granite powder in the cement is so firmly set that picks cannot make
-any impression upon it. This flooring averages 18 in. to 2 ft. in
-thickness, and must rest on a splendid foundation, for the levels of
-the floor are almost true to this day.
-
-A large cement step runs north and south at 2 ft. from the west side.
-This is 14 in. high and 5 ft. long, but originally, according to its
-curve and traces of its continuation, 7 ft. long. The step which has a
-rounded edge forms the lower portion of the approach to _The Platform_.
-
-A second step runs from north to south at 5 ft. from the front of the
-first step, and slightly curves out eastwards. This step is 12 ft.
-high, 11 ft. 6 in. long, and has a boldly rounded edge. The floor has a
-slight fall to the south-east corner, where is a drain-hole which has
-its exit near the small tower in _Sacred Enclosure_ (_east_).
-
-The entrance to the _Sacred Enclosure_, which is in the south-west
-corner of this enclosure, is 2 ft. 6 in. wide, is rounded, and has
-portcullis grooves on either side.
-
-
- NO. 12 ENCLOSURE
-
-This immediately adjoins _No. 11 Enclosure_ on its north-east side.
-Its east wall for 28 ft. is formed by west wall of _Sacred Enclosure_
-(_east_), and for 21 ft. by the west wall of _Parallel Passage_. These
-walls are one, and curve outwards towards the east to the extent of 6
-ft. from a line drawn from end to end of the wall in this enclosure.
-This east wall is 49 ft. long and 10 ft. high, and from the angular
-buttress at the south-west corner has a banquette wall, 4 ft. high,
-projecting 1 ft. 6 in., and continued north-east for 32 ft. from the
-buttress. This wall is of inferior construction to the same wall on
-the east side of _No. 11 Enclosure_, the courses being most irregular,
-the stones ill-sorted, and there is no decoration on its face. The
-north-eastern portion is reduced to 3 ft. 6 in. in height for a length
-of 17 ft., the upper portion having fallen into _Parallel Passage_. The
-angular buttress in the south-west corner appears to have been built at
-a later period, when the west wall of _Sacred Enclosure_ (_east_) was
-rebuilt, for the buttress covers the joint between the original portion
-and the later portion, as if to strengthen the wall at this point.
-The north side for 12 ft. is formed by a wall of this length, which
-is 4 ft. high and 3 ft. 6 in. wide on its present summit. But it is
-impossible at present to define either the western boundary or those of
-the remainder of the north and south sides, owing to the fact that all
-divisional walls in this portion of the temple have been covered over
-and buried during the period of some later occupiers.
-
-In the angle formed by the east and south sides is a platform 6 ft.
-high and 11 ft. wide, which is approached by five steps, the platform
-and the steps being covered with granite cement. Similar steps and
-platforms are found in the angles of other enclosures both in the
-_Elliptical Temple_ and in the ruins on the Acropolis. These are all
-remarkably alike in position, dimensions, and construction, and all
-appear to have answered an identical purpose. The sizes of the steps,
-the nearness of the lowest step to the walls preclude the suggestion
-that they were flights on the summits of the walls. (See _Blind
-Steps_—_Architecture_.)
-
-A drain passes under the small platform and it has cement rims to lead
-the water to it.
-
-
- NO. 13 ENCLOSURE
-
-This adjoins _No. 12 Enclosure_ on the north side, the west side of the
-inner wall of the _Parallel Passage_ forming its eastern boundary for
-25 ft. 6 in. This wall is 5 ft. high for 18 ft. from the south end of
-the enclosure, and 11 ft. 6 in. high for the last 7 ft. of its northern
-end.
-
-The south side is formed for 12 ft. by the wall separating this
-enclosure from _No. 12_, but _No. 13_ being at a lower level, this wall
-is 6 ft. high from the present filled-in surface of the enclosure.
-
-The north and north-west side is formed by a wall 32 ft. long, with a
-rounded entrance from _No. 14 Enclosure_ between the 21-ft. and 23-ft.
-points of this length, measuring from the east end of this wall. The
-wall is fairly well built at its eastern end, where it is still 4 ft.
-high and 3 ft. 6 in. to 4 ft. wide on its present reduced summit. This
-wall is built upon a red cement foundation. The south-west end of the
-wall is very dilapidated, but appears to have been originally of good
-construction. [Owing to piles of soil débris on the south-west side of
-this enclosure, it is impossible at present to define the exact limits
-on that side, but the shape of the enclosure is that of a keystone, its
-widest and rounded end being on the east side.]
-
-
- NO. 14 ENCLOSURE
-
-This enclosure, which is on the east side of the temple, is where the
-_Inner Parallel Passage_ opens into the interior of the building. The
-area is 47 ft. from north to south, and 42 ft. east to west. It is open
-on the north and west sides where it adjoins _No. 15 Enclosure_ and the
-_Central Area_ respectively.
-
-The east side is formed by the south entrance to _Inner Parallel
-Passage_ by the large buttress, 7 ft. high, projecting into, and
-forming, the south side of the entrance to that passage, and by a
-length of 17 ft. of the west wall of the large _Parallel Passage_ which
-is here 14 ft. high.
-
-The south side is bounded by the divisional wall, 5 ft. high, between
-this enclosure and _No. 13 Enclosure_. In this wall is a rounded
-entrance between the two enclosures.
-
-The west side is open to the interior of the temple, but at 42 ft. in
-that direction there are traces of a wall running north and south which
-probably formed its west side.
-
-The north side was once formed by a wall of which traces can yet be
-seen, and which once divided this enclosure from _No. 15 Enclosure_.
-
-Projecting from the north face of the south wall are the remains of
-a sub-divisional wall. Several large, rounded structures of cement
-are on the south-west side of the enclosure. The topmost floor of the
-enclosure is made of a pinkish-coloured clay, which evidently has been
-burnt. Under this floor was found sections of carved soapstone beams,
-a few pieces of beaten gold, and other relics. On the surface of this
-floor only superior-made native articles were found, and the floor was
-covered by at least 2 ft. of rich black vegetable mould. Several trees
-which were growing in this enclosure have recently been removed.
-
-
- NO. 15 ENCLOSURE
-
-From an archæological point of view this enclosure is one of the most
-interesting compartments in the temple, for here are to be seen several
-layers of floors of a succession of occupiers each for a long period of
-time.
-
-In 1903 this enclosure was found to be filled in with soil, ashes, and
-bones to a depth of 12 ft., and on the top was a large tree at least
-seventy to a hundred years old. When this great body of filling-in
-was cleared away several most interesting architectural features were
-revealed.
-
-The area is 56 ft. from east to west, and at its widest point 18 ft.
-from north to south. The east, north, and west sides are formed by the
-south wall of the _Inner Parallel Passage_, and by a continuation of
-the same wall which curves outwards towards the north-west and forms
-the south wall of the _South Passage_. This wall is 12 ft. high all
-round and is well and massively built, the curve at the north-west end
-being exceedingly well carried out. A drain passes through the east end
-of the wall and opens into the _Inner Parallel Passage_.
-
-The south side is formed by two walls and a series of semi-circular
-cement buttresses. The first or western end wall is rounded, being 7
-ft. round the face and 8 ft. high. A straight wall joins on to the
-rounded length, and is 6 ft. 6 in. long and 7 ft. high. This length
-has a drain-hole passing through it from the passage which forms
-the eastern approach to the _South Passage_. A large rounded cement
-buttress follows the two walls, and this is 14 ft. long and 7 ft. high.
-A length of a few feet of soil showing several floors at different
-heights is on the east side of the cement buttress, and another rounded
-cement buttress, 3 ft. high, completes the boundary of the enclosure on
-the south side.
-
-The lowest of the floors is formed of paving stones and granite cement,
-and the level of this is flush with the bottom course of blocks in the
-drain. But underneath this undoubtedly old floor, which was apparently
-laid down when the east wall was built, there are cement steps and
-buttresses at a depth of some 18 in. below the level of the drain.
-Underneath the floor were found two phalli, fragments of ornamented
-bowls and soapstone beams, clearly showing that the space underneath
-this lowest floor had been occupied before the floor was laid.
-
-A floor of a pinkish-coloured cement, similar to that found in other
-enclosures, is at some distance above the granite cement floor, and on
-this floor were found very old native articles and quantities of buck
-bones and ashes. Above this are floors of thin _daga_ (clay), and on
-each of these were also bones and ashes and native articles which are
-not now manufactured.
-
-The position of the east wall of this enclosure and the fact of its
-covering some older enclosure seem to point to it as not being a
-portion of the original building.
-
-
- CENTRAL AREA
-
-This area of unexplored ground lies at the centre of the temple. It was
-originally very much larger, but recent excavations have reduced it in
-extent. The space covered is 80 ft. from east to west, and 30 ft. from
-north to south, and it extends between _Nos. 5 and 14 Enclosures_, and
-_Nos. 1 and 10 Enclosures_.
-
-[Illustration: S.E. INTERIOR OF ELLIPTICAL TEMPLE, LOOKING N.N.E.,
-SHEWING EXCAVATIONS ON PLATFORM AREA, 1902–4]
-
-Some plans of the temple show dotted lines to mark position of
-conjectured walls, but most of these have been found not to exist. On
-the surface of the highest portion of this area are slight walls of
-shallow foundations and poor construction built across soil and blocks
-thrown promiscuously together, and probably the blocks and the debris
-of some buried structures at a lower level.
-
-
- PLATFORM AREA
-
-Immediately in front of and adjoining the _Sacred Enclosure_ in which
-stands the _Conical Tower_, and overlooked by _The Platform_, is
-a large open area in the form of a bow, the rounded side—east and
-south-east—being formed by _No. 9 Enclosure_, _The Platform_, and _Nos.
-11, 12, and 13 Enclosures_, while the straight side, from south-west
-to north-east, is formed by _Nos. 7 and 10 Enclosures_, a circular
-platform, and _No. 13 Enclosure_.
-
-The area covered by this open space is 126 ft. from south-west to
-north-east and 51 ft. from east to west. This space had not been
-previously examined by any modern explorer. Nor does any published plan
-of the temple attempt to deal with it, it having been always left as an
-unmarked space.
-
-Bent found a similarity between _The Platform_ which overlooks this
-area from its east side and the _Agora_ or platform-pulpit of the
-ancient temples in the Near East to which references are so frequently
-made in classic history, and he considered that this platform at
-Zimbabwe, especially in view of its position in front of the _Conical
-Tower_, was used for religious purposes, and that the open space
-immediately at its foot and in front of it most probably held the
-crowd of worshippers that might have been addressed from the elevated
-_Platform_.
-
-The examination of this area in 1903 shows that Bent in 1891 made a
-very shrewd conjecture as to the nature of the area. Over twelve years
-ago and until 1903 the space held out a prospect of its containing
-under its surface any number of walls, for in the Elliptical Temple
-divisional walls and other structures are closely packed together.
-Now that the space for 126 ft. by 51 ft. has been cleared to a depth
-of from 4 ft. to 8 ft. following the lines of old cement floors which
-were completely buried, the space is shown to be actually an open area
-without walls or traces of walls of any sort crossing it at any point.
-Excepting such granite blocks as lined the bases of the boundary walls
-of this area, not ten hundred-weight of blocks were found, and these
-were scattered about at different heights and in almost every position
-in the soil débris which was removed.
-
-In excavating this large space down to the floor which runs throughout
-the area at a similar level—a work occupying, forty native labourers
-for three months—“finds” of any antique character were only made on the
-cleared floor and not in the soil débris which was removed, and all
-such relics which included fragments of both plain and carved soapstone
-beams, gold plates, beads and wire, were about equally distributed over
-the whole area.
-
-The most important architectural features disclosed in the clearing of
-this area were as follows:—
-
-Drain from _No. 10 Enclosure_ into this area.
-
-A rounded terrace wall on the west side of _The Platform_.
-
-Excellent granite cement dado work, several square feet being still
-intact.
-
-Two massive granite cement steps leading up to the north entrance to
-the _Sacred Enclosure_.
-
-The large granite cement steps leading up to the small platform in the
-angle formed by the north and east walls of _No. 12 Enclosure_.
-
-Drain-hole in buttress in _No. 12 Enclosure_ with large cement guides
-to lead water to it.
-
-The suggestion made in description of the slight and poorly built
-east wall of _No. 10 Enclosure_ that it was of later construction is
-confirmed.
-
-[Illustration: CIRCULAR CEMENT PLATFORM WITH STEPS AND CARVED SOAPSTONE
-BEAMS, DISCOVERED 1903, ELLIPTICAL TEMPLE]
-
-[Illustration: ENTRANCE TO INNER PARALLEL PASSAGE FROM SOUTH PASSAGE,
-ELLIPTICAL TEMPLE]
-
-Circular granite cement platform with steps leading to summit.
-
-This last-mentioned structure is worthy of more than a mere mention;
-as apart from its excellent construction and its position, its summit
-was found to be covered with soapstone beams, plain and decorated,
-while fragments of beams were lying all round its base. Near this spot
-numerous soapstone phalli, including one of very large size, were
-discovered.
-
-This platform is 69 ft., N. 20, from the north face of the _Conical
-Tower_ measured through the centre of the north entrance to the _Sacred
-Enclosure_. It has a circumference of 30 ft. 6 in., and is from 2 ft.
-4 in. to 2 ft. 8 in. in height, with a rounded bevel at base 3 in.
-high and projecting 6 in. There are two boldly rounded steps, each 8
-in. high, on the east side, and on the east side of the steps is a low
-cement parapet. This platform occupies a somewhat isolated position.
-Its summit was found to be buried for at least 2 ft. in soil. Close to
-the north side was a large tree, judged to have been almost one hundred
-years old. The roots of the tree had arched over and also encircled
-the structure, and so had preserved it. The roots had attempted to
-penetrate the cement, but failing to do so they passed completely round
-its face, and when cut away they were almost all semi-circular in shape.
-
-
- INNER PARALLEL PASSAGE
-
-This passage lies between the main _Parallel Passage_ and _No. 15
-Enclosure_. It runs north-west to south-east from the _South Passage_
-near the _North Entrance_ to the temple into _No. 15 Enclosure_, and
-is parallel with _Parallel Passage_. The three parallel walls forming
-the two passages are generally known as the _Triple Walls_. Whereas
-the _Parallel Passage_ led from the _North Entrance_ to the _Sacred
-Enclosure_ only, this leads from near the _North Entrance_ right into
-the interior of the temple.
-
-Its length is 71 ft., and at its eastern end it is 7 ft. wide for a
-short distance, but rapidly closes in to a width of 3 ft. 6 in., which
-is maintained throughout the greatest part of its remaining length.
-
-The north-eastern wall is the south-western wall of the _Parallel
-Passage_, and from the eastern end for 29 ft. this wall averages in
-height 12 ft. to 14 ft. above the present floor of the passage, and
-from the 29-ft. point to 67 ft. the face of the wall is damaged by
-roots, and the height here is only 7 ft.
-
-The south-western side is formed by the wall dividing this passage from
-_No. 15 Enclosure_. It averages 10 ft. in height, and is well and very
-substantially built. On this side, at 32 ft. from the eastern end, is a
-drain leading from _No. 15 Enclosure_.
-
-The western entrance to this passage has on the north-eastern side a
-rounded buttress 5 ft. high, 6 ft. long, and protruding 1 ft. 10 in.
-from the face of the wall. This buttress has a portcullis groove, but
-this has recently been built up in order to strengthen the buttress.
-On the opposite side there are traces only of a corresponding buttress
-in the shape of some foundation stones, and there are also signs that
-there were once steps extending from buttress to buttress.
-
-It is probable that the ancient floor was only a few inches below the
-present cleared-out floor, as what appear to be paving stones, together
-with small sections of granite floor, can be seen outcropping at
-several points along the passage, but vine and tree roots have lifted
-the rest of the stones out of place.
-
-At the eastern end is a large, substantial, and well-constructed
-rounded buttress protruding 9 ft. towards south-west from the
-north-eastern side of the passage, where it here opens on to _No. 14
-Enclosure_. This buttress gives the passage-way a turn south at almost
-right angles. This buttress is from 4 ft. to 10 ft. in height on its
-front face, but 21 ft. at its rear, and this buttress forms part of the
-boundary of _No. 14 Enclosure_.
-
-[Illustration: EAST WALL, No. 11 ENCLOSURE, WITH PATTERN, ELLIPTICAL
-TEMPLE]
-
-[Illustration: INNER PARALLEL PASSAGE, LOOKING EAST, ELLIPTICAL TEMPLE]
-
-It is possible that this buttress which is hollow, and to which there
-are traces of an entrance from the passage, once enclosed steps leading
-on to the summit of the wall between the _Parallel Passage_ and the
-_Inner Parallel Passage_.[56] Certainly the way the stone débris inside
-the buttress has fallen tends to support this conjecture.
-
-
- SOUTH PASSAGE
-
-This passage appears to have been the main artery leading from the main
-and _North Entrance_ of the temple right into the central portion of
-the building, where it has its terminus. It is 68 ft. long from the
-broad step on the south side of the _North Entrance_ to the steps at
-the south end of the passage.
-
-For 23 ft. from the north end where is the broad step there is an
-almost triangular area, 23 ft. from north to south, and 30 ft. from
-east to west, having its base on the north side. The western end of
-_Inner Parallel Passage_ enters it at the eastern corner, and the
-entrance from _No. 3 Enclosure_ is at its western corner. The heights
-of the walls forming this area are: north side being the south wall of
-the _Parallel Passage_, 15 ft.; south-west side being the north-east
-wall of _No. 1 Enclosure_, 12 ft.; the west side being the divisional
-wall between the area and _No. 3 Enclosure_, 6 ft.; the east and south
-being the wall dividing the area from _No. 15 Enclosure_, 12 ft. All
-these walls are well built and are very substantial.
-
-In the centre of this area is a raised platform, commencing at 9 ft.
-from the north side of the area and terminating at 21 ft. from the same
-point, thus giving it a length of 12 ft. It is 9 ft. 6 in. wide and 3
-ft. high, and has granite cement covering, where not broken, the whole
-summit. An old euphorbia tree was found growing out of this cement,
-its roots having played havoc with the side walls of the platform, the
-best portion now remaining facing the north-east side. The tree has now
-been removed. This platform is approached by three large granite cement
-steps, the two lower ones still being in a fair condition. These steps
-are each 12 in. high, and from front to back are from 10 in. to 12 in.,
-while they are 2 ft. 6 in. wide, and are rounded on the edges.
-
-The most peculiar circumstance about this platform is that under a
-foot depth of vegetable mould which completely covered it and rendered
-the platform shapeless, and lying on the surface of the cement floor,
-were found some hundred-weights of bones of oxen. There were no bones
-other than those of oxen, and the bones had not been split open for the
-marrow, as is so frequently found to be the case in very old Makalanga
-débris heaps. Nor were any broken pottery, iron implements, or iron and
-brass bangles, such as are most usually found together in such débris,
-to be seen, but carbonised wood was found in large quantities.
-
-It should be remembered that Mauch and others of the early writers on
-Zimbabwe state that they had witnessed sacrifices by the Makalanga of
-those days of black oxen in the _Elliptical Temple_, and the local
-natives also state that this was their practice up to within the last
-fifteen years. Possibly this was the spot where these sacrifices took
-place, for though Thomas Baines in a painting he made of one of these
-ceremonies places the _Conical Tower_ in the background, there are no
-signs anywhere near that structure that such sacrifices ever took place
-in its immediate vicinity, all of which has now been cleared of débris
-down to the cement floor at every point where the _Conical Tower_ could
-possibly have formed a background for such a ceremony. It is now almost
-certain that Baines painted this and other pictures of Zimbabwe from
-the descriptions given him by Renders, Phillips, and Mauch. But in the
-south-western end of the _Parallel Passage_ for about 20 ft. or 30 ft.
-from its exit into the _Sacred Enclosure_ (_east_) the débris was very
-mixed, and included bones of oxen and buck, the larger bones all split
-open. Probably this was one of the spots in the temple where these
-annual sacrifices of black oxen by Makalangas took place.
-
-The platform faces the north, the steps being on the south-east side.
-The area containing this platform was evidently once laid with granite
-cement, but sections of it only remain in the western corner and on its
-north-east side. A drain-hole leading into the _Parallel Passage_ is at
-6 ft. east of the broad steps ascending from this area to the _North
-Entrance_. This step is 11 ft. broad.
-
-At 23 ft. south from its north end the area narrows to 3 ft. 10
-in., which width is maintained for 18 ft., the passage for this
-length running between _No. 16 Enclosure_ on the east side and _No.
-1 Enclosure_ on its west side. At this point in this section of the
-passage a large flat slab of granite has been banked up with stones to
-keep the upper portion of the wall on the west from collapsing into the
-passage. The walls here on either side are from 7 ft. to 10 ft. high.
-
-At 43 ft. south from the north end of the passage are two entrances,
-the one from the west being from _No. 1 Enclosure_, and this is
-angular, while the other facing it on the east being from a short
-passage on the south side of _No. 16 Enclosure_, is rounded, and has
-portcullis grooves. From the 43-ft. point the width of the passage is
-2 ft. 8 in., but at its southern extremity it is increased during the
-last few feet to 4 ft. 10 in. The side walls are very well built, and
-are still in a good state of preservation. The entrance at the south
-end of the passage has a rounded buttress with portcullis groove on
-either side leaving a width of 3 ft. This entrance has five large stone
-steps practically perfect. The buttresses are 5 ft. high.
-
-
- WEST PASSAGE
-
-This passage lies on the west side of the interior of the temple, and
-is between _Nos. 4 and 5 Enclosures_ on the west and _No. 1 Enclosure_
-and _Central Area_ on the east. It runs north and south, and is formed
-on the west side by a massive and well-built wall, which is in the form
-of an arc; the length of the inside face of the wall being 65 ft., and
-that of the line drawn from extremity to extremity of the wall being 57
-ft., and this passes at 8 ft. from the inner face at the centre of the
-curve westwards.
-
-This large curved wall is independent of any other structure, and
-stands entirely by itself. It is clearly the best-constructed wall in
-the western half of the temple, and the excellent workmanship displayed
-in the regularity of the courses, the bold and well-executed curve, and
-its immense width, at once strike the attention of anyone who enters
-the temple at the western portal. Its width is 8 ft. at 6 ft. above the
-ground, and its height ranges from 6 ft. to 10 ft.
-
-The position and character of this wall induced Bent to conjecture that
-this arc was one of the proofs that the entire temple was a “multiform
-temple,” such as are found in South-West Asia, and these “little
-temples ... were dedicated to the cult of particular stars.” Bent
-considered that the massive and well-built curved walls in _Enclosures
-Nos. 7 and 15_ were also employed for particular observations
-independently of the great temple itself. At the time Bent made this
-conjecture he was unaware that up against the centre of the inner face
-of this curved wall was a platform raised some 4 ft. above the level
-of the ground, and of the numerous relics of the older type found at
-and near it, or that there were originally three granite monoliths once
-standing parallel with, and at equal distance from, the west face of
-this wall. These discoveries have only just recently been made, as well
-as other corresponding discoveries in the other two enclosures which
-Bent took to be minor temples. Each of the monoliths is 29 ft. from the
-west face of the wall, and each is 9 ft. apart.
-
-At its south end the passage is 10 ft. wide, at the north end it
-narrows to 4 ft., but at its centre it averages a width of 10 ft. to 12
-ft.
-
-The east side of the passage is formed for 49 ft. from the north end
-by the wall of _No. 1 Enclosure_, which here appears to be of poorer
-and later construction, also by a roughly built wall, 11 ft. long,
-with foundation some 4 ft. above the foundation of the wall of _No. 1
-Enclosure_, and by a rounded buttress, 12 ft. length of facing and 7
-ft. high, which has its foundation on the platform which overlooks the
-west curved wall.
-
-The platform, which is of cement, once had retaining walls at two
-levels, and portions of these still remain.
-
-
- NORTH-EAST PASSAGE[57]
-
-This passage is on the north-east side of the temple and immediately
-outside the _North Entrance_, running north-east at right angles from
-the main wall between that entrance and [590 ft.]. Its total length
-is 360 ft., but there is some evidence that it once extended further
-towards the north-east for at least some hundred yards beyond the 360
-ft. Only a portion of the 360 ft. length has at present been cleared of
-débris.
-
-On the north-west side it is bounded by a well-built wall 4 ft. 6 in.
-high and 12 ft. long, at the north-east end of which is a large rounded
-buttress with portcullis groove. This buttress projects 3 ft. into the
-passage, and is 3 ft. 6 in. high. Probably another buttress containing
-a corresponding portcullis groove faced it on the opposite side of the
-passage.
-
-The eastern side is bounded by the entrance to the _Outer Parallel
-Passage_ and by the north wall of that passage, which curves round in
-front of the _North Entrance_ to the temple, and runs at right angles
-to its former position. This wall, which is well built, is 7 ft. high,
-and forms the east side of the passage for some 35 ft., but at this
-point it is reduced to 3 ft. in height, and is carried on toward the
-north-east in a less carefully constructed style.
-
-The widths of the passage and the heights of the side walls, measuring
-from the _North Entrance_ to the temple, are as follows:—
-
- Heights.
- Width. West side. East side.
- S. Extremity 12 ft. 4 ft. 6 in. 7 ft.
- 25 ft. 5 ft. 2 ft. 6 in. 6 ft.
- 35 ft. 2 ft. 10 in. 3 ft. 4 ft.
- 50 ft. 2 ft. 6 in. 3 ft. 3 ft.
-
-Between 35 ft. and 50 ft. are remains of pavement.
-
-This passage, with its length of 660 ft., is believed to have formed
-the chief line of communication between the _Elliptical Temple_ and the
-_Acropolis_, seeing that it runs from the main entrance of the temple
-down into the valley at a point almost facing the lowest extremity of
-the _South-East Ancient Ascent_ to the _Acropolis_.
-
-
- OUTER PARALLEL PASSAGE
-
-On leaving the temple by the _North Entrance_ one enters a walled-in
-area. This area is formed by the southern extremity of the _North-East
-Passage_ and the western extremity of the _Outer Parallel Passage_,
-both of which meet at, and converge upon, the _North Entrance_.
-
-The _Outer Parallel Passage_ runs for 125 ft. east-south-east from
-the _North Entrance_ parallel with the north-east wall of the temple
-between the points [450 ft.] and [575 ft.] of its outer circumference.
-At its extremity near the _North Entrance_ this passage is 7 ft. wide,
-and 25 ft. further east-south-east of the entrance it is 3 ft. 8 in.
-wide, which width is maintained for a length of 50 ft., beyond which
-point it commences to widen out till the east-south-east extremity is
-reached, where it is 12 ft. 6 in. wide.
-
-Opposite the _North Entrance_ the outer wall of the passage is 6 ft.
-high; at 25 ft. further east-south-east, 5 ft.; at 75 ft., 8 ft.;
-at 100 ft., 7 ft.; and at 125 ft., 5 ft., the line of summit from
-the 25 ft. point to the east-south-east extremity being fairly level
-throughout. This outer wall is well built. It is 4 ft. 2 in. wide on
-the summit at 5 ft. from the floor of the passage, and 3 ft. 10 in.
-wide at 7 ft. from the ground.
-
-At 25 ft. from the _North Entrance_ is a rounded entrance through the
-outer wall. This has portcullis grooves. It is 1 ft. 10 in. wide, and
-has three steps formed of the courses of the foundation of the wall,
-the upper step being curved back into the entrance.
-
-At the extremity near the _North Entrance_ there are the remains of a
-small rounded buttress projecting into the passage from the main wall
-of the temple.
-
-
-
-
- CHAPTER XIV
-
- THE ACROPOLIS RUINS
-
- South-East Ancient Ascent—Lower Parapet—Rock Passage—Upper
- Parapet—Western Enclosure.
-
-
-On Zimbabwe Hill, at a height of some 230 ft. to 250 ft. above the
-valley which runs along its west and south sides, stands the Acropolis
-or Hill Fortress. Its prominent and strategic position on this
-precipitous and practically isolated granite kopje gives it a grandly
-imposing appearance among the many large ruins included within the
-Zimbabwe Reserve.
-
-Viewing the hill from the valley, one can well realise that Nature
-alone made the place impregnable, while the builders of almost four
-thousand years ago applied their highly developed engineering skill and
-ingenuity to make the stronghold even more absolutely unassailable.
-
-The south side of the hill is defended by a precipice some 90 ft.
-high, running without break from the western end for over 300 yds.
-to the eastern side of the hill, where the precipice loses itself in
-gigantic boulders, each of many hundred tons weight, which, owing to
-their beetling form, render that side of the hill inaccessible. Great
-boulders form the summit of the hill, and are in a cliff-shaped line
-running from west to east. Several of the highest boulders appear to
-be most delicately poised on the edges of the shoulders of gigantic
-cliffs, and these rise up at least 50 ft. to 70 ft. above the highest
-portion of the Hill Ruins, thus making the total height of the kopje
-to be slightly more than 320 ft.
-
-[Illustration: ZIMBABWE HILL
-
-VIEW FROM HAVILAH CAMP]
-
-The bases of the southern walls are built on the outward slope of the
-brink of the line of steep granite cliff, the lowest row of stones
-being deep at their front and narrow at the back. So markedly are these
-wedge-shaped rows of stones laid over the brink of the precipice that
-at first sight one hardly notices where the wall ends and the precipice
-begins, especially as the blocks in the walls present in the dry season
-the same colourings and tints as the line of cliff itself. Below the
-precipice the ground has a very sharp fall of some 70 ft. into the
-valley.
-
-The feelings provoked in one’s mind on visiting the Elliptical Temple
-and Sacred Cone, which are in the valley, are those of awe and
-reverence; but on inspecting the Acropolis the visitor is overcome
-by a sense of absolute amazement and sheer bewilderment, which are
-intensified at every step taken along its numerous labyrinthine
-passages on climbing the hill.
-
-Above the precipice, as seen from the valley, are massive walls, on
-the summits of which some dozen monoliths, more or less erect, are
-still to be seen standing clear against the sky-line. From this point
-of view alone—and this but represents a small fraction of the walls of
-which these ruins are composed—one realises that many thousands of tons
-of granite blocks (those in the outer faces having been squared and
-dressed) have been transported up the precipitous kopje to a height of
-no less than 230 ft., for examination of the rocks on the hill proves
-that the greater quantity of stone used in the walls was not quarried
-on the kopje itself.
-
-Apart from the infinite patience and painstaking toil of the ancients
-as displayed in their careful and correct building and complicated plan
-and style of architecture, this one fact of so much stone quarried
-and dressed elsewhere and carried up to such a height as a man could
-hardly climb who bore no burden, is one to amaze and perplex even the
-most casual and indifferent visitor. Later, on reaching the ruins it
-will be seen that very many thousand tons of granite blocks have been
-carried up the hill. This fact serves to still further accentuate the
-statements made by the authors on pages 60 and 65 of _Ancient Ruins
-of Rhodesia_ that (1) not only did the ancients of the first period
-of Zimbabwe architecture realise that they were occupying a hostile
-country, but (2) the ancient builders had at their disposal slave
-labour to an enormous and incalculable extent, and this apart from the
-overwhelming evidences pointing to the same conclusion presented by the
-thousands of ancient workings spread over Southern Rhodesia, and the
-hundreds of massive fortresses and temples occupying a corresponding
-area.
-
-These and many other obvious suggestions present themselves most
-forcibly at even the partial view of the Hill Fortress as seen from the
-valley.
-
-The first question occurring to one ascending the hill is: Where is
-the ancient ascent? It is obvious that the path used by visitors could
-not be the ascent of the ancients, for were it not for the gaps in the
-walls, access to the summit by the ordinary path would be absolutely
-impracticable. Indeed, the ordinary path runs at several points along
-the reduced tops of broken walls, and crosses the foundations of some
-dozen outer defence walls, which are now practically demolished and
-barely traceable.
-
-There are two well-defined ancient approaches to the summit of the
-Acropolis, one being on the south side of the hill and the other on the
-face fronting the west-north-west. It is believed that at least two
-other ancient ascents exist. The N.N.W. ascent has not been completely
-cleared out, though it is very well defined, and some 320 ft. of its
-940 ft. length can now be traversed by the visitor, but the south-east
-ascent has recently been cleared out of large trees, shrubs, and many
-tons of wall débris and silted soil, so that it is now possible for
-visitors to use it with ease. Mogabe, the Zimbabwe Makalanga chief, now
-seventy years of age, who at one time had his kraal on the northern
-side of the summit of Zimbabwe Hill, as well as the older of his
-headmen, all state they had never before seen this ancient ascent so
-cleared out. They say that the late Chipfuno’s people, and subsequently
-their own, used it as an approach to the kraal, but not generally,
-and this was only possible by climbing along the tops of the walls
-and over the large wall-débris heaps that blocked up the passage-way.
-Certainly for at least one hundred years this ascent could not have
-been used, for the débris piles were covered with lichens, and had
-every appearance of great age. The Makalanga had also purposely blocked
-up the passage with a substantial wall, which was erected in Chipfuno’s
-time. Some of the trees cleared from the passages proved by their size
-that they had stood there long before the Chartered Company’s advent
-into the country.
-
-[Illustration: —ACROPOLIS RUINS—
-
-—Zimbabwe—
-
-_Methuen & Co._]
-
-In fact, the ascent by this ancient approach now occupies a little
-more than half the time required to walk round by the circuitous path
-till recently used by visitors, besides affording to the climber a
-revelation as to the ingenuity and wonderful engineering skill of the
-ancients in effecting the defence of the hill. Unless this ancient
-approach be traversed by the visitor, one of the principal features
-provided by the Acropolis or Hill Ruins will have been missed.
-
-
- SOUTH-EAST ANCIENT ASCENT
-
-Leaving the huts at Havilah Camp, which occupy a low granite knoll on
-the north side of the Shangani Grave and overlook the narrow valley
-running at the south foot of the hill, one crosses the outspan and
-passes through the “Outspan Ruins,”[58] which face the camp at a
-distance of 70 yds. due north, which ruins are part of an inner line
-of defence wall running round the base of the hill on the west, south,
-and east sides, and which lie within the main outer wall sweeping
-round from the west side of the Elliptical Temple to the north side
-of Zimbabwe Hill, enclosing the large water-holes believed to have
-been made by the ancients. From the ascent facing the camp a newly-cut
-path leads in a direct line up some 70 ft. higher towards the ancient
-approach, but with a slight trend to the east.
-
-Before striking the walls of the passage-way, the path crosses at
-right angles the foundations of some seven or eight outer defence
-walls and walls of terraces and buried enclosures all rising in tiers
-one above and at the back of the other. The soil here is black with
-ash débris, and in cutting the rough steps in the path to the ascent,
-each shovelful of this black soil contained a large quantity of broken
-pottery and bones of animals. This débris on being examined shows
-most evidently that it is not ancient; further, it is pronounced by
-local natives to have been thrown out from the ruins above by previous
-generations of Makalanga, but not by the mediæval Makalanga, who,
-according to Portuguese records (1560 to 1750), occupied these ruins
-as one of the courts or chief residences of the succession of dynastic
-chiefs, each known as the Monomotapa or “The Lord of the Mines.” This
-débris is believed to cover that of the mediæval Makalanga and of the
-ancients, for all débris would by the formation of the cliff above
-be guided to this part of the lower southern slope, and the heavy
-downfalls of very many rainy seasons would distribute it over the steep
-face of the southern slope, and spread it into the valley, where any
-quantity of such débris may be found.
-
-The path from the camp strikes the ancient ascent at 70 ft. above
-the valley. The length of the approach, measured in the centre of
-the passage in all its turnings, is 349 ft. from this point to its
-termination on the summit of the precipice. It extends in a westerly
-direction from the 70 ft. to the 210 ft. level on the hill. This
-passage can be traced downwards into the valley to clear of the end of
-the kopje for 420 yds.
-
-The ascent is, for an ancient ruin, in a remarkably good state of
-preservation, except at a few points where whole lengths of walls have
-fallen into the narrow passage which runs between high walls. All this
-wall débris, which effectively blocked the passage, has just recently
-been removed. At one point the end of a wall had collapsed bodily into
-the passage, and being on higher ground had filled it up to the height
-of the walls below, but this débris has also been cleared away, so that
-visitors can now walk without the slightest hindrance up the ascent on
-practically what was the ancient flooring, and ascend the old flights
-of steps. To such an extent had the passage become choked up that it
-required some fifteen native labourers, working at different points,
-no less than four days to cut away sufficient growth as would enable
-a mere scramble to be made over the débris in the passages, while the
-thorough clearing away of wall débris occupied the whole gang for
-nearly a fortnight. Now that this ancient ascent has been made an easy
-approach, this passage to the summit of Zimbabwe Hill has become the
-most popular ascent.
-
-The chief architectural features represented in the ascent are the
-(_a_) Lower Parapet, (_b_) the Rock Passage, and (_c_) the Upper
-Parapet, as also the flights of steps occurring in several lengths.
-
-The point where the path from the camp strikes this ancient ascent is
-not its most easterly extremity nor its lowest point, for, as before
-stated, this passage can be traced for 420 yds. further east, where
-its emergence into the valley is protected by one, if not two, large
-fort-like ruins of some importance.
-
-On turning into the ascent from the camp path, an outer wall on the
-left-hand side runs for 42 ft. 6 in., and this wall is now only about
-2 ft. high. The foundations are 4 ft. wide. The upper courses of
-this wall are not ancient, though the foundations and lower courses
-undoubtedly are, for it is evident that blocks which have fallen from
-terrace walls overlooking the passage into the ascent have been laid
-neatly, probably by mediæval Makalanga, on the tops of the wall which
-had already become ruined. The right-hand side of the ascent from this
-point, for a length of 65 ft., is formed by huge boulders. The passage
-throughout this length is 3 ft. 6 in. to 4 ft. wide.
-
-
- (_a_) THE LOWER PARAPET
-
-At the upper end of this 45 ft. length of wall, and on the left-hand
-side, is a natural parapet artificially improved. This is the Lower
-Parapet, the outer and left-hand side of which is formed by the summit
-of a large boulder 25 ft. long, and its highest point not more than
-4 ft. 6 in. above the floor of the ascent. From this vantage ground
-a fine view is obtained of the hills to the south, with the Bentberg
-(_Matusa_) directly opposite, and the Elliptical Temple and the valley
-of Ruins below.
-
-On the inner and right-hand side of the Lower Parapet the rock glacis
-is surmounted by two terrace walls, really enclosures filled in, the
-second being behind and higher than the first. The lower terrace wall
-has a frontage to the south of 24 ft., and the upper terrace wall
-starts at 14 ft. to the rear of the top of the lower wall. Portions
-of the higher wall are still intact, and judging by the line of wall
-débris, it had a frontage to the south of some 20 ft.
-
-Facing the passage at the west end of the Lower Parapet is a wall 3
-ft. 6 in. high, running north for 12 ft. The top of this wall is 4
-ft. wide, and is built upon a large granite boulder, which beetles
-considerably at the outer and southern extremity of this wall. The
-northern end of the wall is wedge-shaped, the point being well made
-with finely tapering sides. A similar wedged-shaped buttress is to be
-seen at the entrance to the Upper Parapet, and also on the south side
-of the east entrance in the interior of the Eastern Temple on Zimbabwe
-Hill.
-
-The wall thus described acts as a division or parting of the ways, as
-in the case of the wedge-shaped end of the wall at the Upper Parapet,
-and a short passage 4 ft. wide and 12 ft. long runs along the west face
-of the wall to the brink of the boulder which beetles to a steep drop
-below.
-
-The object of this short passage jutting out from the main ascent to
-the brink of the boulder’s edge is inexplicable, unless it was intended
-as a débris shoot, for at the base of the south front of this boulder,
-and some 20 ft. below, is a large débris pile of past and present
-Makalanga ashes, pottery, and bones of animals. This is contained in
-a loose black soil, but the débris of the ancients underlying the
-obviously Makalanga débris is contained in a light yellow soil the
-surface of which has become almost as hard as cement. The examination
-of this lower stratum of débris fully confirms the suggestion that this
-short passage which terminates, so to speak, in space was one of the
-spots where the ancients shot their débris.
-
-At the north end of this short side-passage the main ascent takes a
-long curve for 51 ft. westwards, from south-west to north-west, and is
-formed on the outer side by a wall 5 ft. to 6 ft. wide on its present
-reduced summit and from 6 ft. to 9 ft. in height, which runs still
-ascending to the top end of the 51 ft. length. Here the ascent is
-steeper than near the Lower Parapet, and steps, and traces of steps,
-can be seen at several points.
-
-The inner or cliff side of the ascent, from the Lower Parapet to the
-higher end of the 51 ft. wall on the opposite side, is formed by large
-walls 3 ft. 6 in. wide on their present summits, and averaging 5 ft. in
-height, but are built back on a much higher level of foundation than
-the outer wall of the passage. These inner walls enclose an almost
-square open space on the inner side of the ascent, the area being 16
-ft. on the south-east, 12 ft. on the north-east, and 11 ft. on the
-north, the lower and south-east wall slanting down-hill towards the
-passage, so that the lowest corner of the area is at the point where
-the ascent enters the area. The enclosure is entirely thrown into the
-passage. This lower corner of the area is about 8 ft. north-west of
-the wedge-shape dividing wall just described. The arrangement of the
-walls and of the area, with its lowest point resting on the passage, is
-most patently an intentional design of the ancient military engineers,
-as the slanting-down wall on the south-east side would provide room
-within the area for a hundred defenders, while the narrow passage
-immediately below where the ascent enters the area could barely have
-held two invaders fighting abreast. But this narrow point was once
-much narrower, for the foundations of a projecting buttress, rounded
-into the lowest corner of the area, are to be seen about 2 ft. above
-where the south-east wall slopes down-hill to within 3 ft. of the inner
-face of the outer wall. The foundations of this projecting buttress
-are very indistinct, and probably will disappear, as, now the buttress
-has collapsed, visitors walk across the remaining foundation stones
-as a short cut. The wall débris here suggests that the buttress was a
-high structure. The Zimbabwe Makalanga headmen, who were watching the
-clearing operations, informed the author that this buttress was once a
-high one, but this was in their early days and many years before their
-kraal was removed from Zimbabwe Hill.
-
-From above the enclosed area to the end of the 51 ft. length of outer
-wall before mentioned the passage on the inner side is bounded by
-a wall which runs parallel to the outer wall in its curve from the
-south-west to the north-west.
-
-From the higher end of the 51 ft. length of wall the passage turns
-directly west for 43 ft., where it curves to the north-east for 26 ft.,
-averaging a width of 3 ft. 6 in., except just lower than the curve and
-through its continuation where it narrows to 2 ft. The heights of the
-outside wall run from 3 ft. to 4 ft. 6 in. before it reaches the curve.
-On the inner side wall of the lowest part of this length the wall is
-much broken, especially a length of 11 ft., which once held dentelle
-pattern, facing south.
-
-[Illustration: A TURN IN THE PASSAGE OF THE SOUTH-EAST ASCENT,
-ACROPOLIS]
-
-[Illustration: VIEW FROM SOUTH-EAST ASCENT, ACROPOLIS]
-
-The end walls or frame of this dentelle pattern are still to be seen,
-and many of the small blocks used in making this pattern were found
-in the passage-way. The blocks can always be identified by their
-exact similarity in size, and also on two faces they are exceedingly
-time-worn, if not decomposed, as they are built up in columns with one
-corner projecting outwards and flush with the face of the wall. This
-pattern has now become completely destroyed by wild vine trees growing
-inside the wall and forcing out its outer face on to the passage floor.
-This damage must have been done within the last ten years.
-
-This was one of the finest examples of dentelle pattern so far
-discovered in Rhodesia, and had it not been destroyed would have been
-by far the largest pattern of all the five instances. Dentelle pattern
-is one of the many distinguishing features of the first period of
-Zimbabwe architecture.
-
-On the floor of this passage at this point and upwards there is a
-flight of some thirty or forty steps. Each is very narrow from front
-to back, so much so that it is exceedingly awkward for anyone wearing
-boots to climb or descend them, though the Makalanga with their bare
-feet climb them with the greatest ease. The steps extend from side to
-side of the passage, but their end blocks, which here are very small,
-are not built into the foundations of the side walls as are the large
-steps to be found in the entrances and passages of all the original
-buildings at Zimbabwe. It is therefore believed that these steps in
-the ascent, or at least these particular steps, are not ancient, but
-are laid upon the original steps by mediæval Makalanga, for there is a
-freshness in their appearance which is never seen in steps which are
-undoubtedly ancient. This belief is strengthened considerably when one
-compares the flight of toe-lines with the broad, deep, and massive
-steps at several points in the ascent, which were built when the
-foundations of the passage walls were laid.
-
-At the top end of the curve in this length of passage the heights of
-both walls are 9 ft., with a width of passage at this point of 2 ft. 4
-in. In this curve are traces of several rows of large steps.
-
-At 12 ft. above the curve the passage turns with a sharp angle to due
-west-north-west. On the north or inner side at this turn is a large
-buttress built up against the face of the cliff. This buttress is 19
-ft. 6 in. in height at its rear and abuts from the cliff for 2 ft. 6
-in. The front of the buttress is only 7 ft. in height. The buttress
-is 19 ft. long, but wall débris fallen from the summit of the cliff
-extends upwards towards the entrance to the Rock Passage for another
-8 ft. The outer wall here averages from 2 ft. 6 in. to 3 ft. 6 in. in
-height. This wall has every appearance of having been reconstructed at
-a later period. Its face is exposed to the fall of every stone from the
-walls on the summit of the precipice, and no wall débris could descend
-without damaging it. Up against its face were piles of blocks which had
-come from above, but some of these piles were comparatively modern.
-This point in the ascent, owing to the formation of the face of the
-cliff, would have guided to it all débris falling from the southern
-wall of the Eastern Temple, some portions of which have fallen into the
-ascent. The passage between the buttress of the outer wall is 2 ft.
-wide, but at the top end of the buttress it widens out to 4 ft. where
-it enters the Rock Passage.
-
-
- (_b_) THE ROCK PASSAGE
-
-From this point the ascent is continued in the same direction between
-the main cliff of the hill on the inner side (which at this elevated
-level of the ascent is only 50 ft. above the passage) and a colossal
-boulder on the outer side. This boulder beetles inwards towards the
-cliff and over the heads of passers-by. The outside height of the
-boulder appears to be some 80 ft. or 90 ft., and at one time before the
-occupation of the hill by the ancient builders it formed part of the
-main cliff from which it had fallen away for some feet, both outwards
-and downwards; the depression in the face of the cliff from which it
-slipped is still the exact shape of the boulder. In the Rock Passage
-the height of the inside face of the boulder above the artificially
-made raised floor is about 40 ft. to 20 ft., according as the ascent
-rises. The ancients are believed to have filled in the split opening
-between cliff and boulder to the needed height to carry their ascent.
-This practice was a common one with the ancients, and a good instance
-of this work is seen in the Buttress Passage in the Acropolis ruins.
-
-[Illustration: LOWER ENTRANCE TO ROCK PASSAGE, SOUTH-EAST ASCENT,
-ACROPOLIS]
-
-[Illustration: VIEW DOWN ROCK PASSAGE, SOUTH-EAST ASCENT, ACROPOLIS]
-
-Once inside the Rock Passage the path rises rapidly till it reaches
-the open at the 200 ft. level of the hill. The passage is 48 ft.
-long, and its average width is 2 ft. 6 in., but at one point it is
-barely 1 ft. 10 in. wide. Where the boulders end on the higher side a
-wall runs up on the outer side for 8 ft., and this is 4 ft. to 1 ft.
-higher, lessening as the path ascends. The cliff here still forms the
-inner side for this distance, and at the top end is a rounded buttress
-jutting out from the cliff for 3 ft., and below it, and on the south
-side, are several well-defined large steps of the undoubtedly ancient
-type ascending on the outer side of the buttress for 12 ft.
-
-At the end of this 12 ft. length the passage turns north and north-east
-for 21 ft., and passes on the west side of the wedge-shaped-ended
-wall, which forms the division where the path to the Higher Parapet
-leaves the ascent. At the end of the 21 ft. length the walls of the
-ascent appear to terminate, but the path to the Western Temple and to
-the other ruins on the hill is continued through a gap made recently,
-for the sake of visitors, in a Makalanga-built wall erected on ancient
-foundations. This reconstruction of the wall by Makalanga without
-leaving any entrance downwards to the ascent deliberately blocked it
-up. This bears out the Zimbabwe headmen’s statement that within the
-last fifty years they rarely used the ancient ascent in climbing up to
-their kraal on the summit of the hill. Passing through the gap in the
-Makalanga wall one enters the Western Enclosure, which lies at the foot
-of the west face of the west wall of the Western Temple.
-
-But the description so far given of the ascent is incomplete, for on
-the east side of the wedge-shaped buttress, which is on the west side
-of the Rock Passage, is a passage to the Western Temple by the Higher
-Parapet.
-
-
- (_c_) THE HIGHER PARAPET
-
-The length of this parapet, which extends from within 9 ft. 6 in. of
-the summit of the ancient ascent, is 78 ft., and it runs in an easterly
-direction from the right-hand side of the ascent at the point where is
-the upper wedge-shaped buttress and the outer parapet wall is built
-along a narrow ledge at the very utmost edge of the cliff. Its front
-foundation stones are wedge-shaped to suit the declivity of the rock
-on which they are placed. At certain points this parapet wall has
-fallen over the brink into the Rock Passage below, but the foundations
-remain. This dilapidation is more apparent at the eastern end of
-the parapet, where it passes on the precipice side of the face of a
-projecting boulder and also of a rounded buttress 7 ft. high, which
-is very well built. The boulder is erected up against the bottom part
-of the rounded end of the main west wall of the Western Temple on its
-southern extremity. This rounded buttress is 4 ft. west of the point
-where the Higher Parapet joins the Parallel Passage, which is a still
-more easterly and more elevated extension of the ancient ascent to the
-Western Temple.
-
-Coming up the ascent, and 9 ft. 6 in. from its summit, the path divides
-as before mentioned at the wedge-shaped buttress, the right-hand path
-being the approach to the Higher Parapet. Three feet above this
-wedge-shaped end of wall are clear traces of large steps, and at this
-point and on the right-hand side is a portion of dentelle pattern
-introduced into the wall, and this faces due west. This pattern
-originally consisted of five columns of blocks with projecting edges,
-but the lower portions of four columns now only remain. The blocks are
-in five courses. Unlike the dentelle blocks lower in the ascent, and
-also the blocks in this pattern on the Platform of the Western Temple,
-these blocks are of the ordinary size used in building the walls, and
-in size resemble the blocks used in this pattern on the east main wall
-of the Eastern Temple, and also those in this pattern on the Conical
-Tower in the Elliptical Temple.
-
-The highest part of the outer wall of the Higher Parapet is now only 2
-ft. 6 in., with a similar width on the top. The width of the approach
-to this parapet from the wedge-shaped end of the dividing wall is 2 ft.
-on the floor. The wall on the inner side of the parapet at its western
-end is 4 ft. 6 in. to 6 ft. high, and rounds off to the south to the
-wedge-shaped end where it terminates.
-
-Visitors should refrain from passing along the Higher Parapet unless
-they are perfectly certain no one is in the Rock Passage at the time,
-as any block put in motion even by the careful climber must fall
-into the passage below. As before stated, the parapet wall is very
-dilapidated and blocks might fall at the slightest movement near them.
-But even with this caution the Higher Parapet is not a safe place
-for visitors, for, as can be seen from below, the foundations of the
-parapet, which are built over the brink of the precipice, show a
-bulging out which must sooner or later effect the destruction of the
-parapet.
-
-The Higher Parapet would enable the ancient defenders to effectually
-block the approach of any enemy through the Rock Passage, however great
-their number.
-
-There are two points worthy of notice in connection with this ancient
-ascent:—-
-
-1. _Original heights of walls._—The walls of the ascent in their
-original state were considerably higher than even the highest (9 ft.)
-as seen at two points to-day. In discussing this matter with some of
-the Makalanga headmen, it was ascertained that even within their day,
-say fifty years—for Mogabe is fully seventy years of age—some of the
-highest walls were 4 ft. or 5 ft. higher than they are at present. But
-on examining the numerous and immense wall-débris piles which were
-removed in August, 1902, the estimate as to the heights of the walls in
-their original form has to be very considerably increased, for these
-piles were only the débris of the inner side walls and of the inner
-faces of the outer walls, since the main portions of the outer walls
-which have fallen have gone down the precipice, for at its base one can
-walk for over 100 yds. on wide and high piles of wall débris which has
-fallen down from the outer walls of the ascent.
-
-The present widths of the walls also are some guide in forming an
-estimate of their original heights. Some of these walls are from 5 ft.
-to 7 ft. wide on their present very reduced summits, and taking the
-usual Zimbabwe batter-back of 1 ft. in 6 ft. which is found in many of
-the buildings of the first period of Zimbabwe architecture—and these
-buildings are most manifestly of that period—it would be within a safe
-limit were it stated that these passage walls were at least 15 ft.
-high on either side throughout the greater length of the ascent. This
-estimate would then fairly account for the great amount of wall débris
-with which whole lengths of the ascent were completely choked up, in
-some places to the tops of the walls on either side, and also for the
-wall débris at the foot of the ascent.
-
-Certainly most of the damage to the walls was done centuries ago, for
-the ancient blocks on the sides and tops of the débris piles have,
-since they fell into their present position on the piles, become on
-all their exposed faces and sides, and even on their back parts, as
-weathered and time-eaten, and in some cases as decomposed, as the front
-faces of the blocks remaining in the walls.
-
-But, unfortunately, irreparable damage has been done to these walls
-within the last twenty years, and certainly within the last ten years,
-for trees of not older growths than these periods were found to be
-growing right in the centres of the walls, their roots pushing out
-lengths of wall faces. This is the cause of the destruction of the
-lower set of dentelle pattern, which has certainly been effected during
-the last ten years. The inside of the wall from which the dentelle
-blocks have fallen has every appearance of being quite fresh, and is
-not in the slightest degree weather or time-worn.
-
-2. _The ascent from the coast route._—This ancient ascent being on
-the south side of the hill, and running for 600 yds. from the valley
-at the clear east end of the hill up the south face to the summit,
-it may naturally be taken for granted that this was the path along
-which all arrivals by the route from the coast at or near Sofala would
-approach Zimbabwe Fortress. As there are only two ancient ascents, the
-southern and the north-western, and all other parts of the hill being
-inaccessible, this conjecture may probably be the correct one, for to
-have traversed the North-Western Passage for such a purpose would have
-taken the ancients at least one mile out of their way. Every step taken
-down the Southern Passage was one taken nearer to the coast.
-
-On referring to _The Ancient Ruins of Rhodesia_, it will be found
-that chains of ruins of forts, occupying strategic positions at
-comparatively equal distances from each other, run in a south-easterly
-direction along the Motelekwe River, and are further carried along the
-Sabi far into Portuguese South-East Africa. The south ascent appears
-to be the north-west termination of this line from the coast, and
-the importance of this approach is demonstrated by the presence of
-two outer distinct and large ruins in the valley at the south-eastern
-end of the hill, and these guard the lowest extremity of the ascent.
-The Mapaku Ruins, misnamed Little Zimbabwe, which lie eight miles
-south-east of the Great Zimbabwe, would form the first posting station
-and fort for the protection of the road to the Motelekwe chain of forts.
-
-Besides, the contour of the country round Zimbabwe very clearly points
-this route out as the ancient line of road to the south-east coast,
-any other line, as can be seen from the summit of Zimbabwe Hill, being
-barred by ranges of steep and high kopjes, in addition to which it may
-be observed that the wagon road from Zimbabwe towards the Motelekwe and
-Sabi rivers runs to-day along this identical line, as the formation of
-the land permits of no other route from Zimbabwe.
-
-It was shown in chapter vii. that discoveries demonstrated that the
-ancients exported a large quantity of the gold won from the thousands
-of ancient workings on the numerous gold-belts of Southern Rhodesia.
-This amount authorities have placed, on a conservative estimate, at no
-less than £75,000,000. Most probably a portion of whatever gold was won
-in the northern gold districts of Southern Rhodesia went to the coast
-by a northern route and not _viâ_ Zimbabwe. But the gold collected from
-each of the capital towns in the more southern portion of Southern
-Rhodesia, the capital towns having collected the gold from their
-respective sub-districts on the reefs, would come to the metropolitan
-centre at Zimbabwe, ready for transmission by caravan to the coast.
-The districts that in all probability sent from their capital towns
-their stores of gold as they became accumulated, so far as the lines
-of forts and the contiguity, geographical position, and convenience
-indicate, would be the present Tati, Bulawayo, Bembesi, Selukwe,
-Gwanda, Filabusi, Belingwe, etc., and the gold districts of Southern
-Mashonaland. For the service of these districts the north-west ascent
-at Zimbabwe would appear to be extremely natural. The gold therefore,
-in all probability, was brought from these districts to Zimbabwe
-along its north-west ascent, and was taken away to the coast by the
-marvellously protected path leading to the south-east.
-
-This argument is not mere romancing. It is one which has every evidence
-in its favour so far as any evidence can at present be secured. Passing
-along the south-eastern ascent we may be pardoned if some poor attempt
-be made to reconstruct some of the scenes that have taken place in
-ancient times within its narrow and tortuous walls. Here may have
-occurred the greeting of fresh arrivals from the coast, or from the
-mother country of the ancient colonists; the bringing of news from a
-far country, possibly news from Yemen, and later from Tyre and Sidon;
-news of changes in home dynasties or of the progress of those ancient
-and classic wars which shook the world and started fresh eras and
-epochs in its history.
-
-There, too, might have been seen the train of slaves carrying their
-golden burden in claw-hammer-shaped ingots as stated to have been shown
-on the monuments of Punt, and as they are pictured in the tombs of
-ancient Egypt, of which the ancient soapstone moulds are represented
-in collections of relics found in Rhodesia. Ivory, apes, ostrich
-feathers, and gorgeous birds would be borne in the caravan, while gangs
-of slaves, doomed to exile, would follow in the convoy, for all these,
-since before the dawn of history, have been exported to the “Near East”
-from Sofala and ancient Rhodesia.
-
-Again, there might have been seen the dusky Semitic crowd watching
-the departure of the results of their toil on so many ancient
-gold-bearing districts, dressed in short, armless tunics (p. 108),[59]
-and displaying massive gold bangles, exquisitely made and chased with
-Zimbabwe designs, on arms, wrists, legs, and ankles, and with chains
-of heavy gold beads round their necks, and in their hands the rods of
-office with the beaten gold sun images on the tops, gold ferules at
-the ends, or copper battle-axes and spearheads thickly plated with
-gold—for all these are articles plentifully found with the buried
-ancients of Rhodesia.
-
-One can almost see the vantage grounds seized by the younger members
-of the ancient crowd to view such spectacles, for on the same granite
-cliff-ledges, foot-polished by ages of wear, the young men of the
-Makalanga love to climb and squat.
-
-At the lower end of the passage, and near the two ancient forts which
-protect its south-eastern extremity, would be the soldiery in readiness
-to take up their position in guarding the caravan. One can realise how
-the ancients climbed on to the boulders at the very summit of Zimbabwe
-Hill to strain anxious eyes in watching the progress of the convoy
-down the valley towards the south-east till it disappeared in the blue
-distance of the lower land.
-
-Romance is most undoubtedly buried on the floors of all Zimbabwe ruins
-throughout Rhodesia, but Romance rivalling that of Rider Haggard at his
-best pervades the massive walls of this ancient ascent as it insinuates
-its upward way along the precipitous side of Zimbabwe Hill.
-
-
- WESTERN ENCLOSURE
-
-To reach the _Western Temple_ on the hill from the _South-East Ancient
-Ascent_, the _Western Enclosure_ must first be crossed, seeing that the
-_Higher Parapet_ path is now become dangerous.
-
-This enclosure lies on the west side of the main west wall of the
-_Western Temple_. The highest part of the enclosure—the east—is 212
-ft., and the lowest—the west part—is 205 ft. above the valley. The main
-west wall of the _Western Temple_ forms its easterly boundary for 71
-ft., the other walls making the enclosure nearly square. The wall on
-the north side is 52 ft. long, 4 ft. to 6 ft. high, and 3 ft. to 4 ft.
-wide on present summit. The west wall is 81 ft. long, and similar in
-width and height. The south side, with no wall now remaining, is 61 ft.
-long, and at 4 ft. to 7 ft. below the south edge, on the outside of
-this enclosure, runs the _Higher Parapet_ previously described.
-
-None of these enclosing walls, except, of course, the main wall of the
-temple, are ancient. They are rudely built, or, rather, neatly piled.
-This is obviously Makalanga work of a generation or two past, and the
-Zimbabwe Makalanga admit this to be the case. But at several points the
-walls run on ancient foundations. These modern natives, in imitation of
-the monoliths on the temple wall above, have erected a slate monolith
-on their north wall, but upside down. Slate beams, evidently fallen
-from the wall above, have been used by the Makalanga as building
-material, as using them saved labour.
-
-But there are strong evidences that the builders of the ruins
-themselves used this ground as an enclosure, and these in addition to
-the remains of the enclosing walls’ foundations. At a distance of 15
-ft. in front of the main wall of the temple is a wall built in good
-style and, till recently, perfectly buried in soil. This portion of a
-wall runs from north-east to south-west for 7 ft. 6 in., and is 2 ft. 6
-in. high, ending at each extremity abruptly, the south-west end showing
-a tendency to curve more to the south.
-
-Also in the north-east corner and at the foot of the main wall of the
-temple, and at 7 ft. and 15 ft. respectively from it, there are very
-decided traces of terrace walls, with parapets descending into the
-interior of the enclosure. The probable purpose of these terraced walls
-is alluded to in the description of the _Western Parapet_, as this
-parapet runs through other enclosures described later.
-
-The drop of 7 ft. towards the west in the level of the surface of this
-enclosure rather tends to support the theory advanced by Messrs. Bent
-and Swan that the main west wall of the _Western Temple_ once stood
-some yards more to the west of the present west main wall. This theory
-is at present somewhat difficult to accept, for the existing wall is
-the widest wall yet known in any ruin in Rhodesia, not excepting the
-huge main walls of the _Elliptical Temple_ in the valley. This main
-wall of the _Western Temple_ is 11 ft. wide on its summit at 18 ft.
-above the ground. Still there are other points, mentioned later in
-connection with the _Western Temple_, which would seem to support
-Messrs. Bent and Swan’s theory.
-
-Passing from the _Ascent_, along the south side of this enclosure,
-climbing the wall débris in front, and passing through a gap in the
-dilapidated part of the main wall directly opposite, one enters the
-_Western Temple_ at its south-west corner.
-
-
-
-
- CHAPTER XV
-
- THE ACROPOLIS RUINS
- (_Continued_)
-
-
- THE WESTERN TEMPLE
-
-This temple is the most westerly portion of the main ruins on _Zimbabwe
-Hill_, and is built upon the steep edge of the western side of the
-kopje at 220 ft. above the valley and also immediately on the summit
-of the precipice, some 90 ft. in height, which runs along the south
-face of the hill. A splendid view of the _Elliptical Temple_ in the
-valley, as well as of the many ruins within the _Zimbabwe Reserve_, is
-obtainable from this point.
-
-The _Western Temple_ has the form of an amphitheatre, its area being
-in the shape of a little less than a quarter of a circle, the centre
-from which the south and north walls radiate being at its most easterly
-point and 122 ft. from the centre of the inner face of the massive main
-west wall which curves with a magnificently bold and perfect sweep
-towards due west, connects the north and south walls at their westerly
-extremities, and runs for 137 ft. on its inner face from south-west to
-north-west.
-
-This curved west wall is the most massive structure so far discovered
-in any ancient ruin in Rhodesia, though it is not the longest. It has a
-width of summit at 25 ft. from the ground of 14 ft. 6 in., the general
-average width being 11 ft., and is still liberally decorated with huge
-granite and slate monoliths and a row of small conical towers which are
-now more or less imperfect.
-
-The lengths of the walls along their inner faces are as follows: north
-wall, 90 ft.; south wall, with gaps, 127 ft.; and the curved west wall,
-137 ft.
-
-The present surface of the area is very irregular owing to the soil and
-wall débris having been piled up at several points by excavators whose
-trenches and digging are still to be seen. Disregarding these piles the
-highest part of the area is at its eastern end, the lowest being at the
-inside base of the west wall.
-
-_North wall._—This wall may be divided into several lengths from east
-to north. The 22 ft. length from the east reaches to _The Platform
-Cave_. This length of wall supports _The Platform_ on its south-west
-side. Here the wall is 12 ft. high, measuring from the present surface
-of the temple, which is, so far as can be ascertained, some 3 ft. to
-5 ft. above the highest and latest ancient floor. Towards the 15 ft.
-point the wall is carried over a huge boulder 11 ft. high, also over a
-smaller boulder partly resting on the first boulder and partly against
-another boulder, which forms part of the north side of _The Platform
-Cave_, along which boulders the height of the wall is 11 ft. over the
-large boulder, and 6 ft. over the smaller and higher one, but including
-the height of a rounded end of wall on _The Platform_ above which is
-built upon this wall, the height of the wall above the smaller boulder
-is 11 ft.
-
-The 14 ft. length of this wall clears the entrance to _The Platform
-Cave_ and the steps, now dilapidated, leading from the floor of the
-temple to the upper flight of steps to _The Platform_. In addition to
-these steps on the west side of the cave, there was once a wall on the
-summit of the boulder up which the steps ran, but the boulder is now
-bare save for a small cap of red _daga_ (clay) which once formed the
-foundation of a small Makalanga granary, such positions being usually
-selected on account of their freedom from white ants.
-
-The 28 ft. length is built upon and along the top of a long boulder.
-This wall on its inner face is in good condition, but its back part
-which forms a portion of the south wall of the _Platform Enclosure_ is
-very dilapidated. The heights of this wall are 7 ft. 6 in., 10 ft., and
-5 ft. at three different points going north-west. The last 7 ft. of
-this length is a gap, the foundations only remaining.
-
-The 26 ft. length of this wall extends from the gap to the inside of
-the north end of the main west wall, where it acts as the south side
-of the west extremity of the deep passage recently unburied which runs
-down the centre of the _Platform Enclosure_. It is 5 ft. to 6 ft. high
-on the temple side. This 26 ft. length of wall has been very seriously
-damaged by roots of large trees.
-
-The widths of the summits of the north wall range between 3 ft. 6
-in. and 5 ft., but as _The Platform_ ends where the west end of _The
-Platform_ comes flush to the temple face of the wall, it is difficult
-to state any width, but still it must be exceptionally wide to carry
-the wall which here rises to 18 ft. from the present filled-in level of
-the centre of the temple.
-
-_West wall._—The west wall of the temple runs from north-west to
-south-west, and is 137 ft. long on its inner face, and may, for the
-purposes of this description, be divided into two lengths, _i.e._, 29
-ft. and 108 ft. commencing at its north end.
-
-The 29 ft. length extends from the north end of the west wall to the
-south-west side of a divisional wall of the same height, but only 4 ft.
-wide on its summit, which is built up against the inner face of the
-main west wall and protrudes 9 ft. into the temple in a south-easterly
-direction. This divisional wall has a drain-hole right through it at 6
-ft. below its summit. It is evident that the bottom of the drain, which
-passes through dry masonry, once had a lining of cement which resembles
-in make and quality that used in the lowest floor of the temple. This
-length of the main wall is still intact.
-
-The 108 ft. length extends from the south-west side of the divisional
-wall just mentioned to the southern extremity of the main wall. At 10
-ft. south of this divisional wall is the lowest point in the interior
-of the temple. At 33 ft. along this length, still measuring in a
-southerly direction, the wall has been considerably damaged, there
-being a wide and deep gap on the outer side and a depression in the
-general line of summit of the wall on its inner face. From this point
-in this length to 86 ft. the wall is again intact, and at its original
-height. The last 22 ft. of the 108 ft. length is very considerably
-dilapidated. The west wall terminates on the south-south-west in a
-rounded end, the lower part of which is exceedingly well built and
-stands 11 ft. above the ground. This rounded end is one of the two
-rounded buttresses which form the north or right-hand side of the
-west end of the _Parallel Passage_ on approaching it from the _Higher
-Parapet_.
-
-The widths of the west wall at the summit are as follows: north
-extremity, 13 ft. 8 in.; at north end of the 108 ft. length, 14 ft. 6
-in.; at the gap, 2 ft. to 3 ft.; at south-south-west of gap, 12 ft. The
-gap is 23 ft. long on the inner part and 29 ft. long on the outer or
-west side.
-
-The heights of the wall above the present levels of the ground, outside
-and inside, are as follows: northern extremity, 25 ft. outside, and
-6 ft. inside; at northern extremity of the 108 ft. length, 22 ft.
-outside, and 16 ft. inside; at south-west of gap, 21 ft. outside, and
-10 ft. 6 in. inside. The 22 ft. portion of the 108 ft. length is simply
-a great pile of wall débris. The outside measurements are taken from
-the top of the _Western Parapet_, which runs along at the foot of the
-west face of the wall.
-
-There are two points which will make this curved west wall of great
-interest to archæologists:—
-
-(1) It has the widest summit of any ancient wall yet discovered in
-Rhodesia, and
-
-(2) The _Monoliths_ and _Conical Towers_ alternating along its summit.
-It should be stated that there are two lengths of summits of this wall
-still remaining intact at their original heights. One length is at
-the northern end of the wall, and is 44 ft. in length, and the other at
-the south of the gap, and this is 46 ft. in length.
-
-[Illustration: ENTRANCE TO COVERED PASSAGE, WESTERN TEMPLE, ACROPOLIS]
-
-[Illustration: SMALL TOWER ON WEST WALL OF WESTERN TEMPLE, ACROPOLIS]
-
-On the first line of summit the centres of the towers, foundations,
-or traces, are at the following points, measuring from the northern
-end: 6 ft., north face of tower 2 ft. high only now remains; 12 ft.,
-foundations of tower with débris stones with rounded faces; 18 ft.,
-portion of foundation only; 24 ft., tower in good condition to 2 ft.
-in height; 30 ft., ditto; 36 ft., débris only; and 42 ft., traces of
-foundation and débris.
-
-On this length of summit there are three slate monoliths with tops,
-some fractured, standing 3 ft. to 5 ft. above the summit of the wall.
-These are practically equi-distant. Two other slate monoliths were
-found in the débris at the outer base of the wall, and judging by the
-spot where found, there are probably two others still buried in the
-débris.
-
-On the second line of summit, which extends for 46 ft. from south of
-the gap, one round tower remains intact to a height of 3 ft. 6 in.,
-where it has a diameter of 3 ft. 4 in. The towers or traces of towers
-on this line of summit are at the following points, commencing from the
-gap; 4 ft., tower, the most perfect specimen remaining; 10 ft., traces
-of tower; 15 ft., ditto; 20 ft., foundations only; 27 ft., ditto; 33
-ft., traces; 42 ft., ditto.
-
-On this line of summit there are four slate monoliths, more or less
-erect, standing at equi-distant points. One flat granite monolith
-lies on the wall by the side of the hole in which it once stood. One
-slate monolith was found at the outer base of the wall where the gap
-divides the two lines of summits. The heights of these monoliths, some
-fractured, range from 5 ft. to 9 ft. above the summit of the wall. One
-of these must, in all probability, be 15 ft. long.
-
-There seems to be little doubt that these towers, as erected
-originally, were conical. The most perfect tower shows a very decided
-drawing-in of the upper courses, while among the débris of each tower
-are smaller blocks, showing by the contracted curve of their rounded
-faces that the courses they represented had much smaller radii than
-those of the courses below.
-
-_Architecture and construction of west wall._—Both the architecture
-and construction of this wall are most obviously of the First Zimbabwe
-Period; but most of the material used is of an inferior quality to that
-in the other walls of this temple. This is patent to anyone inspecting
-the western face of the wall, where very many of the granite blocks
-are cracked, and in some places considerably decomposed. Some of the
-courses are also very irregular, and have steep gradients, while
-many courses disappear, or are false in order to restore the level
-of depressed courses, besides which the blocks vary greatly in size.
-Still, the wall does not show any other feature of the Second Period
-Zimbabwe architecture. As stated before, it is undoubtedly the most
-massive wall of any ancient ruin yet discovered in Rhodesia, but it was
-most probably built, or rather reconstructed, during a late portion
-of the First Period, and, as Bent suggests, later than other walls
-of this temple. He further suggests that this is a reconstruction
-of the west wall on a curve some yards further east of its original
-position. In the description of the _Western Enclosure_ (see later),
-of which this wall forms the eastern side, it is stated that there
-is much difficulty in accepting this conjecture. The opportunities
-opened to the author for examining the ground to the west of the wall
-were far better than those opened to Bent, and the failure to discover
-any ancient foundation which could have carried even a much smaller
-wall was complete; in fact, no foundations whatever anywhere within
-the point of distance mentioned by Bent. Moreover, the south end of
-the present wall, as seen at the eastern end of the _Higher Parapet_,
-is most excellent work, and appears to have been erected at the same
-time as the other walls of this temple. Bent’s suggestion as to a
-reconstruction of this wall at a later period is highly probable, but
-this reconstruction was only partial, it did not include the south end,
-and it was upon the original foundations. The radius of the segment of
-the south end demonstrates that the correctness of the curvature of
-this wall would have been destroyed had the reconstructed portion been
-built upon any other line of foundation.
-
-_South wall._—This wall is the large massive wall seen from the valley
-on the south and west sides of the hill. It is built upon the actual
-brink of the south precipice, and is 78 ft. long, but including the
-foundations in the gap at its eastern extremity, its total length is
-127 ft.
-
-The first 21 ft. measuring from the western end forms the outer wall of
-the narrow passage from the _Higher Parapet_ in the _South-East Ascent_
-to the _Western Temple_, and also forms the south wall of the western
-end of the _Parallel Passage_. This wall at its western end is much
-reduced by dilapidation, and here its height rising from the bare rock
-of the precipice is 10 ft. above the floor of the passage. The wall at
-this point terminates in a beautifully rounded end, which is a splendid
-work of art, rivalling in this respect the round end of the wall on
-the south side of _Pattern Passage_. From the western extremity the
-south wall rises in height on its outer face as it extends east to 25
-ft., and 35 ft. for the rest of the wall as far as the gap. Here the
-original summit is practically intact as far as the west side of the
-gap, where the foundations of the wall are level with the ground and
-are about 8 ft. wide. The inside face of the wall above the interior
-surface of the temple ranges from 11 ft. to 17 ft. according as the
-ground rises and falls.
-
-There are no traces of round towers on this wall, but three slate
-monoliths and one of granite are still more or less erect on the higher
-portion of the wall. Two slate monoliths were found by the writer
-at the inner base of the wall, and these would have made the line
-equi-distant.
-
-_East side of temple._—This is 36 ft. long. The first 10 ft. from the
-south side is a débris heap; from 10 ft. to 26 ft. is a wall rounding
-towards the east, and this wall is 18 ft. 6 in. high; 26 ft. to 29 ft.
-is the _Covered Passage_ where the wall is 9 ft. over the passage; 29
-ft. to 36 ft. is a wall extending to _The Platform_, where the height
-of the wall is 14 ft. from the lower end of the boulder some 9 ft.
-above the pile of débris lying on the floor. It is at this point that
-the north wall before described commences.
-
-_Centre of arc._—Schlichter suggested that the centres of the arcs of
-those massive and decorated walls, which are curved either towards the
-west or east, might have had some peculiar importance in the minds of
-the ancient builders. This suggestion is based on his examination, not
-only of the temples at Zimbabwe, but of the larger elliptical buildings
-elsewhere in the country.
-
-At the centre of the arc of the curved, decorated, and massively built
-west wall in the _Western Temple_ on the _Acropolis_ (and this is the
-widest wall yet discovered in Rhodesia) a discovery has been made which
-may possibly bear on the question of the orientation of these temples,
-though in the matter of orientation or otherwise it would be much
-safer to keep an open mind till more information can be placed before
-accredited experts acquainted with this branch of science.
-
-The spot marked R on Bent’s plan—“centre of arc of great wall”—was
-covered on the surface by a very old Makalanga _daga_ floor broken in
-pieces by an old and decayed tree. These loose slabs of clay flooring
-having been removed, about 2 ft. depth of blocks and soil was found.
-The blocks had no relative position to one another, and they were in
-all positions. Immediately below this débris was found a yellow granite
-cement structure. This is semi-circular in shape, measuring 11 ft. 8
-in. round the curved base from end to end. The straight back part is 6
-ft. 3 in. across. The structure is formed by two rounded curved rims,
-one on the other, the top one receding 4 in. from the face of the lower
-one. The lower rim is 1 ft. high, and the upper one 8 in. The structure
-is hollow to a depth of 9 in., and the interior extends evenly all
-round to within 10 in. from the front upper face of the structure.
-
-At 8 ft. 6 in. from the centre of the front of this structure, and
-immediately due south behind it, is a granite cement cone in splendid
-condition. This cone is 4 ft. 11 in. in circumference at base, and is
-1 ft. 4 in. high. At 10 in. due east of the first cone is a smaller
-one with a circumference at base of 2 ft. 4 in., and this is 6 in.
-high. The semi-circular structure and the two cones are connected by a
-flooring of the same excellent quality of cement, and are structurally
-one.
-
-On following the cement floor towards the north-east it was found to
-be decomposed by water and to have become like bright yellow clay. The
-lowest part of the surface of the interior of the eastern end of this
-temple is at this point, and from it rain-water could not escape. This
-decomposed cement was swagged and depressed considerably by the damp,
-but it was easily followed for 28 ft. 6 in. The granite cement floor
-runs in all directions from the semi-circular structure, but in most
-parts it is still solid, exceedingly hard, and in good condition.
-
-At the 28 ft. 6 in. point and at 5 ft. below the filled-in surface
-of the interior of the temple a cement cylinder was found. This is
-beautifully rounded and has four bevelled bosses, equi-distant, on
-its side. The cylinder was found upon a platform of the best cement
-yet discovered at Zimbabwe. It has a diameter of 1 ft. 8 in., is 5
-in. high, and has a circumference at the curved-in base of rounded
-side of 4 ft. 2 in. The bosses or knobs, which are bevelled, project
-outwards 1 in. The side is formed by three flat bevelled faces running
-all round, the centre bevelled face projecting half an inch beyond
-the others. The top is level, and the bottom part curves inwards at
-its base. The cylinder is perfectly free of any damage and is without
-the slightest scratch on its smooth surface. The workmanship is of
-so excellent a character that it is still almost equal in design and
-construction to any similar object that could be turned out at a
-European workshop.
-
-The cylinder stands on a platform at 3 ft. 6 in. from its front on west
-side, the face of the platform being formed of two almost semi-circular
-faces meeting and turning inwards some few inches eastwards towards the
-cylinder. The platform is 1 ft. 1 in. high on the northern curve, the
-southern extremity being well rounded off, while the northern extremity
-runs into and under a bank of débris not yet cleared away.
-
-The “finds” at the centre of the arc in this temple included the usual
-unpleasing emblems of Nature Worship; a piece of forked iron, more
-rust than iron, with six gold bosses the size of peas at equi-distant
-points; these are riveted on the iron with corresponding gold bosses on
-the opposite side, the rivets through the iron being of gold; a sheet
-of beaten gold 3½ in. by 2¼ in., also some fragments of beaten gold and
-gold tacks; fragments of soapstone bowls and beams, old pottery, some
-peculiarly shaped natural stones, including serpentine stones, and an
-Isafuba game stone.
-
-The “finds” at the cylinder were three large black beads with white
-lines possibly identical with a similar bead found by Bent on the
-Acropolis, to which (p. 205) he ascribes a very great age; also under
-the curved-in side of the cylinder were scratched out some fifty light
-green beads with encircling ribs, and these both local Makalanga and
-Barotse natives state are completely strange to them; some yellow and
-green glass beads of microscopic size, the holes being scarcely visible
-without the aid of a magnifying glass; a miniature phallus carved,
-old pottery, and a small block of mica split up into sheets. In the
-side of the trench on a clay floor 1 ft. above, and at the back of
-the cylinder, is a stratum of ashes out of which a quantity of beaten
-copper sheetings, copper tacks, a large copper battle-axe, and a very
-thick copper bangle were drawn.
-
-Above the cylinder were at least four floors with ashes on each, and
-the remains of a furnace on two of them. Above the top floor were 3 ft.
-of very hard soil, and 18 in. of black soil, and on the top were the
-remains of a decayed tree, which must have been at least fifty or sixty
-years old.
-
-_Covered Passage._—This passage is at the eastern end of the temple, to
-which it served as an approach from _The Platform_. It is 2 ft. wide,
-6 ft. 6 in. high, has a rounded end on the north side, is 10 ft. long,
-and the high wall over it is supported by five large slate lintels. The
-passage opens out at the east end at the foot of _The Winding Stairs_.
-In the passage the writer found (August, 1902) a Makalanga grave, and
-with the permission of the local chief, the skeletal remains were
-removed and re-interred elsewhere.
-
-_Platform Cave._—This cave is immediately below _The Platform_, and
-opens on to the floor of the temple. It is 8 ft. to 10 ft. high
-throughout a length of 22 ft. At 11 ft. from the entrance the width
-is 2 ft. 10 in., and at the innermost point 4 ft. 6 in., where it is
-walled up with blocks. The cave is formed by an immense boulder on
-the east side and by two large boulders on the west side. It had two
-floors, the higher floor being 4 ft. above the lower one. The top
-floor, which was of red clay, was obviously of Makalanga make, but the
-lower one, which is made of granite cement, is believed to be of a late
-ancient period. Probably a still more ancient flooring may be found
-lower. On the top floor was a modern Makalanga grave, and the remains
-were removed elsewhere and re-interred. On the lower floor some of the
-fragments of the decorated soapstone found by Bent, and of which he
-mentions what fragments were missing, were discovered by the writer
-within a few feet of the spot where Bent found the larger portions of
-this beam.
-
-_Stairs to Platform._—The entrance to the _Platform Cave_ is narrowed
-by the lower steps of a flight of stairs rising from the interior of
-the temple over the two boulders, which form the northern side of
-the cave, up to the upper flight of stairs on the north side of _The
-Platform_. The steps are considerably ruined, but can be traced, the
-stones being covered with a cement not believed to be ancient.
-
-_Parallel Passage._—This passage extends from the point where the
-_Higher Parapet_ enters the temple at its south-west corner, the south
-wall of the temple forming its south side. The eastern extremity of
-this passage is at the wide gap in the south wall. Its total length
-is 71 ft. The walls on the north side vary in height from 5 ft. to 13
-ft., according to the rise and fall of its floor. Its width varies
-from 2 ft. to 3 ft. Half-way along are traces of steps, also at its
-lowest point. This _Parallel Passage_ appears to be similar in purpose,
-so far as can be surmised, to that of the _Parallel Passage_ in the
-_Elliptical Temple_ in the valley.
-
-_Internal walls._—These are five in number, so far as discoveries
-have been made; and for the purposes of this description, and for the
-assistance of visitors, are lettered A to E on boards affixed to the
-walls.
-
-_A._ This is the wall mentioned in the description of the main west
-wall as being built up against the inner face of the main wall, and as
-protruding 9 ft. into the temple in a south-easterly direction.
-
-_B._ This is a small isolated section of a wall with broken ends, and
-is 28 ft. south-west of the north wall, and 38 ft. from the west wall.
-It is 4 ft. long, 2 ft. 6 in. wide, 4 ft. high, and its faced sides are
-north-east and south-west.
-
-_C._ A small isolated section of wall 38 ft. 6 in. from the north wall,
-and 44 ft. from the west wall. It is 5 ft. high and 7 ft. wide, and
-its ends are broken. Its faces are fairly well built, its foundations
-rest on made ground, and red clay, not cement, can be seen on the
-trench all round the wall.
-
-[Illustration: WEST ENTRANCE TO PARALLEL PASSAGE, WESTERN TEMPLE,
-ACROPOLIS]
-
-[Illustration: BUTTRESS PASSAGE, ACROPOLIS]
-
-_D._ A large wall stands at 9 ft. 6 in. from the west wall at a point
-42 ft. north from the south end of that wall. It has an abrupt and
-unfinished end facing south, from which end it rounds boldly towards
-the east, where it appears to terminate in a bank of soil debris. The
-quality of material and workmanship displayed in this wall are very
-similar to those of the west wall. Its height is 9 ft. where it faces
-the south, but where it faces west is a portion of wall 6 ft. high
-erected on its summit, and this upper wall is 6 ft. long and 4 ft.
-wide, being rounded at its end facing west. The sides of the upper and
-lower walls are flush to each other.
-
-_E._ At the foot of the boulder over which the north wall is carried
-is a trench, and at a depth of 4 ft. below the present level of the
-interior of the temple is a very strong cemented floor, on which stands
-about 4 sq. ft. of the rounded end of a cement wall of most excellent
-material and make. These are believed to be ancient, and if such be
-the case, then no antiquity could be claimed for walls B and C, which
-are built upon the filled-in soil of a higher level. The remains of a
-rounded stone buttress are also to be seen in this trench. This trench
-was sunk through the red clay of a Makalanga threshing-floor.
-
-_Sections of floors._—Three sections of what are believed to be ancient
-floors can be seen in the cutting at the angle formed by the north
-and west walls. At 5 ft. below the present surface of the temple is
-an ancient floor of strong yellow granite cement 1 ft. 4 in. thick;
-above this is a red cement floor 1 ft. thick; above this is another red
-cement floor 1 ft. 2 in. thick; while the top floor is made of ordinary
-Makalanga clay. A red cement bed lies under the lowest floor.
-
-
-
-
- CHAPTER XVI
-
- THE ACROPOLIS RUINS
- (_Continued_)
-
- Platform Enclosure—Cleft Rock Enclosure—The Platform—Balcony
- Wall—Little Enclosure—The Winding Stairs—Upper Passage—East
- Passage—Buttress Passage—South Enclosures A, B, and C—South
- Cave—South Passage—Central Passage.
-
-
- PLATFORM ENCLOSURE
-
-This enclosure is on the north side of the _Western Temple_, and
-immediately at the foot of the stairs leading up the north-west side
-of _The Platform_. The east side is 46 ft. long, and is formed by a
-wall 19 ft. high and 7 ft. wide at 5 ft. above the present level of
-the interior. The north wall is 33 ft. along its face, and including
-a rounded corner at the north-east. It is 3 ft. wide at its present
-reduced height, which averages from 2 ft. 6 in. to 5 ft. above the rock
-floor. The north wall is built upon the edge of a high boulder, which
-boulder forms the floor of the enclosure on its north side. From north
-to north-west is an open space enclosed by a Makalanga-built wall which
-is carried across and blocks up an ancient entrance. From north-west to
-south the wall is 51 ft. long, and forms part of the north wall of the
-_Western Temple_. It is 4 ft. 6 in. wide on its present reduced summit,
-which is very dilapidated, its length including a wide gap. The extreme
-south-eastern side is formed by the walls supporting the steps from
-this enclosure to the summit of _The Platform_.
-
-In the south-east corner of this enclosure is a passage leading into
-the _Cleft Rock Enclosure_. This passage is 10 ft. long, the walls on
-either side are 6 ft. in height, and the width varies from 2 ft. to
-4 ft. 10 in. This passage was only discovered in July, 1902, when it
-was found to contain a Makalanga grave apparently about twenty years
-old. The remains were removed and re-interred at the right side of the
-entrance to the _Cleft Rock Enclosure_. There were traces of steps in
-this passage, but these had been destroyed by masses of falling débris.
-
-On the east side and at 21 ft. from this passage is a large squared
-entrance, also leading into _Cleft Rock Enclosure_. This appears
-to be a reconstruction of an older entrance or a late construction
-altogether, or possibly a new entrance through an old wall. The
-entrance is 6 ft. high, 2 ft. 6 in. wide, 7 ft. long, and has squared
-walls. Most probably this entrance was originally covered, for the
-remains of slate lintels can be seen on either side in the wall above
-it, and quantities of long pieces of fractured slate beams were found
-on its floor.
-
-The area of this enclosure is divided into different levels. The floor
-on the south-west side for 28 ft. by 14 ft. is formed by the top of a
-huge flat-topped boulder. The floor at the extreme north is also formed
-by the top of a boulder. The middle portion between these two floors
-consists of a depression of some 10 ft. to 14 ft. lower than the rock
-floors on either side, the lowest portion being at the north-west end.
-
-In this depression, and running from the north-west toward the squared
-entrance in the east wall, is a deep and narrow passage, the wall of
-which on the south-west side is the retaining wall for the higher floor
-on that side. The north-east wall of the passage appears to have been
-a Makalanga reconstruction of an ancient wall, especially as several
-of the walls in the immediate vicinity are undoubtedly Makalanga, and
-claimed by them as such, and, moreover, Makalanga articles were found
-at the base of its foundation. Still, the wall is so dilapidated that
-it is difficult to state one’s opinion as to its age. This passage runs
-west for 72 ft. throughout the length of this enclosure, and passes
-out on to the _Western Parapet_, which runs along the west base of the
-west wall of the _Western Temple_. The width of the passage varies
-from 2 ft. to 4 ft., and with side walls averaging in height 5 ft. to
-14 ft. on the south side, and 4 ft. to 7 ft. on the north side. In
-the description of the newly discovered _North-West Ancient Ascent_,
-it will be seen that this passage forms an important section in that
-ascent.
-
-At the south-east corner of the enclosure, and extending for 6 ft. from
-the east wall, is a small wall of three different faces at different
-levels all facing north. It was evidently intended to act as a buttress
-to the steps from _The Platform_ down into the narrow passage between
-the two side floors of this enclosure.
-
-
- CLEFT ROCK ENCLOSURE
-
-This enclosure lies to the east of the _Platform Enclosure_, and its
-west wall is the same as forms the east wall of that enclosure. At all
-other points its sides are formed by cliffs and large boulders rising
-to the height of some 50 ft. and 60 ft. The west side is 46 ft. long,
-and its north and south sides are about 86 ft. each in length, these
-meeting at their extreme east.
-
-_Cleft Rock_, which is so very often seen in photographs of the
-Zimbabwe ruins, rises for about 25 ft. above the surface of the
-enclosure on its north side and extends downwards for 15 ft. below it
-on the outside. It is 3 ft. 10 in. to 4 ft. 6 in. wide throughout.
-Possibly it was an ancient ascent from the _Rock Holes Walk_, as a
-quantity of wall débris lies at its outside base.
-
-All the divisional walls of the interior are undoubtedly of Makalanga
-construction, and the local Makalanga claim them as having been made
-early in the time of Mokomo, the previous Zimbabwe chief, whose
-kraal occupied the north summit of this hill. This remark does not
-apply to the buttresses on either side of the west entrance.
-
-[Illustration: THE CLEFT ROCK, CLEFT ROCK ENCLOSURE, LOOKING SOUTH FROM
-EXTERIOR, ACROPOLIS]
-
-[Illustration: A NATURAL ARCHWAY IN CENTRAL PASSAGE, ACROPOLIS]
-
-The enclosure is approached on the south-west by the recently opened
-passage at the north foot of _The Platform_ steps, also on the west by
-the squared entrance from the _Platform Enclosure_, and on the south
-it is believed to have had an entrance through the _Buttress Passage_
-(described later). The huge pile of stone-wall débris on the south
-side was recently stacked here, having been removed from the _Platform
-Enclosure_ and passage.
-
-
- THE PLATFORM
-
-This is an elevated position at the east corner of the _Western
-Temple_, commanding a splendid view of the whole of the interior of
-the temple and of the surrounding enclosures. It appears to have been
-erected for the same purposes as were _The Platform_ in the _Elliptical
-Temple_ in the valley, and the _Ancient Balcony_ in the _Eastern
-Temple_ on the hill.
-
-Its height is 27 ft. 6 in. above the present floor of the temple, and
-about 32 ft. above any of its ancient floors. It is 250 ft. above the
-level of the valley. The summit of _The Platform_ projects out towards
-the west from the upper face of a huge boulder which forms the west end
-of the cliffs and boulders which ridge along the summit of this hill.
-
-A wall 2 ft. high and from 1 ft. 10 in. to 2 ft. 6 in. wide runs west
-from the boulder at the back across the centre of _The Platform_ and
-terminates in a rounded end overlooking the temple. On the east side of
-this low wall is an embrasure 3 ft. wide, also overlooking the temple,
-at the south end of which is a parapet wall now from 1 ft. to 3 ft.
-high and 12 ft. long, also on the edge of the temple wall. This forms
-the west side of the approach to _The Platform_ from the south, which
-is further formed by the _Winding Stairs_.
-
-On the north side of _The Platform_ is a flight of stairs, now
-considerably ruined by roots of trees forcing out the steps. This
-flight ascends from the granite rock floor of the _Platform Enclosure_
-from between two rounded buttresses. Half-way up the steps pass between
-two small, low walls, the space between them being 2 ft. These walls
-are parallel for a few feet, but as the steps descend they round off
-on each side away from the steps. This flight of stairs is the last
-and highest section of the _North-West Ancient Ascent_ from the valley
-where are the large water-holes or dongas (see _North-West Ancient
-Ascent_).
-
-At the top of these steps and on the east side of _The Platform_ is the
-celebrated _Dentelle Pattern_.
-
-This ancient wall decoration is the sixth yet discovered in Rhodesia,
-and until more is known of the similar pattern at Matendele Ruins, it
-can be tentatively concluded that this pattern on _The Platform_ is by
-far the best and the most complete specimen extant in Rhodesia.
-
-Its present dimensions are 3 ft. 6 in. wide and 3 ft. 6 in. high,
-and it consists of four columns of small, shallow blocks laid flat,
-with corners outwards, and flush with each other, each block thus
-showing two faces, the whole enclosed on top, bottom, and south sides
-by an angular frame of large blocks. The north side of the frame has
-disappeared. It is probable that this pattern once possessed a fifth
-column of dentelle blocks, as the foundations, providing sufficient
-space for another column, still remain, and there are more of these
-small blocks lying in the débris below, each with two faces, generally
-time-worn. This pattern faces west, but very slightly to the south of
-west. In the summer of the Southern Hemisphere it exactly faces the
-setting sun, the great slanting monolith then being between it and the
-setting sun.
-
-The other special features of _The Platform_ are the _Monoliths_.
-
-Two tall and flat-faced granite monoliths are still standing on
-_The Platform_, while one slate monolith lies prone on the south floor
-of _The Platform_, with a few feet of its length projecting over the
-temple wall. This last monolith is 10 ft. long, and at its centre part
-is 2 ft. 2 in. in circumference. This monolith is intact.
-
-[Illustration: VIEW OF THE PLATFORM AT WESTERN TEMPLE, ACROPOLIS, FROM
-MAIN WEST WALL]
-
-[Illustration: DENTELLE PATTERN ON PLATFORM, WESTERN TEMPLE, ACROPOLIS]
-
-The heights of the two standing monoliths are: the erect monolith 8 ft.
-above _The Platform_, and the slanting monolith 11 ft. 6 in., and their
-respective circumferences are 2 ft. 2 in. and 2 ft. 9 in. The one in
-front of the _Dentelle Pattern_ slants considerably to due north.[60]
-Its base, built into the wall, must be of great length to support the
-enormous weight of this large and slanting slab of granite, especially
-as this monolith had once been of greater length. The fracture on its
-top can be seen from the summit of the boulder behind. The fractured
-portion was found at the foot of the stairs, and this measures 3 ft.
-2 in., thus making the exposed portion of the monolith not less than
-14 ft. 8 in. in length. There is no evidence of the slanting of the
-monolith having taken place since its erection.
-
-
- BALCONY WALL
-
-This is on the south side of _The Platform_, from which it is reached.
-The top of this wall is level with the top of the _Winding Stairs_, and
-it forms the western end of _East Passage_, and the eastern wall of
-the _Western Temple_. It is 21 ft. long and from 4 ft. to 6 ft. wide.
-Through it is the _Covered Passage_ (see _Western Temple_).
-
-
- LITTLE ENCLOSURE
-
-This can be seen from the _Balcony Wall_ between the southern end of
-which and the _Upper Passage_ it lies. It is 8 ft. deep, 5 ft. wide,
-and 11 ft. long. The entrance appears to have been at outside of the
-south-western end of the _Upper Passage_. It is almost entirely filled
-up with débris. It once had a granite cement dado 3 in. thick on its
-sides, some of which still remain intact. It is from this enclosure
-that the drain-hole on the west side of the _Upper Passage_ emerges.
-
-
- THE WINDING STAIRS
-
-These lead from _The Platform_ to the _East Passage_, which again leads
-to the eastern extremity of the _Acropolis Ruins_. The stairs are 14
-ft. long, and descend 8 ft., and are 4 ft. to 6 ft. wide. The wall on
-the south side is 4 ft. to 7 ft. high as the stairs descend. The wall
-at the east end is 7 ft. high. The face of a huge boulder forms the
-north side. The foot of the stairs, where they turn towards the south,
-is covered by a narrow wall supported by an old wooden beam. This beam
-is not ancient, but the old Makalanga who occupied these ruins may have
-inserted it to make the stairs safer to use. Fragments of slate lintel
-were found in the débris at the foot of the stairs.
-
-
- UPPER PASSAGE
-
-This passage, which is 28 ft. long, connects the bottom of the _Winding
-Stairs_ and the south side of the interior of the _Western Temple_. On
-the east side the wall is from 4 ft. 6 in. to 6 ft. high, and 5 ft.
-to 10 ft. on the west side. It is 3 ft. 6 in. wide throughout. It is
-approached at the northern end between buttresses, the one on the west
-side being round, while the one on the eastern side is rounded on the
-inner side and angular on the outer side. On the west side are the
-remains of a drain emerging from the _Little Enclosure_ and a fragment
-of the slate beam which once carried the wall across it is still to
-be seen in the hole. This passage, though at the foot of the _Winding
-Stairs_, is some 8 ft. higher than the present floor of the _Western
-Temple_.
-
-
- EAST PASSAGE
-
-This passage is 80 ft. long from the foot of the _Winding Stairs_ to
-the north side of _South Enclosure C_. At the foot of the _Winding
-Stairs_ the passage-way turns east, the north side for 13 ft. being
-a large rounded buttress 6 ft. high. On the south side at this point
-is the eastern end of the _Covered Passage_ leading up from the floor
-of the _Western Temple_, and a few feet further east is the northern
-entrance to the _Upper Passage_.
-
-[Illustration: BOTTOM OF WINDING STAIRS, WESTERN TEMPLE, ACROPOLIS]
-
-[Illustration: WEST ENTRANCE TO SOUTH CAVE, ACROPOLIS]
-
-From the 14 ft. length to the 31 ft. length of the passage going east
-are remains—only very ruined—of cement steps descending to a lower
-level. On the south side of this passage are _South Enclosure A_,
-_South Passage_, and _South Enclosures B and C_. The north side is
-formed by high, cliff-like boulders. The _Buttress Passage_ starts
-north at the north side of the 51 ft. length going east. At the
-entrance to _Buttress Passage_ a tree has lifted up a granite block 6
-ft. from the ground. It is firmly fixed in the bark of the tree.
-
-
- BUTTRESS PASSAGE
-
-This passage runs north and south for 39 ft. between two gigantic
-cliff-boulders on the summit of the hill. This passage connected the
-enclosures on the north and south sides of the cliff. The rocks on
-either side of the passage at its bottom and south end are 50 ft. high
-on the east side, and 35 ft. high on the west side, and at the upper or
-north end are from 15 ft. to 20 ft. high. The path ascends throughout
-its length, and its upper end is 14 ft. above the lower end. The width
-between the rocks varies from 4 ft. to 6 ft., but the top exit of the
-path goes between rocks only 3 ft. apart.
-
-The floor between the two cliffs is artificially made, and near the
-summit it has crowned in, and this crowning-in now bars the ascent to
-the _Cleft Rock Enclosure_, to which it formed an entrance from the
-south.
-
-The passage has been considerably narrowed by buttresses alternating on
-either side, these making the passage a true zigzag. The first buttress
-at the south end and on the west side is much reduced in height, being
-now but 1 ft. 6 in. This buttress is angular, and protrudes 2 ft. On
-the east side is a long rounded buttress, which leaves the passage 2
-ft. wide between it and the first buttress. This second buttress is 4
-ft. high, 7 ft. long, and protrudes 4 ft., the width of the passage
-between it and the opposite cliff being 1 ft. 3 in. The third buttress
-is 17 ft. from the south end of the passage; it is angular, and
-projects from the west side 2 ft., and is now only 2 ft. 6 in. high.
-The fourth buttress is angular on the bottom side and rounded on the
-top side. This projects 3 ft. 6 in. from the west side, and is 5 ft.
-high. Between the third and fourth buttresses the passage is 2 ft.
-wide. Above the fourth buttress the floor has crowned in, and on the
-upper side of the crowning-in is a wall 5 ft. high built across the
-passage. Judging by block débris, this wall, the summit of which is
-level with the floor of the _Cleft Rock Enclosure_, was once surmounted
-by steps.
-
-
- SOUTH ENCLOSURE A
-
-This enclosure is 51 ft. long from east to west, and is 25 ft. wide at
-its broadest point. Its shape is that of a long, narrow triangle, the
-apex resting at its south-east end. Most of the south wall has fallen
-over the edge of the precipice. There are two rounded entrances on the
-north side from the _East Passage_. The walls remaining are from 5 ft.
-to 7 ft. high. There is a drain-hole through the south wall at the
-south-east corner. The _South Passage_ forms the eastern side. On the
-west side is a narrow recess between two boulders, and this appears to
-have been roofed over with slate and granite lintels, but the recess is
-now blocked up by wall débris. This enclosure appears to have been once
-divided into two enclosures, as a broken wall, 5 ft. long, 3 ft. high,
-and 3 ft. 6 in. wide, juts out into the interior from the east side.
-
-
- SOUTH CAVE
-
-This “cave” hardly deserves the name of cave, but as previous writers
-gave it this designation the title is retained in this description.
-
-The cave is situated immediately under _South Enclosure A_, and it
-opens on to the actual brink of the south precipice, being approached
-from both west and east sides by a path built along the top slope of
-the precipice. It is formed by a large boulder 16 ft. high and 17 ft.
-long, and is between this boulder and the top of the precipice, the
-floor being the natural rock of the declivity. It recedes but 3 ft.
-to 6 ft. under the boulder and is 7 ft. wide. It is 5 ft. high on the
-outside and only 1 ft. 6 in. to 2 ft. at its innermost part. It has
-been thoroughly cleaned out, but nothing of any antiquarian value was
-found. The boulder beetles outwards towards the face of the precipice.
-
-Immediately in front of this cave and on the south side and at 4 ft.
-distance a wall averaging 8 ft. in height runs for 37 ft. towards the
-west. The boulder which forms the cave beetles outwards over this wall,
-and judging by the block débris, the wall was once continued up to, and
-connected with, the rock above. This wall at its western extremity has
-a well-built rounded end in a good state of preservation.
-
-On the north side and starting at 10 ft. from the cave and running
-west for 46 ft. is a wall 8 ft. high with a rounded end at its eastern
-extremity. It starts from the face of the boulder forming the cave, and
-is continued until it reaches the interior of the _Western Temple_.
-
-These two walls form a passage averaging a width of 4 ft., though at
-the end of the south wall it narrows to 2 ft. 6 in. In the passage are
-traces of granite cement steps. This passage on entering the _Western
-Temple_ is directly end on with the _Parallel Passage_, which is on the
-inside of the main south wall and is separated from it only by the gap
-in the outer wall, the main wall having at this point fallen down the
-precipice and taken with it the side wall of the passage from the cave.
-It is almost certain that this passage was but the extension of the
-_Parallel Passage_.
-
-On the eastern side of the cave is a built-up space between the boulder
-forming the cave and another boulder further east which beetles
-parallel to the precipice for 13 ft. This wall is 10 ft. high and is 6
-ft. across.
-
-The path to the east passes under this outer and beetling boulder,
-and between the outer side of _South Enclosure A_ and the edge of the
-precipice, but here it is so much dilapidated by wall débris falling
-from above, that the safer approach to the cave is from the _Western
-Temple_.
-
-On the summits of these two large boulders are traces of a substantial
-wall once having been carried across them.
-
-
- SOUTH PASSAGE
-
-This passage is almost opposite the south end of _Buttress Passage_
-and leads from the _East Passage_ to the edge of the south precipice,
-dividing _South Enclosures A and B_. It is 38 ft. long, from 1 ft. 6
-in. to 2 ft. wide, and at each extremity has rounded ends on either
-side. The wall on the east side averages 3 ft. to 7 ft. in height, the
-highest being at the southern end. The wall on the west side averages 7
-ft. to 12 ft. in height.
-
-The existence of this passage was, until July, 1902, unsuspected, as it
-had been filled up and entirely covered over with wall débris, across
-which was the visitors’ path, which crossed the débris at 7 ft. above
-the present exposed floor.
-
-
- SOUTH ENCLOSURE B
-
-This enclosure is on the east side of _South Passage_, and overlooks
-the south precipice. Its area is 37 ft. from east to west, and 31 ft.
-from north to south. The wall on the north side is 16 ft. high, and 4
-ft. 6 in. wide at 5 ft. from the floor, and is the best-built portion
-now remaining. It has three rounded entrances, one from _South Passage_
-and two from _East Passage_. Low walls of poor construction subdivide
-the enclosure into three compartments, but some portions of these walls
-are not believed to be ancient.
-
-
- SOUTH ENCLOSURE C
-
-This is on the north-east side of _South Enclosure B_, but on a level
-of some 6 ft. higher. The area is 41 ft. from east to west, and 19 ft.
-from north to south. The eastern wall curves outwards, and is 9 ft.
-high. The north side is formed by a large boulder, the west side by a
-raised parapet which is the eastern extremity of _East Passage_. There
-is one entrance only, and this is in the south-western corner. Here the
-south wall is very well built. A wall 3 ft. 6 in. high and 9 ft. long
-juts out southwards from the boulder on the north side.
-
-
- CENTRAL PASSAGE
-
-This passage connects _Cleft Rock Enclosure_ and the _Eastern Temple_
-and forms the most direct communication between the western and
-eastern extremities of the _Acropolis_. This passage is practically
-the north-east extension of _Pattern Passage_, the two joining end on
-at the west entrance to the _Eastern Temple_. Cliffs and huge boulders
-form the main portion of its sides.
-
-Its length is 76 ft., and its width varies from 3 ft. to 4 ft. 6 in.
-There is a sharp rise of 6 ft. going west, at about half-way along its
-length.
-
-At the eastern end it lies between two large boulders, the one on the
-north side being 12 ft. long and 10 ft. high. This boulder has fallen
-from the position it occupied at the time of the ancients, and is come
-6 ft. further south, destroying and blocking up the west entrance to
-the _Eastern Temple_. The boulder on the south side is 8 ft. long and
-14 ft. high, and up against it, and projecting into the passage, was
-once a rounded buttress, traces of which now only remain.
-
-At 22 ft. going west is another large boulder, which forms the south
-side of the passage for a further 24 ft. This rock beetles right over
-the passage, and the open space under the boulder has been carefully
-walled up. At 48 ft. the south side is formed for a further 14 ft. by a
-low wall, in which are enclosed two boulders. On this side wall are the
-remains of a path leading from the passage to _South Enclosure C_, but
-a portion of this has crowned in and disappeared.
-
-The north side of the passage from its eastern end is formed by the
-boulder, 12 ft. long, just described, and for a further 35 ft. by a
-step-back wall 8 ft. high, along the summit of which was a path with
-steps leading into the _Eastern Temple_, but now blocked up by large
-scales of granite which have fallen from the face of the cliff above.
-
-The western extremity of this passage is formed by two boulders, one
-on either side, the one on the south side leaning up against the one
-on the north side, thus forming a natural arch 14 ft. long and 10 ft.
-high, the path descending about 4 ft. in passing through the archway,
-and rising sharply again where it emerges on the opposite end of the
-archway into _Cleft Rock Enclosure_, and runs for 27 ft. further west
-into the enclosure, where it ends on the south side in a rounded wall
-5 ft. high. Large rocks form the north side. In the archway and on the
-south side under the boulder is a rock hole 5 ft. broad, 4 ft. deep,
-extending under the base of the boulder for 6 ft.
-
-In the passage are traces of steps, but the passage has been greatly
-damaged by falls of large slabs from the cliffs.
-
-
-
-
- CHAPTER XVII
-
- THE ACROPOLIS RUINS
- (_Continued_)
-
- Eastern Temple—Ancient Balcony—Balcony Enclosure—Balcony
- Cave—Gold Furnace Enclosure—Upper Gold Furnace
- Enclosure—Pattern Passage—Recess Enclosure—North Plateau—North
- Parapet.
-
-
- THE EASTERN TEMPLE
-
-This temple is situated at the most easterly part of Zimbabwe Hill
-Ruins, on the south side of the line of high cliffs and gigantic
-boulders which extend from the east to the west along the summit of the
-hill. The centre of the present surface of the interior of this temple
-is 222 ft. above the valley.
-
-The main wall is built on a wide curve towards the east extending 98
-ft. from the south face of the cliff on the north side round to the
-south side, thus disposing the area in a quarter section of a circle
-with the apex of the section at the north-north-west of the interior.
-
-A cliff rising perpendicularly for 70 ft. from the floor of the temple
-forms the north side of the area, and the west side is formed by
-colossal boulders some 30 ft. to 50 ft. in height. The heights and the
-massiveness of the cliff and boulders lend a peculiar awe-inspiring
-appearance to this temple. These granite rocks, tapestried by Nature
-in all possible colours and shades of lichen, enclose two sides of
-the interior in the form of an amphitheatre, with the highest portion
-of the temple floor at the north end, the present surface gradually
-sloping down in a fall of 12 ft. towards the curved main and outer
-wall to its east and south-eastern points. On the highest part of this
-slope are two well-built retaining walls forming terraces behind them.
-These are described later.
-
-This temple is considerably better built than is the _Western Temple_
-on this hill. The blocks in the walls are more carefully selected and
-fit together more perfectly, are of a better class of granite, and the
-courses are truer, while it would appear from the extent of purely
-artistic detail and finish introduced by the original builders that far
-greater skill was bestowed upon its construction than on that of the
-_Western Temple_.
-
-[Illustration:
-
-Section of EASTERN TEMPLE Acropolis, Zimbabwe.]
-
-Both temples are built strictly upon the lines of the First Period of
-Zimbabwe architecture, all of the features of the Second Period being
-altogether absent. Certainly some of the cement work of the higher
-floors appears to be ancient, but not of the period of the original
-builders, and it is possible that the Second Period ancients occupied
-the buildings, and finding them in such excellent condition, had no
-need to make repairs or extensions to the walls as they did in so many
-scores of First Period ruins throughout the country. The floors of the
-original builders of this temple have been opened out by a trench and
-exposed at a minimum depth of 4 ft. below the latest floor.
-
-Bent and other writers have stated that this temple is orientated to
-the rising of the sun, which can be seen on a level and fairly distant
-horizon. The temple obviously affords a splendid natural means for
-observing the meridian.
-
-On midwinter day (1902), in the Southern Hemisphere, the sun rose
-facing the eastern end of the main wall, and shone on the line of
-_Dentelle Pattern_, and also for an hour afterwards shone on the
-inside of the south-western end of the wall, and also on that of the
-floor. At the end of that time, and until 10.30 a.m., the sun did not
-shine on the temple, but only on the inside face of the summit of the
-south-west end of the curved main wall, the sun being hidden by the
-70-ft. cliff on the north side of the interior. At 11 a.m. it shone
-over the cliff on to the south-western side of the interior. Half an
-hour before midday the sun shone on the inside of the southern wall and
-on the south floor from over the cliff, and also in a single narrow
-bar across the floor of the building through the north entrance to the
-temple, which is formed by a long and narrow passage between the high
-cliffs and some gigantic boulders. The sun shone through this narrow
-opening till about half an hour after midday, when the sun had passed
-the face of this narrow entrance, and only shone on the south-west and
-north-west portions of the interior from over the _Ancient Balcony_,
-which is much lower than the cliff, till a little after one o’clock,
-the sun then ceasing to shine on the interior for the rest of the day.
-At the spot where the line from the point of sunrise at the summer
-solstice cuts the midday beam of light which comes through the cliff
-entrance on the north, is the site of the ancient altar as determined
-by Bent, the site being true south of the north passage. It was at
-this spot that Bent found the pottery and soapstone solar discs, the
-decorated and plain phalli, the soapstone birds, carved beams, and
-decorated bowls resembling Phœnician ware. The writer’s examination
-of this spot was rewarded by “finds” of carved soapstone in great
-quantities.
-
-[Illustration: Plan of EASTERN TEMPLE Acropolis, Zimbabwe ]
-
-So obviously noticeable is the beam of light at midday that as the sun
-quickly passed the end of the long and narrow rock passage the natives
-working for the writer fixed their noon “_Tjiya!_” (“Cease work!”) by
-it, and this they did on their own initiative.
-
-Another feature may be noticed. A small circle of sunlight, about 2 ft.
-diameter, crosses the floor of the temple in a course equal to about a
-fifth part of the radius of a circle from the entrance to the _Balcony
-Enclosure_ across the floor where Bent fixes the site of the ancient
-altar and passes over the eastern wall. This must have been observed by
-the ancients, for it is caused by a small opening between two boulders
-which they have utilised in “forming” the _Ancient Balcony_. At 3 p.m.
-this circle of light in the sunless interior, on the same day, rested
-on the spot at which, according to Bent, the ancient altar stood.
-
-On Midsummer Day, 1903, the whole temple area was flooded with sunlight
-at noontide.
-
-These particulars are given merely as matters of interest to the
-general reader, and scientists are referred to _The Ruined Cities of
-Mashonaland_, by Bent, for his calculations as to the orientation of
-this temple. Bent has given his opinion, based upon survey, that this
-temple was used for observing the summer solstice.
-
-Two points, however, which may bear upon the orientation of this
-building and its use in the observation of sunrise and meridian may be
-noticed.
-
-(_a_) No other temple which has been surveyed by scientists for the
-purpose of ascertaining its orientation, whether at Zimbabwe or
-elsewhere in Rhodesia, was so plentifully adorned with monoliths of
-carved slate or soapstone as was this temple, no less than thirty
-fallen monoliths, and the fractured portions of many others, having
-been found at the bases of the walls both inside and outside, while
-the débris heaps, which have only been very partially searched, must
-yet contain other specimens. No other temple, so far discovered, had
-such a profusion of geometrically carved soapstone beams as were
-unearthed by Bent and by other explorers before him. This would appear
-to still further testify to the importance the ancients attached to the
-decoration of this temple, whether used for observing the seasons of
-the year and astronomical occurrences or not.
-
-(_b_) The position of the _Dentelle Pattern_ in two courses on the
-eastern face of the summit of the main wall is fixed on exactly the
-same plan as is shown in so many other ruins of temple buildings in
-Rhodesia (and the discovery of the ancient emblems of faith have so
-far only been made in buildings so decorated, on identical positions,
-with one of the three oldest patterns, namely, Dentelle, Chevron, or
-Herring-bone), and as this is so unmistakably seen in the case of
-numerous other ruins of similar buildings, the position of the pattern
-in this instance can hardly be a mere coincidence.
-
-The _Dentelle Pattern_, which forms a distinguishing feature at the
-Zimbabwe ruins both on the hill and in the valley, and which is only
-found in First Period buildings, is, in this instance, believed to
-have originally extended some 30 ft. further towards the south-west,
-as a trace of it still remains on the highest remaining portion of
-the 39 ft. length of the main wall. The pattern throughout the 24 ft.
-length of main wall is somewhat damaged at several points, and the rows
-of stones which in all instances elsewhere covered this pattern have
-almost disappeared.
-
-The interior measurements of this temple are as follows: 59 ft. 6 in.
-from north to south, the northern point for measurement being the
-large roughly built step at the south end of the _North Passage_;
-66 ft. from south-east to north-west, the north-west point for
-measurement being the step at the bottom of the stairs leading from
-the temple to _Balcony Enclosure_; and 50 ft. from west-south-west to
-north-north-east.
-
-The main wall is 98 ft. long, measuring along its inside face, and
-starts on the eastern side from the south face of the cliff for 10 ft.
-to the rounded entrance to the _Gold Furnace Enclosure_. This 10 ft.
-length of wall is 8 ft. higher than the interior floor at the cliff
-end, and is 5 ft. high at the entrance. The entrance is 3 ft. wide at
-the present top and 2 ft. on its floor. From the rounded entrance
-the wall runs facing east-south-east for 24 ft. This section of the
-main wall stands 8 ft. above the present level of the interior, but 12
-ft. 6 in. from an ancient floor exposed in a trench sunk some 4 ft. 6
-in. into the present floor. At the south end of this length there is
-a gap in the wall of 22 ft., the wall which remains rising only 6 in.
-above the present surface of the lowest part of the temple. The wall
-starts again at the south end of the gap, and runs for 39 ft. towards
-the south-south-west. The highest portion of this length is 11 ft. 3
-in. above the ancient floor as exposed in the trench cut along the
-interior face of the main wall, the south-western end of the wall being
-only 4 ft. higher than the _Western Entrance_, which has been raised at
-a later period 5 ft. 6 in. above the original floor of the entrance.
-
-[Illustration: EXTERIOR OF MAIN EAST WALL, SHEWING DENTELLE PATTERN,
-EASTERN TEMPLE, ACROPOLIS]
-
-[Illustration: SUNKEN PASSAGE, LOOKING EAST, EASTERN TEMPLE, ACROPOLIS]
-
-The widths of the main wall are as follows:—
-
-The 10 ft. length is 7 ft. wide at the present floor, but was probably
-wider, as its eastern face has fallen out into the _Gold Furnace
-Enclosure_, which is immediately below. The angle between the east
-outside face and the cliff was filled in by a rounded buttress, which
-has also collapsed and fallen into the enclosure below.
-
-The 24 ft. length is 4 ft. 7 in. wide on the present summit. At 12 ft.
-south of the _Eastern Entrance_, an inner or banquette wall runs along
-the inside of the main wall, and stands out 2 ft. at its north end, 7
-ft. at south end, till it narrows into and becomes part of the main
-wall at the _Western Entrance_.
-
-The 22 ft. length is 5 ft. wide at the bottom of the gap, with a
-further width of 3 ft. 6 in., which includes that of the banquette wall.
-
-The 39 ft. length of main wall is 5 ft. wide on the summit, and this
-with the width of the banquette wall, which at this point is 5 ft. 6
-in. wide, makes a total width of 10 ft. 6 in.
-
-The heights of the main wall from the outer bases are as follows:—
-
-The 10 ft. length is 24 ft. above its base, and this, with the 24
-ft. length of main wall, forms the western side of the _Gold Furnace
-Enclosure_.
-
-The 24 ft. length is 25 ft. high, and is divided into two depths, one
-below the other, 11 ft. and 14 ft., the 11 ft. being the wall and the
-14 ft. being a long buttress which starts at 9 ft. from the south side
-of the 22 ft. gap and runs to the cliff. The main wall, however, is
-continued down to the base of the buttress which is built up against
-it. This buttress forms a terraced passage, and was probably the way
-the ancients passed from the _Eastern Temple_ to the _Gold Furnace
-Enclosure_ below by means of a natural bridge formed by a long and
-narrow boulder, the west end of which is built into the buttress, down
-the north side of which is a narrow descent with a few block steps
-still remaining.
-
-The 39 ft. length is 22 ft. higher than the débris at its outer base,
-it is 17 ft. higher than the débris at the centre of the main wall,
-and 11 ft. at the steps which lead up from _Pattern Passage_ to the
-_Western Entrance_ of the _Eastern Temple_.
-
-On the top of the south banquette wall were most probably steps leading
-up to within 2 ft. or 3 ft. of the summit of the wall as if for a
-look-out. A rounded buttress stands out 2 ft. 6 in. from the main wall,
-and between it and the inner edge of the banquette wall are some blocks
-which, though displaced, have fallen in such a way as to provide very
-strong grounds for this conjecture.
-
-The _Eastern Entrance_ has a pair of buttresses on a semi-circular
-platform projecting 7 ft. into the temple area, the faces of the
-buttresses being rounded and flush with the outside edge of this
-platform. The buttress on the north-east side is 3 ft., and judging by
-débris, it was once at least 7 ft. high. The opposite buttress is now
-only 1 ft. 6 in. high. (For measurements of this entrance, see _Main
-Wall_.)
-
-Between the south buttress and the banquette wall which runs southwards
-along the inside of the wall is another raised platform or “blind
-steps,” but very ruined and projecting now only 2 ft. from the main
-wall. Among the loose stones on the top of this small platform, which
-is 6 ft. long, Bent found one of the soapstone birds which has a
-_cystos_, with sections of a carved soapstone beam, all of which are
-now in the museum at Capetown.
-
-At the north side of this entrance is a wall 15 ft. long reaching
-from the entrance to an angular point in the north cliff. This space
-so enclosed was built up inside in the form of steps, or blind steps,
-for they led nowhere, resembling the blind steps in _Nos. 7, 9, and 12
-Enclosures_, and in the _Sacred Enclosure_ (_west_) in the _Elliptical
-Temple_ in the valley. The face of a small buttress protrudes some 18
-in. from the face of this wall at about midway. Possibly this may have
-been the lowest step of the blind steps built up in this corner. In
-1888 this raised platform had on its summit a soapstone bird and beams.
-In 1903 two phalli and sections of four soapstone beams were found
-here, also small gold beads on and near this platform.
-
-The _North Entrance_ is a narrow and deep rock passage 23 ft. long.
-The east side is formed by the north-west end of the north cliff, and
-is 45 ft. higher than the floor of the passage, but it beetles over
-the passage for 6 ft. beyond its north-western side, and so forms,
-with the immense boulders on the north-west side, an almost complete
-archway right over the passage. The passage is from 2 ft. to 7 ft. 10
-in. wide, but with rounded buttresses, the foundations and débris of
-which still remain, and also with a boulder that almost blocks the
-passage; the width of the passage throughout its whole length could not
-have been more than 2 ft. before the buttresses had become dilapidated.
-The passage emerges at its north end on the _North Plateau_ (described
-later).
-
-The _West Entrance_ is formed by the rounded end of the western
-extremity of the main wall and a large boulder between which it passes.
-On its present floor it is only 1 ft. 10 in. wide, the wall side having
-some six courses of blocks exposed. The boulder on the north side has
-moved some 2 ft. into the entrance since the wall was built, and so
-partially closed it up, for originally the floor of the entrance was
-fully 5 ft. lower, and passed into the temple without steps. This was
-discovered to be the case when the upper portion of _Pattern Passage_
-was cleared out (July, 1902), when steps were made over the entrance
-débris to enable visitors to pass from _Pattern Passage_ into the
-temple.
-
-The remains of another raised platform—but this one of granite
-cement—are on the west side of the interior immediately on the
-left-hand side on entering the temple at the west entrance. This
-platform is now ruined owing to its having been trodden on by oxen when
-this temple was used as a cattle kraal. In 1888 three large soapstone
-birds on tall beams stood on this platform, but in 1890 were removed by
-Bent, and are now in the museum at Capetown. The holes in the cement
-made by Bent on digging out the bases of the beams can still be seen.
-
-From 6 ft. north of this last-mentioned platform is some semi-circular
-clay-work rising in three tiers. Possibly these were steps leading up
-to the highest terraced level of the interior, but it may be doubted
-whether they had any claim to antiquity.
-
-_Sunken Passage._—This passage runs from south-west to north-east under
-the present floor of the Eastern Temple for 23 ft., starting from
-inside the banquette wall at 8 ft. east of the west entrance. Its depth
-is 9 ft. below the surface of interior of temple, but its side walls
-are only 7 ft. high. It is 4 ft. wide at the south end and 6 ft. wide
-at the north. At north-east end is a rounded buttress 5 ft. high. No
-approach or steps down into the passage have so far been discovered.
-The passage terminates at the large buttress (already mentioned), the
-summit of which is 4 ft. below the surface, is situated within 3 ft.
-and immediately in front of Bent’s “altar.” The east side wall of the
-passage is better built than the west side.
-
-_Bent’s “altar.”_—This “altar” was stated by Bent to be 10 ft. nearer
-to the rising sun at the solstice than the centre of the arc of the
-curved, massive, and decorated main wall. Surveyors having located
-this spot, examinations were made in 1903, with the result that some
-twenty-five phalli, also some sections of phalli, and of carved
-portions of soapstone beams and bowls, were found within 3 ft. of this
-spot on two sides, and all within a few minutes of each other. This is
-by far the largest “find” of phalli ever made at Zimbabwe. At this spot
-Bent also made his largest “find” of phalli, solar discs, and other
-relics. The large soapstone birds were found 3 ft. or 4 ft. further
-south-west of the “altar.” Messrs. Posselt, who resided and farmed at
-Zimbabwe in 1888 and before the Occupation, wished to remove these
-birds, but the previous Mogabe (Chipfuno) refused his consent.
-
-_Internal walls._—On the north side of the interior of this temple is
-a wall acting as a retaining wall, with filled-in ground behind it
-forming a terrace. This upper terrace is at the highest point of the
-floor of the temple, and is 16 ft. long, 4 ft. high, and 2 ft. 6 in. on
-the summit. Judging by the amount of débris, this terrace had in all
-probability a parapet wall along its summit. The wall runs from N. 25°
-E. to S. 20° W., and starts from the south side of a huge boulder at 16
-ft. north-west of the _North Entrance_.
-
-On the south-west side and at the north-west end of the interior of the
-temple, and corresponding with the first terraced wall just described,
-is another terrace wall 12 ft. long and 3 ft. high, running eastwards
-from the south side of the cliff which forms the north-west side of
-the temple and the south-west side of the passage which runs from the
-_Cleft Rock Enclosure_ to this temple. The two corresponding terraces
-form a junction with an abutment wall projecting south-east for 2 ft. 6
-in. This projection is 2 ft. high and 5 ft. 6 in. wide.
-
-Immediately in front of this projection on the south-east side and
-sloping down for some distance towards the lower part of the temple is
-some cement work, which, though old, does not appear to be ancient, for
-it contains splinters of time-worn monoliths which show signs of having
-once stood upon one of the walls. The purpose of this cement projection
-is not clearly seen, for tree roots have easily passed through such
-rough cement and have torn it out of all shape, besides which it has
-become decomposed and soft.
-
-Between the angle formed by this last-described terraced wall and the
-projection just mentioned is a very rudely cemented floor also much
-decomposed. The few steps leading up from the flooring at this point
-towards the path to the _Cleft Rock Enclosure_ are quite modern, having
-been built by the writer to enable visitors to pass over the débris of
-a large rounded buttress which once stood against the north-west side
-of the nearest boulder. From the top of this débris pile steps of an
-ancient character, and more or less defined, continue up the slope at
-the foot of the south side of the cliff where runs a path towards the
-_Cleft Rock Enclosure_.
-
-A second and lower terrace is 4 ft. long and 4 ft. high, and is carried
-on a red cement foundation 18 in. thick. It terminates abruptly on the
-south-west extremity in a broken end. This wall juts out from the south
-side of the north cliff at 15 ft. east of the _North Entrance_, and
-runs south-west. Immediately behind this wall is a second wall running
-parallel with it, the face of the second or back wall actually touching
-the back of the front wall. This back wall runs south-west for 5 ft.
-beyond the end of the front wall, where it also terminates in a broken
-end. It is 3 ft. high, but in all probability it was once much higher.
-
-The _Balcony Enclosure_, which is at the north-west end of the temple
-and is described later, provided another entrance to this temple, the
-_Balcony Enclosure_ being approached from the west and north sides
-respectively by the passage through the _Balcony Cave_ and the ascent
-from _Rock Holes Path_.
-
-The _Ancient Balcony_ is at the north-west end of the temple, the whole
-interior of which it overlooks, and appears to have acted for this
-temple in the same manner and for the same purposes as _The Platform_
-of the _Western Temple_ and _The Platform_ in the _Elliptical Temple_
-in the valley. This _Ancient Balcony_ is described later.
-
-The interior of this temple has been used by the past and present
-Makalanga as a cattle kraal, and very possibly the cattle have trodden
-any cement work out of shape. It was found to be covered with a thick
-stratum of cattle manure, which again was covered by wall débris, and
-still further by a foot depth of rich vegetable mould thickly matted
-with roots of creepers, shrubs, and trees.
-
-
- THE ANCIENT BALCONY
-
-At the north-west end of the _Eastern Temple_, and at the highest point
-of the interior and immediately behind the higher of the terraced walls
-before described, fourteen steps, eight of granite cement and six of
-blocks, lead for 26 ft. in a north-westerly direction up a passage-way
-formed on the south side by a cliff, and on the north side by two large
-boulders. Each step is 5 in. high and extends back 18 in. The ascending
-passage is 7 ft. wide at its lowest part, and narrows to a creep-hole
-between the cliff and the upper of the two large boulders to just the
-size that will permit of a man passing through by stooping.
-
-Over this passage are two colossal boulders, held up in a horizontal
-position by the cliff, the level top of the southernmost being 26 ft.
-above the bottom of the steps, which are exactly underneath. The steps
-are laid on cement, and probably are of a late period, at any rate
-there is evidence that they have been very considerably repaired.
-
-Immediately facing the top of the steps, and 4 ft. above the
-creep-hole, is a rounded buttress projecting from the side of the
-cliff, and measuring 15 ft. in circumference. The highest part faces
-east, and is still 9 ft. 6 in. in height, while the north-west side is
-considerably dilapidated.
-
-This passage is the approach to the _Ancient Balcony_ and _Balcony
-Enclosure_. Following up the passage, and turning to the right at the
-top, one ascends a bank with traces of steps between the boulder which
-forms the creep-hole, and a wall on the north, and arrives on the
-_Balcony_.
-
-The _Balcony_ is formed by the level and parallel tops of the
-horizontal boulders, and is 39 ft. long, and at its widest part 12 ft.
-10 in. On the south-east side is a parapet wall from 1 to 3 ft. present
-reduced height, and 2 ft. 6 in. wide.
-
-The _Balcony_ is 248 ft. above the valley, and commands a most
-extensive view to the south-east, including the _Elliptical Temple_ in
-the valley, and the _Schlichter Gorge_, which extends into a sea of
-romantically shaped summits of kopjes and blue distances. The _Balcony_
-commands a complete view of the whole of the interior of the _Eastern
-Temple_.
-
-
- BALCONY ENCLOSURE
-
-The length of this enclosure from north to south is 51 ft., and the
-average width from 15 ft. to 20 ft., the whole of the sides being
-formed by cliff and boulders, except on the north side, where a space
-between two large boulders has been built up by the ancients. This wall
-is 9 ft. long and 11 ft. high.
-
-The wall extending from the north-east corner of the _Balcony_, and
-on the north side, except for one short length, is not ancient. Local
-Makalanga state their people of some two or three generations back
-re-erected the wall on the old foundation. This is obviously the fact.
-But an entrance from the _North Plateau_ was once at this point, and
-led down steps on the outside, going west between two large boulders
-zigzag downwards to the _Rock Holes Path_.
-
-
- BALCONY CAVE
-
-At the west end of this enclosure is a steep descent of 36 ft. between
-two boulders into _Balcony Cave_ formed by a cliff, the east face of
-which beetles over the descent. The cave is 19 ft. wide at the bottom
-and is very much filled in with wall débris, silted soil, and large
-scales of granite off the face of the overhanging rock. This cave
-formed an entrance into the _Balcony Enclosure_ from the _Rock Holes
-Path_, which runs along the north-west face of the cliff, only on a
-very much lower level. A wall 18 ft. high starts from the bottom of the
-cave and is built across it on the north side, running west to east.
-This wall is partly rounded on the upper portion. At 7 ft. from the
-ground the lower part of this wall has collapsed and blocked up the
-exit. Another wall 8 ft. long and 6 ft. high and in two rising tiers
-crosses from side to side at a higher level. Two almost perfectly
-shaped monoliths, very much weather-worn, were found among the débris
-in this cave.
-
-
- GOLD FURNACE ENCLOSURE
-
-This enclosure is 12 ft. lower than the _Eastern Temple_, the outer
-face of the eastern main wall for 15 ft. forming its west side. On all
-other sides it is surrounded by cliff and boulders, a continuation of
-the north cliff of the _Eastern Temple_ forming its north side. The
-area is 46 ft. from west to east, and 32 ft. from north to south. At
-the south-west corner is a chasm 14 ft. long, 2 ft. to 5 ft. wide,
-and 11 ft. high running between the front base of the temple wall
-and the west end of the huge boulder, 44 ft. long, which forms the
-southern side of the enclosure. The chasm leads out of the enclosure
-to the south side of the outer wall of the temple. It was once much
-larger, but owing to silting in of soil and débris, and the falling
-of decomposed slabs of granite from its roof, it has become narrowed
-and shallowed. Along the buttress which forms the lower part of the
-east front of the temple wall was a path from the east entrance of
-the temple to the top of the chasm, which was further arched with
-granite slabs making a wider bridge, and this led to the floor of
-this enclosure by means of steps which ran down the north face of the
-boulder on the south-west side of the enclosure.
-
-It was in this enclosure that Bent believed he had discovered ancient
-gold furnaces. At the south-east corner is an open space 9 ft. wide,
-which once had a rounded buttress on either side. Beyond this point the
-ground falls rapidly to the south towards the edge of the precipice.
-Under the cliff are holes hardly deep enough to be termed caves, and
-these have been reduced in size by the silting in of soil.
-
-
- UPPER GOLD FURNACE ENCLOSURE
-
-This is situated at the north-east corner of the _Gold Furnace
-Enclosure_, but on a level of 4 ft. higher. Separating the two
-enclosures is a well-built wall 10 ft. long with a rounded entrance in
-the centre.
-
-The greatest width of this enclosure is 9 ft. at the entrance, and its
-length is 44 ft., but it is very narrow except for about 12 ft. in the
-middle of the length. The south end runs between and under boulders,
-while the north end includes a cave under the continuation of the cliff
-which forms the north sides of the _Eastern Temple_ and the _Gold
-Furnace Enclosure_. This cave has also been reduced in size by the
-filling in of débris and soil.
-
-
- PATTERN PASSAGE
-
-This passage runs for 51 ft. along the outside of the south and
-south-west portion of the curved main wall of the _Eastern Temple_.
-In the south-west portion the passage is 2 ft. wide, and formerly its
-floor throughout this section was level with that of the present floor
-of _Recess Enclosure_, but a large boulder at the west entrance to the
-_Eastern Temple_ having slipped and disturbed the entrance walls,
-steps have recently been erected to enable visitors to climb over the
-débris heap.
-
-[Illustration: EAST ENTRANCE TO PATTERN PASSAGE, ACROPOLIS]
-
-[Illustration: PATTERN PASSAGE, LOOKING EAST, ACROPOLIS]
-
-On the west side of the northern length of the passage the wall is 11
-ft. high, the upper portion receding from the passage at 8 ft. above
-the level of the floor at the foot of the newly-erected steps, and
-in the recess so formed is what appears to be a decorative pattern
-of original form made of rows of blocks, each row at the back of the
-other, and rising backwards in miniature steps or shelves. But these
-rows are not believed to have been intended or used as steps, as the
-lines of blocks on either side round off to come flush with the face
-of the wall and become part of the wall at each end, and are continued
-as ordinary courses in the faces of the wall. The exact correctness
-of these step-like rows and curves of blocks is remarkable. For the
-present, and until the purpose of these steps can be ascertained, this
-feature is called _Step Pattern_. It has been suggested that these
-steps must have formed a post for a guard to protect the _Western
-Entrance_ to the temple.
-
-The wall opposite the approach to _Pattern Passage_ from _Recess
-Enclosure_ is 8 ft. high, and rises to 17 ft., as the floor of the
-southern section of the passage descends somewhat sharply. The southern
-section terminates at the rounded end of the east wall of _Recess
-Enclosure_, which here is rather a fine piece of dry masonry. Formerly
-this section had steps let into the wall on either side, fragments of
-such stones still projecting from the walls, the foundations of which
-have been laid bare, and at one point undermined. This vandalism is not
-the work of archæologists, but of unauthorised prospectors for gold
-relics, who have torn up the whole length of stairs and pavement, not
-only in this passage, but in every other passage on the hill which was
-not protected by being filled in with wall débris.
-
-
- RECESS ENCLOSURE[61]
-
-This is an almost complete enclosure on the south side of the _Eastern
-Temple_, and separated from it by a deep and narrow passage, now known
-as _Pattern Passage_. Formerly a passage-way ran along the west side of
-the enclosure from north to south. The area of this enclosure is—south
-side, 17 ft. 6 in., north side 18 ft., west side 25 ft., and east side
-20 ft. The surface shows signs of the enclosure having been filled in
-above its original floor by some later occupiers. The south wall has
-collapsed except for about 4 ft. at its west end, and this section is 8
-ft. high, but the foundations of the rest of this wall are practically
-intact. The north wall is considerably broken, its highest point being
-now only 5 ft. above the present floor. The west wall, which is intact,
-is formed by the outer wall of a building erected at a much higher
-level, called _South Enclosure C_. This wall is 22 ft. high, and is in
-two parts—the upper part being rounded outwards at the extremities, and
-the centre rounded inwards. This wall is exceedingly well built, and
-is one of the finest pieces of masonry to be seen on the _Acropolis_,
-and shows very great architectural skill on the part of the ancient
-builders.
-
-The south wall is now only 8 ft. to 9 ft., and on the inside face
-has a row of five vertical recesses built in the wall and flush with
-its face. These are altogether unlike anything yet discovered in any
-ancient ruins,[62] except, perhaps, at _No. 1 Ruin_ at _Khami_. The
-widths of the faces of the wall between the recesses from north to
-south are 2 ft. 4 in., 1 ft. 9 in., 1 ft. 10 in., 1 ft. 7 in., and 1
-ft. 8 in., and these are separated from each other by perpendicular
-crevices, each 5 in. wide. Most probably the recesses were once
-considerably higher. What practical purpose they could have served is
-at present impossible to state, but it has always been held that they
-probably once contained wooden beams.
-
-[Illustration: WEST WALL, RECESS ENCLOSURE, ACROPOLIS]
-
-[Illustration: THE RECESSES, RECESS ENCLOSURE, ACROPOLIS]
-
-The north-west entrance has rounded walls, and from the east side
-of this entrance are the remains of a passage wall running south.
-This wall is 6 ft. long, 2 ft. 6 in. high, and 2 ft. 6 in. wide; the
-foundations of this wall run almost as far as the south wall of the
-enclosure.
-
-All the walls of this enclosure are well built.
-
-In the north-east corner is an excavated hole, showing a wall running
-parallel to the east wall at a depth lower than the present floor of
-the enclosure. The north end of the east wall is beautifully rounded
-and tapers from its base to present summit, its face forming the south
-side of the east end of _Pattern Passage_.
-
-
- NORTH PLATEAU
-
-This plateau is situated to the north of the _Eastern Temple_ and at
-the north of the cliffs, which form its north-east and north sides.
-Its shape is that of a quarter of a circle—the east side being formed
-by cliffs running towards the north-east, and the south side by huge
-boulders running out towards the north-west, the apex being at the
-north end of the _North Passage_ of the _Eastern Temple_. The area from
-north to south is 67 ft., and from east to west 53 ft., the outer and
-open side being supported by a terrace wall extending along the front
-for 43 ft. This terraced wall is well built for this length. It has
-a drop from the outer surface edge of this plateau of 11 ft. Traces
-of a continuation of this wall across the gorge on the north side on
-to the opposite shoulder of the kopje can be seen; but the Makalanga
-state that the superstructure built upon these traces was made by their
-people long ago, and, indeed, this is very obvious. A Makalanga-built
-wall juts out from the north-east side a few feet towards the
-_Visitors’ Path_ to this plateau. The plateau is covered with the clay
-foundations of the circular huts of the Makalanga, who up to four years
-ago had their kraal on the northern summit of the hill.
-
-
- NORTH PARAPET
-
-This structure is at the outer and northern base of the large curved
-main wall of the _Western Temple_, on which are the small towers and
-monoliths, where it curves towards the north-east and runs parallel
-with it for 44 ft. In this parapet is a rising passage with steps
-leading from the _North-West Ancient Ascent_ up to the main wall, where
-it once passed through it and curved into _Platform Enclosure_ where it
-can still be walked along. The point where this passage went through
-the main wall has been blocked up by the Makalanga, and the wall is
-so very dilapidated that it would be altogether unsafe to clear the
-entrance of the obstructing blocks.
-
-The parapet was evidently once more extended towards the east, but the
-fall of débris from the broken end of the main wall has carried the
-parapet below away.
-
-The western extremity of this parapet is formed by a wall 11 ft. long
-projecting at right angles from the foot of the main wall. This wall
-is 8 ft. high and is 4 ft. wide on its present reduced summit. From
-opposite the north end of this wall commences the west side wall of the
-ancient ascent described later.
-
-Immediately on the east side of the wall forming the western extremity
-of the parapet there are steps rising 3 ft. 6 in. facing north and
-leading up to the sunken passage on the parapet, and above these steps
-the passage turns east at right angles along the centre of the parapet.
-
-The width of the parapet is 11 ft., and this width is divided as
-follows: width of passage 3 ft., of outer parapet wall 4 ft., and of
-inner wall 3 ft. 6 in. The passage rises 8 ft. between where it enters
-the _North Parapet_ and where it rounds off towards the south-east
-through the main wall. The outer and inner walls are 3 ft. to 4 ft.
-above the passage floor, but the outer wall was probably once very much
-higher. There are traces of steps in the passage.
-
-The height of the north face of the _North Parapet_ from above the
-filled-in floor on the outside is from 9 ft. to 11 ft. This floor
-contains the remains of a rather old Makalanga hut.
-
-A parapet wall of a similar character runs from the western end of
-_North Parapet_ along the outer base of the main wall, and this is
-described later under the title of _Western Parapet_.
-
-
-
-
- CHAPTER XVIII
-
- THE ACROPOLIS RUINS
- (_Continued_)
-
- North-West Ancient Ascent—Water Gate Ruins—Terraced Enclosures
- on North-West Face of Zimbabwe Hill—South Terrace—Ruins on
- South Face of Zimbabwe Hill—Outspan Ruins.
-
-
- NORTH-WEST ANCIENT ASCENT
-
-Unfortunately in describing this ascent it is necessary to commence at
-the summit and work downwards instead of upwards. The amount of débris
-which covered its lower lengths precluded the tracing of the ascent
-from below, and further it is only the higher lengths which have been
-cleared out, though now the lower parts can be easily followed.
-
-The ascent begins at the _Water Gate_ at the north-west base of the
-hill, and terminates at _The Platform_ which overlooks the _Eastern
-Temple_ on the Acropolis. Its total length is a little more than 500 ft.
-
-Walking across the north-west face of the hill it would have been
-impossible to discover this ascent owing to the confusing number of
-lines of foundations and outcrops of walls running in all directions
-over the side of the hill, and the intermediate ground being so much
-covered with blocks. The idea that this ascent existed along its
-present lines was suggested by viewing the face of the hill from
-Mogabe’s kraal, which is on the opposite side of the north-west valley.
-From this point the step-like form of the side of the hill can be seen
-as a whole, and it appears obvious that artificial means had been
-employed in making the lines of projection on the side of the hill.
-These were subsequently examined, with the result that sections of a
-passage-way downwards were found in one chain extending from the summit
-to the base of the hill, though there were some long gaps between the
-sections, while the sections themselves were filled in up to where the
-side walls out-cropped for a few inches.
-
-The sections of this ancient ascent, commencing at the summit, are as
-follows:—
-
-(_a_) Passage through _Platform Enclosure_ 72 ft. long (see _Platform
-Enclosure_).
-
-(_b_) Passage through main wall 16 ft. long (do.).
-
-(_c_) Passage along _Northern Parapet_ 28 ft. long (see _Northern
-Parapet_).
-
-(_d_) Section of ascent between _Northern Parapet_ and the old
-visitors’ path which the ascent crosses 233 ft. long.
-
-(_e_) Section between Visitors’ Path and the _Water Gate_, which is at
-the lowest point of the ascent, over 600 ft. long.
-
-(_f_) _Water Gate_ (see _Water Gate_).
-
-The first three sections have already been described.
-
-_Section (d)._—This extends from the _Northern Parapet_ to the old
-visitors’ path. The passage on leaving the parapet turns north-west
-for 41 ft. The walls on either side are from 3 ft. to 5 ft. high, but
-these heights are increased on either side by a further 2 ft. or 3 ft.,
-owing to the depth of soil and block débris lying along the summits of
-the side walls, the passage for this length being found buried for this
-depth below the surface of the face of the hill. This length of passage
-is 2 ft. to 3 ft. in width. At 31 ft. from the upper end of this length
-and on the east side is a rounded entrance leading into an enclosure
-which is completely buried under débris and silted soil.
-
-At the bottom end of this length of 41 ft. the passage turns due east
-for 32 ft., the corner wall being rounded. At this corner a passage
-from the west side enters the ascent, but this passage is at present
-buried in débris. The width of the ascent here averages 4 ft. to 5 ft.
-6 in., but it is narrowed at one point to 2 ft. 6 in. by a rounded
-buttress projecting from the north side into the ascent. The heights
-of the walls for this length are: south side 6 ft. to 8 ft., with
-several feet depth of débris on its summit; north side 4 ft. to 8 ft.
-The ascent in this length has a fall of 6 ft. At the bottom of this
-length on the south side, and fronting up the ascent, is a rounded
-buttress in form of a quarter section of a circle, and this is 11 ft.
-round its base. It has a further buttress on its west side and traces
-of another on its east side, and between these two buttresses are the
-remains of steps, but a tree growing out of the steps has caused their
-dilapidation.
-
-From this buttress the passage turns due north for 75 ft.; its eastern
-side from 28 ft. to 56 ft. of this length had fallen into the passage,
-but the rest of that side of the passage is still practically intact.
-Along this length the passage is deeply sunk into the face of the hill.
-The widths average from 2 ft. 10 in. to 6 ft. The side walls are of
-the following heights above the passage floor: east side, 7 ft. to
-10 ft.; west side, 5 ft. to 10 ft. On either side of this length are
-enclosures which are completely filled in with débris and buried, but
-the entrances to these can be seen. This length of passage was found
-(October, 1902) to be completely buried, even for some feet above the
-10 ft. side walls, and the floors of Makalanga huts were built across
-them and the passage.
-
-At the 63 ft. point in this length are two entrances, one on either
-side of the passage. The one on the east side is rounded and is 6 ft.
-high, and steps are formed by the curving inwards of the courses of the
-wall. This leads into an enclosure until recently filled in and buried,
-and this enclosure is mentioned in the description of the _North-West
-Face of Zimbabwe Hill_, where it is described as being typical of so
-many other enclosures on this side of the hill. On the opposite side of
-the passage the entrance there is angular on one side and rounded on
-the other. Its side walls are 6 ft. high. This entrance is blocked up
-in the same manner as was the ascent. This leads into another buried
-enclosure, a portion of which has been cleared out and examined. The
-passage along the 75 ft. length has a fall of 11 ft.
-
-[Illustration: SUNKEN PASSAGE, SECTION OF NORTH-WEST ASCENT, ACROPOLIS]
-
-[Illustration: HERRING-BONE PATTERN, WATER GATE RUINS, ZIMBABWE]
-
-At the bottom end of this length and going north is an enclosed area
-triangular in shape 47 ft. long, and with the apex resting in the lower
-end, where the passage becomes narrowed to 2 ft. 6 in. This area and
-the corresponding area of similar shape in the _South-East Ancient
-Ascent_ appear to have been intended to serve a similar purpose—that
-is, to enable a crowd of defenders on a high level to act against two
-or three bands of the attacking party on a lower level and in a narrow
-passage. Into this area open out at least three entrances from buried
-enclosures on either side. The area has in its length a fall of 9 ft.
-
-At the foot of this triangular-shaped area the passage runs north for
-38 ft. It is 2 ft. to 4 ft. wide, and the side walls are 4 ft. high.
-The fall in this length is 5 ft. At the northern end of this length and
-crossing it at right angles is the old path used by visitors in making
-the ascent of the hill.
-
-_Section (e)._—This extends from the old path used by visitors
-ascending the hill, down to the _Water Gate_.
-
-From the Visitors’ Path the descent to the _Water Gate_ is somewhat
-uninteresting, the passage walls being very much dilapidated, the
-upper side wall being particularly damaged, having been subject to the
-full force of falls of block débris down the face of the hill. In this
-way the lower side walls, having been so protected, are in a somewhat
-better condition.
-
-Starting down from the path there appears to be a chaos of stones
-for some 15 ft., but still the passage can be traced. As there are
-several lines of well-laid blocks close to the crossing of the path
-and passage, it is quite probable that side passages ran into the main
-passage at this point. At the 15 ft. down a very wide wall 4 ft. to 5
-ft. high runs down the north side of the passage for 140 ft.
-
-The south side shows an unburied wall 30 ft. long and about 3 ft.
-high. At 80 ft. from the Visitors’ Path the passage opens out into
-a triangular space 25 ft. wide, with the apex resting at the lowest
-point of the steep enclosure. Such triangular spaces on the lines of
-steep passages are not uncommon, being found at several ruins. There is
-one higher up the same ascent, and another on the South-East Ancient
-Ascent. In each case the descent is steep, and the lowest point of the
-triangular area rests on a narrow passage coming up from below.
-
-At 140 ft. below the Visitors’ Path the north wall alone is standing,
-and this runs downwards for 50 ft. This wall is 4 ft. high and is
-rather wide. The south wall is now represented only by a line of wall
-débris running parallel with the north wall.
-
-At 190 ft. the passage becomes lost, but exactly parallel and at a
-distance of 20 ft. south is the commencement of another passage.
-Probably the upper length takes a sharp turn west under a pile of
-débris which lies between the two passages. This second passage has a
-buried wall 3 ft. high on the south side. On the north side the wall
-is 150 ft. long, and on this length the south wall has practically
-disappeared.
-
-At the down side of this length the passage becomes far better defined,
-having side walls from 3 ft. to 5 ft. high, and 3 ft. wide on their
-summits. The passage here takes a sharp turn towards the north for 50
-ft., then to the south-west for 25 ft., and again to the north for
-almost 100 ft., the side walls being intact for this length, the east
-wall being from 4 ft. to 7 ft. high, and the passage 2 ft. 6 in. wide.
-This is the best-preserved portion of the lower half of the _Ascent_.
-The west side walls are from 3 ft. to 4 ft. high. Between these walls
-are traces of steps, also a few buttresses, all rounded.
-
-At the end of this length the passage is continued between walls 4
-ft. high to its extremity, before reaching which it takes some sharp
-W-shaped turns and terminates in very well-built walls.
-
-The _Water Gate_ faces this point at 100 ft. distance, only at a lower
-level of some 30 ft. to 40 ft. The side of the hill is here very
-steep, and is faced in parts with granite glacis, between which the
-path descended to the _Water Gate_. Converging on the extremity of the
-passage are traces of other passages from each side, which give the
-impression that the _North-West Ascent_ was the main approach to the
-summit of the _Acropolis_ from this side of the hill.
-
-
- THE WATER GATE RUINS
-
-This is situated at the lowest extremity of the North-West Ancient
-Ascent to the Acropolis, and forms its approach and entrance from the
-valley on the west and north sides of Zimbabwe Hill. It has been styled
-the Water Gate on account of there being immediately in front of it a
-large donga (water-hole), one of the chain of dongas which run round
-the hill from the south-west to the north-east, and are believed to be
-artificial, but have become reduced from the original area and depth
-by the silting in from the side of the hill during a very long period
-of sub-tropical rains. Sections of walls have been discovered at great
-depth in these dongas.
-
-This entrance forms part of a long line of wall which runs round the
-base of the hill for some two or three hundred yards, and is called
-the Inner Defence Wall, in which on the south-west side of the hill is
-another large entrance, known as the Outspan Ruins. This line of wall
-is in some places very well defined, being from 2 ft. to 4 ft. above
-the level of the veld, but some lengths of it are mere lines of stone
-débris or ridges of mounds full of blocks; but seen from some heights
-up the face of the opposite hill it can be traced throughout its length.
-
-The gateway is exceedingly well constructed, and the curves of the ends
-of the walls which form its sides are very bold and massive. Though
-it is distant over 900 ft. from the main ruins on the summit of the
-hill, it must be admitted to be a very good example of entrances of the
-earliest ancient period. But the construction of the wall on either
-side of this entrance, and at some little distance from it, becomes
-only fairly good, and at a still greater distance roughly built, and
-yet the entrance and the line of wall are of the same original plan.
-This grading off of the quality of construction on either side of the
-entrance and at some little distance from it is also seen in many
-other entrances which are not in proximity to the main ruins. The line
-of the Inner Defence Wall in which this entrance is inserted curves
-outwards towards the west-north-west from about 30 ft. on either side
-of it. The entrance is thus in the centre of the curve, and faces
-west-north-west. It is 2 ft. 10 in. wide, and 7 ft. from outside to
-inside. The side wall on the south is 7 ft. 6 in. high above the steps,
-and on the north 5 ft. 6 in., though on either side the present reduced
-summit of the wall is from 2 ft. to 4 ft. higher at a few feet from the
-entrance. Like all main entrances, save one, at Zimbabwe, it is without
-portcullis grooves, these having been found in rounded entrances in
-internal and divisional walls. The wall on the south side is 8 ft. wide
-on the floor of the entrance, and 7 ft. 6 in. on the north side. There
-are remains of three steps on the entrance which commence flush with
-the front faces of the two side walls. These are greatly dilapidated,
-but it can be seen that they form part of the foundations of the wall.
-One stone of what is left in the front row is considerably worn on the
-top, as if it had been trodden on for many generations.
-
-As in very many entrances of the earliest style of ancient
-architecture—for instance, the main entrance to the Elliptical
-Temple—the walls on either side widen out as they approach the
-entrance. In this instance the walls widen out from 4 ft. and 5 ft. to
-8 ft. as the entrance is neared. There are also traces of buttresses
-on either hand on the inner sides of the entrance, also of a few steps
-ascending into the interior of the enclosed area.
-
-The front face of the wall on the north side is 5 ft. above the veld,
-but the summit increases in height towards the interior face of the
-wall, as most of the dilapidations have taken place on the outer side
-of the wall. The front face of the south wall is 7 ft. in height, and
-the summit of this wall ascends much higher towards its inner face.
-At 12 ft. from the entrance, along the face of the south wall, it is
-clearly seen where the excellent workmanship of the entrance grades off
-to an inferior construction in the continuation of the wall southwards.
-The line of wall on the south side is more or less intact for 48 ft.,
-at which point it becomes lost in débris and silted soil, though its
-line of route can of course be traced much further. The wall on the
-north side extends for 90 ft., but from this point northward it is very
-easy to follow the course of its débris.
-
-The interior faces of the wall, for about 30 ft. on either side of the
-entrance, are still in a good condition, and are from 4 ft. to 7 ft.
-above the inside cleared-out level.
-
-On the inner face of the south wall, at 5 ft. above the present level
-of the enclosed area, is a herring-bone pattern which directly faces
-east-south-east. The pattern remaining is 3 ft. 6 in. long, and 1 ft.
-2 in. deep, and is formed of tile-like blocks, varying from 10 in.
-to 1 ft. 3 in. in length. Judging by the positions of the stones, it
-is highly probable that this pattern extends at least 2 ft. further
-towards the entrance. The usual frame for this pattern, and also for
-Dentelle and Chevron Patterns, is still good for three courses at its
-south end. The size of the stones employed in this pattern is above
-the average size used for the same pattern in other ruins, and is
-somewhat larger than those in the pattern at Little Umnukwana Ruins, in
-the M’Pateni district, where the average length of the stones is 10 in.
-So far this is the only herring-bone pattern discovered at Zimbabwe. It
-was first noticed by Mr. J. W. Clarke, of Victoria, in September, 1902.
-
-From immediately behind this entrance the north-west face of the hills
-rises very sharply, so much so that the rains of many years have silted
-soil to a great depth behind the walls. Rain-water would naturally be
-guided by the contour of this part of the hill towards this entrance,
-so that the area behind it has become filled up to a very much higher
-level than in the time of the original occupiers. Some two dozen cubic
-feet of this silted soil was cleared out of the entrance in October,
-1902, and while the work was progressing a heavy storm, lasting only an
-hour, broke over Zimbabwe. On visiting the entrance later in the day it
-was found that this one shower had caused the almost entire filling up
-of the excavation by mud streams, which had washed down the side of the
-hill.
-
-Immediately in front of the outer faces of this entrance and running
-parallel with this length of the Inner Defence Wall, and at a distance
-of 90 ft. from it, are the remains of a line of wall almost hidden in
-débris. This wall can be traced for a distance of at least 130 ft.,
-and there appears to have been a passage or entrance through it at a
-point almost due north of the Water Gate. Further to the north and
-north-west of this wall is a donga, and on the north-north-west of this
-donga runs the outer defence wall, which is at least 600 yds. long, and
-encloses the line of dongas from west of the Elliptical Temple with the
-north-east of the base of Zimbabwe Hill. In this Outer Defence Wall
-is an opening, and in all probability, judging by the arrangement of
-the wall débris and the contour of the ground, a gateway or entrance
-was once situated at this point. This opening in the Outer Defence
-Wall, the traces of an entrance in the ruined wall in front of the
-Water Gate, and the Water Gate entrance are all in one line, and the
-line is further made complete by the remains of two small walls in
-the donga itself, which equally divide its width, as if these walls
-either carried or supported a bridge; or at any rate afforded the means
-for crossing the donga. In fact, the size of these dongas and their
-relative positions appear to indicate that on this side of the hill the
-Acropolis was further defended by water. These two small walls show
-signs of having had rounded entrances in their centres.
-
-Taking into consideration the line of the three entrances, the fact
-that the ancient ascent through the Water Gate leads into the heart
-of the main ruins of the Acropolis, and further that the contour of
-the ground beyond the Outer Defence Wall indicates the direction in
-which a road from Zimbabwe to the north and north-west must take, it
-is reasonable to conjecture that the ancient road from Zimbabwe in
-that direction passed on the north side of the Makuma Kopje, on which
-Mogabe’s kraal is now located.
-
-
- TERRACED ENCLOSURES ON NORTH-WEST FACE OF ZIMBABWE HILL
-
-About forty or fifty ledges protrude in step form up the north-west
-face of Zimbabwe Hill from the valley below up to the front of the west
-main wall of the _Western Temple_, and these projections are not only
-upwards in terrace form, but broadways, extending across the entire
-length of the north-west face of the hill.
-
-The best view of these ledges is obtained from _Makuma Kopje_, on which
-is Mogabe’s kraal. From this point it is seen that these projections
-must have been artificially made. So great has been the fall of
-wall débris, and the washing of soil for many centuries by heavy
-sub-tropical rains down the hillside, that even the outer faces, or
-retaining walls, of many of these projecting ledges or platforms are
-completely buried, and their outline can but barely be traced owing to
-the absence of any outcrop of walls. In fact, the whole of this face of
-the hill for over 300 yds. upwards, and the same distance broadways, is
-but a chaos of fallen blocks, and the visitor, while walking over this
-area, sees infinitely less of their arrangement and plan than can be
-seen at a distance of a third of a mile from the opposite kopje.
-
-These terraces are not disposed in lines across the hill as are the
-_Hill Terraces_ of _Inyanga_, but each is independent of the other.
-Nor do they in any point resemble the terrace system of the retaining
-walls so often met with in ruins of the Second Period of Zimbabwe
-architecture.
-
-Several of these projecting areas on the steep face of the hill have
-recently been cleared of the débris which has in so many instances
-completely covered them, and rendered their form but a mere suggestion
-of an outline. The outer faces of some of the terrace walls have been
-laid bare, and their construction is seen to be of true Zimbabwe
-building of the First Period, all features of the Second Period, so far
-as examinations have extended, being altogether absent.
-
-The walls are not built on straight lines but on curves, some of the
-curves being laid on bold lines, in some instances amounting to a
-semi-circle. The angular wall is absent. The construction of most of
-the walls is superior to that of Second Period walls. There is no
-promiscuous filling-up of the interiors of the walls. The walls are as
-well built on the inside as they are on their outside faces, and they
-possess the true Zimbabwe batter-back, and such entrances as have been
-discovered are excellently rounded.
-
-The spaces between the outside edge of the summits of these walls in
-front and the rising surface of the hill behind them have been levelled
-by falling débris, but there is no lack of evidence to show that, where
-not wholly filled in naturally in the course of time, the work of
-their complete filling-in has been systematically carried out by people
-who were not the original builders. On clearing the irregular surfaces
-of these ledges of débris it was found that the areas were rudely
-covered with red clay or _daka_, and on this flooring were the clay
-foundations of Makalanga huts, with piles of buck bones and quantities
-of charcoal and bits of iron slag. Mogabe’s headmen state that these
-hut foundations are not those of Makalanga of their time, as Mogabe’s
-kraal, and that of Mokomo before him, though on the north side of the
-hill, were situated much higher up the hill and much nearer to, or even
-among, the main ruins. Nor do they belong to Makalanga of sixty years
-ago, for Mogabe’s people say that when Chipfuno arrived as a boy some
-seventy years ago this portion of the hill was then in the same state
-as is seen to-day. Judging by the weathered blocks piled and strewn
-upon these areas, it is very possible that these rough clay floors and
-hut foundations are at least seventy years old, if not considerably
-older. Portions of iron assegais and Makalanga hoes found on these
-floors are so eaten by rust that they have become thin, and are almost
-as brittle as glass.
-
-But the most interesting feature of these terraced areas lies in the
-fact, obvious to anyone who inspects the areas cleared out in July
-and August, 1902, that these areas were not originally terraces but
-ordinary enclosures, with floors from 4 ft. to 10 ft. lower than the
-present reduced summits of the outer walls. Some people of times
-later than those of the original builders had deliberately taken the
-blocks from the outer or down-side walls of the enclosures and thrown
-them inside till the interiors were filled up level with the reduced
-height of the walls, and over such filling-in had spread a clay floor,
-and so made these enclosures into terraced platforms and dry vantage
-ground on which to build their huts, lay their corn-drying, threshing,
-and winnowing floors, and also their small _daka_ granaries, which,
-occupying these well-drained and soilless positions, would be free from
-the ravages of white ants.
-
-By clearing the outer faces of these walls from block débris, which
-has fallen or rolled down from higher positions on the hill—and these
-falls have in some instances utterly ruined the walls beneath—and
-following the curve of wall round to its opposite side on the face of
-the hill, the rounded entrances into some of these enclosures have been
-unburied, the floor of such entrances being on an average 5 ft. to 9
-ft. below the débris. These entrances, so far as discoveries have been
-made, are all at the rear of the enclosure and close to the face of the
-hill. These entrances are narrow, 1 ft. 10 in. and 2 ft. 2 in. being a
-fair average width, and once the line of floor which is level with the
-floor of the entrances is cleared, it is seen that there are no steps
-inside the enclosures, though outside the entrances there are in a
-few instances steps leading up to the entrances only, but never steps
-leading upwards from inside the entrances. The floor of the entrance,
-in each case, is the level of the floor of the enclosure. Inside is
-seen a mass of dry blocks without soil, and many of these blocks show a
-face that was once exposed to the weather and become time-eaten if not
-greatly decomposed, which shows that they once formed part of the face
-of an ancient wall.
-
-In removing this block débris from these enclosures no pick or spade
-was necessary. The blocks were picked up and handed outside, and when
-the enclosures had been emptied there was not 12 in. depth of soil, and
-what was there was mainly fine granite chippings caused by the throwing
-in of the blocks, and of decomposed _daka_, which had formed the floor,
-and which, being of poor quality, constant rainfalls had practically
-rotted into sand. It was on these cleared-out floors that portions
-of large carved soapstone bowls were discovered in July and August,
-1902. The “finds” on the bottom and original floors bore undoubted
-evidences of antiquity, and were totally different in character from
-the unmistakable Makalanga objects found on the _daka_ floor some feet
-above.
-
-As before stated, these terraces of enclosures are in some points
-independent of each other—that is, they extend across the face of the
-hill most irregularly. The second enclosure may be 20 ft. or 30 ft. in
-front of the level of its neighbour on either hand, the third 20 ft.
-or 30 ft. to the rear of the level of the first enclosure, and so on.
-But the enclosures are built very nearly one behind the other up the
-face of the hill, the front wall of one being the back wall of the next
-below. Between these ascending lines of enclosures are narrow sunken
-passages, the existence of which, until August, 1902, was altogether
-unsuspected, as such passages showed no outcrop of their side walls.
-Two of these passages are now known to be at least 350 ft. long, and
-one of them has been cleared out for this length. They were exceedingly
-narrow, so that at many points only one person could pass at a time.
-The widths average 2 ft., and their floors are from 3 ft. to 12 ft.
-below the present débris-strewn surface of the slope of the hill. Into
-these passages the entrances to enclosures on either side open.
-
-Evidently the same people who filled in the enclosures and converted
-them into platforms likewise deliberately filled in the passages for
-the foundations of old Makalanga huts, and granaries were laid across
-the filled-in passages. The “finds” on the floors of these passages and
-those found on their “filled-in” tops showed as great differences in
-every respect as were presented by the objects found on the original
-floors of the enclosures and those on the later clay floors above them.
-
-
- SOUTH TERRACE
-
-This is a natural ledge of ground artificially improved, running east
-at the foot of the south precipice for 200 yards from the foot of the
-_Rock Passage_, and extending beyond the point where the most easterly
-ruins of the Acropolis are built along the summit cliff. This terrace
-is supported on its south side by several retaining walls.
-
-Almost all the enclosure walls along this terrace have been demolished
-by the falls of great masses of walls from the ruins on the summit of
-the cliff. Barely the foundations of such enclosure walls now remain,
-the only exception being the enclosure adjoining the bottom end of the
-_Rock Passage_.
-
-
- THE “OUTSPAN RUINS”
-
-These ruins, which lie 75 yds. to the north of Havilah Camp, are on the
-outspan in the valley which runs along the south side of Zimbabwe Hill,
-and also on the path leading from the camp to the South-East Ancient
-Ascent. This block of ruins was entirely cleared out of wall débris and
-silted soil in September, 1902, and now visitors may walk upon what was
-practically the ancient floor. The cement which once formed the floor
-has become decomposed to granite sand, and owing to the enclosures of
-the ruin having been buried some 3 ft. to 5 ft. under the veld, the
-enclosures held all the water which in rainy seasons would pour down
-the side of the hill immediately behind.
-
-These ruins form part of the line of Hill Inner Defence Wall, which
-encloses the whole of Zimbabwe Hill on its west, south, and east sides
-and runs along the foot of the lower slopes of the hill. The most
-complete view of this continuous line of wall is obtained from the
-summit of the hill. This line of defence wall is again enclosed on the
-west side by the Outer Defence Wall, which runs from the north side of
-the hill almost as far as the Elliptical Temple, and between these two
-walls are the three large dongas on the west side of the hill.
-
-The “Outspan Ruins” form the most perfect section of the Hill Inner
-Defence Wall, not excepting the fine entrances to the North-West
-Ancient Ascent with its herring-bone pattern, which is also another
-section of the same line of inner defence wall, only on the north-west
-side of the hill. They also must have served as an important entrance
-through the south-west portion of the Hill Inner Defence Wall. The
-entrance is complicated and rendered very difficult of attack by a
-number of rounded buttresses, in addition to which there are small
-enclosures most substantially built, which, most probably, were
-guard-rooms.
-
-[Illustration: Sketch Plan OUTSPAN RUINS Zimbabwe]
-
-There is nothing angular in the plan and construction of these ruins.
-They very patently resemble other outlying buildings which obviously
-formed part of the original plan of the main Hill Ruins. The courses
-in the wall are not very regular, and stones of all shapes and sizes
-have been introduced. There is no decorative pattern in this section
-of the Hill Inner Defence Wall, but there is one peculiarity in its
-architecture, and in that of a conical tower which is described later.
-
-These ruins occupy an area of 113 ft. from south-east to north-west,
-and 70 ft. from north-east to south-west.
-
-The main wall faces south. The 113 ft. length only includes the line of
-main wall which still stands some 5 ft. to 11 ft. in height, the wall
-at either end of this length can be traced extending for 500 yds. to
-the east and 350 yds. to the west and north.
-
-The entrance which has rounded walls on either side is 4 ft. wide, and
-passes diagonally south-west through the main wall, thus giving it a
-length of 8 ft. On its eastern side the wall is 7 ft. high, and 5 ft.
-on the western side.
-
-The ruins on the north side of main wall form a central enclosure to
-the north of the entrance with an enclosure on either side of it, also
-a passage on the south and west sides of the central enclosure.
-
-The central enclosure is formed by a wall 22 ft. long, 4 ft. high, and
-5 ft. to 7 ft. wide on the present reduced summit, which runs north at
-right angles from the inside of the main wall at 4 ft. east from the
-east side of the entrance. The wall, which at its northern extremity
-is rounded, forms the divisional wall between the central and eastern
-enclosures. The west side of the central enclosure is formed by a wall,
-rounded at each end, which starts at 4 ft. from opposite the inside of
-the entrance, and goes west for 13 ft. and north-east for 19 ft. This
-wall averages 3 ft. to 8 ft. in height, and is from 4 ft. to 5 ft. 6
-in. wide at base, and 3 ft. 6 in. on the highest summit. Where the east
-wall of this enclosure comes opposite the end of the north-east wall is
-an entrance 3 ft. 6 in. wide. The area of this enclosure is 14 ft. from
-west to east and 19 ft. from north to south. It is possible that in the
-centre of this enclosure once stood a round buttress or tower, and the
-position of a few blocks in the floor makes this something more than a
-mere conjecture.
-
-On passing through the main entrance from the south, one enters a
-passage which runs parallel with the north side of the main wall
-for 17 ft. towards the west, and then curves sharply towards the
-east-north-east for 19 ft. At its two extremities the passage is from
-3 ft. to 3 ft. 6 in. wide, but at the curve at the end of the first
-length of 17 ft. it is 6 ft. wide. The western wall of this passage is
-19 ft. long, 5 ft. wide at base, and 3 ft. 6 in. on the highest portion
-of the summit, this being at the south end, where the wall is 8 ft.
-high. This wall is rounded at its northern extremity, and forms the
-divisional wall between the passage and the eastern enclosure. Neither
-the eastern nor the western enclosures can at present be defined on
-their northern sides, though lines of block débris would appear to fix
-their boundaries.
-
-The most interesting architectural feature in the “Outspan Ruins” is
-the conical tower built to form part of the main wall. This is an
-independent structure from its base upwards. It is 9 ft. high, and
-though built of irregularly shaped stones and without much adherence to
-courses, it is symmetrical in appearance. On its west side between it
-and the rounded end of the main wall is a space 2 in. wide on the floor
-and 5 ft. wide at 6 ft. from the floor. This narrow loopholed space
-still remains open, save for a single slab which at 6 ft. above the
-floor is built into the tower and the main wall, thus forming a sort of
-stone shelf. On the eastern side of the tower the space between it and
-the rounded wall of the entrance is neatly built up, and a slab is laid
-from the rounded wall into the courses of the tower at 5 ft. above the
-floor. Possibly these slabs on either side of the tower formed raised
-platforms to afford a view over the wall, while the narrow loophole
-might have served as a look-out. The circumference of the tower at 5
-ft. from its base is 19 ft. 3 in.
-
-The portion of these ruins which lies to the south of the main wall
-comprises (1) a wall running south at right angles to the main wall at
-4 ft. from the west side of the entrance. This wall is 24 ft. long,
-and averages 3 ft. 6 in. in height, and is 2 ft. wide on its present
-summit; (2) a circular buttress built independently and standing
-opposite the outside of the main entrance at a distance of 8 ft. 6 in.
-Its height is now only 3 ft. 10 in., and its circumference at base
-is 28 ft. 4 in. It is hollow in the centre, and it has collapsed from
-summit to base on its southern side for a width of 3 ft. The obvious
-object of this buttress is to divide the open space on the outside of
-the entrance into two narrow passages, each of which could easily be
-defended by a few even against a great number of besiegers.
-
-At 36 ft. east of the south side of the entrance is an outcrop of a
-wall 6 ft. long, and this runs due south at some 5 ft. in front of the
-main wall.
-
-
-
-
- CHAPTER XIX
-
- “THE VALLEY OF RUINS”
-
-
-“The Valley of Ruins” is on the north-east and east sides of the
-Elliptical Temple, and almost half-way between it and the south side
-of the east end of the Acropolis Hill. This conglomeration of ruins
-extends from the edge of the slope which runs along the north-east
-sides of both Elliptical Temple and No. 1 Ruins to within 60 yds. of
-the west side of East Ruins, and covers an area of about 250 yds. from
-east to west and 120 yds. from north to south. This area is the upper
-portion of the Zimbabwe Valley, which descends towards the east, the
-streams from this valley during the rainy season falling into the
-Mapudzi stream, which runs southwards down the Schlichter Gorge towards
-the Moshawasha Valley, and later finds its way into the Motelekwe River.
-
-Till 1902–3 these extensive ruins, some of which are massive and most
-excellently constructed, remained not only unexplored but unexamined,
-and no particulars or plan had ever been attempted to be given, all
-writers being content to refer to them as “The Valley of Ruins,” while
-some writers altogether ignore the existence of the group. Dr. Helm, of
-Morgenster, whose professional duties have taken him twice every month
-for the last six years within a few score yards of the ruins, states
-that he never supposed the wood and the jungle contained any walls.
-
-Since the Occupation in 1890 no attention has been paid to these
-ruins. No visitors’ or even native paths crossed the area, nor are
-there the slightest traces in the shape of trenches of relic hunters
-and gold prospectors having worked here. So unfrequented has it been
-that some fair-sized buck have recently been shot within the walls.
-The area was found to be covered with an almost impenetrable jungle of
-trees, bushes, and creepers. The local natives declared the place to be
-bewitched, and consequently they avoided it.
-
-“The Valley of Ruins” has recently (1903) been found to consist of
-three groups, each of which includes several distinct ruins, some being
-of an important character.
-
-The area is divided as follows:—
-
-1. Lower or north-eastern section, including the Posselt, Philips, and
-Maund Ruins.
-
-2. Middle section, which lies between the lower section and the edge of
-the slope of land on the north-east side of the Elliptical Temple.
-
-3. Upper section, including all ruins between the Elliptical Temple
-and the edge of the slope overlooking lower portions of “The Valley of
-Ruins.”
-
-Before describing these complicated groups there are some features
-represented by them which may be mentioned.
-
-(_a_) Several of these ruins, especially those in the lower section,
-are exceedingly massive and well built, the courses marvellously
-true with an absence of straight joints. The curves of the wall are
-beautifully designed and are laid on boldly sweeping lines. The
-material is good, and is also most carefully selected and sized. The
-masonry of many of the walls is far superior to that of some of the
-divisional walls of the Elliptical Temple and to the majority of the
-walls on the Acropolis.
-
-(_b_) The absence of the angular style of buildings, except with
-certain structures in the middle section. Rounded entrances and
-buttresses and gracefully rounded ends of walls form the most
-prevailing features of most of these ruins. Two conical towers, several
-very large semi-circular buttresses or platforms form prominent
-features. Two drains were discovered (1903) in Philips Ruins and three
-in Posselt Ruins (B).
-
-(_c_) The middle section is poorly built, and possesses some angular
-features. The upper section is well built.
-
-(_d_) The discovery (1903) in the lower section of these ruins of gold
-articles, decorated and plain soapstone beams and relics of the oldest
-type, including the soapstone beam with bird on summit—the finest
-specimen yet found in Zimbabwe—point to the fact that certain of these
-ruins were used for somewhat higher purposes than those of forts or
-workshops, possibly, as many now suggest, as residences for priests
-or officials connected with the temple. This surmise is justifiable,
-seeing that the north-east passage connects such well-built and
-substantial portions of these mines directly with the North Entrance
-and Parallel Passage and Sacred Enclosure of the Elliptical Temple.
-In the lower section of these ruins there are no traces of ancient or
-native industries having been carried on.
-
-(_e_) In the lower section of these ruins there are fewer signs of
-modern or even of very old Makalanga clay huts, such as are fully
-described in “_Native huts found in ruins_.” No modern articles were
-found here. The consequence is there has been in this lower group of
-ruins very little artificial filling-up of the enclosures, and the
-ruins are more open and are easier of examination than most of the
-other ruins at Zimbabwe. But being on lower ground, with a huge bank
-of granite and soil on the south-western flank, there has been a
-considerable amount of soil silted into the ruins during the course of
-hundreds of years, but not to any great depth. The filling-in, both
-natural, is no more than about 2 ft., as compared with 5 ft. and 7
-ft. in other ruins elsewhere where there are abundant signs of native
-occupation.
-
-
- LOWER SECTION OF THE “VALLEY OF RUINS”
-
- POSSELT RUINS
-
-These ruins are the most westerly of the lower section of _The Valley
-of Ruins_. They consist of two almost oval-shaped buildings adjoining
-each other, and for the purposes of this description are marked _A_ and
-_B_ respectively on the plan. This set of ruins lies at the north-east
-extremity of the _North-East Passage_ leading from the _Elliptical
-Temple_.
-
-_A_ is 175 ft. long from north to south, and 91 ft. from east to west.
-_B_ lies at almost right angles to _A_ on its south-west side, and is
-110 ft. from east to west, and 75 ft. from north to south.
-
-The interesting points concerning the Posselt Ruins are:—
-
-(1) The discovery of beaten gold and of the older class of relics.
-
-(2) Two entrances with unworked soapstone beams used as lintels in
-portcullis grooves.
-
-(3) Complicated entrances; a small conical tower; cement dadoes; a
-parallel passage; circular and semi-circular buttresses; only slight
-artificial filling-in of interior; some evidence of occupation by old
-or modern natives.
-
-(4) Massive character of walls originally averaging at least 15 ft.
-in height; excellent construction, main walls being superior to many
-divisional walls in the _Elliptical Temple_ and to most of the walls on
-the _Acropolis_; the overwhelming predominance of the rounded style of
-architecture.
-
-(5) No evidence of either ancient or native industries having been
-carried on in these ruins.
-
-
- SECTION A OF POSSELT RUINS
-
-_Main walls._—The main walls average from 7 ft. to 12 ft. in height
-above the surface of the veld, while the height of the interior
-faces, which are some 3 ft. above the outside level, averages 6 ft.
-to 9 ft. The great amount of wall débris at the foot of the walls
-suggests an original average height of at least 15 ft. above the cement
-floors. Some practical builders have computed it to have been almost
-20 ft., and the batter-back would permit of this. The average of 15
-ft. is a very conservative estimate of the original height. There is
-more dilapidation on the outside top edges of the walls than on the
-inside. The width of the main walls at base averages 6 ft., and on
-the reduced summit at 9 ft. above the outer surface of the ground
-4 ft. Some of the divisional walls are almost equally as massive.
-As is usual in the rounded style of building, the main walls, also
-the foundations, widen out as they near an entrance. The curves of
-the walls are most symmetrical, especially of the wall which curves
-outwards from the north to the east-south-east. Two granite beams—one 6
-ft. 3 in. high—once stood erect on the north-east portion of the main
-wall. A flat granite slab still stands erect on the west wall. Other
-long granite beams were found at the foot of the wall both outside
-and inside. The foundations of the main walls are carried under the
-entrances and form their floors.
-
-[Illustration: Sketch Plan POSSELT RUINS “Valley of Ruins” (_Lower
-Section_)]
-
-_Construction._—The construction of the main walls and also of some of
-the divisional walls is good, though there are places where a rather
-inferior workmanship can be noticed. On the whole, the courses are
-regular, straight joints are infrequent, and the sizes of the blocks of
-each course show they were carefully selected. There are a few short
-lengths of walls in the interior which do not appear to have been parts
-of the original building. These are erected upon the black vegetable
-mould, and are poorly constructed, are slight and of indifferent
-material, being almost identical, if not quite so, with old Makalanga
-walls, the noticeable feature of which is the building of one stone
-exactly above and squarely on the block below without any pretence at
-bonding. This is known as the column style, and can be seen in walls
-in native villages as well as within certain ruins at Zimbabwe, mainly
-on the _Acropolis_, where, as in these ruins, there are the remains of
-very old Makalanga cement huts.
-
-_Entrances._—There are four rounded entrances through the main wall;
-possibly there was a fifth on the east side where there is a wide gap.
-There are twelve entrances in divisional walls, nine of which are
-rounded, two being partly angular and partly rounded, and one angular,
-this last being before referred to as probably of later construction.
-It is almost certain that many more divisional entrances will yet be
-discovered, as several of the divisional walls only just outcrop above
-the surface of the interior. Almost every entrance has portcullis
-grooves. All four of the entrances through the main wall have rounded
-buttresses on either side projecting into the interior of the building.
-Three of the more important divisional entrances also have rounded
-buttresses on each side of the entrance.
-
-The E.N.E. entrance was evidently the main entrance. Its walls are very
-massive, and the arrangement of the inner walls strongly suggests the
-intention to protect the entrance and afford a second line of defence.
-This entrance generally is the most imposing of all four approaches.
-It opens directly on to the exterior of the building, which the west
-entrance does not; nor most probably did the S.E. entrance, which
-opens out towards other ruins. The E.N.E. entrance varies in width
-from 2 ft. 10 in. to 4 ft., and the passage is 12 ft. long. The side
-walls are 5 ft. high, but rise sharply towards the exterior to 8 ft.
-and 11 ft. respectively, and both are about 6 ft. wide on floor level.
-As in the entrances through the main wall of the _Elliptical Temple_,
-the foundations run under the entrance and form its passage floor.
-The entrance has two buttresses on the inner side, and these have
-portcullis grooves.
-
-The west entrance opens in _Section B_ of the _Posselt Ruins_. This is
-1 ft. 10 in. wide, 7 ft. long, and the side walls are 7 ft. high above
-the floor and 6 ft. wide on the floor level. The entrance shows remains
-of portcullis grooves. The floor of the entrance is 2 ft. above the
-cement floor of the interior of the building, and there are the remains
-of large rounded cement steps down on to the floor. On the inner side
-is the _Parallel Passage_, described later, and as in this passage
-are a quantity of buttresses, these show that the entrance was well
-protected from attack from the side of _Section B_, especially on the
-north outer side of the entrance, where is what visitors have called a
-“sentry-box,” a small walled-in area immediately adjoining and opening
-directly upon the entrance into _Section A_. The elaborate protection
-of this entrance from attacks from _Section B_ would appear to show
-that _Section A_ was regarded by the builders as the more important
-portion of these buildings.
-
-The south-east entrance opens out on to the veld, but there are
-extensive ruins, portion of the middle section of “The Valley of
-Ruins,” at a few yards’ distance in front of it with traces of walls
-between. This entrance is 2 ft. 4 in. wide between the buttresses, and
-3 ft. wide between the sides of the main wall. It is 11 ft. long, and
-the side walls are 7 ft. high on either side, rising rapidly on the
-east side to 10 ft. There is a pair of rounded buttresses 5 ft. high on
-the inner side, and these have portcullis grooves. It is probable that
-this was the entrance used by the ancient occupiers on ascending from
-these ruins to the _Elliptical Temple_, as the north-eastern extremity
-of the _North-East Passage_ is not many yards away from this entrance.
-
-An entrance through a divisional wall just within and on the west side
-of the E.N.E. entrance is worthy of notice. This passes through a
-wall 6 ft. wide on floor level, and 7 ft. high on the south-west side
-and 6 ft. high on the north-east side. In this entrance, which has
-rounded buttresses on the inner side, a length of unworked soapstone
-beam was found acting as a side lintel in a portcullis groove, also
-the fragments of a corresponding soapstone lintel. In this entrance
-was discovered (March, 1903) beaten gold and fragments of decorated
-soapstone bowls.
-
-_Parallel Passage._—This is the sixth parallel passage so far
-discovered at Zimbabwe, and is about the fifth in importance. It runs
-for 66 ft. on the inside of, and parallel to, the west main wall. The
-inner or east wall of the passage is formed by a line of buttresses
-with short walls between each, and in these walls are various entrances
-leading towards the interior of the building. No portion of this inner
-wall is more than 5 ft. in height, though the wall débris along their
-summits rises 2 ft. higher. The passage is defended by several pairs of
-rounded buttresses with portcullis grooves, and averages in width from
-5 ft. to 8 ft.
-
-The passage commences on the south side of the west entrance which
-leads from _Section B_ of these ruins. Two large rounded buttresses
-form its southern extremity. The buttress on the west side, which is
-5 ft. high, projects 5 ft. into the walled-in area opposite to the
-inside of the west entrance, and the eastern buttress, which is 4 ft.
-high, projects 3 ft. to meet it, leaving the entrance between them 3
-ft. wide. There are no portcullis grooves, but it is probable, judging
-by the position of the débris, that a pair of rounded buttresses once
-stood on either side of the entrance. Portcullis grooves are most
-usually found in such additional buttresses. In this walled-in area,
-facing the inside of the west entrance, is a passage-way leading into
-the interior of the building, but this still remains unexplored.
-
-Going north from this point, the Parallel Passage is narrowed to 4
-ft. by a rounded buttress 5 ft. high projecting from the inner or
-eastern side of the passage. From this buttress a wall 5 ft. high runs
-north-east and parallel to the inside of main wall for 13 ft., the
-passage along this length being about 4 ft. 6 in. wide. At the northern
-end of this length of wall are a pair of rounded buttresses 4 ft. 6 in.
-high with portcullis grooves. The entrance between the two is 1 ft.
-10 in. wide, and these are built upon the same foundation which forms
-the floor of the entrance. At 16 ft. further north is another pair
-projecting from either side into the passage. The one on the west side
-is 5 ft. high, is rounded, and has a portcullis groove. The opposite
-is 3 ft. high and greatly dilapidated. It is angular on one side and
-rounded on the other, and there are traces only of a portcullis groove.
-The quality of the construction differs, the rounded buttress being the
-better built. Possibly the other buttress is a reconstruction of a much
-later date. The entrance between the buttresses is 2 ft. 6 in. wide.
-Both buttresses are erected on the same foundation which forms the
-floor of the entrance.
-
-Between the last-described two pairs of buttresses and on the east side
-is a roughly built entrance 1 ft. 10 in. wide, with the two buttresses
-angular on the outside and rounded on the inside. This leads into
-the interior of the building. At the northern end of the passage and
-on the east side and leading into the interior is an entrance with
-portcullis grooves built upon a curved line. The west corners, which
-are 3 ft. 6 in. high, are angular, but the inside walls are rounded.
-This is altogether better built and more substantial than the entrance
-previously described. The northern extremity of the passage is abrupt
-on its eastern side, which faces the south end of the gap in the main
-west wall, and the presumption is that the passage was originally
-continued further north, but that when the main wall fell the eastern
-side of the passage was also destroyed.
-
-In places the floor of the passage shows by the wall of a large
-semi-circular buttress which projects 11 ft. from the inner face of
-the main wall. All the walls surrounding the area are very well built.
-The south side is formed by an opening 2 ft. 4 in. wide between the
-semi-circular buttress and the west side of the conical tower, by the
-conical tower, by an opening 2 ft. wide between the east side of the
-tower and a rounded buttress 4 ft. high, which projects 3 ft. 6 in.
-from the wall forming the east side of the enclosure. The floor, which
-is made of granite cement, is 1 ft. above the floor on the south, and
-is approached by a rounded step.
-
-_Conical Tower._—This tower and the Conical Tower in the adjoining
-_Philips Ruins_ are almost identical in construction and position. It
-has a circumference at 14 in. above its foundation of 17 ft. 6 in., and
-at 3 ft. 6 in. above this level the circumference is 15 ft. 6 in. It
-is impossible to measure its circumference at base owing to the cement
-floor enclosing its north and north-east sides. It is 5 ft. 8 in. high
-from base on the north side and 4 ft. on the south side. The filling-in
-process of very late occupiers has caused its dilapidation. The tower
-has been proved to be solid.
-
-_Semi-circular Buttress._—A large remains of pavement, portions being
-cemented and portions paved with blocks. A large rounded granite cement
-step crosses the northern end of the passage.
-
-_Dadoes._—In the passage and on the lower inside face of the main wall
-are several lengths of granite cement dadoes, the longest being 10 ft.
-and 12 ft. The dadoes are still 2 ft. to 3 ft. high, and about 3 in. to
-5 in. thick.
-
-_Enclosures._—It is probable, judging by the number of sections of
-divisional walls outcropping above the surface of the interior, that
-there are some eight or ten distinct enclosures within _Section
-A_ of these ruins. Some enclosures have several entrances, all so
-far discovered being rounded. The divisional walls of most of the
-enclosures are massive and well built, some being far superior in
-construction and material to several of the divisional walls in the
-_Elliptical Temple_.
-
-The most perfect enclosure is on the inner side of the north-east,
-immediately west of the E.N.E entrance. This was entirely filled in
-with soil and blocks up to the tops of the walls, which are 7 ft. and 8
-ft. high. All this filling-in has now been removed (March, 1903), and
-a conical tower, which had been completely buried, was discovered. The
-area is formed on the north-east side by the inner face of the main
-wall, which is 7 ft. high and 11 ft. long, on the east side by a wall
-7 ft. high and 9 ft. long, and on the west side it averages from 2 in.
-to 4 in. in thickness. Its faces are usually smoothed and the tops are
-rounded off inwards.
-
-_Native huts._—There are the remains of seven old native huts in this
-section of the ruins. These are identical with No. 3 huts described in
-“_Makalanga huts within ancient ruins_,” see “_Notes on Architecture_.”
-They are built about 2 ft. and 3 ft. above the ancient cement floors.
-Two are built across gaps in divisional walls, and one partially covers
-a portion of the gap in the north-west main wall, which, had it been
-intact, would not have enabled the builders of the hut to find room for
-the erection of their dwelling.
-
-
- POSSELT RUINS. SECTION B
-
-This lies to the west of _Section A_ of the _Posselt Ruins_, which it
-immediately adjoins on its south-west side and practically forms part
-of the same ruins.
-
-Its area is 110 ft. from east to west, and 75 ft. from north to south,
-and is oval in plan. The construction of the walls is excellent, and
-this section appears to be one of the earliest period ruins. Its
-central portion has been filled in, and some of the walls dividing off
-the enclosures are still buried beneath the débris. There are no signs
-of native occupation of the interior of the ruins, but on the outside
-of the building are the circular ruins of old native huts and débris
-consisting mostly of ashes, bones, and pottery.
-
-Only the three enclosures at the west end have been cleared out to
-their old floors, but nothing was found of any antique character.
-
-_Walls._—The outer walls are massive and show excellent construction,
-and average in height between 5 ft. and 10 ft., their width being 6 ft.
-at 5 ft. above the ground. The inner walls are also massive and are
-fairly well built, being 5 ft. wide at 4 ft. above the ground. There is
-a narrow and low divisional wall of poor construction cutting off the
-north-east portion of these ruins, and this most probably is of later
-date.
-
-_Entrances._—There are only two entrances through the main or outer
-walls. The one on the north-east side is 2 ft. 6 in. wide, and has
-very massive walls, which are rounded, and all exceptionally well
-constructed. There is a pair of rounded buttresses immediately inside,
-and these have portcullis grooves. The foundation of the main wall
-forms the floor of the entrance passage.
-
-The south entrance is 4 ft. wide, and is built upon the foundation of
-the main south wall. It is narrowed to 2 ft. by two rounded buttresses,
-and these have portcullis grooves.
-
-“_Sentry-box._”—This class of structure has been popularly termed
-“sentry-box.” In the angle at the north-east corner is a rounded wall
-with a narrow opening into the inside. This is situated close to the
-entrance leading into _Section A_, and its position suggests the idea
-that it was used as a sentry-box guarding the entrance. There are
-several of these structures at Zimbabwe, and they all occupy a similar
-position near entrances.
-
-_Drains._—There are three drains through the walls of this section of
-the _Posselt Ruins_, one in the south wall passing through a wall 5 ft.
-6 in. wide, one in a divisional wall, 4 ft. wide, which projects from
-the south main wall towards the north, and one in a divisional wall 5
-ft. wide at the north-west of the building.
-
-A semi-circular buttress projects 11 ft. into the interior from the
-cunei face of the north-east main wall. It is 27 ft. round its outer
-face. On the east side the buttress is 8 ft. high, and on the south and
-west sides, owing to dilapidations, and also to a higher floor, these
-faces are only 4 ft. and 5 ft. high. The top surface is covered with a
-foot depth of granite cement.
-
-_Circular platform._—This is at the eastern extremity of the ruins.
-It is 21 ft. in diameter and 5 ft. above the floors of the adjoining
-enclosures. On the east side the summit is approached by granite cement
-steps which are large and well rounded, and on the south by stone steps.
-
-On the west of this platform are two raised enclosures immediately
-on the inside of the main wall. The northern one has steps leading
-some way towards the west side of the _Circular Platform_, and there
-probably once reached its summit.
-
-_Cement dadoes._—In these ruins are many lengths of granite cement
-dado work, the greatest length intact being 33 ft., and this is on the
-east of the west main wall. This work is also extensively found in
-the _Parallel Passage_. Not only is it found on the faces of walls,
-but also on round buttresses and on the side walls of entrances, thus
-reducing their widths by about 5 in. It runs about 3 ft. higher than
-the cemented floors.
-
-
- PHILIPS RUINS
-
-These ruins lie to the east of the _Posselt Ruins_, which they almost
-adjoin, being only 8 yds. apart at their nearest points. These ruins
-present several most interesting features:—
-
-(1) The discovery (March, 1903) of the finest, most perfect, and most
-elaborately decorated soapstone beam with bird on summit yet found at
-_Great Zimbabwe_, also of phalli and beaten gold.
-
-[Illustration: Sketch Plan PHILIPS’ RUINS “Valley of Ruins” (_Lower
-Section_) ]
-
-(2) An excellently constructed and massive wall, built upon the plan
-of a section of a circle, with its centre facing due east, and the
-discovery of quantities of sections of worked soapstone beams along
-its base, together with fragments of carved soapstone bowls, and also
-ancient relics of the oldest type.
-
-(3) A small conical tower uncovered March, 1903.
-
-(4) Excellent and massive character of the construction of the walls of
-the numerous rounded entrances, buttresses, and ends of walls. There
-are two drains, also a tall slate beam built into a portcullis groove
-to form a side lintel post in an entrance.
-
-(5) The complete absence of signs of native occupation of these ruins
-except on the east side of the large curved wall, and these are slight.
-
-_Area._—The area occupied by these ruins is 140 ft. from east to west,
-and 150 ft. from north to south. There is no main outer wall on the
-south side, and it is probable, judging by wall débris, that these
-ruins extended some 20 yds. further south.
-
-_Main walls._—These extend from the west side round the north to the
-south-east, the rest having disappeared; or possibly Posselt Ruins and
-these were originally one immense ruin, so that an outer wall on the
-west side might never have existed; but this could not have been the
-case with regard to the south side.
-
-The main outer walls average from 5 ft. to 9 ft. in height on their
-outer faces, and 3 ft. to 8 ft. on their inner sides, the interior of
-the building being on a considerably higher level than the exterior.
-This is owing mainly to the natural fall of the ground towards the
-north-east and east on which the ruins are built. The widths of the
-main walls vary from 6 ft. to 8 ft. on floor level, 5 ft. at 6 ft.
-above the floor, while some reduced summits have a width of 5 ft. at 9
-ft. above the floor.
-
-_Construction._—These ruins, especially some portions, such as the
-massive curved wall, are most excellently built. The selection of
-the blocks, the good and even quality of the granite employed, show
-that some special importance was attached to these portions of the
-ruins. Except for one small buttress, the angular style of building is
-absolutely absent from these structures.
-
-The divisional walls are also well built, and are superior to the main
-and outer walls of several ruins at Zimbabwe.
-
-_Curved wall._—This wall forms the most prominent feature in these
-ruins, and it at once attracts the attention of all visitors on account
-of its symmetrical and massive character, excellent workmanship, and
-the height of its reduced summit, which has the extraordinary width of
-5 ft. at 13 ft. from the ground. The curve is laid on so exact a plan
-that it was an easy matter for a surveyor to definitely determine the
-centre of the arc. The centre of the curve faces outwards due east,
-and standing at the centre of the arc the extremities of the wall
-are found to be E.N.E. and E.S.E. respectively. It is 125 ft. round
-its inner face at 6 ft. above the remains of cement flooring, and 84
-ft. round its outer face at the same height from the ground, but its
-outer extremities are hidden behind rounded walls and buttresses. The
-distance between the two extremities across the bow is 75 ft., and
-from that line to the centre of the curve the distance is 23 ft. The
-batter-back of the wall is 1 ft. 3 in. in 10 ft.
-
-The height of the reduced summit for 60 ft. averages 9 ft. to 13 ft.
-on either side of the wall, but as these heights are taken from raised
-cement steps, platforms, and sections of floors, at least another 2 ft.
-or 3 ft. may be added to their present reduced height, for the greatest
-height from foundation to summit is 15 ft. 6 in. The original height
-may safely be estimated at 20 ft. above the cement flooring. This
-estimate is justified by the great amount of wall débris found along
-the bases of either side of the wall. On the summit near the south end
-of the wall are the remains of a banquette, and these inner terraces or
-look-outs are almost invariably behind walls which are at least breast
-high above the floor of the banquette; moreover, the batter-back of
-the faces of the wall would well allow of a wall 20 ft. high and yet
-leave a fairly wide summit. Where the entrance facing the E.N.E. passes
-through this wall, the side walls are reduced to 5 ft. in height on
-either side above the floor of the entrance, which is 3 ft. above the
-foundation of the wall.
-
-This entrance, like those in the main walls of the _Elliptical Temple_,
-is carried over the foundation of the wall, and this forms its passage
-floor. It is 2 ft. wide and 6 ft. 6 in. long, and has two rounded
-buttresses on the inner side, and these have portcullis grooves. These
-buttresses are built upon a semi-circular platform projecting 6 ft.
-into the interior of the building, thus making the entrance passage
-about 12 ft. in length. The floor of the entrance is covered with
-granite cement.
-
-One peculiar feature in the construction of this wall is that, while
-the northern end is rounded off, the southern end is continued in the
-form of a portion of a loop, which circles southwards and eastwards,
-and then runs back into the east face of the curved wall, enclosing
-an almost circular area of 10 ft. in diameter. The wall in this loop
-is well built. The average height of the loop-wall is 6 ft., but on
-the south side it rises to 10 ft., where the width of the summit is 3
-ft. The interior was rudely filled up with stones, below which was a
-cement floor 3 ft. higher than the outside level and 6 ft. above the
-foundation. This raised platform or pulpit is approached on the west
-side by a few steps leading up to a rounded opening into the loop.
-
-This curved wall, massive as it is, does not form an outer wall of
-these ruins, but crosses their centre, dividing them into two parts.
-It is apparently independent so far as its plan, superior character of
-construction, and purpose are concerned.
-
-At the west side of the curved wall, and at the centre of the curve,
-is a wall 23 ft. long projecting towards the interior of the building.
-This is 3 ft. high at its western extremity, but its summit rapidly
-rises to 8 ft. in height. It has a slight curve towards the south. On
-its north side is a small recess extending from base to summit, and
-this is exactly similar in construction to the recesses in “_Buttress_”
-or “_Recess Enclosure_” on the _Acropolis_.
-
-On either side of this wall, and in the angles formed by the curved
-wall, are low granite cement platforms which are rounded on the front
-faces. These resemble the “_blind steps_” found in all the main ruins
-at Zimbabwe.
-
-The purpose of the erection of the curved wall might possibly have
-been for solar or astronomical observations, and though this is a mere
-conjecture, the following points may lend it some support:—
-
-(1) In close proximity to this curved wall, and on its eastern side,
-was discovered the soapstone beam with carved bird on the summit—this
-being the finest specimen yet discovered at Zimbabwe—also phalli and
-ancient relics of the oldest type. The soapstone birds had so far been
-discovered only at the _Western and Eastern Temples_ on the _Acropolis_.
-
-(2) The discovery under the wall débris which lay along each side of
-the wall at its base of quantities of lengths of broken soapstone beams
-which, though not carved, had been worked with tools, the widths of the
-edges of the chisel being very plainly discernible, some sections being
-beautifully rounded and polished. These are believed to have originally
-decorated the summit of the wall, a suggestion supported by the shape
-and markings on the bases of several beams so discovered. Soapstone
-beams once fixed on the summits of walls had previously been discovered
-only at the three temples.
-
-(3) The proximity of a small conical tower in an adjoining enclosure at
-the north-eastern end of this wall.
-
-(4) The large raised platform formed by the looped wall, and originally
-approached by steps on the west side, somewhat corresponds in position
-with the _Platform_ in the _Elliptical Temple_ and at the _Western
-Temple_, and with the _Balcony_ at the _Eastern Temple_.
-
-_Conical Tower._—This is situated in the most north-easterly enclosure
-of these ruins. It is still 6 ft. 6 in. in height, but judging from the
-block débris it was once much higher. At 3 ft. 6 in. above the granite
-cement floor at its base it has a circumference of 18 ft. 10 in. It is
-impossible to measure the circumference of its base, as a large rounded
-cement step extends between it and the south wall of the enclosure. The
-tower, which has a fair and noticeable batter-back, is very well built.
-It has been proved to be solid. Its foundations are 6 in. below the
-cement floor. There are four of these small conical towers at Zimbabwe,
-two having been discovered in March, 1903. On the east side of this
-tower, and built up against its east side, is a small rounded platform
-3 ft. high, covered with granite cement, which is approached by two
-large steps.
-
-_Entrances._—There are three entrances to these ruins—the north,
-north-east, and east—and most probably others will be found as further
-exploration work is carried on here.
-
-The north entrance appears to have been the main approach. This
-is an intricate entrance, and one which appears to have possessed
-considerable importance in the minds of the original builders. It lies
-between two outer rounded walls, each 6 ft. high, which curve inwards
-towards each other so as to form a passage-way about 6 ft. wide, which
-is again narrowed at its southern extremity to 2 ft. 6 in. by two
-rounded buttresses on either side. These buttresses have portcullis
-grooves. The area opens into a small walled-in area, 10 ft. by 10 ft.,
-the walls being 6 ft. high, and very well and substantially built.
-The floor is made of granite cement. There are three rounded walls in
-this area. A buttress with a portcullis groove is in the south-western
-corner of the area, but the corresponding buttress has disappeared. The
-walled-in area would have enabled twenty defenders to protect the 2 ft.
-6 in. wide entrance from being forced by an attacking party. The west
-side of the entrance passage is carried further south by two walls,
-each built upon a semi-circular plan.
-
-The north-east entrance opens into the enclosure which contains the
-Conical Tower already described. The side walls are 5 ft. high, and 4
-ft. and 5 ft. wide at this height from the floor. The entrance is 2 ft.
-4 in. wide, and including the steps it is 9 ft. long. A semi-circular
-platform projects 6 ft. into the enclosure, and on it are built two
-rounded buttresses with portcullis grooves. These buttresses are in an
-advanced state of dilapidation. There are three steps between these
-buttresses, and these lead down on to the floor of the interior.
-An immense slate beam rises out of the ground immediately on the
-north-east side of the exterior of the entrance.
-
-At present only the south side of the east entrance has been opened
-out. This is 4 ft. high, and is rounded. On the inner side is a
-semi-circular buttress hollow inside with an opening into it from the
-south side.
-
-All the entrances, of which there are seven in the divisional walls,
-are rounded, and most have portcullis grooves.
-
-At the centre of the eastern face of the curved wall is a rounded
-entrance with portcullis groove, in which is built a slate beam which
-stands 8 ft. above the floor. The total length of the beam is at least
-11 ft. This is the most perfect specimen of all the stone lintels built
-in portcullis grooves.
-
-_Enclosures._—Judging from sections of divisional walls, there were in
-all probability no less than sixteen enclosures in these ruins. Some
-were of large area, but subdivided. All the divisional walls are laid
-on curved lines. The only complete enclosure is the one on the north
-side, where is the Conical Tower. The wall on the south side is from 5
-ft. to 9 ft. high, on the west side 5 ft. to 10 ft., and on the north
-side, which is the main outer wall of the ruins, 5 ft. This latter
-wall, which is curved outwards towards the north-east, is 4 ft. wide at
-5 ft. above the ground. A cement floor is laid around the tower. The
-west entrance was described earlier under the heading of “_Entrances_.”
-
-_Buttresses._—In these ruins are numerous rounded buttresses. A large
-semi-circular buttress 4 ft. to 5 ft. high, 22 ft. round the face,
-9 ft. from back to front, and 12 ft. across the back, faces the east
-and outer side of the centre of the curved wall, from which point the
-buttress is due east at 25 ft. distance. On the west side of this
-buttress is a passage with cement floor, rounded steps, and dadoes.
-
-_Drains._—So far as these ruins have been cleared, only two drains have
-been exposed, one through a wall 5 ft. wide, which wall runs parallel
-to the east side of the large curved wall, and one through the main
-wall leading from the north-east enclosure.
-
-_Cement._—Granite cement has been extensively employed at these ruins,
-both for flooring, dadoes, and steps, also for platforms in the angles
-of walls, which somewhat resemble the “blind steps” in the angles of
-the divisional walls of the _Elliptical Temple_.
-
-
- MAUND RUINS
-
-These ruins, though not extensive, appear to have been of some
-importance. They are situated at a distance of 60 yds. from the
-east-north-east side of Philips Ruins, and lie almost half-way between
-those ruins and the East Ruins.
-
-Their construction is excellent, and the walls are massive, while all
-the entrances are rounded, most having possessed a pair of granite
-lintel beams. Although built upon by far the lowest level of any
-ruin at Zimbabwe, it is the least filled-in, either naturally or
-artificially, by any native occupiers. There are very few traces of
-Makalanga occupation. The granite cement floors are at a depth of 1 ft.
-to 2 ft. below the surface soil within the interior. No ancient relics,
-save fragments of soapstone bowls carved with chevron pattern, have
-been found here.
-
-The most interesting points as to these ruins are:—
-
-(1) Two very fine rounded ends of walls, both being excellent pieces of
-masonry.
-
-(2) Two structures facing east and west respectively, the summits
-being approached by large steps, and each associated with one of the
-rounded walls.
-
-(3) Sections of red clay walls in the gaps of the stone walls.
-
-The area of these ruins is 143 ft. from east to west, and 138 ft. from
-north to south. There is some evidence that these ruins once occupied a
-larger area.
-
-[Illustration: Sketch Plan MAUND RUINS “Valley of Ruins” (_Lower
-Section_)
-
-P. _Platforms_ CS. _Cement platforms_ ]
-
-There is only one entrance, so far discovered, through the main wall,
-and this faces north. It is massive and well built, and opens into a
-vestibule enclosure 15 ft. long, 9 ft. wide, and 5 ft. and 7 ft. in
-height. The side walls of the entrance are 5 ft. high, the width of the
-main wall is 6 ft. 6 in., the width of the passage 3 ft., but narrowed
-on the inside to less than 2 ft. by two rounded buttresses with
-portcullis grooves, the south one of which has almost disappeared.
-
-The east end of the south wall of the vestibule enclosure is one of
-two beautifully rounded ends of walls before referred to. The symmetry
-of the batter-back is perfect. This wall is 7 ft. high, 5 ft. wide at
-base, and 3 ft. 10 in. at summit. The vestibule has a granite cement
-floor. At the east end of the vestibule is one large rounded buttress
-with portcullis grooves. The corresponding buttress on the south-west
-side is much ruined.
-
-[Illustration: ROUNDED END OF WALL OF WEST SIDE OF MAUND RUINS, SHEWING
-STEPS TO PLATFORM, VALLEY OF RUINS]
-
-[Illustration: NORTH-EAST WALL, MAUND RUINS, VALLEY OF RUINS]
-
-On the west side of the ruins, and immediately west of the west wall
-of the vestibule wall, and built from wall to wall in the angle of the
-main and vestibule wall, is a raised platform 6 ft. high approached
-by four rows of stone steps once covered with granite cement. This
-structure is apparently different in purpose and construction from
-the “_blind steps_” found in some of the ruins at Great Zimbabwe, for
-in this instance the platform must have afforded a good position for
-seeing over the outer wall, and also for watching the entrance which it
-overlooks.
-
-A similar structure is to be found on the east side of these ruins.
-This also is an excellent piece of workmanship. The steps in this
-instance lead from the west side of the base of the wall to its summit,
-and were once covered with granite cement, portions of which still
-remain. The wall is 8 ft. high, and its north end is beautifully
-rounded. It is 4 ft. 6 in. wide at its base, and 3 ft. wide on the
-summit. The north or rounded end of the wall, at 6 ft. above the
-ground, turns on each side towards the centre of the summit, forming a
-small round tower 2 ft. high. There are four steps, but it is possible
-that other steps were in between each of the steps now seen. The summit
-of the steps faces due east. This wall is not an outer wall.
-
-There appear to have been at least ten enclosures. There are eleven
-divisional entrances, all rounded, of which eight have portcullis
-grooves and several have rounded buttresses on the inside. Two long
-granite beams and some sections of broken beams were found in most of
-the entrances, but not in those in which the portcullis grooves had
-been carefully built up.
-
-In the northern enclosures and 2 ft. under the surface were found
-several large and massive cement steps laid on curved lines.
-
-
- MIDDLE SECTION OF “THE VALLEY OF RUINS”
-
- RENDERS RUINS
-
-These are the best-defined ruins of the Middle Section of the Valley of
-Ruins, are of better construction, and have walls still standing of a
-fairly good height. All the other ruins in this section are almost, if
-not quite, impossible to trace, and a view of them gives the impression
-that they are of much later construction than the Renders Ruins.
-
-These ruins, which lie east and west, cover an area of 300 ft. from
-east to west, and 200 ft. from north to south. They lie within 30
-yds. of the south and south-west sides of Posselt Ruins, A and B, the
-intervening space, being full of outcrops of walls. On the south and
-south-west sides of these ruins is the Upper Section of the Valley of
-Ruins.
-
-The most striking features of the Renders Ruins are (1) their
-complicated plan; (2) the banquette wall on the summit of the south
-wall of No. 3 Enclosure; and (3) the great amount of ancient gold,
-Arabian pottery and glass, and other relics discovered in No. 1
-Enclosure.
-
-The ruins are built upon the formation rock which slopes down from
-south-west to north-east, the floors of all the enclosures being the
-bed-rock itself, and this has such a steep gradient that at some points
-it makes it difficult for those wearing nailed boots to ascend from the
-lower to the higher portions of the ruins.
-
-These ruins are approached from the Mauch Ruins by a passage and steps,
-also from the Motelekwe wagon-track, and by a path passing the west end
-of Posselt Ruins B. The North-East Passage leading from the Elliptical
-Temple is scarcely any longer an approach, as the passage walls have
-in some places fallen inwards and blocked the passage.
-
-_No. 1 Enclosure._—This is the most easterly of the enclosures of
-these ruins. It is oval in plan, being 73 ft. from east to west, and
-52 ft. from north to south. The walls are substantially built, but are
-constructed in the style usually found in ruins built at some distance
-from any of the main ruins. The highest walls are on the west and
-southern sides, and these average from 7 ft. to 9 ft. in height, 4 ft.
-to 5 ft. at 5 ft. above the floor in width, and are 4 ft. wide at the
-summit. The other walls are considerably dilapidated and average about
-4 ft. in height. The bare formation rock forms its floor, and it slopes
-considerably from south to north.
-
-[Illustration: Sketch Plan RENDERS’ RUINS Valley of Ruins Middle
-Section]
-
-On the rock floor the following “finds” were made: Twenty pieces of
-beaten gold and gold wire, a few gold beads, amounting altogether
-to 3 ozs. In the yellowish soil above the floor and at a depth of 4
-ft. Arabian glass with arabesque patterns most delicately engraved,
-beautifully glazed pottery of white clay with different bevels on the
-edges, and sunken designs under the glazes which are both sea-green
-and a delicate shade of forget-me-not blue, also very thin china of
-white clay with rich deep blue-and-gold enamel, also some minutely thin
-green glass, a large soapstone bowl, a fine copper chain, and some
-other pottery of excellent make and covered with green glaze, which has
-the appearance of being ancient or certainly of being of very antique
-character. On the upper level was found half a hundred-weight of
-twisted iron wire in coils ready to be cut off in lengths for bangles.
-The coils were fused together. Coils of fine brass wire similarly
-fused, over 200 ivory and glass beads unrecognisable by local natives,
-two pairs of double iron gongs, brass bangles, large cakes of copper,
-crucibles used for smelting copper, and two hundred-weight of hoes,
-axes, and chisels far superior in make to those of the Makalanga of
-to-day. The local natives examined this last class of “finds” with much
-wonderment. There was a total absence of articles of modern native make.
-
-There is overwhelming evidence that during the last two periods of
-occupations of this enclosure it was most extensively occupied as a
-copper and iron-smelting place.
-
-On the outer side of the south wall is a remarkable instance of the
-silting of the soil from higher ground. The depth of soil on the south
-face of the wall is at least 5 ft., and this has been washed into its
-present position by the rainstorms of many years. The triangular space
-formed by the wall and the sloping granite rock was thus filled in for
-a length of fully 70 ft.
-
-There are no signs of any entrances into this enclosure except on the
-north-east side, where there is a long gap in the wall.
-
-_No. 2 Enclosure._—This is situated due west of No. 1 Enclosure. Its
-area, which is square save on the south side where it slightly rounds
-outwards, is 30 ft. by 20 ft. The débris from the high east wall of No.
-3 Enclosure has almost filled it up to the summit of its walls. Nothing
-of any antiquarian value was found here, but the examination work was
-only partial. This enclosure probably acted as a passage-way from the
-North-East Passage to Nos. 1 and 5 Enclosures, and possibly towards the
-Lower Section of “The Valley of Ruins.”
-
-_No. 3 Enclosure._—The plan of this enclosure, which lies directly west
-of No. 2 Enclosure, is almost circular save that its north-east wall is
-slightly squared. The area is 39 ft. from north to south, and 36 ft.
-from east to west. The walls are exceedingly massive, some being 7 ft.
-wide at base and 5 ft. wide on the present summit at 7 ft. from the
-ground. They are obviously of better construction than any of the other
-walls of these ruins.
-
-On the summit of the south wall are the remains of a banquette wall
-still 4 ft. long and 4 ft. high, which makes the total height of the
-wall at this point 11 ft. There is only one entrance, which is on the
-north-west, is rounded, and has portcullis grooves.
-
-This enclosure has not as yet yielded any article of an antique
-character, but modern native articles are practically absent.
-
-_No. 4 Enclosure._—This is practically an open space separating these
-ruins on the south side from the ruins which are on higher ground,
-and extend up to the north-east walls of the Elliptical Temple. In
-area it is 150 ft. long from east to west, and averages in width from
-north to south some 50 ft. It is bounded on the south by three long
-semi-circular terraced walls, each about 8 ft. in height. Its floor on
-the north side is of formation rock, which slopes at a steep gradient
-to the north side where soil has silted in to a depth of 5 ft. On the
-north-east side it is bounded by the outer faces of Enclosures Nos. 1,
-2, and 3.
-
-The North-East Passage runs into the south-west corner of the area,
-and there are steps and a passage leading down from Mauch Ruins at the
-south-east corner of the area.
-
-In this enclosure were found some fine pottery with Arabic lettering
-on the rim with beautiful designs, also a few gold beads.
-
-_No. 5 Enclosure._—This area is 86 ft. from north to south, and 40 ft.
-from east to west. It is bounded by No. 8 Enclosure on the west, by
-No. 2 Enclosure on the south, and by No. 1 Enclosure and a large open
-space not yet explored on the east and north sides. The walls are still
-fairly high, averaging 9 ft. on the south side, 8 ft. on the west, 7
-ft. on the north and east sides. The construction is massive, the walls
-averaging 5 ft. to 6 ft. in width at base.
-
-The entrance on the north-east side is rounded and had portcullis
-grooves. The foundations of the wall, as in all the older buildings,
-form the floor of the passage.
-
-The only other entrance is in the south-east corner, and this leads
-into No. 2 Enclosure.
-
-_No. 6 Enclosure._—This enclosed area is directly on the west side of
-No. 3 Enclosure, and is 90 ft. from east to west, and averages 35 ft.
-from north to south. Possibly it contained sub-divisions, for small
-walls and traces of walls are to be found within it. The average height
-of the walls, so far as they are intact, is from 6 ft. to 8 ft. The
-floor of this enclosure is formed of granite rock which slopes slightly
-to the north. The eastern end of the south wall runs up a steep rock
-incline sideways, and is in consequence much dilapidated.
-
-The North-East Passage runs from No. 4 Enclosure into this area at
-its south-east corner where it divides, one part going down into “The
-Valley,” while the other, following along the higher ground, trends to
-the west as far as No. 1 Ruins.
-
-The two entrances at the south-east corner of the enclosure where
-the North-East Passage divides are both rounded—the entrance on the
-north-east side is also rounded.
-
-_No. 7 Enclosure and Passage._—This enclosure, which is triangular in
-form, is the most westerly of all the clearly defined areas of the
-Renders Ruins. It is 28 ft. long on its western side, 18 ft. on its
-north-east side, and 29 ft. on its southern side. The inner faces of
-the walls average 8 ft. in height. A large entrance, evidently of some
-importance, is on the west side. This is rounded and has portcullis
-grooves, while the side walls are 5 ft. high and the passage is 3 ft. 6
-in. wide. Steps led from the entrance downwards on the outward side.
-
-A drain runs through the south wall leading from No. 6 Enclosure.
-
-A passage 31 ft. long with side walls 6 ft. high leads from this
-enclosure into No. 8.
-
-_No. 8 Enclosure_ appears to be of a very chaotic and irregular
-character, mounds of soil, piles of stones, and traces of
-sub-divisional walls being the principal features of this area, the
-surface measurements of which are 150 ft. from east to west, and 70 ft.
-from north to south. Soil has been evidently brought into the enclosure
-for the purpose of forming platforms on which are the remains of very
-old Makalanga clay huts.
-
-Probably there were at least six sub-divisions of this enclosure. On
-the north, north-west, west, and south-west the walls average 6 ft.
-to 9 ft. in height, and about 4 ft. on the other sides. The walls are
-substantial and are fairly well built in places, the more substantial
-building being on the west side, where there is a prominent end of an
-angular wall 15 ft. high facing the north.
-
-There are at least four entrances to this enclosure, viz. one on the
-north side which is rounded, a second on the south side which is also
-rounded and has portcullis grooves, one on the north-east side which is
-angular, and the fourth on the east side, and this is rounded.
-
-
- UPPER SECTION OF “THE VALLEY OF RUINS”
-
- MAUCH RUINS
-
-These are well-defined ruins, and they form part of the Upper Section
-of “The Valley of Ruins,” and are situated on the north-east of the
-north-east extremity of the chevron pattern on the Elliptical Temple at
-a distance of 105 yds. They occupy the granite plateau on the edge of
-steep ground overlooking the Middle and Lower Sections of “The Valley
-of Ruins.”
-
-The plan and the excellently constructed portions of some of the walls,
-and the class of relics found here in 1903, when these ruins were
-partially cleared out, all point to the building having a distinct
-claim to some antiquity, although of a more subsequent age than that of
-some of the main ruins.
-
-The distinctive features of this ruin are its high walls, a passage
-running parallel with the inside of the main north-east wall, a large
-semi-circular buttress or platform, and the quantity of beaten gold and
-gold wire discovered here.
-
-_Main walls._—The workmanship of some of the lengths of main walls
-is excellent, but some are of inferior construction, portions being
-obviously reconstructions with the joints plainly visible. There are at
-least two reconstructed walls—one on the west side of the main wall,
-and the other on the north-east side of the Parallel Passage. In the
-inferior portions blocks of all sizes and shapes have been employed.
-The best-built portions are the north-east main wall and the divisional
-wall which runs north-east to south-west. All the main walls are built
-upon a curved plan.
-
-The main walls are still high, though evidently somewhat reduced from
-their original heights. The heights from the outside surface average
-from 9 ft. to 12 ft., and in places the level of the summits is very
-fairly maintained. From the interior surface the heights vary from 7
-ft. to 10 ft.
-
-The widths of the walls are evenly maintained throughout, being about
-4 ft. 6 in. wide at 4 ft. above the ground, and 3 ft. to 3 ft. 6 in.
-at a summit of 12 ft., the battering-back being about 1 ft. in 8 ft.
-Some of the walls have been thrown out of batter, and the upper edges
-overhang.
-
-All the ends of the walls are rounded, except in the large divisional
-wall, where is an unfinished end facing north, which terminates
-abruptly.
-
-[Illustration: Sketch Plan MAUCH RUINS “Valley of Ruins” (_Upper
-Section_)]
-
-_Interior Area._—The measurements of the interior are: 98 ft. from
-east to west, and 83 ft. from north to south. The area is of a rough
-oval shape. It originally contained at least three enclosures. The
-soil filling-in is artificial. The elevation of the ruin precludes any
-suggestion of silting in naturally. This work is believed to be that of
-all local natives of some few generations past.
-
-_Parallel Passage._—This is 99 ft. long down its centre, and was most
-probably much longer, as its extremities disappear in débris. The
-north-east side wall of the passage, which is the main wall, is from
-7 ft. to 9 ft. high at the eastern end, and there is a break owing to
-dilapidations at 50 ft. west of this point, while near the lower or
-western end the walls on either side are 7 ft. high. The north-west end
-is formed by a wall 7 ft. high, a low wall, a semi-circular wall, and
-boulders. On the south side, and opposite the opening in the north-east
-wall, steps to a somewhat higher level can be traced, leading
-southwards up from the passage, and these steps have a rounded wall on
-each side. The rounded end of the north-east main wall is a fine piece
-of workmanship. The passage is from 3 ft. to 4 ft. wide.
-
-_Entrances._—There are five entrances, and each is rounded, and all
-the buttresses are also rounded. One entrance leads into the ruin on
-the west side, and there are rounded buttresses on either side, which
-are erected on a semi-circular platform projecting 16 ft. into the
-interior. This entrance opens into a passage which was discovered by
-Bent (1891), but was not opened out till 1903. A second entrance is in
-the north-east wall, but on its western side only traces of the side
-wall remain. A third entrance is on the east side of the building. This
-is 6 ft. high on either side, and is without buttresses or portcullis
-grooves. The floor of the passage is formed by the foundation walls.
-This entrance leads into an outer enclosure on the eastern side. The
-last entrance is between the south end of the large divisional wall
-and the semi-circular buttress or platform. Possibly a buttress has
-disappeared from the south side of this entrance.
-
-_Divisional walls._—There are two divisional walls, one being the wall
-already mentioned as separating the two main enclosures. This runs
-north-east from the large semi-circular buttress for 16 ft. It is 9
-ft. high and is well built, and has a drain passing through the lower
-courses. The north-eastern extremity of this wall is 32 ft. from the
-inside face of the main north-east wall. The other wall is 15 ft. long,
-and runs out eastwards from the inside face of the main west wall.
-This is 7 ft. high, but its height is reduced to 3 ft. at its eastern
-extremity. It is 3 ft. wide at the surface level.
-
-_Drain-holes._—There are three well-constructed drains running through
-walls; one passes the divisional wall which is on the eastern side
-of the building, another passes through the main eastern wall into
-the outer enclosure, and the third is in the east wall of the outer
-enclosure.
-
-_Semi-circular Buttress._—This structure lies on the south side of
-the ruins, and projects 16 ft. into the interior. The total length
-round the face is 32 ft. It is 24 ft. across the back, and 10 ft. high
-on the west, 6 ft. high on the north, and 6 ft. high on the east. It
-appears to be perfectly solid, and once to have had a level surface.
-Large trees have grown on its south and west sides, and have done
-considerable damage to it. Two small walls are on its north-east side,
-and these run towards the buttress as if they once had formed the
-approach to the summit.
-
-_Outer Enclosure._—On the eastern side is an enclosure, but somewhat
-roughly built. It is 51 ft. from north to south, and 30 ft. from east
-to west at its southern end, and 19 ft. from east to west at its
-northern end. This enclosure has been extensively filled in with soil
-and the usual Kafir débris, among which were found two pairs of double
-iron gongs.
-
-_West Passage._—This passage, which was discovered by Bent in 1891,
-runs along the outer side of the main west wall for 60 ft. It is 3
-ft. to 4 ft. wide, and the wall on the west side of it is very much
-dilapidated. From the western entrance to these ruins the passage runs
-27 ft. further north, and descends some 29 ft. by means of stairs, and
-then passes out between high walls on to the granite floor of _Renders
-Ruins_, which are in the Middle Section of “The Valley of Ruins.”
-
-_General._—The position of the Mauch Ruins on their east and north-east
-sides is strengthened for defensive purposes by a steep drop of about
-12 ft. down on to the level occupied by the Middle Section of “The
-Valley of Ruins.” This drop is formed by an almost vertical granite
-glacis, which it would have been very difficult to climb.
-
-_Finds._—Gold wire, beaten gold, and gold beads, and portions of
-sea-green glazed pottery of white clay.
-
-
- SOUTH-EAST RUINS
-
-These ruins are situated at the south-eastern extremity of the Zimbabwe
-Ruins’ area where the Valley of Ruins terminates on its eastern side,
-and are only ten minutes’ walk from Havilah Camp. They occupy a summit
-of a bare and rounded kopje, commanding most extensive views of the
-country beyond Schlichter Gorge to the south and of the Arowi district
-towards the east-north-east. Its position is highly strategetic, and
-there is a steep descent on the south-west side into a deep gorge, down
-which the stream rising on the east side of the Elliptical Temple flows
-toward the Mapudzi.
-
-The area of well-defined walls is 140 ft. from north to south, and
-120 ft. from east to west, but there are traces of walls in all
-directions—on the south at 70 yds. and on the south-west at 20 yds.
-distance. The formation rock crops to the present surface at many
-places, and the depth of soil elsewhere is inconsiderable.
-
-The style of building very closely resembles that of Ridge Ruins, which
-lie between the Elliptical Temple and Havilah Camp, as to which there
-are considerable doubts of its being of very remote antiquity.
-
-The walls, the majority of which are of massive proportions, are not at
-all well built, blocks of all sizes and shapes having been employed,
-and there is little or no attempt to adhere to courses. The present
-reduced average height of the walls is from 4 ft. to about 6 ft., but,
-judging from wall débris, every wall must have originally been at least
-some 7 ft. or 8 ft. in height. The walls are from 4 ft. to 5 ft. wide
-at base, and 3 ft. to 4 ft. wide at their very much reduced summits.
-
-The plan of the building is laid on curved lines, and the only entrance
-which remains intact has rounded sides. It is possible these buildings
-once had six outer and inner entrances. The main entrance appears to
-have been on the west side.
-
-[Illustration: SOUTH-EAST RUINS Zimbabwe
-
-_Single figures are heights of walls in feet._]
-
-There are about eight enclosures, and in some of these there are
-remains of very old Makalanga huts, and the soil of the interior is
-filled with great quantities of Kafir pottery, iron-work, iron slag,
-cattle bones, and ashes. Two Kafir graves were found, but these were
-not of any great age. Local natives state their own people once lived
-here, but not in their time, and this is extremely probable; but they
-do not think the walls were built by any Makalanga.
-
-On the east side, just outside the main wall, there are three sets of
-_isafuba_ game-holes cut into the formation rock. Each set has four
-rows of eight holes each.
-
-The ruins have been but partially examined at several points, but
-nothing of any antique character has been found here.
-
-
-
-
- CHAPTER XX
-
- “THE VALLEY OF RUINS”
- (_Continued_)
-
- No. 1 Ruins—Ridge Ruins—Camp Ruins, Nos. 1 and 2.
-
-
- NO. 1 RUINS
-
-These ruins, which are of an important character, lie on the north side
-of the Elliptical Temple at a distance of 63 yds. from the north-west
-entrance to that building, with which it is connected by a substantial
-and well-constructed wall running out due north from the north-west
-outer face of the main wall of the temple at 43 ft. west from the
-north-west entrance and at the points [705 ft.] and [710 ft.].
-
-Visitors would know this ruin as the one which lies back on the
-left-hand side of the path leading from Havilah Camp to the west
-entrance of the Elliptical Temple, and as the one with the tall
-column-like forms of the aloes crowned with fleshy leaves which line
-the summit of its walls, as also do the candelabra-shaped branches
-of numerous large euphorbia trees which together impart to these
-walls a pre-Raphaelite appearance peculiarly striking because of
-its old-world-looking character. But though this ruin may be known
-to visitors, they rarely examine its enclosures, for the internal
-portions, owing to extensive excavations during past years, are most
-uneven, and require some climbing over their irregular surfaces.
-
-Whether the age of this ruin synchronises with that of the Elliptical
-Temple is for several obvious reasons open to some question, but that
-it is “ancient” admits of no possible doubt. Its architecture and
-construction are both inferior to those of the Elliptical Temple, and
-to many ruins throughout the country which belong to the earliest type
-of Zimbabwe buildings, though it must be admitted that great care is
-shown in its construction. Possibly these buildings are of somewhat
-later date than the Elliptical Temple, while the purpose to which
-it was devoted was such as not to warrant such elaborate care being
-lavished upon it as on the temples and the buildings used as residences.
-
-Excavators have literally turned this ruin inside out, and have
-excavated whole areas to depths of 5 ft. to 7 ft. till the granite
-formation was reached, and have left some of the foundations both bare
-and undermined. There is no doubt that the building has thus been
-completely ransacked, and yet there is nothing to show that it was
-either a temple or a place where at any time gold-smelting was carried
-on, there being no traces of gold furnaces, blow-pipes, crucibles,
-scorifiers, or cement spattered with gold; in fact, pannings of such
-soil as still remains within it has not so far shown any “traces”
-or fragments of gold wire or beads and pellets of gold such as are
-so frequently and abundantly found in other ruins at Zimbabwe. Nor
-have any indications of copper-smelting been found here as in other
-ruins. There is no suggestion in its plan that it was a temple.
-Certainly there is no decorative pattern on its walls, nor are there
-any monoliths, nor even fragments of what might have been monoliths.
-Certainly stones said to be phalli have been found there, but a few
-years ago it was the fashion in Rhodesia to style every stone of
-peculiar shape a phallus. But supposing some of these objects were
-undoubted phalli, these might easily have come from the Elliptical
-Temple a few yards away, especially seeing that the north-west entrance
-to the temple was enclosed on either hand by walls of No. 1 Ruins,
-and that phalli and miniature soapstone birds have been discovered
-by almost all explorers of these ruins among the débris deposited
-outside all three entrances to the temple. The inner banquette walls
-on either side of the north-west entrance to these ruins, as well as
-the massively built outer walls, strongly suggest a fortification,
-and the conglomeration of tall buttresses overlooking the Elliptical
-Temple, and also “The Valley of Ruins,” rather confirms this view,
-especially as the ruins contain no evidences of any industry having
-been carried on by the ancients within them. Moreover, these are
-the only ruins of any importance on the north and west sides of the
-Elliptical Temple which could possibly have served as a fort for the
-protection of that side of the temple, and its site occupies a strongly
-strategetic position on the summit of sloping ground. Unless it was
-a fortification, the whole flank of the area of small ruins in the
-vicinity of the north entrance would have been undefended, for on the
-northern and eastern sides of such area of ruins are very substantially
-built forts occupying elevations of vantage.
-
-Sir John Willoughby states that the design of this building is very
-irregular, the inner walls terminate abruptly and form only three sides
-of an enclosure with floors ever varying in their relative levels, the
-wall foundations are of unequal depths, and the interiors of some of
-the walls are carelessly filled in with stones, this latter being a
-feature absent in the earliest types of Zimbabwes, but present in later
-ruins.
-
-All these departures from the style of construction as employed in
-the Elliptical Temple, and in very many of the ruins at Zimbabwe, are
-obvious to anyone on making an inspection, as also the irregularity in
-the sizes of the stones of any single course, the poorer quality of
-the granite, the employment of unhewn stones, and the introduction of
-the angular and plumb style of building so peculiarly absent in the
-Elliptical Temple and elsewhere at Zimbabwe. There are no drain-holes
-in any of the walls of these ruins.
-
-Of old and recent Makalanga occupations of these ruins there is
-ample evidence. Kafir pottery, bones, ashes, and scraps of iron are
-abundant, and the clay foundations of Makalanga huts and granaries can
-be seen in every enclosure on floors overlying rudely filled-in areas.
-
-These ruins occupy an area of 62 yds. from east to west, and 54 yds.
-from north to south. The portion of the ruins in the best condition, as
-well as the most important parts, are situated on the west side. The
-north and east portions are the most dilapidated. The building on the
-north and north-east sides is on the edge of a sharp slope down into a
-valley which contains the walls of several minor ruins.
-
-[Illustration: N^o. 1 RUINS Zimbabwe]
-
-The main or outer wall of these ruins runs for 185 ft. from the west
-entrance on the west side of the building round in a curve outwards
-towards the west-north-west, north, and north-east. There are three
-short gaps in the northern portion of the wall. On the whole, the
-greater portion of the wall is still in a fairly good condition,
-it being from 12 ft. to 15 ft. high above the outside level of the
-bed-rock on which its foundations are laid. The wall is practically
-plumb as compared with the main wall of the Elliptical Temple, besides
-being angular at the entrances. It is 4 ft. wide at 6 ft. above the
-outside level, but the north-western side is slightly wider. The wall,
-though substantially constructed, does not show great evenness of
-courses, while the sizes of the blocks vary considerably. Near the west
-entrance it is very poorly built, while the wall on the opposite side
-of the passage is excellently constructed. Possibly this indifferently
-built portion was repaired at a much later date. It is on this wall
-that grew the tall aloes and large euphorbia trees, some of which have
-recently been removed. The north and north-east portions of the wall,
-being built upon the edge of the declivity, tend to give the wall
-a more imposing appearance, while its elevated position commands a
-splendid view of “The Valley of Ruins.” The large mound on the north
-side of the north-west entrance is soil débris brought by explorers
-from the interior of the ruins in 1892.
-
-Three entrances pass through this wall, on the west, north-west, and
-north sides.
-
-The west entrance is 2 ft. 6 in. to 3 ft. wide, the west side wall
-being 4 ft. to 5 ft. high, and the east side 5 ft. to 7 ft. high. The
-entrance walls are plumb and angular. There are no buttresses on either
-side, and no portcullis groves. The entrance leads into Enclosure A,
-but there are traces of a wall which runs across the inside at a short
-distance, and might have been that of a sort of vestibule to Enclosure
-A. Immediately on the outside of this entrance there is a passage
-between the outer face of the main wall on the east side and the east
-wall of Enclosures W X Y Z on the west side, and this passage, which is
-46 ft. long, 3 ft. 6 in. wide and has the west side wall 5 ft. high,
-actually forms part of the entrance. At 31 ft. from the north end of
-the passage there is one side of a rounded entrance into Enclosure Y.
-There are no traces of steps having been built here.
-
-The north-west entrance was evidently the main entrance. It is the
-largest and best-constructed of all these entrances. It has a banquette
-wall on either hand in the interior, also a strongly built vestibule
-with entrances into Enclosures C and D, and opposite the entrance on
-the outside are walls of other ruins.
-
-It is 3 ft. 6 in. wide, 7 ft. long, and the walls on either side are
-only 6 ft. high, but they rise sharply to the level of the general line
-of summit of the wall. Three feet of the length of the entrance on the
-east side are formed by the end of the banquette wall, but on the west
-side the banquette wall is only about 16 in. wide. The entrance is
-angular and plumb and has portcullis grooves. This is the only instance
-so far discovered where a completely angular entrance has portcullis
-grooves, also the only instance where the main or, indeed, any outer
-entrance has such grooves, except the north entrance to this ruin,
-which is partly angular and partly rounded. There is no indication that
-this entrance was once covered in.
-
-Immediately on the inside of this entrance is a small enclosure which
-served as a vestibule and as an approach to enclosures C and D. This is
-9 ft. long, 6 ft. wide, and the walls are from 5 ft. to 8 ft. above the
-paved floor which was destroyed some years ago. At the west end there
-is a passage 4 ft. 4 in. long and 2 ft. 10 in. wide with angular sides
-leading into Enclosure C, the walls on either side being 4 ft. to 5 ft.
-high. At the east end of this vestibule is a passage 9 ft. long and 2
-ft. 10 in. wide leading to Enclosure D, the walls on either side being
-5 ft. to 7 ft. high.
-
-The north entrance opens into Enclosure D at its north-east corner. It
-is angular on the outside but rounded on the inside. It is 2 ft. 10
-in. wide, 4 ft. 6 in. long, and the walls on either side are now only
-from 3 ft. to 5 ft. high. There are portcullis grooves in the rounded
-portions of the side walls. The entrance does not pass through the wall
-at right angles, but obliquely towards the north, which the opening
-faces. A wall runs north for 15 ft. from the east outer side of the
-entrance, but its extremity terminates in block débris. In the angle
-of the two walls at the outer foot of the entrance are traces of steps
-leading for a few feet down the declivity along the west side of the
-projecting wall.
-
-The banquette wall rounds round the inside face of the main wall
-on either side of the north-east or main entrance, and forms a
-terrace behind it which would afford a good view over the main wall.
-Practically the main wall and the banquette wall are one and the same
-structure at certain points, since the stones of the main wall project
-into the banquette; but at other points they are independent of each
-other, and at these points the space between the two structures is
-filled in with stones to the level of the summit of the banquette.
-
-The eastern length of banquette starts from the east side of the
-north-west entrance and runs along the inside of the main wall into
-Enclosure D for a length of 17 ft., the summit being 6 ft. high
-and 3 ft. 6 in. wide at the entrance and 5 ft. wide at its eastern
-extremity. This length of banquette cannot be described as of excellent
-workmanship.
-
-The western length of banquette is 48 ft. long and 4 ft. to 8 ft.
-high, and is 1 ft. wide at the north-west entrance, but widens out to
-11 ft. at the west end, where it connects with the “conglomeration of
-buttresses,” all rounded, which overlook every part of this ruin. The
-workmanship in this length of banquette is somewhat inferior.
-
-There are at least ten enclosures, and these, for the purposes of this
-description, are lettered from A to H or named. On the west side there
-are four outer enclosures, and these are lettered W to Z.
-
-_Enclosure A._—The area of this enclosure is 105 ft. from north to
-south, its longest points, and 51 ft. from east to west, its widest
-points. It has four entrances.
-
-The north-west entrance is the west entrance to these ruins, and has
-already been described.
-
-The south-west entrance is approached by an outer passage on this
-side, but the actual entrance, owing to the amount of débris, can only
-be traced, the débris being level with the summits of the walls on
-either side. These walls are from 4 ft. to 5 ft. high, 3 ft. 6 in. on
-their present summits, and are fairly well built. The passage walls
-are 8 ft. apart for a length of 64 ft. from this enclosure towards the
-south-west, at which point they curve off in different directions,
-the west side wall running a further 51 ft. towards the west, with
-traces of continuation. The east side wall curves round towards the
-south-south-east for 105 ft., including gaps, and at its extremity
-it becomes lost in débris, but in all probability, judging by recent
-clearing away of débris and also by excavations, it ran up to the west
-outer face of the Elliptical Temple. There are no signs of any entrance
-passing through these side walls. The workmanship of both walls is
-fairly good.
-
-The north-east entrance is from Enclosure E, which lies on the
-north-east side. This was a wide entrance with rounded sides, and
-appears to have been built at a higher level than the floor of
-Enclosure A, but the entrance and the steps leading up to it are now
-almost lost in débris.
-
-The east entrance is from Enclosure B. This was rounded, but is now
-filled in to the top by wall débris.
-
-The floor of this enclosure is formed by bed-rock. The highest parts of
-the walls are as follows: south side, 4 ft.; east side, 7 ft.; north
-side, 14 ft.; and west side, 5 ft. to 8 ft.
-
-_Enclosure B._—The area of this enclosure, which lies at the south-east
-side of Enclosure A, is 49 ft. from north to south and 23 ft. from east
-to west. This enclosure has two entrances, the one on the west side
-being the east entrance to Enclosure A, while the one on the north
-side is from a passage which connects this enclosure with Enclosure F.
-Both entrances are rounded. This enclosure appears to have been cleared
-out to below the levels of the bottom of the foundations.
-
-The passage connecting Enclosures B and F runs from south-west to
-north-east. Including the two entrances, it is 23 ft. long, and 3 ft.
-wide at the south-west end, and 5 ft. wide at the north-east end. The
-side walls, which are very substantial, are still 8 ft. high. The
-entrance from this passage into Enclosure F is formed by two large
-rounded buttresses with portcullis grooves.
-
-_Enclosure C._—This enclosure is on the west side of the ruins, and
-is on the south side of the main and north-west entrance to these
-ruins, and north of Enclosure A, and is on the inner side of the west
-portion of the main wall. Its length from north to south is 43 ft.,
-and its width from east to west 17 ft. The western length of banquette
-wall forms its west side, and the face of this wall is poorly built.
-The south wall must be considered as badly built. On its south and
-south-east sides is the “conglomeration of buttresses,” the character
-of which can better be seen by glancing at the accompanying plan. The
-buttresses are almost circular, and have their centres filled with
-stones, thrown in most promiscuously. The east wall is well built;
-still it is inferior to any of the main walls of the Elliptical Temple.
-Through this wall is an aperture 2 ft. wide and with side walls 3 ft.
-high. The floor of this enclosure has been cleared away in places,
-showing the foundations of the walls.
-
-_Enclosure D._—This enclosure is on the inner side of the north portion
-of the main wall, and east of the north-west entrance to these ruins
-and of the Entrance Enclosure.
-
-The area of this enclosure is 41 ft. from north to south, and 45 ft.
-from east to west. It is bounded on the north, west, and south sides by
-the banquette and main walls for 23 ft., on the west by the Entrance
-Enclosure for 5 ft., and by Enclosure EE for 18 ft., on the south by
-a wall dividing it from Enclosure E for 10 ft., but the rest of the
-southern boundary wall for 12 ft. is now only débris, and in places can
-barely be traced. On the east side is a wall 15 ft. long, 4 ft. high, 2
-ft. 10 in. wide on present summit, which separates this enclosure from
-Enclosure H; the rest of the eastern boundary is lost in débris.
-
-From the north inner side of the main wall at 20 ft. from the
-north-west corner of this enclosure there is a wall 4 ft. high
-projecting southwards into the enclosure for 5 ft., and this has an
-angular end.
-
-A wall 6 ft. long, forming part of the passage from the north-west
-entrance, projects into this enclosure. Judging by the arrangement of
-débris in the space between this wall and the main wall, it is very
-probable that there were steps here leading up to the summit of the
-banquette wall.
-
-At the eastern corner of this enclosure is the north entrance to these
-ruins. This has already been described.
-
-_Enclosure EE._—This enclosure is bounded on the north by Enclosure
-D, on the north-west by Entrance Enclosure, on the west by Enclosure
-C, and on the south by Enclosure E. Its area is 26 ft. from north to
-south, and 27 ft. from east to west.
-
-The floor of the south-west corner was once at a higher level than that
-of the rest of the enclosure, and to this originally raised portion
-there are remains of a narrow-rounded entrance on the south side, now
-filled up with débris, from Enclosure E. There are traces of steps up
-to this raised entrance. The floor of the aperture in the wall on the
-east side of Enclosure C appears to have been on the level of this
-raised floor.
-
-_Enclosure E._—This lies directly to the south of Enclosure EE. Its
-area is 49 ft. from north to south, and 48 ft. from east to west. It
-is bounded on the west for 49 ft. by a wall and the “conglomeration
-of buttresses” already mentioned, which respectively separates it from
-Enclosures A and C; on the south for 45 ft. by Enclosures B and the
-passage which connects Enclosures B and F; on the east for 36 ft. by
-a wall and a large rounded buttress, which is one of the prominent
-features of these ruins; the rest of the east boundary cannot be
-traced, owing to débris piles; lastly, on the north by Enclosures EE
-and D.
-
-There are still two entrances remaining—one from Enclosure A and the
-other from Enclosure C. Both are approached from the enclosure by
-steps, now ruined but traceable, leading up either side of the central
-buttress of the “conglomeration of buttresses.”
-
-The large buttress on the east side is semi-circular, the centre of
-its face is towards the west. It is 6 ft. high, 30 ft. round its face,
-and is fairly well built, it being a wall with its internal portion
-promiscuously thrown in till its summit was levelled throughout.
-
-On the south-west are two rounded buttresses with their faces towards
-the east and west respectively.
-
-The enclosure contains piles of excavators’ soil débris of some age.
-
-_Enclosure F._—This is situated on the east side of Enclosure E, and
-lies between that enclosure and Enclosure G. Its area is roughly
-circular, it being 37 ft. from north to south, and 42 ft. from east to
-west. Its southern boundary is formed for 37 ft. by the outer south
-wall of these ruins, which wall is 5 ft. high and 4 ft. wide on its
-present very reduced summit. There is a gap of 12 ft. on its north-west
-side, where there are now only traces of a wall.
-
-The enclosure has two entrances now remaining—the entrance from the
-passage leading from Enclosure B, which has already been described,
-and an entrance through the outer south wall. This entrance which
-is rounded is 2 ft. 6 in. wide, the side walls are 3 ft. high, and
-there are portcullis grooves on either hand, and these have been
-deliberately built up. This enclosure resembles the other portions of
-these ruins with regard to large piles of soil débris on its area.
-
-_Enclosure G._—This is the most easterly enclosure in these ruins. It
-is bounded on the south by Enclosure F, on the west by Enclosure H,
-and on the north and east by the outer east wall of the ruins, which
-wall is 8 ft. high and 3 ft. 6 in. wide on its present summit. Its
-area is 35 ft. from east to west, and 47 ft. from north to south. It
-possessed three entrances, and these were on its west, north, and east
-sides. The west entrance is barely distinguishable, but has traces of
-its having been angular. The north entrance has rounded sides, and
-leads from Enclosure H, a wall 22 ft. long and 5 ft. high forming a
-division between the two enclosures. The enclosure has been filled in
-with débris up to the level of this wall and overlooks the east end of
-Enclosure H, which here is very much lower. The east entrance through
-the outer wall is rounded on its south side, but the north side has
-disappeared.
-
-_Enclosure H._—This lies on the inner side of the north and north-east
-portions of the main wall, which here is considerably broken. It is
-bounded on the west by Enclosure D, on the south by Enclosures E and
-F, and on the east by Enclosure G. Most probably there was an entrance
-between the main wall on the east side and Enclosure G, and this led
-to the network of ruins which are built up against this side of No. 1
-Ruins and extend for some 300 yds. towards the east. The area of this
-enclosure is 53 ft. from east to west, and 31 ft. from north to south.
-The western end of this enclosure is considerably higher than the
-eastern end.
-
-_Outer enclosures._—Four enclosures lie to the west of the south-west
-extremity of the main wall, and are separated from it by the passage
-which leads to the west entrance of these ruins, and connects these
-enclosures with Enclosure A.
-
-These enclosures adjoin one another in a single line broadways from
-south to north, there being a common wall for all of them on their west
-sides. These enclosures are lettered W to Z, commencing at the south
-end.
-
-Their areas are as follows:—
-
- W 25 ft. N. to S., and 20 ft. E. to W.
- X 15 ft. 〃 26 ft. 〃
- Y 12 ft. 〃 22 ft. 〃
- Z 16 ft. 〃 19 ft. 〃
-
-
- RIDGE RUINS
-
-These ruins are situated on the highest point of the bare granite ridge
-which extends from the north-west of the _Elliptical Temple_ towards
-the north-west, and curves towards the north, where it terminates at
-_Havilah Camp_.
-
-The southern extremity of these ruins is 140 yds. from the north-west
-side of the _Elliptical Temple_ and 100 yds. west of _No. 1 Ruins_. The
-path from the outspan and camp to the water springs and the _Elliptical
-Temple_ passes close to its west side, while another path to the
-_Temple_ passes close to its east side. The _Outer Defence Wall_,
-which runs from the west side of the _Temple_ round towards the west,
-north-west, and north of the _Acropolis Hill_, runs parallel to the
-west side of these ruins at a distance of 96 ft. A number of euphorbia
-trees and aloes line its walls, which are now comparatively low, the
-highest parts being about 9 ft.
-
-The whale-back granite glacis on which these ruins are built dips
-sharply from immediately outside the walls all round these ruins,
-except at the south-east end, which is here only slightly higher than
-the present ground level outside the _Elliptical Temple_. Except for
-vegetable mould at a few points, the whole of the floors of these ruins
-are formed by the formation rock.
-
-The plan of these ruins shows an oval area, with a long and wide outer
-passage running along its east side for 246 ft. from the north to the
-south of the oval enclosure, this passage having its southern extremity
-well protected by traverses and buttressed entrances.
-
-These ruins, though built of irregularly sized stones, have the faces
-of the walls which still remain remarkably true and even, so much so
-that experienced builders after examining the walls state that with
-such irregularly sized stones it would be most difficult to erect
-walls with faces as true as those of these ruins. There appears to
-be no similarity whatever between the second-period architecture and
-construction and these ruins, except that the filling-in of the walls
-between their faces is more promiscuous than is the case with walls
-of first-period architecture and construction. Its entrances and
-buttresses are all rounded, and the walls have a fair batter-back,
-there being no plumb wall present.
-
-[Illustration: Sketch Plan RIDGE RUINS Zimbabwe.]
-
-It would be difficult to state the purpose these ruins were intended to
-serve, but seeing they occupy the most westerly position of the main
-ruins’ area, and that they are built on a commanding and strategetic
-position, it might be inferred, if their claim to any great antiquity
-were established, that their purpose was that of a fort, defending
-not only the westerly side of the main ruins’ area, but also part of
-a main line of communication, of which the Parallel Passage formed
-a section, between the _Elliptical Temple_ and the west end of the
-_Acropolis Hill_. This suggestion is, in fact, apparently supported by
-the numerous traverses in the passage, traces of which can still be
-noticed, and by the fact that the oval enclosure overlooks the passage
-throughout its length. But, as stated before, these ruins cannot at
-present be classed as _ancient_, though they are undoubtedly of great
-age.
-
-_Oval Enclosure._—The area of the oval enclosure is 170 ft. from north
-to south, and 86 ft. from east to west. These are its longest and its
-widest points. The floor is formed by comparatively level surfaces of
-granite rock. There is very little soil within the enclosure, and this
-consists of black mould, decomposed cement, and native clay. The walls
-still standing average some 4 ft. to 7 ft. in height, and are about 3
-ft. 6 in. wide on their present reduced summits, and are battered-back.
-Plumb and angular walls are absent. The east wall is at one point
-carried over a large boulder 8 ft. high, and a few courses of blocks on
-the summit still remain. The north wall is considerably dilapidated,
-and the débris of this portion lies on the face of the declivity.
-The external faces of the walls are in a much better condition than
-the inner faces, for trees and shrubs which could not grow on the
-outer granite slopes manage to thrive in the very scanty soil of the
-interior. This enclosure has been used by the natives as a cattle
-kraal. Though cattle could not climb into the enclosure from outside,
-they no doubt damaged the inside faces of the walls by attempting to
-get outside from over the walls. The material for the stone foundations
-of circular huts of no very great age, which are to be seen in the
-enclosure, was very probably taken from the inside faces of the walls.
-
-These Makalanga stone foundations, which are identical with those found
-in old Makalanga kraals, occupy the following positions. At 60 ft.
-from the south end and 12 ft. from the west side, foundations of stone
-blocks 19 ft. in diameter. At 110 ft. from south end and almost facing
-the west entrance, stone foundations of hut 22 ft. in diameter. At 8
-ft. from north end foundation blocks disarranged and exact measurement
-impossible. At 60 ft. from south end and 10 ft. from east side is
-another foundation, but here again the blocks have become considerably
-disturbed.
-
-This enclosure has two entrances, and these are on the south and west
-sides respectively. The south entrance is comparatively intact, but the
-west entrance is buried in wall débris and can only be traced on one
-side. Both are rounded. The south entrance walls are 3 ft. 6 in. high,
-the passage is 2 ft. wide and 7 ft. long, and there are portcullis
-grooves. The north side of the west entrance is formed by a large
-boulder 6 ft. high.
-
-There is no trace of ornamentation on the walls, but if it ever
-existed, the walls having become so reduced, it must have disappeared.
-No article was found for which the slightest antiquity could be
-claimed, all the finds being obviously of native make, though somewhat
-superior to their make of to-day.
-
-_Parallel Passage._—Roughly speaking, the passage throughout its length
-of 246 ft. from north to south runs parallel with the east wall of
-the oval enclosure and follows it round in its curves, but narrowing
-towards its southern extremity. There is no entrance from the passage
-to the oval enclosure except at the south end. At the north end the
-passage is 47 ft. wide, and the formation rock forms the floor; at
-40 ft. further south the passage is 36 ft. wide; at 80 ft. from the
-north end 22 ft. wide; at 160 ft., 19 ft. wide; at 190 ft., 13 ft.
-wide, which width is maintained as far as the southern extremity. The
-heights of the outer wall vary from 5 ft. to 7 ft., the best-preserved
-lengths being near the southern end, where a pair of traverses with
-rounded ends stand at a few feet north of the south entrance to the
-passage. This entrance has rounded sides.
-
-A passage crosses from east to west at the southern extremity, and in
-it are three entrances with rounded sides. Opposite the south face
-of the southern extremity of the passage, and at 6 ft. distance is
-an independent screen wall, 16 ft. long and 5 ft. high, covering the
-approach to the entrance from the south. At several points in the
-parallel passage there are distinct traces of traverses.
-
-The new path from _Havilah Camp_ to the _Elliptical Temple_ now runs
-through the parallel passage of these ruins.
-
-
- CAMP RUINS NO. 1.
-
-Camp Ruins Nos. 1 and 2 lie north and south respectively of the
-Shangani Grave, which separates them, the huts of the camp being built
-on the north and wrest sides and within a few feet of the remains of
-Camp Ruins No. 1, which is Sir John Willoughby’s No. 3 Ruins in his
-_Further Excavations at Zimbabye_, 1892.
-
-Sir John describes this ruin as follows:—
-
- “Previous to my arrival, the only trace of ruins here was one
- small stone buttress on the eastern side. My original intention
- was to find any wall foundations that might exist, and then to
- cross-cut right through the mound at their level from east to
- west, and from north to south. But I was deterred from carrying
- this out, because as the work proceeded, traces of cement
- floors at different levels were discovered. By starting low
- down the mound, I came upon a wall, varying in height from 4
- ft. to 6 ft., which encircled it. The original height of this
- wall can only be estimated by comparing the existing structure
- with the fallen débris which was buried by an accumulation of
- soil. At the foot of this wall, and on the outside, I found
- many specimens of arrow-heads, Kafir pottery, bracelets, and
- necklaces of iron and copper. I also found something which may
- perhaps prove to be an object of special interest. This was a
- piece of copper about 6 in. in length and a quarter of an inch
- thick, covered with a green substance (whether enamel, paint,
- or lacquer, I am unable to determine), and inlaid with one of
- the triangular Zimbabwe designs. It was buried 5 ft. below
- the surface, almost in contact with the east side of the wall
- itself.
-
-[Illustration: CAMP RUINS N^o. 1.
-
-—Zimbabwe—]
-
- “I also discovered a small cave under a big rock that
- culminates in the highest point of the mound, but the only
- object of interest here found, besides bits of coarse pottery,
- was a piece of crystal or glass. On driving into the mound
- through a somewhat broken entrance in the inside wall of the
- west side, I was much puzzled by striking a level cement floor
- some 4 ft. above the wall foundations, and on following this
- level I came upon a second floor about 2 ft. above the first.
- It would therefore seem that originally there were a series of
- cement terraces, one above the other, culminating in a point
- of observation on the south side on the summit of a large
- rock, or that different occupants at varying dates had made
- new floors. It was near this rock that I came upon one of the
- few pieces of masonry inside the other wall, and that only
- very fragmentary in character. In following the outside wall
- on its inner face, I found it varied in width between 2 ft. 6
- in. and 4 ft., and that its foundations also varied much in
- depth. In the cutting thus made I came upon three small furnace
- holes close together on a level with the top of the wall as it
- now stands, the foundations of which increased in depth as I
- proceeded, and disclosed here and there what appeared to be an
- extensive layer of ashes with the bones and teeth of animals. A
- notable peculiarity in this mound is the variety of stratified
- soil with folding concave towards the centre. The surface soil
- is more or less black; then comes a bright red clay divided by
- a broad yellow streak, and below this a dash of yellow, with
- here and there a vein of decomposed sandstone or other rocky
- substance. During this excavation I was not very successful in
- finds, which were only represented by three pieces of sea-green
- china, one of which was lying in the solid red clay below the
- surface, and 8 ft. to 10 ft. into the side of the mound, and
- two dull green porcelain beads, found 7 ft. deep and near its
- centre. Taking into consideration the ash beds and furnace
- holes already referred to, I feel justified in suggesting that
- once a workshop was here the scene of useful activity, and
- at that time surrounded by an irregular wall for protective
- purposes, with a point of outlook to guard against surprise,
- such as the big rock with the summit would represent.”
-
-As the author resided actually within Camp Ruins for fully two years
-(1902–4), very frequent opportunities of thoroughly examining the walls
-have presented themselves, the result being that it is now ascertained
-that these ruins as seen to-day can be shown to be not ancient but of
-a some very old Makalanga period. The furnace holes alluded to have
-been used for iron-smelting, and to the depth of 11 ft. no single
-article approaching an antique or even mediæval character has been
-found within or near its walls. The brass wire bangles found at depth
-still have their grass, hair, or fibre intact. Garden hoes, assegai
-heads, and coarse pottery of ordinary Kafir make are here found in
-abundance. The green pottery beads are found in almost every ruin at
-Zimbabwe, and never at lower depth than the yellow soil which lies
-immediately under the black vegetable mould on the floors of all the
-ruins. Certainly, the present natives do not know this class of beads.
-That this building, as suggested by Sir John Willoughby, was once a
-workshop is obvious from the quantities of iron slag and ashes and
-burnt clay floors and iron furnaces found in the vicinity. The bones
-of animals are mainly those of buck of all kinds. The construction of
-the walls precludes any suggestion that they could have been standing
-very many centuries, certainly not extending back to any period which
-could, even by long inference, be considered “ancient.” The workmanship
-is decidedly poorer than that shown in modern Kafir buildings in the
-district.
-
-But while this ruin, as seen to-day, may not itself be ancient, there
-is some evidence that the ancients must have fortified this knoll;
-and when we consider its strategetic position on the granite ridge,
-extending from the south-west foot of the Acropolis Hill and the
-Elliptical Temple, it becomes highly probable that later people have
-utilised the material of some older buildings once occupying this
-position in the erection of their poorer structures. Foundations of
-walls surround the knoll at distances of some fifty and one hundred
-yards from these ruins, and these show a fair claim to be recognised as
-ancient, or, at any rate, as older than the walls on the summit. The
-“cement” mentioned by Sir John is common soil _daga_ (clay), similar to
-that found in old Makalanga huts and floors.
-
-The ruin crowning the knoll is roughly circular, with a diameter of
-about 100 ft., with walls varying in height from 4 ft. to 6 ft. The
-accompanying plan, with explanatory notes, kindly lent to the author
-by Sir John Willoughby, shows the character of this ruin. The “finds”
-made here in 1902–3 are identical with those discovered by Sir John
-Willoughby.
-
-
- CAMP RUIN No. 2
-
-This ruin lies 50 ft. south of Camp Ruins No. 1, and is on the same
-knoll, the two being separated from each other by the Shangani
-graveyard.
-
-[Illustration: CAMP RUINS N^o. 2
-
-—Zimbabwe—]
-
-Sir John Willoughby writes:—
-
-“I carefully attacked Ruin No. 2, but with a disappointing result. It
-merely appears to be an enclosure formed by an irregular outside wall,
-varying in thickness and in the depth of its foundations. In tracing
-this wall, the bed-rock was occasionally exposed at a depth of 3 ft.
-The only ‘finds’ here were two small pieces of sea-green china, one
-small piece of white china, a few Kafir arrow-heads, whorls of poor
-make, two fragments of pottery having a kind of basket design, and a
-copper or brass clasp or fastening, which probably formed part of a box
-of modern date.”
-
-This ruin has recently been re-examined with similarly disappointing
-result, and the remarks made with regard to No. 1 Ruin apply equally
-to this ruin. Clay foundations and floors of old Kafir huts fill the
-interior at different levels. Probably in the most ancient period, long
-before the present structures were erected, one large ruin occupied the
-site of both Nos. 1 and 2 Ruins, and encircled and crowned the knoll,
-for judging from very old foundations, walls surrounded the knoll. At
-least there were two such walls, one being within and higher than the
-other.
-
-
-
-
- CHAPTER XXI
-
- RUINS NEAR ZIMBABWE
-
- East Ruins—Other Ruins within the Zimbabwe Ruins’ Area.
-
-
- EAST RUINS
-
-These ruins lie 20 yds. to the south of the Motelekwe Road at 550 yds.
-east of Havilah Camp, and face the east end of the Acropolis Hill at a
-distance of 300 yds. south.
-
-They occupy a rise overlooking the Valley of Ruins, and are built
-upon an open granite glacis which originally formed its floor. Their
-elevated and strategetic position at once claim the attention of
-visitors. These ruins have always been written and spoken of as being
-a fort for the defence of the east side of the Valley of Ruins, and,
-in fact, for all the ruins of the lower Zimbabwe group, including the
-Elliptical Temple, and especially for the eastern end of the South-East
-Ancient Ascent to the Acropolis. Judging from the contour of the
-country round about, the only possible line the ancient road from the
-east and the coast could have taken must have passed within a few yards
-of this ruin.
-
-The view from East Ruins towards the east is most extensive and
-picturesque, for the land slopes on that side for over two miles
-towards the Beroma Range and the valley of the Motelekwe, while in the
-hollow are the Chipo-popo and Mapudzi rivers. Opposite are the peculiar
-and romantic columns of granite near Chenga’s kraal.
-
-For the purposes of defence these ruins are ideally situated. On the
-south side they are protected by a steep declivity of some 40 ft. into
-the valley, and down this the original builders and later occupiers
-have shot their débris in great quantities. The space between the ruin
-and the declivity, some 25 yds. in width and 100 ft. in length, is
-covered with short lengths of walls and wall débris.
-
-[Illustration: Sketch Plan
-
-EAST RUINS Motelekwe Road Great Zimbabwe
-
-_Single figures are heights of walls in feet._]
-
-The area covered by these ruins is 140 ft. from north to south, and 93
-ft. from east to west. It is most probable that on the south and east
-sides there were other enclosures.
-
-The walls on the north, west, and south are fairly well built and
-massive, and are still some 8 ft. to 10 ft. in height, and average 3
-ft. 6 in. to 4 ft. width of summit at those heights. The walls on the
-south-east and east average a height of from 4 ft. to 7 ft., while the
-divisional walls which remain have a reduced height of 4 ft. and 5 ft.,
-and these latter are also substantially constructed.
-
-There are four well-defined enclosures, the two on the west side being
-the most perfect. The northern enclosure had once been subdivided into
-at least six separate compartments.
-
-Both in plan and construction these ruins excel most of the minor
-ruins, including No. 1 Ruins, and many walls on the Acropolis. The
-curved lines of the walls on the northern and southern sides are bold
-and striking, and well and exactly carried out. Their solidity is very
-noticeable, especially on both outer and inner faces. Not only are the
-courses in these walls fairly even, but the blocks are well-sized and
-are of a good quality of granite. In some portions of the walls the
-workmanship is of an inferior character.
-
-But, whatever the style of construction may be, the faces of the walls
-are beautifully even from base to summit and also lengthways, for
-placing one’s eye close up against the wall and glancing along an area
-of wall-face, there is hardly to be seen half an inch of front of block
-protruding in front of its neighbours. This, of course, does not apply
-to the batter-back, which is only that of an average wall at Zimbabwe.
-The impression gained on viewing these massive walls, which occupy such
-an excellently strategetic position, is that the original builders
-intended the building to be used for some important purpose.
-
-The northern enclosure is 60 ft. from north to south, and 67 ft.
-from east to west. The south-west enclosure is 61 ft. from north to
-south, and 51 ft. from east to west. The eastern enclosure is 55 ft.
-from north to south, and 22 ft. from east to west. The south-eastern
-enclosure, which is rather rudely constructed, and the walls of which
-are very considerably dilapidated, is 20 ft. from north to south, and
-80 ft. from east to west.
-
-There are three entrances through the outer walls, and these are on the
-west, south, and east, and all are rounded; two have buttresses, one
-has portcullis grooves, and the foundation forms the passage floor in
-each case. Two divisional entrances now only remain, and these are also
-rounded.
-
-Immediately inside the west entrance and on the north side is what
-appears to have been a raised platform, facing west, about 4 ft. above
-the original floor. This may have an area of 15 ft. from north to
-south by 12 ft. from east to west, but the artificial filling-in of
-the ruin with soil has raised the interior surface to the level of
-this platform. Probably, as at other ruins at Zimbabwe with identical
-platforms in corresponding positions, this afforded a look-out
-overlooking the entrance. On the eastern side of these ruins there is a
-similar but smaller structure which may have answered the same purpose.
-
-In the eastern enclosure and on the east face of the west wall is a
-recess starting upwards from the ground. This is 3 ft. high, 1 ft. 10
-in. wide, and the blocks on each side respectively are flush-edged with
-each other. The recess goes back about the length of two blocks (see
-_Architecture_—_Blind Recesses_).
-
-These ruins have been artificially filled in with soil to a depth of 3
-ft. to 5 ft. by native occupiers of a comparatively late date, for the
-soil on the surface and downwards to the bottom of the filling-in is
-thick with old native pottery and the broken-up remains of Kafir huts.
-
-Although almost every relic-hunter seems to have paid attention
-to these ruins, nothing of any antique value has been found here.
-Probably when the original occupiers left the granite floors were
-still exposed, and any objects found there may have been removed long
-before the filling-in took place. So far, there is no evidence that any
-industry—whether of ancient, mediæval, or modern occupiers—has ever
-been carried on in this building.
-
-
- OTHER RUINS WITHIN THE ZIMBABWE RUINS’ AREA
-
-_Bentberg (Matusu)._—This kopje, which is 240 ft. above the threshold
-of the West Entrance to the Elliptical Temple, lies immediately south
-and south-west of the temple. Only 200 yds. separate the building from
-the foot of the hill. Here are many signs of very old occupations in
-the form of ruined terrace walls apparently of the Zimbabwe style, but
-of a very late period. The local Makalanga state that though their
-predecessors of the same race have had kraals on this hill, the terrace
-walls are not of any Makalanga construction; and this appears to be
-obvious. Further, though Makalanga pottery is abundant, yet there
-can be found both pottery and cement of a very superior quality and
-make; and such are repudiated by the natives as having been made by
-Amangwa, Makalanga, or Barotse. Great quantities of quartz broken into
-very small splinters are to be found in large areas on the hill. The
-nearest quartz reefs are six miles west of Zimbabwe. The older remains
-of terraces—many buried in silted soil—are to be found on the north
-side of the hill, but traces of walls can be met with extending almost
-to the summit and round the western flank. It is impossible to imagine
-that the ancients did not in some manner occupy the hill, as otherwise
-the Elliptical Temple would have been exposed on its south side without
-any defences. The old Barotse had a kraal at the foot of the north side
-of the hill just above the spot where are still the traces of Bent’s
-camp.
-
-_Rusivanga Kopje._—This hill (190 ft.) rises from the Zimbabwe Valley
-at some 300 yds. west of Havilah Camp. It is directly on the right of
-the road from Victoria to Zimbabwe at about a third of a mile from
-the main ruins, the road passing between it and Makuma Kopje on which
-is Mogabe’s kraal. The northern and eastern faces of this hill show
-in places from base to summit abundant evidence of occupations by
-ancients and also by very old Makalanga and Barotse. The remains of
-walls are in most instances of inferior construction, though at some
-points the courses of excellently built wall can be traced. There are
-also rudely built ramparts and enclosure walls of some later period. On
-the summit of the hill was once a fort. Fragments of soapstone, slate,
-quartz, and ironstone are to be found, also large stone-crushers, some
-excellent pottery, and cement work of superior quality. At one point
-is a cement wall carried across the top of a boulder. There are stone
-foundations of Makalanga huts which are circular and lined with cement,
-and winnowing floors with raised edges. On the eastern side of the
-hill two sets of _isafuba_ game-holes have been cut into the surface
-of the granite rock. Each of these has thirty-six holes. On the west
-side and near the summit there are at least thirty different sets of
-game-holes cut into the granite, the holes of the sets varying in size.
-On the open granite areas on the hill are several places where deep
-depressions have been worn into the rock, evidently by the sharpening
-of tools or by grinding stones.
-
-_Ruin on Bingura’s Path._—This is located on the left-hand side of the
-path leading to Bingura’s kraal at about half a mile from the camp.
-Only its south-east wall is now standing, but its outlines can be
-traced by piles of blocks on all other sides. The area covered is about
-half an acre. The wall is well and substantially built, and is still 6
-ft. high. This appears to be of very old construction. There have been
-no important “finds” made here, the ruin not having yet been examined.
-It occupies a strategetic position on slightly raised ground in the
-valley between the Bentberg and Rusivanga.
-
-
- RUIN NEAR CHENGA’S KRAAL
-
-This is situated one mile and a quarter east of Havilah Camp, and is
-the most easterly ruin of the Zimbabwe group. It stands upon a low
-ledge on the west side of the Beroma Range, and is a quarter of a mile
-west of Chenga’s kraal, and directly overlooks the Mapudzi stream,
-which flows at about 60 ft. immediately below the west face of the
-ruin. The position is strategetic and affords a view over several
-valleys. The area covered by walls and stone débris is fully an acre
-and a half, but the actual walls now standing in any recognisable form
-of plan only cover 100 ft. by 80 ft.
-
-A cluster of large boulders has been utilised, and over these and
-between them the walls have been erected, the interior being filled
-up with earth almost up to the summits of the walls by some later
-occupiers. On clearing this foreign soil from the interior faces
-of the walls, two buried entrances, both rounded, were discovered,
-and it was then possible to prepare a plan of such of the walls as
-were so cleared. Nothing of any antique value was found during these
-operations, all the “finds,” which were not numerous, being of old
-native articles.
-
-All the walls are curved, and all buttresses, entrances, and ends of
-walls are rounded, and have a distinct batter-back. The granite blocks
-in some portions of the walls are as regular in size and shape as those
-to be seen in the Elliptical Temple, but the construction is not of
-the best. The outer faces of the walls have been first raised, and the
-internal portions afterwards filled in with stones of all sizes and
-shapes, but larger than those seen in the filling-in of the interiors
-of many of the walls at Khami Ruins. The courses at some points are
-very regular, but at others there has been no attempt at making any
-courses. The column style of building adopted by old Makalanga and
-Barotse is present in parts. The walls average about 4 ft. in width at
-base and 3 ft. on present reduced summit. There is no mural decorative
-work introduced.
-
-[Illustration: Sketch Plan
-
-RUIN near CHENGA’S KRAAL
-
-(Zimbabwe)]
-
-The natives state that this ruin was not built by the same people that
-built the rough walls of the minor ruins at Zimbabwe, their theory
-being that it was erected by Barotse very many generations ago, and
-on this point they are very emphatic. The translations of the native
-expressions for relics are “pretty stone” and “money.” In starting work
-here, the labourers, who receive small rewards for discovering relics,
-grumbled considerably, and informed the author that it was useless to
-work there, as no “pretty stones” or “money” would be found there.
-Similar remarks were made about other small ruins, and in every case
-they have been proved to be correct. Whether this ruin has actually any
-claim to antiquity is a matter which, at present, it would be unsafe to
-dogmatise upon.
-
-
- CHENGA’S AND MADAVID PATH RUINS
-
-These ruins are in a valley which runs north and south on the Beroma
-Range at one mile distance south-east of Chenga’s kraal, and lie a few
-yards to the west of the native path leading from Chenga’s to Madavid’s
-kraal. Madavid is the native name for David, a Basuto, who lives near.
-
-The area covered is fully a third of an acre on the summit of a knoll,
-which rises some 30 ft. above the valley. Traces of walls covering an
-area of an acre and a half are to be seen on the south, west, and north
-sides. Large granite boulders have been utilised in the construction,
-the walls being carried in curved lines from boulder to boulder,
-enclosing a rudely drawn circular area 51 ft. from east to west, and
-42 ft. from north to south. In one instance the wall is carried over a
-boulder.
-
-The faces of the walls show good workmanship, the courses being fairly
-even, the joints uniformly distributed, and the blocks regular in size.
-The bases of the walls average from 4 ft. to 5 ft. in width, while the
-very reduced summits are 3 ft. 6 in. wide at 5 ft. from the ground. The
-walls display a carefulness in construction which is absent from some
-of the divisional walls of the main ruins at Zimbabwe. The side walls
-of the entrance on the east side of the building are most perfectly
-rounded. There is no mural decoration. The interior of the building is
-of earth, which contains Kafir pottery, etc. No exploration work has
-been done here.
-
-
- MAPAKU, OR “LITTLE ZIMBABWE” RUINS
-
-These ruins are situated at a distance of seven miles south-east of
-Zimbabwe, and occupy a position overlooking the Motelekwe Valley,
-and are on the eastern side of the lower shoulders of the southern
-extremity of the Beroma Range. On the south side of the ruins the
-ground falls in the direction of the Motelekwe River, which here flows
-south to south-west of the ruins at the distance of about a mile. The
-Mapaku kraal is a quarter of a mile north-west of the ruins. At the
-village are some caves (_I-Baku_, cave; _Mapaku_, caves). The headman
-is a Molinye, younger brother to the Mogabe Handisibishe of Zimbabwe.
-Good water can be obtained from several places in the vicinity of the
-ruins.
-
-[Illustration: MAPAKU RUINS or “Little Zimbabwe”]
-
-The area covered by these ruins, excepting traces of outlying walls,
-is 70 ft. from north to south, and 80 ft. from east to west. Though
-the ruins are small in area, yet they have a considerable importance,
-seeing that they form one of the ruins of the chain of such structures
-which stretches at certain intervals from Zimbabwe along the Motelekwe
-River, which chain again connects with the chain of a similar class
-of ruins running from the lower Sabi in Portuguese territory in the
-direction of Sofala. The chains of ruins appear to point out the
-ancient approach from the coast to the metropolitan centre at Zimbabwe
-and the gold districts of Southern Mashonaland and Matabeleland.
-
-The thickness and height of the walls are the first features which
-will strike anyone on entering the building, especially when the small
-size of the centre ruins are taken into consideration. The walls are
-all built on curved lines, and average a width of 4 to 5 ft. at the
-base, and 3 ft. at present reduced summits at 8 ft. above the ground.
-All the walls are built upon the granite rock formation, and there is
-comparatively very little soil on the floors, and most of this is black
-vegetable mould. Fortunately these ruins have not been subjected to the
-filling-in operations of the very old Kafir peoples as have so very
-many ancient ruins in Rhodesia. The absence of sufficient soil for the
-growth of large trees has no doubt saved the walls from more serious
-dilapidation. The walls are white with lichen, this being a feature in
-all the ruins along the Motelekwe Valley, which, seen from Zimbabwe, is
-usually filled with mist-fogs.
-
-The main entrance evidently is the one on the south-west side of the
-building, for here is a long narrow passage leading from the interior,
-the passage running parallel to the south main wall forming an easily
-defended approach. The ruins have only two entrances—the main entrance
-and an angular entrance on the north side without portcullis grooves.
-This latter entrance leads into an outer enclosure only, and is
-protected on the inside by what may be described as a “sentry-box.”
-This is a curved wall 7 ft. long and 5 ft. high, enclosing a small area
-large enough to hold two or three men, and its entrance opens on to the
-inside of the entrance in the main wall. There are several of these
-“sentry-boxes” at Zimbabwe occupying exactly similar positions near
-entrances.
-
-The interior of the building contains at least four enclosures and two
-long passages, and these may be described as follows:—
-
-No. 1 Enclosure, which is on the north-east side of the ruins, is
-22 ft. from east to west, and 13 ft. 6 in. from north to south. The
-floor is formation rock covered over (1903) with a few inches’ depth of
-vegetable mould. The main wall, which forms its north and east sides,
-is 6 ft. high throughout, the wall on the west is 8 ft. high, and the
-curved walls which divide this enclosure from No. 2 Enclosure average
-6 ft. and 7 ft. in height, except at the entrance to No. 2 Enclosure,
-where the height on either side is reduced to 5 ft.
-
-[Illustration: THE PASSAGE, LOOKING SOUTH, MAPAKU RUINS]
-
-[Illustration: SLATE BEAM IN RECESS OF ENTRANCE, PHILIPS’ RUINS, VALLEY
-OF RUINS]
-
-No. 2 Enclosure, which is roughly circular in form, is only approached
-by one entrance, and this is on its north side, and leads from No. 1
-Enclosure. This entrance is angular, and has portcullis grooves, and is
-2 ft. 8 in. wide and 3 ft. 6 in. long. The walls of this enclosure are
-substantially built, being 3 ft. wide at their summits, which average
-7 ft. to 9 ft. in height. The area enclosed is 20 ft. from north to
-south, and 24 ft. from east to west. This enclosure, judging by its
-complicated approach, was evidently the principal part of the ruins.
-
-Nos. 1 and 2 Enclosures are only approached by a passage 25 ft. long
-running north and south, which is 2 ft. 10 in. wide at its northern
-end and widens to 6 ft. 6 in. at the south end. The west wall of the
-passage is from 5 ft. to 6 ft. high, and that on the east side 7 ft. to
-8 ft. high.
-
-Leading from the north end of this passage into No. 1 Enclosure is a
-covered entrance, 5 ft. high, 2 ft. 6 in. wide, and 5 ft. long. The
-roof is supported by flat granite slabs. On either side, and extending
-from floor to roof, are portcullis grooves. This entrance is somewhat
-dilapidated, and it is feared that one side of it may soon fall down.
-
-No. 3 Enclosure is bounded on the north by the divisional wall of No.
-2 Enclosure, on the east and south by the curved main wall, and on the
-west by a very dilapidated divisional wall, which separates it from
-No. 4 Enclosure. It is 21 ft. 6 in. from north to south at its widest
-point, and about 35 ft. from east to west at its longest point.
-
-This enclosure is the first to be approached from the main or west
-entrance to the building, with which it is connected by a passage
-running parallel to the south main wall for 28 ft. Where the passage
-enters No. 3 Enclosure are the remains of a rounded buttress on the
-north side. From this buttress the passage westwards is 4 ft. 6 in.
-wide, but quickly narrows to 2 ft. 8 in., which width is maintained
-till it reaches the main entrance. The wall on the south side of
-the passage is from 6 ft. to 9 ft. high, and that on the north side
-averages 5 ft., but is greatly dilapidated toward its eastern end.
-
-No. 4 Enclosure is on the western side of the building, and is 41 ft.
-from north to south at its broadest part, and 39 ft. from east to west
-at its longest part.
-
-On the south side of the exterior are two circular stone foundations
-of one course each. These are 9 ft. in diameter. A number of granite
-blocks lie to the east of the building, and suggest the former
-existence of some structure.
-
-The construction as a whole is somewhat similar to that seen in some of
-the buildings in the Valley of Ruins at Zimbabwe. Straight joints and
-tilted blocks, long and shallow in form, and a disregard of courses,
-are the principal features in the workmanship shown in these ruins.
-There is no mural decoration.
-
-
-
-
- APPENDIX
-
-
- NOTE A
-
- GREAT ZIMBABWE
-
- NOTICE TO VISITORS
-
-1. The only outspan is between Havilah Camp and the south side of the
-Acropolis Hill.
-
-2. No trees or bush on the Zimbabwe reserve to be cut by visitors or
-their native servants. Cut firewood is provided on the outspan.
-
-3. No visitor shall take into any ruin any spades or other tools for
-the purpose of prospecting for relics or gold, or use the same within
-the reserve. No excavated soil shall be panned, nor any stones removed
-from the ruins. Surveys can only be made on the written authority of
-the chief secretary.
-
-4. Visitors are requested not to touch or damage old cement work,
-or shake any ancient monoliths, or climb on walls or places marked
-“Dangerous,” and are asked to assist the Government in the preservation
-of the ruins by giving immediate notice to the magistrate at Victoria,
-or to any official in charge of the ruins, of any of the above offences
-being committed.
-
-5. The provisions of the “Ancient Monuments Protection Ordinance,
-1902,” with regard to the illegal possession of relics, prospecting for
-same, or damage to ruins, and the consequent penalties of fines and
-imprisonment for such offences will be strictly enforced.
-
-6. The attention of visitors is also directed to the subjoined rules
-framed under the said ordinance.
-
- By order,
- H. H. CASTENS, _Chief Secretary_.
-
- CHIEF SECRETARY’S OFFICE, SALISBURY.
- _1st May, 1904._
-
-
- GOVERNMENT NOTICE No. 103 OF 1904
-
- CHIEF SECRETARY’S OFFICE, SALISBURY.
- _28th April, 1904._
-
- It is hereby notified for public information that His Honour
- the Administrator has been pleased to approve of the subjoined
- rules, framed under the provisions of Section 7 of the “Ancient
- Monuments Protection Ordinance, 1902,” for visiting and
- inspecting the ruins of Zimbabwe.
-
- By command of His Honour the Administrator.
-
- H. H. CASTENS, _Chief Secretary_.
-
-1. The public will ordinarily be permitted to visit and inspect the
-ancient ruins at Zimbabwe between the hours of 6 a.m. and 6 p.m.,
-subject to the conditions prescribed by these rules.
-
-2. Any person producing a written permit granted to him by the
-Administrator, or by a magistrate, or a printed ticket in the
-prescribed form for the admission of visitors to the ruins, will be
-allowed access to them. All such permits and tickets shall, before
-admission, be delivered to the caretaker or person in attendance at the
-time.
-
-3. No person shall:—
-
- (1) Dig or search within or about the walls of the ruins for
- minerals, precious stones, or curiosities; or
-
- (2) Carry into any part of the ruins any spades or other tools;
- or
-
- (3) Pan or sift any excavated soil in or about the ruins; or
-
- (4) Remove any stone, wood, brick, or material from the ruins;
- or
-
- (5) Remove trees, shrubs, or plants growing within or about the
- ruins, under a penalty, upon conviction, of a sum not
- exceeding £5.
-
-
- NOTE B
-
- ROBERT M. W. SWAN
-
-We regret to record the death, which took place on March 26th last,
-of Mr. R. M. W. Swan, well known for his share in the earlier
-investigations of the ruins of Mashonaland. Mr. Swan was born in 1858,
-and after receiving a technical training in Glasgow University and in
-the laboratory of Mr. R. Tattock, went out to Spain in 1878 in the
-capacity of a mining expert. In 1879 he went to Greece, and the next
-seven years were spent in mining work, principally in Antiparos and
-neighbouring islands. In addition to his professional employment, he
-devoted much attention to archæology, publishing several papers on his
-researches, and sending many specimens to the British Museum. It was
-during this period that he first made the acquaintance of Mr. and Mrs.
-Theodore Bent, whom he accompanied during their visits to several of
-the islands, afterwards taking part in the expedition to Mashonaland,
-carried out by them in 1891, for the examination of the Zimbabwe and
-other ruins. During this expedition he undertook the cartographic
-portion of the work, executing for the first time a careful plan of
-the ruins, besides mapping the country along the routes followed,
-and fixing the positions of a number of points astronomically. When,
-after his return to this country, Mr. Bent described the results of
-his journey before the Society, Mr. Swan added some notes on the
-geography and meteorology of Mashonaland, and subsequently contributed
-to the _Proceedings_ (May, 1892), a short paper on the orientation
-of the ruins, showing in a striking way the close connection which
-existed between the arrangement of the structures and the astronomical
-phenomena to which, as sun-worshippers, their builders had paid so much
-attention. The subject was more fully discussed in the section which he
-contributed to Mr. Bent’s _Ruined Cities of Mashonaland_. The theory
-which he developed was subjected to some criticism; but on returning
-to South Africa to continue his investigations, he collected _data_,
-which, as he claimed, fully bore out his ideas. During this journey,
-carried out in 1893, he examined various ruins, till then undescribed,
-besides doing something to improve the mapping of the country along his
-route, which led inland by way of the Limpopo.
-
-This visit to South Africa lasted about two years, spent in part in
-geological and mining work. In 1896 he examined the mining districts of
-Western Australia and Tasmania, and in 1898 went to Siam with a similar
-object, leaving again, after a short visit to this country, for the
-Malay Peninsula, where he was engaged in mining work until his death,
-which took place at Kuala Lumpur after an operation for abscess of the
-liver. Here, as in South Africa, he did much careful cartographical and
-geological work.
-
-Mr. Swan was an expert linguist, and from his residence in Greece had
-acquired a great love for the classics. He possessed a large store
-of knowledge on varied subjects, which he was always anxious to share
-with others. He was a Fellow of the Geological and Chemical Societies,
-as well as of our own, which he joined in 1893, having received the
-Murchison Grant in 1892. (_Royal Geographical Society’s Journal_, May,
-1904.)
-
-
- NOTE C
-
- NOTE ON OLD POTTERY FOUND AT DEPTH AT RENDERS RUINS,
- GREAT ZIMBABWE, JULY, 1903
-
-This “find” consists of pottery of a very good quality about a quarter
-of an inch thick, but covered with a most excellent glaze of blue,
-white, and gold enamel, the white forming the background.
-
-There are at least four bands of pattern which encircled a large open
-bowl. No. 8 is a part of the rim, which was straight. No. 1 appears by
-its form to have been portion of the upper band; Nos. 2, 4, 5, 6, and 7
-the second band; No. 9 the third band; and a decoration of palm fronds,
-in brown paint and in outline only, its lowest band.
-
-The clay is a light brown and of fine quality.
-
-The lettering or pattern is outlined with faint gold, with yellow
-paint scroll-work filling the spaces between, and so minute are these
-decorations that very few would notice them. They resemble, only on a
-very minute scale, No. 3.
-
-I cannot piece the fragments together, but Nos. 4 and 7 seem to fit.
-
-The glaze is very thickly laid on, and both inside and outside are
-covered, and it is of such splendid make, colour, and appearance that
-many who have seen it say it is of the highest quality.
-
-The inside is white, and has lines of faint blue artistically drawn
-without being of any set pattern.
-
-No portion of the base found would enable one to judge whether the bowl
-had been made on a potter’s wheel or not.
-
-All the fragments were found together on a deeply buried floor, and at
-the same spot a quantity of large pieces of beaten gold and some gold
-beads were discovered.
-
-Some very thin light-brown pottery covered with white enamel, extending
-some inches down from the rim inside and with thick bars of dull blue
-enamel running from rim to centre, were also found at the same spot.
-
-
- NOTE D
-
- ZIMBABWE RUINS
-
- [Extracted, by permission, from the Reports (1900–1902) of the
- British South Africa Company.]
-
-I arrived at Victoria on the 23rd May, and left for Zimbabwe the
-following morning.
-
-On inspecting the ruins I found the interior of the Elliptical Temple
-one impenetrable jungle of trees, bushes, creepers, tall grass (6
-to 10 ft.), and decayed tree stumps and branches, so that it was
-impossible to see beyond a few feet, while the surface of the ground
-was most irregular and thickly covered with wall débris. The air
-inside was fetid and heavy-smelling from the rank vegetation. There
-being no opening on the eastern side, the interior is protected from
-the prevailing winds, and the sun shining on the damp, dense, and
-almost tropical foliage and plant growth made the air oppressive and
-unhealthy, so that one could not remain long at a time in the building.
-
-Our first work was to clear away the undergrowth, but it was so dense
-and matted with creepers that, with fifteen men working for a whole
-day with hatchets, sickles, and spades, we were only able to advance
-a few feet into the interior from the west entrance. It required nine
-days for fifteen men to clear the interior of undergrowth alone. A
-further three days were given to pulling up grass and shrub roots. The
-atmosphere of the interior is completely changed, as the sun has dried
-the surface of the ground. It is now possible to stand in the centre of
-the building and obtain an uninterrupted view of the walls all round,
-and at the same time to see at a glance the whole of the divisional
-walls and enclosures.
-
-The north side of the summit of the Conical Tower has in very recent
-years been denuded of several courses of blocks owing to the boughs
-of large trees swinging upon it in the high winds. The tower is more
-reduced than is shown in photographs taken six years ago. The dentelle
-ornamentation on the summit has practically disappeared within the last
-ten years. Some ancient blocks in the top courses are likely to fall.
-These blocks could be pushed back flush with the face of the tower, and
-some of the blocks which have very recently fallen might be restored to
-their original position. The summit when cleared of vegetation should
-be cemented over. It is a feature in Zimbabwe construction everywhere
-in Rhodesia, for a block, when it falls, to carry with it the stones of
-the course beneath it.
-
-Visitors point out that the tower has lately shown a tendency to tilt
-somewhat towards the north-east. This is mainly due to the dense tree
-growth enveloping the tower, which keeps it constantly dripping with
-moisture, especially on the north side, where the main wall further
-screens it from the morning sun. The only remedy appears to be to
-so thin out the trees that the tower and its foundations may become
-perfectly dry. The wet state of the tower has caused it to become
-overgrown with lichen, which, decaying, produces vegetable matter
-which lodges in the crevices of the courses, and out of which grow
-small plants and shrubs, many of which we have removed. A large bush
-was growing out from the side in mould so formed, and the remains of
-a large bush on the summit are still to be seen. Should the tilting
-not be prevented by such means as the thinning out of adjacent trees,
-the value of the tower to scientists as a means of calculating the
-orientation of the temple, and therefore its age, would become lost.
-Three or four trees from close to the north-east, north, and north-west
-sides of the tower have been cleared away, and the vicinity has already
-a much drier appearance.
-
-The dank air and soil round the tower have caused the extensive growth
-of large parent monkey-rope trees, which with their ropes spread in
-great lengths in all directions, thickly interlacing the tops of the
-trees, while their roots have in very many places pierced into both
-main and divisional walls and torn out lengths of stonework. Monkey
-ropes appear to be the most active source of the dilapidations of the
-walls near the tower, but wild vines also have done considerable harm.
-Several hundred yards of monkey rope have been cut down and taken
-outside the temple, also very long stretches of monkey rope roots have
-been pulled up. All lower branches are being removed, so as to give a
-clear view all round the temple. Some of the upper branches are being
-thinned out.
-
-The surface of the ground within the temple is covered with rich
-leaf mould soil to a depth of at least one foot, and sometimes under
-trees to a depth of one foot and a half. It is in this mould that
-the thickets of large shrubs, creepers, especially monkey-ropes and
-wild vines, seem to have thriven, as also in the débris heaps left by
-Mr. Bent (1891) and Sir John Willoughby (1892), where the turning
-over of the old time-hardened soil has ventilated it and caused most
-sturdy growth of plants and trees. This leaf mould has been removed
-from the floors of the inner parallel passage and in the passage on
-the north-east, east, and south-east sides of No. 1 Enclosure, and
-has been passed through sieves, and the soil neatly piled for future
-examination. Thus has been removed in these places the unhealthy smell
-formerly noticed. This work ought to be done in all internal enclosures
-of the building.
-
-All wall débris is being neatly stacked and piled near where it
-obviously came from. All scattered stones on the floors are being
-collected and placed in piles. This work has made the enclosures to
-appear neat and tidy. Messrs. Bent and Willoughby’s débris is also
-being stacked in much smaller compass. All débris heaps are being
-marked “débris” on painted boards. A large quantity of such débris
-might after examination be removed outside the building and stacked.
-
-The summits of the main walls have been damaged at several points
-by past and present boughs overspreading the walls and beating them
-till several courses, the whole width of the walls, have disappeared,
-thus causing depressions in the top line of walls at several points.
-All branches, whether from trees within or without the temple, which
-overhang the walls, are being carefully removed with the aid of
-guide-ropes. Leaf mould has collected on the summits of the main walls
-to such an extent that large shrubs and small trees are thriving on the
-summits; these will be removed.
-
-Seven monoliths have been found under the leaf mould and grass and
-shrub roots both inside and outside the foot of the main walls. Their
-former positions on the walls are being ascertained, and where obvious
-they will be re-erected.
-
-The chevron pattern on the outside of the walls of the temple has been
-damaged, and in three places partially destroyed by large swinging
-boughs. It is also destroyed in two places by heavy festoons of
-creepers which had their roots in the open work of the pattern, the
-roots pushing out some of the blocks of which the pattern is composed.
-Some of these fallen blocks have been found, and there is a probability
-that a portion of the pattern, where damaged, may be restored. It is
-proposed to hand-pick all vegetable soil from the open spaces of the
-pattern to prevent future growths of creepers.
-
-A clearing 8 yds. wide has been made round the outside of the whole of
-temple, and an inspection of the walls by visitors is now possible.
-
-All the tops of divisional and broken portions and ends of walls, and
-all interstices on both faces, are having the leaf mould carefully
-hand-picked from them. This is a slow process, but will check their
-dilapidation by vegetable growth for a very long time.
-
-The trenches made by Mr. Bent and Sir John Willoughby are being cleared
-of grass and silted soil, and their spade and pick marks on the bottoms
-can be seen. No ancient floor or soil has been disturbed, the ancient
-floors being some 3 ft. to 5 ft. below the present surface.
-
-Roots of monkey-ropes and trees are binding the inside of main walls
-below the present surface, as does a large plant in a small pot, and
-are in most places, and below the surface, penetrating into the dry
-masonry with damaging effect. I would suggest that a trench 2 ft. wide
-by 3 ft. deep be made on the inside of all walls, and all such roots
-removed. A yearly inspection of such trenches could be made, and any
-new roots and runners lopped off as they appeared. Run-offs could be
-made to prevent any accumulation of water in the trenches.
-
-_Architectural features._—(_a_) Four ancient drains, in addition to
-those mentioned by Bent and Willoughby, have been discovered.
-
-(_b_) A rounded entrance with double curves; the only instance so far
-known.
-
-(_c_) Three sets of stone steps and several square yards of ancient
-cement flooring (not of the original builders) have been carefully
-uncovered.
-
-(_d_) A second-period architecture building with terraces superimposed
-on the walls of a first-period ruin.
-
-(_e_) An enlarged plan of the temple, based on Mr. Bent’s and Sir
-John Willoughby’s measurements, is being prepared, and a quantity of
-altogether fresh architectural detail included.
-
-Though the present is not a treasure-seeking expedition, yet there is
-strong probability that some “finds” of historic value may be made.
-
-I have visited the Hill Fortress several times. Both the Western and
-Eastern Temples on this hill are so full of undergrowth that it is
-quite impossible to make any examination until it is cleared away.
-Within a week I hope to put on men to make a good path up to the
-fortress.
-
-The following new features in ancient architecture have been
-discovered:—
-
-1. A dentelle pattern till recently covered with wall débris. A portion
-destroyed by roots (Acropolis Ascent).
-
-2. A small enclosure with cemented lining on face of walls (Acropolis).
-
-3. Three wedge-shaped buttresses, first set discovered in Rhodesia
-(Acropolis).
-
-4. Two drains, one showing signs of having been cemented (Acropolis).
-
-5. A northern ancient ascent between parallel walls from large rounded
-entrance near donga in the valley.
-
-6. Passage 7 ft. deep and about 20 ft. long, completely buried in
-fallen wall débris, over which the visitors’ path had crossed (South
-Enclosure, Acropolis).
-
-7. Passage 8 ft. deep and 30 ft. long, completely covered by wall
-débris, over which the old visitors’ ascent path had crossed (Platform
-Enclosure).
-
-8. The round towers on the large west wall of Acropolis can now be
-shown, by the radii of stones of the top courses recently discovered,
-to have originally been conical.
-
-9. Two large ancient entrances, hitherto unknown, deliberately filled
-in by Makalangas for graves, the remains removed and reburied with
-Mogabe’s consent (Cleft Rock Enclosure).
-
-10. The covered passage at foot of platform which had been blocked
-up by Makalangas for graves (fifteen years old) cleared, the remains
-removed and reburied with Mogabe’s consent. Visitors can now traverse
-this passage.
-
-
- NOTE E
-
- [Extracted from Report presented to the Chief Secretary,
- Government Offices, Salisbury, Rhodesia, November, 1903.]
-
-_Zimbabwe, Acropolis Ruins._—I regret having to report that the
-slanting granite beam on the platform at the Western Temple of the
-Acropolis Ruins has fallen and is fractured. This happened during the
-heavy thunder and rain storms of last week. The discovery of its fall
-was made to-day by Mr. Molyneux (Scientific Association, Bulawayo),
-Mr. Herbert Hayles (Sheriff of Victoria), and myself. No clearing or
-any other operations have been conducted here within a distance of
-twenty feet. Mr. Molyneux thoroughly agrees with me that the fall was
-perfectly natural.
-
-The beam has for at least twelve years leant over at a severe angle,
-and now it can be seen that it was once perpendicular. The base was
-only fixed in the stonework for 1 ft. 8 in. The length of the beam from
-the base was 12 ft. 11 in., but this was longer by 2 ft. 4 in. some
-time previously to Mr. Theodore Bent’s visit in 1891.
-
-The great marvel is that no one has been killed by its fall, for many
-visitors climbing to the platform have used the beam to assist in the
-ascent, and also in descending, and I have, as is well known, on scores
-of occasions warned them not to do so.
-
-The beam in falling did but slight damage to the surrounding masonry.
-The portions of the beam are now laid together.
-
-I have photographs of the platform, and showing this beam, taken from
-all points of the compass.
-
- RICH^{D.} N. HALL,
- _Curator of Great Zimbabwe_.
-
-
- NOTE F
-
- INVENTORY OF RELICS AND “FINDS” DISCOVERED BY THE AUTHOR AT
- GREAT ZIMBABWE IN 1902–3
-
- No. Article. Where found.
-
- 1. Gold wire bangle, 3½ oz. { South Terrace,
- { Acropolis.
-
- 2. Beaten gold round carbonised wood. }
- A few gold tacks in the wood } Do.
-
- 3. Head and neck of carved soapstone }
- bird (the ninth yet discovered); believed } Western Temple,
- to be the largest and best-preserved } Acropolis.
- specimen }
-
- 4. Fragment of carved soapstone bowl. }
- Two horned animals } Do.
-
- 5. Fragment of carved soapstone bowl. } South Enclosure,
- Herring-bone on cord pattern } Acropolis.
-
- 6. Fragment of carved soapstone bowl. } Western Temple,
- Horned animal } Acropolis.
-
- 7. Fragment of rim of carved soapstone } South Enclosure,
- bowl, cord pattern } Acropolis.
-
- 8. Two sections of large soapstone bowl; }
- believed to be two of the three } No. 2. Enclosure,
- missing sections of bowl lent by the } Elliptical Temple.
- Right Hon. C. J. Rhodes to the }
- Cape Town Museum }
-
- 9. Phallus in two sections; found broken; } Elliptical Temple.
- undecorated soapstone }
-
- 10. Phallus (section of), with “breast and }
- furrow” pattern, which was an } Do.
- ancient symbol of fertility; soapstone }
-
- 11. Phallus (section of), found with true } Do.
- phalli; soapstone; undecorated. }
-
- 12. Phallus; soapstone } Do.
-
- 13. Phallus (section of), “breast and furrow” }
- pattern; soapstone } Do.
-
- 14. Base of phallus; soapstone; found } Do.
- with true phalli }
-
- 15. Cut soapstone, plain, found with true } Do.
- phalli }
-
- 16. Phallus (section of, conjectured), found } Do.
- with true phalli; soapstone }
-
- 17. Soapstone amulet Acropolis.
-
- 18. Soapstone whorl Elliptical Temple.
-
- 19. Ten fragments of neck of carved soapstone } Do.
- vase }
-
- 20. Fragment of carved rim of soapstone } No. 10 Enclosure,
- bowl; cord pattern } Acropolis.
-
- 21. Carved soapstone bead } Elliptical Temple.
-
- 22. Four pottery whorls and two fragments } Do.
-
- 23. Serpentine stone, with veins of asbestos }
- chrysotile (not chrysolithic, }
- as stated by Mr. Bent); not ordinary }
- asbestos, but similar to Canadian. } Western Temple,
- Veins have decomposed before } Acropolis.
- body of stone }
-
- 24. Do. } Do.
-
- 25. Copper spearhead } Do.
-
- 26. Two copper spearheads, broken } Do.
-
- 27. Two iron ringed instruments, conjectured }
- to have belonged to Arab } Elliptical Temple.
- colony once settled at Zimbabwe }
-
- 28. Two wedge-shape headed nails Do.
-
- 29. Beaten copper Acropolis.
-
- 30. Iron handle of double-pointed iron } Elliptical Temple.
- hand-pick }
-
- 31. Jasper stone with gold embedded. }
- Found with burnishing stones } No. 10 Enclosure.
-
- 32. Quartz pebble, showing visible gold; }
- also artificially worn. Found with } Do.
- burnishing tools }
-
- 33. Quartz pebble, showing visible gold. } Do.
- Found with burnishing tools }
-
- 34. Collection of stone tools, artificially }
- worn; some are burnishers. 3 ft. } Do.
- deep }
-
- 35. Fragments of soapstone beams; crude } Acropolis.
- decorations }
-
- 36. Collection of iron articles from depth }
- in Elliptical Temple which has not }
- been occupied as a Makalanga kraal } Elliptical Temple.
- for over sixty years }
-
- 37. Collection of seven fragments of soapstone } Acropolis and
- bowls } Elliptical Temple.
-
- 38. Section of soapstone mould { No. 7 Enclosure,
- { Elliptical Temple.
-
- 39. Cake of gold North-East Passage.
-
- 40. Stone, both water and artificially worn, }
- showing gold on both sides. Found } No. 10 Enclosure,
- with burnishing tools } Elliptical Temple.
-
- 41. Flat stone showing gold on one side. } Do.
- Found with burnishing tools }
-
- 42. Three portions of crucibles, six clay } No. 6 Enclosure,
- scorifiers, one portion of clay lining } Elliptical Temple.
- of furnace, all showing gold in flux }
-
- 43. Fragment of soapstone bowl, herring-bone } No. 1 Enclosure,
- pattern on cord } Elliptical Temple.
-
- 44. Fragment of soapstone bowl, herring-bone } No. 6 Enclosure,
- pattern on cord } Elliptical Temple.
-
- 45. Fragment of soapstone bowl, carved { No. 7 Enclosure,
- { Elliptical Temple.
-
- 46. Fragment of soapstone bowl, cord } No. 6 Enclosure,
- pattern } Elliptical Temple.
-
- 47. Fragment of large soapstone bowl, } Do.
- carved }
-
- 48. Section of soapstone mould; conjectured } Do.
- old Makalanga }
-
- 49. Do. Do.
-
- 50. Soapstone I-daha pipe bowl, carved; } Elliptical Temple.
- old Makalanga }
-
- 51. Soapstone amulet { No. 6 Enclosure,
- { Elliptical Temple.
-
- 52. Iron pincers; conjectured old Makalanga } Do.
-
- 53. Iron gong; do. Do.
-
- 54. Do. Do.
-
- 55. Barbed copper spearhead { Western Temple,
- { Acropolis.
-
- 56. Twenty-three pottery whorls { On old Makalanga
- { floors.
-
- 57. Conjectured base of soapstone phallus, } No. 6 Enclosure,
- converted by old Makalanga } Elliptical Temple.
- into a crude mould }
-
- 58_a_. } { Summit of main wall
- 58_b_. } Three sections of soapstone beams { above chevron
- 58_c_. } { pattern, Elliptical
- { Temple.
-
- 59. Section of soapstone beam { Eastern Temple,
- { Acropolis.
-
- 60. Do. Do.
-
- 61. Do. Do.
-
- 62. Do. Do.
-
- 63. Do. Do.
-
- 64. Do. (showing tool marks) Do.
-
- 65. Section of cement cylinder with bevel } Mauch Ruins.
- round base. Age uncertain }
-
- 66. Beaten gold { Western Temple,
- { Acropolis.
-
- 67. Forked iron instrument, with six gold }
- bosses riveted with gold; spiral } Do.
- grooves at base }
-
- 68. Beaten gold (2⅛ oz.) Valley of Ruins.
-
- { W. and E. Temples,
- 69. Phalli (8) and fragments of phalli { Acropolis, and
- { Philips Ruins.
-
- 70. Fragments of rim of soapstone bowl } No. 5 Enclosure,
- carved with procession of horned } Elliptical Temple.
- animals. Pieces fit each other }
-
- 71. Pottery animals (3); conjectured old } No. 1 Enclosure,
- Makalanga } Elliptical Temple.
-
- 72. I-daha pipe-bowls (2) of soapstone, } No. 5 Enclosure,
- carved; conjectured old Makalanga } Elliptical Temple.
-
- 73. Iron with gravitating holes for drawing }
- wire; old Makalanga. These wire } No. 6 Enclosure,
- drawers were in use until a few years } Elliptical Temple.
- ago
-
- 74. Copper finger-rings (2); snake pattern Renders Ruins.
-
- 75. Copper sheathing (2 lbs.) { Western Temple,
- { Acropolis.
-
- 76. Single iron gong Renders Ruins.
-
- 77. Large piece of coral Renders Ruins.
-
- 78. Pottery whorls (200) Old native floors.
-
- 79. Double iron gongs (3 sets) and single } Upper floors.
- gongs (2) }
-
- 80. Serpentine stone Elliptical Temple.
-
- 81. Nozzle of blow-pipe Do.
-
- 82. Porcelain beads, unknown to present } Western Temple,
- natives. 5 ft. deep } Acropolis.
-
- 83. Pottery beads, unknown to present } Various ruins.
- natives }
-
- 84. Soapstone amulet or seal (?) Renders Ruins.
-
- 85. Block of solid copper Do.
-
- 86. Iron striker found with gong Do.
-
- 87. Quantity of fragments of carved } Elliptical Temple.
- soapstone. Ribbed pattern }
-
- 88. Fragments of rim of soapstone bowl }
- carved with ring pattern. (These } Maund Ruins.
- fit together) }
-
- 89. Portion of carved soapstone beam }
- converted into double claw-hammer } Elliptical Temple.
- shaped ingot moulds }
-
- 90. Soapstone phallus { Platform Area,
- { Elliptical Temple.
-
- 91. Copper barbed spearheads (2) { Platform Area,
- { Elliptical Temple.
-
- 92. Soapstone with gravitating holes Renders Ruins.
-
- 93. 2⅛ oz. beaten gold, gold beads, gold
- bar, and gold wire
-
- { From near arc wall
- { in Philips Ruins;
- 94. Fifteen sections of soapstone beams { also from circular
- (plain) { cement platform in
- { Platform Area,
- { Elliptical Temple.
-
- 95. Case of sections of soapstone bowls, { Elliptical Temple,
- plain and decorated { Acropolis and
- { Philips Ruins.
-
- 96. Section of carved soapstone beam No. 15 Enclosure,
- Elliptical Temple.
-
- 97. Iron spoon Renders Ruins.
-
- 98. Iron lamp and stand (conjectured) Do.
-
- 99. Iron pick Elliptical Temple.
-
- 100. Iron pick and 2 handles Do.
-
- 101. Twisted iron wire in coils Renders Ruins.
-
- 102. Bar mould of soapstone Elliptical Temple.
-
- 103. Section of soapstone beam carved { Western Temple,
- with maize pattern { Acropolis.
-
- 104. Bundle of brass wire bangles Renders Ruins.
-
- 105. Three iron nails Elliptical Temple.
-
- 106. Ornamented iron spearhead { Western Temple,
- { Acropolis.
-
- 107. Bevelled cement General.
-
- 108. Spearhead Renders Ruins.
-
- 109. Two stone balls Elliptical Temple.
-
- 110. Collection of specimens of hoes,
- assegai-heads, arrow-heads, axes,
- and iron-work found in ruins
-
- 111. Several pieces of worked soapstone
-
- 112. Soapstone bird on beam Philips Ruins.
-
- 113. Packet of large gold beads, 1 in. }
- fine gold chain, one single gold wire } Various Ruins.
- bangle, gold wire, and beaten gold }
-
- 114. Four soapstone phalli (one ornate) } Philips Ruins.
- and two amulets }
-
- 115. Two small bronze bells Renders Ruins.
-
- 116. Two large enamelled beads Western Temple.
-
- 117. Collections of copper ingots, copper } Elliptical Temple,
- bars, copper wire, copper bangles, } Renders Ruins,
- and cakes of copper } and Acropolis.
-
- 118. Copper band 12 ft. 6 in. long and } Renders Ruins.
- 1 in. wide }
-
- 119. Box of Nankin china, sections showing }
- plates of various sizes and } From most ruins.
- designs }
-
- 120. Portions of glass basin, engraved } No. 7 Enclosure,
- and hand-painted } Elliptical Temple.
-
- 121. Glazed pottery, with conjectured } Renders Ruins.
- post-Koranic lettering }
-
- 122. Fragments of Venetian glass Do.
-
- 123. Fragments of antique glazed earthenware, } Do.
- showing potter’s wheel marks }
-
- 124. Three fragments of antique pottery, } Do.
- glazed }
-
- 125. 12 ft. fine copper chain Do.
-
- 126. Pottery nozzle of blow-pipe Do.
-
- 127. Fused brass wire Do.
-
- 128. Two iron instruments Do.
-
- 129. Bronze axe-head, and fractured bronze }
- arrow-head } Western Temple.
-
- 130_a_. Part of young lion’s jaw Renders Ruins.
- 〃 _b_. Large lump of resin Do.
- 〃 _c_. Wart-hog tusk Do.
- 〃 _d_. Two sections of glass prism Do.
-
- 131. Remains of antique copper box Do.
-
- 132. Oldest form of gold crucible, showing } Exterior (west) of
- gold in flux } Elliptical Temple.
-
- 133. Piece of slag showing gold Do.
-
- 134. Packet of sheets of beaten gold { Parallel Passage,
- { Elliptical Temple.
-
- 135. Several cases of duplicates of soapstone, }
- iron, copper, and pottery } Various Ruins.
- articles }
-
-
- NOTE G
-
- FORMATION ROCK UNDER ELLIPTICAL TEMPLE
-
- Examinations made by the Author, August, 1903
-
-_No. 1 Hole._—No. 5 Enclosure. 6 yds. south-east of west entrance.
-
-3 ft. 10 in. diameter.
-
-9 in. to 12 in., burnt clay floor (pinkish), 2 in. layer of small
-stones.
-
-Below floor, bright yellow granite sand, set very hard, contains no
-stones.
-
-On north side to 3 ft. depth, old trench of prospectors, filled in with
-blocks and red soil.
-
-Formation rock exposed at 8 ft. 7 in., and this has a fall of 1½ in. in
-3 ft. 10 in. towards east.
-
-Surface of bed-rock is rough and decomposed to a depth of ⅓ of an inch,
-and can easily be chipped with pick.
-
-Above formation rock is 1 ft. depth of granite sand, filled with flakes
-of decomposed granite from rock, and of deep orange colour.
-
-Water passes along surface of bed-rock, and soil was damp and wet for 3
-in. in depth.
-
-_No. 2 Hole._—No. 5 Enclosure. 6 ft. north-east of monoliths.
-
-3 ft. 9 in. diameter.
-
-1 ft. burnt clay floor and scattered blocks and granite chips, soil
-damp for 2 ft. and wet for a few inches above formation rock, which is
-decomposed and easily scaled.
-
-Formation rock disclosed at 12 ft. 7 in., with fall of 7 in. in 3 ft. 6
-in. towards E.N.E.
-
-Sides show bright yellow granite sand set hard, and no stones.
-
-_No. 3 Hole._—South side of No. 5 Enclosure.
-
-3 ft. 9 in. diameter.
-
-6 in. burnt clay floor.
-
-Sand red at top and yellow beneath; no stones.
-
-Bed-rock covered with 1 ft. depth of decomposed granite with aphite
-chips, surface of rock rough and greatly decomposed; aphite chips.
-
-Formation rock disclosed at 10 ft. 1 in. depth.
-
-Fall of rock 4 in. in 3 ft. 4 in. towards east.
-
-Bottom very wet.
-
-_No. 4. Hole._—Between No. 5 Enclosure and Central Area.
-
-3 ft. 6 in. diameter.
-
-9 in. burnt clay and small stones, forming bedding for clay.
-
-2 ft. red veld soil.
-
-1 ft. 8 in. decomposed granite above rock.
-
-Rest bright yellowy and set hard.
-
-Formation rock disclosed at 12 ft. 1 in. depth, showing fall of 3 in.
-in 3 ft. towards north and north-east.
-
-Bottom very wet.
-
-_No. 5 Hole._—West side of No. 6 Enclosure.
-
-At depth of 11 ft. no formation rock, but rods showed rock at 3 ft. 4
-in. lower; unsafe to make hole deeper. Soil very wet.
-
-_No. 6 Hole._—East end of No. 6 Enclosure.
-
-At depth of 14 ft. no sign of rock.
-
-_No. 7 Hole._—Centre of Platform Area.
-
-At depth of 12 ft. no sign of rock; bottom wet.
-
-_No. 8 Hole._—Centre of Central Area.
-
-At depth of 8 ft. no trace of rock. Hole passed through two clay
-floors, and below one granite cement floor.
-
-The Central Area had previously been cleared to a depth of 5 ft. before
-hole was sunk.
-
-
-
-
- INDEX
-
-
- =Abolosi.= _See_ =Barosie=
-
- =Acropolis Ruins=—
- Situation, 3
- First impressions of, 5
- View from, 6–11
- Sunset on, 24–30
- Description of, 276–362
- S.E. ascent, 276–294
- Lower Parapet, 282–286
- Rock Passage, 286–288
- Higher Parapet, 288–290
- Original heights of walls, 290, 291
- Ascent from coast route, 291, 292
- Possible ancient scenes on ascent, 293, 294
- Dentelle Pattern on ascent, 285, 289
- Western Enclosure, 294–296
- Western Temple, xxviii, xxix, 297–309
- North Wall, 298, 299
- West Wall, 299, 300
- Monoliths and Conical Towers, 300, 302
- Architecture and construction of West Wall, 302, 303
- South Wall, 303, 304
- East side of Western Temple, 304
- Centre of arc of West Wall, 304–307
- Covered Passage, 307
- Platform Cave, 307, 308
- Stairs to Platform, 308
- Parallel Passage, 308
- Internal walls, xxix, 308, 309
- Sections of floors, xxviii, xxix, 309
- Platform Enclosure, 310–312
- Cleft Rock Enclosure, 312, 313
- The Platform, 313–315, 441, 442
- Balcony Wall, 315
- Little Enclosure, 315, 316
- The Winding Stairs, 316
- Upper Passage, 316
- East Passage, 316
- Buttress Passage, 317, 318
- South Enclosure A, 318
- South Cave, 319, 320
- South Passage, 320
- South Enclosure B, 320, 321
- South Enclosure C, 321
- Central Passage, 321
- Eastern Temple, 323–335
- Section of Eastern Temple, 324
- Plan of Eastern Temple, 326
- Dentelle Pattern at Eastern Temple, 328
- Bent’s “altar” at Eastern Temple, 333
- The Ancient Balcony, 335, 336
- Gold Furnace Enclosure, 337, 338
- Balcony Cave, 337
- Balcony Enclosure, 336
- Upper Gold Furnace Enclosure, 338
- Pattern Passage, 338, 339
- Step Pattern, 339
- Recess Enclosure, 340, 341
- North Plateau, 341, 342
- North Parapet, 342, 343
- N.W. ascent, 344–349
- Water Gate Ruins, 349–353
- Terraced Enclosures on N.W. face of hill, 353–357
- South Terrace, 357, 358
- Outspan Ruins, 279, 358–362
-
- =Aden (Eudaemon)=, 67
-
- =Almaquah (Venus or Ashtaroth)=, Sabæan Divinity, 108, 194
-
- =Amangwa Tribe=, 53, 57, 59, 84, 85, 91
-
- =Ancient Architecture at Zimbabwe=, 135–192
- Sabæans (Himyarites) as builders, xxxii, xxxvii (note), 136, 193,
- 194
- Degree of durability of walls, 138
- Dilapidations, 139–148
- Makalanga walls within ruins, xxix, 149–152, 312, 336, 373
- Some other walls not ancient, xxvii, xxix, 152
- Makalanga huts within ruins, xx, xxix, 149–156, 365, 368, 373, 413
- Passages, 156–162
- Entrances and buttresses, 162–166
- Dilapidations to entrances and buttresses, 166, 167
- Drains, 168–172
- Battering of walls, 172–174
- Monoliths, 174–176
- Soapstone monoliths, 176–178
- Number of monoliths still more or less erect, 178–180
- Slate and granite beams, 180, 181
- Cement dadoes, 181–182, 240, 372, 375, 383
- Built-up crevices, 182, 183
- Holes in wall other than drains, 183, 184, 423
- Blind steps and platforms, 184, 185, 236, 240, 254, 261, 385
- Ancient walls at a distance from any main ruins are of less
- superior construction, 185–187
- Cement, 187–189
- Ancients and caves and rock holes (_see_ =Caves=), 189–192
- Recesses, 340, 341, 379
- “Sentry-boxes,” 374, 430
-
- =Ancient clothing=, surmise as to, 293
-
- =Ancient output of gold=, 292
-
- =Ancient relics discovered at Zimbabwe=, 102–135
- Inventory of, 142, 148
-
- =Ancient road, Zimbabwe and Sofala=, Taunton, 63, 74
-
- =Arab “finds” at Zimbabwe=—
- Box, 116
- Lamp chain, 116
- Lamp-stand, 118
- Iron keys, 122
- Calcedony beads, 126
- Glass, 128
- Pottery, 131, 436
-
- =Arab gold and ivory traders=, 67
-
- =Arab trading station at Zimbabwe=, 132–134
-
- =Area of Zimbabwe Ruins=, xv-xvii
-
- =Arowi Kopje=, 11, 66, 69, 95
-
- =Ashtaroth.= _See_ =Almaquah=
-
-
- =Bailey, Thomas=, grave of, 19
-
- =Baranzimba’s kraal=, 10, 16, 52
- His old kraal, 52, 57
- The headman, 41, 88
-
- =Barbosa, Duarte= (1514), on the Makalanga, 123, 132, 133
-
- =Barotse (Barosie, Marosie, Varosie, Abolosi)=—
- Derivation and origin of, 81, 82
- Excellent stone-builders, 82, 85
- Jerri’s people Barotse, 82
- Head kraal at Zimbabwe, 8, 83, 424
- Resided in the ruins, 83
- Resided on Bentberg, 153
- Totem of race, 91
- Totem of tribe, 91–92
- Pottery, 129
- Kraal of Motumi, 58
-
- =Baduma Tribe=, 91, 94
-
- =Beads=, 126
- Gold, 113
- Calcedony, 126
- Porcelain, 132
- Glass, 132
- Ivory and bone, 126
- Unknown to natives, 306
-
- =Bent, F.R.G.S., Theodore=, xv, xvii, xxix, 3, 8, 18, 35, 39, 55, 64,
- 106, 108, 109, 111, 112, 125, 135, 151, 161, 171, 193, 195, 198,
- 208, 209, 218, 221, 222, 223, 226, 234, 242, 244, 245, 265, 272,
- 273, 295, 296, 304, 306, 327, 338
-
- =Bentberg Hill (Matusa)=, 7, 8, 9, 137
- Ruins on, 424
-
- =Benzi=, nickname of the present Mogabe, 42
-
- =Beroma Range=, 11, 31, 49, 51, 63
-
- =Beroma Ruins=, 68, 69
-
- =Besa Mountains=, 10
-
- =Bethûl=, “dwelling-place of God” of Phœnicians, 15
-
- =Bingura=, Amangwa chief, 57
-
- =Bingura’s kraal=, 9, 17, 57, 58, 84
-
- =Bingura’s Path=, 56, 59, 137
-
- =Bingura’s Path Ruins=, 425
-
- =Brass articles=, bangles and wire, 123, 124
- Brass bartered for by Makalanga (1514), 123
-
- “=Breasts, Queen of Sheba’s=,” on Beroma Range, Zimbabwe. _See_
- =Marsgi= and =Sueba=
-
- =British South Africa Company=, 2, 3, 279
-
- =Bryce, Professor=, on Makalanga stone buildings, 151
-
- =Budge, Dr.= (British Museum), opinion on Arabian glass, 128
- On “finds” in later ruins, xviii, xix, xxvi
-
- =Bungu=, Makalanga Headman, 55
-
- =Burial-places of ancients=, searches for, xvii-xviii
-
- =Bushman paintings= absent from Zimbabwe district, 192
-
- =Byblos, Temple of=, in Phœnicia, compared with Great Zimbabwe,
- xxxix, 245
-
-
- =Camp Ruins Nos. 1 and 2=, 414–419
-
- =Calcedony beads=, 126
- Prof. Flinders Petrie’s opinion on, 126
-
- =Caves=, 189–192
- At Wuwuli, 55
- Chibfuko, 59
- Chicagomboni, 61
- Mapaku, 63, 70
- Majerri, 73
- Nini, 86
- South Cave, 319, 320
- Balcony Cave, 337
-
- =Chamananga (Middle Kopje)=, 56
-
- =Chenga=, Makalanga headman, derivation and position, 11, 17, 31, 41,
- 57
-
- =Chenga Ruins=, 66, 67, 426, 427
-
- =Chenga and MaDavid’s Path Ruins=, 428
-
- =Cherimbila=, Makalanga chief, 10
- Renders died at kraal, 62
- Stone buildings at kraal, 152
-
- =Chevron pattern= at—
- Majerri Ruins, 73
- Elliptical Temple, 147, 211–213
-
- =Chibfuko Hill=, 10
- Caves at, 59
-
- =Chicagomboni Hill=, 61
-
- =Chickwanda’s kraal=, 95
-
- =Chinaka’s kraal=, 72
-
- =China=, Nankin, 130
- Arabian, 131
- Sketch of, with Arabic lettering, 131, 436
-
- =Chinongu’s kraal=, 11
-
- =Chipadzi’s kraal=, 52, 59, 60, 61
-
- =Chipfuno= (late Mogabe), 42, 55
-
- =Chipo-popo Falls=, 51
-
- =Comoro Islands=, peopled by Jews under Solomon, xxxvii
-
- =Condor, Colonel=, Syro-Arabian archæologist, 4
-
- =Conical towers= at—
- Elliptical Temple, 240–246
- Traces on walls, 208
- Western Temple, 297, 300–302
- Outspan Ruins, 361
- Philips Ruins, 380, 381
- Posselt Ruins, 372
- Byblos, xxxix, 245
-
- =Copper articles=, 115–116
- Sheathing, 115
- Spearheads, 115, 116
- Wire, 116
- Cakes and slag, 116
- Ore, 116
- Cupolas, 116
- Chain, 116
- Box, bangles, finger-rings, 116
-
- =Coral=, finds of, 134
-
- =Cotopaxi Mountain=, 10
-
- =Cowrie shells=, finds of, 133
-
-
- =De Barros= (1552) mentions Zimbabwe, xxvi, 132
-
- =Delitzsch, F.=, on the signs of the Babylonian Zodiac, xxxviii
-
- =Dentelle pattern= on—
- Conical Tower, 243
- S.E. ascent, 285, 289
- Platform of Western Temple, 314
- Eastern Temple, 325, 328
-
- =Derembghe’s kraal=, 95
-
- =Doro (Dorah)=, native beer, 16, 18, 45, 46
-
- =Drew, Mr. Alfred=, Native Commissioner, Victoria district, 2, 59,
- 81, 82, 85, 86, 152, 156
-
-
- =East Kopje= (Mazanda), 64
-
- =East Ruins=, 420–423
-
- =Edwards, M.E., the late Telford=, on the ancient mines of Rhodesia,
- xxvii;
- on the terraced slopes of Inyanga, xxxiv
-
- =Elliptical Temple=, 3
- First impressions of, 4
- Sunday morning in, 13–16
- Midnight in, 16–24
- Goldsmith’s shop in, 256
- Formation rock under, 449, 450
- Plan, xxiii, 193–197
- Construction of, 197–199
- Measurement of main wall, 199–204
- Summit of main wall, xxiii, 205–210
- Foundations of, 210–211
- Probable ages of walls of, xxiii
- Chevron pattern, 211–213
- Ground surface of exterior of, 213–215, 449, 450
- N.W. entrance, 216–218
- Plan of, 217
- North entrance, xx, 218–222
- Plan of, 219
- West entrance, 222–224
- Enclosure Nos. 1–7, xxii, 7, 225–236
- Sacred Enclosure, 237–240
- Conical Tower, 240–244
- Small Tower, 244
- Bent on import of, 244, 245
- Dr. Schlichter, do., 245, 246
- Parallel Passage, xx, 246–250
- The Platform, 251, 252
- No. 9 Enclosure, xxii, 253, 254
- 〃 10 〃 xxii, 254, 256
- 〃 11 〃 257–260
- 〃 12 〃 260, 261
- 〃 13 〃 261, 262
- 〃 14 〃 262, 263
- 〃 15 〃 263, 264
- Central Area, xxii, 264, 265
- Platform Area, xxi, xxii, 265–267
- Cement platform, 267
- Inner Parallel Passage, 267–269
- South Passage, 269–271
- West Passage, 272, 273
- N.E. Passage, 273, 274
- Outer Parallel Passage, 274, 275
-
- =Eudaemon (Aden)=, 67
-
- =Explorations at Zimbabwe=—
- Extracts from Reports by author to Government, 437–442
-
- =Ezion-geber=, a gold mart, xxxii
- Joint port of Jews and Phœnicians, 67
-
-
- =Finger Rock= (Morgenster), 51
-
- =Flux on gold scorifiers=, analysis of, 114
-
- =Foreign stones= at Zimbabwe: dolorite, quartz, jasper, serpentine,
- calcedony, crystal, metamorphic slate, mica schist, ironstone,
- copper ore, flint, 125
-
- =Frond Glen=, 51
-
- =Fuko-ya-Nebandge=—the Mashonaland relic, 86–88
-
-
- =Gallois, L.=, attributes the Rhodesian monuments to the Himyarites,
- xxxvii
-
- =Glass finds=—
- Venetian, 127
- Arabian, 128
- Dr. Budge’s opinion thereon, 128
-
- =Gobele’s kraal=, 60, 71
-
- =Gold articles=—
- Two periods of gold manufacture at Zimbabwe, xix, xx, 111
- Gold crucibles, 112, 113
- Gold beads, 113
- Beaten gold, 113
- Gold tacks, 113
- Bar and cake gold, 113
- Gold bangles, 114
- Gold scorifiers, 114
- Dr. Hahn’s opinion on, 114, 115
-
- =Goruma Hill=, 71
-
- =Government notices= to visitors, 3, 433, 434
-
- =Grandidier, Alfred=, on the early relations of the Israelites with
- Madagascar and the Comoro Islands, xxxvii
-
-
- =Hahn, Dr. P. Daniel=, metallurgical chemist, opinion on gold
- scorifiers, 111, 114, 115
- On soil under west wall of temple, xxv, 210, 211
- On metamorphic slate, 257
-
- =Haig, General=, on terraced slopes of South Arabia, xxxiv
-
- =Hand-clapping=, 100
-
- =Havilah=, of Scripture, identified with Rhodesia, xxxii, 15, 68
-
- =Havilah Camp=, Zimbabwe—
- Residence of author, 2, 16
- A day at, 31–50
- Evening at, 48–50
-
- =Hayles, Mr. H. H.=, of Victoria, 3
-
- =Helm, Dr. John=, of “Morgenster,” 53, 81, 363
-
- =Herring-bone pattern=—
- Carved, 110
- On wall, 352
-
- =Himyarites=, builders of the earliest Rhodesian monuments, xxxii,
- xxxvii (note)
- Source of their food supplies, xxxiii
- Their old Semitic language long survived in Abyssinia (Geez), and
- still survives in South Arabia (Ehkili), xli
-
- =Humours of Explorations=, 48
-
-
- =I’daha (hemp)= smoking, 45
-
- =Idumean Jew=, impression of, xxxvii, 101
-
- =Ingot moulds=, double claw-hammer-shaped, 110
- Straight bar moulds, 111
-
- =Ingumaruru Hill=, 71
-
- =Inner Defence Wall=, 358, 359
-
- =Inscription=, the vanished Great Zimbabwe, probably post-Koranic,
- xlii
- Himyaritic and Phœnician, absence of, on Rhodesian monuments
- explained, xxxix-xlii
- Searched for, xviii, xix
-
- =Inventory of Relics and Finds= discovered by author at Zimbabwe,
- 442–448
-
- =Iron articles= discovered—
- Hoes, 116
- Picks, 117
- Chisels, 118
- Spoon, spearhead, lamp-stand, bangles, 118
- “Collars” and “shoes,” 119
- Forked instrument and pincers, 120, 121
- Gongs, 121, 122
- Rod or sceptre, keys (conjectured), 122
- Smelting furnaces, 123
-
- =Inyanga district=, its terraced slopes, xxxiv
- Its “slave-pits” relatively recent, xxxv
- Its terraces dissimilar to Zimbabwe terraces, 354
-
- =Inyuni Hills=, 11, 69
-
- =Isafuba game=, 32, 43, 44, 45
- Holes on Rusivanga, 425
- Holes at S.E. Ruins, 397
-
- =I’zhuba Kuru (Sunday)=, 46
-
-
- =Jerri’s people=, Barotse tribe, 82
- Lived at Khami Ruins till 1836, 82
- Now live at Jerri Mountains, South Mashonaland, 82
-
-
- =Kaprazine=, the Monomotapa in 1620, 133
-
- =Kafir= (Kaffir), derivation of, 30
-
- =Keane, Dr. A. H.=, his solution of the “Gold of Ophir” question,
- xxxi-xliii, 3
-
- =Khami Ruins=
- Jerri’s people (Barotse) lived here till 1836, 82, 121
- Some walls at, similar to Barotse walls in Zimbabwe district, 426
-
-
- =Livouri Mountains=, 9, 10
- Niande Hill at, 10, 62, 69, 76
-
- =Louw, Rev. A. A.=, “Morgenster,” 53, 81
-
- =Lovugwe country=, 11
-
- =Lumbo Rocks=, 8
- Described, 52
- Stones from, 180
-
- =Lumbo kraal=, 88
-
-
- =Madagascar=, its early relations with the Jews, xxxvii
-
- =Magdoshu kingdom=, xxvi
-
- =Mahobohobo trees=, 53, 60, 79, 155
-
- =Majerri Ruins=, 65, 73
-
- =Makalanga “People of the Sun,”= 80–101
- Appearance of, 2, 6
- Feasts of full moon, 16–24
- Feasts of new moon, 27
- Dread of ruins at night, 19
- Labourers, 31–50
- Letter-runners, 33
- Dual character, 38
- Defilement by touching dead, 43
- =I’daha= smokers, 45
- =Doro= drinkers, 45, 46
- Talking distances, 47
- Blood-cupping, 55
- Sunday, 46
- Mystic Bar, 57
- Chibfuko Hill, veneration of, 59
- Will not disclose ruins, 68
- Light-skinned boy, 73
- Women’s skin pattern, 74, 96
- Where found to-day, 81
- Language polished, 81
- Makalaka, a nickname for, 81, 90
- Once a powerful nation, 80
- At Zimbabwe, sixteenth century, 80
- Excellent stone-builders, 82, 151
- Used ruins as cattle kraals, 83
- Barbosa, refers to, 123, 132, 133
- Check pattern on huts, 74
- Name for Elliptical Temple, 85
- Idea of origin of ruins, 85, 86
- Agricultural and pastoral people, 89, 95
- Intellectual and physical superiority of, 89
- Contact with Portuguese, 90
- Totem of Zimbabwe, 90
- Objects of veneration, 91
- Insects eaten by, 92
- Astronomical ideas, 92
- Sacrifices by, 93, 259, 270
- Burial customs, 94, 95
- Manufactures, 95
- Dress, 96
- Witchcraft, 97
- Harmony, 97
- Proverbs, 98
- Whorls, 99
- Salutations, 100
- Jewish customs, 100, 101
- Of 1514 bartered gold for brass, 123
- Pottery, 40, 41, 129, 130
- Occupied Elliptical Temple until sixty years ago, 254
-
- =Makuma Kopje=, 9, 26, 32, 33, 160
-
- =Mamba=, or =Mombo=, old dynastic title of Barotse chiefs, 82
-
- =Manamuli’s kraal=, 72
-
- =Mandarali’s kraal=, 65
-
- =Mandindindi’s Ruin=, 71
-
- =Mangwa= (Morgenster), 84
-
- =Mapaku Ruins= (“Little Zimbabwe”), 7, 11, 60, 63, 292, 428–432
-
- =Mapaku kraal=, 70
-
- =Mapudzi Stream=, 7, 59, 61, 66
-
- =Marosie.= _See_ =Barotse=.
-
- =Marota’s kraal=, 72
-
- =Marsgi Hill= (one of “Sheba’s Breasts”), 11, 66, 69
-
- =Mashona=, derivation of, 80
-
- =Masua’s kraal=, 63, 95
-
- =Masungye=, 84
-
- =Mauch, Dr. Karl=, German scientist, 9, 62, 185, 242, 243, 270
-
- =Mauch Ruins=, 392–396
-
- =Maund Ruins=, “find” at, 110
- Description of, 383–386
-
- =Matgwain=, a Barotse, 59
-
- =Mazanda= (East Kopje), 64
-
- =Mazili River=, 72
-
- =Meziro River=, 71, 72
-
- =Middle Kopje= (Chamananga), 56
-
- =Milton, Sir W. H.=, xxx
-
- =Mogabe, the=, Handisibishe, 2, 6, 39, 40, 42, 83, 84, 85, 279
- His kraal, 16
-
- =Mogabe, the late, Chipfuno=, 6, 55, 84, 218, 279, 333, 355
-
- =Mogabe, the late=, Molinye, 84
-
- =Mogabe, the late=, Mokomo, 312
-
- =Mogoma’s kraal=, 62, 63
-
- =Mojejèje= (Mystic Bar), 55, 57
-
- =Molembo Tribe=, their Jewish customs, 101
- Metal smiths, 111
-
- =Monomotapa, the=, 80, 85
- Kapranzine (1620), 133
- Pedro (1643), 133, 280
-
- “=Morgenster Mission=,” 52
-
- =Moro!= salutation, origin of, 100
-
- =Moscha=, a port of “Ophir,” 67
-
- =Moshagashi Valley=, 1, 11
-
- =Moshagashi River=, 10, 51, 69
-
- =Mowishawasha Valley=, 8, 53
-
- =Mowishawasha Hill=, 10, 54, 59
-
- =Motelekwe River=, derivation of, 7, 9, 11, 53, 54, 60, 125, 291
-
- =Motuminshaba Hill=, 11
-
- =Motumi= (a Barotse headman), 58
- His kraal, 58, 59, 63
-
- =Motusa (Bentberg)=, 7, 8
-
- =M’Tijeni’s kraal=, 11
-
- =M’Tima’s kraal=, 10
-
- =M’uali= (the chief spirit; in some districts the prophet of the
- Deity), 19, 94
-
- =Müller, Professor=, on Zimbabwe, 193
-
- =Munda= (a Makalanga headman), 73, 74
-
- =Mystic Bar.= _See_ =Mojejèje=
-
-
- =N’Djena Valley=, 53
-
- =Neal, the late W. G.=, co-author of _The Ancient Ruins of Rhodesia_,
- 82
-
- =Niande Hill= (Livouri), 10
-
- =Nini country=, near Zimbabwe, 9, 61, 62, 84, 85, 95
-
- =No. 1 Ruins=, location of, 8, 19
- Description of, 398–410
-
- =North-East Passage=, discovered by author in 1902, 273, 274
-
-
- =Omar l’Wardi= (_circa_ 1200 A.D.) on gold of S.E. Africa, 123
-
- =Ophir=, not a gold land but a gold mart, xxxii
- Is identified by Oppert with Tharshish, xlii
- Dr. Keane, author of _The Gold of_, 5
-
- =Oppert, Professor G.=, his solution of the “Tharshish-Ophir” problem
- examined, xlii-xliii
-
- =Outer Defence Wall=, 210, 358, 410
-
- =Outer Parallel Passage=, 274, 275
-
- =Outspan Ruins=, 279
- Described, 358–362
-
- =Output of gold, ancient=, 292
-
-
- =Paphos=, embossed cylinder from, compared with one from Great
- Zimbabwe, xxxix
-
- =Pasosa Ruins=, 10
-
- =Passages=, xx, 156–162
- _At Elliptical Temple_—
- Parallel Passage, 246–250
- Inner Parallel Passage, 267, 268
- South Passage, 269–271
- West Passage, 272, 273
- No. 10 Enclosure Passage, 256
- _Passages outside Elliptical Temple_—
- Outer Parallel Passage, 274, 275
- N.E. Passage, 273, 274, 390
- _Passages on Zimbabwe Hill_—
- S.E. ascent, 279–294
- Central Passage, 321, 322
- Sunken Passage (Eastern Temple), 332
- South Cave Passage, 319
- Covered Passage, 307
- Parallel Passage, 308
- Winding Stairs, 316
- Upper Passage, 316
- East Passage, 316, 317
- Buttress Passage, 317, 318
- South Passage, 320
- Pattern Passage, 338, 339
- N.W. ascent, 344–349
- _In Minor Ruins_—
- Outspan Ruins, 360, 361
- Ridge Ruins, 413, 414
- No. 1 Ruins, 402, 406
- _In Valley of Ruins_—
- N.E. Passage, 390
- Bent’s Passage, 395
- Posselt Ruins, 370–372
- Philips Ruins, 381
- Maund Ruins, 384
- Mauch Ruins, 393, 395
- Renders Ruins, 390, 391
- _Near Zimbabwe_—
- Mapaku Ruins, 430
-
- =Pedro=, the Monomotapa in 1643, 133
-
- =Petrie, Professor Dr.=, Egyptologist, opinion on pattern on bowl,
- 110
- On calcedony beads, 126
-
- =Phalli=, 104
-
- =Phœnicia=, xxxvii, xxxix, xl, 213, 245
-
- =Philips, George=, elephant hunter from Natal, 9, 62
-
- =Philips Ruins=, 103, 105, 107, 108, 376–383
-
- =Plunket, Hon. E. M.=, on the Babylonian Calendar and Zodiac, xxxviii
-
- =Posselt, The Brothers=, big-game hunters, resided at Zimbabwe,
- 1888–9, 7
- Camp at, 8
- Visited Majerri ruins, 74
- Discover “Fuko-ya-Nebandge,” 86, 87
- Soapstone birds, 333
-
- =Posselt Ruins=, 366–375
-
- =Pottery=, Barotse, 129
- Makalanga, 129, 130
- Of uncertain date, 130, 131, 132, 436
-
- =Providential Pass=, 9
-
-
- =Relics and “finds”= at Zimbabwe (1902–1904)—
- Inventory of, 442, 448
- Descriptions of, 102–134
- Positions and associations of “finds,” sections of floors, 103, 134
- Soapstone articles, 104–111, 333
- Gold articles, 111–115
- Copper articles, 115, 116
- Iron articles, 116, 123
- Brass articles, 123, 124
- Foreign stones, 124–126
- Glass, pottery, and china, 127–132
- Mediæval Arab articles, 132–134
- Arabian glass, 128
- Arabian pottery, 131
- Venetian glass, 127
- Tin, 116
-
- =Renders, Adam, “Sa-adama,”= ivory trader, rediscoverer of Zimbabwe,
- 9
- Camp at Zimbabwe, 9
- Camp at Nini, 9
- Cave at Chicagomboni, 61
- Death, 62
-
- =Renders Ruins=, 386–391
-
- =Ridge Ruins=, location of, 8
- Description of, 410–414
-
- =Rock Holes Path=, 190, 312
-
- =Rugutsi Kopje=, 54
-
- =Rumeni Ruin=, 71
-
- =Rushumbi Hill=, 72
-
- =Rusinga Rocks=, 69
-
- =Rusingu=, native name for Elliptical Temple, 85
-
- =Rusivanga Kopje=, derivation of, 9
- References to, 125, 137, 189
- Ruins on, 424
-
-
- “=Sa-adama.=” _See_ =Renders=
-
- =Sabæans (Himyarites)= of South Arabia, worshipped Almaquah (Venus,
- Ashtaroth), 108
- As original builders, 136
- Parallelisms with Sabæan architecture, 193, 194
-
- =Sabi (Sabæ, Saba) River=, no native derivation, 67
- Ruins in Sabi Valley, 197, 291
-
- =Salutations=, native, 100
-
- =Sana=, South Arabia, its decorative art compared with that of the
- Rhodesian monuments, xxxvi
-
- =Sanuto, Livio= (1588), 132
-
- =Sayce, Dr. A. H.=, on the Ophir of Scriptures, xxxii
- On the Babylonian Zodiac, xxxix
-
- =Schlichter, Dr.=, German archæologist, 7
- Camp at Zimbabwe, 7
- References to, 198
- On Conical Tower, 245, 246
- On centres of arc walls, 304
- On the Zimbabwe Zodiac, xxxviii
-
- =Schlichter Gorge=, 7, 11
- Description of, 60, 61, 64
-
- =Selous, Mr. F. C.=, big-game hunter, on moulds, 110, 151
-
- “=Sheba’s Breasts.=” _See_ =Marsgi= and =Sueba=
-
- =Skarduza’s kraal=, 72
-
- =Soapstone beams=, 104–106
- Birds, 106–108
- Position of birds, 106
- Bowls, 108–111
- Ingot moulds, 110–111
-
- =Sofala=, identified with Tharshish, xxxii
- Zimbabwe road to, 63, 67, 74
-
- =South Arabia=, its terraced slopes, xxxiv
-
- =South-East Ruins=, 396, 397
-
- =Stanley, Sir H. H.=, on double iron gongs used in Upper Congo, 122
-
- =Step pattern=, 339
-
- =Sueba Hill= (one of “Sheba’s Breasts”), derivation and position, 11,
- 66, 72
-
- =Suku Dingle=, 56, 187
-
- =Swan, the late M. W.=, explorer of Zimbabwe, biographical notice of,
- 434, 436
-
-
- =Tchivi Kopje=, 11
-
- =Thabas Imamba=, 82, 91
-
- =Tharshish=, probably the present Sofala, xxxii
- Identified by Oppert with “Ophir,” xlii
-
- =Tokwe River=, derivation of, 9
-
-
- =Valley of Ruins, the=, 3, 363–397, 398–419
-
- =Varosie.= _See_ =Barotse=
-
- =Veroma Range.= _See_ =Beroma=
-
- =Victoria, township of=, 1, 2, 10, 33, 41
- Native names for, 99
-
- =Visitors to Zimbabwe=, regulations, 433
-
-
- =Washa.= _See_ =Mowishawasha=
-
- =Water Gate Ruins=, 349–353
-
- =Welsh Bardic emblem= (parallelism), 18, 96
-
- “=West Wall controversy=,” xxiv-xxvii
-
- =White, M.E., Mr. Franklin= (Bulawayo), xxx
-
- =Whorls=, soapstone, 111
- Pottery, 127
-
- =Willoughby, Sir John=, xv
- On extent of Great Zimbabwe Ruins, xxxiii
- Explorations, 8, 135, 137, 170, 190, 191, 222, 234, 400, 414
-
- =Wilson, Major Alan=, grave at Zimbabwe, 5, 8, 19
- Removal of remains, 5
-
- =Wuwuli Village and Caves=, 54
-
-
- =Yemen=, South Arabia, 15, 293
-
- =Zimbabwe, The Great=—
- Derivation of, 1, 85
- Author’s arrival at, 1, 2
- Lord Milner’s visit, 2
- Dr. K. Mauch at, 9
- Bent’s camp at, 3
- Dr. Schlichter at, 7
- Posselt Brothers reside at, 7, 8
- Willoughby’s camp, 8
- Adam Renders’ camp, 9
- George Philips’ camp, 9
- Reserve, map of, 3
- Ruins’ area, plan of, 7
- Bentberg, 7
- Makuma Kopje, 9
- Arab station at, 132–184
-
- =Zimbabwe creeper=, 4, 78, 147
-
- =Zimbabwe Hill=, 2, 276–362
-
- =Zimbabwe revival=, xxix
-
- =Zimbabwe, Sofala Road=, 63, 74
-
- =Zodiac, the Zimbabwe=, its antiquity vindicated, xxxviii
-
-
- PLYMOUTH
- WILLIAM BRENDON AND SON, LIMITED
- PRINTERS
-
-
-+----------------------------------------------------------------------+
-| |
-| FOOTNOTES: |
-| |
-| [1] The major portion of this Preface was read before the British |
-| Association at Cambridge, August 17, 1904. |
-| |
-| [2] Stanford, 1901. |
-| |
-| [3] On this crucial point I am glad to find myself in accord |
-| with Dr. A. H. Sayce, who has independently arrived at the same |
-| conclusion. “There is no gold in Southern Arabia,” he writes, “and |
-| consequently Ophir must have been an emporium to which the gold was |
-| brought for transhipment from elsewhere” _The Early History of the |
-| Hebrews_, 1897, p. 463). |
-| |
-| [4] Somewhat similar terraced slopes are to be found in the |
-| Lydenburg district of Transvaal Colony. |
-| |
-| [5] See _Lundi Ruins_, in _Ancient Ruins_, p. 178. |
-| |
-| [6] So also M. L. Gallois, in a review of _The Gold of Ophir_, |
-| contributed to the _Annales de Géographie_ for September 15, 1902: |
-| “Ces monuments de l’Afrique du Sud ont _une parenté certaine_, avec |
-| les monuments himyarites de l’Arabie méridionale. Les hommes qui |
-| ont construit les forteresses de la Rhodesia venaient, portés par |
-| la mousson, de la côte méridionale d’Arabie chercher l’or du Manica |
-| et du Mashona.” |
-| |
-| [7] _Babel und Bibel_, p. 44. |
-| |
-| [8] _Assyria_, pp. 110, 116. |
-| |
-| [9] _Gold of Ophir_, p. 6. |
-| |
-| [10] _Ruined Cities_, p. 167. |
-| |
-| [11] And, it may be asked, in the above-quoted passage from 1 |
-| Kings, does the expression “ships of Tharshish” mean “ships of |
-| the sea”? The Hebrew text has אֳנִיּוֹת תַּרְשִׁישׁ, “ships of Tharshish.” |
-| And if for Tharshish we substitute Ophir—Oppert’s alternative |
-| suggestion—we get nonsense; “ships of Ophir go to Ophir.” Even the |
-| “higher critics” will scarcely accept this. |
-| |
-| [12] _Das Problem scheint jetzt in der That gëlost_ (No. 19, 1902, |
-| p. 357). |
-| |
-| [13] Correctly, _Zim-bāb-gi_ (_zimba_, pl. buildings; _mābgi_, pl. |
-| stones), words in common use in _Chicaranga_, the language of the |
-| Makalanga. Authorities on _Chicaranga_ agree that _zimba_, though |
-| applying to dwellings, is also applied to buildings which are not |
-| dwellings. |
-| |
-| [14] See _Appendix_, Note A. Government Notice, No. 103 of 1904, |
-| “Great Zimbabwe, Notice to Visitors, with Regulations.” |
-| |
-| [15] Remains removed to Matoppas, 1904. |
-| |
-| [16] Correctly, _Motirikoi_ (_Chicaranga_, “a river that rises |
-| suddenly”). |
-| |
-| [17] Correctly, _Togue_ (passive); in _Chicaranga_, “a river where |
-| people are swept away.” The _Togue_ is a strong and fast-running |
-| river. |
-| |
-| [18] In _Chicaranga_, “the hill of those who ran away.” |
-| |
-| [19] “Black.” |
-| |
-| [20] Chewers, probably of tobacco. |
-| |
-| [21] Usually but wrongly spelt _Kaffir_. It is the Arabic كافِر, |
-| Káfir = Infidel, Unbeliever, applied indifferently to all |
-| non-Mohammedan peoples, hence has no ethnical significance. |
-| |
-| [22] In _Chicaranga_ the Zulu _l_ becomes _r_. The Sebele _l_ in |
-| _Abolse_ (see pp. 3, 17, 133, 134, and 191 _The Ancient Ruins_, 2nd |
-| edition) becomes _r_—or _Barose_, _Barotse_, etc. |
-| |
-| [23] The Mogabe Handisibishe is called _Benzi_, “the quarrelsome |
-| man,” owing to his frequent quarrellings with the chiefs of other |
-| Makalanga tribes. |
-| |
-| [24] See also Isafuba, _Ancient Ruins_, pp. 79, 80, 140, 152, 268. |
-| |
-| [25] Waterfall (_Chicaranga_). |
-| |
-| [26] Bingura’s people are Amangwa. |
-| |
-| [27] _Mashona_, probably a corruption of _Mashuli_, _Mahuli_, |
-| “slaves,” is the name by which the Makalanga are known to the |
-| whites; hence “Mashonaland,” the now established name of their |
-| territory, which should properly be _Makalangaland_. |
-| |
-| [28] _Barotse_, _Barose_, _Marose_, and _Varose_ are all variant |
-| forms of _Baharutse_, who appear to be the original stock of the |
-| Bechuana nation, hence are regarded by all the other branches of |
-| the family as their “elder brothers.” |
-| |
-| [29] The proper totem of the Barotse people is the _Chuene_ (Cape |
-| baboon), but sub-tribes of Barotse each have also a totem of their |
-| own. The _Mamba_ (puff-adder) was the totem of the Barotse of |
-| Thabas I’Mamba districts. |
-| |
-| [30] Coillard, pp. 220, 224, and 333. |
-| |
-| [31] See Dr. Keane’s Introduction to this volume; also _The Gold |
-| of Ophir_; also M. Grandidier’s work on the Sabæan, Phœnician, and |
-| Idumean Jew influences on South-East Africa and Madagascar; and |
-| _The Ancient Ruins of Rhodesia_ (2nd edition). |
-| |
-| [32] See _The Ancient Ruins of Rhodesia_, 2nd edition, pp. 141–3, |
-| for descriptions of relics found at Zimbabwe in 1891 and 1892. |
-| See Appendix hereto, Note F, for inventory of relics found by the |
-| author at Zimbabwe, 1902–4. |
-| |
-| [33] All the birds found at Zimbabwe either by Mr. Bent and the |
-| author were discovered occupying an eastern position, cut off from |
-| south-west, west, and north by cliffs or large and high walls. |
-| |
-| [34] Professor Dr. Flinders Petrie informs the author that this |
-| pattern is decidedly of Eastern origin, possibly Assyrian. |
-| |
-| [35] See also _Preface_, “Two Periods of Gold Manufacture at |
-| Zimbabwe.” |
-| |
-| [36] Dr. Flinders Petrie has informed the author that calcedony |
-| beads, identical in shape and size to those found in ruins in |
-| Rhodesia, are of mediæval Arab origin. |
-| |
-| [37] Dr. Budge, Head Keeper of Egyptian and Assyrian Antiquities |
-| at the British Museum, considers this glass to belong to the |
-| thirteenth or fourteenth century of this era. |
-| |
-| [38] The author is preparing a monograph on the pottery of the |
-| Barotse and Makalanga. |
-| |
-| [39] See Note C, Appendix to this volume, which gives a fuller |
-| description of this “find.” |
-| |
-| [40] For descriptions of ancient architecture in the ruins of |
-| Rhodesia generally, see _The Ancient Ruins of Rhodesia_ (2nd |
-| edition), Chapter XII. |
-| |
-| [41] For a probable explanation of the absence of inscriptions, see |
-| Dr. Keane’s Introduction to this volume. |
-| |
-| [42] See Preface. |
-| |
-| [43] Figures in round brackets are points of the circumference of |
-| the interior face of the main wall measured from the south side of |
-| the west entrance and going south. |
-| |
-| [44] This has now been discovered. It had been removed by relic |
-| hunters in 1892. |
-| |
-| [45] Since the above was written further exploration in the ruins |
-| shows several lengths of these granite cement dadoes, one 16 ft. |
-| and another 33 ft. long, still intact. Cement dadoes have also |
-| been found round the faces of buttresses and on the side walls of |
-| entrances, thus reducing the width of such passage-ways by at least |
-| 5 in. |
-| |
-| [46] Most of the Sabæan temples were round. _El Masoudi_ (940 A.D.). |
-| |
-| [47] All the birds found at Zimbabwe occupied eastward positions. |
-| |
-| [48] For _Areas of varying styles of Ancient Architecture_ see |
-| _Ancient Ruins_, p. 164, section (a). |
-| |
-| [49] See Preface, _West Wall Controversy_. |
-| |
-| [50] _Report on the examination and analysis of No. 2 Sample of |
-| mineral._—This was a sample of powdery, earthy mineral. One-half of |
-| it has been assayed with the view to the presence of gold, and was |
-| found to contain 1½ dwts. of gold per ton. The other portion has |
-| been analysed as to its chemical composition, which was found to be |
-| as follows: |
-| |
-| Silica 73·18 % |
-| Oxide of Iron 17·83 〃 |
-| Alumina 8·98 〃 |
-| Lime Trace. |
-| |
-| This powdery earth is most probably formed through the |
-| disintegration of the slag and furnace ashes, which make an |
-| excellent foundation for the floor of a large building. On exposure |
-| to the action of the weather it crumbles to powder. |
-| |
-| P. DANIEL HAHN, PH.D, M.A., |
-| Professor of Chemistry. |
-| |
-| [51] See Appendix, Note G, as to formation rock under the temple. |
-| |
-| [52] See _Frontispiece_. |
-| |
-| [53] Several independent astronomical calculations point to the age |
-| of the Elliptical Temple being from 1100 to 1300 years B.C. |
-| |
-| [54] This has been now found by the author. It had been removed in |
-| 1892 by relic hunters. |
-| |
-| [55] _Report on the examination and analysis of No. 1 sample of |
-| minerals_:— |
-| |
-| This was a piece of metamorphic slate, such as may be found in the |
-| vicinity of the contact-zone of clay slate and granite or other |
-| crystalline rock. Its composition does not present any peculiar |
-| features. |
-| |
-| P. DANIEL HAHN, PH.D., M.A. |
-| _Professor of Chemistry, South African College |
-| Chemical and Metallurgical Laboratory._ |
-| |
-| [56] Two rounded buttresses are built on the larger buttress, and |
-| are against the summit of this wall. |
-| |
-| [57] Discovered 1902. |
-| |
-| [58] For description of these ruins, see p. 358. |
-| |
-| [59] _Ancient Ruins of Rhodesia_ (2nd edition). |
-| |
-| [60] See Author’s Report on _Slanting Monolith_, Note E, Appendix. |
-| |
-| [61] The author was the first to break through the old habit of |
-| bestowing misleading or suggestive titles to various architectural |
-| features. These recesses unfortunately have thus always been known |
-| as “buttresses.” A long list of such incorrect titles could easily |
-| be compiled from printed descriptions of ruins. |
-| |
-| [62] The author has since discovered similar recesses elsewhere at |
-| Zimbabwe. |
-| |
-+----------------------------------------------------------------------+
-
-
- _Price 10s. 6d. net. With seventy illustrations._
-
- THE
- ANCIENT RUINS OF RHODESIA
-
- BY
- W. G. NEAL AND R. N. HALL
-
- SECOND AND ENLARGED EDITION
-
- LONDON: METHUEN & CO.
-
-
-Transcriber’s Notes:
-
- - Text enclosed by underscores is in italics (_italics_).
- - Text enclosed by equals is in bold font (=bold=).
- - Blank pages have been removed.
- - Advertisement has been moved to the back.
- - Obvious typographical errors have been silently corrected.
- - Some spelling and hyphenation variations have been made consistent.
-
-
-
-
-
-End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Great Zimbabwe, Mashonaland, Rhodesia, by
-Richard Nicklin Hall
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-to check the laws of the country where you are located before using this ebook.
-
-Title: Great Zimbabwe, Mashonaland, Rhodesia
- An account of two years' examination work in 1902-4 on
- behalf of the government of Rhodesia
-
-Author: Richard Nicklin Hall
-
-Release Date: June 27, 2020 [EBook #62501]
-
-Language: English
-
-Character set encoding: UTF-8
-
-*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK GREAT ZIMBABWE, MASHONALAND, RHODESIA ***
-
-
-
-
-Produced by MFR, Robert Tonsing, and the Online Distributed
-Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net (This file was
-produced from images generously made available by The
-Internet Archive)
-
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-
-</pre>
-
-
- <div class="figcenter">
- <img id="coverpage" src="images/cover.jpg" alt="" width="650" height="1000" />
- </div>
-
- <hr class="page" />
- <div class="figcenter" id="i_frontis">
- <img src="images/i_frontis.jpg" width="508" height="700" alt="" />
- <div class="caption">THE CONICAL TOWER, ELLIPTICAL TEMPLE, GREAT ZIMBABWE</div>
- </div>
-
- <hr class="page" />
- <div class="titlepage">
- <h1><span class="gespertt">GREAT ZIMBABWE</span><br />
- <span class="xlarge">MASHONALAND, RHODESIA</span></h1>
-
- <div>AN ACCOUNT OF TWO YEARS’ EXAMINATION<br />
- WORK IN 1902–4 ON BEHALF OF THE<br />
- GOVERNMENT OF RHODESIA</div>
-
- <div class="mt5 xlarge"><span class="small">BY</span><br />
- R. N. HALL, F.R.G.S.<br />
- <span class="xsmall">CO-AUTHOR WITH W. G. NEAL OF “THE ANCIENT RUINS OF RHODESIA”</span></div>
-
-
- <div class="mt10 small">WITH AN INTRODUCTION</div>
-
- <div><span class="xsmall">BY</span><br />
- PROFESSOR A. H. KEANE, LL.D., F.R.G.S.</div>
-
- <div class="mt10 small">WITH TWO HUNDRED ILLUSTRATIONS, MAPS, AND PLANS</div>
-
- <div class="mt10 lh2">METHUEN &amp; CO.<br />
- 36 ESSEX STREET W.C.<br />
- LONDON</div>
- </div>
-
- <hr class="page" />
- <div class="center small mt10 mb10"><i>First Published in 1905</i></div>
-
- <hr class="page" />
- <div class="chapter" id="CONTENTS">
- <h2 class="mb5">CONTENTS</h2>
- </div>
-
- <table summary="Contents">
- <tbody>
- <tr>
- <td class="tdl"><a href="#DEDICATION"><span class="smcap">Dedication</span></a></td>
- <td class="tdr"><div><i>Page</i> xiii</div></td>
- </tr>
- <tr>
- <td class="tdl pt2"><a href="#PREFACE"><span class="smcap">Preface</span></a></td>
- <td class="tdr"><div>xv</div></td>
- </tr>
- <tr>
- <td class="tdl pt2"><a href="#INTRODUCTION"><span class="smcap">Introduction</span></a>, by Professor A. H. Keane, <span class="smcap">ll.d., f.r.g.s.</span></td>
- <td class="tdr"><div>xxxi</div></td>
- </tr>
- <tr>
- <td colspan="2"><div class="tdc"><a href="#CHAPTER_I">CHAPTER I</a></div></td>
- </tr>
- <tr>
- <td class="tdl">Arrival at Great Zimbabwe—First Impressions—View from Acropolis Hill</td>
- <td class="tdr"><div>1</div></td>
- </tr>
- <tr>
- <td colspan="2"><div class="tdc"><a href="#CHAPTER_II">CHAPTER II</a></div></td>
- </tr>
- <tr>
- <td class="tdl">
- Mystic Zimbabwe—Sunday Morning and Midnight in an Ancient Temple—Sunset on the Acropolis</td>
- <td class="tdr"><div>12</div></td>
- </tr>
- <tr>
- <td colspan="2"><div class="tdc"><a href="#CHAPTER_III">CHAPTER III</a></div></td>
- </tr>
- <tr>
- <td class="tdl">A day at Havilah Camp, Zimbabwe</td>
- <td class="tdr"><div>31</div></td>
- </tr>
- <tr>
- <td colspan="2"><div class="tdc"><a href="#CHAPTER_IV">CHAPTER IV</a></div></td>
- </tr>
- <tr>
- <td class="tdl">Zimbabwe District—Chipo-popo Falls—Frond Glen—Lumbo Rocks—“Morgenster”
- Mission—Wuwulu—Mojejèje, or Mystic Bar—Suku Dingle—Bingura’s Kraal—Motumi’s Kraal—Chipfuko
- Hill—Chipadzi’s Kraal</td>
- <td class="tdr"><div>51</div></td>
- </tr>
- <tr>
- <td colspan="2"><div class="tdc"><a href="#CHAPTER_V">CHAPTER V</a></div></td>
- </tr>
- <tr>
- <td class="tdl">Zimbabwe Natives—Natives and the Ruins—Natives (general)</td>
- <td class="tdr"><div>80</div></td>
- </tr>
- <tr>
- <td colspan="2"><div class="tdc"><a href="#CHAPTER_VI">CHAPTER VI</a></div></td>
- </tr>
- <tr>
- <td class="tdl">Relics and Finds, Great Zimbabwe, 1902–4</td>
- <td class="tdr"><div>102</div></td>
- </tr>
- <tr>
- <td colspan="2"><div class="tdc"><a href="#CHAPTER_VII">CHAPTER VII</a></div></td>
- </tr>
- <tr>
- <td class="tdl">Notes on Ancient Architecture at Zimbabwe—Introduction—Durability
- of Walls—Dilapidations—Makalanga Walls—Remains
- of Native Huts found in Ruins—Passages—Entrances and Buttresses</td>
- <td class="tdr"><div>135</div></td>
- </tr>
- <tr>
- <td colspan="2"><div class="tdc"><span class="pagenum" id="Page_vi">vi</span>
- <a href="#CHAPTER_VIII">CHAPTER VIII</a></div></td>
- </tr>
- <tr>
- <td class="tdl">Notes on Ancient Architecture at Zimbabwe (<i>continued</i>)—Drains—Battering
- of Walls—Soapstone Monoliths and Beams—Granite and Slate Beams—Cement—Dadoes—Built-up crevices—Holes
- in Walls other than Drains—Blind Steps—Platforms—Ancient Walls at a Distance from Main Walls—Caves and Rock Holes</td>
- <td class="tdr"><div>168</div></td>
- </tr>
- <tr>
- <td colspan="2"><div class="tdc"><a href="#CHAPTER_IX">CHAPTER IX</a></div></td>
- </tr>
- <tr>
- <td class="tdl">The Elliptical Temple—Plan—Construction, Measurements—Summit
- and Foundations of Main Wall—Chevron Pattern—Ground Surface of Exterior</td>
- <td class="tdr"><div>193</div></td>
- </tr>
- <tr>
- <td colspan="2"><div class="tdc"><a href="#CHAPTER_X">CHAPTER X</a></div></td>
- </tr>
- <tr>
- <td class="tdl">The Elliptical Temple (<i>continued</i>)—Main Entrances</td>
- <td class="tdr"><div>216</div></td>
- </tr>
- <tr>
- <td colspan="2"><div class="tdc"><a href="#CHAPTER_XI">CHAPTER XI</a></div></td>
- </tr>
- <tr>
- <td class="tdl">The Elliptical Temple (<i>continued</i>)—Enclosures Nos. 1 to 7</td>
- <td class="tdr"><div>225</div></td>
- </tr>
- <tr>
- <td colspan="2"><div class="tdc"><a href="#CHAPTER_XII">CHAPTER XII</a></div></td>
- </tr>
- <tr>
- <td class="tdl">The Elliptical Temple (<i>continued</i>)—Sacred Enclosure—Conical
- Tower—Small Tower—Parallel passage</td>
- <td class="tdr"><div>237</div></td>
- </tr>
- <tr>
- <td colspan="2"><div class="tdc"><a href="#CHAPTER_XIII">CHAPTER XIII</a></div></td>
- </tr>
- <tr>
- <td class="tdl">The Elliptical Temple (<i>continued</i>)—The Platform—Enclosures
- Nos. 9 to 15—Central Area—Platform Area—Inner Parallel
- Passage—South Passage—West Passage—North-East Passage—Outer Parallel Passage</td>
- <td class="tdr"><div>251</div></td>
- </tr>
- <tr>
- <td colspan="2"><div class="tdc"><a href="#CHAPTER_XIV">CHAPTER XIV</a></div></td>
- </tr>
- <tr>
- <td class="tdl">Acropolis Ruins—South-East Ancient Ascent—Lower Parapet—Rock
- Passage—Upper Parapet—Western Enclosure</td>
- <td class="tdr"><div>276</div></td>
- </tr>
- <tr>
- <td colspan="2"><div class="tdc"><a href="#CHAPTER_XV">CHAPTER XV</a></div></td>
- </tr>
- <tr>
- <td class="tdl">Acropolis Ruins (<i>continued</i>)—The Western Temple</td>
- <td class="tdr"><div>297</div></td>
- </tr>
- <tr>
- <td colspan="2"><div class="tdc"><a href="#CHAPTER_XVI">CHAPTER XVI</a></div></td>
- </tr>
- <tr>
- <td class="tdl">Acropolis Ruins (<i>continued</i>)—Platform Enclosure—Cleft Rock
- Enclosure—The Platform—Balcony Wall—Little Enclosure—Winding Stairs—Upper Passage—East Passage—Buttress
- Passage—South Enclosures A, B, and C—South Cave—South Passage—Central Passage</td>
- <td class="tdr"><div>310</div></td>
- </tr>
- <tr>
- <td colspan="2"><div class="tdc"><a href="#CHAPTER_XVII">CHAPTER XVII</a></div></td>
- </tr>
- <tr>
- <td class="tdl"><span class="pagenum" id="Page_vii">vii</span>
- Acropolis Ruins (<i>continued</i>)—Eastern Temple—Ancient Balcony—Balcony
- Enclosure—Balcony Cave—“Gold Furnace” Enclosure—Pattern
- Passage—Recess Enclosure—North Plateau—North Parapet</td>
- <td class="tdr"><div>323</div></td>
- </tr>
- <tr>
- <td colspan="2"><div class="tdc"><a href="#CHAPTER_XVIII">CHAPTER XVIII</a></div></td>
- </tr>
- <tr>
- <td class="tdl">Acropolis Ruins (<i>continued</i>)—North-West Ancient Ascent—Watergate
- Ruins—Terraced Enclosures on North-West Face of Zimbabwe Hill—South Terrace—Ruins on South Face of
- Zimbabwe Hill—Outspan Ruins</td>
- <td class="tdr"><div>344</div></td>
- </tr>
- <tr>
- <td colspan="2"><div class="tdc"><a href="#CHAPTER_XIX">CHAPTER XIX</a></div></td>
- </tr>
- <tr>
- <td class="tdl">“The Valley of Ruins”—Posselt, Philips, Maund, Renders, Mauch
- Ruins, and South-East Ruins</td>
- <td class="tdr"><div>363</div></td>
- </tr>
- <tr>
- <td colspan="2"><div class="tdc"><a href="#CHAPTER_XX">CHAPTER XX</a></div></td>
- </tr>
- <tr>
- <td class="tdl">“The Valley of Ruins” (<i>continued</i>)—No. 1 Ruins—Ridge Ruins—Camp
- Ruins Nos. 1 and 2</td>
- <td class="tdr"><div>398</div></td>
- </tr>
- <tr>
- <td colspan="2"><div class="tdc"><a href="#CHAPTER_XXI">CHAPTER XXI</a></div></td>
- </tr>
- <tr>
- <td class="tdl">Ruins near Zimbabwe—East Ruins—Other Ruins within the Zimbabwe Ruins’ Area</td>
- <td class="tdr"><div>420</div></td>
- </tr>
- <tr>
- <td class="tdl pt2"><a href="#NOTES_AND_ADDENDA"><span class="smcap">Notes and Addenda</span></a></td>
- <td class="tdr"><div>433</div></td>
- </tr>
- <tr>
- <td class="tdl pt2"><a href="#DEDICATION"><span class="smcap">Index</span></a></td>
- <td class="tdr"><div>451</div></td>
- </tr>
- </tbody>
- </table>
-
- <p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_viii">viii</span></p>
- <hr class="page" />
-
- <div class="chapter">
- <p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_ix">ix</span></p>
- <h2 id="LIST_OF_PLATES">LIST OF PLATES</h2>
- </div>
-
- <table summary="List of Plates" id="loi">
- <tbody>
- <tr>
- <th class="tdl">&nbsp;</th>
- <th class="tdr"><div class="smcap">page</div></th>
- </tr>
- <tr>
- <td class="tdl"><a href="#i_frontis">Conical Tower, Elliptical Temple, Great Zimbabwe</a></td>
- <td class="tdr"><div><i>Frontispiece</i></div></td>
- </tr>
- <tr>
- <td class="tdl"><a href="#i_xiii">The late Mr. Theodore Bent, <span class="smcap">f.r.g.s.</span>, explorer of Great Zimbabwe in
- 1891, author of <cite>The Ruined Cities of Mashonaland</cite></a></td>
- <td class="tdr"><div>xiii</div></td>
- </tr>
- <tr>
- <td class="tdl"><a href="#i_xxxvia">Coin of Byblos, Phœnicia, showing Conical Tower</a></td>
- <td class="tdr"><div>xxxvi</div></td>
- </tr>
- <tr>
- <td class="tdl"><a href="#i_xxxvib">Wooden Bowl with Zodiacal Signs, found near Zimbabwe</a></td>
- <td class="tdr"><div>xxxvi</div></td>
- </tr>
- <tr>
- <td class="tdl"><a href="#i_xxxviiia">Cylinder with Rosettes found at Phœnician Temple of Paphos in Cyprus</a></td>
- <td class="tdr"><div>xxxviii</div></td>
- </tr>
- <tr>
- <td class="tdl"><a href="#i_xxxviiib">Soapstone Cylinder, with Rosettes, found near Zimbabwe</a></td>
- <td class="tdr"><div>xxxviii</div></td>
- </tr>
- <tr>
- <td class="tdl"><a href="#i_xla">“Fuko-ya-Nebandge”</a></td>
- <td class="tdr"><div>xl</div></td>
- </tr>
- <tr>
- <td class="tdl"><a href="#i_xlb">Model of Temple</a></td>
- <td class="tdr"><div>xl</div></td>
- </tr>
- <tr>
- <td class="tdl"><a href="#i_002a">“To Great Zimbabwe”</a></td>
- <td class="tdr"><div>2</div></td>
- </tr>
- <tr>
- <td class="tdl"><a href="#i_002b">Havilah Camp, Great Zimbabwe</a></td>
- <td class="tdr"><div>2</div></td>
- </tr>
- <tr>
- <td class="tdl"><a href="#i_010">View from Acropolis, showing Elliptical Temple in the Valley, Zimbabwe</a></td>
- <td class="tdr"><div>10</div></td>
- </tr>
- <tr>
- <td class="tdl"><a href="#i_016a">Conical Tower and Platform (from north), Elliptical Temple, Zimbabwe</a></td>
- <td class="tdr"><div>16</div></td>
- </tr>
- <tr>
- <td class="tdl"><a href="#i_016b">The Balcony, Eastern Temple, Acropolis. The parapet wall of Balcony
- is built upon the suspended boulder</a></td>
- <td class="tdr"><div>16</div></td>
- </tr>
- <tr>
- <td class="tdl"><a href="#i_036a">Carrying débris from the Elliptical Temple</a></td>
- <td class="tdr"><div>36</div></td>
- </tr>
- <tr>
- <td class="tdl"><a href="#i_036b">A noontide shelter at the Elliptical Temple</a></td>
- <td class="tdr"><div>36</div></td>
- </tr>
- <tr>
- <td class="tdl"><a href="#i_046a">The Camp Messenger</a></td>
- <td class="tdr"><div>46</div></td>
- </tr>
- <tr>
- <td class="tdl"><a href="#i_046b">Labourers at the Elliptical Temple</a></td>
- <td class="tdr"><div>46</div></td>
- </tr>
- <tr>
- <td class="tdl"><a href="#i_056a">The Chipo-popo Falls, near Zimbabwe</a></td>
- <td class="tdr"><div>56</div></td>
- </tr>
- <tr>
- <td class="tdl"><a href="#i_056b">Rapping the Moje-je-je, or “Mystic Bar,” Zimbabwe</a></td>
- <td class="tdr"><div>56</div></td>
- </tr>
- <tr>
- <td class="tdl"><a href="#i_062a">Finger Rock, Morgenster, near Zimbabwe</a></td>
- <td class="tdr"><div>62</div></td>
- </tr>
- <tr>
- <td class="tdl"><a href="#i_062b">I-Baku (the cave) at Chicagomboni, where Adam Renders, the rediscoverer
- of Great Zimbabwe, lived from 1868 to 1871</a></td>
- <td class="tdr"><div>62</div></td>
- </tr>
- <tr>
- <td class="tdl"><a href="#i_068a">The Bird Rock, near Zimbabwe</a></td>
- <td class="tdr"><div>68</div></td>
- </tr>
- <tr>
- <td class="tdl"><a href="#i_068b">View on Motelekwe River</a></td>
- <td class="tdr"><div>68</div></td>
- </tr>
- <tr>
- <td class="tdl"><a href="#i_080a">A Makalanga, Zimbabwe</a></td>
- <td class="tdr"><div>80</div></td>
- </tr>
- <tr>
- <td class="tdl"><a href="#i_080b">The Camp Watchman</a></td>
- <td class="tdr"><div>80</div></td>
- </tr>
- <tr>
- <td class="tdl"><a href="#i_084a">Makalanga “Boys” fencing, Zimbabwe</a></td>
- <td class="tdr"><div>84</div></td>
- </tr>
- <tr>
- <td class="tdl"><a href="#i_084b">Motumi and Mongwaine, Zimbabwe</a></td>
- <td class="tdr"><div>84</div></td>
- </tr>
- <tr>
- <td class="tdl"><a href="#i_088a">Makalanga mother and child, Zimbabwe</a></td>
- <td class="tdr"><div>88</div></td>
- </tr>
- <tr>
- <td class="tdl"><a href="#i_088b">The Mogabe Handisibishe, chief of the Zimbabwe Makalanga</a></td>
- <td class="tdr"><div>88</div></td>
- </tr>
- <tr>
- <td class="tdl"><a href="#i_096">Makalanga women and girls at the Mogabe’s Kraal, Great Zimbabwe</a></td>
- <td class="tdr"><div>96</div></td>
- </tr>
- <tr>
- <td class="tdl"><a href="#i_102">Soapstone Beams, with Birds, Zimbabwe</a></td>
- <td class="tdr"><div>102</div></td>
- </tr>
- <tr>
- <td class="tdl"><a href="#i_106">Front, side, and back views of Soapstone Bird, Zimbabwe</a></td>
- <td class="tdr"><div>106</div></td>
- </tr>
- <tr>
- <td class="tdl"><a href="#i_108">Soapstone Bird on Beam, discovered at Philips Ruins, Zimbabwe, in 1903
- (three views)</a></td>
- <td class="tdr"><div>108</div></td>
- </tr>
- <tr>
- <td class="tdl"><a href="#i_152a">An old wall crossing over the foundation of a still older wall, Zimbabwe</a></td>
- <td class="tdr"><div>152</div></td>
- </tr>
- <tr>
- <td class="tdl"><a href="#i_152b">Binding of the summits of two separate walls</a></td>
- <td class="tdr"><div>152</div></td>
- </tr>
- <tr>
- <td class="tdl"><a href="#i_170a">Exterior of Drain, Elliptical Temple</a></td>
- <td class="tdr"><div>170</div></td>
- </tr>
- <tr>
- <td class="tdl"><a href="#i_170b">Monoliths on the Platform, Acropolis</a></td>
- <td class="tdr"><div>170</div></td>
- </tr>
- <tr>
- <td class="tdl"><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_x">[x]</a></span><a href="#i_198">
- South-east Wall, with Chevron Pattern, Elliptical Temple, Great Zimbabwe</a></td>
- <td class="tdr"><div>198</div></td>
- </tr>
- <tr>
- <td class="tdl"><a href="#i_204">Chevron Pattern, East Wall, Elliptical Temple</a></td>
- <td class="tdr"><div>204</div></td>
- </tr>
- <tr>
- <td class="tdl"><a href="#i_206">North-east Wall, with Chevron Pattern, Elliptical Temple, Great Zimbabwe</a></td>
- <td class="tdr"><div>206</div></td>
- </tr>
- <tr>
- <td class="tdl"><a href="#i_216a">North-west Entrance, Elliptical Temple</a></td>
- <td class="tdr"><div>216</div></td>
- </tr>
- <tr>
- <td class="tdl"><a href="#i_216b">Entrance to Passage, No. 10 Enclosure, Elliptical Temple</a></td>
- <td class="tdr"><div>216</div></td>
- </tr>
- <tr>
- <td class="tdl"><a href="#i_220">Exterior of North Entrance, Elliptical Temple, Zimbabwe. Discovered 1903</a></td>
- <td class="tdr"><div>220</div></td>
- </tr>
- <tr>
- <td class="tdl"><a href="#i_222a">Summit of South-east Main Wall, Elliptical Temple</a></td>
- <td class="tdr"><div>222</div></td>
- </tr>
- <tr>
- <td class="tdl"><a href="#i_222b">West Entrance from interior, Elliptical Temple</a></td>
- <td class="tdr"><div>222</div></td>
- </tr>
- <tr>
- <td class="tdl"><a href="#i_228">Nos. 3 and 4 Enclosures and West Main Wall, Elliptical Temple</a></td>
- <td class="tdr"><div>228</div></td>
- </tr>
- <tr>
- <td class="tdl"><a href="#i_234a">West Entrance, No. 7 Enclosure, Elliptical Temple</a></td>
- <td class="tdr"><div>234</div></td>
- </tr>
- <tr>
- <td class="tdl"><a href="#i_234b">South Wall of No. 7 Enclosure, showing part (to left) reconstructed,
- Elliptical Temple</a></td>
- <td class="tdr"><div>234</div></td>
- </tr>
- <tr>
- <td class="tdl"><a href="#i_238a">Visitors’ Ladder to summit of Main Wall, Elliptical Temple</a></td>
- <td class="tdr"><div>238</div></td>
- </tr>
- <tr>
- <td class="tdl"><a href="#i_238b">The small Conical Tower, Elliptical Temple</a></td>
- <td class="tdr"><div>238</div></td>
- </tr>
- <tr>
- <td class="tdl"><a href="#i_246">The Parallel Passage (from south), Elliptical Temple</a></td>
- <td class="tdr"><div>246</div></td>
- </tr>
- <tr>
- <td class="tdl"><a href="#i_248">The Parallel Passage (from north), Elliptical Temple</a></td>
- <td class="tdr"><div>248</div></td>
- </tr>
- <tr>
- <td class="tdl"><a href="#i_250a">South Entrance to Parallel Passage, looking south, Elliptical Temple</a></td>
- <td class="tdr"><div>250</div></td>
- </tr>
- <tr>
- <td class="tdl"><a href="#i_250b">Part of Platform Area, looking west, showing drain from No. 10 Enclosure,
- Elliptical Temple</a></td>
- <td class="tdr"><div>250</div></td>
- </tr>
- <tr>
- <td class="tdl"><a href="#i_258a">South Wall, with Pattern, No. 11 Enclosure, Elliptical Temple</a></td>
- <td class="tdr"><div>258</div></td>
- </tr>
- <tr>
- <td class="tdl"><a href="#i_258b">Joint between original and reconstructed walls, Nos. 11 and 12 Enclosures,
- Elliptical Temple</a></td>
- <td class="tdr"><div>258</div></td>
- </tr>
- <tr>
- <td class="tdl"><a href="#i_264">South-east interior of Elliptical Temple, looking N.N.E., and showing excavations, 1902–4</a></td>
- <td class="tdr"><div>264</div></td>
- </tr>
- <tr>
- <td class="tdl"><a href="#i_266a">Circular Cement Platform, with Steps, and carved Soapstone Beams, discovered
- 1903, Elliptical Temple</a></td>
- <td class="tdr"><div>266</div></td>
- </tr>
- <tr>
- <td class="tdl"><a href="#i_266b">Entrance to Inner Parallel Passage from South Passage, Elliptical Temple</a></td>
- <td class="tdr"><div>266</div></td>
- </tr>
- <tr>
- <td class="tdl"><a href="#i_268a">East Wall, with Pattern, No. 11 Enclosure, Elliptical Temple</a></td>
- <td class="tdr"><div>268</div></td>
- </tr>
- <tr>
- <td class="tdl"><a href="#i_268b">Inner Parallel Passage, looking east, Elliptical Temple</a></td>
- <td class="tdr"><div>268</div></td>
- </tr>
- <tr>
- <td class="tdl"><a href="#i_276">Zimbabwe Hill, or Acropolis. View from Havilah Camp</a></td>
- <td class="tdr"><div>276</div></td>
- </tr>
- <tr>
- <td class="tdl"><a href="#i_284a">A turn in the Passage of the South-east Ancient Ascent, Acropolis</a></td>
- <td class="tdr"><div>284</div></td>
- </tr>
- <tr>
- <td class="tdl"><a href="#i_284b">View from South-east Ascent, Acropolis</a></td>
- <td class="tdr"><div>284</div></td>
- </tr>
- <tr>
- <td class="tdl"><a href="#i_286a">Lower Entrance to Rock Passage, South-east Ascent, Acropolis</a></td>
- <td class="tdr"><div>286</div></td>
- </tr>
- <tr>
- <td class="tdl"><a href="#i_286b">View down Rock Passage, South-east Ancient Ascent, Acropolis</a></td>
- <td class="tdr"><div>286</div></td>
- </tr>
- <tr>
- <td class="tdl"><a href="#i_300a">Entrance to Covered Passage, Western Temple, Acropolis</a></td>
- <td class="tdr"><div>300</div></td>
- </tr>
- <tr>
- <td class="tdl"><a href="#i_300b">Summit of West Wall of Western Temple, Acropolis, showing small tower
- and monoliths</a></td>
- <td class="tdr"><div>300</div></td>
- </tr>
- <tr>
- <td class="tdl"><a href="#i_308a">West Entrance to Parallel Passage, Western Temple, Acropolis</a></td>
- <td class="tdr"><div>308</div></td>
- </tr>
- <tr>
- <td class="tdl"><a href="#i_308b">Buttress Passage, Acropolis</a></td>
- <td class="tdr"><div>308</div></td>
- </tr>
- <tr>
- <td class="tdl"><a href="#i_312a">The Cleft Rock, from north side, Acropolis</a></td>
- <td class="tdr"><div>312</div></td>
- </tr>
- <tr>
- <td class="tdl"><a href="#i_312b">Natural Archway, Central Passage, Acropolis</a></td>
- <td class="tdr"><div>312</div></td>
- </tr>
- <tr>
- <td class="tdl"><a href="#i_314a">View of the Platform from main West Wall of Western Temple, Acropolis</a></td>
- <td class="tdr"><div>314</div></td>
- </tr>
- <tr>
- <td class="tdl"><a href="#i_314b">Dentelle Pattern on Platform, Western Temple, Acropolis</a></td>
- <td class="tdr"><div>314</div></td>
- </tr>
- <tr>
- <td class="tdl"><a href="#i_316a">Bottom of Winding Stairs, Western Temple, Acropolis</a></td>
- <td class="tdr"><div>316</div></td>
- </tr>
- <tr>
- <td class="tdl"><a href="#i_316b">West Entrance to South Cave, Acropolis</a></td>
- <td class="tdr"><div>316</div></td>
- </tr>
- <tr>
- <td class="tdl"><a href="#i_328a">Exterior of main East Wall, showing Dentelle Pattern, Eastern Temple, Acropolis</a></td>
- <td class="tdr"><div>328</div></td>
- </tr>
- <tr>
- <td class="tdl"><a href="#i_328b">Sunken Passage (looking east), Eastern Temple, Acropolis</a></td>
- <td class="tdr"><div>328</div></td>
- </tr>
- <tr>
- <td class="tdl"><a href="#i_338a">East Entrance to Pattern Passage, Acropolis</a></td>
- <td class="tdr"><div>338</div></td>
- </tr>
- <tr>
- <td class="tdl"><span class="pagenum" id="Page_xi">xi</span>
- <a href="#i_338b">Pattern Passage, Acropolis, looking east</a></td>
- <td class="tdr"><div>338</div></td>
- </tr>
- <tr>
- <td class="tdl"><a href="#i_340a">West Wall, Recess Enclosure, Acropolis</a></td>
- <td class="tdr"><div>340</div></td>
- </tr>
- <tr>
- <td class="tdl"><a href="#i_340b">The Recesses at Recess Enclosure, Acropolis</a></td>
- <td class="tdr"><div>340</div></td>
- </tr>
- <tr>
- <td class="tdl"><a href="#i_346a">Sunken Passage, section of North-west Ascent, Acropolis</a></td>
- <td class="tdr"><div>346</div></td>
- </tr>
- <tr>
- <td class="tdl"><a href="#i_346b">Herring-bone Pattern, Water Gate, Acropolis</a></td>
- <td class="tdr"><div>346</div></td>
- </tr>
- <tr>
- <td class="tdl"><a href="#i_384a">Rounded end of Wall on west side of Maund Ruins, showing steps to Platform,
- Valley of Ruins</a></td>
- <td class="tdr"><div>384</div></td>
- </tr>
- <tr>
- <td class="tdl"><a href="#i_384b">North-east Wall, Maund Ruins, Valley of Ruins</a></td>
- <td class="tdr"><div>384</div></td>
- </tr>
- <tr>
- <td class="tdl"><a href="#i_430a">Slate Beam in Recess of Entrance, Philips Ruins, Valley of Ruins</a></td>
- <td class="tdr"><div>430</div></td>
- </tr>
- <tr>
- <td class="tdl"><a href="#i_430b">The Passage, looking south, Mapaku Ruins, near Zimbabwe</a></td>
- <td class="tdr"><div>430</div></td>
- </tr>
- <tr>
- <td class="tdc" colspan="2"><div>——————</div></td>
- </tr>
- <tr>
- <td class="tdl"><a href="#i_xxxii">Map of Rhodesia</a></td>
- <td class="tdr"><div>xxxii</div></td>
- </tr>
- <tr>
- <td class="tdl"><a href="#i_008">General Plan of Zimbabwe Ruins</a></td>
- <td class="tdr"><div>8</div></td>
- </tr>
- <tr>
- <td class="tdl"><a href="#i_104">Plate &nbsp; &nbsp;I.—Relics</a></td>
- <td class="tdr"><div>104</div></td>
- </tr>
- <tr>
- <td class="tdl"><a href="#i_116">Plate &nbsp;&nbsp;II.—Relics</a></td>
- <td class="tdr"><div>116</div></td>
- </tr>
- <tr>
- <td class="tdl"><a href="#i_122">Plate III.—Relics</a></td>
- <td class="tdr"><div>122</div></td>
- </tr>
- <tr>
- <td class="tdl"><a href="#i_194">Plan of Elliptical Temple</a></td>
- <td class="tdr"><div>194</div></td>
- </tr>
- <tr>
- <td class="tdl"><a href="#i_278">Plan of Acropolis Ruins</a></td>
- <td class="tdr"><div>278</div></td>
- </tr>
- </tbody>
- </table>
-
- <div class="chapter">
- <h2 id="LIST_OF_DIAGRAMS">LIST OF DIAGRAMS AND PLANS IN THE TEXT</h2>
- </div>
-
- <table summary="List of Diagrams" id="lod">
- <tbody>
- <tr>
- <td class="tdl"><a href="#i_007">Great Zimbabwe Reserve</a></td>
- <td class="tdr"><div>7</div></td>
- </tr>
- <tr>
- <td class="tdl"><a href="#i_103">Section of Floors, No. 15 Enclosure</a></td>
- <td class="tdr"><div>103</div></td>
- </tr>
- <tr>
- <td class="tdl"><a href="#i_128">Arabian Glass</a></td>
- <td class="tdr"><div>128</div></td>
- </tr>
- <tr>
- <td class="tdl"><a href="#i_131">Arabian Pottery</a></td>
- <td class="tdr"><div>131</div></td>
- </tr>
- <tr>
- <td class="tdl"><a href="#i_134">Section of Floors, No. 6 Enclosure</a></td>
- <td class="tdr"><div>134</div></td>
- </tr>
- <tr>
- <td class="tdl"><a href="#i_163">South and North Entrances to No. 7 Enclosure, Elliptical Temple</a></td>
- <td class="tdr"><div>163, 164</div></td>
- </tr>
- <tr>
- <td class="tdl"><a href="#i_217">North-west Entrance, Elliptical Temple</a></td>
- <td class="tdr"><div>217</div></td>
- </tr>
- <tr>
- <td class="tdl"><a href="#i_219">North or Main Entrance, Elliptical Temple</a></td>
- <td class="tdr"><div>219</div></td>
- </tr>
- <tr>
- <td class="tdl"><a href="#i_247">West Entrance to Parallel Passage, Elliptical Temple</a></td>
- <td class="tdr"><div>247</div></td>
- </tr>
- <tr>
- <td class="tdl"><a href="#i_324">Section of Eastern Temple, Acropolis</a></td>
- <td class="tdr"><div>324</div></td>
- </tr>
- <tr>
- <td class="tdl"><a href="#i_326">Plan of Eastern Temple, Acropolis</a></td>
- <td class="tdr"><div>326</div></td>
- </tr>
- <tr>
- <td class="tdl"><a href="#i_359">Outspan Ruins</a></td>
- <td class="tdr"><div>359</div></td>
- </tr>
- <tr>
- <td class="tdl"><a href="#i_367">Posselt Ruins</a></td>
- <td class="tdr"><div>367</div></td>
- </tr>
- <tr>
- <td class="tdl"><a href="#i_376">Philips Ruins</a></td>
- <td class="tdr"><div>376</div></td>
- </tr>
- <tr>
- <td class="tdl"><a href="#i_384">Maund Ruins</a></td>
- <td class="tdr"><div>384</div></td>
- </tr>
- <tr>
- <td class="tdl"><a href="#i_387">Renders Ruins</a></td>
- <td class="tdr"><div>387</div></td>
- </tr>
- <tr>
- <td class="tdl"><a href="#i_393">Mauch Ruins</a></td>
- <td class="tdr"><div>393</div></td>
- </tr>
- <tr>
- <td class="tdl"><a href="#i_397">South-east Ruins</a></td>
- <td class="tdr"><div>397</div></td>
- </tr>
- <tr>
- <td class="tdl"><a href="#i_401">No. 1 Ruins</a></td>
- <td class="tdr"><div>401</div></td>
- </tr>
- <tr>
- <td class="tdl"><a href="#i_411">Ridge Ruins</a></td>
- <td class="tdr"><div>411</div></td>
- </tr>
- <tr>
- <td class="tdl"><a href="#i_415">Camp Ruins, No. 1</a></td>
- <td class="tdr"><div>415</div></td>
- </tr>
- <tr>
- <td class="tdl"><a href="#i_418"> &nbsp; &nbsp; 〃 &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;〃 &nbsp; &nbsp;No. 2</a></td>
- <td class="tdr"><div>418</div></td>
- </tr>
- <tr>
- <td class="tdl"><a href="#i_421">East Ruins</a></td>
- <td class="tdr"><div>421</div></td>
- </tr>
- <tr>
- <td class="tdl"><a href="#i_427">Ruin near Chenga’s Kraal</a></td>
- <td class="tdr"><div>427</div></td>
- </tr>
- <tr>
- <td class="tdl"><a href="#i_429">Mapaku Ruins</a></td>
- <td class="tdr"><div>429</div></td>
- </tr>
- </tbody>
- </table>
-
- <hr class="page" />
-
- <div class="figcenter" id="i_xiii">
- <span class="pagenum" id="Page_xii">xii</span>
- <img src="images/i_xiii.jpg" width="517" height="700" alt="" />
- <div class="caption">THE LATE MR. THEODORE BENT, F.R.G.S.</div>
- <div class="subcaption">EXPLORER OF GREAT ZIMBABWE IN 1891, AUTHOR OF “THE RUINED CITIES OF MASHONALAND”</div>
- </div>
-
- <p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_xiv">xiv</span></p>
-
- <hr class="page" />
- <div class="titlepage small lh3 mt10 mb10" id="DEDICATION">
- THE VOLUME IS DEDICATED<br />
- TO THE MEMORY OF<br />
- <span class="large">THE LATE THEODORE BENT, F.R.G.S.</span><br />
- EXPLORER OF GREAT ZIMBABWE, 1891<br />
- AND AUTHOR OF<br />
- “THE RUINED CITIES OF MASHONALAND”
- </div>
-
- <hr class="page" />
- <div class="chapter" id="PREFACE">
- <span class="pagenum" id="Page_xv">xv</span>
- <h2 title="PREFACE">PREFACE<span class="medium"><a id="FNanchor_1" href="#Footnote_1" class="fnanchor">[1]</a></span></h2>
- </div>
-
- <p class="drop-cap">IN preparing this detailed description of the ruins of Great
- Zimbabwe—the first given to the world in modern times—the author has
- aimed at permitting the actual ruins themselves to relate their own
- story of their forgotten past unweighted by any consideration of the
- many traditions, romances, and theories which—especially during the
- last decade—have been woven concerning these monuments.</p>
-
- <p>The only apology offered for this apparently lengthy Preface is the
- mention of the fact that the operations at Great Zimbabwe were carried
- on for six months after the text of this volume had been sent to
- the publishers in England. The Preface, therefore, thus affords an
- opportunity of bringing down the results of these operations to a
- recent date.</p>
-
- <h3>RUINS’ AREA</h3>
-
- <p>The recent examination of the district surrounding the ruins now shows
- the Ruins’ Area to be far larger than either Mr. Theodore Bent (1891)
- or Sir John Willoughby (1892) supposed. Instead of the area being
- confined to 945 yds. by 840 yds., it is now known to be at least 2
- miles by 1¼ miles, and even this larger limit is by no means final,
- as traces of walls and of walls buried several feet under the veld
- have been discovered, not only in Zimbabwe Valley, but in the secluded
- valleys and gorges and on the hillsides which lie a mile and even two
- miles beyond the extended <span class="pagenum" id="Page_xvi">xvi</span>area. Huge mounds, many hundred feet in
- circumference, with no traces of ruins, covered with large full-grown
- trees and with the remains on the surface of very old native huts, on
- being examined have been found to contain well-built ruins in which
- were unearthed small conical towers, gold ornaments, a few phalli, and
- in one instance a carved soapstone bird on a soapstone beam 4 ft. 8 in.
- high, which is more perfect and more ornate than any other soapstone
- bird on beam yet found at Zimbabwe. The examination of such spots and
- of all traces of walls which lie at the outer edge of the extended
- Ruins’ Area would, even with a large gang of labourers, occupy almost a
- lifetime.</p>
-
- <p>Mr. Bent spoke of Zimbabwe as a “city,” and recent discoveries show
- the employment of this title to be fully justified, for not only is
- the Ruins’ Area vastly extended, but the formerly conjectured area can
- now be shown by recent excavations to have been much more crowded with
- buildings than could possibly have been seen in 1891. For instance,
- 2,300 ft. of passages have recently been discovered within the heart
- of the old Ruins’ Area buried some feet under the silted soil below
- the veld in spots where the siltation is rapid, the existence of which
- structures had been altogether unsuspected. In some instances the
- native paths, used by visitors inspecting the ruins, crossed these
- passages from 3 ft. to 5 ft. above the tops of the passage walls.
- The enormous quantity of débris, evidencing occupations in several
- periods, scattered over both the old and the extended area, is simply
- astonishing, and judging by the value of “finds” made during the recent
- work, it seems quite possible that further exploration would, in the
- intrinsic value of relics as relics, largely reimburse the expense
- of its continuance, while securing the opening up of fresh features
- of architecture and probably some definite clues as to the original
- builders of the numerous periods of occupation respectively; would
- bring an immense addition to scientific knowledge, while the more
- important<span class="pagenum" id="Page_xvii">xvii</span> ruins themselves, having been cleared of silted and imported
- soils and wall débris, are now ripe for the further examination for
- relics.</p>
-
- <h3>BURIAL-PLACES OF THE OLD COLONISTS</h3>
-
- <p>The secluded valleys, and also the caves in hills, for a distance of
- six miles, and in some cases as far as ten miles, from Zimbabwe have
- been systematically searched in the hope of discovering the burial
- place of the old gold-seekers. The neighbourhood of Zimbabwe contains
- several extensive ranges of granite hills each enclosing many secluded
- and Sinbad-like valleys and gorges, where natives state white men had
- never previously entered. Such spots on the whole of the Beroma Hills
- to the east of Zimbabwe, the south end of the Livouri Range to the
- west, the Bentberg Range to the south, and several hills in the Nini
- district, as well as several parts in the Motelekwe Valley, have been
- systematically searched without avail, though there are in certain
- of these secluded places traces of walls and artificially placed
- upright stones and other signs of human presence which require some
- explanation. The siltation of soil from the steep hillsides of many
- of these most romantically situated valleys has been very extensive.
- These searches could only be carried on after veld fires had swept the
- district of the rank grass which here grows to a height of 12 ft. Mr.
- Bent and other writers have shown that the old Arabians religiously
- preserved their dead, burying them in secluded spots at some
- considerable distance from any place of occupation. The writer is not
- without hope that these burial-places may yet be found. The population
- of Zimbabwe at several different periods must have been immense, and,
- judging by the remains found near some of the oldest types of ruins
- in other parts of the country where the amount of gold ornaments
- buried with each corpse ranged from 1 oz. to 72 oz., the discovery
- of such places in the Zimbabwe district would yield important<span class="pagenum" id="Page_xviii">xviii</span>
- results, especially as, for many reasons, Zimbabwe undoubtedly appears
- to have been the ancient metropolitan capital and the centre of
- gold-manufacturing industry of the original and later Arab gold miners,
- and the place so far has yielded the richest discoveries of gold in
- every form.</p>
-
- <p>The writer is now perfectly assured that no burial-places of the
- original builders will be found under the interior of the Elliptical
- Temple or within 30 yds. of the exterior. Holes have been sunk at
- regular intervals within the temple and immediately outside the walls,
- and boring-rods have been systematically employed, and the position
- and lie of the formation rock ascertained throughout, so that sections
- and levels have been made of the soil and rock under the temple.
- All the results gained from each hole and boring are recorded. But
- beyond discovering buried foundations at the higher level, only virgin
- soil, never before disturbed, was gone through. French and German
- archæologists who visited Zimbabwe during the operations confirmed what
- British scientists have affirmed, that no burials of people of Semitic
- stock would be found within or near to any building so frequently in
- use as the great temple must have been. The severe restrictions with
- regard to cleanliness and sanitation, especially as to the dead, are
- among the most notable features of the old Semitic nations.</p>
-
- <h3>ABSENCE OF INSCRIPTIONS</h3>
-
- <p>No ancient writing has been discovered, though close attention has been
- paid to all stones and pottery likely to bear it, and notwithstanding
- that the interiors of some of the more ancient portions of the ruins
- have been cleared down to the old floors where, if any existed,
- they might reasonably have been expected to be found. Post-Koranic
- lettering was found on highly glazed pottery, also on glass, but all
- such specimens are of a fragmentary character; but experts such as Mr.
- Wallace Budge, the Head Keeper of Egyptian<span class="pagenum" id="Page_xix">xix</span> and Assyrian Antiquities
- at the British Museum, state that the glass and other “finds” of
- pottery are not older than the thirteenth or fourteenth century of this
- era. Other pottery thickly covered with dull-coloured glazes—mainly
- purples, greens, and browns—is thought to be somewhat older than that
- on which the lettering was found. Still, as such a very large portion
- of what may be considered as the more ancient of the ruins remains to
- be examined, it may yet be possible to unearth older specimens of Arab
- writing.</p>
-
- <h3>TWO PERIODS OF GOLD MANUFACTURE</h3>
-
- <p>Gold in a manufactured form is found on the lowest and original floors
- of the most ancient portions of the Zimbabwe ruins. In several ruins
- this was found as thickly strewn about the cement floors as nails
- in a carpenter’s shop. Gold ornaments discovered at this depth, in
- some instances from 3 ft. to 5 ft. below any known native floors,
- were always found in association with the oldest form of relics yet
- unearthed at Zimbabwe. Such gold articles are of most delicate make,
- and are doubtless of an antique character, and expert opinion recently
- obtained in England confirms this conclusion.</p>
-
- <p>But there are other gold articles which are ruder in design and make,
- and these by no means are entitled to claim such antiquity. In fact,
- expert opinion declines to recognise them as being in any sense
- ancient; for instance, beaten gold of irregular shape showing the
- rough hammer marks of some very crude instrument, and with holes round
- the edges of such plates very rudely cut—or rather torn—and placed
- in imperfect rows altogether in a haphazard style. This form of gold
- plates is identical in every detail with the copper sheathing with
- which it is always found associated. The same remarks apply equally to
- the gold beads also found with this class of plates which betoken crude
- workmanship, as well as to the iron instruments decorated with small
- gold knobs.</p>
-
- <p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_xx">xx</span></p>
-
- <p>With regard to the location of the later-period gold articles there is
- ample evidence that these are of very old native origin. Such ornaments
- are commonly met with on the floors of, or in close proximity to, the
- old native huts of the types of Nos. 2 and 3 (see <cite>Architecture</cite>, s.s.
- <cite>Native Huts found in Ruins</cite>, pp. 154, 155, <i>post</i>), and also in the
- cement huts with small radiating walls on levels several feet above any
- ancient floorings. In every instance such gold ornaments are found in
- association with articles of old native make—such as double iron gongs,
- copper sheathing, and copper assegai- and arrow-heads.</p>
-
- <div class="center mt5">ELLIPTICAL TEMPLE</div>
-
- <h3>NORTH ENTRANCE</h3>
-
- <p>In 1902 the floor of the North Entrance to the temple was exposed to
- a depth of 5 ft. below the surface, as shown in Mr. Bent’s book (p.
- 106), while a flight of steps in perfect condition leading up to the
- entrance from the exterior was discovered at a depth of 9 ft. below the
- old surface. This entrance, showing a bold conception and admirable
- construction, is now considered as one of the principal show features
- at Zimbabwe. Further, it is the oldest form of entrance and steps as
- well as the finest of any yet discovered in Rhodesia. A quantity of
- gold was found on the floor and steps of this entrance, which were once
- covered with fine granite cement, also a few true phalli.</p>
-
- <h3>PARALLEL PASSAGE</h3>
-
- <p>This has been cleared throughout to a depth of at least 3 ft., and in
- one place 7 ft. Cement floors were exposed, and these were found to
- be divided into small catchment areas with a drain from each passing
- outwards through the main wall. Five additional drains were discovered
- in this<span class="pagenum" id="Page_xxi">xxi</span> passage. Here were found eight ornate phalli, a portion of a
- gold bangle, some beaten gold and gold tacks of microscopic size, and
- fragments of carved soapstone beams.</p>
-
- <h3>SACRED ENCLOSURE</h3>
-
- <p>This was cleared out to a depth of 4 ft. throughout its whole area, and
- a few phalli of unmistakable form were found, and old granite cement
- floors and steps were uncovered. Explorers and relic hunters had worked
- in this enclosure, and had double trenched it from end to end.</p>
-
- <p>A remarkable discovery was made here of distinct traces of granite
- cement dadoes, 7 ft. high, round the interior faces of the walls of
- this enclosure. In some other enclosures the remains of dadoes can
- still be seen.</p>
-
- <p>The small conical tower in this enclosure has during the last ten years
- been seriously damaged by the large trunk of a tree pushing over the
- summit of the cone. Photographs of this small tower taken in 1891 show
- that it was then almost intact.</p>
-
- <h3>PLATFORM AREA</h3>
-
- <p>This open area, lying to the west and north of the Conical Tower and
- the Platform, corresponds to the open areas immediately in front of
- the altars in old Grecian temples. This was Mr. Bent’s opinion, and
- possibly it answered at Zimbabwe a similar purpose of accommodating the
- worshippers. The area, some 120 ft. by 60 ft., has been cleared out of
- large trees, and of about 6 ft. of soil throughout, and floors—both
- cement and clay—were disclosed, also a fine circular structure of
- excellent granite cement, and ascended by two steps. On and close to
- this structure were found fragments, mainly bases, of carved soapstone
- beams of slender appearance, also some phalli and gold. This platform
- lies slightly off the north line between the Conical Tower and the Main
- North Entrance.</p>
-
- <p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_xxii">xxii</span></p>
-
- <p>Some of the walls surrounding this area on the west and north sides,
- once considered to be ancient, can now be seen to cross over very old
- native clay huts and native copper and iron-smelting furnaces. The
- soil contained some phalli, which had been converted by the natives
- into amulets, also some Arabian glass—thirteenth and fourteenth
- centuries—Venetian beads, gold wire-work, beaten gold, gold scorifiers
- of native pottery, iron pincers, and fragments of carved soapstone
- bowls with geometric designs.</p>
-
- <h3>ENCLOSURES 6, 7, AND 10</h3>
-
- <p>Gold-smelting operations must have, at some late period, been
- extensively carried on in these enclosures, for on removing from each
- enclosure all débris and fallen stones to a depth of from 4 ft. to 7
- ft., there were found burnishing stones of fine grain and still covered
- with gold, gold scorifiers with gold in the flux, cakes of gold, gold
- furnace slag, beaten gold, and gold dust.</p>
-
- <p>At a still lower depth in No. 6 Enclosure a quantity of granite
- clay crucibles, showing gold richly, were met with, and these are
- undoubtedly of older type than the native pottery scorifiers, also some
- ingot moulds of soapstone of the double claw-hammer or St. Andrew’s
- cross pattern.</p>
-
- <h3>CENTRAL AREA</h3>
-
- <p>This area is only partially excavated, it being covered with old
- native-built walls which cross over bone and ash débris, old native
- huts, an iron furnace, and rich black mould in which the vegetable
- matter was still undecayed. Experimental holes and boring-rods showed
- that some very old foundations ran below the soil upon which the later
- and poorer walls are built. However, a key has now been found which
- will enable further excavations to be made within this area without
- injury to the upper walls.</p>
-
- <p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_xxiii">xxiii</span></p>
-
- <h3>SUMMIT OF MAIN EAST WALL</h3>
-
- <p>Along the summit of the east main wall, and only over the chevron
- pattern which faces east, have recently been discovered the traces of
- foundations of small circular towers, both on the inner and outer edges
- of the wall. These correspond in measurement and relative position to
- the small conical towers on the west wall of the Western Temple at
- the Acropolis Ruins, which is decorated with monoliths. Some of the
- best-known surveyors and practical builders in Rhodesia are prepared
- to certify as to the traces of these foundations. This is entirely a
- new discovery, as is also the fact that at one time the summit of the
- wall, only over the chevron pattern, bore beautifully rounded soapstone
- monoliths, the bases being found displaced under the ruck of loose
- blocks which runs along the centre of the summit of this part of the
- main wall. Some carved splinters of these monoliths were found at the
- bases of the wall. A collection of these “finds” has been sent to the
- Salisbury Museum.</p>
-
- <h3>PROBABLE AGES OF THE WALLS OF THE ELLIPTICAL TEMPLE</h3>
-
- <p>All the walls of the Elliptical Temple are not ancient; that is,
- not ancient in the sense applying to the suggested Sabæo-Arabian
- occupation of Rhodesia and also to that of the Solomonic gold period.
- The evidences pointing to this conclusion, and now for the first time
- available, are so obvious and general, and the ocular demonstration so
- positive, that one of the many popular myths concerning Great Zimbabwe
- must, even at the risk of committing a vandalism on cherished romantic
- theories and beliefs, go by the board. The writer prefers that the
- ruins should tell their own story, and this can now be read in the
- walls, in the débris heaps, and in the relics and their associated
- “finds” and locations.</p>
-
- <p>The oldest walls of the temple for which great antiquity<span class="pagenum" id="Page_xxiv">xxiv</span> may be
- claimed are—the main east wall from north to south, the Conical Tower,
- the Platform, portions of the inner wall of the Parallel Passage
- (reconstructions are present here), and some adjoining walls, and some
- buried walls and foundations, and possibly some other walls on the
- south side, concerning which some doubt exists, as also the west wall
- of the West Passage, a well-built structure which once was extended at
- either extremity. As to the question of obviously much later walls,
- this is involved in the following section of this preface.</p>
-
- <h3>WEST WALL CONTROVERSY</h3>
-
- <p>The writer is fully convinced that the original west wall of the temple
- once extended outwards further west, and that the present west wall
- extending towards the south is of much more recent construction and
- is built on a shorter curve, <em>also that most of the structures of the
- central and western portions of the building are also of much later
- construction</em>, and this for many substantial reasons, some of which are
- here briefly stated:—</p>
-
- <p>(<i>a</i>) The west wall is considered by all practical builders and
- architects to be far slighter, much inferior in construction, fuller
- of defects, and to contain to a greater extent ill-shaped stones than
- the main wall on the east side, while the foundations are at many
- points far more irregular, and the batter-back of the interior face
- of the west wall is less severe than is the case of the east side.
- Lengths of 25 ft. each of both walls have been examined and compared
- and photographed, and the number of defects of construction recorded.
- The number of false and “straight joints,” false and disappearing
- courses, and stones supported at their corners by granite chips, which
- the west wall contains, is roughly about forty odd to every one of
- such defects in the east wall, which is <em>the</em> architectural marvel for
- symmetry, grand proportion, true courses of most carefully selected and
- assorted blocks (some<span class="pagenum" id="Page_xxv">xxv</span> of which have been dressed with metal tools) of
- any other ancient architectural features at Zimbabwe. All this is an
- ocular demonstration, and is commented upon by the most casual visitor
- to these ruins. This, too, is very patent when seen from the summit of
- Zimbabwe Hill, the view looking down upon the temple revealing most
- obviously the different characters of the walls.</p>
-
- <p>(<i>b</i>) In 1903 the writer cleared the soil away from the gap between the
- older and later walls, and found that they were widely different in
- construction; that the later and narrower wall approached the older and
- well-built and wider wall at an oblique angle; and that the end of the
- older wall is broken and not finished off as are other ends of ancient
- walls. In a trench made at a distance of twelve yards west of the gap,
- and on the curve the older wall, if continued, would have passed, a
- mass of buried masonry, which might have been a portion of the old
- wall, was disclosed.</p>
-
- <p>(<i>c</i>) Dr. Hahn, the leading expert in South Africa in chemical
- metallurgy, analysed the soil underlying the foundation of the west
- wall, and pronounced it to be composed of disintegrated furnace slag
- and ashes containing gold and iron. The ground to the west of the west
- wall has always been the spot at which gold prospectors have washed the
- soil for gold, and here gold crucibles and scorifiers are to be found.
- This soil contains 73 per cent. of silica, and would make an excellent
- foundation for walls, and the west wall is built right along this bed
- of furnace slag, which is about 2 ft. in depth, many yards wide, and
- extends from north to south.</p>
-
- <p>(<i>d</i>) At a few feet from the exterior of the west wall, and <em>at a depth
- of four feet below the level of its foundation</em>, and extending as shown
- in trenches and cross-cuts for at least thirty yards from north to
- south, is a floor of granite cement laid on the formation rock, hiding
- its irregularities and making a perfectly level surface. The full
- extent of this<span class="pagenum" id="Page_xxvi">xxvi</span> flooring has not yet been ascertained. For two feet
- between the level of this cement flooring and the furnace-slag soil
- under the foundations of the west wall is fine silted soil. Evidently
- the later wall was erected at a very considerable period subsequently
- to the laying of the cement flooring and after the siltation of the
- soil, and also after the gold-smelting operations had been extensively
- carried on for a long period.</p>
-
- <p>(<i>e</i>) No single relic of any great antiquity has been found by any
- explorer or prospector in the western portion of the temple, while the
- eastern portion has yielded at depth great quantities of phalli and of
- every relic believed to be associated with the earliest occupiers.</p>
-
- <p>The oldest “find” in the western half of the building is pronounced
- by Dr. Budge to be of a period dating from between the thirteenth and
- fifteenth centuries of this era, and other “finds” relate to the same
- and later periods.</p>
-
- <h3>WRITER’S CONCLUSIONS</h3>
-
- <p>The writer is now and for the above and further considerations, and
- after two years’ residence within the ruins, perfectly convinced of the
- following:—</p>
-
- <p>(1) That on the departure of the ancient builders and occupiers the
- temple became a ruin, and remained as such for some centuries, the west
- wall disappearing in the meantime (as explained later); (2) that some
- organised Arab people, possibly a split of the numerous Arab colonies
- and kingdoms which existed down the East African coast, possibly of the
- Magdoshu kingdom, who, according to De Barros, reached Sofala (1100
- <span class="smcap">a.d.</span>), exploited the gold mines, and formed a mixed population
- between the Arabs and natives, or possibly the Arabs of Quiloa, who
- secured as suzerain power Sofala and the kingdom of the Monomotapa
- (Rhodesia). One of these peoples is believed to be responsible for
- the ruins of Inyanga, which the writer after examining these remains
- does not consider to be ancient in<span class="pagenum" id="Page_xxvii">xxvii</span> the fullest sense of the term. One
- of these peoples are also believed to be responsible for making the
- “<em>old</em> workings,” the distinction between which and the “<em>ancient</em>
- workings” must always be kept in mind, a distinction which the late Mr.
- Telford Edwards always pointed out and insisted upon, and concerning
- which recent investigations prove him to have been correct; (3) that
- these Arabs made Zimbabwe their headquarters, to which the washed gold
- dust was brought to be converted into ingots for transport; (4) that
- these Arabs carried on extensive gold-smelting operations at the west
- end of the temple in the shelter of the massive walls, which would
- protect them against the prevailing winds and drifting rains; (5) that
- <em>after</em> carrying on these gold-smelting operations extensively and for
- a considerable period, they built a wall across the open space and
- upon their furnace-slag beds, possibly employing native labour (the
- Makalanga being notorious for their skill in wall building); and (6)
- that these Arabs also built several of the enclosures in the central
- and western parts of the temple to suit their special convenience, and
- altogether regardless of the buried foundations of the ancient builders.</p>
-
- <h3>DESTRUCTION OF THE ORIGINAL WEST WALL</h3>
-
- <p>It may be asked what caused the destruction of the original west
- wall. Its disappearance may be accounted for as follows. The south
- and west walls have for centuries borne the full brunt of all the
- torrential rain and storm water which rushes to these points from the
- Bentberg Kopjes, which lie close to the temple on the south side. This
- accounts for the great depth of silted soil which buries the old cement
- flooring. This must have washed the lower portions of the walls till
- the cement foundations decomposed and brought down the structure as it
- has done at other ruins at Zimbabwe. The writer at the commencement
- of his first rainy season<span class="pagenum" id="Page_xxviii">xxviii</span> at Zimbabwe found a large pool about 30
- yds. in length, 15 yds. in breadth, and 2 ft. in depth up against the
- present west wall, towards which all surface water from the higher
- ground rushed unchanged. This had been going on every rainy season for
- many generations, with the result of forming large cavities under the
- foundations, and of keeping the wall in a constant drip with damp even
- at noontide, and of causing the spread of large moss over the walls,
- while shrubs and small trees grew out of the walls at some height from
- their base. Trenches and runs-off and banks soon cured this evil, and
- now the walls have changed from being black with damp to being grey
- with dryness. The moss has naturally flaked off, and the trees and
- shrubs in the walls are dead, owing to lack of moisture.</p>
-
- <div class="center mt5">THE ACROPOLIS RUINS</div>
-
- <h3>WESTERN TEMPLE</h3>
-
- <p>Operations in this temple since the description of the earlier work
- was embodied in the text of this volume have been carried on to June,
- 1904. Soil to a depth of from 3 ft. to 5 ft. was removed from the whole
- of the eastern portion of this area. The excavations showed several
- layers of native clay floors one above another. The “finds” were those
- known to be of native origin, though not made by natives of to-day. The
- later or native period of gold manufacture was greatly in evidence,
- beaten gold, gold tacks, and gold wire being frequently met with in
- association with copper sheathing, copper assegai- and arrow-heads, the
- copper containing no alloy.</p>
-
- <p>A trial hole sunk to a depth of 6 ft. below this cleared portion of
- the temple area, or 9 ft. below the surface as it appeared in 1903,
- showed in its sides the lines of several clay floors and the side of a
- Kafir clay hut, now quite de<span class="pagenum" id="Page_xxix">xxix</span>composed and soft. At the bottom of the
- pit a rough pavement of closely-fitting stones of irregular shape and
- size was come upon, and the articles found were identical with those
- discovered at a higher level.</p>
-
- <p>The clearing of the area also disclosed clay sides of huts with the
- remains of short walls of stone radiating from the sides of the huts.
- The wall which Mr. Bent considered might have been the “altar” was
- found to be the radiating wall of a similar hut built upon a higher
- level. These small radiating walls are a general feature of exceedingly
- old native huts found at several places at Zimbabwe.</p>
-
- <p>A large circular platform of granite cement was also disclosed. This
- spot yielded beaten gold of native make.</p>
-
- <h3>A ZIMBABWE REVIVAL</h3>
-
- <p>The writer believes that between the thirteenth and fifteenth
- centuries, or slightly earlier, a great influx of people took place
- at Zimbabwe, and that the majority of the minor ruins in the Valley
- of Ruins were built about this period. This is shown by the number of
- walls built across exceedingly old débris heaps of native origin, by
- the “finds” of Arabian articles on their lowest floors, and by the fact
- that no relic of greater age than that period has been found. Two or
- three of the better-built minor ruins have the appearance of greater
- age, and some of the relics found in this class of ruins are of the
- oldest type. No one who had not spent considerable time at Zimbabwe
- could have any possible conception of the immense population present
- here at a period of but a few centuries ago. The remains of their stone
- walls are scattered thickly over the valleys and hillsides of Zimbabwe.
- The Makalanga state these are all Makalanga of generations long passed
- away. Some are constructions by indigenous peoples, and certainly they
- are not ancient, though largely built of stones quarried from the
- ancient ruins, and the “finds” are those of old native type, including
- Arab articles.</p>
-
- <p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_xxx">xxx</span></p>
-
- <h3>PRESERVATION OF RUINS</h3>
-
- <p>The thanks of all scientific circles, and of South Africans generally,
- are due to Sir W. H. Milton, Administrator of Rhodesia, whose great
- interest in the preservation of the ancient monuments in these
- territories is well known, and to whose direction is due the recent
- and timely preservation work at Great Zimbabwe. The author desires
- to express his personal indebtedness to Sir William Milton for
- the adequate arrangements made by him while engaged in his recent
- researches at the Great Zimbabwe.</p>
-
- <h3>PLAN OF ELLIPTICAL TEMPLE</h3>
-
- <p>The clearing of the Elliptical Temple and its vicinity has enabled Mr.
- Franklin White, <span class="smcap">m.e.</span>, Bulawayo, to prepare the latest and so
- far the most perfect plan of that building, and this he has kindly
- placed at the service of the author.</p>
-
- <p>Indebtedness is also expressed to Professor A. H. Keane, <span class="smcap">ll.d.</span>
- (author of <cite>The Gold of Ophir</cite>), for the contribution of the
- <i>Introduction</i> to this volume; to Mrs. Theodore Bent for generously
- permitting the use in this volume of illustrations from <em>The Ruined
- Cities of Mashonaland</em>; to Mr. Gray, Chief Veterinary Surgeon,
- Salisbury, Mr. H. S. Meilandt, Government Roads Inspector, Bulawayo,
- and Trooper Wenham, <span class="smcap">b.s.a.p.</span>, Victoria, for permission to
- reproduce certain photographs of the ruins, and also to the Directors
- of the British South Africa Company for permission to include the map
- of Rhodesia in this work.</p>
-
- <div class="small mt5">
- <span class="smcap">Havilah Camp, Great Zimbabwe,<br />
- <span class="ml6">Rhodesia, S.A.</span><br /></span>
- <span class="ml10"><i>1st June, 1904</i>.</span>
- </div>
-
- <hr class="page" />
- <div class="chapter" id="INTRODUCTION">
- <span class="pagenum" id="Page_xxxi">xxxi</span>
- <h2>
- INTRODUCTION<br /><br />
- <span class="small">BY A. H. KEANE, LL.D.</span>
- </h2>
- </div>
-
- <p class="drop-cap">AN archæological work of absorbing interest, such as the volume here
- presented to the reader, needs no introduction. Nor are the following
- remarks meant to be taken in that sense, but only as a sort of “missing
- link” in the chain of evidence between past and present, between the
- Arabian Himyarites and the Rhodesian monuments, the forging of which
- the author has entrusted to me. In <cite>The Ancient Ruins of Rhodesia</cite>,
- of which <cite>Great Zimbabwe</cite> is the inevitable outcome, Messrs. Hall and
- Neal did not discuss the problem of origins, speculation was distinctly
- eschewed, and although their personal views were, and are, in harmony
- with those of all competent observers, they made no dogmatic statement
- on the subject, leaving the main conclusion to be inferred from the
- great body of evidence which they patiently accumulated on the spot
- and embodied in their monumental work. In <cite>Great Zimbabwe</cite>, of which
- Mr. Hall is sole author, and the rich materials for which he has alone
- brought together, the same attitude of reserve is still maintained,
- perhaps even more severely, and therefore it is that he has now invited
- me to develop the argument by which, as he hopes and I believe, the
- wonderful prehistoric remains strewn over Southern Rhodesia, but
- centred chiefly in the Great Zimbabwe group, may be finally traced to
- their true source in South Arabia, Phœnicia, and Palestine.</p>
-
- <p>In <cite>The Gold of Ophir, whence Brought and by Whom</cite>,<a id="FNanchor_2" href="#Footnote_2" class="fnanchor">[2]</a>
- <span class="pagenum" id="Page_xxxii">xxxii</span>where several
- chapters are devoted to this subject, I inferred, on plausible grounds,
- that the Havilah of Scripture—“the whole land of Havilah where there is
- gold”—was the mineralised region between the Zambesi and the Limpopo,
- and that the ancient gold-workings of this region were first opened
- and the associated monuments erected by the South Arabian Himyarites,
- followed in the time of Solomon by the Jews and Phœnicians. I further
- endeavoured to show that all these Semitic treasure-seekers reached
- Havilah (the port of which was Tharshish, probably the present
- Sofala) through Madagascar, where they had settlements and maintained
- protracted commercial and social intercourse with the Malagasy natives;
- and lastly, that the produce of the mines was by them sent down to
- the coast and shipped at Tharshish for Ophir, the great Himyaritic
- emporium on the south coast of Arabia, whence it was distributed over
- the eastern world. It followed that the scriptural “gold of Ophir” did
- not mean the gold mined at Ophir, which was not, as hitherto supposed,
- an auriferous land, but a gold mart.<a id="FNanchor_3" href="#Footnote_3" class="fnanchor">[3]</a> The expression meant the gold
- imported by the Jews and Phœnicians from Havilah (Rhodesia), <i>viâ</i>
- Tharshish, Ophir, and Ezion-geber in Idumæa, at the head of the Red Sea.</p>
-
- <p>It is needless here to recapitulate in detail the arguments that I have
- advanced in support of this general thesis. But I should like to point
- out that if one or two of them have been invalidated by my critics,
- several have been greatly strengthened by the fresh evidence that has
- accumulated since the appearance of <cite>The Gold of Ophir</cite>.</p>
-
- <p>Of course, incomparably the most important mass of fresh evidence is
- that which has been brought together by Mr. Hall himself during his
- two years’ researches amid the central <span class="pagenum" id="Page_xxxiii">xxxiii</span>group of ruins, and is now
- permanently embodied in <cite>Great Zimbabwe</cite>. Yet the work has in a sense
- been but begun; it has reached down only to the ancient flooring which
- has still to be explored; and we are assured by Sir John Willoughby,
- a most competent authority, that after two months’ exploring the
- wonderful Elliptical Temple with a large gang of labourers, two years
- will yet be needed to complete the surface work of that structure
- alone, without touching the old floors. Mr. Hall infers that three
- further years will be required for the Acropolis itself, besides the
- “Valley of Ruins,” with the groups of buildings extending in all
- directions for over a mile from the temple. A mere glance at some of
- the finely reproduced photographs creates a sense of awe and amazement
- at the huge size and solidity of the containing walls with their
- patiently interwoven chevron and other patterns, and at the vast
- extent of the ground covered by these great monuments of a forgotten
- past. Their erection must have taken many scores of years, one might
- say centuries, and their builders must consequently have dwelt for
- many generations in the land which they so diligently exploited for
- its underground treasures. Here and in all the other strictly mining
- districts they carried on their operations in the midst of hostile
- native populations, as is sufficiently evident from the strongholds
- crowning so many strategical heights, from the formidable ramparts and
- the immense strength of the outer walls, everywhere rounding off in
- long narrow passages leading to the inner enclosures.</p>
-
- <div class="figcenter" id="i_xxxii">
- <img src="images/i_xxxii.jpg" width="386" height="700" alt="" />
- </div>
-
- <p>Under such conditions it will naturally be asked, whence did the
- foreign intruders obtain their food supplies? The answer to this
- question is suggested in <cite>The Ancient Ruins</cite>, where it is pointed out
- (p. 208) that the auriferous reefs of the central Zimbabwe district,
- and generally of all the districts in immediate proximity to the
- fortified stations, show no traces of having ever been worked for
- the precious metal. “Possibly the reason for the ancients ignoring
- the gold-reefs<span class="pagenum" id="Page_xxxiv">xxxiv</span> of this district [Zimbabwe] lies in the fact that
- the country round about is exceedingly well suited for agricultural
- purposes, the soil being rich and water plentiful, and all vegetable
- growths prolific and profuse. The large population of ancients,
- together with the enormous gangs of slaves, would naturally consume
- a vast quantity of grain, and this necessity would create a large
- agricultural class, who, for their own safety and for the protection
- of their crops and fruits, would naturally carry on their operations
- within such an area as could be safeguarded by the fortresses of
- Zimbabwe.”</p>
-
- <p>It might at first sight be supposed that the food supplies were drawn
- chiefly from the extensive agricultural settlements of the Inyanga
- territory, on the northern slopes of Mashonaland, which drain through
- the Ruenga and its numerous affluents to the right bank of the Zambesi.
- This Inyanga district may be roughly described, from the archæological
- point of view, as an area of old aqueducts, of old terraced slopes,
- and of old ruins of a less imposing type than the Zimbabwe remains.
- In a notice of <cite>The Ancient Ruins of Rhodesia</cite> contributed to the
- <cite>Geographical Journal</cite> for April, 1902, I first drew attention to the
- surprising analogy, or rather identity, between these terraces and
- those of the South Arabian uplands visited by General E. T. Haig in the
- eighties. So close is the parallelism that Haig’s description might
- almost change places with Mr. Telford Edwards’ account of the Inyanga
- works quoted in <cite>The Ancient Ruins</cite>, p. 353 <i>sq.</i>, as thus:—</p>
-
- <table summary="Terraces comparison">
- <tbody>
- <tr>
- <th class="tdc"><div>TERRACED SLOPES<br /><span class="small">(SOUTH ARABIA)</span></div></th>
- <th class="tdc"><div>TERRACED SLOPES<br /><span class="small">(SOUTH AFRICA)</span></div></th>
- </tr>
- <tr>
- <td class="tdp">
- <p>“In one district the whole mountain side, for a height of 6,000
- ft., was terraced from top to bottom. Everywhere, above, below,
- and all around, endless flights of terraced walls meet the eye.
- One can hardly realise the enormous amount of labour, toil,
- and perseverance which these represent. The terraced walls are
- usually from 4 to 5 ft. in height, but towards the top of the
- mountain they are sometimes as much as 15 or 18 ft. They are
- built entirely of rough stone laid without mortar. I reckoned
- on an average that each wall retains a terrace not more than
- twice its own height in width, and I do not think I saw a
- single breach in one of them unrepaired” (Haig, <cite>Proceedings
- Geographical Society</cite>, 1887, p. 482).</p>
- </td>
- <td class="tdp">
- <p>“The extent of these ancient terraces is astonishing, and
- there is every evidence of the past existence of <em>hundreds of
- thousands of inhabitants</em>. It would be quite impossible to
- convey any idea of <span class="pagenum" id="Page_xxxv">xxxv</span>the immensity of labour implied in the
- enormous number of these ancient terraces. I saw at least
- 150 square miles composed of kopjes from 100 to 400 ft. in
- height literally strewn with the ruins. A contemplation of the
- enormous tonnage of stones and earth rudely built into these
- terraces left me amazed. It appears to be abundantly clear
- that the terraces were for the purpose of cultivating cereals
- of some sort. The terraces as a rule rise up in vertical lifts
- of about 2 or 3 ft., and extend backwards over a distance of
- mostly 7 to 12 ft. The terraces are all made very flat and of
- dry masonry, not of hewn stone.”</p>
- </td>
- </tr>
- </tbody>
- </table>
-
- <p>But Mr. Hall, who visited the Inyanga territory in May, 1904, now finds
- that the terraced slopes,<a id="FNanchor_4" href="#Footnote_4" class="fnanchor">[4]</a> the so-called “slave-pits,” and the other
- remains, although “old,” are not “ancient.” That is to say, they date
- not from Himyaritic times, but probably from the eleventh or twelfth
- century of the new era, when parts of Rhodesia were reoccupied by
- large numbers of Moslem Arabs from Quiloa and their other settlements
- along the east coast. Hence, although the terraced slopes still form a
- connecting link between South Africa and South Arabia, the South Arabia
- here in question is that, not of pre-, but of post-Koranic times.</p>
-
- <p>Of course, the ruined houses and ruined aqueducts are too much
- obliterated to supply any clear points of comparison. But their mere
- presence, and especially the vast extent of ground covered by them,
- will suffice to confirm Mr. Telford <span class="pagenum" id="Page_xxxvi">xxxvi</span>Edwards’ estimate of the vast
- numbers of civilised peoples who inhabited the rich Inyanga valleys
- in prehistoric times, and whom we may now call Sabæans, Minæans, and
- others Himyarites.</p>
-
- <p>Were the houses still extant, we should expect to find them covered
- with the same decorative mural motives as are still seen both on the
- Zimbabwe monuments and on the public buildings of Sana, present capital
- of Arabia Felix. Manzoni, who visited this city three times between
- the years 1877 and 1880, figures a mansion six stories high, which is
- richly ornamented with two such motives—the chevron and the vertical
- block pattern—closely resembling those everywhere occurring on the more
- ancient Rhodesian walls. The chevron, which is seen both in single and
- double courses exactly as on the great walls of the Elliptical Temple,
- is absolutely identical, while the block design differs only in being
- quite vertical at Sana, whereas it is slightly tilted, or else two rows
- of blocks converge to produce the herring-bone pattern on the Rhodesian
- walls, as at Little Umnukwana and many other places. The reader
- will find Manzoni’s mansion reproduced in Mr. D. G. Hogarth’s <cite>The
- Penetration of Arabia</cite>, 1904, p. 198, and he will there notice that the
- various motives fill up all the space between two parallel horizontal
- lines, as is so often the case in Rhodesia.<a id="FNanchor_5" href="#Footnote_5" class="fnanchor">[5]</a> Here, therefore, style,
- motive, general treatment, everything corresponds between the Rhodesian
- remains and the decorative fancies still flourishing in Sana, heir to
- the cultural traditions of the neighbouring Mariaba and of the other
- ancient Himyaritic capitals in South Arabia.</p>
-
- <div class="figcenter" id="i_xxxvia">
- <img src="images/i_xxxvia.jpg" width="550" height="547" alt="" />
- <div class="caption">COIN OF BYBLOS, PHŒNICIA, SHEWING CONICAL TOWER</div>
- <div class="subcaption">(FIG. I)</div>
- </div>
-
- <div class="figcenter" id="i_xxxvib">
- <img src="images/i_xxxvib.jpg" width="600" height="524" alt="" />
- <div class="caption">WOODEN BOWL WITH SIGNS OF ZODIAC FOUND NEAR ZIMBABWE</div>
- <div class="subcaption">(FIG. 2)</div>
- </div>
-
- <p>In <cite>The Gold of Ophir</cite> frequent reference is made to the relations,
- social and commercial, established between Palestine and Madagascar
- certainly as early as the time of Solomon, and possibly even during
- the reign of his father David. On this point I might have spoken even
- more confidently, for I have since received a communication from M.
- Alfred <span class="pagenum" id="Page_xxxvii">xxxvii</span>Grandidier, by far the greatest living authority on all
- things Malagasy, who calls my attention to the evidence supplied in
- his monumental work, <cite>Histoire Physique, Naturelle et Politique de
- Madagascar</cite> (1901), of intercourse between the Jews and the natives
- of Madagascar and neighbouring islands even in pre-Solomonic days.
- Documents are quoted to show that the Comoros, stepping-stones between
- Madagascar and Rhodesia, were peopled in the reign of Solomon “by Arabs
- or rather by Idumæan Jews from the Red Sea,” and that the people of the
- great island preserve many Israelitish rites, usages, and traditions,
- cherish the memory of Adam, Abraham, Lot, Moses, Gideon, but have no
- knowledge of any of the prophets after the time of David, “which seems
- to show that the Jewish immigrants left their home at a very remote
- date, since if the exodus had been recent they could not have forgotten
- the great names posterior to the time of David.” Hence he concludes
- that “there is nothing surprising in the presence of an Idumæan colony
- in Madagascar, for we know that from the very earliest times the Arabs
- of Yemen had frequented the East African seaboard at least as far as
- Sofala.” These words lend further support to my identification of
- Tharshish with Sofala, and in a note it is added that “the Jews and
- Arabian Semites were not the only peoples who had formerly commercial
- relations with the inhabitants of the African seaboard. From time
- immemorial these southern waters were navigated by the fleets of the
- Egyptians, probably even of the Chaldeans, Babylonians, Assyrians,
- Phœnicians, Tyrians” (<i>op. cit.</i>, p. 96). And again at p. 100: “From
- the earliest times the Indian Ocean was traversed by Chaldean,
- Egyptian, Jewish, Arab, Persian, Indian, and other vessels.”<a id="FNanchor_6" href="#Footnote_6" class="fnanchor">[6]</a></p>
- <p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_xxxviii">xxxviii</span></p>
- <p>My statements regarding the long-standing relations of the Northern
- Semites with the peoples of Madagascar and South Africa as far as
- Sofala are thus fully supported by the greatest authority on the
- subject. But there are some minds so constituted that they seem
- incapable of accepting a new revelation. They can do nothing but <i>stare
- super vias antiquas</i>, and will strain every nerve to minimise the force
- of facts and arguments pointing at conclusions which run counter to
- their deep-rooted prejudices. I here reproduce the famous “Zimbabwe
- Zodiac” (Fig. 2.), which was found near Great Zimbabwe, and shows the
- twelve signs of the Zodiac carved round the rim, as described by the
- late Dr. Schlichter in the <cite>Geographical Journal</cite> for April, 1890. This
- specialist tells us that “the signs coincide in every respect with
- other finds which Bent and others have made in Zimbabwe. One of the
- pictures is an image of the sun analogous to the sun-pictures which
- Mauch and Bent found on the monoliths of Zimbabwe, and <em>analogous also
- to finds in Asia Minor which belong to the Assyro-Babylonian period</em>.”
- But a writer in the <cite>Guardian</cite> attempts to destroy the significance of
- this document by asserting that the Zodiac or its nomenclature is of
- Greek origin and consequently of no great age. Now the Hon. Emmeline M.
- Plunket has recently (1903) published a work on <cite>Ancient Calendars and
- Constellations</cite>, in which she maintains that the Babylonian Calendar,
- with its Zodiacal signs, dates from 6000 <span class="smcap">b.c.</span>, that is, about
- 8,000 years ago. It is true that this estimate is not clearly made out.
- But on the other hand, the reader may be assured that Miss Plunket does
- not hold by the “Greek” theory. Nor does F. Delitzsch, who reminds us
- that “when we distinguish twelve signs of the Zodiac and call them
- Ram, Bull, Twins, etc., in all this the Sumero-Babylonian culture is
- still a living influence down to the present day.”<a id="FNanchor_7" href="#Footnote_7" class="fnanchor">[7]</a> Nor does Sayce,
- who points out that the Babylonian account of the Flood occurs in the
- eleventh book <span class="pagenum" id="Page_xxxix">xxxix</span>of the epic of Gisdhubar corresponding approximately
- with the eleventh sign of the Zodiac, at that time <i>Aquarius</i>, just
- as the fifth book records the death of a monstrous lion by Gisdhubar,
- answering to the Zodiacal <i>Leo</i> and so on. He further observes that
- “the Zodiacal signs had been marked out and named at that remote period
- (certainly before 2000 <span class="smcap">b.c.</span>), when the sun was still in Taurus
- at the beginning of spring,”<a id="FNanchor_8" href="#Footnote_8" class="fnanchor">[8]</a> and, let me add, when the Greeks had
- not yet been heard of, but when the great Gnomon, or Conical Tower, had
- possibly already been erected by the Semitic builders of Great Zimbabwe.</p>
-
- <div class="figcenter" id="i_xxxviiia">
- <img src="images/i_xxxviiia.jpg" width="500" height="433" alt="" />
- <div class="caption">CYLINDER WITH ROSETTES FOUND IN PHŒNICIAN TEMPLE OF PAPHOS, IN CYPRUS</div>
- <div class="subcaption">(FIG. 3)</div>
- </div>
-
- <div class="figcenter" id="i_xxxviiib">
- <img src="images/i_xxxviiib.jpg" width="600" height="406" alt="" />
- <div class="caption">SOAPSTONE CYLINDER, WITH ROSETTES FOUND NEAR ZIMBABWE</div>
- <div class="subcaption">(FIG. 4)</div>
- </div>
-
- <p>That this and the numerous other conical towers still standing amid
- the crumbling ruins of Rhodesia are all cast in a Semitic mould
- will be at once seen by comparing them with the conical tower of a
- temple, figured on a medallion found at Byblos in Phœnicia and here
- reproduced (Fig. 1.). The comparison may also be extended to the
- two embossed cylinders—one from Great Zimbabwe, the other from the
- Temple of Paphos, in Cyprus, here also reproduced (Figs. 3 and 4) from
- Bent’s <cite>Ruined Cities</cite>, pp. 170, 171. These two objects, so strikingly
- similar in general design, reminded Bent of Herodian’s description of
- the sacred cone in the great Phœnician Temple of the Sun at Emessa,
- in Syria, which was adorned with certain “knobs or protuberances,” a
- pattern supposed by him to represent the sun, and common in phallic
- decorations, such as are constantly turning up with every shovelful of
- débris removed from the Zimbabwe Temple Enclosures.</p>
-
- <p>But although thousands of stones have been washed and carefully
- examined for inscriptions, none have so far been discovered. As the
- inscription which stood originally above the gateway of Great Zimbabwe,
- as reported by the Arabs to the Portuguese pioneers early in the
- sixteenth century,<a id="FNanchor_9" href="#Footnote_9" class="fnanchor">[9]</a> has since disappeared, there are no known written
- documents <span class="pagenum" id="Page_xl">xl</span>connecting these monuments with South Arabia or Phœnicia,
- except a few scratches on the rim of an earthenware vessel figured
- by Bent and by him supposed possibly to be of Himyaritic type.<a id="FNanchor_10" href="#Footnote_10" class="fnanchor">[10]</a>
- As, on the other hand, South Arabia is covered with Himyaritic rock
- inscriptions, some of considerable length and hitherto reputed to be of
- great age, their absence from Rhodesia has naturally caused surprise.
- This negative argument has even by some of my critics been allowed to
- outweigh the overwhelming positive evidence derived from the monuments
- themselves, from the hundreds of old gold-workings already described
- or recorded, from the multitude of objects—phalli, birds, conic
- towers—which have been found in the ruins, and are, beyond all doubt,
- intimately associated with Semitic religious observances. But I think
- it may now be shown that this “negative argument” is no proof at all
- of non-Semitic origins, but, on the contrary, affords strong indirect
- evidence of the great antiquity of these Semitic remains in Rhodesia.</p>
-
- <p>It is to be noticed, in the first place, that although the
- Phœnicians are believed to have migrated from the Persian Gulf to
- the Mediterranean about three millenniums before the New Era, no
- Phœnician inscriptions have yet been anywhere discovered in the
- Mediterranean lands older than about the seventh or the eighth century
- <span class="smcap">b.c.</span> Before that time the Phœnicians, like the kindred
- Canaanites and Israelites, were rude, uncultured peoples, with no
- knowledge of letters, except, perhaps, of the hieroglyphs, cuneiforms,
- and other scripts of their Egyptian, Assyro-Babylonian, Hittite,
- and Cretan neighbours. Even the Moabite Stone, if it be genuine, is
- post-Solomonic, since its reputed “author” was the Moabite king, Mesha,
- contemporary of Jehoram of Israel and Jehoshaphat of Judah. How, then,
- could the unlettered Jews and Phœnicians of the time of David, Solomon,
- and Hiram leave any written records of themselves in Rhodesia? After
- that <span class="pagenum" id="Page_xli">xli</span>epoch the intercourse with South Africa was interrupted,
- because “Jehoshaphat made ships of Tharshish to go to Ophir for gold;
- but they went not; for the ships were broken at Ezion-geber” (1 Kings
- xxii. 48). And then the star of Jacob waned, and the scattering of the
- Ten Tribes of Israel was presently followed by the dire calamities
- that fell upon Judah, and put an end for ever to all further quest of
- treasure in the Austral seas.</p>
-
- <div class="figcenter" id="i_xla">
- <img src="images/i_xla.jpg" width="600" height="503" alt="" />
- <div class="caption">“FUKO-YA-NEBANDGE,” THE MASHONALAND RELIC, DISCOVERED NEAR ZIMBABWE</div>
- <div class="subcaption">(FIG. 5)</div>
- </div>
-
- <div class="figcenter" id="i_xlb">
- <img src="images/i_xlb.jpg" width="600" height="375" alt="" />
- <div class="caption">MODEL OF ELLIPTICAL TEMPLE, ZIMBABWE</div>
- <div class="subcaption">(FIG. 6)</div>
- </div>
-
- <p>In the second place I find that Semitic students are gradually coming
- to the conclusion that the age of the South Arabian rock inscriptions
- has been greatly exaggerated, especially by Glaser, whose authority
- was at first naturally accepted almost without demur. The language is,
- no doubt, Himyaritic, that is to say, the oldest known form of Arabic.
- But that language survived for many centuries after the New Era in
- the Axumite empire, Abyssinia, where it is called <i>Geez</i>, and in Yemen
- till some time after the Mohammedan irruption, and is still current in
- the island of Sokotra, and in the Mahra district east of Hadramaut,
- where it is called <i>Ehkili</i>. Hence the language of the inscriptions
- is no test of their antiquity, though many afford intrinsic evidence
- that they date certainly from at least a few hundred years before the
- New Era. The subject is at present <i>sub judice</i>, and no more can be
- said until the full results are known of the extensive researches now
- in progress throughout Yemen. Here a large number of agents of the
- French Ministère de l’Instruction Publique have been at work since
- the year 1901, and thousands of impressions or rubbings have already
- (1903–4) been received in Paris. Some have even begun to appear in
- the <cite>Nouveaux Textes Yéménites</cite>, edited by M. Derenbourg, and several
- of the inscriptions are stated to be in a hitherto unknown alphabet
- quite different from that of the Himyaritic document which forms the
- frontispiece of the <cite>Gold of Ophir</cite>. Great revelations may therefore be
- pending; but, meanwhile, so much may, I think, be safely inferred, that
- the Himyarites<span class="pagenum" id="Page_xlii">xlii</span> who first arrived in Rhodesia, worked the mines, and
- built the monuments, some dating from apparently 2000 <span class="smcap">b.c.</span>,
- had little or no knowledge of letters, or at least had not yet begun
- to cover the rocks of their South Arabian homes with well-formed and
- carefully constructed inscriptions. Thus is also explained the absence
- of all such documents from their new homes in Rhodesia, where one may
- now almost venture to predict that none will ever be found. Nothing
- can be inferred from the vanished inscription over the Great Zimbabwe
- gateway, since the gold-workings appear to have been resumed for a time
- by the later (post-Mohammedan) Arabs, who were fond of decorating the
- façades of their mosques and other public buildings with the ornamental
- but relatively recent (eighth century) Cufic characters.</p>
-
- <p>Mention should perhaps here be made of Professor Gustav Oppert’s
- <cite>Tharshish and Ophir</cite> (Berlin, 1903), in which the learned author claims
- to offer “a final solution” of the problem. But he leaves the question
- exactly as it stood over three decades ago, is still lost in the tangle
- of time-worn etymologies, and takes no notice at all of the revelations
- made by Messrs. Hall and Neal in the <cite>Ancient Ruins</cite>. The vast body
- of archæological evidence derived in recent years from the Rhodesian
- remains is thus completely ignored, and fresh light excluded from
- the only source whence it might have been drawn. On the other hand,
- Professor Oppert, rather than admit a Tharshish in the Indian Ocean,
- suggests that the <em>Tharshish</em> of Kings and Chronicles either means
- “the sea,” possibly the origin of the Greek word [Greek: thalatta]
- itself, or else was by the authors of those books foisted into the
- texts instead of Ophir. Hence where <em>Tharshish</em> occurs as the objective
- of Solomon’s gold expeditions we are to read <em>Ophir</em>, although the
- original Ophir is allowed to have been where I place it on the south
- coast of Arabia. Now the Greek word [Greek: thalatta] is Homeric, and
- when the Homeric poems were first sung there were no Greeks in the
- Indian Ocean.<span class="pagenum" id="Page_xliii">xliii</span> Hence, even if the wild etymology could be admitted, it
- would not serve, and this essay cannot be accepted as “a final solution
- of the old controversy.”<a id="FNanchor_11" href="#Footnote_11" class="fnanchor">[11]</a> It is pleasant to be able to add that my
- solution has been accepted as final by some of Professor Oppert’s
- fellow-countrymen—the editor of the <cite>Coloniale Zeitung</cite> amongst
- others—who declares that “the problem seems now really solved.”<a id="FNanchor_12" href="#Footnote_12" class="fnanchor">[12]</a></p>
-
- <p>Let me conclude with a question. Those who still reject my solution,
- who cast about for the gold of Ophir all over the Indian Ocean—Egypt,
- Arabia, Persia, India—anywhere except South Africa, what do they
- propose doing with the hundreds of old Rhodesian workings, which are
- known to have yielded at least £75,000,000 in their time, and with
- the stupendous Semitic monuments connected with these workings, of
- which Mr. Hall here presents the public with scores of photographic
- reproductions, drawn exclusively from the central Great Zimbabwe group?
- Where does India, the spoilt child of the etymologists, stand beside
- these remains, which betray such undoubted evidence of their South
- Arabian origin?</p>
-
- <hr class="page" />
- <div class="chapter" id="CHAPTER_I">
- <span class="pagenum" id="Page_1">1</span>
- <div class="ph2">
- GREAT ZIMBABWE<span class="medium"><a id="FNanchor_13" href="#Footnote_13" class="fnanchor">[13]</a></span>
- </div>
- <h2>
- CHAPTER I<br /><br />
- <span class="small">ARRIVAL AT GREAT ZIMBABWE</span>
- </h2>
- </div>
- <div class="subheadc">First Impressions—View from Acropolis Hill</div>
-
- <p class="drop-cap">ON the 21st May, 1902, I arrived at Victoria in Mashonaland, <i>en route</i>
- to the ruins of the Great Zimbabwe, which lie about seventeen miles
- south-east of the township. In 1891, when the late Mr. Theodore Bent
- visited Zimbabwe, he occupied exactly one week in covering the distance
- between Victoria and the ruins. Unfortunately for him and his party, he
- had been advised to follow the Moshagashi Valley, instead of taking the
- higher ground towards the west, and consequently he experienced great
- difficulty with his wagons in crossing spruits, rivers, and swamps,
- which are numerous in that direction.</p>
-
- <p>There is now an excellent road to Zimbabwe, and the distance can be
- covered by a cyclist well within an hour and a half, while visitors
- driving can now arrive at Zimbabwe early in the morning and spend the
- whole day among the ruins and yet be in town in ample time for the
- evening meal. The <span class="pagenum" id="Page_2">2</span>distance by road is seventeen miles, and by a native
- path cutting across country it is reduced to fifteen miles.</p>
-
- <p>Victoria is a town with barely one hundred white inhabitants. It is the
- centre of the largest and finest grain country of Southern Rhodesia,
- and the opening up of the gold, copper, and coal areas of the Sabi
- district will tend to increase its importance.</p>
-
- <p>The Acting-Civil Commissioner, Mr. Lawlor, arranged for requisitions to
- be made for stores, plant, etc., required for the work at the ruins,
- and the Officer Commanding the British South Africa Police provided
- wagon and ten mules to transport stores out to Zimbabwe. The Native
- Commissioner, Mr. Alfred Drew, sent out M’Guti, a native police boy,
- to the chief Mogabe, who lives near the ruins and rules over a large
- tract of country and is practically independent, to find fifteen “boys”
- (afterwards increased to forty) to be at our camp at Zimbabwe at sun-up
- on Saturday. The work of collecting stores and plant filled up the rest
- of the day.</p>
-
- <p>Early the following morning we loaded up the wagon and left for
- Great Zimbabwe, arriving at the main ruins at midday. The wagon was
- off-loaded, and in the shade of a large candelabra-shaped euphorbia
- tree we lunched, while the “boys” carried the stores up on to a low
- granite knoll, where were three spacious native huts, built for the
- Civil Commissioner, and occupied by Lord Milner in 1897. Of course,
- half the population of Mogabe’s kraal came down the kopje sides in
- black strings to watch all that took place, and a jabbering, laughing,
- noisy crowd they were. There was not a pair of trousers or a vest among
- the lot, and all were absolutely bare, save for their aprons. I liked
- their appearance better than that of the average Matabele, for they had
- better and more genial faces, and were not at all haughty and reserved.</p>
-
- <p>The camp is within a few feet of the north side of No. 3 Ruins (see
- map), and faces the south side of Zimbabwe Hill, <span class="pagenum" id="Page_3">3</span>and the Acropolis
- Ruins are on the summit of a very precipitous cliff, 90 ft. high,
- forming part of the side of the hill, the ruins being 220 ft. directly
- above the camp. The camp of Mr. Theodore Bent, the archæologist, was a
- third of a mile to the south of our camp. Ours is the more convenient
- spot, as it is half-way between the two principal ruins, and close to
- its east side lies “The Valley of Ruins,” beside which the situation is
- far healthier.</p>
-
- <div class="figcenter" id="i_002a">
- <img src="images/i_002a.jpg" width="472" height="600" alt="" />
- <div class="caption">“TO GREAT ZIMBABWE”</div>
- </div>
-
- <div class="figcenter" id="i_002b">
- <img src="images/i_002b.jpg" width="538" height="600" alt="" />
- <div class="caption">HAVILAH CAMP, GREAT ZIMBABWE</div>
- </div>
-
- <p>Leaving the “boys” to move the stores and plant from our outspan up to
- the huts, we started for a visit to the Elliptical Temple, which can be
- seen from the camp. My friends, Mr. Herbert Hayles, of Victoria, and
- Mr. J. R. A. Gell (cousin of Mr. Lyttelton Gell, one of the directors
- of the British South Africa Company), had accompanied me out to
- Zimbabwe to show me the lie of the Zimbabwe Reserve, and to protect me
- for the first night of my stay in the event of any visits from ancient
- ghosts.</p>
-
- <p>Approaching the west entrance to the Elliptical Temple one is
- confronted by the following notice:—</p>
-
- <p>“<em>The public are warned that digging or prospecting for gold,
- whether alluvial or otherwise, or for curiosities and relics of
- any sort within the Zimbabwe Reserve, is strictly prohibited
- without special permission, and that any person or persons
- found so doing or in any way damaging any of the ruins or
- cutting or damaging any tree or trees within such Reserve will
- be prosecuted. And notice is also hereby given that nobody will
- be allowed to erect any habitation of any kind whatever within
- the Reserve without special permission. By Order.</em>”<a id="FNanchor_14" href="#Footnote_14" class="fnanchor">[14]</a></p>
-
- <p>But turning from this prosaic notice to the walls themselves, one
- saw that every stone of this stupendous and imposing structure had
- gained glories from the hands of Time, and yielded a magnificent
- subject for the painter’s brush. The walls were white with lichen,
- but on their surfaces were <span class="pagenum" id="Page_4">4</span>splashed art colourings of almost every
- possible shade—bright orange and red, lemon-black, sea-green, and pale
- delicate yellow—while drooping from the summits were heavy festoons of
- the pink-flowered “Zimbabwe creeper.” Over the fallen blocks spread
- sprays of passion flowers, convolvuli, and other delicate creepers, and
- clusters of St. John’s lilies and large scarlet gladioli rose stately
- above beds of rich vegetation. Here was one of Nature’s most perfect
- chromographs!</p>
-
- <p>To describe this grand ruin in one chapter would be an utterly
- impossible task, and any statement of one’s first impressions on
- walking about the temple ’mid its massive Titanic walls must be
- altogether inadequate. At any rate, one experienced an overwhelming
- and oppressive sense of awe and reverence. One felt it impossible to
- speak loudly or to laugh. And yet the ancient builders were what is
- termed Pagan—Phallic worshippers with Baal and Astoroth among their
- divinities, but a people so skilled in Zodiacal, astronomical, and
- other sciences as to amaze and perplex the savants of to-day. Standing
- close by the Sacred Cone, near which, according to Colonel Conder, the
- Syro-Arabian archæologist, the altar was placed, one felt disinclined
- for conversation. Above on a bough was a large owl, with prominent
- ears and beautiful yellow eyes, who stared at our daring to trespass
- on the verge of mystery. At our feet lay innumerable cast-off skins
- of snakes. One thought of the poet Lowell’s <cite>Lost Angel</cite>, where,
- speaking of a man so deadening his conscience by constant refusals to
- listen to the appeals of his attendant good angel, he finds that the
- angel has at last left him alone. Then was the temple of his heart
- become desecrated, “the owl and snake inhabit there, the image of the
- God has gone!” The owl and snake inhabit the Temple of Zimbabwe, the
- altar of which is now broken down and desecrated, but the odious and
- unmistakable emblems of Nature Worship are still to be found by the<span class="pagenum" id="Page_5">5</span>
- score. Reverence of the hoary age of these buildings seizes one, for
- some accredited archæologists give the age of some of these ruins as
- anterior to the time of Moses. One wonders whether Professor Keane’s
- contention is correct, that Ancient Rhodesia was the Havilah of
- Genesis, especially when one thinks of the estimated £75,000,000 of
- gold believed to have been taken by the Ancients from the surface of
- the gold-reefs of this country before and during the Biblical-Ophir
- period.</p>
-
- <p>But our stay within these massive walls was brief. The writer would
- have over two years in which to wander in their labyrinthine passages,
- and to examine their architectural features, and compare them with
- those of Rhodesian ruins elsewhere, but his friends must start back to
- Victoria before sunrise next day. On our way to the other important
- ruins—the Acropolis or Hill Fortress—we visited the grave of Major Alan
- Wilson and his party<a id="FNanchor_15" href="#Footnote_15" class="fnanchor">[15]</a> who were killed on the Shangani during the
- flight of King Lo ’Bengula in 1893.</p>
-
- <p>We climbed up the 230 feet to the Acropolis ruins, but our visit here
- also was brief. We clambered round the summits of the walls of the two
- temples, which have a score of monoliths still standing, more or less
- erect, and penetrated some of the most intricate passages. The feeling
- experienced here was one of intense wonder and bewilderment at the
- stupendous walls erected at such a height, walls which must have taken
- years to build, and all of granite blocks. The view from the summit
- is among the finest in Rhodesia. We watched the sunset glow fading on
- the white walls of the Elliptical Temple below, and then descended to
- prepare the huts for the night and arrange the stores in their proper
- quarters. Later, when the round moon one day off the full was shining,
- we sat outside the huts watching the effects shown on the western
- temple on the hill where the monoliths high up above us stood out
- against the greenish moonlit sky. At 4 a.m. the mules were inspanned in
- the wagon, <span class="pagenum" id="Page_6">6</span>and my friends took their departure, leaving me alone among
- ruins and natives.</p>
-
- <p>As soon as the sun was fairly up, M’Guti, the native police boy,
- arrived from Mogabe’s kraal, followed by a crowd of “boys,” all most
- anxious for work. The majority were young men, and the total clothing
- of the crowd did not amount to three square yards of calico. They all
- squatted down in a semi-circle in front of the main hut while M’Guti
- delivered a long oration, but as he was wearing khaki regimentals and
- had his steel handcuffs (evidently a badge of authority) lying in front
- of him, the sustaining influence of office possessed him. Finally, all
- the details were settled, a roll was made up, and the names recorded.</p>
-
- <p>Later, the Mogabe, Handisibishe, and his headmen arrived, and a
- long <i>indaba</i> took place, M’Guti interpreting. Mogabe recognised
- the likenesses of Mr. and Mrs. Bent, and that of the previous
- Mogabe—Chipfuno, his brother. Salt and tobacco sent Mogabe happy away,
- and next day a large gourd of <i>doro</i> (native beer) and some sweet
- potatoes arrived at the camp as a present.</p>
-
- <p>The view from the summit of the Acropolis may be described as follows:—</p>
-
- <p><i>South.</i>—Towards the south and in the nearer distance, and 250 feet
- below in the valley, the venerable and lichened walls of the Elliptical
- Temple rise out of luxuriantly green vegetation. So much below
- the Acropolis cliffs is this temple that one sees over its broken
- north walls into the interior and on to the floors of some of the
- enclosures. The summit of the conical tower peeps out from among the
- giant fig-trees that flourish in the interior of the building. At this
- distance the white monoliths along the eastern wall, though clearly
- defined against the dark foliage, seem dwarfed. In almost the same line
- of view, but slightly eastwards and nearer, and on the north-east side
- of the temple, is the “Valley of Ruins,” full of enclosures, passages,
- entrances,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_7">7</span> and walls, which up to 1902 had remained practically
- unexplored by white men. Nearer still is the wagon-track passing
- Havilah Camp and winding eastwards towards the Mapaku Ruins (“Little
- Zimbabwe”) and the Motelekwe<a id="FNanchor_16" href="#Footnote_16" class="fnanchor">[16]</a> River seven miles distant. A hundred
- yards east of the temple on an open granite space overlooking the
- Valley of Ruins is the site of the camp of Dr. Schlichter, who visited
- the Zimbabwe ruins in 1897. Immediately behind this spot and between it
- and the foot of the Bentberg (<i>Motusa</i>) is the veld land ploughed by
- Messrs. Posselt in 1888–9.</p>
-
- <div class="figcenter" id="i_007">
- <img src="images/i_007.jpg" width="600" height="553" alt="" />
- <div class="caption">GREAT ZIMBABWE RESERVE</div>
- </div>
-
- <p>Still looking south and slightly eastwards of the temple is the
- Schlichter Gorge, down which the Mapudzi flows towards <span class="pagenum" id="Page_8">8</span>the south.
- At the southern end of the gorge is a succession of ranges of kopjes
- of fantastic shape descending into, and again rising from, the
- Mowishawasha Valley, and becoming lost in the blue distance. The
- Bentberg Kopje, which forms a dark background for the temple, shows its
- immense flanks of granite glacis and boulders. Here some fifty years
- ago was the chief local kraal of the Barotse, who had settlements among
- the Makalanga of this part of the country, and on the north-eastern
- side of the hill are still to be seen the remains of ancient walls,
- while a clump of castor-oil trees at the foot of the hill on this side
- marks the site of Theodore Bent’s camp (June and July, 1891).</p>
-
- <p>Slightly to the west of the temple and almost immediately in front
- of it are No. 1 Ruins, the walls of which are crowned with aloes and
- euphorbias. Less than a hundred yards west of these ruins are the
- Ridge Ruins, on a bare granite ridge, on the east side of which was
- the camp of Sir John Willoughby, who excavated portions of the ruins
- (November and December, 1892). Fifty yards behind the Ridge Ruins is
- the Zimbabwe Spring, marked by a group of trees, where most excellent
- water can be obtained, even during the driest season. It was close
- to these trees that Messrs. Posselt had their camp in 1888–9. Nearer
- than Ridge Ruins is the little graveyard where is the granite tomb of
- Major Alan Wilson and his party. Just a few yards nearer is Havilah
- Camp, where one can just see the natives moving to and fro across the
- open spaces between the huts. Behind the Bentberg and further south is
- broken country, with Lumbo Rocks, one of the landmarks of the district,
- rising from the summit of a rugged hill like a column piled up against
- the sky, its lichen mantle showing brilliant red in the sunset. Here
- is the line of high ground which separates the plateau of Mashonaland
- from the lower valley of the Limpopo River, the incline in the contour
- being both steep and abrupt. This also divides <span class="pagenum" id="Page_9">9</span>the watershed of
- the Motelekwe from that of the Tokwe.<a id="FNanchor_17" href="#Footnote_17" class="fnanchor">[17]</a> In this southern view are
- scattered many Makalanga kraals, several of which are perched up in
- almost inaccessible rocky eyries; also some romantic valleys, kloofs,
- and stretches of park-like land studded with patches of thick woods.</p>
-
- <div class="figcenter" id="i_008">
- <img src="images/i_008.jpg" width="600" height="478" alt="" />
- <div class="caption">GENERAL PLAN<br /><span class="xxsmall">OF</span><br />ZIMBABWE RUINS<br />
- showing<br />the general position of each ruin </div>
- </div>
-
- <p><i>South-west.</i>—Looking towards the south-west and in the near distance
- is the rising ground between the Bentberg and Rusivanga<a id="FNanchor_18" href="#Footnote_18" class="fnanchor">[18]</a> kopjes, and
- the native path leading over it to Bingura’s kraal. At the foot of
- Rusivanga and 150 yards from Havilah Camp, and on a knoll on which is
- a large old tree, was for some time the camp of Adam Renders, known by
- the natives as <i>Sa-adama</i>, who rediscovered Zimbabwe in 1868, and who
- was here visited by Mr. George Philips, the ivory trader of the very
- early days, and by Dr. Karl Mauch, the latter of whom gave in 1871 the
- first information of the ruins for almost three hundred years. Here
- Renders traded extensively for ivory. Previously to Dr. Mauch’s visit
- Renders lived at Nini, eleven miles south-west of Zimbabwe.</p>
-
- <p>Beyond the nearer ridge is a deep and wide valley on the near side of
- which is Bingura’s kraal, and from this valley the land rises towards
- the southern extremity of the Livouri Mountains some ten miles from
- Zimbabwe, and in the immediate distance, though much nearer the Livouri
- Range, is Providential Pass, through which the hunter, Mr. F. C.
- Selous, led the Pioneer Column in 1890. In the same line of view, but
- slightly nearer, is where Renders’ first station was located.</p>
-
- <p><i>West.</i>—Looking due west there are two kopjes—Rusivanga and
- Makuma—which close in the Zimbabwe Valley on that side at a third of
- a mile distance. Further west of the two kopjes is a wide undulating
- valley some six or eight miles <span class="pagenum" id="Page_10">10</span>wide which runs along the east side of
- the Livouri Mountains, and this is studded at intervals with low and
- bare granite kopjes. The kraal of the dynastic chief Cherimbila is at
- Rovali, at the southern extremity of the range. The highest point of
- the Livouri is Niande, a hill in the centre of this range with steep
- and almost inaccessible sides. Behind the Livouri Range is seen the
- high conical summit of the Cotopaxi Mountain, which forms one of the
- principal landmarks of this portion of Southern Mashonaland. Towards
- the south end of the Livouri Range is a large hill called Mowishawasha.
- <em>Washa</em> is always associated by the natives with power and authority.
- The natives never climb to the top of this hill without going through
- some form of devotion on their way up; also on passing close to the
- hill they will stop and clap hands. Natives will not state the actual
- reason. Probably an important Makalanga chief of some past times was
- buried there. Near to this hill is a smaller one known as Tchib-Fuko,
- which also has some native superstitions attached to it. It was in this
- district the wooden platter with the zodiacal signs was discovered by
- Mr. Edward Muller, also the pot “Fuko-ya-Nebandge.”</p>
-
- <p><i>North-west.</i>—To the north-west, and on the opposite side of the valley
- at the foot of Zimbabwe Hill, and beyond the <em>Outer Defence Wall</em> which
- encloses the Zimbabwe ruins on the west and north sides, is a low
- granite knoll called Pasosa, with outlying huts belonging to Mogabe’s
- kraal. A few yards behind the huts is a ruin (Pasosa, No. 1), with a
- second ruin (Pasosa, No. 2) 60 yards farther north. The country beyond
- in this direction is the valley land of the Moshagashi River, which
- is some six to eight miles broad, the horizon showing low hills, over
- which are the line of houses and trees of Victoria township, fifteen
- miles distant as the crow flies, and beyond again are the uplands of
- the range north of Victoria. The principal kraals in this direction are
- Baranzimba’s (two miles) and M’Tima’s (three and a half miles).</p>
-
- <div class="figcenter" id="i_010">
- <img src="images/i_010.jpg" width="600" height="422" alt="" />
- <div class="caption">VIEW FROM ACROPOLIS SHEWING THE ELLIPTICAL TEMPLE IN THE
- VALLEY, ZIMBABWE</div>
- </div>
-
- <p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_11">11</span></p>
-
- <p><i>North.</i>—In the north is the lower continuation of the Moshagashi
- Valley, at this point some eight miles broad. Here the granite
- formation of Zimbabwe terminates and the slate commences. The principal
- kraal, and by far the largest in this area, is that of Chinongu, which
- is four miles from Zimbabwe. Extending from N.N.W. to N.N.E. are the
- high and romantically shaped Besa Mountains, and at their eastern
- extremity can be seen in the blue distance the Lovugwe country.</p>
-
- <p><i>North-east.</i>—To the north-east, at a distance of eight miles and
- cutting the sky-line, is the range of the Inyuni Hills. Their sides are
- exceedingly steep and, being slate, their contours contrast pleasantly
- with those of the kopjes of the granite formation. In the nearer
- distance is Motuminshaba, a granite kopje four miles away, and farther
- east Tchivi, another granite kopje three miles distant. The land
- towards the east-north-east descends to the Motelekwe River, the valley
- of which can be seen with Arowi, a huge, isolated granite kopje rising
- twelve miles distant, on the far bank of the Motelekwe. In this area
- kraals are numerous.</p>
-
- <p><i>East.</i>—The Beroma Range (written by Bent as “Veroma”) fills in the
- whole of the background towards the east. These hills, which run north
- and south, appear to be fully four miles long. The most northerly
- point of this range is formed by a large rounded granite kopje called
- Sueba,<a id="FNanchor_19" href="#Footnote_19" class="fnanchor">[19]</a> and between this hill and Chenga’s<a id="FNanchor_20" href="#Footnote_20" class="fnanchor">[20]</a> kraal is the path
- leading over the nek to the Mapaku Ruins (“Little Zimbabwe”) eight
- miles distant. On the west side of Beroma is a line of lower hills
- forming its shoulders. The southern end of the Beroma Range is formed
- by the high rounded Mount Marsgi, with a series of cliffs on its west
- side, and at its base M’Tijeni’s kraal. Marsgi overlooks the Schlichter
- Gorge. This is the point from which our description started.</p>
-
- <hr class="page" />
- <div class="chapter" id="CHAPTER_II">
- <span class="pagenum" id="Page_12">12</span>
- <h2>
- CHAPTER II<br /><br />
- <span class="small">MYSTIC ZIMBABWE</span>
- </h2>
- </div>
- <div class="subheadc">Sunday Morning and Midnight in an Ancient Temple—Sunset on the Acropolis.</div>
-
- <p class="drop-cap">WANDERING about the Elliptical Temple at Zimbabwe on a Sunday morning
- one is faced at every turn with texts for innumerable “sermons in
- stones.” The hoary age of these massive walls is grandly and silently
- eloquent of a dead religion—a religion which was but the blind
- stretching forth of the hand of faith groping in the Dawn of Knowledge
- for the Deity and seeking the Unknown. Lowell urges that none should
- call any faith “vain” which in the evolution of religion has led
- mankind up to a higher level. The builders were “Pagans.” Granted, but
- the world four thousand years ago was in its infancy, and infancy is
- but a necessary prelude to development in any department of life and
- thought. The progressive stages of Old Testament faith demonstrate this
- fact most patently. We of the Christian Era, with our two thousand
- years of religious enlightenment, have yet to learn of the “many things
- I have to say unto you, but ye cannot bear them now.” The evolution of
- the Christian Ideal has not yet reached its final stage—it has still to
- be perfected. But the period of infancy in development should not be
- too hastily condemned as “vain.”</p>
-
- <p>The spires that adorn our churches, the orientation of ecclesiastical
- buildings, the eastward position of the dead, the candles on the
- altars, and what is more, the idea conveyed by sacrificial offering,
- have their origin in the ancient faiths<span class="pagenum" id="Page_13">13</span> and world-wide litholatrous
- and solar ideas of the Semitic peoples, whether of Yemen or Phœnicia,
- who built their temples in every part of the then known world which
- came under their influence. In these, as in many more such instances,
- parallelisms become identities, but identities adapted by the Christian
- Church to convey in an old-world form a figure of a higher faith. The
- continuity between this old temple at Zimbabwe, Stonehenge, and the
- modern cathedral, is complete.</p>
-
- <p>When one reviews the forms and practices, so far as they are known,
- of the Semitic builders of the Great Zimbabwe, what a flood of light
- shines in upon the history and worship of the Hebrews. The writings
- of the Prophets live afresh, and the mystic chapters of Job become
- full of pregnant meaning. A key is provided to the secret of Abraham
- offering his son, to Jacob’s pile of stones, to Jephthah’s vow, to
- the Syro-Phœnician woman’s conversation at the well, and to a hundred
- points of biblical lore which would otherwise barely attract attention,
- much less provoke interest. These old Semites—of whom the Hebrews were
- a younger branch—stinted not their worship, and knew the ecstasy of
- sacrifice. Their best beloved they gave—their dearest, in the belief
- that the gift which was offered without a pang was not prized by
- Deity. Bearing this in mind, the Old Testament is found to be replete
- with unfailing interest, charm, and point; it becomes, in fact, a
- marvellously new book even to the biblical student.</p>
-
- <p>The builders of the temple at Zimbabwe have now, it is believed,
- slept through three millenniums, if not four, yet the religious faith
- of the Semitic family was so strong, so real, and so forceful, that
- its ramifications can be found in the faith of the Christian Church
- of to-day. Nor can this be wondered at. One has but to glance round
- these temple walls to read in granite blocks the fact that to the
- builders their religious faith was of primal importance. Here is<span class="pagenum" id="Page_14">14</span>
- clearly envisaged the fact that to them their religion was very real,
- so much so that were Europe devastated to-morrow, it could scarcely
- show in proportion to its other buildings such monuments to religious
- faith as can be seen in Rhodesia to-day. Their finest art, their best
- constructive skill, and the patient labour of long years, were lavished
- upon these buildings which thickly stud the country. Thoroughness and
- devotion are written large on the orientated, massive, and grandly
- sweeping walls of the Elliptical Temple at Great Zimbabwe. One cannot
- call their faith “vain” when one realises that it led them out from
- themselves towards something higher, while for them it must be
- remembered the True Light had not shined. Struggling though blindly to
- improve their relationship to Deity provided a no mean factor in the
- religious progress of the world.</p>
-
- <p>While these ancient Semitic colonisers of Rhodesia have slept their
- many-centuried sleep, what epochs of the world’s history have come
- and gone, and what empires have risen and decayed! Ah! see that
- lichen-mantled granite block low down in the cyclopean wall. It has a
- little chip of stone under one corner as if to steady it. The ancient
- mason was a careful worker. The chip is still there to-day. One can
- move it with a finger. Was it there when Moses led the Hebrews towards
- the Promised Land, or there when young Joseph was sold as a slave into
- Egypt? Who shall say? Civilisations have come and gone, but the chip is
- there, and affords not merely an evidence of the careful mason, but a
- sermon on the brevity of life, the utter smallness of pomp and power,
- and the absolute absurdity of pride. Still the little granite chip has
- served its purpose for some four thousand years, and it may yet be
- there occupying its humble position at the end of the next millennium.
- The oldest fanes of Europe, whether of Greece or Rome, cannot so
- deeply move to awe-inspiring feeling as can the massive walls of the
- temple at Zimbabwe, for these old empires are<span class="pagenum" id="Page_15">15</span> believed to have been
- almost unborn when Zimbabwe was at its zenith. Thus the walls compel a
- listening to their sermons.</p>
-
- <p>As one strays through the Sacred Enclosure, thoughts come:—What were
- the relative positions of magic and religion, especially in the
- complicated and closely observed Phallic worship of these ancients;
- whence the zodiacal, astronomical, and geometrical knowledge of the
- builders; what of the touch of tragedy in their exodus or departure;
- the exact meaning of the granite, slate, and carved soapstone monoliths
- on the summits of the walls; the origin of the occupiers; was Rhodesia
- the Havilah of Genesis; did it provide the Solomonic gold; of the close
- kinship of these successful ancient gold-seekers from Yemen or Tyre and
- Sidon to the Hebrews of Palestine; and of their intimate connection in
- origin, language, and neighbourhood which Holy Writ abundantly declares
- existed from the ninth chapter of Genesis until Paul preached in
- Phœnicia?</p>
-
- <p>Gazing at the Sacred Tower, one thinks of the Tower of Siloam, and of
- the “high places” of Samaria, and of the times when even this form of
- worship became the state religion of Judah under Ahaziah; and sitting
- at the conjectured site of the ancient altar, where the writer has
- found in numbers the stone emblems of their faith, thoughts arise of
- the Bethel stones of the Hebrews, the Bethûl or “the dwelling-places
- of God” of the Phœnicians, and the Penuel or “Face of God” of the
- Midianites.</p>
-
- <p>The Law of Moses adapts the rules and customs and ideas and forms of
- worship of far greater antiquity than the Mosaic times. So the new
- faith of every age borrows from the old, and the mighty processions of
- civilisations and faiths which have encircled this earth from very far
- back beyond the days of Abraham go on their even course.</p>
-
- <p>But we must leave the temple and return to camp. There is still the
- great Zimbabwe owl sitting on his favourite bough<span class="pagenum" id="Page_16">16</span> near the “high
- place.” The six-foot python crawls in and out of the stones of the
- ancient altar. Brightly coloured lizards bask on the once consecrated
- walls. Blue jays, honey-birds, and doves here find a shelter. The
- trees, orchid-clad and lichen-festooned, throw a weird shadow over all.
- Possibly ancients are sleeping near.</p>
-
- <p>As one passes out through the entrance into the full glare of an
- African noontide, one feels as if one had just returned from the far
- distant mystic past to modern life, for a naked Makalanga waits there
- with the message that Sunday lunch was cooked and waiting.</p>
-
- <h3>MIDNIGHT IN AN ANCIENT TEMPLE</h3>
-
- <p>It was the night of the full moon
- nearest to Midsummer Day in the Southern Hemisphere, and towards
- midnight the large population of Makalanga round Zimbabwe would be
- celebrating the feast of the full moon with dancing, singing, and
- <i>doro</i> drinking. This was evidently a special feast, for its advent
- had been the theme of conversation among our labourers for the past
- fortnight, and, unlike the other feasts, it was held simultaneously in
- each kraal, and not at different kraals in turn on alternate occasions.</p>
-
- <p>At nine o’clock all was still and restful. There were no signs whatever
- of the forthcoming festivities. Passing through Baranazimba’s kraal,
- on the way to Havilah Camp at Zimbabwe, one found the population had
- retired to rest. At Mogabe’s kraal the only sign of active life was
- shown by the village dogs. The night was hot and close, and outside
- the huts natives were sleeping, each in his blanket. Arrived at
- Havilah Camp, one found a score of labourers, sublimely free from all
- anxieties, sleeping on the bare granite outside their huts, but so
- oppressive was the air that in their slumbers they had thrown off their
- blankets, and were lying in every conceivable posture, and snoring and
- talking in their sleep as if dancing and beer-drinking were matters
- that had not the <span class="pagenum" id="Page_17">17</span>slightest interest for them. The large full moon
- was yet some distance from its zenith, but the valleys were flooded
- with a greenish-grey mistiness, which lay over the high grass and
- ran up into the kloofs and gorges. The light made distant objects
- distinctly visible, throwing a mantle of romance over every clump,
- ridge, and kopje, while it was possible to read tolerably small print
- without the aid of artificial light.</p>
-
- <div class="figcenter" id="i_016a">
- <img src="images/i_016a.jpg" width="447" height="550" alt="" />
- <div class="caption">CONICAL TOWER AND PLATFORM (LOOKING SOUTH), ELLIPTICAL
- TEMPLE, ZIMBABWE</div>
- </div>
-
- <div class="figcenter" id="i_016b">
- <img src="images/i_016b.jpg" width="452" height="550" alt="" />
- <div class="caption">THE BALCONY, EASTERN TEMPLE, ACROPOLIS</div>
- <div class="subcaption">THE PARAPET IS BUILT UPON THE SUSPENDED BOULDER</div>
- </div>
-
- <p>For fully another hour the silence was unbroken. At last the desultory
- beating of a village drum at Mogabe’s kraal was heard. Later a drum
- was sounded at Chenga’s kraal, and another at Bingura’s kraal. The
- villagers were waking up for the feast. One of our labourers sat up,
- stretched himself and yawned, and commenced shaking his sleeping
- comrades. Within a few minutes Havilah Camp was all life. One native
- reached for his leggings of large nuts with dried kernels inside,
- others a horn, flute, piano, or harp, but all took two knobkerries,
- some having assegais. Those who possessed strings of wild-cat tails
- tied them round their waists. The early hours of evening had been
- devoted to greasing their bodies and limbs, and in the light of the
- moon their skins shone like burnished metal. Then began a general
- practising of dance steps, leapings, war-cries, and most hideous
- howlings. Meanwhile quite a dozen drums were being sounded up on
- Mogabe’s Kopje, and these were answered by similar numbers at Chenga’s
- and the other kraals. Horns were blown, parties of Makalanga, singing
- and shouting, were passing along the native tracks in front of our
- camp, each party going to its own kraal. Soon our labourers left
- in gangs for their respective villages and disappeared in the long
- mist-covered grass. Being all young men with a superabundant fund
- of spirits, they made a most fearful din in the course of their
- progress homewards. By this time the Zimbabwe kopjes resounded with
- singing, especially of girls’ singing, for the women-folk started the
- festivities with screams and yells, and the loud beatings in<span class="pagenum" id="Page_18">18</span> three-two
- time of innumerable drums. The great full moon was now fast approaching
- its zenith. Our camp, save for the watch-men, the <i>kya</i> (hut) boy, and
- the picaninni, once more became still and lifeless.</p>
-
- <p>Theodore Bent saw in these new and full-moon feasts some connection
- with the cult of Nature Worship of the ancient Semites, who are
- believed to have built these ruins and to have mined for gold in
- Southern Rhodesia, as it is conjectured, some three thousand years
- ago. The women, who at this moment are dancing in the villages,
- have on their bare stomachs, worked into the skin, a “breast and
- furrow pattern,” identical to that found on many of the oldest of
- the prehistoric relics discovered in our ancient ruins, an undoubted
- emblem, Bent contended, of the ancient conception of Fertility. The
- men who will be dancing have worked in their skins, mainly in bands
- round their waists, the three radiating bars, similar in form to the
- Welsh bardic emblem of the Origin of Life. The articles they will
- wield in their dancing are carved with chevron pattern, one of the
- most ancient of all emblems of Fertility. But although the flesh
- decorations are now merely luck signs, neither man nor woman would on
- any account be without them. With these signs they say they will not
- be sick, will have plenty of wives and boys to work for them, and many
- girls on account of whom to receive <i>lobola</i> (marriage present to the
- father—practically purchase money). Anon, in the pauses of the dance,
- they will drink beer from pots with herring-bone pattern encircling the
- lips, a beer made of red millet, prepared, says Bent, in the same way
- and known by the same name as the beer prepared in Arabia to-day, where
- its methods of preparation and its name have been handed down from
- immemorial age.</p>
-
- <p>But to-night will be the finest opportunity for the next twelve months
- of seeing the Elliptical Temple by moonlight. Sleep this hot, close
- night is impossible, especially with the<span class="pagenum" id="Page_19">19</span> sounds of noisy revelry
- proceeding simultaneously from all points of the compass. My native
- boy is disinclined to follow me to the temple, but after bargaining
- with him for an <i>Isi-hle</i> (present), he at last grudgingly consents.
- He mutters something about the place being bewitched, that there are
- many horrid things there, and alludes to the <i>M’uali</i>, the chief spirit
- of Makalanga awe and dread; but as within the two years’ residence at
- Zimbabwe I have only discovered two natives, and these elderly men, who
- would willingly go into any of the ruins, especially the temple, after
- darkness had settled down, I am not at all surprised at his reluctance
- to follow me there. However, he is mindful to take his stoutest
- knobkerries with him.</p>
-
- <p>Looking back at the Acropolis Hill, and at its long line of precipice,
- one sees the ancient walls on the summit gleaming white in the
- moonlight, while the tall monoliths stand clear against the sky. In
- the passages on the hill one might almost expect on such a night to
- come face to face with Rider Haggard’s She at any corner, or to see
- her draped form issuing from one of the numerous caves which still
- pierce the cliffs. But we must turn our backs on the Acropolis Hill,
- and make for the Elliptical Temple, passing the little graveyard
- where the remains of Major Alan Wilson and his Shangani heroes rest
- in their granite tomb in the grove of euphorbia trees, whose branches
- cast black, sharp-cut shadows on the ground. Then across an open
- granite space, and up the long parallel passage on the east side of
- Ridge Ruins, out through its intricate southern entrance, and on to
- the level ground which runs up to the foot of the temple walls. The
- clumps of tall, old-world-looking aloes and euphorbia trees lining the
- walls of No. 1 Ruins on the left of our path appear strange even by
- daylight, but in the midnight radiance of the full moon they assume
- intensely weird and fantastic forms thoroughly in harmony with the
- outlines of the ancient buildings. The lonely grave of Thomas Bailey,
- an Australian<span class="pagenum" id="Page_20">20</span> gold prospector, lies close to the right-hand side of
- the path. He died in 1893 while searching for relics within the temple.</p>
-
- <p>The temple walls covered with white lichen appear to have been
- whitewashed for centuries, and these gleam brightly with light in
- distinct contrast to the dark veld and bush from which they rise; and
- so white are they that at a fair distance one can see every course,
- block, and joint in their dry masonry. The broad bases of the walls
- in comparison with the widths of their summits—though a full-sized
- wagon and a team of sixteen oxen could stand upon the top of the more
- substantial portion of the walls—their sloping sides, and the utter
- absence of any feature of any style of architecture known in Western
- Europe, lend a strikingly Eastern appearance to the building, which is
- sufficient in itself to forcibly take one’s mind back some two or three
- thousand years. Meanwhile the noise of village drums, the blowing of
- horns, and the deep wild choruses of crowds of men, mingled with the
- voices of women and girls, were waxing louder and more incessant as
- midnight approached.</p>
-
- <p>Standing in No. 5 Enclosure, just within the west entrance, the
- interior of the temple is seen to be full of light and shadow. But all
- is serenely calm and still as if possessed by the silence of the grave.
- The high, massive walls encircling the temple deaden to faintness the
- voices of the villagers. The close air, heavy with the scent of verbena
- wafted in from the veld, is oppressive in the extreme. An inexplicable
- sensation of trespassing in forbidden precincts possesses one. The
- native looks scared. Midnight visits to ruins are not his particular
- fancy.</p>
-
- <p>Certainly the many visitors who travel hundreds, if not thousands, of
- miles to view these ruins, and who only see them by the glare of day,
- miss nine-tenths of the charm, fascination, and inspiration which the
- walls of the temple at Zimbabwe have in store for those who walk its
- courts in the stillness of the night when the midsummer moon is at the
- full.<span class="pagenum" id="Page_21">21</span> This is the time to see Zimbabwe aright, for Zimbabwe by day and
- Zimbabwe by night presents two entirely different aspects.</p>
-
- <p>Trees throw gigantic shadows on the walls and darken the inner
- courts, and the floors are chequered by moonbeams shining through
- the foliage overhead. One somehow becomes possessed with the idea
- that these walls are peopled with the spirits of prehistoric age,
- who are moving, as of old, about the temple floors and passages,
- still performing their ancient priestly offices. The movement of
- every shadow against the walls suggests the passing from point to
- point of some three-millenniumed spectral form, too engrossed in its
- sacred avocations to heed the mortal presence of two strangers of the
- twentieth century after Christ. Would that these hoary-aged walls could
- speak and tell us of the scenes which took place here when the Great
- Zimbabwe was in all its glory! Assuredly a midnight hour spent in this
- ancient temple overwhelms one with most novel sensations, some slightly
- queer and shivery, others awe-inspiring and soul-stirring.</p>
-
- <p>While still standing just inside the west entrance some thoughts
- suggest themselves. The ancients being Nature worshippers of one of
- the earliest cults, so says Bent, had sought in the erection of their
- temple to compel the concentration of thought on the heavens alone, for
- even the reduced heights of the summits of the walls, averaging from 22
- ft. to 31 ft., shut off, except for gaps, all views of the surrounding
- landscape. Nothing is visible save the moon and a skyful of silent,
- glittering stars. The Pleiades, by the rising and setting of which the
- Makalanga mark their sowing and harvesting, are sinking towards the
- W.N.W. horizon, and Orion, which is prominent in the star-pictures
- of the natives, is following down in their wake. A large area of the
- sky is hidden by the bright radiance of the full moon. But such high
- massive walls enclosing the temple, and limiting the view to the sky
- alone,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_22">22</span> strike the mind of the stranger unread in the lore of ancient
- Semitic faiths as the purposed design of the ancient architects,
- especially so when it is recollected that some of the ancient floors
- are at a much lower level than the interiors as seen to-day. And just
- as Britishers in Rhodesia unconsciously turn their gaze at night
- towards the stars which lie low near the northern horizon, so in the
- contracted view afforded by the temple walls we can well imagine that
- during their midnight vigils the eyes of the ancient colonists from
- the north would, as naturally, frequently and lingeringly glance over
- the northern wall to gaze on stars known to them in their Homeland. It
- may be noted, too, that the ancients, as conjectured by Bent and other
- writers, do not appear to have been greatly interested in the alien
- stars of the Southern Hemisphere, for in all the ruins in Rhodesia,
- so far as discoveries have been made, there are no massive stone arcs
- surmounted with monoliths with mural decorations of old-world emblems
- of fertility on their outer faces, and with the raised platforms
- approached by steps, facing towards the south, for all such that are
- known are directed to some other point of the compass.</p>
-
- <p>Small fragments of granite chips from ancient blocks lie about the
- floor, and these gleam like stars on the dark ground, and have
- light-haloes of their own. These suggest the splendid sight these
- ancient walls must have been when all the newly dressed granite
- blocks in the faces of the walls sparkled as they must once have done
- as the fragments gleamed in this glorious moonlight. The walls must
- have glittered like a fairy palace, as did the castle walls of lordly
- Camelot. To-day we approach the temple on the same level as the veld,
- the ground outside having been raised to this level by the silt of
- ages, but the recently discovered granite cement floors outside the
- building show that the ancients had to ascend some five feet or more
- to gain the threshold of the entrance. With such higher elevation for
- its walls,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_23">23</span> the temple, when freshly built, or perhaps for centuries
- afterwards, must have been on moonlit nights a most bewitching sight of
- splendour. But its glories to-night are those which it has gained from
- the hand of Time.</p>
-
- <p>But on gaining the central area of the building the inexplicable
- sensations awakened by the weird and strange surroundings and past
- associations are intensified, and one’s nerves are forced to be more
- alive to anything unusual happening. Large bats and night-moths fly
- unpleasantly close to one’s face. Treading on a rotten stick, and the
- falling of large dry leaves which rattle on the stones below, make
- noises sufficient to cause one to turn round expecting the approach
- of some ancient spectre. A frog in some dark and dank corner startles
- one with a loud croak of “<em>Work!</em>” The hoot of an owl makes the native
- start. A low moaning, soughing wind now springing up sweeps round the
- temple and rustles in the upper branches of the trees.</p>
-
- <p>The temple is now lovely in the extreme. The shadows on the walls are
- now in quick movement. Fireflies swing their tiny lamps over dark
- enclosures. The white radiance of the moonlight completely invests the
- conical tower, its intense whiteness being heightened by the large,
- thick, and dark-foliaged trees on either side. If but Time’s hour-glass
- were turned back for some long centuries’ space, what tales could not
- this tower unfold, what secrets of ancient faiths disclose!</p>
-
- <p>One passes down the ancient stairs, lately uncovered, which lead into
- the Sacred Enclosure, and finds the long, deep-sunk Parallel Passage
- wrapt in sepulchral darkness, and realises the force of the dark lore
- of ancient priestcraft and of prayers muttered at midnight. It is
- pleasant to regain the interior of the temple, where broad streams
- of moonlight flood its surface. Seated on the east wall of No. 10
- Enclosure, and immediately facing the conical tower, one has a good
- view all round the temple. Under the dark shades<span class="pagenum" id="Page_24">24</span> of walls and trees
- a hundred spectres might be lurking unseen. Amidst such surroundings
- a score of ancient scenes are pictured in one’s mind—the approaching
- priests with processional chant emerging through the north entrance
- from the Sacred Enclosure, the salutation to the emblems of the gods,
- the light of altar fire and torch reflected upon the walls and upon
- the sacred golden fillets bound round the brows of the priest, the
- incense-laden air, the subdued murmurings of the waiting crowd of
- worshippers, the invocations of the deity by priests who stand upon the
- high raised platform in front of the conical tower, the mystic rites,
- dark enchantments, and the pious orgies. The very air feels as if it
- were teeming with mystery and midnight loneliness. Here appear to rise
- “<em>the thin throng of ghosts ... with beckoning hands and noiseless feet
- flitting from shade to shade</em>.”</p>
-
- <p>The rising wind now wafts into the ancient shrine the confused
- shouting, singing, tom-tom beating, and general clamour of the natives
- dancing in the villages on the hills around. The air has become
- decidedly cooler. One is glad to have visited the temple at this hour.
- It is one of the experiences of a lifetime.</p>
-
- <h3>THE ACROPOLIS AT SUNSET</h3>
-
- <p>In the soft sunlight of a glorious late
- afternoon, when calm broods over all and a profound solitude invests
- the immense panorama of valley, mountain, and sea of jagged kopje
- ranges as beheld from the summit of the Acropolis Hill some 300 ft. at
- least above the Zimbabwe Valley, one views a scene of indescribable
- loveliness. The sharp-cut ranges of hills, deep gorges flanked by
- cliffs, great crags of rock, and the long and broad Moshagashi Valley
- with its scattered kraals and patches of native plantations are all as
- silent as sleep.</p>
-
- <p>The Acropolis itself is still. The long and labyrinthine passages give
- back no echoes. The temple courts are empty. The tall monoliths, like
- ghostly sentinels, point<span class="pagenum" id="Page_25">25</span> upwards to the sky, and the sunlight is fast
- fading on the ancient dentelle pattern at the Western Temple. These
- massive ruins, once teeming with a dense and busy population of Semitic
- colonists of prehistoric times, with their innumerable evidences of
- Phallic worship and extensive gold-smelting operations, are as quiet as
- the grave. The cry of a baboon, or scream of an eagle returning to its
- eyrie high up on the cliffs above the Eastern Temple, alone break the
- impressive silence enfolding one of the greatest archæological wonders
- of the Southern Hemisphere.</p>
-
- <p>At this height and on a hill so isolated from its neighbours, and
- just at sunset when shadows are already gathering in the deep defiles
- in the cliffs upon its summit, an inexpressible sensation of intense
- loneliness and solitude asserts itself. No other human foot will tread
- these ancient approaches to the Acropolis till the sun has risen once
- again. There is no white man round about for miles, and the natives
- will not venture near the ruins after sunset. Two hours ago the herd
- was mindful to drive the goats from the high points on the face of
- the hill down into the valley. The natives will solemnly inform the
- stranger that as night approaches the spirits of their departed
- ancestors buried in the caves of the hill awaken, that the ruins are
- then bewitched. It may be easily understood that in minds made craven
- with centuries of slavery to a succession of invaders, and haunted,
- till the last decade, with constant dread of Swazi and Matabele raids,
- the standard of Makalanga valour is low indeed, and that at nights they
- shun these scenes of ancient life is not in the least surprising.</p>
-
- <p>Ascending the hill through the sunless Rock Passage, the air is cool
- and draughty, but on emerging at the upper end one is faced by the rich
- blinding glow of the setting sun, and here the air is still warm. As
- we pass through the Western Enclosure and through the gap in the main
- west wall of the Western Temple, a view down the sheer drop of the
- hill into<span class="pagenum" id="Page_26">26</span> the valley below presents itself. The Elliptical Temple is
- just losing its last faint touches of the golden tint of sunset. The
- “Valley of Ruins” is already in shadow, and its chaos of walls looks
- now even more chaotic and bewildering than it did in the full light of
- day. Mogabe’s cattle wending their way up Makuma Kopje to the kraal for
- the night, the bleating of sheep and goats already penned, the far-away
- talk of women and girls returning from collecting firewood with their
- bundles on their heads, and the laughter of small parties of natives
- returning homewards from their plantations, all speak of departing
- day. The lofty lichened sides of Lumbo Rocks are still bright orange
- in the sunset, but the nearer side of the Bentberg has become dark and
- black in shadow, showing up the walls of the Elliptical Temple in the
- foreground with striking clearness. The long ravine of Schlichter Gorge
- is now blurred in grey distances, while the Motelekwe and Mowishawasha
- valleys have already lost the sun for some minutes. The kopjes cast the
- same backgammon-board-shaped shadows across the valleys just as they
- did three and four thousand years ago when the tired ancients watched
- the drawing-in of day.</p>
-
- <p>But turning a glance round to the Western Temple, still at this height
- bathed in golden sheen, one sees only the ancient walls and passages
- silent and deserted. This area might have been a busy spot for the
- ancient occupiers at this hour of the day, for monoliths, decorative
- mural patterns, and conical towers are now all aglow with sunset
- brightness, and here at this time of day, as the shadow of the slanting
- granite beam fades on the dentelle pattern on the platform, they might
- have read as on a dial face, in light and shade, the progress of
- the season of the year. The call to prayers and the chanting of the
- evening hymn of the devout at sunset might at this same hour very many
- centuries ago have rung round the selfsame hallowed walls which look
- down sphinx-like and blankly upon the modern visitor.</p>
-
- <p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_27">27</span></p>
-
- <p>It is easy to fashion a tale of ancient scenes in such a spot and ’mid
- such surroundings. Such a scene may have been—the parties of ancient
- worshippers approaching the temple up the Higher Parapet or by the
- sunken passage in the Platform Enclosure, or along the East Passage,
- filling the amphitheatre and watching the bringing of the sacred
- vessels possibly from the now dank and evil-smelling Platform Cave to
- some spot near the centre of the temple, perchance at the centre of the
- arc of the great curved wall, which is directed towards the setting
- sun; the disappearance of the priests through the Covered Passage and
- their reappearance on the Platform, which faces west and overlooks
- the interior of the temple, or listening to priestly orations, the
- announcement of the actual sunset to the worshippers. Possibly, too,
- the chief priest may have announced the commencement of the “Feast of
- the New Moon.”</p>
-
- <p>At this moment the “boys” in Havilah Camp are yelling and dancing most
- frantically. Something unusual must have happened to cause the sudden
- outbreak of unearthly din. Right in the dazzling glow of the sun, and
- low down in the sky, and barely discernible by the eye of white men,
- is the slender silver scimitar of the young moon. A noisy night of
- beer-drinking, dancing and singing, and tom-tom beating will follow.</p>
-
- <p>But the dank smell of decay has now usurped the place of the
- sweet-smelling incense of the ancient ritual. The monoliths still point
- upwards, but who to-day can explain their plan and purpose, or read the
- silent intimations their shadows were wont to convey?</p>
-
- <p>The associations of the ruins of the Hill Fortress lie even more with
- the ancient military occupiers than with those of priests and worship.
- Traverses, buttresses, screen walls, intricate entrances, narrow and
- sunken passages, rampart walls, banquettes, parapets, and all other
- devices of a people conversant with military engineering and defence,
- are in<span class="pagenum" id="Page_28">28</span> great evidence all over the hill. These in their ingenuity,
- massive character, and persistent repetition at every point of vantage,
- baffle and astonish the best experts of modern military engineering
- science. The ancients were military strategists, and the Acropolis a
- stronghold, and its most prominent feature was defence.</p>
-
- <p>At this sunset hour no companies of ancient soldiery descend from
- the fort (East Ruins), at the foot of the Ancient Ascent, to relieve
- guard and take up their night watches on the wall barriers. In the
- now dim and scanty twilight one can wander at will through the two
- hill temples, the residential quarters, and into the caves which once
- might have held the gold stores of this part of the country. There is
- no officer on duty to challenge one’s approach. The sentry recesses
- in the narrow passages and at the entrances appear singularly empty.
- Fate finally came to relieve guard many centuries past, eventually
- permitting some semi-civilised Abantu people, such as the Makalanga, or
- “People of the Sun,” to desecrate the ancient temple floors with their
- copper and iron furnaces and bone and ash débris heaps. But the lively
- bustling crowds of ancients and of mediæval Makalanga, who both in
- turn, and for very long periods, densely populated Zimbabwe Hill, are
- no more.</p>
-
- <p>One passes along shoulder-wide and tortuous passages, where at every
- corner one might expect to come face to face with Rider Haggard’s She,
- and enters some enclosure whose sides are formed by the perpendicular
- flanks of cliffs and boulders, where the ancients fashioned their gold
- into beads, wire, plates, and ingots. The intricate entrance still
- guards the spot where gold crucibles, beaten gold, and gold burnishing
- tools of the ancient artificers have been found in profusion. There is
- now no sound of hammering the precious metal on the rounded dolorite
- anvils, nor reddish glow of light on the cliff sides, as when the
- furnace was uncovered for the removal of the heated crucibles. The
- prehistoric work<span class="pagenum" id="Page_29">29</span>shop is now desolate and damp, and a fitting spot for
- the loathsome, crawling creatures which inhabit its dark recesses.</p>
-
- <p>But daylight is dying fast. Glancing down through the gaps in the outer
- walls are seen specks of firelight at near and remote kraals where the
- evening meal is being prepared, and round which the advent of the new
- moon will soon be celebrated. An adjoining cave with yawning depth
- and dense blackness does not now appear particularly inviting to the
- visitor, and yet here relic-seekers unanimously declare was where the
- ancients kept large stores of gold dust. The Eastern Temple is in
- semi-darkness, but as one crosses its floor one sees the hole from
- which some fifty phalli were taken, and the exact spots from which
- soapstone birds were removed. Here was the site, as Bent conjectured,
- of the ancient altar. In this temple, it is believed, the ancients
- celebrated their daybreak ritual, for the arc of the main wall
- decorated with dentelle pattern, and on which once stood some of the
- soapstone birds, faces the rising of the sun. Passing along Central
- Passage, which is perpetually in shadow owing to huge tall boulders
- on either side, but is now in deepest blackness, crossing Cleft Rock
- Enclosure, and descending the sunken passage to the outer face of the
- great west wall of the Western Temple, one arrives where a slight
- afterglow of the sunset still lingers over the brow of Rusivanga.</p>
-
- <p>Again one enters into the deep shadow of a sunken and earth-smelling
- passage with high side walls, and so rapidly descends the north-west
- face of the hill, glad to emerge once more into the cool fresh air
- at a lower level of some 100 ft. High in the west is Venus, the
- evening star, shining brightly—Venus, or <i>Almaq</i>, “illuminating,”
- the goddess of the earlier star-worshipping Sabæans of Yemen, whose
- worship the best-qualified scientists believe was practised by the
- original builders of Zimbabwe. She complacently shines down upon her
- ruined shrines, and wonders doubtless why these natives should convert
- the sacred emblems of her worship into pipe<span class="pagenum" id="Page_30">30</span>-bowls for smoking hemp.
- The Pleiades have set, for the harvest time is almost over. Orion is
- sinking towards the western horizon as if with disgust at the land
- where mere Kafirs<a id="FNanchor_21" href="#Footnote_21" class="fnanchor">[21]</a> call him “The little pig and two dogs.”</p>
-
- <hr class="page" />
- <div class="chapter" id="CHAPTER_III">
- <span class="pagenum" id="Page_31">31</span>
- <h2>
- CHAPTER III<br /><br />
- <span class="small">A DAY AT HAVILAH CAMP, ZIMBABWE</span>
- </h2>
- </div>
-
- <p class="drop-cap">EARLY to bed, our Makalanga labourers are proportionately early to
- rise, and as soon as there is sufficient light to enable them to see
- they are up, stretching their limbs, waking the echoes of the valley
- with their noisy yawnings, which jar on the lilt of the dawn-anthems of
- the birds, and sit crouching round fires with their blankets over their
- shoulders.</p>
-
- <p>The sun will soon be coming up behind the blue Beroma Range, just
- over the romantically shaped rocks at Chenga’s kraal. The peaks of
- the range are already edged with the fire of the coming light. At
- last a notched portion of the sun appears over the distant mountain
- heights. Now everything is coloured crimson. The granite cliffs and
- massive boulders, the tall grass, the ruined walls, even the mules
- outspanned in the valley in front of the camp, are all crimson. The
- usually dirty-coloured grass roofs of the huts are for some minutes
- most gorgeously beautified. For the only time in the day the dentelle
- pattern on the conical tower and on the eastern face of the Eastern
- Temple, the chevron pattern on the Elliptical Temple, and the huge
- herring-bone pattern on the ancient water gate, and certain of the
- slate and granite monoliths, are fully bathed in rich sunshine. Other
- ancient decorative patterns on the walls will have the full sun shining
- upon them only at midday, while others will only be fully sun-bathed as
- the sun is setting.</p>
-
- <p>But at present everything is crimson. The wreaths of<span class="pagenum" id="Page_32">32</span> mist which lie
- over the tall grass filling the valleys, and which just before were
- blue, now connect kopje and kopje, making the Acropolis and other
- summits crimson isles rising from out a crimson sea. The only objects
- that decline to take on the prevailing tint are some old-world-looking
- trees with green, metallic leaves. Were the picture of Zimbabwe with
- this misty colouring resting over it reproduced on canvas the artist
- would at once be condemned as extravagant. But Nature has more than one
- colour on her palette. The crimson melts in a rich golden hue which
- succeeds it. The cliffs, grass hut-roofs, and mist-wreaths become
- golden. The mules are transformed to gold, and the battered old wagon
- looks for once quite respectable with its golden buck-sail. But the
- gold in its turn also fades, the mist-veils lift and melt away, and
- the land once more regains its wonted tawny, sun-bathed appearance so
- suggestive of lions.</p>
-
- <p>Day has not yet had a fair chance to become commonplace, but in
- Havilah Camp life is beginning to stir. Three naked boys have gone to
- the spring for water, others collect wood, clean the pots, and draw
- <i>rapoka</i> meal and salt from the stores, while a tall pillar of bright
- blue smoke ascends in the still air from the boys’ fire. From our
- height can be seen a score of native villages, each with its column of
- blue smoke.</p>
-
- <p>Two or three sit by the <i>Isafuba</i> game-holes, and of course
- disputations at once ensue. Others settle down to work of their own,
- such as grass-hat making, carving sticks with chevron patterns, drying
- tobacco leaves, crushing snuff, dressing skins, or performing the
- duties of barbers. The boys are most industrious when engaged upon
- their own work. Others are off to inspect their bird and game traps, of
- which they seem to have at least a hundred within a short distance from
- the camp, while the rest sit and watch whatever happens to be going on.</p>
-
- <p>Down the side of Makuma Kopje, where Mogabe’s kraal<span class="pagenum" id="Page_33">33</span> is situated, come
- young men in twos and threes, some of them with musical instruments,
- such as Makalanga pianos, a flute, and a one-stringed harp with gourd
- attached to increase the sound, and of course all are singing. These
- on descending Makuma disappear in the ten-foot grass which fills the
- valley till they are near the camp. Other young men come from Chenga’s
- kraal in the opposite direction two miles away. These latter are the
- boys to work. Our best workmen come from Chenga’s, for Mogabe’s men
- have not been improved by tips and favours from visitors to the ruins;
- besides, belonging to the kraal of the paramount and dynastic chief,
- they deem themselves to be somewhat superior to all direction or
- reprimand by white men. Though Mogabe’s people know “how to be happy
- though Makalanga,” Chenga’s people seem to be even more genuinely
- contented with their environment.</p>
-
- <p>By 7 a.m. the camp is in full life, and all the boys are present with
- at least a dozen brothers and followers. The trap-owners have returned
- with rats, small birds, and possibly a rock-rabbit. A boy is given a
- note to take to Victoria, seventeen miles distant. He places the letter
- and his pass in a cleft stick, holds it out in front of him, and is
- off. He will be back in camp an hour after sundown, perhaps bringing a
- load of 35 lbs. on his head. A thirty-four miles’ journey is preferred
- to a day’s work in the temple, so that there are always willing runners
- into Victoria. There are eggs, poultry, milk, honey, melons, pumpkins,
- rice, and sweet potatoes for sale or barter for salt, and these can
- always be obtained for half the original price asked for them.</p>
-
- <p>Then there are burns to be dressed, quinine to be administered, or
- a lung-sick boy to be dosed. The “Parade State of the Malingering
- Brigade” is carefully kept down to the lowest possible limit. One is
- amazed at the way the boys bear their injuries. A severe wound which
- would put an ordinary European on the sick list is to them a mere
- trifle,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_34">34</span> and without flinching they will take a burning stick from
- the fire and rub it up and down inside a gaping flesh wound till the
- bleeding has ceased. Should any one of them meet with serious injury,
- the rest will laugh immensely as if it were a huge joke. In this
- respect they are very callous. Toothache, a cold, or a slight touch
- of fever renders them most pitiable objects. The soles of their feet
- resemble hides, and one or two large thorns which would completely lame
- a European is a matter almost too insignificant for them to notice.
- They think nothing of standing on hot burning embers while lighting
- their pipes at a fire. On cold nights they sleep near a fire and will
- roll into it, but they are such remarkably sound sleepers that it is
- not until the next morning they discover they have been burnt. How
- they manage to save their skins from thorn scratches is a mystery, for
- all day they are walking with naked bodies through bushes and thorn
- creepers. Yet their skins are beautifully smooth and glossy, and are
- always without the slightest scratch.</p>
-
- <p>But the pots of <i>rapoka</i> meal under the euphorbia trees are now being
- stirred, and each pot has its circle of men to whom dyspepsia appears
- to be utterly unknown. Sometimes the boys bring a sack of dried
- locusts. Locusts are esteemed as a dainty, and make an occasional
- change in the menu, or possibly small red beans, or monkey-nuts, or
- toasted mealie cobs are feasted upon. While the meal is being devoured
- one could hardly imagine there was a native within a mile. The
- stillness of skoff-times (meal-times) in camp serves the purposes of a
- well-regulated chronometer. Teeth-cleaning is their first business of
- the day. On rising from sleep and after each meal this is religiously
- performed. Each takes a mouthful of water and rubs his teeth vigorously
- with a forefinger, using what water is still remaining in his mouth
- to wet the skin of face, neck, breast, and hands, squirting it out
- in doles as required. To hurry them back to work before their<span class="pagenum" id="Page_35">35</span> teeth
- had been cleaned would cause them to regard the <i>Baba</i> with looks of
- genuine horror.</p>
-
- <p>At 7 a.m. the ganger, a man who has worked in the ruins for Bent,
- Willoughby, and Schlichter, comes to the hut door to report that the
- men are now ready to start work. Then follows the roll-call, each
- raising his hand and passing on one side to a separate group as his
- name is read out. A boy absent for two days on account of alleged
- sickness is reported to have gone to a distant kraal to attend a “beer
- dance” where he danced the whole night through. A fine is entered
- against him. Makalanga split on one another in a fashion which English
- schoolboys would never permit. Our fines are rarely enforced, but the
- mere entering them in the book has a most wholesome effect.</p>
-
- <p>One feature in the roll-call generally strikes visitors as interesting,
- that is, the rhythmic sound of the names of the boys. To an Englishman
- these names would appear to be more suitable for girls than for men.
- In fact, all the names of the men are pretty, so pretty that it
- seems inappropriate to apply them to great fellows like some of our
- labourers. But like their ideally graceful and poetic gestures, while
- pronouncing each other’s names they unconsciously manage to throw into
- the pronunciation a delicate softness, rhythm of intonation, and charm
- of expression that are rather fascinating to the European listener. An
- Englishman totally unacquainted with the local language, and wrongly
- pronouncing the names, could not rob them of their poetry.</p>
-
- <p>The roll completed, all set off in Indian file either to the Elliptical
- Temple or the Acropolis, singing in chorus in a Tyrolese style, one man
- giving the recitative, which is almost always of a purely extempore
- and local character. When once within the ruins, blankets are thrown
- off and the forty boys make, with a background of light-coloured,
- lichen-draped walls, a dark mass of humanity, for, save their
- insignificant aprons fastened with a bark string to their waists,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_36">36</span>
- and their necklaces of blue beads and amulets, and brass bangles on
- arm and leg, they are practically naked, and the sun shines on their
- glossy chocolate-tinted skins as on burnished metal. The Makalanga have
- exceedingly strong social instincts, and prefer to work together in one
- mass even in a small area. To separate them into small gangs would mean
- little or no work done.</p>
-
- <p>On wet days, or for a few succeeding days, the work is confined to
- carrying out blocks, which have either fallen from the walls or been
- piled up by the long succession of archæologists and gold relic
- collectors who have worked within the ruins. These are carried held
- up high over their shoulders at arms’ length, or else on the tops of
- their heads, where natives carry anything from the size of a pill-box
- to a 40 lb. load. They never carry anything with arms downwards. In
- fine weather, leaf mould full of roots and seeds, and past excavators’
- soil-heaps are removed outside in boxes, the narrow entrances
- precluding the general use of wheelbarrows. Relics would be lost in the
- wet and clayey soil were it removed in wet weather. All the boys work
- <i>en masse</i>, each picks up his box or block, and when all are loaded up
- they start in one unbroken line for the débris heap outside, singing
- choruses with recitatives all the way out and on their return. The
- boxes are carried on one shoulder, a knobkerrie being used as a lever
- over the other shoulder to hold up the back of the box. The procession
- of boxes seems interminable—“Milkmaid,” “Armour Beef,” “Lime Juice
- Cordial,” “Highland Whisky,” “Raisins,” “Coleman’s,” “Mazawattee,”
- supplemented by buckets, but above all by “Nectar Tea.” Each box has a
- branded notice uncomplimentary to ships’ boilers. But “Nectar” is the
- great triumph of Zimbabwe.</p>
-
- <p>It is a huge box, carried on two short poles, with “Nectar Tea”
- emblazoned on its sides in blue and white. It courtsies and bobs
- its way to and fro in a most stately fashion, and after it has left
- the pile which is being removed, <span class="pagenum" id="Page_37">37</span>a great reduction in the débris
- remaining can be noticed. The boys have no particular affection for
- this omnibus. They are believed to <i>bulala</i> (knock about) this box on
- purpose to ruin it, for several times a day they will bring it with no
- sorrow on their faces with the information that the box is <i>meningi
- gura</i> (plenty sick), each time fatally <i>gura</i>, but a few nails cure it
- of its injuries. Long may “Nectar Tea,” in the interests of archæology,
- continue to courtesy and bob its way through the western portal of the
- Elliptical Temple.</p>
-
- <div class="figcenter" id="i_036a">
- <img src="images/i_036a.jpg" width="435" height="550" alt="" />
- <div class="caption">CARRYING OUT DÉBRIS FROM ELLIPTICAL TEMPLE, ZIMBABWE</div>
- </div>
-
- <div class="figcenter" id="i_036b">
- <img src="images/i_036b.jpg" width="439" height="550" alt="" />
- <div class="caption">A NOONTIDE SHELTER. WEST ENTRANCE TO ELLIPTICAL TEMPLE</div>
- </div>
-
- <p>The boys when working well will in a day do about as much work as a
- quarter of the same number of English labourers. They are inclined to
- be industrious when the <i>Baba</i> is in sight, but they immediately drop
- down on their haunches with knees up the moment his back is turned.
- This is a moral certainty. Then singing ceases, for when working they
- are always singing. Any excuse for a passing diversion is immediately
- seized upon. On the shout of <i>inyoga</i> (snake) they drop their tools at
- once, seize their knobkerries and jump into the jungle heedless for the
- time being of thorns and creepers. In respect of snakes they are not
- cowards. Inside the bush a perfect pandemonium is going on which never
- ceases till either the snake, generally a python or a black mamba, has
- been slain or has escaped into some pile of ancient blocks.</p>
-
- <p>Another day, after a brief absence from the temple, I found about forty
- women and girls from Mogabe’s kraal had arrived in the temple to watch
- their sons, brothers, and sweethearts at work. This they frequently do.
- The boys on this occasion, believing <i>Baba</i> to be further off than he
- really was, were chasing the dusky Cleopatras up and down the parallel
- passages, in and out of the enclosures, and dodging them round the
- base of the Sacred Cone. One burly Junoesque, bead-and-bangle-bedecked
- mother was having a most delirious and frantic ride round the temple
- courts in our only wheelbarrow, which is an iron one. As the barrow<span class="pagenum" id="Page_38">38</span>
- bumped along at full tilt against the stones it would each time
- shake her up terribly. The shrieking, screaming, and laughter of the
- girls and the yelling of the boys made the temple ring with a noise
- sufficient to make the priests of the ancient Phallic cult whirl in
- their graves with horror. But—<i>Baba!</i> and in thirty seconds the boys
- were all hard at work with most pious looks on their faces, and singing
- a well-known mission hymn. These great, fine-grown, frank-looking
- fellows, with their enviable ivories and provokingly pleasant smiles,
- are far worse than little children to manage. Their characters are
- perfectly riddled with frivolity, and their minds astonishingly
- mercurial. Every incident they notice is to them humorous, even the
- preservation work at the ruins is regarded by them as a sheer waste
- of time. Not one of them if he tried hard could keep silence for two
- minutes together. He must either talk, laugh, sing, whistle, or perform
- some absurd antic. Their utter guilelessness and naïve simplicity are
- in many respects both surprising and entertaining. To blame them before
- their fellows kills what little spirit they possess for work, while
- praise, even though barely merited, will cause them to redouble their
- efforts. To be in the slightest degree friendly or familiar with them
- is to completely destroy one’s influence over them; the granting them
- any favour is regarded by them as an undoubted sign of the donor’s
- weakness, and of the virtue of gratitude they are absolutely destitute.</p>
-
- <p>One wonders at the dual character which each possesses. In some
- respects a Makalanga is more moral than many a European, while in
- others the depth of his immorality cannot be plumbed. In some matters
- they are as pure-minded as Adam and Eve in the Garden, and know not
- that they are naked. In their hands their women’s virtue is safe. But
- contact with the “educated native,” especially a Cape Kafir, before
- their minds are prepared to receive even the most elementary education,
- works on them untold mischief.</p>
-
- <p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_39">39</span></p>
-
- <p>But the boys may be divided into two classes, one industrious and
- honest, the other lazy and thieving. These diverse characteristics
- appear to run in separate families. M’Komo stole Mrs. Theodore Bent’s
- honey. Three of his nephews in my employ stole meat, sugar, tobacco,
- or anything else in the <i>kya</i> (hut) they took a fancy to. Another
- nephew proved to be a veritable Iago in a <i>moocha</i> (a small leathern
- apron worn by men), and was always making mischief, not only among the
- boys, but also between the boys and the <i>Baba</i>. Of course these members
- of this family, notwithstanding its exalted connections, were warned
- off the camp, and are not allowed to be seen visiting it. Brothers of
- unsatisfactory boys are never taken on the works, but should there be
- any vacancy at the end of a month, and the supply of labour is greater
- than our demand, the places are offered to the brothers of trustworthy
- boys, and these always prove a great success.</p>
-
- <p>But to return to the Temple. About eleven o’clock the <i>kya</i> boy arrives
- with half a dozen wee picaninnies carrying kettle, tea-pot, etc. The
- <i>kya</i> boy comes in for an amount of chaff from the gang. They call
- him a “Moccaranga shentilman,” because, for two hours in the morning
- and for the same time in the afternoon, he can <i>lala</i> (rest), seeing
- that he starts work at 5.30 a.m. and is not free till about 8 p.m.
- Further, he has perquisites in the shape of meat, tobacco, and tips
- from visitors, and also in a diluted form acts as a sort of <i>baas</i>
- (master). But the <i>kya</i> boy takes all the chaff in good part, and gives
- back quite as much as he receives. The picaninnies, armed with bows and
- arrows, indulge in target practice, and make it ruinous to stick up
- lunch biscuits at forty paces.</p>
-
- <p>Probably Mogabe with his headmen will arrive to watch the boys working,
- and then I know what to expect. It is bound to come. After a long
- silence he remarks that he is glad to see the <i>Baba</i>. Another long
- silence, and then—“A<span class="pagenum" id="Page_40">40</span> <i>Baba</i> always gives presents to his children.” I
- assume a complete indifference to his remark. Mogabe is diplomatic, but
- his diplomacy is very thin. After a long pause he observes—“The <i>Baba</i>
- will make me a present of money.” I inform him I have none to give.
- Another long pause ensues, then, pointing to a hatchet, he remarks—“The
- <i>Baba</i> will give me this.” I explain that the hatchet is the property
- of the Chartered Company, and not mine to bestow. He fails to see the
- point of my statement, and bluntly says so. He pauses to consider what
- else he can ask for, and after a long cogitation says “Salt, <i>Baba</i>.”
- At last Mogabe is reasonable, and I instruct the <i>kya</i> boy to fetch him
- half a cup of salt. Mogabe is profuse in his thanks, and his speech is
- floreated with eulogies of the <i>Baba</i>.</p>
-
- <p>Now my turn begins. Mogabe and the elders of his headmen have a sixty
- years’ knowledge of the ruins, and he is acquainted with everything
- that took place at Zimbabwe during the time of Chipfuno his brother,
- who was the previous Zimbabwe chief. Pointing to a gap in an obviously
- ancient wall which had been rudely filled in with blocks, I ask him
- who filled up the gap. After a long consultation with his headmen, he
- says that the Makalanga did it to keep in the cattle, for this part of
- the temple was used as a cattle kraal, and that was when Chipfuno was
- a young man. Another gap was filled up when Chipfuno was a young man.
- I then hand him over some pieces of pottery with geometrical patterns
- not at all crudely executed, which we have just unearthed, and ask
- him if the Makalanga made them. For ten minutes he and his headmen
- are closely examining the pottery, noting the quality of the clay,
- the correctness of the pattern, and the glaze on both sides. Yes, the
- Makalanga made it, but not the Makalanga who are now alive, nor their
- fathers’ fathers. The pottery was of Makalanga make, but <i>meningi dara</i>
- (very old). The assertion he emphasises by gesture, manifestly meaning
- a great age.<span class="pagenum" id="Page_41">41</span> Mogabe thus confirms the expert opinion of antiquarians
- that this class of pottery was made by the mediæval Makalanga. Mogabe
- comes to see us at every place we work at, and his opinion on “finds”
- belonging to recent generations of Makalanga may be taken, so old hands
- affirm, as perfectly reliable. The information so obtained is valuable
- both as to later walls and to articles found.</p>
-
- <p>Sometimes the chiefs Baranazimba or Chenga arrive at the ruins, and an
- <i>indaba</i> (conference) as to “finds” and built-up entrances always takes
- place, but the weekly <i>indaba</i> with Mogabe always commences with the
- same old rigmarole. It is a sheer waste of time to discuss anything
- ancient with them, for since the new jail at Victoria has been built
- they all solemnly declare that the <i>marungu</i><a id="FNanchor_22" href="#Footnote_22" class="fnanchor">[22]</a> (white men) built
- the ruins for a “Tronk!” All their old poetic explanations as to the
- presence of the ruins, such as they were built “when stones were soft”
- or “when days were dark,” have now gone to the winds. The ruins were
- prisons!</p>
-
- <p>But the <i>kya</i> boy has arrived with the salt, and Mogabe is happy. He
- wraps the salt up in the corner of his blanket, and is off to his kraal
- at once. When any <i>marungu</i> arrives in a Cape-cart at the camp Mogabe
- is down the side of his kopje a few minutes afterwards, and arrives
- there also. It is the same old story, only then the visitor is given
- <em>his</em> opportunity of demonstrating his liberality. “I am glad to see
- the <i>Baba</i>. A <i>Baba</i> always gives presents to his children.” Mogabe,
- like his fellows all over South Africa, is a born beggar, and yet he
- possesses seventy head of cattle, is rich in wives, grain, and labour,
- rules over a large area of country, receives a monthly allowance
- from the Government as chief, and a further allowance for warning
- unauthorised prospectors for ancient relics from the ruins.</p>
-
- <p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_42">42</span></p>
-
- <p>Mogabe’s day has gone. Still, notwithstanding his true Kafir fawning
- nature, there is something about the aged chief one cannot help
- respecting. He is intelligent, and he looks it, and his face, if
- white, would be taken for that of an educated European, for, like most
- Makalanga, he has little or nothing negroid in his features. Before
- the advent of the Chartered Company he was constantly at war with
- his neighbours, sacking villages, kidnapping women and children, and
- generally murdering. His last fight was in November, 1892, when he
- engaged the Amangwa people, the battle taking place just outside the
- western wall of the Elliptical Temple. His own people seem to somewhat
- neglect him, except in some tribal arrangements and in affairs in which
- he represents the Native Department. Formerly it was the rule that he
- ate first and his people afterwards; now he comes into our camp at
- skoff-times and asks the boys for some of their <i>rapoko</i>, porridge,
- and if they should happen to be mindful of his presence they will pass
- him a handful, but sometimes he sits there unheeded. He has now sold,
- perhaps for a mere song, the famous necklace of Venetian beads which
- Bent failed to induce him to part with. But there is a look in his eyes
- that gives one the impression that the old man does not at all relish
- the benefits of civilisation, and that he is pining for a return of the
- good old days of blood-shedding.<a id="FNanchor_23" href="#Footnote_23" class="fnanchor">[23]</a> Mogabe’s biography would be worth
- writing.</p>
-
- <p>But Mogabe is in my good books, for he gave me permission to move some
- Makalanga graves made in certain of the passages on the Acropolis. Bent
- merely told Chipfuno that he was going to move the selfsame graves,
- and he at once withdrew all the labourers, and this not only caused
- Bent considerable difficulty, but he was not afterwards allowed to
- open the passages. Twelve years later Mogabe gives his consent on the
- understanding that he is given half <span class="pagenum" id="Page_43">43</span>a cup of salt, that the remains
- were to be properly re-interred, and that the boys who did the work
- should be allowed to go to their kraals to purify themselves. This
- purification is no mere excuse, but is an actual cleansing of those
- engaged in this particular undertaking. The boys informed me that until
- they had washed they could not eat, and that their fellows would keep
- away from them. The bones were not touched by hand, but were moved with
- two sticks. Once I picked up a solid copper bangle, which must have
- come, judging by the presence of scattered human bones, from some grave
- disturbed years previously by some excavator for relics. The boys were
- genuinely horrified when I touched it, but more so when I put it on my
- wrist. They said I must take it off at once and wash myself, and this
- horror at what I had done possessed them for several days and was a
- constant theme of conversation.</p>
-
- <p><i>Tjiya!</i> (cease work!) is sounded, and the boys take up the cry, and
- spring like chased buck helter-skelter through the western entrance
- into the hot, sultry atmosphere, singing, laughing, yelling, and
- caterwauling, just like boys let out of school. The relentlessly
- broiling heat and glare of noontide make one long for the beautifully
- cool shade of the huts.</p>
-
- <p>Arrived at the camp, some of the boys lie at full length on the hot
- boulders and so take sun-baths, others resume their own carving
- or other work, some make music, or play with dollasses, or fence,
- while the majority gather round the various sets of game-holes and
- play <i>isafuba</i>, but there is a camp rule, found by experience to be
- necessary, that <i>isafuba</i> cannot be played until the cooks state that
- the pots have commenced to boil. So fascinating is this game that
- formerly we found the cooking operations often became neglected.</p>
-
- <p><i>Isafuba</i> is one of a group of games, the origin of which is explained
- on pages 79, 80 of <cite>The Ancient Ruins of Rhodesia</cite>. In our camp are
- several sets of game-holes; one set has<span class="pagenum" id="Page_44">44</span> four rows of sixteen holes
- each, and another two rows of twelve holes. This last is generally
- patronised by the picaninnies. Some of the <i>isafuba</i> games have
- different moves, numbers of holes and counters, and the games vary
- slightly in different districts.</p>
-
- <p>From two to five players sit on each side. Each of the partners on
- either side appears to have an equal right of moving the counters. The
- two lines of holes near each set of partners is not intruded upon by
- the counters of the opponents, but opponents clutch up the counters of
- the opposite side when such counters have no counter either in the hole
- behind or in front, and this snatching up of counters is governed by
- rules which in some moves closely resemble those of chess, while double
- counters in a hole are as influential as kings in draughts.</p>
-
- <p>Some of the moves strongly remind one of “fox and geese,” each side
- moving in turn, and later in the game, when the holes are full of
- counters, each side chases the other along parallel lines of holes to
- the end of the set. This chasing is a cause of great excitement, and
- is concluded in a perfect babel of shouting, each player as he moves a
- counter in the chase calling out <i>in-da!</i> and when the final hole is
- reached, <i>ga!</i></p>
-
- <p>Always while in camp there is a perpetual shouting of <i>in-da! in-da!
- in-da!</i> followed by the triumphant shout of <i>ga!</i> The subject of heated
- discussion during the game is as to the amount of cheating the other
- side has effected, and the tumult caused by the discussion of this
- topic, especially with an extraordinarily talkative people like the
- Makalangas, can only be but partially imagined. The perpetual <i>in-da!
- in-da! in-da!—ga!</i> trespasses into one’s dreamland. After a week of
- this never-ceasing <i>in-da!</i> the sets of holes were ordered to be
- removed to a more reasonable distance from the hut door; still, one
- cannot even now escape this perpetual and monotonous din. Yet in all<span class="pagenum" id="Page_45">45</span>
- their excited disputations they have never once got beyond mere words.
- The picaninnies sometimes join in at the larger sets, but a prompter
- always assists them.</p>
-
- <p>It is the custom for the losers, and not the victors, to record the
- state of the series of games. This is done by placing large stones,
- one for each game lost, on the side where the losers sit. The losers
- invariably have to provide the stones. When all the large stones within
- arm’s reach have been used up as records and the losers have to get
- up to fetch a stone, there is general laughter in the camp, even from
- those who are not immediately watching the game. The stakes are for
- “sisspences,” or for <i>doro</i> (native beer), but both winners and losers
- share alike. Towards the end of a month, when wages are becoming due,
- the game causes increased excitement, and plenty of <i>doro</i> is brewed by
- speculative villagers to meet the probable demands of the boys.<a id="FNanchor_24" href="#Footnote_24" class="fnanchor">[24]</a></p>
-
- <p>The two most pernicious vices of the Makalanga are their inveterate
- love of <i>I’daha</i> (wild hemp) smoking, and of <i>doro</i> drinking.</p>
-
- <p>The former acts as opium, and incapacitates for work, dulls the
- intellect, destroys every atom of will-power, and tends, if persisted
- in, to shorten life. An <i>I’daha</i> smoker is readily known by the glazed
- look in his eyes, and by his miserable appearance. On our arrival here
- <i>I’daha</i> pipes were introduced into the camp, but they were very soon
- destroyed, and the smoking of <i>I’daha</i> is now an offence punishable
- by dismissal without <i>mali</i> (money). This rule has effected a great
- improvement in the general tone of the men and in their capacities for
- work. So injurious to brain and health is this vice that in some parts
- of South Africa <i>I’daha</i> smoking is prohibited under a penalty. One of
- the most distressing features of this practice is the painful fit of
- loud coughing which always follows the use of the pipe.</p>
-
- <p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_46">46</span></p>
-
- <p><i>Doro</i>, brewed from <i>rapoko</i> (a red millet), is drunk very extensively
- by the Makalanga in this district, seeing that this part of the country
- yields grain in such enormous quantities. But the natives do not regard
- <i>doro</i> as a mere beverage. At new and full moons, or at the rising or
- setting of the Pleiades, which determine the sowing and harvesting
- seasons, <i>doro</i> is provided by the native farmers in lieu of wages, and
- on these occasions it is drunk most extensively by people of all ages.
- The men delight in gulping it down in quantities with the avowed and
- deliberate intention of getting drunk as soon as possible. The state of
- stupefaction induced by <i>doro</i> is one of their most exquisite delights.
- On Saturday mornings the one topic of conversation of the gang is as to
- how much beer they will drink on <i>I’zhuba Kuru</i> (Sunday), how soon they
- will get drunk, and what they will do when they are drunk. On Mondays,
- in spite of their “large heads” and sodden appearance, discussions take
- place as to who were the most drunk. The one who lost most control of
- himself is considered a hero. In their opinion the man who was most
- intoxicated honours himself, and can afford to boast.</p>
-
- <p>Even those who are in many other respects the most hopeful young men
- equally delight in getting absolutely intoxicated. The lads from eight
- years of age imbibe <i>doro</i> most copiously, while boys of twelve get as
- drunk as their seniors. The brains of the natives are so small that the
- <i>doro</i> acts upon them speedily, and two hours’ drinking will undo all
- the benefit of two years’ contact with civilisation. Then all their
- innate savage nature reasserts itself in every violent form, and their
- swaggering insolence, inspired by <i>doro</i>, is intolerable. But the evils
- of <i>I’daha</i> smoking and <i>doro</i> drinking are not of modern origin,
- but are ingrained in their blood and bone by many past centuries of
- devotion to these practices.</p>
-
- <p>The rarefied air of these highlands conducts sound over long distances,
- and triangular conversations are constantly in progress between the
- villagers at Mogabe’s kraal, our boys <span class="pagenum" id="Page_47">47</span>at the camp, and those working
- on the Hill Ruins, though each point is at least a third of a mile
- distant from the others. These conversations are carried on without
- the slightest straining of the voice or even shouting, the secret
- apparently being the slight raising of the voice and speaking very
- distinctly and very slowly. From their vantage position on the hill
- the boys are always on the look-out for natives passing and repassing
- between the villages. While the passing natives are, as one would
- believe, outside the hearing limit a conversation with the boys has for
- some time been in progress. Our boys will give the usual salutation,
- and if this be replied to all well and good. But should it not be
- replied to, or not promptly, the boys will at once start in chorus to
- slang the passer-by and all his relatives, commencing with his mother.
- So long as the passer-by is within earshot, so long do these slanging
- matches continue. Each boy endeavours to cap each previous remark with
- something more pungent, and as he succeeds the rest cheer him. Natives
- state that the sound of their voices travels quickest and furthest in
- the early mornings.</p>
-
- <div class="figcenter" id="i_046a">
- <img src="images/i_046a.jpg" width="435" height="550" alt="" />
- <div class="caption">THE CAMP MESSENGER, ZIMBABWE</div>
- </div>
-
- <div class="figcenter" id="i_046b">
- <img src="images/i_046b.jpg" width="429" height="550" alt="" />
- <div class="caption">LABOURERS AT THE ELLIPTICAL TEMPLE, ZIMBABWE</div>
- </div>
-
- <p>The visits of <i>marungu</i> to the ruins are highly interesting occasions
- for the natives. The news of any approaching arrival is shouted down
- from Mogabe’s kraal a third of a mile away, for from Mogabe’s Kopje
- there is a four miles’ view of the road from Victoria. Long before the
- Cape-cart or horsemen can enter our valley from over the ridge between
- Rusivanga and Mogabe’s kopjes it is known where we are working, how
- many visitors are arriving, the description of vehicle, and if there
- is a lady in the party. Arrivals always attract a score or more naked
- picaninnies, who accompany the conveyance from the ridge at the foot
- of the Rusivanga down to the camp. But such visits are infrequent, and
- three weeks or a month pass without a white man arriving at Zimbabwe,
- and when, after such intervals, they do arrive, their faces look
- strange <em>because they are white</em>,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_48">48</span> while the sound of the English
- language is strikingly odd. On some rare occasions as many as three
- camps of visitors have been fixed up on the outspan. A patrol of the
- British South Africa Police calls about once a month, and the troopers
- generally introduce themselves with some such salutation as “Well,
- still alive? Not murdered yet?”</p>
-
- <p>Humorous incidents are not absent in the work of excavation in the
- ruins. For instance, after working for some hours in a trench near
- the Sacred Enclosure, and passing all soil over boards and through
- fingers in the search for relics, a common clay pipe of English make
- was found intact at a depth of over 3 ft. At another spot, after hours
- of careful but unrewarded work in a trench, at a similar depth a very
- late brand of soda-water bottle was found. Both these finds delighted
- the boys infinitely more than had they unearthed a cartload of phalli
- or other prehistoric relics of value. In some respects the boys are
- extremely practical. The question “<i>aliquid novi ex Zimbabwe?</i>” can in
- two senses be answered in the affirmative. Such modern articles found
- “at depth” afford only another proof that the soil in the interior of
- the temple, as stated elsewhere, has been turned over and over again by
- archæologists, and also by unauthorised prospectors, for ancient gold
- and other relics.</p>
-
- <p>After <i>tjiya</i>, when the day’s work is done, there is still an hour or
- so of daylight left, and this is usually occupied in wandering among
- the kopjes or along sequestered valleys, keeping an eye open for fresh
- traces of the ancients, or in examining and measuring some one of
- the minor ruins which stud the valley, or in calling at a village to
- arrange for labour, or in looking out for buck and guinea-fowl for the
- pot.</p>
-
- <p>Meanwhile the sun is setting in a gorgeous west, and the golden glow
- is already fading on the temple walls. Then come the shadows of night,
- and these settle down rapidly. By the time the hut is reached the <i>kya</i>
- boy has lit the candles, laid the table, and is ready with the skoff.
- The boys<span class="pagenum" id="Page_49">49</span> are sitting round their fire or finishing a game of <i>isafuba</i>
- in the semi-darkness. Their evening meal is being cooked. One of them
- has brought a gourd of <i>doro</i>, and another a pot of fat, in which each
- handful of porridge is dipped before being eaten.</p>
-
- <p>Sitting on the stoep of the hut at this time of the day is a perfect
- rest. The air is agreeably cooled by a light breeze, which is laden
- with the scent of verbena. The night is calm and peaceful. Large
- bats fly swallow-wise, fire flies dart in all directions, glow-worms
- shine steadily in the grass, and birds, frogs, and insects join in
- mild choruses. The call of a boy in our camp to some companion up on
- Mogabe’s Kopje is repeated half a dozen times by the precipices of
- Zimbabwe Hill, where the echoes die out in a series of sharp raps.
- The large full moon rises serenely from behind the trees on Beroma
- Range, and bathes the country in delicate soft light, imparting a
- greenish-grey tint to the mist-veils which fill the gorges, throwing
- a deeper suggestion of mystery and awe over the wide expanse of bush
- where the lion holds his court.</p>
-
- <p>The boys, having finished their meal, now indulge in post-prandial
- rhetoric, and dialectic ping-pong. The ruddy glow of the fire reddens
- the huts and shines on the naked bodies and limbs of the crowd, making
- them resemble polished ebony, while as their tall and well-proportioned
- figures with kingly walk pass and repass in the flickering lurid light
- they appear to resemble shades from across the Styx. Such a scene is
- at least Dantesque, and to many might seem weird. But the boys are
- as happy as their hearts can wish. Their joviality is irrepressible.
- Harmony from their instruments, rhythmic chants, peals of laughter,
- wild recitatives, constant talking, with perhaps a wrestling match and
- a war-dance executed in simulated form thrown in, fill up two hours,
- by the end of which they are all under their blankets, sleeping and
- snoring as only natives can.</p>
-
- <p>“Porridge,” the <i>kya</i> boy’s under-study, and eight years<span class="pagenum" id="Page_50">50</span> old, has
- brought in the hut door, which also acts as drawing-board and stoep
- table, and has gone to the kitchen-hut, where he rolls himself up in
- his tiny blanket.</p>
-
- <p>An occasional bark of a baboon or wolf, or yelp of jackal, or hoot of
- owl, is heard in addition to the usual nightjar and frog choruses. The
- sounds of the village drums, and of singing and dancing at Mogabe’s
- or Chenga’s kraal, where the full-moon feast is being celebrated, are
- wafted down to us. The night is perfectly lovely, but for Havilah Camp
- the day is past and over.</p>
-
- <p>But the moon—itself a dead world—looks down upon the ruins of a dead
- city and on the graves of a forgotten race, as it has done ever since
- the stern policeman Fate ordered these ancients to “Pass on!”</p>
-
- <hr class="page" />
- <div class="chapter" id="CHAPTER_IV">
- <span class="pagenum" id="Page_51">51</span>
- <h2>
- CHAPTER IV<br /><br />
- <span class="small">ZIMBABWE DISTRICT</span>
- </h2>
- </div>
- <div class="subheadj">Chipo-popo Falls—Frond Glen—Lumbo Rocks—“Morgenster”
- Mission—Wuwulu—Mojejèje, or Mystic Bar—Suku Dingle—Bingura’s Kraal—Motumi’s Kraal—Chipfuko
- Hill—Chipadzi’s Kraal</div>
-
- <h3>CHIPO-POPO<a id="FNanchor_25" href="#Footnote_25" class="fnanchor">[25]</a> FALLS</h3>
-
- <p class="drop-cap">THESE are about two miles and a half north-east of Zimbabwe, on the
- Motelekwe Road. The Chipo-popo, which is a perennial stream with its
- source on the south side of the Beroma Range, crosses the road and
- runs towards the Moshagashi River, which it joins four miles lower
- down. Immediately to the north of the drift (ford) the stream descends
- abruptly down granite ledges into a deep ravine, on the east side of
- which is Chipo-popo kraal. The falls are reached by leaving the road at
- thirty yards on the Zimbabwe side of the drift and going between some
- large boulders on the north side of the road. This is an interesting
- spot at any time, but especially so when rains have swollen the
- torrent. A path from Chipo-popo kraal leads to Oatlands Farm, four
- miles north-east of Zimbabwe, where Naidoo, an Indian, has an extensive
- market-garden. The walk to the falls and to Oatlands Farm is a very
- easy afternoon’s exercise.</p>
-
- <h3>FROND GLEN</h3>
-
- <p>This is a very pretty, secluded, and sheltered spot in a
- deep ravine about half a mile east of the South-East Ruins. A stream
- from the valley, which extends eastwards from the Elliptical Temple,
- passes through it in a south-easterly direction. On the banks of
- this ravine are to be found tree-ferns, palms, royal ferns (<i>osmunda
- regalis</i>), and maiden-hair ferns. The scenery and atmosphere of this
- glen <span class="pagenum" id="Page_52">52</span>are said to be somewhat similar to those of some tracts on the
- southern slopes of the Himalayas. To reach the glen one should leave
- the Motelekwe Road at three-quarters of a mile east of Havilah Camp,
- cross the small valley on the south to the South-East Ruins, and then
- go due east from the ruins, the land descending towards the glen.</p>
-
- <h3>LUMBO ROCKS</h3>
-
- <p>These strikingly picturesque cliffs, which form a
- prominent landmark for miles around, are a little over two miles
- south of the Elliptical Temple, and are approached by the native path
- leading from Zimbabwe to the Morgenster Mission. These granite crags
- rise perpendicularly for about a hundred feet from out of the summit
- of a rocky kopje, and form a rude square-sided column of precipice,
- which is divided into four portions by very narrow fissures, which run
- through it on all four sides from base to summit. Visitors should climb
- this hill and inspect the rocks. There are numerous granite boulders
- split into fantastic shapes all round this kopje. The headman, Lumbo,
- now has his kraal about a third of a mile to the west of these rocks.
- Chipadzi’s kraal lies one mile to the south-east of Lumbo Rocks, and
- half a mile nearer Zimbabwe, and on the west side of the path to the
- mission is the deserted kraal of Baranazimba, situate on a high rugged
- kopje among gigantic boulders which rendered the kraal most difficult
- of approach. This chief is a relative of Mogabe. His new kraal is on
- a kopje close to the Victoria-Zimbabwe Road about four miles from the
- ruins.</p>
-
- <h3>MORGENSTER (“MORNING STAR”) MISSION</h3>
-
- <p>One of the prettiest walks
- from Zimbabwe is to this mission station, which is barely three and
- a half miles distant in a south-south-westerly direction. The path
- passes between the <em>Elliptical Temple</em> and the <em>Bentberg</em>. About two
- miles along the path and close to the right-hand side is Baranazimba’s
- old kraal perched up high among the boulders of a kopje. The path
- then crosses<span class="pagenum" id="Page_53">53</span> a nek between Baranazimba’s and the <em>Lumbo Rocks</em>, and
- descends into a narrow valley and up a high ridge, on which, cutting
- the sky-line, is a tall and prominent <em>Finger Rock</em>, which is only a
- few hundred yards from the mission, which lies just over the ridge.
- Morgenster is on a much higher elevation than the Zimbabwe Valley. The
- walk is highly interesting to anyone fond of romantic scenery. Rugged
- kopjes, with cliff-boulders on which huge granite masses are most
- delicately poised, lie along the right-hand side of the path for a
- great part of the distance to Morgenster.</p>
-
- <p>The mission was founded in 1891 by the Rev. A. A. Louw, of the Dutch
- Reformed Church, Dr. John Helm, the medical missionary, joining the
- station in 1894. Several other European missionaries are attached to
- the staff, and there are numerous outlying stations.</p>
-
- <p>The mission settlement is ideally situated on the south face of a
- high ridge overlooking the Mowishawasha Valley on the south and the
- N’Djena Valley and Motelekwe River on the south-east. Its position is
- marked by clumps of tall blue gum-trees. The buildings comprise the
- residence of Mr. Louw, the houses of Dr. Helm and other missionaries,
- and a school-house. Morgenster is celebrated for its banana plantation,
- the number of its lemon trees, and its large irrigated gardens. The
- Mahobohobo trees are very numerous in the vicinity of the station.</p>
-
- <p>The district in which the mission is situated is known to the natives
- as Amangwa, this being in former times the country of the once powerful
- tribe of Amangwa, who were driven away from the Zimbabwe district by
- the present local Makalanga on their arrival almost seventy years ago
- from the Sabi district. A kopje within a third of a mile on the east
- side of the mission was, until very recently, occupied by a local tribe
- of Makalanga, who built up rampart walls of unhewn stones to fortify
- the kopje against the attacks of the Matabele about 1893.</p>
-
- <p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_54">54</span></p>
-
- <p>Morgenster is also celebrated for the immense panoramic view of the
- Motelekwe Valley, extending for at least forty miles, where the
- tumbling sea of rugged kopje summits fades into the blue distance.
- The view is so extensive, impressive, and grand that one can never
- tire beholding it. As far as the eye can reach the land can be seen
- descending towards the south. The nearest point of the Motelekwe River
- to the mission is four miles. There are a great many villages in the
- valley.</p>
-
- <p>A peculiar interest attaches to this view of the Motelekwe Valley,
- for along it appears to have been the main route of the ancient
- gold-seekers from the coast to Zimbabwe, and so into the interior
- of the country. Along the Motelekwe is a chain of ruins (see
- <cite>Ancient Ruins of Rhodesia</cite>), of which the Mapaku Ruins, eight miles
- east-south-east of Zimbabwe, are the nearest. Some of these ruins
- are of major importance, and two at least are decorated with the
- chevron pattern, and occupy areas almost as large as the main ruins
- at Zimbabwe. This line of forts, or “blockhouses,” is extended along
- the Sabi River for a considerable distance into Portuguese territory.
- In viewing this valley from Morgenster, the thought that within sight
- lies one of the ancient roads to the coast, and that along it passed
- the gold- and ivory-laden caravans, makes the contemplation of the
- Motelekwe Valley one of absorbing interest.</p>
-
- <p>The sharp-cut kopje with steep glacis sides, about a mile and a half
- south of the mission, is Rugutsi. This divides the scenery of the
- Motelekwe from that of the Mowishawasha Valley on the south. This also
- is a fine view, but not so extensive as that of the Motelekwe Valley.
- An absolutely bare, granite, balloon-shaped kopje lies to the west.</p>
-
- <p>Two miles due south of the mission, in the Mowishawasha Valley, is a
- natural stronghold known as Wuwuli.</p>
-
- <h3>WUWULI</h3>
-
- <p>This village, which is two miles south of Mor<span class="pagenum" id="Page_55">55</span>genster, is
- situated in a deep and narrow ravine immediately west of the Rugutsi
- Kopje, which forms such a prominent feature in the landscape of the
- Mowishawasha Valley, as seen from the mission. Formerly this place was
- of considerable importance to the local Makalanga, for during the times
- of the Matabele raids the natives between this place and Zimbabwe took
- refuge in the very extensive caves which run under the north side of
- the ravine. A strong perennial stream flows through the caves. Here, in
- time of danger, women, cattle, and grain were hidden. When Mr. and Mrs.
- Bent visited this village, in 1891, the natives were opposed to their
- inspecting the caves, and they were only permitted to go a certain
- distance inside. Now that raidings have ceased the caves are deserted,
- save for bats, and we were permitted to view the caves without any
- demur on the part of the villagers.</p>
-
- <p>The present chief is Bungu, a brother of the present dynastic chief
- Mogabe by another mother. The former Mogabe, Chipfuno, resided at this
- kraal as well as at Zimbabwe, and it was here he was shot in 1892.</p>
-
- <p>When visiting this village we saw a man undergoing a cure by
- blood-letting. Incisions were made in the flesh of the leg, and horns
- of yearling cattle placed over them. The air was then sucked out of the
- horns through small holes in the top, and the holes were then stopped
- with wax. The horns clung to the flesh, owing to the vacuum which drew
- the blood. Bungu’s attention was drawn to an old iron-smelting furnace,
- on which was the usual female breast and furrow pattern. He said the
- natives did not smelt iron now because they could buy their garden hoes
- from the white men, and they were therefore saved the trouble of making
- them.</p>
-
- <h3>MOJEJÈJE, OR “MYSTIC BAR”</h3>
-
- <p>There are two of these mystic bars at
- Zimbabwe, one being on the Motelekwe Road, a quarter of a mile east
- from Havilah camp and opposite<span class="pagenum" id="Page_56">56</span> Middle Kopje (<em>Chamananga</em>), and the
- other about a mile from Zimbabwe, on the path to Bingura’s. The one
- on the Motelekwe Road is formed by a bar of aphite crossing a granite
- glacis, over which the road passes, but the one on Bingura’s Path is
- an arbitrary line drawn across a piece of granite, over which the path
- crosses. Each bar is at right angles to the path. At either end of
- each bar is a pile of stones, which show evident signs of having been
- hammered upon the bar for generations past. A native on a long journey,
- arriving at one of these bars, will take a stone from the pile on one
- side and with it tap the whole length of the bar, and lay the stone
- on the pile on the opposite side. Natives crossing the bar in passing
- between their kraals and their plantations, or going a short distance
- only, do not tap the bars. The idea in so tapping the bar is that by so
- doing the back is strengthened for the journey, and also that the man
- they are going to see may be at home, that the food will not be cooked
- till they arrive, and that their journey may be successful. There is no
- appeal to spirits or ancestors in performing this act.</p>
-
- <h3>SUKU DINGLE</h3>
-
- <p>This is situated but a few yards from the left-hand side
- of the lower path leading from Zimbabwe to Morgenster, and is about 400
- yds. north-east of <em>Lumbo Rocks</em>, about two miles from Zimbabwe. The
- dingle runs east and west, and is deeply wooded and narrow. This is
- a good spot for fern collectors. Down the dingle runs a happy little
- stream in perennial flow. The stream’s bed is formed of white clay. The
- sides of the banks have been trenched extensively for a perfectly white
- soil. This is used by the natives for whitewashing the outside of huts
- and for making the check patterns on their interior walls. It is quite
- possible that the ancients knew of this spot, and used the material in
- making their more choice pottery. The natives know of no other place in
- this district where the same <span class="pagenum" id="Page_57">57</span>material is obtainable, and they come
- from many miles’ distance to fetch it.</p>
-
- <div class="figcenter" id="i_056a">
- <img src="images/i_056a.jpg" width="449" height="550" alt="" />
- <div class="caption">THE CHIPO-POPO FALLS, NEAR ZIMBABWE</div>
- </div>
-
- <div class="figcenter" id="i_056b">
- <img src="images/i_056b.jpg" width="438" height="550" alt="" />
- <div class="caption">RAPPING THE MOJE-JE-JE, OR “MYSTIC BAR,” ZIMBABWE</div>
- </div>
-
- <h3>BINGURA’S<a id="FNanchor_26" href="#Footnote_26" class="fnanchor">[26]</a> KRAAL</h3>
-
- <p>This kraal, which is situated two and a half
- miles west-south-west of Zimbabwe, is well worth a visit, the walk
- itself being interesting and the situation of the kraal romantic.
- Possessors of cameras will find at this kraal ample opportunities of
- making “shots” at native life, as well as of taking typical views of
- the Zimbabwe scenery. The path to Bingura’s crosses the valley lying
- between Havilah Camp and Rusivanga, and then leads up through native
- plantations to the broad nek on the horizon between Rusivanga and a
- kopje just west of the western end of the Bentberg. On the nek is
- another <i>Mojejèje</i>, or “Mystic Bar,” crossing the path, where it passes
- over open granite. The ascent to the nek is for almost a mile, and the
- path from the nek dips down the western side of the ridge into a wide
- valley, and passes through the farmstead of a Basuto mission-boy named
- “James.”</p>
-
- <p>The kopje on the summit of which Bingura’s kraal is located is of
- horse-shoe shape, and the huts of the kraal are along the line of
- summit at intervals among huge boulders. The almost inaccessible
- position this kraal occupies, and its rocky surroundings, is also
- paralleled by the now deserted kraal of Baranazimba, which is on the
- summit of a very high hill protected by precipitous cliffs, and lies on
- the right-hand side of the path leading from Zimbabwe to Morgenster.
- The men from this kraal, like those of Chenga’s, have not been spoilt
- by contact with white men as are many of the men of Mogabe’s kraal.
- So far Bingura has not yet left his natural stronghold, but the
- probability is that once the neighbouring fields become poor through
- over-cultivation he may, like his neighbours, move his kraal into the
- open country.</p>
-
- <p>Starting to ascend the hill, one hears at a hundred yards’ <span class="pagenum" id="Page_58">58</span>distance
- the noise of falling water in a ravine at the north foot of the hill.
- The path ascends steeply up fissures and along narrow ledges, and over
- slippery slopes of black granite worn white with the passing of many
- feet. Bingura’s hut is about half-way up the hill, and here on a small
- flat area are about a dozen huts, and on still higher ledges on the
- north and west faces of the hill are more dwellings almost hidden,
- even when near to them, among huge boulders, also many circular clay
- granaries perched on rocks out of the reach of white ants. The large
- number of these granaries testifies to the industry of Bingura’s
- people. The tree boughs were festooned with mealie cobs drying in the
- sun. A large, flat rock was covered with locusts, and quantities of
- melons, pumpkins, and gourds were laid outside the huts. Women were
- winnowing <i>rapoka</i> corn and cleaning rice. Bingura’s youngest wife,
- a fine and very good-looking young woman, was sewing pink beads in
- chevron pattern on to her skin apron, and every man, woman, and child
- appeared to have some occupation. There were more manifest signs of
- business here than at any other kraal in the district. Here they have
- less regard for the need of apparel than any of the inhabitants round
- about. Bingura is a small man of about fifty years of age, but as agile
- as a buck, and has a quick shrewd glance. This is in every respect the
- most interesting village in this district.</p>
-
- <h3>MOTUMI’S KRAAL</h3>
-
- <p>This kraal is about one mile west of Bingura’s, and
- is situate in open country and is worth visiting. Motumi is a very
- good specimen of a Barotse headman. He is fully seventy years of age,
- but is still hale, hearty, and straight. The features of the people at
- this kraal are very fine, and most of the men and boys are well-made.
- They are a very industrious people and never seem to be idling in their
- kraal. Motumi is above the average native in intelligence and can
- give an account of what is now Matabeleland<span class="pagenum" id="Page_59">59</span> long before the Matabele
- arrived, with long lists of place-names in that country as then known.
- Matgwain, his eldest son, is exceptionally intelligent. Motumi’s people
- speak Chicaranga, and most of their characteristics and customs are
- also those of their neighbours, the Amangwa, to whom they are allied by
- long generations of marriages.</p>
-
- <h3>CHIBFUKO</h3>
-
- <p>This hill adjoins the Mowishawasha Hill, which is about
- seven miles west-south-west of Zimbabwe. <i>Washa</i> is always associated
- in the mind of the natives with power and authority. Chibfuko is never
- ascended by the natives. Either the hill itself, or something on it,
- causes them to revere or dread it. They never pass by without kneeling
- and clapping hands to it. It is said that they hear girls singing on
- its summit. The hill has a few caves highly suggestive in appearance of
- ancients and hidden relics. In this district valuable relics taken from
- the ruins have been discovered. Mr. Drew, Native Commissioner, is of
- opinion that many generations past some powerful Makalanga chief must
- have been buried on the hill and that this originated the native awe
- for the place, but the natives will not divulge the reason. To reach
- the hill Bingura’s path must be taken.</p>
-
- <h3>CHIPADZI’S KRAAL</h3>
-
- <p>This kraal is three miles south from Zimbabwe, and
- it may be visited on the same round as Suku Glen, Lumbo Rocks, and
- Morgenster. The walk is an interesting one, but there is nothing of
- note in the kraal itself, save the view of the Mapudzi Valley which
- it overlooks. The Morgenster path must be taken for 1,000 yds. south
- of the temple, where a well-defined native path branches off to the
- south-east. Later the path descends into a long, narrow valley till
- it approaches the kraal. The scenery in this valley is very fine. A
- small perennial stream, which at one point disappears under the ground
- for a quarter of a mile, flows down the valley, and on either side
- of it are palm trees<span class="pagenum" id="Page_60">60</span> and tree-ferns, each with a trunk some 3 to 8
- ft. in height, also large areas covered with the royal fern (<i>Osmunda
- regalis</i>). Mahobohobo trees are plentiful, and orchids are abundant on
- the branches of the larger trees. The kraal comprises about a score
- of huts. There is a very grand view towards the east of the Mapudzi
- Valley down which flows the Mapudzi, a stream which has its rise on
- the east side of the Elliptical Temple. The ravine is at least 200
- ft. immediately below the kraal which overlooks it. The two large and
- prominent kopjes on the south are Moroma, the nearer one, and Rugutsi.
- Morgenster is one mile west on the summit of the high land on that side.</p>
-
- <h3>MAPAKU, OR “LITTLE ZIMBABWE”</h3>
-
- <p>A walk to these ruins is one of the
- most interesting in the vicinity of the Zimbabwe. They lie south-east
- of Zimbabwe at a distance of less than eight miles, and the path runs
- through the romantic scenery of the Beroma Hills and the Motelekwe
- Valley. The best way to reach the ruins is through Chenga’s kraal, past
- Mandiara’s, which overlooks the lower country on the south side of the
- Beroma Range, and past the picturesquely situated kraal of Mapaku,
- which is at the foot of a tall cliff a quarter of a mile north-west
- of the ruins. The ruins are not extensive (see description of Mapaku
- Ruins, chapter xxi.), but are well worth inspection. To return to
- Zimbabwe the path may be taken to some large pools in the Motelekwe
- River, and from there through Gobele’s kraal near to, and on to,
- Chipadzi’s kraal, which is about three miles from Zimbabwe. Making the
- round journey as suggested enables the visitor to see native life as it
- is lived beyond the ordinary tracks of the white man. The best time of
- day to take this walk is to start just before sunrise and arrive at the
- ruins before the heat can be felt, and so return to Zimbabwe in good
- time for lunch.</p>
-
- <h3>SCHLICHTER GORGE</h3>
-
- <p>This is the ravine a mile to the south<span class="pagenum" id="Page_61">61</span>-west of
- Zimbabwe, down which flows the Mapudzi stream southwards. The walk
- in certain parts is somewhat rough, while in the rainy season owing
- to swollen tributaries and dense jungles of tall reeds it is almost
- inaccessible. To approach it one takes the path down the valley at the
- south foot of East Ruins, and directly east of Maund Ruins, and follows
- a small stream, the banks of which are shaded by trees and covered
- with royal fern. In the dry season there is very little water flowing,
- but there are always small pools. The path crosses this stream at its
- junction with the Mapudzi, the right bank of which must be taken. Where
- the sides of the valley close in the rocky sides of the hills must
- be climbed and then descended again. Along the course of the stream,
- which is densely wooded at the gorge, and flows between large boulders
- causing numerous pretty waterfalls even in the dry season, are some
- delightfully shaded pools, round which orchids and palms, and also
- ferns of rarer species, are to be found in great quantities. Where the
- gorge opens out at its southern end on to a wide valley a steep path,
- which leads up to Chipadzi’s kraal, must be taken. From the kraal a
- fine view of the gorge is obtained.</p>
-
- <h3>CHICAGOMBONI HILL (NINI DISTRICT)</h3>
-
- <p>This is where the rediscoverer
- of the Great Zimbabwe ruins, Adam Renders, a German-American, lived
- from 1868 to 1871. Renders was known to the natives as “Sa-adama,”
- and to this day the Makalanga speak well of him, and are particularly
- anxious that all Europeans should know that everything which “Sa-adama”
- bought from them he always paid for. Mogoma, an old man of exceptional
- intelligence, is the native chief in this locality, and knew Renders
- intimately, as the latter lived in his village and made it the centre
- for his elephant-hunting expeditions, on which Mogoma often accompanied
- him. One of Renders’ hunting “boys” still lives in the neighbouring
- village of M’Tibi. Elephants in those days were very plenti<span class="pagenum" id="Page_62">62</span>ful,
- especially in the Beka and Mali districts. Renders, the natives say,
- was a tall, strong man. He first arrived in Mr. Stokes’ wagon. Mr.
- Stokes was a well-known preoccupation pioneer whose native name was
- “Setokwe.” Mogoma’s kraal has been moved from the hill to the valley on
- the south-west side. The chief states he never knew of the waterfall
- near Renders’ hut as described by Mr. Philips, and certainly owing to
- the formation of the rock it is difficult to see where there could have
- been one. In other respects the description of the spot where Renders
- lived in the Nini country (R. G. S. Journals, Dec., 1900, and Feb.,
- 1901) is accurate, save that Chicagomboni is eleven miles south-west of
- Zimbabwe. Mogoma has distinct recollections of the visits of Dr. Mauch
- and Mr. Philips to Renders about 1871, and states that Cherimbila, the
- paramount chief, also visited Renders at this spot. Both Renders and
- Dr. Mauch took Mr. Philips to see Zimbabwe, but they did not stay long
- there.</p>
-
- <p>After living in Mogoma’s village a little over two years, Renders moved
- to Chirimbila’s kraal, a few miles north of Mogoma’s, and lived there
- for three years, when he died. He was buried close to the kraal.</p>
-
- <p>The Chicagomboni Hill is at the south-western extremity of the Livouri
- Range, and on the west side has a precipitous drop of about 700 ft.
- Half-way up the face of the cliffs is a narrow ledge running across
- them, and at the northern end of the ledge, and on a raised rock
- platform, was Renders’ abode, the remains of which can still be seen.
- Mogoma’s old kraal was on this ledge. At the point where was Renders’
- hut, the cliff, at a height of 60 ft. above the ledge, protrudes
- outwards some 50 ft., thus forming a lofty and gigantic roof over the
- place were Renders lived. This is known as <i>I-Baku</i>—the cave. There are
- some narrow fissures in the face of the cliff which open out on to the
- ledge, but not one of these is worthy of the name of cave. In these
- Renders stored his trading goods and ivory.</p>
-
- <div class="figcenter" id="i_062a">
- <img src="images/i_062a.jpg" width="437" height="550" alt="" />
- <div class="caption">FINGER ROCK, “MORGENSTER,” NEAR ZIMBABWE</div>
- </div>
-
- <div class="figcenter" id="i_062b">
- <img src="images/i_062b.jpg" width="432" height="550" alt="" />
- <div class="caption">I-BAKU (THE CAVE), CHICAGOMBONI, ZIMBABWE, WHEREIN ADAM
- RENDERS, THE REDISCOVERER OF GREAT ZIMBABWE, LIVED FROM 1868 TO 1871</div>
- </div>
-
- <p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_63">63</span></p>
-
- <p>From this point is gained one of the finest and most extensive views
- in Rhodesia. It extends over M’Chibi district, the valley of the Tokwe,
- the Belingwe Hills, the Selukwe Hills, and the high ground further to
- the west and north-west. Three hundred feet directly below is Mogoma’s
- new kraal and the adjoining village of Passi. Anyone staying a few days
- at Zimbabwe should not miss visiting this spot. The path from Zimbabwe
- leads past Motumi’s and Masua’s kraals, ascending all the way. Any of
- the “boys” at Mogabe’s kraal would act as guide, but on arrival at
- the hill it would be well to send for Mogoma, or one of his headmen,
- as this would dispense with the necessity of descending some hundreds
- of feet to the valley, in addition to which the approach to the ledge
- being hidden among large rocks, it is difficult to reach it without a
- local guide.</p>
-
- <h3>A JAUNT ALONG THE ZIMBABWE AND MOTELEKWE ANCIENT ROAD</h3>
-
- <p>One often wondered along what part of the country on the south or east of
- Great Zimbabwe lay the ancient road from the coast to this old-world
- metropolitan centre. Several suggestions more or less possible have
- been made since the preoccupation days as to the ancient road. That
- the ruins at Mapaku (the caves), seven miles distant towards the
- south-east, formed one of the posting stations on such a road may be
- considered as highly probable. Visitors have generally favoured the
- conjecture that the road from Zimbabwe to Mapaku must have passed to
- the north of the Beroma Range, which, seen from Zimbabwe, from which it
- is two miles distant, forms a continuous granite rampart some 600 ft.
- high, four miles long, and about one and a half miles broad, stretching
- from north to south. This range appears to present a solid obstacle
- to any approach from Zimbabwe. A detour round its north end and along
- its eastern base as far as Mapaku would make the distance at least ten
- miles. Moreover, on this line the kopjes and valleys have recently
- been<span class="pagenum" id="Page_64">64</span> thoroughly searched for any traces of ancient occupation, and
- none have been found. This therefore shows that such suggested route,
- had it actually been the ancient road, would have been altogether
- undefended for ten miles in an awkward country where the valleys,
- gorges, kloofs, and boulders would have provided splendid vantage
- points for attacks on the gold- and ivory-laden convoys proceeding from
- Zimbabwe to the coast.</p>
-
- <p>Schlichter Gorge, running south at the east end of Zimbabwe Valley, has
- also been suggested as the ancient approach to Zimbabwe. Certainly,
- viewed from the Acropolis, this would appear to be the only natural
- road, but the position of the gorge, as can be seen when visited,
- negatives the suggestion. The gorge at its southern end is practically
- impassable. It is filled up at several points with solid sections of
- cliff which have fallen into it from the steep sides on either hand,
- and though the Mapudzi stream finds its way under these obstructions,
- the traveller must climb the almost perpendicular sides some seventy to
- a hundred feet to descend again beyond the obstructions, and further on
- repeat the climbing to pass a further barrier. In this gorge and on the
- summit of its cliffs there are no traces of walls to defend the defile,
- while an enemy could easily destroy the convoy, for the pass forms a
- veritable military trap. The distance from Zimbabwe to Mapaku in this
- direction would be at least nine miles.</p>
-
- <p>Thus these two conjectured routes may for many reasons be dismissed
- as impracticable. But there remain two other possible routes to be
- considered, and both of these pass over the Beroma Range. The first,
- the one traversed by Mr. Bent and by all visitors to Mapaku, keeps to
- the Motelekwe track past East Kopje (Mazanda) till opposite Chenga’s
- kraal, through which the path leads, and up the long trough-like valley
- on the Beroma Range, which depression is formed by the two parallel
- lines of the summits of the range. On<span class="pagenum" id="Page_65">65</span> the east line of summit are
- two depressions, and visitors are taken by the northern of these past
- Mandarali kraal, which is on the edge of the cliff facing east, then
- down the side of the range and along its base southwards to Molinije’s
- kraal at Mapaku. This line of route makes the distance a little over
- seven miles. The local natives say that this path from Zimbabwe to
- Mapaku is a very long one. On it a careful search has failed to
- discover any traces of ruins.</p>
-
- <p>A well-defined line of route protected at several strategic points
- by ruins of buildings indicates, beyond doubt, the actual road of
- the ancients. This makes the distance barely six miles, which is the
- shortest to Mapaku, and along it runs a much-frequented native track,
- used by the numerous long string of “boys” coming up, between the
- harvest and the sowing, from the districts of the Lower Motelekwe and
- the eastern stretches of the Lundi and Limpopo rivers, to seek work in
- the gold district west of Victoria. The ruins protecting this route
- form a chain of forts, which occur at intervals of about one mile and
- a quarter. On the Zimbabwe-Mapaku section of this route there are the
- remains of five substantial and well-constructed ancient buildings.
- It is along this section and a further section of the chain of ruins
- extending from Zimbabwe to Majerri that the trip here described was
- taken.</p>
-
- <p>At 3.30 a.m. the six boys to carry blankets, food, cooking utensils,
- survey and photographic apparatus, botanical case, insect bottles,
- rifle, and a few tools, were waiting ready to start for the Majerri
- Ruins in the Motelekwe district, some twenty miles south-east of Great
- Zimbabwe. The moon was almost at the full, but would set an hour before
- sunrise. This is the best time of day to start on a walking expedition,
- as one may then hope to break the back of the distance before the sun’s
- heat could be felt. Five boys took up their loads, each about 35 lbs.,
- and our guide marched on ahead with the rifle. Our little party passed
- down the Motelekwe<span class="pagenum" id="Page_66">66</span> track till the East Ruins were reached. It was
- perfectly light and a greenish-grey mistiness invested the Valley of
- Ruins, the Acropolis, and the Elliptical Temple. Walking silently we
- passed through the ruins of the dead city to the point where the old
- road to the coast leaves Zimbabwe.</p>
-
- <p>At East Ruins the track to the upper reaches of the Motelekwe, and to
- Arowi, rounds off at the foot of East Kopje towards the north-east.
- Our path took us slightly south of east. But the Beroma Range looked
- like a Titanic wall of granite cliff barring our passage in that
- direction. “Sheba’s Breasts” (<i>Sueba</i>, black; <i>marsgi</i>, a corruption of
- the word meaning bald-headed), a pair of bare and round-topped hills
- on the southern end of the summit of the range, stand clearly against
- the greenish sky, and above them the morning star is just appearing.
- <i>Sueba</i> is marked on all maps of Rhodesia as “Mount Sheba”; but the
- names “Sheba’s Breasts” and “Mount Sheba” are very modern indeed,
- dating back only to 1891. This pair of hills can very well be seen
- from the Tokwe, where the old Pioneer Road from the Lundi crosses that
- river. Evidently some member of the column familiar with Mr. Rider
- Haggard’s works, knowing that Great Zimbabwe lay just behind those
- hills, bestowed these names upon them, and so they have been known ever
- since.</p>
-
- <p>Our path led down a slight valley from East Ruins to the Mapudzi
- stream, and here the Beroma was found not to be such an obstacle to
- our progress as was at first imagined, for on its west side is a broad
- defile leading up to the ledge of land a third way between the base
- and summit of the range, and at the top of the defile, and a hundred
- yards to the left, is a well-built ruin which guards the approach up
- the defile. Chenga’s Ruin, as it is called, occupies a position well
- chosen for defensive purpose, and presents several good architectural
- and constructive features. Here the coastward-bound convoy would first
- realise they had quite left Zimbabwe behind them,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_67">67</span> and would start
- to count the fifteen to twenty days of their tedious and, no doubt,
- highly dangerous journey to the sea, which should bear them in their
- gold-laden argosies homewards, either to the port of Eudaemon (the
- present Aden), or to the <i>Moscha</i> (“harbour”) of Ophir, metropolis of
- the ancient Sabæans, or else, if later, to Ezion-Geber, the Jewish and
- Phœnician port on the Red Sea during the reign of King Solomon.</p>
-
- <p>Chenga’s Ruin is outside the Zimbabwe ruins’ area, and is the first
- posting station on the road to Sofala. In 1540 the Moslem Arab traders
- in gold and ivory informed the Portuguese that the journey from Sofala
- to Zimbabwe required from fifteen to twenty days (twelve to fifteen
- miles a day), so that the later Arabs must have travelled on foot
- taking native carriers. They too may have used as caravansaries the
- line of ancient forts that stretches from Zimbabwe towards Sofala along
- rivers whose valleys form the natural outlet to the coast for the
- populations of Southern Rhodesia, for they could thus find admirable
- protection at easy intervals for the night, or halt within the walls
- built, possibly, by their remote ancestors. So the ancients leaving
- Chenga’s Ruin might know they had at least fifteen days of tramping
- ahead of them, for no evidence of their employing oxen, horses or
- camels, or any wheeled vehicles, has come to light. The journey may
- have even been longer, owing to the delays of the slave gangs and
- carriers with their burdens of gold and ivory, and to the caution
- needed in passing through a land clearly shown by the protecting
- forts to have been hostile territory. The weary stretch of the Sabi
- Valley lay before them—Sabi, a name which students of Chicaranga and
- of other native languages state has no known derivation, and of which
- the natives emphatically affirm “It is but a name. It means nothing to
- us.” It has therefore been repeatedly conjectured that the name Sabi,
- Sabæ, or Saba has a connection with the river with which they must
- have<span class="pagenum" id="Page_68">68</span> been very well acquainted. From scriptural accounts we find that
- such duplication of names of places was a practice of the old Semitic
- peoples, as in Havilah, the local and pastoral country, and Havilah,
- the foreign and mineralised country, in a superlative sense the gold
- land, “and the gold of that land is good” (Genesis ii. 12). Instances,
- in fact, occur almost everywhere from the remotest time down to the
- founding of New South Wales, Nova Scotia, New York, and a hundred other
- well-known places.</p>
-
- <p>Chenga’s Ruin was absolutely unknown to white men, as also were the
- Beroma Ruins, until quite recently. The local natives repeatedly
- denied the existence of any ruins on the Beroma Hills, and this denial
- on their part, so authorities on Makalanga customs say, is perfectly
- natural and to be expected, for all the ruins of this chain, like so
- many others throughout the country, have been used by the Makalanga
- up to the present day as burial-places, and being well aware of the
- clearing of the Zimbabwe ruins, they feared lest these other ruins,
- too, should be explored. But since they have learnt that in the work
- at Zimbabwe the graves have been respected, they appear to be less
- nervous, and as it is known for many miles round that substantial
- rewards will be paid for information as to other and fresh ruins, they
- sometimes volunteer their information and offer themselves as guides.
- Thus some nine additional ruins have now been discovered and inspected.
- But the three ruins on the Beroma Hills which at strategic points guard
- our path were found by the author on making a systematic search of all
- the hills in the district of Zimbabwe.</p>
-
- <p>From the ledge on the west face of the Beroma Range on which Chenga’s
- Ruin is situated the ground rises gently towards a broad depression
- in the western crest of the range into a long valley, which runs from
- north to south and from end to end of the top of the hills. The path
- after passing through the farmstead of David (a native teacher) passes
- <span class="pagenum" id="Page_69">69</span>up the valley southwards for half a mile and then turns east at a
- sharp angle towards the most southerly of the two depressions on the
- eastern crest. Within a few hundred yards, on the right-hand side of
- the path where it turns east, and on a low, rocky knoll, is a second
- ruin—Beroma Ruin—which is well-built, and has a rather fine, rounded
- entrance. The southern half of this ruin is now reduced to a few
- piles of granite blocks. On the south-west side of this ruin is one
- of “Sheba’s Breasts,” Marsgi. On the south side of the path is Sueba,
- the other “Breast.” Half-way between Beroma Ruin and Sueba, and on
- the south side of the path, is a cluster of tall, pillar-like rocks,
- which look in the serene moonlight, and at a little distance, like a
- cathedral built of white stone. The natives call these rocks Rusinga.
- On the left-hand side of the path, on the ridge of the depression on
- the eastern line of summits, is a tall column of huge boulders, which,
- when seen from the south side, exactly resemble one of the soapstone
- birds on beams found by Mr. Bent at Zimbabwe.</p>
-
- <div class="figcenter" id="i_068a">
- <img src="images/i_068a.jpg" width="432" height="550" alt="" />
- <div class="caption">THE BIRD ROCK, NEAR ZIMBABWE</div>
- </div>
-
- <div class="figcenter" id="i_068b">
- <img src="images/i_068b.jpg" width="427" height="550" alt="" />
- <div class="caption">VIEW OF MOTELEKWE RIVER NEAR GOBELE’S KRAAL</div>
- </div>
-
- <p>On Sueba is another ruin which overlooks the depression, through which
- the path runs south-east down the east side of the Beroma Range towards
- the Mapaku Ruins, which form the fourth posting station from Zimbabwe.
- Climbing Sueba, one can at once see that this line of route, owing to
- the topographical structure of the range, is not only the most direct
- from Zimbabwe, but the most natural for anyone crossing the Beroma
- Range.</p>
-
- <p>Just as the path starts on the descent to the Mapaku Ruins the
- scenery to the north-east and south, as viewed by moonlight, is truly
- magnificent. Towards the north-east the sky-line is formed by the
- jagged crest of the romantic Livouri and Inyuni Hills, while the
- Moshagashi Valley is wrapped in a mantle of greenish mist, above which
- towers the lofty Arowi Peak in solitary grandeur. Here the ancients on
- their way to the coast would have their last view of Zimbabwe.</p>
-
- <p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_70">70</span></p>
-
- <p>We arrive at Mapaku kraal (<i>Baku</i>, “cave”; <i>Mapaku</i>, “caves”) just
- as the light is sufficient to make the main features of the scenery
- perfectly distinct. Here the sub-chief Molinye and his people are
- already stirring and squatting round fires in the open. The kraal is
- situated at the east base of a cluster of high cliffs, and these cliffs
- are full of caves and deep fissures used as passages. The kraal which
- formerly occupied these rocky vantage grounds is now removed to level
- ground, and built without a fence of any kind. Molinye is a younger
- brother of the Mogabe Handisibishe by the same mother, and takes the
- name of their father, the Mogabe-Molinye. He is an intelligent man and
- very active. He considers himself the custodian of the neighbouring
- ruins of Mapaku, and just as his brother at Zimbabwe says to all
- visitors, “Here is Zimbabwe. One shilling!” so Molinye’s first remark
- to visitors is, “Here are the caves. Two shillings!” or “Here are the
- ruins. Two shillings!” Molinye is very proud of the caves, for here his
- people successfully defied the Matabele and Amaswazi raids. In these
- caves the women, children, cattle and grain were safely hidden, and
- the approaches to them could well be defended by two or three men as
- against a hundred of the enemy.</p>
-
- <p>Molinye’s tall figure leads the way to the Mapaku Ruins, which since
- 1891 have been known as “Little Zimbabwe.” Here our breakfast is laid
- out in the central enclosure, and Molinye sits enviously watching
- the boys eating “bully beef.” Evidently he will not be happy till he
- receives a tin, and he is given one. Still he is not content, and urges
- the payment of a further two shillings for taking us to the ruins. He
- only knows two words of English, and these are “Two shillings,” but
- having already paid him one florin, which is more than his due, he
- fails to draw a second, and is at last content with a box of matches.
- Natives always ask for about ten or twenty times more than they expect
- to receive.</p>
-
- <p>The sun is just showing above a long black hill—In<span class="pagenum" id="Page_71">71</span>gumaruru—and as
- we have ten to twelve miles to cover before we reach Majerri’s, our
- journey is taken up afresh. There is another ruin at Mandindindi’s,
- lying on our route, but our time will not permit us to visit it on this
- trip.</p>
-
- <p>From Mapaku the path leads south to the right bank of the Motelekwe,
- about a mile and a half away and near Gobele’s kraal, which is from
- this point of view backgrounded at some distance by the steep and
- rocky Goruma Hill. Here the river is wide, and has, even in the dry
- season, large pools many acres in area. The granite rocks in the bed
- of the river are pierced with round holes a few feet deep, all of
- which have been made by the action of the water. The path then passes
- through Gobele’s kraal and down a small defile towards a drift across
- the river. This drift is only used by the people of the neighbouring
- kraals, and the paths on each side of it are very narrow, while
- the crossing is rather tortuous and slippery. From above the drift
- we continue on the path south-west to the south end of the Goruma
- shoulders at a quarter of a mile distant. We were now at least a mile
- and a half from the river, which has turned south-east through some
- dark-looking, tall kopjes, and from the higher ground we could see that
- the rivers which flow to the Motelekwe form swamps just before reaching
- it, and by keeping on the high ground these are avoided and the rivers
- are more easily crossed. In fact, by taking this path we cut off an
- eastward bend in the Motelekwe, striking it again at a wide, easy, and
- natural drift some eight miles farther on.</p>
-
- <p>About a mile from Gobele’s we come to the Meziro, a perennial stream,
- 300 yds. from which on the east side of the path is the Rumeni Ruin,
- built on the slope of a hill. This ruin occupies an area of 111 ft.
- from east to west and 63 ft. from north to south. The highest wall is
- now only about 6 ft. high. The style of building is peculiar—a large,
- well-built, rounded buttress being at the north entrance, and the walls
- show both superior and inferior workmanship, while<span class="pagenum" id="Page_72">72</span> the western side is
- formed of arcs of circles end on end. The Meziro flows south and east
- of the ruin in the valley below.</p>
-
- <p>Two hundred yards back along the path and about one hundred yards from
- it on the west side is an old Makalanga wall with portions of the
- wall of an oval enclosure. The structure is of no great age, and is
- definitely claimed by the natives as the work of some few generations
- past. Its total length is 54 ft., and the area of the enclosure is 16
- ft. at its longest parts. Some old Makalanga clay flooring has been
- used as building material at different points in the wall.</p>
-
- <p>The journey south, and later south-east, is continued, and the Meziro
- and Mazili rivers crossed, while the following kraals are passed in
- order—Chinaka’s to the left, Skarduza’s on the right, and Manamuli also
- on the right. In front is a very high kopje with almost perpendicular
- sides. This is Rushumbi, a noted landmark for many miles round. The
- path leads past the south of this hill and up another hill, where is
- Marota kraal. This hill, which has a very considerable elevation, is
- exceedingly steep on the south side, and there is an extensive view
- from the summit down the Motelekwe and Tokwe valleys. Marota was the
- largest kraal seen on this journey. Half an hour’s walk from Marota
- brought us to a natural drift on the Motelekwe, which here bends
- south-south-east. The river-bed at this point is about 200 yds. wide,
- and in the dry season is very easy to cross, from sandbank island to
- sandbank island and scrambling over large granite rocks with smooth
- glassy surfaces. There is no doubt that this is the best drift within
- a good many miles either up or down the river, and it lies, as seen in
- the distance from Mount Sueba, the eastern “Sheba’s Breast,” exactly in
- the natural and unbroken line of country up which is the easiest and
- most natural approach to Zimbabwe from the south-east, thus avoiding
- bewildering mazes of kopjes and rough country which lie on either side.
- The topography of the country clearly points out the ancient route, and
- it is<span class="pagenum" id="Page_73">73</span> along this that our present journey is made. At this drift we
- saw a boy of about nine years of age with a skin no darker than that
- of an ordinary Spaniard and with almost perfect features. Both parents
- were ascertained to be Makalanga.</p>
-
- <p>From the east bank of the drift the path ascends for a distance of
- nearly two miles between the drift and the Majerri Ruins, which at
- this distance lie half a mile to the south of the path on a line of
- kopjes to the south-west of another Mapaku (“the caves”). This Mapaku
- must not be confused with the Mapaku we had visited during the small
- hours of the day, for wherever there are caves there is a local Mapaku;
- hence there are several places of this name within a score of miles
- from Zimbabwe. The name of the headman at this Mapaku is Munda, and
- on sending to his village, one of his men will act as guide to the
- ruins, which are rather difficult to find by anyone unacquainted with
- the district. On our way from the drift we passed several very long
- game-drive fences and large game pits, and saw two herds of wild pigs
- and several large buck.</p>
-
- <p>By three o’clock in the afternoon we had reached the ruins, and a camp
- for the night was made in one of the enclosures. Soon afterwards the
- boys were busy with hatchets cutting away brush from the sides of the
- walls, so that a survey could be made and photographs taken. The ruins
- are much larger and better built than we had been led to believe. There
- are sixteen enclosures, also a passage 290 ft. long running from end
- to end of the ruins. Chevron pattern is on the west face of a very
- substantial wall of what appears to have been an important enclosure.
- We worked at the measurements till it was dark, when we partook of
- our evening meal. The full moon rose a little later and flooded the
- ancient building with light, so that further examinations could be
- made. The enclosure in which our camp for the night was formed was made
- most picturesque with the lights of moon and fire, the walls gleaming
- white with the heavy mantle of lichen which<span class="pagenum" id="Page_74">74</span> covered them. This white
- appearance of the walls is a prominent feature in all the ruins of the
- Motelekwe chain, most probably accounted for by the mists that usually
- hang over the line of the river.</p>
-
- <p>The talking and singing of the boys, the music of their Makalanga
- pianos, seemed in perfect harmony with the solemn stillness of the
- ruins and of the night. We turned in early, and at five in the morning
- we were again busy completing measurements and noting up descriptions
- of architectural features and styles of construction. At ten o’clock
- the principal parts of the ruins were photographed, and at eleven we
- set out on our return to Zimbabwe.</p>
-
- <p>The objective of our next expedition down the Motelekwe Valley will be
- another set of ruins still further south-east. There are other ruins
- beyond these again, and we hope to be able by such expeditions to
- obtain full descriptions, with photographs and plans, of all the ruins
- of the Motelekwe chain.</p>
-
- <p>Munda, the headman at Mapaku (Majerri), states that only three white
- men have ever seen these ruins, two came together and one alone, but
- that these visits were made some years ago. One of the Messrs. Posselts
- was of this number.</p>
-
- <p>On this journey we found the women were all decorated with the furrow
- pattern on their bare stomachs. The “female breast and furrow pattern”
- was on all washing-tubs, drums, granaries, and furnaces, and also on
- some doors, and further worked out in clay on the sides of the huts.
- Check pattern adorned some of the huts, but mainly the inside walls.
- Some very well-built semi-circular walls for screening open fires were
- found at some of the villages.</p>
-
- <h3>SOME OF THE DENIZENS OF THE ZIMBABWE DISTRICT</h3>
-
- <p>These are most
- numerous in the Elliptical Temple when the size of its area is
- considered, for this building abounds in bird, animal, reptile, insect,
- and plant life. Protected by high<span class="pagenum" id="Page_75">75</span> walls all round, it provides an
- area free from the disturbing effects of grass fires, sheltered from
- cold winds, and full of rank tropical vegetation and jungle. Here the
- gorgeous lapis-lazuli and turquoise blue of the jays and the brilliant
- scarlet and rich metallic green of the honey-sucker flash brightly in
- keen contrast to the white lichened walls. Yellow and grey hornbills,
- barn owls and owlets, wagtails, weaver birds, pigeons and doves, and
- little birds with yellow, white, red or blue or mottled breasts and
- wings, are constantly to be seen in the temple courts. One large barn
- owl has its usual perch on a branch near the summit of the Conical
- Tower, while “Go-away” birds are incessantly urging us to “Go away!”</p>
-
- <p>Numerous squirrels climb the walls and spring along their summits.
- Chameleons, one minute pale green, the next a mottled yellow, grey,
- and black, climb with aristocratic movements up the orchid-clad
- trunks of trees, pausing at intervals to fold their front paws in a
- comic attitude of prayerfulness. Large and small lizards of brilliant
- colourings, mainly magenta, Prussian and electric blues, and a
- startling orange, bask upon the ancient stones. Puff-adders, grass
- snakes, and mambas haunt the place, the latter climbing the highest
- trees and ascending steep, smooth sides without any apparent necessity
- for picking their way up rough surfaces. Pythons have been seen, and
- a python’s nest with about two dozen white leathery eggs, from which
- the young had been recently hatched, was found in the centre of the
- temple. On commencing work here in May, 1902, scores of cast-off
- snake skins of all sizes up to 5 ft. in length were found all about
- the temple. Scorpions which hide under the stones suggest to one the
- necessity of being careful in sitting down. Centipedes and large
- millipedes, snails with white spiral shells from 6 in. to 9 in. long,
- frogs, which on wet days persistently urge us to “Work! work!” abound,
- while after sundown crowds of large night-moths and bats flutter in<span class="pagenum" id="Page_76">76</span>
- the air. Brilliant butterflies, dragon flies, and fire flies, gigantic
- spiders, spiders which make their trap-doors of clay, hornets, bees,
- beetles, mosquitoes, and other stinging insects, and those which assume
- imitative forms. Tortoise-shells and porcupine quills were found, but
- no tortoise or porcupine. The number of skeletons of wild animals
- found in the grass was sufficient to suggest thoughts of Noah and his
- zoological cargo.</p>
-
- <p>The birds of the Zimbabwe district include quantities of blue jays,
- hornbills, honey-birds, honey-suckers, bee-eaters, several sorts of
- rollers, crested kingfishers, South African thrushes and babbling
- thrushes, shrikes, swifts, swallows, and martins, weaver birds, owls,
- corncrakes, night jars, woodpeckers, larks, wagtails, doves, pigeons,
- white storks, herons, secretary birds, bush crows, vultures, hawks,
- guinea-fowl, sand grouse, quails, and partridges, while paaw (bush
- bustard) is sometimes met with.</p>
-
- <p>Two ostriches with black and white feathers once approached within
- 100 yds. of Havilah Camp. A covey of African grey parrots fled over
- the huts going south in the springtime. One bird of the plumage and
- shape of an ordinary skylark soars high in the air, remaining in one
- position, but instead of singing it flaps its wings loudly for some
- minutes together. It is best heard just before sunrise.</p>
-
- <p>During the dry season game animals are not plentiful in this locality,
- but when the grass has started to grow after a veld fire they arrive in
- fairly good numbers. Reed buck, sable antelope, and springbok have been
- within sight of the camp.</p>
-
- <p>Lions for some years past have not been seen at Zimbabwe, though they
- are in continuous residence on the Livouri Range, some eight miles to
- the west, and also at one or two other places about the same distance
- from Zimbabwe. But with the advent of buck they are known to come
- within two or three miles of our camp. Their spoor has frequently<span class="pagenum" id="Page_77">77</span> been
- seen on the road between Zimbabwe and Victoria, and they have recently
- killed donkeys within five miles of Zimbabwe. On one occasion only
- have we heard lions roaring, and they must have been almost two miles
- away. Jackals are a nuisance, and come to the camp for poultry. Large
- leopards have been shot in the neighbourhood during the author’s stay
- at Zimbabwe.</p>
-
- <p>Natives state that within their time herds of tusker elephants have
- been wont to frequent the Zimbabwe Valley, and they point out certain
- trees which have been damaged by them. The elephants have now gone
- south-east. The traces of two ivory trading stations of the late
- sixties are still to be seen at Zimbabwe.</p>
-
- <p>Eagles soar above Zimbabwe Hill and the topmost line of cliffs. Two
- eaglets fallen from the nest were found in the Acropolis ruins, one
- each spring. One died of its injuries, and the other lived for two
- months at our camp. The boys were fond of feeding “the big chicken,”
- and it eventually died in consequence of its gluttony. Hawks abound on
- the hill, and there are also kites and owls. Large black crows with a
- white patch on the back of the neck, and with vulture-shaped beak, also
- crows with white breast and wing tips, but with a raven-shaped beak,
- are constantly flying round the hill. Here are also wild tebie cats and
- tiger cats, ant-bears, conies, squirrels, and at least five species of
- large baboons. The constant parading of the latter to and fro on the
- summit has formed a well-beaten track. These creatures bark and cry—the
- crying is exactly like that of a human being. Toward noon they usually
- descend to the valley and romp about on the open granite spaces. So
- destructive are these particular baboons that the local Makalanga have
- been obliged to abandon their gardens on the south side of the hill.
- Their spoor has been frequently found within our camp. The reptiles
- here are large pythons, mambas, iguanas, and lizards of all colours.</p>
-
- <p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_78">78</span></p>
-
- <p>The plant life found in the temple was very rich and diversified, and
- each specimen was of larger growth and bloom than those of the same
- species growing outside the walls. Here are many sorts of elegant
- ferns, but mostly small, including maiden-hair fern, also the ordinary
- bracken. Stag’s-horn moss and plants of carnose foliage grow in
- the joints of the walls. Beds of scarlet cannæ, Cape gooseberries,
- raspberries, crimson and mauve gladioli, convolvuli, large and small,
- white, purple, yellow, and mauve, verbenas, heliotrope, azaleas, also
- a flower exactly like the daffodil, and arums or St. John’s lilies,
- flags, mauve-flowered peas, a blue flower like borage, and blue and
- yellow ground orchids, covered the surface of the interior. Nettles
- and nettle trees, stinging plants, and thorns of all sorts formed
- prominent features in the vegetation of the temple. The trees within
- the walls were numerous, and included varieties of hard and soft
- woods. Some were of gigantic girth and height, rising to 60 ft. Wild
- fig-trees and evergreen hardwoods predominate. The “Zimbabwe creeper,”
- a climbing plant peculiarly local, is a great feature in all the ruins
- at Zimbabwe, and so far has not been found elsewhere in Rhodesia.
- This creeper resembles jessamine in leaf and stalk, only it has light
- pink, bell-shaped pendent flowers growing in clusters at the end of
- each spray, these being about the shape and size of a foxglove flower.
- Orchids with yellow flowers grow on the trees, from which are also
- suspended lichen festoons some 3 ft. long. The monkey-rope trees once
- interlaced the tops of the trees with their runners and created a
- semi-darkness in the temple even at brightest noontide.</p>
-
- <p>On the hill tobacco, once cultivated here by the natives, now grows
- wild. Large beds of scarlet cannæ, Cape gooseberries, hemlocks, and
- blackjacks are seen in most parts of the hill, while every flower of
- the veld is represented. Monkey-ropes, wild vines, wild orange, fig,
- nut, greengage, currant, and raspberry flourish here. The kafir-baum,
- which<span class="pagenum" id="Page_79">79</span> flowers profusely when leafless early in the spring, and abounds
- at Zimbabwe, provides a striking contrast of brilliant scarlet to the
- grey granite cliffs in front of which it flourishes. The flat-topped
- umbrella trees (<i>mimosa</i>) impart an odd effect to the hill. The
- Zimbabwe creeper grows very extensively on the north and west sides
- of the hill. Cacti, euphorbia, and liliums, also bulbous plants, are
- multifarious, while tall aloes give an old-world appearance to the hill.</p>
-
- <p>Palms with fronds 10 ft. long, tree-ferns 8 ft. high, and large
- areas of <i>Osmunda regalis</i> (royal fern) are to be seen in most of
- the glens and gorges of this locality. The blue lotus lily (<i>Nymphæa
- stellata</i>) grows in most pools of water, while the yellow everlasting
- flower (<i>Helipterum incanum</i>) is plentiful, and the bright red
- sealing-wax-coloured flower (<i>Erythrina kaffra</i>) shots the veld grass
- as daisies do an English meadow. The sugar bush (<i>Protea mellifera</i>)
- though present is not found in quantity. Bamboos grow in the
- neighbourhood, also sugar-cane, and wild cotton. The mahobohobo is not
- indigenous to the country, but is the most usual tree found here. Its
- area covers many square miles of this district. Like the wild fig, the
- mahobohobo fruit ripens in the spring only.</p>
-
- <hr class="page" />
- <div class="chapter" id="CHAPTER_V">
- <span class="pagenum" id="Page_80">80</span>
- <h2>
- CHAPTER V<br /><br />
- <span class="small">ZIMBABWE NATIVES</span>
- </h2>
- </div>
- <div class="subheadc">Natives and the Ruins—Natives (general)</div>
-
- <h3>1. NATIVES AND RUINS</h3>
-
- <p class="drop-cap">IT may easily be imagined that researches as to the origin of the ruins
- cannot be furthered by inquiries instituted among the present native
- peoples as to any history or tradition concerning these structures.
- The chief value, however, of such inquiries is that they enable us to
- realise in what conditions both the ruins and the district have existed
- during the last few centuries. But such inquiries only take us back
- to a period of two hundred years short of that time when Portuguese
- writers referred to these buildings.</p>
-
- <p>The migratory character of the South African natives is well known.
- Not only whole nations move, but the tribes among themselves move
- also, thus making it exceedingly difficult to trace their migrations
- except for a few generations back. The Portuguese historians of the
- sixteenth and seventeenth centuries referred to the Makalanga nation as
- occupying this country with their centre at “the Great Zimbabwe,” where
- resided the Monomotapa, or supreme chief, and where was “the mightie
- wall of five and twenty spans thick.” Three hundred years after this
- was written we find a dense population of Makalanga (“the People of
- the Sun”) still occupying Southern Mashonaland and forming the great
- bulk of its inhabitants.<a id="FNanchor_27" href="#Footnote_27" class="fnanchor">[27]</a> In this respect, though <span class="pagenum" id="Page_81">81</span>their various
- tribes have frequently changed localities, the Makalanga as a general
- rule have not followed the migratory custom of South African peoples.
- Makalanga are to be found in both Matabeleland and Mashonaland, but
- mainly in the latter province, where the Chicaranga language, which Dos
- Santos in 1602 described as “the best and most polished of all Kafir
- languages which I have seen in this Ethiopia,” is still the language of
- the nation. Makalanga are also to be found in Barotseland, whither the
- Barotse<a id="FNanchor_28" href="#Footnote_28" class="fnanchor">[28]</a> and their dependents the Makalanga migrated, in 1836–8, just
- previously to, and at the time of, the Matabele invasion of what is now
- known as Matabeleland.</p>
-
- <div class="figcenter" id="i_080a">
- <img src="images/i_080a.jpg" width="436" height="550" alt="" />
- <div class="caption">A MAKALANGA, ZIMBABWE</div>
- </div>
-
- <div class="figcenter" id="i_080b">
- <img src="images/i_080b.jpg" width="431" height="550" alt="" />
- <div class="caption">THE CAMP WATCHMAN (KUMURI)</div>
- </div>
-
- <p>But for nearly four hundred years the historical relations and the
- very existence of the Makalanga and their history were forgotten. From
- being a powerful and semi-civilised people (see <cite>The Ancient Ruins of
- Rhodesia</cite>, chapter x.) they have become a people of no account—mere
- “Makalaka,” as the people of the present Bechuanaland scornfully
- called them in reference to their present slavish position. To their
- successive conquerors they have always been but “dogs of slaves.”</p>
-
- <p>So far as the purely local natives are concerned, the following notes,
- based upon a series of conferences of the oldest native authorities
- held at Zimbabwe during 1902 and 1903, at which Mr. Alfred Drew,
- Native Commissioner, the Rev. A. A. Louw, Dutch Reformed Mission
- near Zimbabwe, and Dr. Helm, Medical Missionary, and other admitted
- authorities on native language and customs, have taken part, will
- explain the local occupations for almost if not more than one hundred
- and fifty years. The local Makalanga, Barotse, and Amangwa are
- agreed upon the correctness of the statements here recorded, and the
- information so obtained has also been verified by the above-named
- gentlemen in other quarters.</p>
-
- <p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_82">82</span></p>
-
- <p>(<i>a</i>) In this portion of Southern Mashonaland the Makalanga have
- formed, since long before 1570, the greatest portion of the population,
- especially in the Zimbabwe district. This is both history and also
- well-rooted tradition among the natives, going back for very many
- generations.</p>
-
- <p>(<i>b</i>) The Makalanga have been subject to several successive conquerors,
- of whom the Barotse in Mashonaland and the Matabele in Matabeleland
- were the last. They have only very indistinct traditions as to their
- previous conquerors.</p>
-
- <p>(<i>c</i>) The Barotse occupied both provinces, establishing central
- strongholds in all districts. They collected tribute from the
- Makalanga, and this was taken every year from all the centres to the
- <i>Mambo</i> or <i>Mamba</i>, the dynastic chief, for the time being, of the
- Barotse. And these Mambos resided at Thabas Imamba. Both Makalanga
- and Barotse were, and still are, most excellent builders with stones.
- [Mr. Drew minutely cross-examined the natives with regard to the
- situation or identity of Thabas Imamba]. This is the fixed belief of
- every Barotse who is questioned on the subject, and the old men say
- it is also within their own knowledge. Before this fresh evidence
- was obtained, the authors of <cite>The Ancient Ruins of Rhodesia</cite> had
- published a similar statement on the strength of evidences secured in
- Matabeleland. Mr. Neal also stated that no ruin in Rhodesia showed more
- evidences of extensive and prolonged occupation than did the ruins on
- Thabas Imamba.</p>
-
- <p>(<i>d</i>) Jerri’s people (Barotse) never lived at or near Zimbabwe, as
- white men had believed they had, but they left what they called “The
- Great Buildings of Stone” (Khami) west of where Bulawayo now stands
- in 1836–7, and moved to Jerri Mountains, seventy miles south of
- Zimbabwe. They left Khami immediately before the Matabele arrived.
- On passing through Zimbabwe they encamped for one night only on a
- hill one mile west of the ruins. There are many<span class="pagenum" id="Page_83">83</span> old men who remember
- these circumstances, while the general local belief is that Jerri’s
- people lived at Khami Ruins, which are well known to the natives here.
- [It has always been contended that this tribe of Barotse resided at
- Khami for very many generations, but there are very many evidences in
- support of this established belief, which are now in hand, and are now
- forthcoming.]</p>
-
- <p>(<i>e</i>) The head kraal of the Zimbabwe Barotse was at the foot of the
- south-east side of the Rusivanga Kopje, and not on the summit, where
- the walls and the remains of very substantial huts are old Makalanga.
- The Barotse also had a large kraal on the north-east side of the
- Bentberg overlooking the Elliptical Temple. [The present Barotse
- headmen claim the pottery in the débris at these places as having
- been made by their people some four or five generations back, if not
- earlier.]</p>
-
- <p>(<i>f</i>) The Zimbabwe Makalanga did not reside in the ruins, as this in
- later generations was opposed to their traditions, but they used the
- ruins up to ten years ago as cattle kraals and places for carrying on
- their copper and iron-smelting operations, for offering sacrifices,
- and for burial-places. Once they occupied them as residences, but
- possibly the fear of the ruins at night caused them to desert them as
- residences, probably owing to the increased number of graves which they
- contained. The Barotse did not appear to have been inspired by this
- fear, for they have occupied ruins all over the country.</p>
-
- <p>All the remains of native huts and many of the native articles found
- in the ruins must be at least six generations old, if not much older.
- When the present Mogabe Handisibishe took up his residence on the
- north side of Zimbabwe Hill, in the ruins of the Acropolis, there had
- been no Makalanga occupations for many generations previously. All
- the remains of Makalanga huts found on the Acropolis, and round the
- faces of the hill, and outside the area occupied by Mogabe’s kraal,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_84">84</span>
- belong to Makalanga, who had ceased to occupy them for very many years
- previously. When Mogabe arrived these remains were considered by his
- people to be exceedingly old.</p>
-
- <p>(<i>g</i>) The present Zimbabwe Makalanga originally came from Masungye, in
- the direction of the Lower Sabi. Mogabe is the dynastic title of each
- succeeding chief of this tribe. The Mogabe-Molinye moved to Jena and
- finally to the Beroma country, in the neighbourhood of Zimbabwe. The
- succeeding Mogabe, a son of Molinye, moved up from Beroma to Mangwa
- (Morgenster), four miles south of Zimbabwe, from which place he drove
- out the Amangwa people, who occupied the Zimbabwe district and the
- country for a considerable distance round about. The next Mogabe,
- Chipfuno, a son of the previous Mogabe, settled at Wuwuli, five miles
- south of Zimbabwe, and later his younger brother, Handisibishe, the
- present Mogabe, succeeded Chipfuno in the dynastic rule. Handisibishe
- is seventy years of age, but Chipfuno was much older.</p>
-
- <p>The connection between the present Zimbabwe Makalanga and the Zimbabwe
- ruins only dates back authoritatively for some sixty or seventy years,
- but their opinion as to the age of the native remains at the ruins, as
- found by them when they arrived, added to a similar account based on
- the longer residence of the Barotse and Amangwa, and on their history
- and traditions, enables investigations to be carried back at least
- eight generations.</p>
-
- <p>(<i>h</i>) The oldest known natives who have resided at Zimbabwe are the
- Amangwa, who were driven out by Mogabe Handisibishe. These were
- originally a tribe of pure Makalanga, but by marriage with their
- erstwhile over-lords, the local Barotse, many of their people have
- acquired some of the distinctive features of the Barotse, while a large
- proportion are still in every respect true Makalanga. These people now
- reside in Nini district, eight miles south-west of Zimbabwe, their
- nearest kraal being Bingura’s, which is two miles distant. <span class="pagenum" id="Page_85">85</span>They can
- speak with regard to the state of the ruins as they were conditioned
- some generations ago. They state they never occupied the Acropolis
- ruins except when Amaswazi raiding parties were in the district,
- and then only as a temporary refuge, and that many large walls have
- completely fallen down. The Amangwa were once a numerous and powerful
- people. Their kraals were built in the valleys, close to the ruins and
- on the nearest kopjes.</p>
-
- <div class="figcenter" id="i_084a">
- <img src="images/i_084a.jpg" width="550" height="441" alt="" />
- <div class="caption">MAKALANGA “BOYS” FENCING, ZIMBABWE</div>
- </div>
-
- <div class="figcenter" id="i_084b">
- <img src="images/i_084b.jpg" width="550" height="431" alt="" />
- <div class="caption">MOTUMI MONGWAINE </div>
- </div>
-
- <p>Mogabe Handisibishe took advantage of a famine in the Zimbabwe district
- when he attacked them, and perpetrated great cruelties on their women
- in order to make them divulge where the relics from the ruins were
- hidden, but the Amangwa did not yield on this point. It is curious
- that so many relics of prehistoric value have been found in the Nini
- district where the Amangwa now reside. The wooden bowl, carved with the
- zodiacal signs, the soapstone cylinder, etc., were discovered in Nini,
- and the best native authorities affirm that the Amangwa still have
- relics in their possession.</p>
-
- <p>(<i>i</i>) The correct name for Zimbabwe is <i>Zim-b[=a]b-[=gw]i</i>, meaning
- “buildings or houses of stones.” The natives never apply the name
- <i>Zim-bab-gwi</i> to the Elliptical Temple, but always speak of it as
- <i>Rusingu</i>, “the wall.” <i>Zim-bab-gwi</i> is only applied to the ruins on
- the hill.</p>
-
- <p>(<i>j</i>) The natives have no recollection or tradition with regard to the
- Monomotapas, the dynastic chiefs of the mediæval Makalanga who resided
- at Zimbabwe.</p>
-
- <p>(<i>k</i>) Barotse, Amangwa, and Makalanga have built walls in and near the
- ruins. They state that their ancestors used to construct excellent
- walls. [Mr. Drew, <span class="smcap">n.c.</span>, is of opinion that the Barotse now
- build better walls than do the present Makalanga. The Makalanga were
- always famous as good builders with stone.]</p>
-
- <p>(<i>l</i>) The natives show little or no interest as to the original
- builders of the ruins. Some will say they were built by white men for
- prisons, others will affirm the ancestors of<span class="pagenum" id="Page_86">86</span> their tribe built them.
- Some tribes make definite claims to have built them, but Mr. Drew
- considers these claims to be only poetic expressions conveying the idea
- that such tribes had lived for so very many generations in the ruins
- that they knew of no occupiers before them, and so imagine that their
- ancestors must have built them. Of course, their claims to have built
- minor walls within the ruins are, in many instances, obviously well
- founded.</p>
-
- <p>(<i>m</i>) The natives assert, when pressed as to who removed the relics
- from the ruins, that large birds came out of the sky, took them, and
- carried them into the heavens.</p>
-
- <p>(<i>n</i>) “Fuko-ya-Nebandge”—the Mashonaland relic—possesses an unique
- history and a weird romance, and is also of great intrinsic value
- for such in Rhodesia as revel in researches into the history of past
- occupiers of this country. The image is made of pottery, and is
- hollow, the head (which has not been discovered) forming the stopper.
- It was discovered by Mr. Harry Posselt in a cave near Zimbabwe. It
- stands 11 in. high, and is about 16 in. long, and is marked with
- geometric exactness with zebra stripes all over its body. The pot is
- black, but the stripes are of a dull red colour. The name of it is
- “Fuko-ya-Nebandge” (“the king’s favourite adviser”), and for at least
- some generations of Makalanga it has exercised a potent magic spell
- over the minds of the natives. It has now been secured for the museum
- at Bulawayo.</p>
-
- <p>The following is Mr. Posselt’s account of its discovery:—</p>
-
- <p>In 1891 he was encamped at Fern Spruit, south of Victoria, near which
- point are some hills. His Mashona boy informed him that among these
- hills could be heard by anyone going near them the sound of cattle
- bellowing, girls talking and singing, and that up on the hills was
- a pot full of beads, but the local natives were too much afraid of
- venturing up there in search of the pot, as it would mean certain
- death. He did not ascend the hills, but his drivers and leaders went
- up, but<span class="pagenum" id="Page_87">87</span> heard and saw nothing unusual. Until 1899 he had quite
- forgotten the incident, but in August of 1900 he happened to be near
- these particular hills collecting labour for the Chamber of Mines, and
- conversed with a chief living there. He asked the chief the native
- name of the hills, and the chief told him about the pot containing the
- beads. He further told him that long ago a native went out hunting
- on the hills, and found the pot with the beads in. The chief’s story
- was to the effect that the native seeing the pot wanted to take the
- beads out, and putting his hand into the pot, the pot got hold of his
- hands and he could not shake it off, and he was obliged to carry the
- pot poised on his head with his hand still fixed inside it. When he
- arrived at the kraal his people prevented him entering it, as he might
- bring evil upon the tribe. He was consequently compelled to encamp on a
- stream near the kraal until his hand dropped off. He was fed secretly
- by some of his people. After his death, instead of being buried in the
- usual way, they pushed him with long sticks into a cave.</p>
-
- <p>The pot was left there for some considerable time afterwards, and it
- was eventually discovered in another cave in the same hills, and was
- regarded, and still is to this day, by the natives as a mystery, and
- held in awe by them, and their belief was that if anyone approached the
- cave he would die. If the pot changed its colours to dark red it meant
- certain death.</p>
-
- <p>After he had secured the pot the natives came from near and far to
- see it. One old native then told him of another pot, made like a mare
- zebra, and that the “female pot” contained beads that glittered, and
- that the pot in his (Mr. Posselt’s) possession was the “male pot.” The
- native was ignorant of what gold was. The two pots, so he stated, used
- to travel by themselves from their cave to Fulachama, a distance of
- eight miles, to obtain water from the stream where they drank, coming
- and going so often as to make<span class="pagenum" id="Page_88">88</span> a path. This Kafir asked where the
- “female pot” was, well knowing Mr. Posselt had not found it.</p>
-
- <p>After his discovery he went to a chief who lives close by to where the
- pot was found. This chief used to live in Zimbabwe. He said that the
- chief who now lives in Zimbabwe was an enemy of his, and had supplanted
- him, and that he had all the relics. To compel him to disclose the
- place where the relics were hidden he resorted to torture, cutting off
- women’s breasts and putting nose reims through men’s noses. Before
- the ex-Zimbabwe chief was expelled from Zimbabwe he was in the habit
- of offering up sacrifices of black oxen, and on each occasion used to
- collect and display relics taken from the ruins. These consisted of
- “yellow metal with sharp points” brought down from the top ruin, also a
- yellow stick about 3 ft. 6 in. long with a knob on it, also a bowl or
- dish, by information most probably of silver. The stick is now stated
- to be in the possession of the chief.</p>
-
- <h3>2. LOCAL NATIVES (GENERAL)</h3>
-
- <p>The Zimbabwe district is very thickly populated by Makalanga. These
- formerly lived in natural strongholds on the summits of rocky kopjes
- difficult of approach, but now in almost every instance they have
- removed their kraals from their almost inaccessible eyries, and have
- built their villages on open country, without erecting any fences
- whatsoever for their protection. Thus, locally, Mogabe has left his
- hill fortress and caves, Baranazimba his strongly defended rocks, Lumbo
- his rock-pillar, and now these three kraals, as in many scores of
- other instances, are built in open country in absolutely indefensible
- positions, with no post, rail, or thornbush to bar approach. At night
- one can pass through almost any village unchallenged save by a Kafir
- dog. Large stores of corn are in their granaries. Their belongings
- are strewn about outside their huts, and everything is open to <span class="pagenum" id="Page_89">89</span>the
- spoiler. But the inhabitants sleep soundly, assured and content,
- because they recognise they are safe under the rule of a civilised
- Government.</p>
-
- <div class="figcenter" id="i_088a">
- <img src="images/i_088a.jpg" width="428" height="550" alt="" />
- <div class="caption">MAKALANGA MOTHER AND CHILD, ZIMBABWE</div>
- </div>
-
- <div class="figcenter" id="i_088b">
- <img src="images/i_088b.jpg" width="439" height="550" alt="" />
- <div class="caption">THE MOGABE, HANDISIBISHE, CHIEF OF THE ZIMBABWE MAKALANGA</div>
- </div>
-
- <p>Slightly more than a decade since all was most terribly different.
- Tribe fought with tribe and village with village. Repeated Amaswazi
- and Matabele raids “wiped out” without warning and without mercy whole
- populations, capturing slaves, seizing the women, and killing, as was
- their practice, the old people and children. None dared to stir from
- his rocky fastness to cultivate his little patch of ground. Little
- wonder is it that the spirit of these people was broken.</p>
-
- <p>To-day these Makalanga, who are essentially an agricultural race, have
- covered the erstwhile devastated country with their plantations, and
- converted these parts into the “Granary of Rhodesia,” and the leading
- grain-producing district of this part of Mashonaland. Standing on
- Zimbabwe Hill either at sunrise or sunset, one sees scattered over the
- open country scores of columns of smoke rising from the villages, each
- with its large area where the Makalanga work in absolute security,
- and one is forced to realise that untold benefit has undoubtedly been
- conferred upon the natives by the British occupation.</p>
-
- <p>The Makalanga of Zimbabwe district are considered to be, in
- intellectual and physical qualifications, above many of their tribes
- elsewhere. In some respects they are marvellously intelligent and quick
- to perceive, shrewd, calculating, and clever, while in others they are
- astonishingly dull, so that it is almost impossible to get them to
- understand the simplest matter. They certainly evince far more feeling
- and sensitiveness, are more amenable to direction, and readier and more
- anxious to work, and are more honest and reliable than the average
- Matabele. Physically, they are as a whole somewhat shorter in height,
- are less robust, and have not the weight and strength of the Matabele,
- but their vigour and agility give them the greater advantage. Yet there
- are very<span class="pagenum" id="Page_90">90</span> many Makalanga in this district equal to any Matabele in
- height, strength, form, and endurance.</p>
-
- <p>More than the French nation among Europeans, the Makalanga are
- distinguished for their taste, tact, and courtesy among the Kafir races
- of South-East Africa, only in their case the graceful movement, kingly
- walk, politeness, neatness, rhythm of speech, and poetic expression,
- are not the outcome of study, but are perfectly natural qualities bred
- in the race.</p>
-
- <p>The contact of these people for many generations with the Portuguese
- is shown in their speech. This is a feature noticeable in all native
- tribes in Mashonaland, which were at any time located in or near
- Portuguese territory. As stated below, Mogabe’s people originally came
- from the direction of the border. The terminations of some of their
- words are as distinctly Portuguese as one may hear at Lisbon or Oporto.
- Their connection with the Portuguese caused them to follow the rule
- common to that and some other Latin nations, viz. the interchange of
- <i>R</i> and <i>L</i>. <i>Selukwe</i> thus becomes <i>Serukwe</i>, <i>Belingwe Beringwe</i>,
- <i>Bulawayo Burawayo</i>, while in almost every word used by their people
- further west containing <i>L</i> the latter is substituted for <i>R</i>. Locally
- they call themselves Mokaranga (<i>mo</i> is a Chicaranga plural prefix),
- “the people of the sun.” The Portuguese writers, De Barros (1552), Dos
- Santos (1570), and Livio Sanuto (1588), give their name as <i>Mocaranga</i>.
- <i>Makalaka</i>, the name of derision bestowed upon them by the tribes in
- Bechuanaland, is known to them, but is never used by them, nor is
- <i>M’Holi</i> (slaves), a title which some of the more degenerate Makalangas
- in Matabeleland have adopted as their personal and tribal name.</p>
-
- <p>The <i>totem</i> or distinguishing sign of the local tribe of Makalanga is
- <i>moyo</i>, the heart. Each tribe has its own totem, which may be the leg
- of a certain buck or some particular bird. Should a bird or an animal
- be the totem the tribe bearing that sign do not eat of the flesh of
- such bird or animal, nor will they kill them. A man of one totem must<span class="pagenum" id="Page_91">91</span>
- not marry a wife of a tribe bearing the same totem, but must seek one
- of a tribe of Makalanga having another totem. Thus, as they affirm,
- “Heart must not marry Heart, nor Lion marry Lion.” This rule enforced
- through past ages has no doubt tended to maintain and improve their
- physical condition, and accounts for their fine figures, splendid
- health and general freedom from illnesses, and the almost utter absence
- of deformity and lunacy. A tribe of the Baduma people also bears the
- totem of the heart. The sub-tribal totem of the local Barotse<a id="FNanchor_29" href="#Footnote_29" class="fnanchor">[29]</a> is
- the lion. The lion, which is also the totem of the local Amangwa, only
- includes rapacious animals, such as wild cats, wild dogs, etc. Certain
- families in the same tribe or kraal have distinguishing signs, or what
- may be termed sub-totems. The totem system also prevailed amongst the
- early Semitic peoples prior to biblical times, and was later a feature
- of Hebrew history; for instance, “The Lion of the tribe of Judah.” The
- totem of the Ephraimites was a bull.</p>
-
- <p>In addition to the animal or bird that may constitute the totem
- there are other animals and birds which they venerate, and will not
- kill, eat, or touch. The slaying of such creatures is regarded as a
- crime against the whole of the tribe. The spirits of dead ancestors,
- relatives, and chiefs are supposed to reside in such birds and animals.
- The principal bird of local reverence is the <i>Harahurusei</i> (Bird of
- God), which is the <i>chapungo</i>, a large and beautiful bird, quite black
- except its tail, which is red. The peculiarity of this bird is that
- it soars overhead exactly as does a bird of prey. The natives assert
- that the nest, eggs, or feathers of this bird have never been found
- by anyone, nor do they know on what food it lives. A native will not
- proceed on a journey if the chapungo appears in the air or settles on
- the ground in front of him, but will at once return home. Natives hail
- the bird and ask it for favours.</p>
-
- <p>The local natives will not eat the following: Common grey <span class="pagenum" id="Page_92">92</span>hawk, black
- crow, owl, wolf, crocodile, snake, or wild dog. Some will not eat hippo
- or eland flesh. They will not kill the chapungo, owl, wild dog, heron,
- and certain small birds. But while these are the general practices of
- local Makalanga tribes, certain families in different tribes frequently
- have additional and special objects of veneration, and any one native
- may have some particular object for his own personal veneration. The
- tribal custom with regard to not partaking of the flesh of certain
- birds and animals is very strictly adhered to, even though natives
- starve. To touch such, living or dead, is a defilement, and the remains
- can only be moved by using sticks.</p>
-
- <p>Of insects, they eat locusts, two kinds of cricket (<i>mashu</i> and
- <i>zukumge</i>), a caterpillar (<i>masonya</i>), a worm called <i>mambene</i>, and
- different kinds of ants, including <i>shua</i> and <i>madjuro</i>, but especially
- flying-ants. All these insects they consider dainties, and cook them in
- the soup-pot into which they dip each handful of <i>rapoka</i> porridge. The
- soup is made of fat, ground monkey-nuts, and many other ingredients.</p>
-
- <p>The natives are known to draw certain star-pictures in the sky; for
- instance, Orion is made out to be “two pigs and a dog.” The three stars
- in the Belt form one of the principal subjects of children’s songs.
- They, of course, know the Morning and Evening Star, while the Pleiades
- in their rising and setting mark the sowing and reaping seasons.
- They evidently only see six stars in the latter, as they call them
- <i>Tshimtanatu</i>, which means anything containing six.</p>
-
- <p>They believe the sun returns across the sky at night when everyone is
- sleeping, and that it travels from west to east ready to start over
- again at daybreak, but high up in the expanse of the heavens and hidden
- from sight by unseen clouds. They ridicule the idea of the earth being
- round.</p>
-
- <p>Eclipses of the sun or moon foretell war or some other great calamity.
- They most usually say of them that the sun or moon is “rotten,”
- frequently that they are “sick.”</p>
-
- <p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_93">93</span></p>
-
- <p>They generally believe that each moon dies, and that every new moon
- is <em>new</em> in the strict sense of the word. Some, however, think that
- it does not die altogether, but leaves a seed or germ, which in turn
- grows big and then small until only the seed is left. The rising and
- setting of the Pleiades, the new and full moon, are occasions of great
- rejoicings, dancing, and beer-drinking.</p>
-
- <p>Sacrifices are still made by local natives. Formerly a large number
- of black oxen were killed at one sacrifice, but since the scourge of
- rinderpest visited Rhodesia goats have been substituted. The last
- sacrifice at Zimbabwe took place in February, 1904. The local natives
- sacrificed in the Elliptical Temple, but they have no settled point
- within the temple where they hold these ceremonies. The sacrifice was
- conducted during the prolonged drought then prevailing. The natives
- kept the ceremony private until after it was over, and the rain had
- arrived.</p>
-
- <p>Makalanga of several tribes from near and far used to come to the
- Elliptical Temple for sacrifices, and these were offered up within the
- walls, but at different spots inside; while on several occasions the
- ceremony took place just outside the walls. Once every village had
- its own ceremony, and these took place in January, black bulls being
- offered for males and black cows for females.</p>
-
- <p>The sacrifices now made are to the spirits of departed chiefs, and are
- offered on the suggestion of witch-doctors, who receive fees for their
- advice, and who, to make money, declare that the spirit of some dead
- chief or relative is angry and must be appeased. Some portion of the
- meat was taken to the spot supposed to be haunted by the spirit, and
- the rest is eaten by those present, the bones being sometimes burnt or
- thrown into a river; but recently they have been left about the spot.
- Sacrifices were usually offered to secure success in any venture to be
- undertaken, or to obtain good harvests. Till recently they practised a
- similar rite to that<span class="pagenum" id="Page_94">94</span> known in Mosaic times, and in this instance also
- the animal was not killed, but was led out on to the veld and purposely
- lost. If found it was not killed. The natives are aware that this rite
- was once observed by their people, but state it is not practised now.</p>
-
- <p>The Makalanga undoubtedly believe in the immortality of the soul, but
- they have very vague ideas as to a future life beyond a thorough faith
- in the transmigration of souls. They do not conceive the existence of
- a Creator or Supreme Being, their highest conception being <i>M’uali</i>, a
- spirit, who can make their crops a failure and their herds sick, and
- to this spirit they offer sacrifices. The <i>M’uali</i>, judging by native
- account, is not in any way an ennobling spirit, and they are constantly
- in dread of him. The witch-doctors in order to acquire wealth for
- themselves interpret the wishes of the <i>M’uali</i> in the light of their
- own purposes and interests.</p>
-
- <p>With regard to burials the customs, even among the Makalanga, vary
- considerably. In some instances the bodies are laid lengthwise and on
- the left side facing the north. This seems to have been the original
- custom of these people, but it is not now a general one. Burial in
- a sitting position is very commonly met with. On the Acropolis,
- during the preservation work (1902–3), about fifty Makalanga graves
- were found, and the remains in a score of instances were removed.
- Practically all were in a sitting position, only three having been
- buried lengthways. These were discovered in entrances and passages, the
- bodies having been laid on the surface, soil and stones, taken from the
- nearest wall, placed round and over them. None of these were very old,
- and most were Mogabe’s people. Their bark hunting-nets, assegais, pots,
- and other personal belongings, were placed on the top of the grave, and
- not inside with the corpse.</p>
-
- <p>The Baduma, who live in Gutu’s country, and also the Barotse, still
- embalm or, rather, dry the bodies of their<span class="pagenum" id="Page_95">95</span> chiefs, and also the dead
- of certain families, though generally the bodies are buried lengthways
- on their right side, facing the sun. The body is placed in the hut
- on a bier made of poles near a large fire, and continually turned,
- any blisters which may appear being carefully broken, until the body
- is dry. Then it is wrapped up in a blanket and hung from the roof.
- Annual sacrifices are made to the spirits, and the bodies are regularly
- visited and kept in order by a person appointed for that work. The
- rain-makers, who live on the Sabi, also dry their dead.</p>
-
- <p>The manufactures of the Makalanga are fast declining. In very rare
- instances may be found villages where bark and cotton are still woven.
- Limbo from the stores is so cheap and attractive looking that it has
- practically driven out the local article, and the clay whorls used in
- spinning cotton are now discarded. Their once famous iron and copper
- smelting industries almost disappeared on the advent of cheap and
- substantial tools. At one time every village had its blacksmith and
- its furnaces and forges, but during the last few years iron-working
- has become far less general. Derembghe, near Mr. Nolan’s farm, in the
- Victoria district, is the only representative of the old industry.
- Pottery is still made, but at Chikwanda, near Arowi and east of
- Zimbabwe, the people make pottery of a superior quality. This is also
- the case at Mazuwa’s, in Nini district.</p>
-
- <p>The people are essentially a race of agriculturists and cattle
- breeders, and dislike working in mines. Though they are most
- industrious in their own plantations, yet they will not work for a
- white man for more than a month or two in a year, preferring to spend
- the rest of the year in absolute idleness. Many are adepts in brass or
- copper wire-work, with which they adorn their sticks and weapons. They
- are also very skilful in wood-carving, basket-making, and in tanning
- and preparing skins.</p>
-
- <p>The Makalanga of this district are certainly above the<span class="pagenum" id="Page_96">96</span> average
- type of natives in the possession of both intellectual and physical
- qualifications. Light skins, Semitic noses, fine features, with an
- absence of high cheek-bones, small, well-shaped hands—are frequent
- features met with among them. The men, who wear but insignificant
- aprons, are well proportioned, are as straight as an arrow, and have
- athletic figures. Large turquoise-blue beads of glass form the neck
- ornament of men, women, and children in this district, and these
- contrast effectively with the colour and polish of their skins. Both
- men and women frequently wear a narrow band of pink and white beads
- round their heads. Brass bangles are worn on wrists, arms, legs, and
- ankles, the women and girls wearing these in great profusion.</p>
-
- <p>Women are bare to the low hips, and wear a short skin skirt reaching
- almost to the knees. This is most generally adorned with chevron
- pattern of pink and white beads. Their stomachs are covered with two
- sets of lines worked into the flesh, one set under each breast. This
- pattern is very general here, and is identical with the “breast and
- furrow” pattern found not only on the fronts of the clay furnaces,
- pillows, drums, and granaries, but on the ancient relics and sacred
- emblems (phalli) discovered in the ruins. Bent and other writers
- believe that these flesh-markings are a survival of the occult idea
- of Fertility. There are generally about thirty rows of these lines or
- cicatrices, and their regularity is most surprising.</p>
-
- <p>The men are practically bare-skinned, and have their waists, shoulders,
- and sometimes each side of their foreheads, marked with a row of bars
- in threes, thus: <span class="large"><b>/|\ /|\</b></span>, and these closely resemble
- the sign of Light as seen in the Welsh bardic symbol. These, many
- natives state, are luck signs, and they would not be without them, for
- with them on their skin they believe they shall always be healthy and
- strong and have many wives and children. Other natives state that the
- flesh-markings on the men’s bodies are but <span class="pagenum" id="Page_97">97</span>ornaments to attract
- the attentions of women, while others assert they only bear the marks
- because it is a custom. Each male has a forelock, some of these being
- erect and others pendent, the latter being usually threaded with pink
- and white beads. These often reach below the eyes. They are very proud
- of their forelocks, and will spend most of their spare time in trying
- to pull them out longer.</p>
-
- <div class="figcenter" id="i_096">
- <img src="images/i_096.jpg" width="600" height="436" alt="" />
- <div class="caption">MAKALANGA WOMEN AND GIRLS AT THE MOGABE’S KRAAL, ZIMBABWE</div>
- </div>
-
- <p>Witchcraft still possesses a tremendous influence over the native mind,
- although the practice of it is punished by imprisonment, but it is most
- difficult to obtain evidences in most cases of offence. Before the
- country was occupied by the British the witch-doctors practically ruled
- the people, and their influence in many known instances was greater
- than that of dynastic chiefs. The inclination of the people is to
- revert to the old practices, and fear of punishment alone prevents them
- doing so. There is no doubt that some of the infanticides and murders
- happening to-day are the results of witch-doctors’ machinations.</p>
-
- <p>Though every native appears to have a good idea of medicine and of
- the uses of certain herbs and roots, and to be able to cure simple
- complaints, yet the remedies for more serious matters are in the
- hands of the medicine-men, who keep all such knowledge to their own
- profession.</p>
-
- <p>A rain-maker for a large present would, until recently, kill a child of
- one of his many wives, and as long as the mother mourned for her child
- the rain was supposed to continue.</p>
-
- <p>The Makalanga undoubtedly possess a keener appreciation of music
- and singing than many of the other native races in this part of the
- continent. When at work, digging, hoeing, or threshing, they sing
- continually, and in one morning they will spontaneously render fully a
- dozen different songs and a large number of extempore recitatives and
- choruses interspersed, also a few part-songs and catches. They sing
- going to and returning from labour, and always sing at their work, and
- when they cease singing one may be certain they are<span class="pagenum" id="Page_98">98</span> idling. There is
- far greater harmony and variety of music produced from their pianos,
- and their songs are brighter and more spirited, than any music or song
- a Matabele can evolve, and the dreary monotonous chant of the latter
- is almost entirely absent. The subjects of their songs are numerous,
- and comprise many items which only a people who live face to face
- with Nature could sing without offending the decencies as regarded by
- civilised people, and in these songs the smallest child most lustily
- joins. They will sing impromptu songs having reference to the tools
- they happen to be using, or to anything they may chance to see. The
- Native Commissioner is a great subject of their songs. They have
- war-songs, lullabies, songs to the bride, to the child just able to
- walk, to the new moon, to the butter they are making, besides a number
- of children’s songs.</p>
-
- <p>They also have a large number of proverbs which somewhat resemble those
- employed at Home, thus:—</p>
-
- <table summary="Proverbs">
- <tbody>
- <tr>
- <th class="tdc"><div><i>Translation.</i></div></th>
- <th class="tdc"><div><i>English Equivalent.</i></div></th>
- </tr>
- <tr>
- <td class="tdp"><p>“The grass which is in the belly of the wild ox is his own; that
- which is in his mouth he might die with.”</p></td>
- <td class="tdp"><p>“A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush.”</p></td>
- </tr>
- <tr>
- <td class="tdp"><p>“Difficulty makes a plan.”</p></td>
- <td class="tdp"><p>“Necessity is the mother of invention.”</p></td>
- </tr>
- <tr>
- <td class="tdp"><p>“Water spilt cannot be gathered again.”</p></td>
- <td class="tdp"><p>“No use crying over spilt milk.”</p></td>
- </tr>
- <tr>
- <td class="tdp"><p>“He is strong at the dish”; said of one who does not work,
- but knows well how to eat.</p></td>
- <td class="tdp"><p>“He is a good trencherman.”</p></td>
- </tr>
- <tr>
- <td class="tdp"><p>“Comes out with holes in his skins (garments).”</p></td>
- <td class="tdp"><p>“Escaped by the skin of his teeth.”</p></td>
- </tr>
- <tr>
- <td class="tdp"><p>“A tame dog is the one that eats at the skins.”</p></td>
- <td class="tdp"><p>“Do not trust one who looks very innocent.”</p></td>
- </tr>
- <tr>
- <td class="tdp"><p>“Who has thrown out my basket of seed?”</p></td>
- <td class="tdp"><p>“Who has meddled with my affairs?”</p></td>
- </tr>
- <tr>
- <td class="tdp"><p>“The short hare cannot eat the tall grass.”</p></td>
- <td class="tdp"><p>“Don’t attempt things too high for you.”</p></td>
- </tr>
- </tbody>
- </table>
-
- <p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_99">99</span></p>
-
- <p>The natives can make fire (<i>sika</i>) very easily. The woods usually
- selected for this purpose are <i>Zumbani</i> and <i>Bg̊ebg̊a</i>. One piece
- is rounded, and the lower point is inserted in a small hole in the
- other wood, and then twirled with the palms of the hands round rapidly
- till sparks are emitted, and then very dry grass is placed at the
- bottom of the rounded stick, when it will light. Should the wood be
- slightly damp, a very small pinch of sand is placed in the hole to
- increase the friction. The <i>sika</i> sticks can obtain fire almost as
- quickly as can a magnifying glass.</p>
-
- <p>On felling a tree in clearing a plantation it is a general custom in
- this district for the native to make a small ring of grass and lay it
- on the tree stump, and then to spit on the ring and to cover it with a
- large stone. Natives state, in explanation of this practice, that their
- people have always done it, but they cannot say for what purpose.</p>
-
- <p>The pottery whorls found in very old native huts are known to many
- natives, but not to all, for the author has heard natives explaining
- their purpose to other natives. These whorls had sticks inserted
- top-fashion through the centre hole, and were spun rapidly between the
- hands. These were used for drawing the threads from the mass of cotton,
- also, some say, in producing fire. The children find them and use them
- for tops. The whorls which are found in ruins, and which are doubtless
- antique, are made of soapstone and are excellently finished.</p>
-
- <p>The natives decorate the wooden doors of their huts, also the interior
- walls—check pattern being general for this purpose. The best decoration
- of doors is to be found in Gutu’s and Chibi’s districts.</p>
-
- <p>The native name for Victoria is <i>Duruben</i>, or <i>Durubeni</i>, sometimes
- <i>Vitori</i>. <i>Duruben</i> is derived from the Dutch word <i>dorp</i>, and <i>Vitori</i>
- is an attempt to pronounce Victoria. <i>Campeni</i> is the name of the old
- township of Victoria, which used to be known as The Camp. Several
- isolated settle<span class="pagenum" id="Page_100">100</span>ments of white people towards the south are called by
- the natives of those districts <i>Durubeni</i>, the termination being that
- of the locative case. The hillock in Victoria, near the gaol, used to
- be called “<i>Gòna Zhon</i>” (“They failed to capture the elephant”). The
- open veld about Victoria was called “<i>Bani ro moteio</i>” (“The plain
- without trees”).</p>
-
- <p>The salutation <i>Moro!</i> or <i>Morra!</i> employed by the natives is simply
- a corruption of the Dutch word <i>Morgen!</i> <i>i.e.</i> Good Morning! In Cape
- Dutch <i>Morrè!</i> is used, and from this the word <i>Morro!</i> was evidently
- derived. The natives agree in stating that it is a Dutch word brought
- into the country by Dutch hunters and Cape Boys long before the
- British arrived. They ridicule all idea of its being of native origin,
- and state that in some districts it is not used. The practice of
- handshaking on meeting is one which the natives state has been copied
- from the white men.</p>
-
- <p>The salute on meeting is by clapping hands. On greeting a man they will
- clap the palms with the hands slightly crossed, the forefinger of the
- right hand crossing the base of the forefinger of the other; but on
- saluting a woman the forefinger is placed to forefinger with wrists
- together. The length of time of clapping depends on the position of the
- person saluted. On joining a group to talk, eat, or drink the new-comer
- claps hands before sitting down and again when the food or drink is
- offered him.</p>
-
- <p>Among the Jewish customs of the Makalanga the following may be
- noticed. (1) Monotheism and no worship of idols; (2) worship of, and
- sacrifices to, ancestors—a practice condemned by the Prophets; (3)
- rite of circumcision; (4) despising the uncircumcised: the taunt
- of non-circumcision is commonly employed between disputants; (5)
- purification and shaving of the head; (6) transferring impurity or
- infection from individuals to some animal, which in some instances
- is slain and in others purposely lost on the veld; (7) reception by
- women of parties returning from hunting or war, as in<span class="pagenum" id="Page_101">101</span> the case of
- Jephthah; (8) feasts of new moons and invocations to new moons; (9)
- feasts of full moons; (10) offerings of first fruits; (11) defilement
- by touching the dead; (12) defilement of eating flesh containing blood;
- (13) abhorrence of swine as unclean; (14) sprinkling the worshippers
- with blood; (15) places of refuge for criminals or people believed
- but not found guilty of offending tribal custom;<a id="FNanchor_30" href="#Footnote_30" class="fnanchor">[30]</a> (16) observance
- of Sabbath, either every five or seven days; (17) marriage only among
- themselves, but cannot marry into the same tribe; (18) casting of lots;
- (19) sacrifices of oxen in times of trouble, such as drought; (20)
- practice of espousal before marriage; (21) brother succeeds to brother
- in office and property; (22) brother takes to wife the wives of his
- deceased elder brother, and raising offspring, they rank in office as
- if they were the children of the deceased; (23) a daughter does not
- inherit property or position except on the death of all her brothers;
- (24) rigid morality with regard to all fleshly sins, adultery and
- fornication being punished with death and outlawry.</p>
-
- <p>Additional parallelisms with Jewish customs could be stated, and all
- these peculiar practices, together with the lighter skin and the Jewish
- appearance of the Makalanga, distinctly point to the ancient impress of
- the Idumean Jews, which can also be traced on the present peoples of
- Madagascar and of the coasts of Mozambique and Sofala.<a id="FNanchor_31" href="#Footnote_31" class="fnanchor">[31]</a></p>
-
- <p>Many of these customs are now falling into desuetude on the advance of
- white civilisation. The Molembo tribe of Makalanga is noted for the
- preservation and observance of the majority of these Jewish practices,
- which are in character distinctly pre-Koranic in origin.</p>
-
- <hr class="page" />
- <div class="chapter" id="CHAPTER_VI">
- <span class="pagenum" id="Page_102">102</span>
- <h2 title="CHAPTER VI RELICS AND “FINDS” AT GREAT ZIMBABWE, 1902–4 WITH DESCRIPTIONS, LOCATIONS, AND ASSOCIATIONS">
- CHAPTER VI<br /><br />
- <span class="small">RELICS AND “FINDS” AT GREAT ZIMBABWE, 1902–4<br />
- WITH DESCRIPTIONS, LOCATIONS, AND
- ASSOCIATIONS<a id="FNanchor_32" href="#Footnote_32" class="fnanchor">[32]</a></span>
- </h2>
- </div>
-
- <h3>1. SOAPSTONE ARTICLES</h3>
-
- <p class="drop-cap">SIR JOHN LUBBOCK once observed that one antiquarian relic found by
- itself was no testimony as to any particular ancient occupation of
- the spot at which it was discovered, but that the discovery of many
- identical relics in one place, and under identical conditions, might be
- considered as evidence of such occupation. Single specimens are known
- to have been transported from one hemisphere to another during the
- course of three or four thousand years.</p>
-
- <p>At Great Zimbabwe it is not, except in a few instances, with single
- relics that we have to deal, but with those found in tens and scores,
- practically in identical and corresponding locations, and under
- exactly similar conditions. So regularly are these relics situated on
- certain floors that, with a few exceptions explained later, one is
- always certain as to the class of relics which will be met with on any
- particular floor which is being cleared. Of course, these relics and
- “finds” are not distributed generally on their respective floors, and
- frequently the realisation of one’s hopes of meeting with them were
- greatly deferred, while on other occasions half an hour’s work yielded
- them in quantities. Still, when <span class="pagenum" id="Page_103">103</span>once found, they were generally
- abundant—at least, on those floors that were expected to yield them.</p>
-
- <div class="figcenter" id="i_102">
- <img src="images/i_102.jpg" width="473" height="700" alt="" />
- <div class="caption">SOAPSTONE BEAMS WITH BIRDS, ZIMBABWE<br />
- <span class="small"><i>South African Museum, Cape Town</i></span></div>
- </div>
-
- <p>A small quantity of articles having claim to some antiquity were found
- out of relative position to the bulk of similar relics. For instance,
- phalli, which were found in quantities on certain floors in the eastern
- half only of the Elliptical Temple, also at the Eastern and Western
- Temples on the hill, and at Philips Ruins in the Valley of Ruins, have,
- in some few instances, been found singly, but most frequently fractured
- or damaged, in positions which could not have been those occupied by
- any of the ancient inhabitants. Single specimens are sometimes found in
- the débris piles immediately outside the entrances to the three temples
- and Philips Ruins. Those found lower in such piles were no doubt thrown
- out by old native peoples who would not be aware of their purpose. Some
- of these have been converted<span class="pagenum" id="Page_104">104</span> into amulets or charms, while others are
- known to have been used for making <i>daha</i> (hemp) pipe-bowls. Those
- phalli found in the higher portions of such débris piles are shown
- by the stratification of the débris to have been brought out by the
- numerous relic hunters by whom the excavated soil from the interiors
- was deposited on these débris heaps outside. This experience extends
- also to almost all the more antique relics found at Zimbabwe.</p>
-
- <div class="figcenter" id="i_103">
- <img src="images/i_103.jpg" width="400" height="462" alt="" />
- <div class="caption">Section of Floors of part of<br />N<sup>o</sup> 15 ENCLOSURE<br />
- Elliptical Temple<br />
- looking North-West &amp; shewing locations of “Finds” 11902–31. </div>
- </div>
-
- <p>The <i>phalli</i> found at Zimbabwe must now amount to at least one hundred,
- of which more than half have been found recently. It is very probable
- that on further examination of the lower floors of these four ruins
- other specimens will be met with. The phalli found vary in size and
- design. The largest (Pl. I., fig. 6) stood 7½ in. high, was perfectly
- plain, but highly polished. The smallest were seven-eighths of an
- inch long, but each had its base bevelled and a ring carved round the
- summit. Except where the base is fractured, all stand erect on any
- tolerably flat surface. The bases show signs of extensive scratchings,
- as if they had been constantly moved. The average heights of the
- phalli are from two to four inches. Round the bases of many of the
- recently discovered phalli are small bevels, sometimes in two circles.
- The majority were unadorned, but their identity was unmistakable. The
- more ornate specimens bore the “female breast and furrow” pattern,
- one had chevron pattern round its bevelled base, several showed the
- circumcisional markings, and on the top of one (Pl. I., figs. 12 and
- 13) were carved in relief rosettes formed of a circle completely
- surrounded by eight small circles, the latter a pattern which is
- frequently found on soapstone beams and bowls, and is also used to form
- the eyes of one of the soapstone birds found at Zimbabwe.</p>
-
- <p>Worked and decorated <em>soapstone beams</em> have been found only in four
- localities within the ruins’ area, viz. (1) the Elliptical Temple, on
- the summit and at the bases of the <span class="pagenum" id="Page_105">105</span>main east and south-east wall
- within the limits of the chevron pattern; (2) also in quantities on
- the summit and at the base of the circular granite cement platform
- which lies to the north of the Conical Tower; (3) on the summit and
- at the bases of the north wall of the Western Temple on the hill; (4)
- on the summit and at the bases of the arc wall of the Eastern Temple,
- decorated with dentelle pattern and facing east; (5) on or near the two
- granite cement platforms in the interior, and on the site of Mr. Bent’s
- “altar,” also in the same temple; and (6) on the summit and at the
- bases of the arc wall facing east at Philips Ruins, the fragments of
- beams found at this latter place being exceedingly numerous. Splinters
- of soapstone beams are found in the soil in the larger ruins, showing
- that some of the beams fell from their position and became fractured
- after the filling in with soil which took place at least one hundred
- and fifty years ago. Few, if any, worked soapstone beams were found in
- any of the Valley Ruins, save at Philips. All beams have been worked,
- and the marks of the tools and their sizes can still be seen on many;
- some are also carved, the chevron pattern predominating.</p>
-
- <div class="figcenter illow600" id="i_104">
- <div class="attribt">PLATE 1.</div>
- <img src="images/i_104.jpg" width="600" height="347" alt="" />
- <div class="attribr">Methuen &amp; C<sup>o</sup></div>
- <div class="caption">— “Relics &amp; Finds” —<br />Great Zimbabwe 1902–3</div>
- </div>
-
- <p>A portion of a soapstone beam, 2 ft. 6 in. long and 1 ft. 5 in. in
- circumference, formed part of what is known to have been a very tall
- and slender pillar, which was once surmounted by a bird. This stood on
- the north wall of the Western Temple on the Acropolis, and was found
- in 1902. The beam is completely covered with most delicately carved
- chevron pattern.</p>
-
- <p>A carved soapstone beam, 11 ft. high, which showed signs of once being
- taller, stood on the platform of the Western Temple on the Acropolis.
- It fell about 1890, and broke into two parts, and these Mr. Bent
- removed.</p>
-
- <p>A section of a soapstone beam (Pl. I., fig. 3), carved into rounds
- resembling a chain of connected balls and decorated with spiral lines,
- was found in No. 15 Enclosure<span class="pagenum" id="Page_106">106</span> of the Elliptical Temple, on the lowest
- floor and 2 ft. below the foundation of the north-east wall of that
- enclosure.</p>
-
- <p>A curiously carved piece of soapstone (Pl. I., fig. 2), evidently a
- portion of a beam, was found close to the circular platform in the
- Platform Area at the Elliptical Temple, among the numerous soapstone
- beams found at some depth at that spot. The fragment has so broken that
- it resembles a slipper with a band across the instep. The whole face of
- it is covered with small raised circular knobs.</p>
-
- <p>Eight carved <em>soapstone birds</em> and <em>birds on beams</em><a id="FNanchor_33" href="#Footnote_33" class="fnanchor">[33]</a> are known to
- have been removed from the ruins prior to 1902, and they were mostly
- found on the Acropolis. Two, it is known, were taken to Johannesburg
- in 1890, and about the same time the lower portion of a bird (of which
- the upper portion was found by the author in 1902) was removed and sold
- to Mr. Rhodes. In 1891 Mr. Bent removed four birds on beams and also
- the lower portion of another bird, but he did not discover any of them,
- as the position of all these was well known to settlers both before
- the occupation and previously to this visit, many attempts having been
- made to buy these relics from the Mogabe Chipfuno, who persistently
- refused to part with them. These four birds on beams and another beam
- on which had once been a bird were standing more or less erect and
- fixed in granite cement on the Eastern Temple on the Acropolis, which
- for years previously had been used as a cattle kraal, and the holes and
- places in which they once stood, and from which Mr. Bent removed them,
- can be seen to-day. But on the authority of very early visitors, and
- of the Mogabe Handisibishe, there are still two birds unaccounted for.
- Possibly the mention of this fact may lead to their recovery. There
- is a general belief that one of these birds is in a certain museum in
- Austria, and this is quite possible, seeing that at least two Austrian
- scientists have visited this <span class="pagenum" id="Page_107">107</span>country. The total number of birds
- known to have been found at Zimbabwe prior to 1902 was eight.</p>
-
- <div class="figcenter" id="i_106">
- <img src="images/i_106.jpg" width="600" height="351" alt="" />
- <div class="caption">FRONT, SIDE AND BACK VIEWS OF SOAPSTONE BIRD, ZIMBABWE</div>
- </div>
-
- <p>In 1902–3 the author unearthed the upper portion of the fractured bird
- (Pl. I., fig. 1), the lower portion of which was found on the Acropolis
- in 1890, together with a section of the beam upon which it once stood.
- The head, neck, and shoulders of this bird are 9½ in. long. Up the
- neck, front, and back is a carved protruding rib. This portion of the
- bird is in an extremely good state of preservation, and the carving
- shows more artistic skill than do any of the birds on beams in the Cape
- Town Museum.</p>
-
- <p>In 1903 the author discovered the tenth carved soapstone bird on
- beam. This was found in Philips Ruins, the most interesting buildings
- outside the Acropolis and Elliptical Temple. The bird and beam, which
- are still intact, were found on the east side of a high and massive
- wall and at the south side of a small conical tower in the North-East
- Enclosure of these ruins, being buried in soil and block débris to a
- depth of 3 ft. It was upside down, with the base resting against the
- side of the cone, from the summit of which it most probably had fallen,
- as the cone, which is approached by two steps and a platform on its
- east side, was covered with granite cement, while the base of the beam
- bears marks of its having once stood embedded in granite cement. All
- the birds at Zimbabwe found standing, with one exception, had the bases
- of the beams fixed in excellent granite cement. This bird and beam are
- undoubtedly not only in the best state of preservation of any yet found
- at Zimbabwe, but show evidence of more artistic workmanship having been
- bestowed upon them than any of those previously discovered. Up the face
- of the beam is carved a crocodile 16 in. long, and round the <i>cestus</i>
- beneath the bird’s feet, which is 3 in. deep, is carved work—on one
- side a large double row of chevron pattern, similar to the pattern
- on the east wall of the Elliptical Temple, and on the opposite side
- a single row of chevron, surmounted by two large em<span class="pagenum" id="Page_108">108</span>bossed circular
- discs; the back edge of the beam is plain, and the front edge above the
- crocodile has two small embossed circular discs. The bird stands 11
- in. high, the total height of the beam and bird being 5 ft. 5 in., its
- width 8 in. on the flat sides, and 2½ in. on its end edges.</p>
-
- <p><em>Miniature soapstone birds</em> on pedestals have been found by other
- explorers of Zimbabwe, but the writer discovered only a portion of one
- of such birds.</p>
-
- <p>In Mr. Bent’s work are given the opinions of several of the best-known
- scientists of Europe, who, by means of the birds and associated relics
- found at Zimbabwe, connect the worship carried on there with that of
- the ancient Sabæan people of South Arabia, who worshipped the goddess
- Almaquah (Venus), the Morning Star. See Preface, also pages 181–87 of
- <cite>The Ruined Cities of Mashonaland</cite>.</p>
-
- <p>The best-made <em>soapstone bowls</em> are found on the lower granite cement
- floors of the ruins and far below any native clay floors, the southern
- side of the Acropolis, the eastern half of the Elliptical Temple, and
- Philips Ruins yielding these in quantities. The fragments of bowls
- with carved processions of horned animals, of which a dozen pieces
- have recently been discovered, and which fragments represent different
- sized bowls, were found only on the lowest floors, and these only on
- the Acropolis. This was also the experience of Mr. Bent. But there is
- an exception to this rule, viz. that the ancients, or some people of
- a period prior to the Makalanga, had, on the bowls becoming broken,
- thrown the fragments over the west and south edges of the Acropolis
- Hill, where fragments may still be found among and under the wall
- débris which has fallen down the precipitous sides of the hill.
- Probably before these fragments became, at a later date, completely
- covered by further falls of wall débris, native people of a remote age
- converted some of these into slabs for the <i>isafuba</i> game, and cut the
- sets of game-holes on their flat bases and on the inside of the higher
- rims, while they <span class="pagenum" id="Page_109">109</span>have also rudely scratched the usual native designs
- on the opposite side to the carving—crude designs which are obviously
- in striking contrast to the artistic work of the original makers of the
- bowl. Such portions, and but a few only, have been found on very old
- native clay floors on the Acropolis.</p>
-
- <div class="figcenter" id="i_108">
- <img src="images/i_108.jpg" width="600" height="357" alt="" />
- <div class="caption">FRONT AND SIDE VIEWS OF SOAPSTONE BIRD ON BEAM,
- DISCOVERED BY AUTHOR AT PHILIPS’ RUINS, ZIMBABWE, IN 1893</div>
- </div>
-
- <p>The fragments of the soapstone bowls recently found vary in style,
- size, and carving, and these fragments represent at least thirty
- different bowls. Mr. Bent also found fragments representing some ten
- different bowls, and as there still remain large areas of lower floors
- to be opened out, there may be still further evidences of even more
- extensive use of these articles by the ancients of all periods at
- Zimbabwe. The diameters, judged by the radii of the segments, vary
- from 1 ft. 1½ in., which is the smallest size yet found, to 1 ft. 3¾
- in., the largest so far discovered. The heights of the outside of the
- rims range from 2 in. to 3½ in., the majority being about 2¾ in. The
- rims, which are all without flange, except in one instance, are from
- 1⅛ in. to 1⅝ in. in thickness. The bases of the bowls have about the
- same average thickness, but in a few cases they are somewhat thinner.
- The insides of the bowls from rim to rim are always beautifully flat
- and smooth. The bottoms are thickly covered with fine scratches, as if
- the bowls had been constantly pushed along the top of stone or fine
- cement work. The insides of some of the bowls show signs of having been
- subjected to very great heat previously to the breaking of the article.
- It may well be imagined that bowls of these dimensions, cut out of
- solid soapstone, itself an exceedingly heavy stone, must have been of
- great weight, and that without considering any contents they might have
- held.</p>
-
- <p>A few bowls only were plain—that is, with no decorative pattern on the
- outside—though all are finely worked, and the plainest has rounded
- sides which slightly project at the top of the rim. The designs on the
- relics vary, and include procession of horned animals (Pl. I., fig.
- 4), zebras, dogs, a bird,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_110">110</span> and a man. The decorations on the majority
- of the bowls comprise (1) herring-bone, plain; (2) herring-bone on
- cords, <i>i.e.</i> two parallel cords with their respective lines of strands
- inclining opposite ways, and thus together forming a herring-bone
- pattern; (3) cord pattern, the strands of the parallel cords both
- inclining in the same direction. These cords in (2) and (3) are found
- both vertically and horizontally. In the case of cord pattern of any
- sort the cords are carved in lengths, the lengths being divided by
- plain protruding squares at intervals; (4) circular discs sunk into
- the surface, the discs being either plain or covered with rings within
- rings till the centre is reached; (5) a chain of diamond-shaped panels
- with centres completely filled up with lines parallel to the outer
- lines.</p>
-
- <p>A pattern (6) (Pl. I., fig. 5), new in Zimbabwe relics, was recently
- found on the rim of a soapstone bowl discovered in Maund Ruins in
- the Valley of Ruins. This consists of two wave bands crossing and
- recrossing each other throughout their length, and thus making a
- continuous line of perfect circles. This is very correctly carved, and
- the artistic merit of its workmanship is equal, if not superior, to
- that of any soapstone relic yet found at Zimbabwe.<a id="FNanchor_34" href="#Footnote_34" class="fnanchor">[34]</a></p>
-
- <p>Among other soapstone “finds” made recently at these ruins are two
- fragments of two <em>double claw-hammer-shaped ingot moulds</em> (Pl. I.,
- figs. 7 and 8), each fragment being the major portion of such mould.
- These were cut into the broken section of an ornamented beam. Moulds of
- this shape are not, therefore, necessarily ancient, though the form may
- have been handed down from ancient times. Mr. Selous, some years ago,
- discovered considerable quantities of copper ingot moulds in actual use
- by the natives of Katanga, and these were almost the identical shape of
- the ingot mould discovered by Mr. Bent at Zimbabwe. The Administrator
- of North-Eastern Rhodesia reported in March, 1900, that <span class="pagenum" id="Page_111">111</span>ingots of
- copper in the form of a St. Andrew’s Cross were common articles of
- trade in the Katanga district. It must also be recollected that three
- such ingots have been found in Southern Rhodesia. Though old, their
- appearance does not in any instance suggest antiquity. The author,
- taking these points into consideration, does not believe that the ingot
- mould discovered by Mr. Bent can be any evidence of the occupation of
- this country by the Phœnicians, and this opinion is further confirmed
- by the locations of the moulds found. (See <cite>The Ancient Ruins of
- Rhodesia</cite>, pages 128 and 141; also Appendix thereto, <a href="#NOTE_C">Note C</a>.)</p>
-
- <p>A straight <em>bar mould</em> (Pl. I., fig. 9) which shows signs of
- considerable use has also been found, but on an upper clay floor. It
- is believed that this was used for moulding copper bars. The natives
- of Kafue, the Molembo people of modern times, and the local Barotse,
- all these being races of skilful copper workers, are known to have made
- identically shaped copper bars.</p>
-
- <p>Other soapstone articles include a <em>ball</em>, a few <em>whorls</em>, <em>amulets</em>,
- and <em>daha pipe-bowls</em>, the latter being of Makalanga make, while it
- would be extremely difficult to say to which period the other articles
- belonged.</p>
-
- <h3>2. GOLD ARTICLES<a id="FNanchor_35" href="#Footnote_35" class="fnanchor">[35]</a></h3>
-
- <p><em>Gold</em> in almost every form has been found in quantities on several
- of the lower floors of the ruins, and from its locations must have
- been produced and worked, not only by ancients, but by very old Kafir
- people, possibly under Moslem Arab supervision, for concave fragments
- of Kafir pottery of a very far back period (and so pronounced by
- Dr. Hahn and other experts) have been used as crude <em>scorifiers</em>,
- and the gold can still be seen on them in the flux, while other
- undoubted Kafir remains, some of which are claimed to be Makalanga of
- an exceedingly old make, are found associated with the scorifiers.
- The mediæval Makalanga, as early Portuguese records show, <span class="pagenum" id="Page_112">112</span>not only
- produced gold but manufactured it, especially into gold wire. It may be
- conjectured that this style of metal work was due to Arab influence,
- for the earliest Portuguese records frequently testify that the Arabs
- possessed important colonies in the country of the Monomotapa, colonies
- sufficiently influential to mould the policy of successive Monomotapas,
- especially as against the incursion of Portuguese, and that the main
- purpose of the Arab intruders in the country was to obtain gold
- and ivory. Until the last decade, when the cheap and ready-made
- European goods became obtainable by the natives, the Makalanga can be
- conclusively shown to have been a nation of metal smiths capable of
- producing most excellent work, and of drawing very fine wire, while
- to-day their art of making wire bangles and covering articles with work
- in correct patterns is such that the difference between the quality of
- the native work and that produced by machinery in Europe can hardly be
- detected. It must be remembered, too, that previously to, and for some
- time after, the occupation, it was possible to buy gold beads from the
- natives in Mashonaland. These might to a large extent have been found
- in ancient ruins, but the majority of such articles so bartered for
- from the natives consisted of Kafir-made copper and iron bangles with
- gold beads at intervals round the circle.</p>
-
- <p>Gold and gold articles of the more delicate and artistic manufacture
- belong mainly to the period of the ancients, but gold, as shown by
- tradition, history, and “finds,” was also a product of mediæval
- Makalanga, as can be further demonstrated by any excavator of very old
- Makalanga floors, and of this the proofs exist abundantly.</p>
-
- <p>The small <em>gold crucibles</em> of granite clay similar to those described
- on page 221 of Mr. Bent’s work, and found on the lowest floors and in
- rock holes and fissures used for depositing débris, where they must
- have been thrown away as rubbish after the small cakes of gold had been
- removed,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_113">113</span> although they still contained in the flux large beady pieces
- of gold. A large number of these have been found in positions where the
- Kafir clay scorifiers are not met with. It would be well in considering
- the “finds” of crucibles not to treat them with the pottery gold
- scorifiers, for, so far as discoveries lead, they undoubtedly appear to
- belong to entirely different ages.</p>
-
- <p>Several sizes of <em>gold beads</em> have been found. There is no doubt that
- some places in certain enclosures of the older ruins will yield a fair
- quantity when the soil on the lower floors is systematically treated.
- Several beads are perfectly round, others are round but with flat ends,
- others again show two facets encircling them and meeting at the widest
- point.</p>
-
- <p><em>Beaten gold</em> to the amount of about 6 ozs. was found on the lower
- floors. This was discovered in the form of plates usually about 1½
- in. to 2 in. by 1 in., each plate having small holes round the edges,
- in many of which holes the gold tacks still remained. One piece was
- wider at one end than at the other, and this is believed to have been a
- sheathing encircling a section of a piece of ebony found with it, the
- ebony stick being thick at the top and tapered towards the end. There
- were remains of embossed designs on two pieces of beaten gold, one of
- diamond pattern and the other a plain circle with curved radiating
- marks.</p>
-
- <p><em>Gold tacks</em> were most usually found with the beaten gold. These are of
- microscopic size. The majority have wedged-shaped heads, and the others
- flattened heads. It is believed that these tacks served to fasten the
- gold sheathing on to wooden articles used by the ancients.</p>
-
- <p><em>Bar-gold</em> and <em>gold-cake</em> were found on the lowest floors in the
- Elliptical Temple and North-East Passage respectively. <em>Gold dust</em> is
- found in certain enclosures only, but on the lowest floors. Over two
- hundred pannings of the soil in various enclosures have been made. The
- soil of some enclosures is absolutely destitute of any trace of gold,
- so also<span class="pagenum" id="Page_114">114</span> is the veld soil brought into the ruins by native people over
- one hundred and fifty years ago. In some places outside the ruins
- pannings show gold, and pieces of beaten gold and gold wire have been
- found in such places.</p>
-
- <p>One complete <em>gold bangle</em> of twisted wire, most artistically wrought
- and weighing 2½ ozs., was found on the bed-rock in an enclosure on the
- Acropolis Hill. Another complete gold bangle was found on the lowest
- floor of No. 15 Enclosure of the Elliptical Temple. Short pieces of
- twisted gold wire of various gauges have been found at several ruins.
- Most of such pieces are parts of broken bangles.</p>
-
- <p><em>Gold scorifiers</em> of native pottery were found in quantities on an
- intermediate floor in No. 6 Enclosure of the Elliptical Temple,
- together with a pair of iron pincers and Arabian glass. The report made
- by Dr. P. Daniel Hahn, <span class="smcap">ph. d.</span>, <span class="smcap">m.a.</span>, Professor of
- Chemistry, South African Chemical and Metallurgical Laboratory, Cape
- Town, on these scorifiers, is as follows:—</p>
-
- <p>“The several fragments of scorifiers sent for analysis did not
- all contain sufficient flux to be removed without being mixed
- up with the substance of the scorifier. A fair quantity of flux
- could, however, be separated in sufficient purity for analysis.</p>
-
- <p>“The flux was composed of:—</p>
-
- <table summary="Compasition">
- <tbody>
- <tr>
- <td>Silica</td>
- <td class="tdr"><div>77.616%</div></td>
- </tr>
- <tr>
- <td>Ferrous Oxide</td>
- <td class="tdr"><div>.464%</div></td>
- </tr>
- <tr>
- <td>Aluminic Oxide</td>
- <td class="tdr"><div>6.703%</div></td>
- </tr>
- <tr>
- <td>Lime</td>
- <td class="tdr"><div>7.095%</div></td>
- </tr>
- <tr>
- <td>Magnesia</td>
- <td class="tdr"><div>7.421%</div></td>
- </tr>
- <tr>
- <td>Gold</td>
- <td class="tdr"><div>.363%</div></td>
- </tr>
- <tr>
- <td>Sodic Oxide</td>
- <td class="tdr"><div>.210%</div></td>
- </tr>
- <tr>
- <td>Potassic Oxide</td>
- <td class="tdr"><div>.106%</div></td>
- </tr>
- </tbody>
- </table>
-
- <p>“No Borate or Fluoride was found in the flux.</p>
-
- <p>“The composition of this flux is remarkable, inasmuch as the
- alkalies are present in very small proportion only, while the
- alkaline earths prevail. Also the amount of silica is very
- high.</p>
-
- <p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_115">115</span></p>
-
- <p>“The flux melted readily when it was heated on a platinum lid
- in a muffle furnace at the temperature required for expelling
- auriferous lead.”</p>
-
- <p>Dr. Hahn has further informed the author that pieces of scorifiers are
- fragments of native pottery similar to that found in different parts of
- South Africa, and he adds, “They are certainly not European but native
- pottery.”</p>
-
- <h3>3. COPPER ARTICLES</h3>
-
- <p>Discoveries of copper in several forms are made on intermediate and
- higher levels. So far no copper article has been found by any explorer
- at Zimbabwe which could be claimed as being ancient, though doubtless
- the ancients worked also in copper, and it is quite probable that
- copper articles made in pre-Kafir times may yet be found. Such copper
- articles as have been found show a decided Kafir form, the copper
- battle-axes and barbed spearheads, bangles, beads, and wire-work
- closely resembling the iron articles still made by the natives,
- though of a somewhat superior design and make, and some of these in
- all probability, judging by their location and the associated finds,
- covered a period extending from mediæval times until comparatively a
- few years ago. The floors and immediate vicinity of native huts of
- the oldest construction yield copper articles abundantly, while later
- native floors have a larger percentage of iron articles.</p>
-
- <p>Three pounds’ weight of thin and narrow strips of <em>copper sheathing</em>
- with tack-holes round the edges and copper tacks were found on one of
- the higher levels, and at a depth of several feet below were granite
- cement steps and buttresses of excellent construction. This sheathing
- had evidently covered some wooden article.</p>
-
- <p>The copper used in most instances is pronounced to be pure metal and
- free from the usual alloys. The metal in these is of so pliable a
- nature that <em>spearheads</em> can be easily<span class="pagenum" id="Page_116">116</span> twisted by hand into almost any
- shape. One spearhead was copper and tin, but the latter was present
- in very small proportion. Several articles once thought to be bronze
- are now pronounced to be of copper only. A small piece of a bar of
- tin was found on an intermediate floor. <em>Copper wire</em>, mostly in the
- form of bangles, is very plentiful on intermediate floors, also large
- <em>cakes of copper</em> and <em>copper slag</em>, but so far the actual remains of
- copper-smelting furnaces <i>in situ</i> have not been met with at Zimbabwe,
- though judging by the amount of copper slag and <em>copper ore</em> found at
- the extreme east of the Acropolis ruins, copper-smelting was carried
- on in that locality during the period when the gold scorifiers made
- of native pottery were being used. Here were found portions of clay
- <em>cupolas</em> which had been used for copper-smelting, circular and deep,
- about the size of a small teacup. The fine and delicate <em>copper chain</em>
- found in Renders Ruins is believed to be of Arab origin, and used to
- suspend the lamp-holder found with it. Pieces of a small <em>copper box</em>,
- and several solidly made <em>copper bangles</em>, and <em>copper finger-rings</em>
- in snake form with the extremities coiled, were also found in Renders
- Ruins on the same level where the copper chain and several articles of
- Arab origin were discovered.</p>
-
- <h3>4. IRON ARTICLES</h3>
-
- <p>Objects made of iron are found in all floors, but mainly on
- intermediate and upper floors. Makalanga iron tools, ornaments,
- weapons, and iron slag are found in great profusion on the upper
- floors, especially in the black surface mould and among grass and shrub
- roots. Modern native-made <em>iron hoes</em> are as a rule without any sign
- of bevel to strengthen the blade, but iron hoes with a peculiar bevel
- down the centre of the blade on both sides are found among native
- articles of a rather superior character and at slightly lower depths.
- These latter have a depression stamped down the centre of the blade
- which raises a bevel on the opposite <span class="pagenum" id="Page_117">117</span>face, while on the opposite
- side another depression has been stamped parallel with the raised
- bevel on that side, thus providing a rib on each face, which greatly
- strengthens the hoe. This class of bevel has been pronounced by experts
- to be an old form employed also in other parts of the world, and local
- authorities on Makalanga iron-work assign this make of hoe to several
- generations ago, while the Makalanga themselves state that such hoes
- are found in very old deserted villages of their people, but have not
- been made during their time, but used to be so made by their fathers’
- fathers.</p>
-
- <div class="figcenter illow600" id="i_116">
- <div class="attribt">PLATE 2.</div>
- <img src="images/i_116.jpg" width="600" height="353" alt="" />
- <div class="attribr">Methuen &amp; C<sup>o</sup></div>
- </div>
-
- <p><em>Iron chisels</em> (Pl. III., figs, 1 and 2) are found on almost all
- floors, and were it not for noting the actual spots where they are
- found and the associated articles, it would be difficult to state,
- so closely do they resemble each other, which of them were antique
- and which old or modern native. This difficulty is increased when old
- Kafir iron-chisels and picks are found to be greatly corroded, while
- some of the iron tools found in positions suggesting a great antiquity
- are sometimes found in an almost perfect condition. The sizes of the
- various chisels used by the ancients on blocks in the oldest portions
- of the ruins, and also on the soapstone beams, are still clearly
- distinguishable.</p>
-
- <p><em>Iron picks</em> are found on older native floors, and these vary in make
- and design, and may be classified as follows:—</p>
-
- <p>(<i>a</i>) Double-pointed picks made of a short, thick piece of iron tapered
- at each end, the middle part of which is held by a short iron handle
- (Pl. II., fig. 11). These have also been found in old workings in
- both Matabeleland and Mashonaland, and especially in the Mazoe and
- neighbouring districts. Several of the early writers on this country
- state that these picks had been supplied to their native labourers
- by the mediæval Portuguese, but it is impossible at present to state
- whether this belief be correct or otherwise. Certainly these picks have
- been mostly found in districts once occupied by<span class="pagenum" id="Page_118">118</span> the Portuguese. There
- is a character in the design, class of iron used, and the make that
- does not suggest a native origin.</p>
-
- <p>(<i>b</i>) An iron pick (Pl. III., fig. 3), similar to the one shown on
- page 217 of Mr. Bent’s book, but in a better state of preservation,
- was recently found at Zimbabwe. It is almost certain that this class
- of pick once had wooden handles up the middle of which was a hole, and
- through it passed the iron bar which bound the pick and the handle
- firmly together.</p>
-
- <p>(<i>c</i>) The pick (Pl. II., fig. 11) is formed by a bar of iron which is
- bent back a few inches from the top, and in the front of the bend is a
- hole running up the centre inside the bent-back portion, and into this
- hole the haft of the pick is fixed. These have been found complete.</p>
-
- <p>All three classes of picks are found on intermediate and upper clay
- floors, yet the local natives affirm that they have never known them to
- be made, though they are aware of their purpose.</p>
-
- <p>Included in the finds of iron articles was a well-made <em>iron spoon</em>
- with a long handle squared at the end. This was found among the Arab
- belongings in Renders Ruins, also an <em>iron spearhead</em> (Pl. II., fig.
- 16) with peculiarly designed spaces in its edges as if for inflicting
- a more than usually serious wound. An <em>ornamented spearhead</em> (Pl. II.,
- fig. 15) with its point decorated with bead-like bevels diminishing in
- size from base to point. An <em>iron lamp-stand</em> (PI. II., figs. 17 and
- 18) with eight bent-up arms (with which was found 12 ft. of fine copper
- chain in lengths of about 18 in. with pottery affixed at intervals) was
- also found with the Arab articles.</p>
-
- <p><em>Iron bangles</em>, both solid and of wire-work, are found on upper floors
- in the black surface mould and among grass roots. Some of these must
- be exceedingly old, and in the wire bangles the fibre or zebra hair
- (this, in some instances, being found intact), round which the wire
- was twisted, has completely disappeared. In many instances some traces
- more or<span class="pagenum" id="Page_119">119</span> less distinct of the fibre or hair still remained. Twisted
- iron wire-work, evidently imported wholesale, has been found at one
- spot only, and in great quantities in the form of coils, and not cut up
- into lengths for use as bangles. The coils, which are now fused, must
- have contained very many feet of this twisted wire. The same applies to
- coils of twisted brass wire in large coils found also at the same spot,
- which, as is shown later, was evidently an old Arab trading station.</p>
-
- <p><em>Iron nails</em> (Pl. II., figs. 2 and 4) are not limited to any particular
- floor, and are found almost everywhere in the ruins. But these vary
- considerably in make. The oldest form of nail and the best designed
- is that found at greatest depth. This is wedge-shape headed. Another
- form of exceedingly old class of nails is that where the head is formed
- by doubling the nail back for about half an inch. But the head is not
- welded, the bottom part of the bent-back portion being slightly tapered
- where it meets the side of the nail. These nails in several instances
- were made difficult of extraction from the wood by being barbed and
- notched, and in some cases, especially of a rivet class of smaller
- nails, the nails, when the iron was hot, were twisted in the centre
- only, and a rude sort of screw was thus made with protruding edges.
- It can be seen that several twisting operations were required to form
- these spiral bandings, and that these separate twistings do not connect
- together as in a perfect screw. The larger nails are from 4 in. to 6
- in. long, the rivet class varying from 1½ in. to 4 in.</p>
-
- <p><em>Iron shoes and collars</em> once having served as bands round wooden
- posts, possibly to keep them from splitting, especially in a climate
- where there are daily such rapid changes from heat to cold, and which
- plays such havoc with the modern imported timber. These bands, which
- average almost an inch in width, generally passed twice round the post,
- and the shapes of the circumference of the post are square, oblong
- (these are the most frequent), or circular, but always per<span class="pagenum" id="Page_120">120</span>fectly
- exact, showing that the ancients and older inhabitants of the ruins
- used wood that had been specially shaped with tools, and not the rough,
- unworked poles used by old and present natives, many of which can be
- still seen never to have been touched with any tool save in cutting
- it from the tree and in lopping off small branches. These shoes and
- collars are found on very old floors, their greatest length or diameter
- being 4¾ in.</p>
-
- <p>One important fact is clearly demonstrated by the presence in
- quantities on the older floors of nails and shoes, and it is that the
- original builders and their more immediate successors extensively
- employed woodwork in the fittings of all the enclosures, some of it
- being of large dimensions, and in all probability worked with tools,
- and not used in the rough state. The general distribution of these
- nails and shoes throughout the enclosures, and at some depth, convinces
- one that substantial wooden fittings once existed in these enclosures,
- for the large sizes of the older forms of nails and the make of the
- shoes and collars preclude any suggestion of many of them having been
- used in woodwork which could have been easily removed.</p>
-
- <p>A <em>forked iron instrument</em> (Pl. II., fig. 5), with six gold bosses
- riveted with gold on to the iron, is certainly of a very antique
- character, though possibly not an article belonging to the original
- builders, for the condition of the iron and its location, while
- pointing to some antiquity, rather precludes any idea of its being
- of the earliest date. This was found in the Western Temple at the
- Acropolis ruins, at a point near, but not so deep as, the spot which
- Mr. Swan styles “the centre of the arc of the curved and decorated main
- wall of the Western Temple on the hill.”</p>
-
- <p>The <em>iron pincers</em> (Pl. II., fig. 2), found with the gold scorifiers
- on an intermediate floor in the Elliptical Temple, are of simple
- construction, and are made of a bar of iron tapered at each end and
- doubled together, the doubled end being<span class="pagenum" id="Page_121">121</span> hammered close, but not
- welded. Traces of flux are on the tapered points. A second pair of iron
- pincers, but not in such good condition, were found on an intermediate
- floor in the Acropolis ruins.</p>
-
- <p>Some six pairs of <em>double iron gongs</em> were also recently found, but not
- in any position or associated with articles suggesting antiquity. These
- were found on old Makalanga floors, also among grass roots and in black
- surface mould. Yet the type and pattern of gong is undoubtedly ancient,
- being found in Egypt and seen in the ancient paintings in that country,
- but like the rod of iron, the pillow, the ingot mould, and a score of
- other articles used not only by Makalanga but by other peoples of this
- continent, the form and make of these gongs have been handed down from
- time immemorial. The local natives know the use of these gongs, and
- say that they were beaten with an iron striker (Pl. II., fig. 20), but
- they have not seen any at Zimbabwe since they arrived seventy years
- ago, nor can they say that their own people ever made them, but they
- suppose that the old Makalanga, who, up to at least one hundred years
- ago, are known to have lived in the Zimbabwe ruins, made and used them.
- These gongs are known to local natives who have travelled, and these
- say they have seen them in use in the Zambesia districts, where they
- are used to greet the arrival of chiefs and the appearance of the new
- moon, also as a signal of warning. The two gongs are bound together
- by an iron band, which forms the handle. One pair was found on the
- floor of a hut built on block foundations with the usual clay-rounded,
- bevelled, and circular base, exactly similar to those on the filled-in
- plateau of No. 1 Ruins at Khami (see Chapter VII., section “Native
- Huts found in Ancient Ruins,” <i>post</i>, p. 152). The gongs found at
- Zimbabwe average 16½ in. high, and their sides are hammered together
- out of two thick sheets of soft iron. They have no clappers, and are
- intended to be struck from without. They have frequently been found
- in Kazembe<span class="pagenum" id="Page_122">122</span> country between the Zambesi and Lake Tanganyika, where
- the natives state that the gongs are not made now, and that they are
- very old (<cite>Anthrop. Journal</cite>, 1901, Article 39). Dr. Holub (vol. ii.,
- p. 147) gives an illustration of a double iron gong of crude make and
- design, still in use among the Barotse as a musical instrument. Sir
- H. M. Stanley states that these double iron gongs were in use by the
- natives of Urangi (Upper Congo), and also at Mangala on that river.
- His illustrations of these gongs show great similarity to those found
- in various parts of Southern Rhodesia. Several writers on South-East
- Africa describe an identical iron gong still in use among the natives.
- Each gong gives a different sound to its companion gong.</p>
-
- <p>A <em>single iron gong</em> (Pl. II., fig. 22) was also found among old native
- articles. The gong is oblong, and has an ornament at each end made
- of tapered strips of iron coiled into circles, and these ornaments
- strongly suggest that the gong was only used when suspended. It is 13½
- in. long and 5½ in. deep. No explorer in this country appears to have
- seen a gong of this description. Its style and make are altogether
- unique.</p>
-
- <p>One iron rod or sceptre, 3 ft. 5 in. long, was also found in a position
- not suggestive of antiquity. This was recognised by the natives as
- the rod of a chief, being a native symbol of power. Some of the
- dynastic chiefs of the Makalanga still possess these iron rods. The
- end of the rod is bent back to form the handle. Mr. Bent says the iron
- sceptres borne by Makalanga chiefs have their parallels in the north
- of the African continent! Ruling “with a rod of iron” is a scriptural
- description of despotic government.</p>
-
- <p>Pieces of worked iron, with rings let through the top ends and
- broadening at the base, where there is a different shaped hole of a
- distinct form on each base, appear to have been <em>keys</em> (Pl. II., figs.
- 7 and 8). These were found with the Arab belongings in Renders Ruins.</p>
-
- <div class="figcenter illow600" id="i_122">
- <div class="attribt">PLATE 3.</div>
- <img src="images/i_122.jpg" width="600" height="463" alt="" />
- <div class="attribr">Methuen &amp; C<sup>o</sup></div>
- <div class="caption">— Relics &amp; “Finds” —<br />
- Great Zimbabwe 1802–3.</div>
- </div>
-
- <p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_123">123</span></p>
-
- <p>There are still to be seen the remains of native <em>iron-smelting
- furnaces</em>, one being in almost perfect condition, but all are
- exceedingly old, and were found standing seventy years ago, when the
- present Makalanga came to live at Zimbabwe. The “female breast and
- furrow” pattern is on every native furnace. Portions of <em>blow-pipes</em>
- and great quantities of <em>iron slag</em> are found on the higher floors of
- clay in several of the ruins.</p>
-
- <h3>5. BRASS ARTICLES</h3>
-
- <p>So far as investigations lead, no relics of brass have been found on
- the lower floors of any of the ruins at Zimbabwe. But on the upper
- clay floors brass in several forms is found in abundance. It will be
- remembered that in 1514 Duarte Barbosa wrote, “The people of Monomotapa
- come to Sofala charged with gold, and give such quantities that the
- merchants gain one hundred for one.” This was written soon after the
- first arrival of the Portuguese at Sofala, and given in a description
- of Arab trade on the coast, which they found to be flourishing. But
- before that period the Arab barter article for the gold was mainly
- brass, though “coloured stuffs and beads of Cambay” were also used for
- the purpose of barter, for the Arab trade with this country dated back
- long before the arrival of the Portuguese. The Arab writer, Omar ibn
- l’Wardi, stated (<i>circa</i> 1200 <span class="smcap">a.d.</span>), in alluding to South-East
- Africa, “The most remarkable produce of this country is its quantity of
- native gold ... in spite of which the natives adorn their persons with
- ornaments of brass.” So to-day a native will gladly pay an enormous
- amount over the cost price for any attractive-looking but shoddy brass
- article. The brass ornaments of women weigh from 1½ lbs. to 3 lbs.,
- while the men spend hours in polishing and rearranging their brass
- bangles. Therefore it is not surprising that brass wire, brass wire
- bangles, and solid brass bangles, should be found on the clay floors of
- the ruins.<span class="pagenum" id="Page_124">124</span> The quantity imported as barter goods for gold must have
- been simply enormous, especially in view of the prevailing custom of
- these people from time immemorial to bury with their dead all their
- personal ornaments.</p>
-
- <p>There is one class of brass bangle that deserves some attention, and
- this is found in positions suggesting a greater age than any other
- finds of brass articles. This is a twisted wire bangle, but the wire
- is flat and exceedingly narrow. In many of these the hair or fibre
- round which it was coiled has disappeared with time. Coils of this
- make of wire-work ready to be cut into lengths for bangles were found
- in Renders Ruins. This and some coils of very fine rounded wire-work
- were discovered in a fused condition. Brass beads both imported and of
- native make are plentiful.</p>
-
- <h3>6. FOREIGN STONES</h3>
-
- <p>Every enclosure in the ruins at Zimbabwe which has been recently
- examined yields stone altogether foreign to the granite formation
- of the district. Many tons of <em>slate</em> have been brought here from
- a distance of at least eight miles, and also large quantities of
- soapstone from a similar distance, while <em>dolorite</em>, once used as
- anvils, was discovered, also <em>diorite</em> used as hammers, <em>quartz</em>,
- <em>jasper</em> stone showing gold, <em>serpentine</em> stone, <em>calcedony</em> pebbles,
- <em>crystal</em> pebbles, <em>metamorphic slate</em>, <em>mica schist</em>, <em>ironstone</em>
- and <em>copper ore</em>, and one or two small fragments of <em>flint</em>, and some
- <em>natural wind-worn stones</em> of peculiar form. A lithologist could
- very easily add considerably to this list. Two pieces of water-worn
- diorite of the shape of rolling-pins were found in the débris below
- the Platform at the Western Temple on the Acropolis. The finding of
- one such stone might not in itself be considered of any moment, but
- the discovery of two such pieces similar in shape may possibly have
- some significance for the student of the litholatrous practices of
- the ancients. The same might be said of several stones discovered
- here, many<span class="pagenum" id="Page_125">125</span> of which in quantities naturally assume suggestive shapes,
- while some are of purely imitative forms and not artificially treated.
- Several of the quartz pebbles showed gold very richly. All these, with
- the exception of the quartz, ironstone and copper ore, were found on
- the lowest floors.</p>
-
- <p>There were also found water-worn stones, mostly slates, with artificial
- depressions which had undoubtedly been used as tools, in some instances
- as burnishing stones, these latter being found associated with the
- older form of gold crucibles, and some of these had been most probably
- selected on account of their shape admirably suiting the fingers of the
- right hand. Some small slabs of slate found at considerable depths show
- evidences of having been extensively used as whetstones for sharpening
- edge tools.</p>
-
- <p>About one ton and a half of metamorphic slate, called by Mr. Bent
- “black slate,” and similar to that used in the mural decorations on the
- north face of the wall of No. 11 Enclosure and on the north-east wall
- of the Platform, was found among the débris in the Sacred Enclosure and
- in Nos. 9, 11, and 12 enclosures of the Elliptical Temple, especially
- at the base of the wall containing the pattern formed by means of
- these stones. All loose blocks are now stacked together in the Sacred
- Enclosure (west) at the angle formed by the Platform and the wall
- dividing off No. 9 Enclosure. At least some four tons of these blocks
- had been brought to Zimbabwe, the nearest point being on the Motelekwe
- River, at eight miles east-north-east of Zimbabwe. It is somewhat
- remarkable that no such blocks were found in the western half of the
- Elliptical Temple, nor on the Acropolis, nor at any other ruin in the
- locality.</p>
-
- <p>Beds of small splinters of imported quartz have been found at several
- points within the ruin’s area, the largest being on the west side of
- No. 1 Ruins and on the north side of the summit of Rusivanga Kopje.
- Splinters of quartz are<span class="pagenum" id="Page_126">126</span> found on all cement floors and on such floors
- as are made of burnt clay. Some of the quartz showed traces of gold,
- but most of the pannings were blank. It has never been supposed that
- the original builders carried on extensive quartz-crushing operations
- at Zimbabwe, but that the gold was brought to Zimbabwe in the form of
- dust to be smelted into ingots, both for export and local manufacture.
- Possibly the quartz was brought here for testing purposes, for these
- people who were so well acquainted with the nature of quartz-mining
- must have had some centres throughout the country where quartz could be
- tested, and it is quite natural that the “assay office” of the ancients
- for the surrounding districts might have been at Zimbabwe.</p>
-
- <h3>7. BEADS</h3>
-
- <p>In addition to beads of gold, copper, and brass, several other
- descriptions of these articles have recently been found at Zimbabwe.</p>
-
- <p>The most important are two large beads similar to one found by Mr.
- Bent, and to which he attributed a great antiquity, also some broken
- pieces of similar beads. These are black, and are covered with flowers
- resembling primroses, and the flower is outlined by parallel white
- lines. The spaces between these lines are filled in with dark brown and
- violet glaze. These were all found at great depth. The local natives
- had not seen beads of this make before.</p>
-
- <p>Beads of ivory and bone, also opaque glass beads—green and yellow,
- porcelain beads of sea-green colour and ribbed, have been found, the
- glass and porcelain beads being quite unknown to the present natives. A
- diamond-shaped calcedony bead,<a id="FNanchor_36" href="#Footnote_36" class="fnanchor">[36]</a> some clay beads bearing chevron and
- herring-bone patterns, were found on the lower clay floors.</p>
- <p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_127">127</span></p>
-
- <h3>8. WHORLS</h3>
-
- <p>Pottery whorls of about 1½ in. to 3 in. in diameter have been found in
- hundreds. These were used by old natives for drawing the threads out
- of a mass of cotton. A stick was passed through the centre, and the
- bottom end was inserted in the cotton, while the upper part was twisted
- round quickly between the palms of the hand. Most whorls are cut out of
- fragments of native bowls and pots. Many old natives will explain how
- they were used. These clay whorls are found in old deserted villages
- and in Makalanga débris heaps. The native children search for them, and
- use them as tops. It is said they were once also employed in creating
- sparks for a fire, but to-day the natives twirl the sticks between
- their palms without using a whorl. A few soapstone whorls have been
- found, but not in any position suggesting antiquity. The Makalanga of
- but a generation past were adepts in carving soapstone.</p>
-
- <h3>9. GLASS POTTERY AND CHINA</h3>
-
- <p>These finds are so numerous and diversified that they require a
- special work for their proper treatment. Some two hundred specimens
- selected from the bulk have been collected, and these with particulars
- as to their locations and associated articles, with specimens found
- elsewhere in Rhodesia, will be laid before an expert for technical
- classification, when another avenue of research with regard to the
- ancient and mediæval occupiers of this country, both native and
- foreign, will certainly be opened up. Meantime a brief reference to the
- finds, or some of them, will here suffice.</p>
-
- <p>Two portions of glass prisms, fragments of Venetian glass of dark
- green colour, being as thin and sometimes thinner than an ordinary
- watch-glass, have quite recently been found.<span class="pagenum" id="Page_128">128</span> Sections of two bowls of
- Arabian glass<a id="FNanchor_37" href="#Footnote_37" class="fnanchor">[37]</a> covered with very fine and delicately engraved tracery
- of scroll-work of flowers and tendrils. The engraving is so minute that
- it can only be seen in a strong light.</p>
-
- <p>Over and across the engraved designs are hand-painted flowers of
- primrose shape, each flower outlined in white, light blue, and pink,
- the buds being pink and white, and the stems a dark red. The shape
- of the bowls was that of the modern finger-glass. All these were
- discovered at considerable depths.</p>
-
- <div class="figcenter" id="i_128">
- <img src="images/i_128.jpg" width="600" height="336" alt="" />
- <div class="caption">Arabian Glass</div>
- </div>
-
- <p>Most of the pottery was found in hundred-weights in débris heaps and
- scattered throughout all the clay floors in all the ruins with the
- exception of some enclosures in the Valley of Ruins. But such pottery
- can be shown to be of native make. To anyone casually inspecting the
- pottery it may appear as of one and the same make, save perhaps in the
- colour of the clay of which it is made. But there are wide differences
- in the pottery, both in the clays, the make, designs, ornamentation,
- colourings, and also in their locations <span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_129"></a>[129</span>
- and in their manufacturers, just as among the present natives.</p>
-
- <p>The Barotse pottery, for instance, is of a more substantial make than
- is that of any known period or tribe of Makalanga. The patterns are
- large, bold, and entirely geometrical, and are coloured yellow, red,
- or black, with the designs painted in strong contrast to the general
- colour of the pot. Thus black patterns are laid on yellow and red
- grounds, red patterns on yellow and black, and yellow patterns on black
- and red. A collection of Barotse pottery made by Major Corydon from
- north of the Zambesi is a facsimile in make and design of the Barotse
- pottery found at Thabas Imamba, Khami, Zimbabwe, and other ruins known
- to have been occupied by Barotse up to seventy years ago. A collection
- of pottery from Khami which was brought for comparative examination to
- Zimbabwe was at once claimed by the local Barotse as being of Barotse
- make, while the local Makalanga not only emphatically denied that it
- was of their class of make and design, but added that it was the work
- of the Barotse people. The encircling bands of ornamentation on Barotse
- pottery vary from 1½ in. to 3 in. or more in depth.<a id="FNanchor_38" href="#Footnote_38" class="fnanchor">[38]</a></p>
-
- <p>Thus Makalanga pottery has its own peculiar characteristics which are
- easily discernible on examination. It is generally found to be black
- with a highly polished surface. The bowls and pots have a lighter and
- more delicate appearance, and the excellent quality of clay used, and
- its thorough manipulation, enables it to be much thinner in make yet
- equally as strong as those of coarser make; the coloured decoration
- also is altogether absent, while the pattern is more neatly executed,
- and is enclosed in encircling bands of from only half an inch to one
- inch in depth. Further, the Makalanga have always decorated their
- pottery with protruding bosses of shapes and designs peculiar to
- themselves, the <span class="pagenum" id="Page_130">130</span>female breast pattern predominating. There are at
- least fifty different sorts of such protruding designs already found
- on undoubted Makalanga floors, and these have been selected for
- examination. The pot shown in the illustration facing page 90 of <cite>The
- Ancient Ruins of Rhodesia</cite> is of very old Makalanga work, of which many
- scores are found represented at Zimbabwe.</p>
-
- <p>Finds of native pottery bear no traces of the potter’s wheel. All
- native pottery is made by hand.</p>
-
- <p>Very common sun-burnt earthenware, more earth than clay, and very
- light, is found in great quantities everywhere in the ruins, most of
- this having no decoration.</p>
-
- <p>Old Makalanga smeared the body of a pot with several thin coats of
- different-coloured clays, and sections of such pottery show the lines
- of smearings very distinctly.</p>
-
- <p>The best quality of pottery was found on one of the lowest floors in
- the Elliptical Temple. The fragments are very heavy for their size,
- and the surface is coated with soapstone clay, giving them a light
- greenish-grey colour. These must be exceedingly old if not ancient.</p>
-
- <p>The china discovered includes Nankin china identical in every
- particular with the Nankin china discovered at these ruins by Mr. Bent
- and others, and with that found in Mazoe and so many other districts
- where there still exist distinct evidences of occupation by the early
- Portuguese. The china, or porcelain, is covered completely with a
- highly rich glaze of bright blue and sea-green shades, and the articles
- when pieced together resemble in shape, an ordinary soup-plate. The
- edges are bevelled in sections of circles, the bevels extending in
- fluted form to the base, where can be seen evidences of the use of the
- potter’s wheel. The fragments found represent three different plates.
- These were discovered at some depth, but not on any ancient floor.</p>
-
- <p>One find made among the Arab belongings in Renders Ruins consists of
- excellent china of a light brown colour,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_131">131</span> about a quarter of an inch
- thick, and covered with a high glaze of blue, white, and gold enamel,
- the white forming the background. There are at least four bands of
- pattern encircling what was a large open bowl with upright edges. The
- conjectured Arab lettering is laid on with blue enamel and is outlined
- with fine scroll-work tracery in gold. The inside is glazed white, and
- has lines of faint blue enamel artistically drawn without being of any
- set pattern. The pattern on the lowest band is of palm fronds in brown
- paint and in outline only.<a id="FNanchor_39" href="#Footnote_39" class="fnanchor">[39]</a></p>
-
- <div class="figcenter" id="i_131">
- <img src="images/i_131.jpg" width="600" height="551" alt="" />
- </div>
-
- <p>Some very thin pottery covered with white enamel some inches only
- down from the rim towards the outer and inner <span class="pagenum" id="Page_132">132</span>base, with thick
- perpendicular bars of dull blue glaze. Excellent pottery of brown clay,
- very thickly covered with glaze of sea-green and deep lake colours, was
- found near the same spot.</p>
-
- <h3>10. A MEDIÆVAL ARAB TRADING STATION</h3>
-
- <p>One of the most interesting discoveries recently made was at Renders
- Ruins in the Valley of Ruins. In a corner of one of the enclosures of
- these ruins, and at some depth, and all within a few feet, were found
- the glazed pottery with Arab lettering, an iron lamp-stand and copper
- chain, an iron spoon of great age, copper snake-rings (pronounced not
- to be of native make), and several other articles suggesting some
- far back period of an Arab occupation, most probably of mediæval times.
- Over this collection of finds was a deep bed of soil silted by rains
- from higher ground, and on this surface were fragments of a Makalanga
- clay floor broken up by the roots. The Arab traders gave the first
- description of these ruins to the Portuguese, and Barbosa (1514), De
- Barros (1552), and Livio Sanuto (1588), mention the existence of Great
- Zimbabwe on the strength of information concerning it received from the
- Arab gold and ivory traders.</p>
-
- <p>In all probability this was an Arab trading centre of mediæval times,
- and by “taking stock” of the barter goods, some corroboration of this
- suggestion may be obtained. The “stock in trade” consisted of:—</p>
-
- <blockquote>
- <p class="hang">2 pints of small yellow and green glass
- beads which are unknown to present natives.</p>
-
- <p class="hang">1 pint of similar beads of larger size, also unknown to present
- natives.</p>
-
- <p class="hang">100 (at least) porcelain beads, ribbed, and of sea-green
- colour, also unknown to natives.</p>
-
- <p class="hang">15 lbs. of twisted iron wire-work in large coils for making
- bangles, and cut up into lengths for bangles.</p>
-
- <p class="hang">5 lbs. of twisted brass flat wire in large coils also, not cut
- into lengths for bangles.</p>
-
- <p class="hang"><span class="pagenum" id="Page_133">133</span></p>
-
- <p class="hang">5 lbs. of twisted brass rounded wire, ditto.</p>
-
- <p class="hang">4 doz. brass flat wire bangles and a great quantity of
- fragments of other bangles.</p>
-
- <p class="hang">Cowrie shells.</p>
- </blockquote>
-
- <p>The mediæval traders might have received the following from the natives:—</p>
-
- <blockquote>
- <p class="noindent">
- 2 elephant tusks (decayed).<br />
- 2 wart-hog tusks.<br />
- 20 (about) pieces of beaten gold.<br />
- Several pieces of broken gold-wire bangles.</p>
- </blockquote>
-
- <p>As the Arabs traded for gold produced by the natives, and also for
- ivory, no doubt they or the natives would fossick in the ruins, then
- much clearer of débris, for gold which they or the Arabs might have
- known was to be found in the enclosures. The beaten gold was all found
- within a few inches, and though its edges were pierced with tack-holes,
- pannings of the soil showed no gold tacks. As the Makalanga of those
- times were at their zenith of power, it is quite possible they did the
- actual searching themselves, and then parted with their finds to the
- Arabs, who, as history shows, only occupied the land on sufferance, the
- Arabs making their usual gain, which, according to Barbosa, was “one
- hundred for one.”</p>
-
- <p>It might well be asked why these old Arabs left their goods behind
- them. The fickle policy of successive Monomotapas might be a sufficient
- explanation of their apparently hasty exodus. According to Portuguese
- records Kapranzine, the Monomotapa in 1620, sided with the Portuguese
- as against the local Arabs, and the succeeding Monomotapa “Pedro” in
- 1643 maintained this policy. But the disappearance of the Arab traders
- from Renders Ruins will in all probability always remain an unsolved
- enigma. But one question may be asked with regard to the beads found
- here—Were they “beads of Cambay”?</p>
-
- <p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_134">134</span></p>
-
- <p>A large piece of coral still in perfect condition was found with the
- Arab articles. It has been stated, with what truth the author cannot
- say, that finely ground coral powder makes an excellent metal polish,
- and that the Arabs and Indian metal-workers on the coast use it for
- this purpose. Certainly the Arab traders up country would constantly
- require to refurbish their brass goods, and so keep them attractive for
- sale to the natives. Fragments of coral have been found in other ruins
- at Zimbabwe, also at ruins in different parts of Southern Rhodesia very
- much further inland from the coast than is Zimbabwe.</p>
-
- <div class="figcenter" id="i_134">
- <img src="images/i_134.jpg" width="600" height="546" alt="" />
- <div class="caption">Section of Floors of part of<br />N<sup>o</sup>. 6 ENCLOSURE<br />
- Elliptical Temple<br />looking South-East &amp; shewing locations of “Finds” (1902–3)</div>
- </div>
-
- <hr class="page" />
- <div class="chapter" id="CHAPTER_VII">
- <span class="pagenum" id="Page_135">135</span>
- <h2 title="CHAPTER VII NOTES ON ANCIENT ARCHITECTURE AT GREAT ZIMBABWE">
- CHAPTER VII<br /><br />
- <span class="small">NOTES ON ANCIENT ARCHITECTURE AT GREAT
- ZIMBABWE<a id="FNanchor_40" href="#Footnote_40" class="fnanchor">[40]</a></span>
- </h2>
- </div>
- <div class="subheadj">Introduction—Durability of Walls—Dilapidations—Makalanga
- Walls within the ruins—Remains of Native Huts found in
- Ruins—Passages—Entrances and Buttresses.</div>
-
- <p class="drop-cap">SINCE 1892, when the late Theodore Bent published his work on <cite>The
- Ruined Cities of Mashonaland</cite>, and 1893, when Sir John Willoughby
- issued his monograph on <cite>Further Explorations at Zimbabwe</cite>, though
- much has been discovered concerning the varying architectural types of
- ancient ruins throughout Southern Rhodesia, little has been added to
- our previous meagre store of information concerning the important group
- of ruins at Great Zimbabwe.</p>
-
- <p>But in the work now in progress of preserving these ruins from
- preventable decay and dilapidation, and of clearing away the block
- débris from the faces of the walls and the huge piles of soil débris
- deposited within the ruins by a long succession of explorers, both
- authorised and unauthorised, there have been within the last two years
- rescued from oblivion many important architectural features, the
- existence of which was altogether unsuspected by previous writers. Many
- of the interiors of the ruins are now exposed to view, thus enabling
- examinations, comparison, and measurements to be taken which before had
- been altogether impossible. <span class="pagenum" id="Page_136">136</span>Within the last eighteen months Zimbabwe
- has revealed many of the long-buried secrets of the ancient architects
- which were hidden from the eyes of Bent, Schlichter, and other
- scientific explorers of the ruins.</p>
-
- <p>Zimbabwe is stored with surprises for archæologists and antiquarians.
- Absorbing romance is buried deep below its floors. Its soil is richly
- charged with long-ungazed-at gold and prehistoric relics of high
- intrinsic value. The mysteries of the absence in Zimbabwe of any
- definite records in the form of inscriptions,<a id="FNanchor_41" href="#Footnote_41" class="fnanchor">[41]</a> and also of the
- non-discovery within the Zimbabwe area of the burial-places of the
- ancients, have yet to be solved.</p>
-
- <p>It has quite recently been held by scientists at home that the late
- discoveries of ancient ruins in Rhodesia, with their classifications
- into types and probable time-sequences and periods of distinct forms
- of architecture, have so advanced investigations in this country
- that, until similar work has been carried on among such of the ruins
- of Southern Arabia as are believed to synchronise with, or be the
- architectural prototypes of, the earliest of the Rhodesian monuments,
- it would be idle to speak dogmatically as to the lands of origin of
- the succession of ancient builders and gold miners who toiled so
- industriously in this portion of South-East Africa.</p>
-
- <p>Still, but so far only as authentic discoveries have been made, the
- suggested occupation by the Sabæo-Arabians as outlined in chapter iii.
- of <cite>The Ancient Ruins of Rhodesia</cite> affords for the present a good
- working hypothesis for the student in Rhodesia whose aim should be to
- closely watch the operations of archæologists and antiquarians in the
- land of ancient Yemen, while at the same time recording with the utmost
- exactness and fullest detail all and every possible architectural
- feature of such of the ruins in Rhodesia as may fall within the
- description of the First Period of Zimbabwe</p>
-
- <p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_137">137</span></p>
-
- <p>Architecture, of which the Great Zimbabwe is undoubtedly a most
- perfect example. This work will awaken the most piquant interest and
- fascination, for in this direction may be found the definite solution
- of our local problem as to which particular wave of the Semitic
- migrations is responsible for the erection of certain of our ruins.</p>
-
- <p>That the Great Zimbabwe will be found to be pregnant with clues to
- solve the mystery is undoubted. Notwithstanding two years’ work in
- clearing the ruins of fallen walls and silted-in soil, nine-tenths of
- the ruins still remain practically buried. Sir John Willoughby, after
- spending two months in exploring the Elliptical Temple with a large
- staff of labourers, writes that it would take at least two years to
- complete the exploration of that building, and this without touching
- anything ancient or piercing ancient floors, but simply leaving the
- building clear of all débris and just in the same condition, save for
- dilapidations, as the last race of ancient occupiers knew it. If,
- therefore, the Elliptical Temple would require this amount of time
- to be spent upon it—and this is a fair estimate of work yet to be
- done—then the Acropolis ruins must require at least a further three
- years to be spent upon them, and this calculation does not include
- the large number of ruins in the Valley of Ruins, which, if situated
- elsewhere in the country, would be considered of major importance.
- But the area of the Zimbabwe ruins, as known to Sir John Willoughby,
- was only 945 yds. by 940 yds. To-day, after carefully searching the
- surrounding kopjes, kloofs, and valleys, other ruins and walls, and
- traces of ancient walls, can be found at a distance of a mile from the
- Elliptical Temple. The Bentberg has its northern face covered with
- walls. Rusivanga Kopje shows foundations of walls and débris. Near
- Bingura’s kraal, a mile to the south-west, is a ruin, while extensive
- beds of imported gold quartz—the nearest reef being some miles
- distant—with piles of ancient blocks are to be discovered after a grass
- fire in almost all directions<span class="pagenum" id="Page_138">138</span> within the distance of a mile, and fresh
- traces of old peoples, other than those early Makalanga, are to be met
- with in the course of almost every walk. Thus the probabilities of new
- and important discoveries are incalculably great.</p>
-
- <h3>DEGREE OF DURABILITY OF WALLS</h3>
-
- <p>(<i>a</i>) As may be seen by anyone
- inspecting the walls, as well as on perusing the published description
- of many ruins of the earliest types, the elliptical and curved form
- of building has proved the most durable. In many instances the
- elliptical structures are more or less intact, while the angular and
- less skilfully built additions, extensions, and alterations of a later
- period have largely become ruinous and chaotic.</p>
-
- <p>(<i>b</i>) This is accounted for by the more excellent workmanship in the
- construction of the ruins of the elliptical type, which have far
- broader foundations, are more massive, have a decided batter-back both
- inside and outside, bonded courses, the blocks of each course being
- more carefully selected, and the summits tied with “throughs,” while
- the angular type of ruins, with their plumb walls built on straight
- lines, with independent faces either side and carelessly filled-in
- interiors, and a less superior workmanship, have caused these walls to
- suffer more than the older type of ruins.</p>
-
- <p>(<i>c</i>) Walls built on curved lines are in a far better state of
- preservation than those built on straight lines, the curves having
- served to strengthen the walls.</p>
-
- <p>(<i>d</i>) Rounded ends of walls and rounded buttresses have proved to be
- far more durable than angular ends or squared buttresses, though most
- of these latter erections are obviously of a later date.</p>
-
- <p>(<i>e</i>) The portions of divisional walls near main walls are in a better
- state of preservation than the other portions which are in the open
- parts of the ruins. This is owing to the protection and support of the
- larger walls. Many of the divisional walls are practically independent,
- and therefore<span class="pagenum" id="Page_139">139</span> more liable to collapse, but if not independent the
- number of entrances passing through them practically makes them such.</p>
-
- <h3>DILAPIDATIONS</h3>
-
- <p>At Zimbabwe both the ravages of time, as well as
- preventable damage during the last decade, have brought about the
- wholesale destruction of walls as seen to-day in their dilapidated
- condition. This is the plaint of all who have known the ruins since
- the time of the occupation. These all bemoan the fact that on each
- renewed visit to the ruins some wall is found to have disappeared, or
- some new bulging out of the massive structures threatens serious and
- immediate destruction, which no amount of lateral support or pinning
- up can now possibly prevent. Many such visitors complain that the
- decorative patterns are becoming less perfect. Photographs show this to
- be the case. In fact, so much dilapidation has taken place within the
- last few years that it is a common remark of pioneers that “the ruins
- are becoming less and less every year,” while intense disappointment
- and vexation are expressed by “old hands” when they revisit the temple
- after an interval of a few years at the serious reduction in the height
- of the Conical Tower. Photographs of the tower taken as recently as
- 1896 represent the summit as being higher than is seen to-day, while
- almost every photograph taken within the last two or three years of any
- single part of these ruins shows portions, if not the whole, of walls,
- with their distinctive features that have completely disappeared. To
- those who venerate these ancient edifices nothing can be sadder than a
- comparison of the ruins as seen to-day with the ruins as they were some
- years ago.</p>
-
- <p>But before dealing with the dilapidations of later years it might be
- well to examine the history of such of the dilapidations as can be
- read in the wall débris heaps which line the bases of every wall, for
- these débris heaps can be read with the same facility as one can read a
- book. These dilapidations<span class="pagenum" id="Page_140">140</span> are what might be termed legitimate, being
- the natural results of the ravages of time, which no means taken could
- possibly have avoided, and which have extended for very many centuries
- on end since the latest of the ancient occupiers disappeared.</p>
-
- <p>In Tintern, Melrose, and many another old building at Home we have
- ruins even now incomplete, owing to the dilapidations of but a few
- hundred years. But the most ancient ruins of Great Britain, excepting,
- of course, Stonehenge, the round towers of Ireland, the Druidical
- circles of Wales, the stone circles and cloven stones of the Isle of
- Man, and the reputed pagan temples found elsewhere, and certain of the
- Roman remains of which at present little is known, possess histories,
- and <cite>Domesday Book</cite>, and even much later records, state the names of
- the actual builders of these castles and abbeys. These buildings have
- a stamp upon them of modernity which is altogether absent at Zimbabwe,
- in comparison with the age of which the term “ancient,” as applied
- to those at Home, elastic as it is, sounds strangely inappropriate.
- And yet after a comparatively short period of non-occupation of these
- castles and buildings only sections of them can now be seen. Guides
- will state that the walls have been quarried for material for farm
- buildings, most probably for the erection of the adjoining mansion, and
- that portions were destroyed by lightning.</p>
-
- <p>But Zimbabwe, with its minimum age of some three millenniums,
- stands far more firm, more intact, and complete than any one of the
- comparatively few-centuried old ruins to be found anywhere at Home.
- Planted in South-East Africa at over two hundred miles inland from the
- coast, in the midst of populations that know nothing whatever of its
- origin, Zimbabwe’s massive and imposing walls reveal even to the most
- casual and indifferent of visitors the plan, purpose, and design of the
- original builders. Yet has it been subjected for three millenniums to
- the destructive agency of lightning storms, the<span class="pagenum" id="Page_141">141</span> frequency and severity
- of which in South-East Africa are well known. Severe earthquakes must
- have shaken its foundations, but the massive walls remain practically
- intact. Arab tradition speaks of violent earthquakes in South-East
- Africa during the fifth century, while the condition of some of the
- ruins in Rhodesia, where the walls have fallen <i>en bloc</i> sideways on to
- the ground, testifies to frequent, general, and violent earth-movements
- and earth-strains having taken place. The South-East African cyclones
- passing over it during thirty centuries probably have caused further
- dilapidations. Still, though so many walls at Zimbabwe remain more
- or less intact, it would be impossible to estimate the extent to
- which many walls may have suffered, or what have possibly disappeared
- altogether from the effects of earthquakes, for it would be difficult
- to suppose that these extensive ruins—some walls being built on the
- actual brink of precipices—have escaped all the destructive effects of
- earth-movements and storms which have occurred during the last three
- thousand years.</p>
-
- <p>The action of sub-tropical rains for centuries has destroyed whole
- lengths of walls. For instance, a trench which occupied half a dozen
- labourers two days to excavate was, after a heavy shower lasting but an
- hour, completely filled up by mud streams from a higher level. There
- is hardly a wall on the Acropolis Hill that has not had to bear some
- added weight of silted soil from higher levels, and these in places
- have been so extensive that when accumulated on the upper sides of
- walls the effect has been to push the wall bodily over. In this way the
- terraces of enclosures round the north, west, and south faces of the
- Acropolis have in most instances been entirely filled up and buried,
- while in others the outer and down-side wall has been burst through
- and destroyed. Streams of water during storms of real African violence
- have worn deep channels along the bases of some of the walls, exposing
- the foundations which bridge across the holes, the<span class="pagenum" id="Page_142">142</span> water causing the
- decomposition of the cement bed of the foundations and making the
- wall throughout its complete height to sway downwards and to bulge
- threateningly outwards. Some of these water-made holes up against the
- bases of the walls contained damp and moisture all through the dry
- season, especially those on the south side of walls where the holes
- were protected from the sun. In as many cases as possible for the time
- engaged on the preservation work (1902–4) these spots were levelled,
- and catchment areas were made, so that for the future no rain-water can
- lodge there, but the waving lines of the courses in the walls still
- show where these holes existed.</p>
-
- <p>In a similar way block débris falling from higher levels has lodged
- behind lower walls and eventually pressed them over. In some instances
- on the Acropolis a mass of walling has fallen from a great height and
- completely demolished walls below. These were no gradual dilapidations,
- but instances where sections of the higher wall had gone completely
- over <i>en masse</i>. Such falls almost entirely explain the damage done
- to the outer walls of the South-East Ancient Ascent, lengths of which
- have evidently been made good by Kafirs of a very old period, as the
- well-built ancient foundations can be seen below the later walls.</p>
-
- <p>But some walls have also been seriously damaged by falls of huge slabs
- and boulders from the faces of the granite cliffs, buttresses have been
- broken, entrances and passages completely blocked up if not utterly
- demolished. These falls, though later than the times of the ancients,
- occurred very long ago, for the depressions in the cliffs from which
- these slabs and boulders fell are now become weather-stained, but the
- shapes of the depressions and of the slabs and boulders still agree. It
- is conjectured that the gap in the central portion of the main wall of
- the Eastern Temple was caused by the fall of an immense boulder from
- the summit of the sixty-foot cliff on the north side of the temple.
- By<span class="pagenum" id="Page_143">143</span> the moving forward of a boulder for six feet from the position it
- occupied at the time of the ancients—and they had utilised this boulder
- in forming the west entrance of the same temple—the entrance was
- completely blocked up.</p>
-
- <p>But there is a process of dilapidation going on continually, a
- process which, judging by the débris piles, has been operating for
- many centuries. When walking near a wall one has to be very careful
- not to walk under any of the overhanging blocks on the summit of the
- wall. Some of these blocks are very delicately poised on the edges of
- the walls, so much so that it seems as if a shout would cause them
- to fall. Wherever possible these blocks have been drawn back flush
- again with the face of the wall, but in very many cases the walls
- are so ruined that it would be dangerous work to do this. It is one
- of the unfortunate effects of this ancient dry masonry that when one
- block topples over a small cascade of blocks usually follows it. Such
- falls, followed by cascades of blocks, are continually taking place.
- One hears them night and day, especially after rains, and frequently
- these cascades, especially those from walls above the precipice
- on the Acropolis, will continue uninterruptedly for some minutes
- together. There are many points in walls so threatening to collapse
- that no builder’s art of shoring-up could possibly prevent their fall,
- for sooner or later they must come down with a crash. Natives give
- the information that from the time of their childhood they always
- remembered these falls taking place when no one was near the walls.
- Probably the noise of falling blocks, especially at night, has served
- to inspire the local natives with some of the dread in which after
- sundown they regard the ruins. After a heavy shower one can always find
- some damage done to the walls. This is mainly due to the quantity of
- silted soil behind walls, which, becoming overgutted with water, forces
- the walls over. The only remedy, and that a partial one, would appear
- to be to remove the silted soil from behind the walls, but to<span class="pagenum" id="Page_144">144</span> complete
- such operations a large gang of labourers would have to be engaged for
- many months. Still the complaint of the early pioneer that the walls
- at Zimbabwe are gradually becoming not only less but fewer remains
- perfectly incontrovertible.</p>
-
- <p>But there is an infinitude of other causes working for the dilapidation
- of the ancient walls at Zimbabwe, and some of these are undoubtedly
- preventable. It was for the purpose of removing such causes of damage
- that the recent work of preservation was undertaken on behalf of the
- Rhodesian Government, and these operations it is the purpose of this
- volume to describe.</p>
-
- <p>The Great Zimbabwe, as also the many associated ruins scattered
- throughout Southern Rhodesia, has been subject to wholesale destruction
- of its walls by the growth of trees, the presence of damp, the falling
- of immense trees across walls, the quarrying of its walls by past and
- present natives for building material, for cattle kraals, and other
- purposes. All the ruins at Zimbabwe afford ample evidences of the
- ravages caused by vegetable growth, and no ruin appears to have escaped
- some measure of destruction from this cause.</p>
-
- <p>In 1902 the Elliptical Temple was found to be full of large trees of
- immense girth, some being at least sixty feet in height. The shelter
- from the chilly winds prevailing at night and in the dry winter
- season, and the protection from damage to bark by grass fires provided
- by the high and massive walls, together with the perpetual state
- of damp from wet season to wet season prevailing within the walls,
- the close, hothouse temperature most favourable to the promotion of
- growth, provided an area in which trees and plants could flourish most
- luxuriantly.</p>
-
- <p>The trees within the temple are almost all hard woods of slow growth.
- One tree, not by any means a large one, showed by its rings an age of
- over a hundred years. The<span class="pagenum" id="Page_145">145</span> numerous fig-trees must be of great age.
- The three immense hard-wood trees in the centre of the building may
- possibly be a hundred years old. The rest of the temple was as full of
- soft-wooded trees as space permitted, while the branches of trees near
- the main walls crowded over the tops of the walls towards the outside.
- Undergrowth of monkey-ropes, wild vines, thorn creepers, and large
- bushes formed a dense jungle through which it was almost impossible to
- pass, while the damp maintained the soil in a wet, soggy state, the
- trees being covered with orchids and long, trailing festoons of lichen,
- the shaded walls being one mass of creepers, green moss, lichens, and
- ferns, and dripping with damp. Certainly such growth made the temple
- beautifully picturesque, and added greatly to its weird, desolate, and
- solemn appearance.</p>
-
- <p>But a succession of “dust-devils” or “wind twisters” that very
- frequently pass over the country in the breathless sultry hours of
- noon passed over Zimbabwe on the second day after our arrival, and at
- once demonstrated what damage the trees were inflicting on the ruins.
- Branches were set crunching and thumping on the summits of all the
- walls, soft-wood trees bent and swept the walls of loose blocks, two
- huge hard-wood branches remorselessly scraped noisily up and down the
- sides and on the top of the Conical Tower, while small trees growing
- on the actual summits of the walls shook and bent and still further
- loosened the blocks among which their roots extended. During the few
- minutes these “twisters” lasted the labourers studiously avoided the
- walls from which the ancient blocks were falling. Under every branch
- that crossed over a wall was a deep depression in the summit caused
- by the branch thudding upon it. Many of the trees growing close to
- the walls had, with long years of banging against the side of the
- wall, lost all their bark on their inner sides, and these had become
- perfectly flat. All this havoc, caused by rocking trees and sweeping
- branches, and by huge broken limbs falling upon interior walls, must<span class="pagenum" id="Page_146">146</span>
- have been going on for many years. The effect has been to cause the
- removal of the “throughs,” ties, and large bonding stones with which
- the ancients secured the summits of the walls, and these once gone
- the wall was subject to rapid dilapidation. Later, during high winds
- which prevailed for some days, it was most distressing to hear the
- noise of the trees grating and heavily beating against the walls,
- and the constant falling down of ancient blocks. The effects of such
- destruction can be seen to-day in the broken edges of the summits
- and in the deep depressions which occur at intervals along the lines
- of both main and divisional walls. Even the chevron pattern has been
- irretrievably damaged by branches of trees growing outside the temple,
- while the little tower in the Sacred Enclosure has, within the last few
- years, been thrown over by a huge branch.</p>
-
- <p>But in 1902–4 all trees growing near walls were felled, all projecting
- branches and rotten limbs were removed, as well as all trees which
- caused damp to collect on walls, while a general thinning out was made
- of all branches which interfered with a general view all round the
- building. Such trees as had done all the possible harm they could do
- and all trees standing at a distance from walls were left standing.
- The result has been to make the temple less “picturesque” than in its
- neglected state, but it still remains picturesque. The temple now
- appears to be larger, and its massive proportions now made visible
- stand out far more prominently than before.</p>
-
- <p>The present trees appear to have been the first that ever grew within
- the temple area. In the soil removed from ancient floors there were
- no signs of any older generations of trees having existed. The first
- appear to have arrived with the soil brought in by the past Makalanga
- in the course of their usual practice of converting ancient enclosures
- into platforms on which to erect their huts. The trees evidently
- flourished in the soil made rich by huge piles of bones of<span class="pagenum" id="Page_147">147</span> oxen and
- buck, the remains of feasts and sacrifices. Except in a few instances
- where rain-water was unable to escape, and has caused the ancient
- cement flooring to become decomposed, the roots of the trees rarely
- pierce below the ancient floors, the surfaces of which are covered with
- matted roots closely interwoven in masses like the roots of a large
- plant growing in a small pot.</p>
-
- <p>The jungle growth of small trees, bushes, and creepers would seem to be
- the result of excavators, who have broken up the hard clay floors of
- the old Makalanga and thus ventilated the soil below, as those places
- where most excavation work has been done have produced the greatest
- quantities of trees and the densest jungles. Until the whole of this
- foreign soil is removed down to the level of an ancient floor this
- jungle growth will always spring up afresh.</p>
-
- <p>But the growth of creepers such as monkey-rope, wild vines, and a
- climbing plant known as “Zimbabwe creeper,” has wrought untold havoc,
- but mainly on the faces of the walls. These creepers pierce into the
- joints of the dry masonry and emerge at a point some feet higher up.
- Later the branch inside the wall swells and forces out of the face of
- the wall all the blocks between the points where it enters into and
- emerges from the wall. This destruction of the walls by creepers is
- seen in many places at every one of the numerous ruins at Zimbabwe.
- Monkey-rope at the Elliptical Temple and wild vine on the Acropolis
- have been the most destructive agents of any of the creeper plants. The
- “Zimbabwe creeper” was found to be growing on the temple walls with
- its roots on the summits. This plant covered the main walls as with a
- thick green mantle, at some points completely hiding the entire surface
- of the walls. It also had its roots in the interstices of the Chevron
- Pattern, from the blocks of which it hung in festoons of over one
- hundred-weight each. This constant strain on the pattern has effected
- some destruction in addition to the injuries caused by the over<span class="pagenum" id="Page_148">148</span>hanging
- boughs of trees. The dilapidation of the walls of the Elliptical Temple
- is fairly typical of the dilapidations at all the ruins at Zimbabwe.</p>
-
- <p>But there are also minor causes for the dilapidation seen in the walls
- outside the larger ruins. The restless herd of some seventy cattle
- belonging to the Mogabe climb the lower walls with ease, and will walk
- along their whole length clanking the ancient blocks, and awkwardly
- clamber down broken ends of walls and gaps, bringing down a cataract
- of blocks as they descend. Some two hundred goats appear to live on
- the walls. Large baboons can be seen taking their morning exercise on
- the walls of the Acropolis, and as these scamper about and chase one
- another the blocks fall off the walls. Natives pull out the faces of
- the walls to secure honey, or in ferreting out small animals for food.</p>
-
- <p>It must also be remembered that the ancient walls have been quarried by
- Makalanga of past times and even by the present local Makalanga, all
- of whom have extensively used the ancient blocks for their inferior
- walls. But perhaps the greatest amount of dilapidation was effected
- when the large enclosed areas of the ruins were filled up and converted
- into raised platforms. In these instances, which are very numerous, the
- divisional walls suffered most, the blocks from their summits being
- thrown into the area till the interior was raised from 4 ft. to 7 ft.
- above the ancient floors, when clay floors were laid upon the filling
- in.</p>
-
- <p>On entering the Elliptical Temple of the Acropolis one of the first
- questions asked by visitors is—Are all these walls ancient? It is to
- the interest of our local archæological researches that such a question
- should be fairly dealt with, and the frank admission made that certain
- of the walls are not ancient. In examining the evidences against the
- antiquity of such walls a further proof is secured, were it needed,
- that such of the walls as are ancient possess undoubtedly the true seal
- of antiquity.</p>
-
- <p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_149">149</span></p>
-
- <p><i>Makalanga walls within ancient ruins at Zimbabwe.</i>—It would be
- preposterous to expect anyone who visited the ruins to believe that
- every single wall one saw at Zimbabwe, whether at the Elliptical Temple
- or on the Acropolis, was necessarily ancient.</p>
-
- <p>Some of the slighter-built walls within the ruins, which are of poor
- construction, and were once thought to be ancient, can now be shown
- to have been built by the Makalanga, the evidences of whose long and
- successive periods of occupation of these ruins are not only most
- obvious to all explorers and are confirmed by finds and conditions
- generally, but are a matter both of actual history as well as of
- tradition among the local natives themselves. Some of the ruins have
- been used by them for kraals, others—the smaller ones—were converted
- into cattle kraals with the huts outside the walls, while some have
- served both purposes. It is highly probable, judging by the state of
- the wall-débris, that the natives, in converting an ancient enclosure
- into a cattle kraal, have found portions of the divisional walls to be
- so dilapidated that they have rebuilt those portions after their own
- peculiar and recognisable fashion in order to keep in the cattle, at
- the same time building up gaps and entrances.</p>
-
- <p>While, according to statements of natives and judging also from the
- state of the ruins, there has been no occupation of the Elliptical
- Temple as a place of residence for the last three generations,
- still there are Makalanga walls to be seen, both here and in the
- Acropolis, at which latter ruins was the kraal, till four years ago,
- of the present Mogabe; and on the Acropolis are walls of Makalanga
- construction, both old and comparatively recent. The western enclosures
- of the Elliptical Temple have been used as cattle kraals up to the
- early seventies.</p>
-
- <p>The following are some of the evidences of Makalanga construction of
- walls within the ruins:—</p>
-
- <p>(<i>a</i>) The definite and circumstantial claim of the Makalanga<span class="pagenum" id="Page_150">150</span> to have
- built certain walls, and their ability to assign particular generations
- for the erection of other walls.</p>
-
- <p>(<i>b</i>) The construction of such walls is identified with obvious
- Makalanga buildings in their kraals, where there are no ancient ruins.
- The purpose of the later walls is in many instances patent, especially
- when the smell of the modern byres still lingers in the soil of the
- areas used by natives as cattle kraals enclosed by such walls.</p>
-
- <p>(<i>c</i>) Stones once part of the faces of ancient walls are used in the
- construction of those walls, the weather-stained, lichen-covered, and
- decomposed faces of the blocks being turned inside the walls either
- sideways or backwards, while the walls show no sign of age, and have a
- comparatively fresh appearance. Slate and granite monoliths, as well
- as ordinary slate beams which had once been lintels, have been used as
- building material.</p>
-
- <p>(<i>d</i>) Débris heaps of ancient blocks have been used as foundations, and
- sometimes these heaps acted as sections in the length of wall.</p>
-
- <p>(<i>e</i>) Frequently such walls are built in a very irregular line along
- the almost buried summits of ancient walls, and across filled-in
- entrances and even passages, the foundations of such walls projecting
- from underneath the Makalanga walls on either side.</p>
-
- <p>(<i>f</i>) Some of the Makalanga walls are built over damp, black leaf mould
- containing undecayed vegetable matter and also ordinary Kafir articles,
- the mould being over a stratum of red clay foundations of Makalanga
- huts, and with two or three feet of soil and stones between the clay
- and any floor below for which antiquity could be claimed. Makalanga
- pottery has been used to support and wedge up uneven ends of blocks.</p>
-
- <p>(<i>g</i>) The made foundations of Makalanga walls are of common clay, those
- of ancient walls being of a splendid quality of granite cement.</p>
-
- <p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_151">151</span></p>
-
- <p>(<i>h</i>) Nothing ancient or even approaching to antiquity is ever
- discovered on the levels of the bases of Makalanga walls, but round
- about their bases quantities of Makalanga articles may be found, some
- perhaps of better make and quality than now produced by them.</p>
-
- <p>(<i>i</i>) Local natives can to-day build very fair stone walls, but these
- have straight joints and are without tie or bonding, the courses are
- most erratic, and the line of wall wavering. The common feature of
- Makalanga wall construction is to build the stones up exactly over one
- another, giving the appearance to the wall of being built on columns.
- Their stone walls of cattle kraals can be seen in many deserted
- villages, as well as other of their walls where there are no ancient
- ruins. The Makalanga graves in the passages, both in the Elliptical
- Temple and in the Acropolis, were very well built in with cross-walls.</p>
-
- <p>(<i>j</i>) The Makalanga since mediæval times have always been known as
- builders in stone. Their circular hut and granary foundations of stone
- can still be seen in many parts of the country, especially on the
- clay floors of filled-in enclosures of ancient ruins of the terraced
- order. This art is mentioned by Mr. Selous and by almost all writers
- on this country before the Occupation, and pioneers and early settlers
- have affirmed this to be the case. Bent gives the names of Makalanga
- villages which he visited where these contained stone buildings of
- native construction. The names of other villages where such buildings
- are to be found are given by other writers. Bent actually saw their
- stone-building operations being carried on at Chipanza’s kraal.
- Professor Bryce describes a Makalanga village with stone buildings, but
- just as the arts of mining, smelting, wire-twisting, and cloth weaving
- are now fast disappearing on the advent of the cheap imported article,
- and on the natives finding other objects upon which to spend their
- time and labour, the art of stone building is becoming neglected. Old<span class="pagenum" id="Page_152">152</span>
- pioneers visiting the ruins are unanimous in affirming that such walls
- so built and so conditioned are of undoubted Makalanga construction.
- There are stone buildings at Cherimabila’s kraal, nine miles west from
- Zimbabwe. Mr. Drew considers the Barotse to be now the best stone
- builders in this district.</p>
-
- <h3>OTHER WALLS NOT ANCIENT<a id="FNanchor_42" href="#Footnote_42" class="fnanchor">[42]</a></h3>
-
- <p>But there are other walls in these ruins
- which are not believed to be ancient, and these have not been erected
- by recent generations of Makalanga, but possibly by mediæval Makalanga,
- or by Arabs, who had large influential colonies in this country,
- especially at the various Zimbabwes of the successive Monomotapas.
- The arguments against these walls being ancient are just as numerous
- and equally as cogent as those just enumerated, but the consideration
- of such walls is dealt with in detail in the description of the walls
- themselves.</p>
-
- <h3>REMAINS OF NATIVE HUTS FOUND IN THE RUINS</h3>
-
- <p>In many of the enclosures
- of the ruins at Zimbabwe are to be found on the present surfaces, and
- frequently, if the floor of the interior is not formed by the rock
- formation, on two floors beneath it, the remains of at least three
- entirely different descriptions of native huts. This is a feature
- constantly met with in ancient ruins throughout Southern Rhodesia,
- and in the early days of investigation these remains occasioned
- considerable perplexity to the explorer. In some ruins only one type of
- such structures is found, in others two classes of such dwellings, and
- in others three if not four different types of structure, all the three
- main types presenting different features in plan, construction, and
- material.</p>
-
- <p>That these erections are not ancient is a matter of ocular
- demonstration.</p>
-
- <p>(<i>a</i>) This is shown by their position on the clay floors laid over the
- débris which has been filled into the enclosure to the <span class="pagenum" id="Page_153">153</span>depth of
- from 3 ft. to 7 ft. above any ancient floor, hiding rounded entrances,
- passages, and smaller sub-divisional walls, and burying, as at some
- ruins, the ancient decorative patterns on the walls. The examination
- of the material employed, and the class of its make so similar to the
- remains of native huts in old deserted villages, all negative any
- suggestion of antiquity.</p>
-
- <div class="figcenter" id="i_152a">
- <img src="images/i_152a.jpg" width="436" height="550" alt="" />
- <div class="caption">AN OLD WALL CROSSING OVER THE FOUNDATION OF A STILL
- OLDER WALL, ZIMBABWE</div>
- </div>
-
- <div class="figcenter" id="i_152b">
- <img src="images/i_152b.jpg" width="413" height="550" alt="" />
- <div class="caption">BINDING OF THE SUMMITS OF TWO SEPARATE WALLS, ACROPOLIS RUINS</div>
- </div>
-
- <p>(<i>b</i>) The stonework of the foundations is, as is shown later, of a
- totally different character from that in undoubted ancient walls, and
- is practically identical with the stone foundations of granaries still
- to be seen in any of the villages, some of which are not twelve months
- old.</p>
-
- <p>(<i>c</i>) The “finds” in these structures do not suggest ancient
- occupation, but they include articles of superior native make and
- design, some of which are either not now used by Makalanga or Barotse,
- or are only met with in rare instances, but are claimed by local
- natives as having been made and used by previous generations of their
- people. For instance, double iron gongs, such as are plentifully found
- north of the Zambesi and in the higher Congo districts, where they may
- still be seen in actual use, pictures of which occur in works of travel
- in Central Africa; or copper bangles of exceedingly fine wire, which
- ornaments have fallen into desuetude and can be but seldom met with
- now; or carved soapstone daha pipe-bowls, for the making of which the
- Zimbabwe Makalanga, even at the time of the Occupation, were famous.</p>
-
- <p>(<i>d</i>) Several of these structures at Zimbabwe are claimed by the local
- Makalanga and Barotse to have been built by their respective people of
- previous generations. The Barotse lived on the Bentberg at Zimbabwe
- up to fifty or sixty years ago. The remains of their old kraal can be
- seen to-day. The circular shallow stone foundations of their huts,
- the courses rising in “cat-steps,” the immense rounded clay rims
- which supported the poles of the sides of their dwellings, are still
- in evidence. These were erected on platforms made by<span class="pagenum" id="Page_154">154</span> filling in the
- spaces between the inner sides of ancient enclosure walls and the slope
- of the hill, a practice to be noticed on all the faces of Zimbabwe
- Hill, except the eastern.</p>
-
- <p>The different types of such structures so found in the ruins may be
- described as follows:—</p>
-
- <p>(1) The ordinary clay ruins of a present-day Makalanga hut, with clay
- floors, butt-ends of side poles still in position, clay ruins on floor
- marking off the fire-place, the stand for pots, the higher floor for
- sleeping-place of occupants and the lower floor for goats. These are
- found on the present surface or immediately under black leaf mould
- soil, and resemble huts built in local kraals, only they are neater,
- of better make, and of slightly superior quality of clay. The articles
- found here are similar to those belonging to present Makalanga.</p>
-
- <p>(2) The foundations of huts with large rims of clay with rounded
- edges on both sides, the diameter being some 9 ft. to 12 ft., and the
- rims 16 in. in length and about the same width, the poles being fixed
- along the centres of the rims. The material in the floor and in the
- rim is of a superior quality of clay, which builders state it would
- be misleading to describe as cement. Under the clay floors, which are
- about 3 in. thick, are platforms of stones laid flatwise in three or
- four courses, the outer faces of the courses receding from 1 in. to 3
- in. behind the faces of the courses below. Sometimes the stonework is
- laid upon a bed of clay. This class of hut is found upon a lower level
- than the undoubted Makalanga dwelling. In the Eastern Temple this type
- of remains was uncovered at a depth of 3 ft. below the surface, and
- there were no less than two clay floors, each with a layer of ashes,
- and two granite cement floors below it. These can be seen in the trench
- made alongside the stone foundation. Glass beads of old make, copper
- spearheads, and thick copper bangles, beaten copper and copper tacks
- were among the principal finds discovered in this type of building.
- In and<span class="pagenum" id="Page_155">155</span> near such remains were found the four double iron gongs (May,
- 1902-March, 1903), piles of animal bones split open in ordinary Kafir
- style for marrow, broken pottery, and quantities of ashes.</p>
-
- <p>(3) On still lower levels were found the floors and lower portions of
- the sides of huts made of a red-coloured cement without poles fixed in
- the cement sides. This is not ordinary daga. The inside faces of the
- walls, as well as the floors which are beautifully smooth, have been
- baked with fire, and fragments will ring almost like metal, portions
- having become white with the heat. This cement has in most instances
- been faced with a thin yellow glaze. On the floors are quantities of
- small rims very neatly bevelled, with three or four parallel faces on
- the top, the ends of the rims being rounded off. The bevelled rims
- are from 1½ in. to 4 in. wide. The roofs of these buildings were
- supported by poles inserted in the cement floors outside the huts at
- the distance in many instances of 1 ft. The posts round the outside of
- the huts were from 1 ft. 6 in. to 2 ft. 4 in. apart, and, judging by
- their butt-ends, which have been preserved by the cement, were made of
- hard woods, including mahobohobo, which is plentiful at Zimbabwe. The
- best examples of these huts, of which some score can be seen, are in
- No. 1 Enclosure in the Elliptical Temple, in the North-West Enclosure,
- Acropolis, and on the cleared section of floor in the Western Temple.
- These huts stand on cement platforms without stone foundations, and the
- platforms are about 1 ft. high, and the top edges are neatly bevelled.
- In two of these remains at Zimbabwe have been found gold dust, iron
- spring pincers with flux on the top, pottery, gold scorifiers, and the
- crudely-shaped soapstone moulds.</p>
-
- <p>Old pioneers assert that these buildings are of Makalanga construction.
- The Makalangas themselves claim these as having been built by their
- people in a very remote past. Similar buildings, but without traces
- of gold*smelting, are<span class="pagenum" id="Page_156">156</span> known to have been built by the Makalanga in
- different parts of Southern Mashonaland.</p>
-
- <p>Mr. Alfred Drew, Native Commissioner for Victoria district, who
- arrived in this country in 1890, and is a recognised authority on old
- Makalanga buildings, expresses his entire agreement with the above
- descriptions of old native clay huts, also with the conclusions arrived
- at concerning them.</p>
-
- <p>(4) There is another class of native hut which is not very frequently
- found in Southern Rhodesia, but is commonly met with in Basutoland
- and Swaziland, and in other territories further south. At Zimbabwe
- there are four such huts on the higher floors of filled-in ruins. This
- class of hut is constructed of cement of a good quality and of great
- thickness, with no poles to support the roof. It is circular in form,
- and from its exterior sides are four, sometimes five, short radiating
- walls of stones extending outward some 5 ft. or 6 ft. The walls are
- about 4 ft. wide, and in height reach almost to the top of the cement
- sides of the hut. The entrance usually has an immense cement buttress
- on either side, while between each radiating wall, and at the base of
- the side of the hut, runs a cement bevel rounded on its outer edge as
- if to form a seat. This bevel is about 14 in. high and 16 in. wide. In
- all weathers and at any time of day the occupiers could have sat in
- some one of these partially open spaces between the radiating walls
- sheltered from sun, rain, or wind. The remains of two such huts were
- found in the Western Temple on the Acropolis, and one of the radiating
- walls of one of them, which was more exposed and less ruined than the
- other short walls, was fixed upon by Swan as an “altar.” This wall is B
- wall, mentioned in the description of the Western Temple, which follows
- in Chapter XV.</p>
-
- <h3>PASSAGES</h3>
-
- <p>Every writer on Zimbabwe appears to have been greatly
- struck with the number of passages both at the<span class="pagenum" id="Page_157">157</span> Elliptical Temple and
- on the Acropolis, and particularly with their labyrinthine character.
- During 1902–4 further passages were discovered and opened out, and
- these had a total length of 2,130 ft. The total length of passages
- opened out, or which can be clearly traced, now amounts to 5,202 ft. As
- is shown later in this section, this by no means exhausts the tale of
- passages to be found at Zimbabwe.</p>
-
- <table summary="Passage lengths">
- <tbody>
- <tr><td colspan="3" class="pt3"><i>Elliptical Temple</i>:—</td></tr>
- <tr>
- <td class="xsmall center">Situation of Passages.</td>
- <td class="tdr xsmall"><div>Cleared.</div></td>
- <td class="tdr xsmall"><div>Traced.</div></td>
- </tr>
- <tr>
- <td class="tdl3">Parallel Passage</td>
- <td class="tdr"><div>193 ft.</div></td>
- <td class="tdr"><div>&nbsp;</div></td>
- </tr>
- <tr>
- <td class="tdl3">Inner Parallel Passage</td>
- <td class="tdr"><div>71&nbsp; 〃&nbsp; </div></td>
- <td class="tdr"><div>&nbsp;</div></td>
- </tr>
- <tr>
- <td class="tdl3">South Passage</td>
- <td class="tdr"><div>73&nbsp; 〃&nbsp; </div></td>
- <td class="tdr"><div>&nbsp;</div></td>
- </tr>
- <tr>
- <td class="tdl2">*West Passage</td>
- <td class="tdr"><div>30&nbsp; 〃&nbsp; </div></td>
- <td class="tdr"><div>30 ft.</div></td>
- </tr>
- <tr>
- <td class="tdl2">*South Entrance to No. 10 Enclosure</td>
- <td class="tdr"><div>14&nbsp; 〃&nbsp; </div></td>
- <td class="tdr"><div>&nbsp;</div></td>
- </tr>
- <tr><td colspan="3" class="pt3"><i>Outside Elliptical Temple</i>:—</td></tr>
- <tr>
- <td class="tdl3">Outer Parallel Passage</td>
- <td class="tdr"><div>125 ft.</div></td>
- <td class="tdr"><div>&nbsp;</div></td>
- </tr>
- <tr>
- <td class="tdl2">*North-East Passage (remainder of length included in the “Valley of Ruins” passages)</td>
- <td class="tdr"><div>50&nbsp; 〃&nbsp; </div></td>
- <td class="tdr"><div>&nbsp;</div></td>
- </tr>
- <tr><td colspan="3" class="pt3"><i>Acropolis or Hill Ruins</i>:—</td></tr>
- <tr>
- <td class="tdl3">South-East Ancient Ascent</td>
- <td class="tdr"><div>349 ft.</div></td>
- <td class="tdr"><div>1260 ft.</div></td>
- </tr>
- <tr>
- <td class="tdl3">Higher Parapet</td>
- <td class="tdr"><div>78&nbsp; 〃&nbsp; </div></td>
- <td class="tdr"><div>&nbsp;</div></td>
- </tr>
- <tr>
- <td class="tdl3">Central Passage</td>
- <td class="tdr"><div>103&nbsp; 〃&nbsp; </div></td>
- <td class="tdr"><div>&nbsp;</div></td>
- </tr>
- <tr>
- <td class="tdl2">*Sunken Passage, Eastern Temple (traced further)</td>
- <td class="tdr"><div>28&nbsp; 〃&nbsp; </div></td>
- <td class="tdr"><div>&nbsp;</div></td>
- </tr>
- <tr>
- <td class="tdl3">North Passage, Eastern Temple</td>
- <td class="tdr"><div>23&nbsp; 〃&nbsp; </div></td>
- <td class="tdr"><div>&nbsp;</div></td>
- </tr>
- <tr>
- <td class="tdl2">*South Cave Passage</td>
- <td class="tdr"><div>46&nbsp; 〃&nbsp; </div></td>
- <td class="tdr"><div>&nbsp;</div></td>
- </tr>
- <tr>
- <td class="tdl3">Covered Passage (cleared in 1902)</td>
- <td class="tdr"><div>10½ 〃&nbsp; </div></td>
- <td class="tdr"><div>&nbsp;</div></td>
- </tr>
- <tr>
- <td class="tdl3">Parallel Passage</td>
- <td class="tdr"><div>71&nbsp; 〃&nbsp; </div></td>
- <td class="tdr"><div>20 ft.</div></td>
- </tr>
- <tr>
- <td class="tdl2">*Cleft Rock Enclosure to foot of Platform stairs</td>
- <td class="tdr"><div>10&nbsp; 〃&nbsp; </div></td>
- <td class="tdr"><div>&nbsp;</div></td>
- </tr>
- <tr>
- <td class="tdl3">Winding Stairs</td>
- <td class="tdr"><div>14&nbsp; 〃&nbsp; </div></td>
- <td class="tdr"><div>&nbsp;</div></td>
- </tr>
- <tr>
- <td class="tdl3"><span class="pagenum" id="Page_158">158</span>Upper Passage</td>
- <td class="tdr"><div>28&nbsp; 〃&nbsp; </div></td>
- <td class="tdr"><div>&nbsp;</div></td>
- </tr>
- <tr>
- <td class="tdl3">East Passage</td>
- <td class="tdr"><div>80&nbsp; 〃&nbsp; </div></td>
- <td class="tdr"><div>&nbsp;</div></td>
- </tr>
- <tr>
- <td class="tdl3">Buttress Passage</td>
- <td class="tdr"><div>39&nbsp; 〃&nbsp; </div></td>
- <td class="tdr"><div>&nbsp;</div></td>
- </tr>
- <tr>
- <td class="tdl2">*South Passage</td>
- <td class="tdr"><div>38&nbsp; 〃&nbsp; </div></td>
- <td class="tdr"><div>&nbsp;</div></td>
- </tr>
- <tr>
- <td class="tdl3">Pattern Passage (upper portion cleared in 1902)</td>
- <td class="tdr"><div>51&nbsp; 〃&nbsp; </div></td>
- <td class="tdr"><div>&nbsp;</div></td>
- </tr>
- <tr><td colspan="3" class="pt3"><i>North-West Ascent</i>:—</td></tr>
- <tr>
- <td class="tdl2">*Sunken Passage in Platform Enclosure</td>
- <td class="tdr"><div>72 ft.</div></td>
- <td class="tdr"><div>&nbsp;</div></td>
- </tr>
- <tr>
- <td class="tdl3">Ditto through main wall</td>
- <td class="tdr"><div>16&nbsp; 〃&nbsp; </div></td>
- <td class="tdr"><div>&nbsp;</div></td>
- </tr>
- <tr>
- <td class="tdl3">Ditto on Northern Parapet</td>
- <td class="tdr"><div>28&nbsp; 〃&nbsp; </div></td>
- <td class="tdr"><div>&nbsp;</div></td>
- </tr>
- <tr>
- <td class="tdl2">*Ditto from Northern Parapet to Visitors’ Part</td>
- <td class="tdr"><div>223&nbsp; 〃&nbsp; </div></td>
- <td class="tdr"><div>&nbsp;</div></td>
- </tr>
- <tr>
- <td class="tdl2">*Ditto from Visitors’ Part to Water Gate</td>
- <td class="tdr"><div>150&nbsp; 〃&nbsp; </div></td>
- <td class="tdr"><div>510 ft.</div></td>
- </tr>
- <tr><td colspan="3" class="pt3"><i>Minor Ruins</i>:—</td></tr>
- <tr>
- <td class="tdl2">*Outspan Ruins</td>
- <td class="tdr"><div>56 ft.</div></td>
- <td class="tdr"><div>&nbsp;</div></td>
- </tr>
- <tr>
- <td class="tdl3">Ridge Ruins, Parallel Passage</td>
- <td class="tdr"><div>246&nbsp; 〃&nbsp; </div></td>
- <td class="tdr"><div>&nbsp;</div></td>
- </tr>
- <tr>
- <td class="tdl2">*Ridge Ruins, other passages</td>
- <td class="tdr"><div>25&nbsp; 〃&nbsp; </div></td>
- <td class="tdr"><div>&nbsp;</div></td>
- </tr>
- <tr>
- <td class="tdl3">No. 1 Ruins</td>
- <td class="tdr"><div>142&nbsp; 〃&nbsp; </div></td>
- <td class="tdr"><div>&nbsp;</div></td>
- </tr>
- <tr><td colspan="3" class="pt3"><i>Valley of Ruins</i>:—</td></tr>
- <tr>
- <td class="tdl2">*North-East Passage</td>
- <td class="tdr"><div>...&nbsp; &nbsp; </div></td>
- <td class="tdr"><div>600 ft.</div></td>
- </tr>
- <tr>
- <td class="tdl3">Passage referred to by Mr. Bent</td>
- <td class="tdr"><div>...&nbsp; &nbsp; </div></td>
- <td class="tdr"><div>300&nbsp; 〃&nbsp; </div></td>
- </tr>
- <tr>
- <td class="tdl2">*Posselt Ruins, Parallel Passage</td>
- <td class="tdr"><div>65 ft.</div></td>
- <td class="tdr"><div>&nbsp;</div></td>
- </tr>
- <tr>
- <td class="tdl2">*Philips Ruins</td>
- <td class="tdr"><div>51&nbsp; 〃&nbsp; </div></td>
- <td class="tdr"><div>&nbsp;</div></td>
- </tr>
- <tr>
- <td class="tdl2">*Maund Ruins</td>
- <td class="tdr"><div>24&nbsp; 〃&nbsp; </div></td>
- <td class="tdr"><div>&nbsp;</div></td>
- </tr>
- <tr>
- <td class="tdl2">*Mauch Ruins</td>
- <td class="tdr"><div>99&nbsp; 〃&nbsp; </div></td>
- <td class="tdr"><div>&nbsp;</div></td>
- </tr>
- <tr>
- <td class="tdl2">*Renders Ruins</td>
- <td class="tdr"><div>31&nbsp; 〃&nbsp; </div></td>
- <td class="tdr"><div>&nbsp;</div></td>
- </tr>
- <tr>
- <td>&nbsp;</td>
- <td class="tdr"><div>————</div></td>
- <td class="tdr"><div>————</div></td>
- </tr>
- <tr>
- <td class="pl50">Totals</td>
- <td class="tdr"><div>2,752 ft.</div></td>
- <td class="tdr"><div>3,620 ft.</div></td>
- </tr>
- </tbody>
- </table>
-
- <div class="center small mt2 mb5">* These passages were discovered in 1902–4.</div>
-
- <p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_159">159</span></p>
-
- <p>In addition to these totals of lengths of passages cleared out or
- traced, there are many other passages still buried in débris, the
- outcrop of their side walls being seen here and there on the surface
- near several ruins. Many, of course, must be completely buried under
- the veld, for some were lately discovered at least 3 ft. below the
- surface, with native paths crossing them in all directions, while it
- is quite reasonable to suppose that with the great area of ruins yet
- unexplored very many more passages will yet be found, especially when
- it is recollected that the discovery of one buried passage has most
- frequently led to the discovery of several side passages.</p>
-
- <p>Traces were found of two other passages leading from the base to the
- summit of the Acropolis Hill, and these remain unexplored, and each
- would be fully 900 ft. in length, while traces of several lines of
- passages are to be seen encircling at various heights the south, west,
- and north faces of the Acropolis Hill. These also at present remain
- unexplored.</p>
-
- <p>There are many points of interest concerning these passages:—</p>
-
- <p>(<i>a</i>) Passages were evidently constructed as part of the plan of the
- fortifications, but in some instances only as means of communication
- between certain buildings within the fortified area and for securing
- privacy. In the one class of passage buttresses and traverses are
- repeated with a marvellous redundancy; in the other class of passage
- not a single buttress or traverse is to be found.</p>
-
- <p>(<i>b</i>) In passages leading from main ruins to exterior buildings the
- walls of the passage nearer the main ruins are better built, and the
- steps and floors are better constructed in the portions nearer the
- main ruins than are those of the more distant portions of the passage.
- So imperceptibly do the better-built portions merge into the less
- superior class of wall that it is extremely difficult to ascertain the
- exact point where the change in the quality of the construction takes<span class="pagenum" id="Page_160">160</span>
- place, though the difference in the class of building at one end of
- the passage and that of the other is most obvious. But though this
- difference in the construction of the passage walls is so apparent,
- there is no suggestion that portions were of a later period, for
- they are built upon one plan, have one line of direction, serve as a
- complete communication with one obvious and particular point, and one
- length of the passage without the other would be purposeless, so far
- as the intention of the builders may be gathered. With regard to the
- passages ascending the Acropolis Hill, the completeness of the plan of
- these passages is best seen from the summit of the hill or from the
- summit of Makuma Kopje on the opposite side of the valley, from which
- heights respectively a complete view of those passages in their entire
- length is to be obtained.</p>
-
- <p>(<i>c</i>) Excepting some of the passages in the Elliptical Temple and a few
- others on the Acropolis, all the passages at Zimbabwe are exceedingly
- narrow and tortuous, many being only shoulder wide, while, owing to
- their winding lengths, it is not possible to see many feet on ahead.
- Such of these passages as have their floors below the levels of
- adjoining enclosures have in many places their side walls bulged by
- the weight of earth and débris behind into the passage-ways, and in
- some such instances the side walls have collapsed and blocked up the
- passages.</p>
-
- <p>(<i>d</i>) Almost every passage appears to have originally been paved with
- blocks which were covered over with granite cement, but the cement,
- except in a few instances, has decomposed and been washed away by
- centuries of rains, though abundant traces of it remain.</p>
-
- <p>(<i>e</i>) Sunken passages built very much below the levels of the ancient
- floors on either side of them are numerous. The best instances of
- sunken passages are the North-East Passage between the Elliptical
- Temple and the Valley of Ruins, also the North-West Ascent to the
- Acropolis (upper portion),<span class="pagenum" id="Page_161">161</span> and the sunken passage in the Eastern
- Temple on the Acropolis.</p>
-
- <p>(<i>f</i>) The walls of the ascents to the Acropolis as originally built
- would have precluded any outsider from seeing, even if standing on
- an adjoining kopje, the movements of people passing up and down the
- ascents; and to-day as a native ascends these passages it is almost
- impossible to see him till he reaches the summit, except as he is
- passing gaps or walls which have become considerably dilapidated. Some
- of the outer walls of these ascents are still 10 ft. in height.</p>
-
- <p>(<i>g</i>) The Elliptical Temple and the Western Temple on the Acropolis
- have each long and narrow and deep parallel passages on the inside of
- their main walls, and it is possible that the Pattern Passage served
- for a similar purpose at the Eastern Temple. The Parallel Passage in
- the Elliptical Temple communicated only between the North Entrance and
- the Sacred Enclosure where are the conical towers, and this passage has
- no communication with any other portion of the interior of the temple.
- Several of the known writers on these ruins, including Bent, have
- conjectured that these parallel passages in the temples were reserved
- for the use of the priests.</p>
-
- <p>(<i>h</i>) Cliffs and large boulders have been frequently utilised to form
- lengths of passages. Instances of this practice are to be seen on
- the Acropolis in the Rock Passage of the South-East Ancient Ascent,
- Buttress Passage, North Passage, and elsewhere. In some instances the
- walls are made to go out of their line so as to include neighbouring
- boulders, the sole object, so it would appear, being to deprive any
- invading force of the vantage offered by the height of the boulders for
- an attack to be made on the passage.</p>
-
- <p>(<i>i</i>) There are no evidences that any of the passages, except as stated
- later, were ever roofed. Possibly the winding stairs and the sunken
- passage in the Eastern Temple were originally covered over, as a great
- quantity of long, flat slate beams<span class="pagenum" id="Page_162">162</span> were found on their floors. It is
- believed that a single wall once crossed over the sunken passage in
- Platform Enclosure at about 15 ft. from its upper end, for when this
- passage was opened in 1902 slate beams were found at this spot, but at
- no other point in the passage. The passage through the main west wall
- of the Western Temple, which was blocked up by a Makalanga-built wall,
- of course, was covered over by the main wall, while the Covered Passage
- in the same temple remains intact as originally built. Moreover, the
- widths of many of the passages though narrow on their floors are
- wide at the summits of their side walls, and their irregular form
- precludes suggestion of any roofing having been placed over them, some
- being doubly as wide as the longest of the slate and granite beams
- found, beside which the general absence of long slate and granite
- beams on the floors of the passages would seem to further negative
- any such conjecture. The West Passage leading to the South Cave was
- not artificially roofed over, but the outer wall was raised up to the
- height of the boulder which overhangs the passage.</p>
-
- <h3>ENTRANCES AND BUTTRESSES</h3>
-
- <p>When in 1891 Bent approached Zimbabwe
- through North Bechuanaland, Gwanda, Tuli, and Belingwe, he passed
- through the centre of that area in which the earliest of the many
- ancient ruins of Rhodesia are located. All the ruins he described or
- mentioned had rounded ends of walls and rounded buttresses, all angular
- features being conspicuous by their absence. This fact appeared to
- him so striking that he was constrained, after comparing these ruins
- with Zimbabwe, to believe that such rounded features belonged to the
- earliest period of Zimbabwe architecture. Fully a score of competent
- writers on our ruins, whose valuable and trustworthy contributions,
- based on personal examination of the same area, have been welcomed by
- the leading scientific associations of Great Britain and Germany, are
- also emphatic as to the rounded entrances and buttresses<span class="pagenum" id="Page_163">163</span> being one
- of the chief distinctive features of the earliest Zimbabwes. This is
- further demonstrated in the detailed descriptions of almost one hundred
- ruins within the same area which are given in <cite>The Ancient Ruins of
- Rhodesia</cite>, in the great majority of which ruins angular features,
- except in reconstructions of a later period, are altogether absent.</p>
-
- <div class="figcenter" id="i_163">
- <img src="images/i_163.jpg" width="600" height="305" alt="" />
- <div class="caption">South Entrance<br />N<sup>o</sup>. 7 ENCLOSURE<br />Elliptical Temple</div>
- </div>
-
- <p>But the Great Zimbabwe being the finest type of that early class of
- ancient building, it may be interesting to know that Bent’s conclusion
- is thoroughly confirmed by these ruins.</p>
-
- <table summary="Entrances and buttresses">
- <tbody>
- <tr><td colspan="3" class="tdc">ENTRANCES</td></tr>
- <tr>
- <td class="xsmall center">Ruins.</td>
- <td class="xsmall center">Rounded.</td>
- <td class="xsmall center">Angular.</td>
- </tr>
- <tr>
- <td class="tdl">Elliptical Temple<br />
- (One other entrance is partly rounded and partly angular.)</td>
- <td class="tdr"><div>23</div></td>
- <td class="tdcb">1</td>
- </tr>
- <tr>
- <td class="tdl">Acropolis<br />
- (One of the angular entrances is of obviously later construction.)</td>
- <td class="tdr"><div>31</div></td>
- <td class="tdcb">4</td>
- </tr>
- <tr>
- <td class="tdl">No. 1 Ruins<br />
- (One entrance is partly rounded and partly angular.)</td>
- <td class="tdr"><div>10</div></td>
- <td class="tdcb">1</td>
- </tr>
- <tr>
- <td class="tdl">Valley Ruins</td>
- <td class="tdr"><div>33</div></td>
- <td class="tdcb">4</td>
- </tr>
- <tr><td colspan="3" class="tdc"><span class="pagenum" id="Page_164">164</span>BUTTRESSES</td></tr>
- <tr>
- <td class="tdl">Elliptical Temple<br />
- (Two buttresses are partly angular and partly rounded)</td>
- <td class="tdr"><div>24</div></td>
- <td class="tdcb">Nil.</td>
- </tr>
- <tr>
- <td class="tdl">Acropolis</td>
- <td class="tdr"><div>19</div></td>
- <td class="tdcb">3</td>
- </tr>
- <tr>
- <td class="tdl">No. 1 Ruins</td>
- <td class="tdr"><div>8</div></td>
- <td class="tdcb">Nil.</td>
- </tr>
- <tr>
- <td class="tdl">Valley Ruins</td>
- <td class="tdr"><div>*</div></td>
- <td class="tdcb">*</td>
- </tr>
- </tbody>
- </table>
-
- <div class="center small mt2 mb5">* All rounded except three as so far discovered.</div>
-
- <p>All ends of walls which are still intact are rounded, there being only
- a few examples so far discovered of angular-ended walls.</p>
-
- <div class="figcenter" id="i164">
- <img src="images/i_164.jpg" width="600" height="378" alt="" />
- <div class="caption">North Entrance<br />N<sup>o</sup>. 7 ENCLOSURE<br />Elliptical Temple</div>
- </div>
-
- <p>The above figures show conclusively that these rounded features,
- excluding the ends of walls which are almost always rounded, are in a
- far greater proportion than 146 to 13 which are angular, and at least
- three of the latter, if not others, for reasons explained elsewhere,
- can be shown to have been erected at a much later period, one being
- built upon a floor of common Makalanga daga, and another débris
- containing ordinary Kafir articles of no very great age.</p>
-
- <p>All the entrances in the main outer walls, save one, are<span class="pagenum" id="Page_165">165</span> rounded, the
- few angular entrances being found, with two exceptions, in slighter
- walls, mainly divisional, some of which were erected later possibly to
- suit the immediate convenience of later occupiers, for divisional walls
- had been removed, reconstructed, or entirely fresh ones erected in new
- directions in almost every ruin, and in some instances the foundations
- of the later walls cross at right or oblique angles over the reduced
- summits of older divisional walls.</p>
-
- <p>Walls of the earliest period widen out as they near entrances. This
- feature is not present in plumb and angular walls of later construction.</p>
-
- <p>There is no evidence whatever in the rounded entrances that they were
- ever covered over, but in two angular entrances on the Acropolis the
- butts of the broken slate lintels still remain in the side walls.</p>
-
- <p>Although there are not sufficient proofs to enable one to definitely
- determine whether the rounded entrances as a rule were once covered
- over, some of the evidences to negative the covering in of rounded
- entrances may be noted:—</p>
-
- <p>(<i>a</i>) Had such entrances been roofed in, the collapse of the lintels
- must have brought down far more of the walls than have fallen.</p>
-
- <p>(<i>b</i>) The courses of the blocks at the necessary height above the floor
- of the entrances on either side do not always correspond.</p>
-
- <p>(<i>c</i>) The top courses near the summit of the walls on either side
- of the entrances show distinct signs of curving inwards towards the
- entrances. This is particularly noticed on the east side of the
- north-west entrance to the Elliptical Temple.</p>
-
- <p>(<i>d</i>) No splinters of slate or granite beams which could have been used
- as roofing were found in any of the very many rounded entrances.</p>
-
- <p>(<i>e</i>) Two intact rounded entrances, one open up to the summit on either
- side to a height of 19 ft., one entrance being at the east end of
- Pattern Passage on the Acropolis.</p>
-
- <p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_166">166</span></p>
-
- <p>No main entrance has buttresses on either hand on the outer side,
- possibly because these would have provided any attacking party with
- excellent shelter. All buttresses of such entrances are on the inside.
- Divisional entrances which have buttresses have them on the inside only.</p>
-
- <p>The entrances through a wall of the earlier period are carried over
- the common foundation in the opening forming the steps, which were
- evidently constructed before the side walls were erected. These steps
- are large, broad, and high, and where intact look most imposing. Such
- entrances resemble stiles, as they are much higher than the levels of
- the floors on either side.</p>
-
- <p>The entrances through an angular wall of a later period have steps
- which are not part of either side walls, but were built in after the
- entrance passage had been constructed, and these show poor workmanship
- and are very shallow, and recede only two to four inches. As the levels
- of the enclosures on either side have filled in over the original
- floors, such “cat-steps” have in some instances been built over the
- original large steps for the purpose of raising the floor of the
- entrances, seeing that the enclosures on either side had been filled in
- some feet above their original levels.</p>
-
- <p>Directly opposite the main entrance of the “Outspan Ruins” is a large
- circular buttress, as if it were intended to divide any attacking party
- into small numbers.</p>
-
- <h3>CAUSE OF DILAPIDATION TO ENTRANCE BUTTRESSES</h3>
-
- <p>The entrance buttresses
- with portcullis grooves are in most instances comparatively small, some
- projecting only two to three feet towards the interior of the building,
- and these are built up against main and divisional walls, and are in
- point of construction altogether independent erections, there being no
- dovetailing or binding between the buttresses and the walls.</p>
-
- <p>In some of the entrances the side lintels of slate, granite, and
- unworked soapstone beams have been found built into<span class="pagenum" id="Page_167">167</span> the portcullis
- grooves. In <cite>The Ancient Ruins of Rhodesia</cite> it was noticed that at
- several of the ruins therein mentioned stone side lintels were found
- <i>in situ</i>. The stone lintel posts <i>in situ</i> at Zimbabwe had not then
- been discovered. The tallest of such stone lintels at Zimbabwe is 8 ft.
- above the ground. The buttresses appear to have been built after the
- stone posts had been erected, for the walls at the sides of the lintel
- follow the irregularities of the side faces of the beams.</p>
-
- <p>The great destruction which has occurred to these structures might
- possibly be accounted for by (1) the weight of the stone lintel on
- getting off the perpendicular, which would lever down the buttress into
- which it was built; (2) the foundations of buttresses are not so deep
- as those of the main wall up against which they were built; (3) when
- some later people, possibly natives, deliberately built up and blocked
- the entrances they might have used the blocks of these buttresses
- for their building material; (4) the passage-way between each pair
- of buttresses being so very narrow, damage could easily have been
- wrought by ordinary traffic; and (5) the main walls are much higher
- than the summits of the buttresses, and the walls on either side of the
- entrances being always more dilapidated on the summits, the falling of
- huge masses of masonry on to the buttresses immediately below might
- have effected their destruction.</p>
-
- <hr class="page" />
- <div class="chapter" id="CHAPTER_VIII">
- <span class="pagenum" id="Page_168">168</span>
- <h2>
- CHAPTER VIII<br /><br />
- <span class="small">NOTES ON ANCIENT ARCHITECTURE AT GREAT ZIMBABWE<br />
- (<i>Continued</i>)</span>
- </h2>
- </div>
- <div class="subheadj">Drains—Battering of Walls—Monoliths—Soapstone Monoliths
- and Beams—Granite and Slate Beams—Cement dadoes—Built-up
- Crevices—Holes in Walls other than Drains—Blind Steps
- and Platforms—Ancient Walls at a Distance from Main
- Walls—Cement—Caves and Rock Holes.</div>
-
- <h3>DRAINS IN ELLIPTICAL TEMPLE</h3>
-
- <p class="drop-cap"><i>DRAINS through main walls</i>:—</p>
-
- <p>1. At (352 ft.);<a id="FNanchor_43" href="#Footnote_43" class="fnanchor">[43]</a> from Parallel Passage to exterior of temple; has
- a decided fall outwards; curves round at half through towards south;
- covered with large slabs; inner hole 1 in. below granite cement floor
- of passage, which slopes downwards from either side towards hole;
- interior opening 14 in. high, 9 in. wide; exterior opening, 12 in.
- high, 6 in. wide.</p>
-
- <p>Between Nos. 1 and 2 drains the cement floor rises a few inches to a
- raised step-barrier 4 in. high, 3 ft. 10 in. broad, from which the
- flooring slopes down to No. 2 drain, thus forming catchment areas for
- each drain to clear off rain-water, so that each drain only had such an
- area to clear which its capacity would allow.</p>
-
- <p>2. At (391 ft.); from Parallel Passage to exterior of temple; decided
- fall outwards; curves towards north-east; <span class="pagenum" id="Page_169">169</span>covered with large slabs;
- cement floor of passage level with floor of drain; interior opening 11
- in. high, 11 in. wide; exterior opening 17 in. high, 11 in. wide.</p>
-
- <p>[Facing this drain and on the west side of the passage is the drain
- (No. 7) from No. 14 Enclosure, described later.]</p>
-
- <p>3. At (442 ft.); from Parallel Passage to Outer Parallel Passage;
- fairly straight; steep fall outwards; covered with large slabs;
- interior opening 12 in. high, 8 in. wide; exterior opening 15 in. high,
- 6 in. wide. [It was from this drain that fragments of cement lining
- were taken.]</p>
-
- <p>4. At (476 ft.); from Parallel Passage to Outer Parallel Passage;
- partially obstructed at half-way through by stones and dirt; very
- decided fall outwards; curves slightly towards east; covered with large
- slabs; interior opening 11 in. high, 7 in. wide; exterior opening 10
- in. high, 10 in. wide.</p>
-
- <p>5. At (515 ft.); from Parallel Passage to Outer Parallel Passage;
- interior opening buried in débris supporting wall threatening to
- collapse; exterior opening 10 in. high, 6 in. wide; covered with large
- slabs; exterior portion shows decided fall outwards; clear for 8 ft.,
- probably further.</p>
-
- <p>6. At (549 ft.); from No. 2 Enclosure to exterior of temple; clear for
- 13 ft. from interior; exterior opening buried under very old Makalanga
- clay floor; covered with large slabs; interior opening 11 in. high, 8
- in. wide; shows a fall outwards.</p>
-
- <p>[Drains Nos. 1–6 pass through main wall at points where it is from 13
- ft. 6 in. to 16 ft. wide.]</p>
-
- <p><i>Drains through divisional walls</i>:—</p>
-
- <p>7. From No. 14 Enclosure to Parallel Passage facing drain 2 at (391
- ft.); exterior opening 12 in. high, 7 in. wide; shows outward fall;
- covered with large slabs; passes through wall 6 ft. wide at drain
- level; interior end blocked up.</p>
-
- <p>8. From No. 11 Enclosure to Sacred Enclosure (east); on north side of
- small conical tower; penetrated for 6 ft., at which point it is blocked
- up; rises sharply inside; exterior<span class="pagenum" id="Page_170">170</span> opening 9 in. high, 6 in. wide;
- interior opening blocked up and covered over.</p>
-
- <p>9. At north end of South Passage; from South Passage to Parallel
- Passage; decided fall outwards; covered with large slabs; clear for
- 5 ft.; interior opening 10 in. high, 8 in. wide; blocked up at outer
- opening by débris supporting dilapidated wall.</p>
-
- <p>[Pieces of granite cement lining also found here in 1892 and 1902.]</p>
-
- <p>10. From No. 1 to No. 3 Enclosures; at south corner of No. 3; exterior
- opening 11 in. high and 7 in. wide; shows fall outwards; covered with
- slabs; curves towards south; clear for 6 ft. 6 in.; interior opening
- covered by clay floor of Makalanga hut.</p>
-
- <p>11. From No. 15 Enclosure to Inner Parallel Passage; fall outwards;
- exterior opening 12 in. high, 8 in. wide; interior opening blocked up
- and covered over by soil and wall débris; clear for 5 ft.</p>
-
- <p><i>Drains at entrances</i>:—</p>
-
- <p>12. Through south entrance to South Passage; discovered by Sir John
- Willoughby; under centre of steps; outlet on lower face of steps.</p>
-
- <p>13. Under step and parallel with wall at entrance to Sacred Enclosure
- (west) from No. 9 Enclosure; two similar drains on Acropolis.</p>
-
- <p><i>Drains through an outer wall</i>:—</p>
-
- <p>14. On north-west side of southern end of North-East Passage; through
- base of wall 4 ft. 6 in. wide; eastern exterior opening 8 in. high, 9
- in. wide; covered with lintels; clear for 3 ft.; extended eastwards as
- an open drain 8 in. wide towards foot of steps of north entrance to the
- temple.</p>
-
- <p>15. Through wall dividing No. 10 Enclosure from Platform Area. This has
- a fall eastwards, and is in a good state of preservation.</p>
-
- <div class="figcenter" id="i_170a">
- <img src="images/i_170a.jpg" width="406" height="550" alt="" />
- <div class="caption">EXTERIOR OF A DRAIN, ELLIPTICAL TEMPLE</div>
- </div>
-
- <div class="figcenter" id="i_170b">
- <img src="images/i_170b.jpg" width="439" height="550" alt="" />
- <div class="caption">MONOLITHS ON THE PLATFORM, ACROPOLIS<br />
- <span class="small">(<i>Also see p. 315</i>)</span></div>
- </div>
-
- <p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_171">171</span></p>
-
- <h3>DRAINS AT ACROPOLIS RUINS</h3>
-
- <p>16. In Western Temple, in divisional wall “A” (see plan and
- description); drain-hole passes 5 ft. from north to south; northern
- opening 9 in. high, 11 in. wide; impossible to state the fall owing to
- stones and dirt inside; fragments of cement lining were found here in
- 1891, 1892, and 1902. [The interior of this temple was on the north
- side of wall “A,” as well as on the south side of wall “D,” much higher
- than between these two walls, which form a small amphitheatre (Bent)
- within and at the west end of the larger amphitheatre formed by the
- main walls of the temple. This is obvious to anyone examining the
- interior. Practical builders have recently stated their belief that
- when the lower and western side of this smaller amphitheatre is cleared
- of débris drains will be found at the base of the main west wall,
- which, so far as discoveries have been made, is the widest ancient
- wall in Rhodesia. The whole interior of the temple, and the formation
- rock over which, but not upon which, it is built, slant at all points
- downwards to the foot of the inner face of the main wall.]</p>
-
- <p>17. On west side of Upper Passage and leading from <em>Little Enclosure</em>;
- exterior opening 9 in. high, 6 in. wide; clear for 3 ft. inwards;
- interior opening covered with débris.</p>
-
- <p>18. East corner of South Enclosure A; through south wall; 4 ft. long;
- fall outwards; covered with large slabs; exterior opening 12 in. high,
- 8 in. wide; interior opening dilapidated.</p>
-
- <p>19. East entrance of Eastern Temple leading from temple to Gold Furnace
- Enclosure; under pavement of entrance; still 5 in. deep.</p>
-
- <h3>DRAINS IN VALLEY OF RUINS</h3>
-
- <p>20. In B section of Posselt Ruins in a divisional wall at extreme
- north-west end of ruins.</p>
-
- <p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_172">172</span></p>
-
- <p>21. In B section of Posselt Ruins in a divisional wall on north side 4 ft. wide.</p>
-
- <p>22. In B section of Posselt Ruins in main south wall.</p>
-
- <p>23. In Philips Ruins through a substantial wall east of large curved wall.</p>
-
- <p>24. In Philips Ruins through wall on east side of previous drain.</p>
-
- <p>25. In Mauch Ruins in divisional wall.</p>
-
- <p>26. In Mauch Ruins in east main wall.</p>
-
- <p>27. In Mauch Ruins in east wall of the outer enclosure.</p>
-
- <h3>THE BATTERING OF WALLS</h3>
-
- <p>The backward incline of both faces of walls
- from their bases to summits is a general characteristic in ancient
- architecture at Zimbabwe, and in all other ruins which belong to the
- earliest known type of ancient buildings in this country. This feature,
- so far as examinations have been made, is conspicuous by its absence
- from all buildings of the second or later period. So noticeable is
- this feature in the main walls of the Elliptical Temple that visitors
- viewing the walls from the interior constantly affirm their belief that
- the walls have commenced to lean over towards the exterior, and when
- viewing the exterior faces of the identical walls declare that the
- walls are leaning inwards and must ultimately fall inside the building.
- This is a mere optical delusion.</p>
-
- <p>The main walls, portions of which are believed to have stood some
- 3,500 years, are, if given the same conditions to which they have been
- subjected in past times, quite likely to be standing at the end of
- another millennium, if not longer, for the battering-back is a most
- important element of their massive strength, and has proved to be the
- main factor in securing their durability. Of course, some main walls
- in certain places show signs of bulging out and of damage caused by
- earth movements, possibly earthquakes, also by lightning, the sinking
- of foundations by water or damp, or<span class="pagenum" id="Page_173">173</span> growth of trees within their
- open dry masonry during the long period since their erection. Some
- faces of the walls show a complete swagging from end to end of their
- lengths, and yet the batter-back has preserved the walls practically
- intact throughout with each block occupying its original relative
- position. The appearance of such walls strongly suggests the effects of
- earthquake, and while these earth-movements would destroy a plumb wall,
- a wall with a severe batter-back, such as is seen in all the older
- walls at Zimbabwe, would on this account be comparatively safe from
- such effects.</p>
-
- <p>In some instances the battering is very severe and exceeds that of
- 1 ft. in 6 ft., and the native labourers can scale such with ease.
- Looking at the rounded extremities of any of the most ancient walls,
- one notices that their sides resemble the lines of a lighthouse as
- popularly conceived, in many instances the batter-back being more
- severe near the base and near the summit, and many of such rounded ends
- of walls where still perfect show very graceful lines of battering. So
- carefully is the batter-back worked out in the courses that looking up
- or down the face of the wall one can scarcely see a quarter of an inch
- of face of protruding block out of the line of the battering.</p>
-
- <p>To secure the batter of the walls the blocks are not slanted downwards
- at their inner side, but are laid on a true dead level reaching from
- face to face of the wall on either side, and in their outer courses
- their outside edges are placed back from the outer course below. So
- slightly do these courses recede one above another that in the height
- of only a few courses it would be almost impossible to detect the
- presence of any battering, while it is very decidedly noticeable in a
- height of some few feet.</p>
-
- <p>Bent’s estimate of the extent of the battering of walls at Zimbabwe,
- namely, 1 ft. in 6 ft., is fairly exact with regard to many of the
- walls, but excessive with regard to others,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_174">174</span> such as the main walls of
- the Elliptical Temple, while for many walls it is perfectly correct.
- The battering in most instances being more perceptible near base and
- summit than on the intermediate face of the wall, and the summits in
- many cases having disappeared, the batter-back, as ascertained by
- plumb lines, has consequently been considerably reduced. Where the
- original summits are still practically intact, and where there have
- been no bulging out of the faces of the walls, and the top courses on
- the edges do not lean outwards as they frequently do, on account of
- creeper and tree growths, the 1 ft. in 6 ft. is frequently approached,
- for instance, south wall <em>Western Temple</em>, 4 ft. 8 in. in 31 ft.;
- <em>Pattern Passage</em>, 2 ft. in 13 ft. In low walls 1 ft. in 6 ft. is very
- frequently reached.</p>
-
- <p>The main walls of the Elliptical Temple, as shown in the <cite>Table of
- Battering</cite> (see <cite>Elliptical Temple, Main Wall</cite>, Chapter IX.), are much
- less than 1 ft. in 6 ft., a fair average for inside faces being 1 ft.
- in 11 ft., but at some points it is only 1 ft. in 15 ft., and for
- outside faces 1 ft. in 10 ft. and 1 ft. in 8 ft.</p>
-
- <p>(For the battering of the <em>Conical Towers</em>, see descriptions of those
- structures.)</p>
-
- <h3>MONOLITHS</h3>
-
- <p>In most of the ruins of both major and minor importance
- at Zimbabwe, numerous beams of slate and granite, varying from 4 ft.
- to 14 ft. in length, have been found, some of the slate beams showing
- signs of having been treated with tools. It has been the custom of
- many writers to call these beams “monoliths.” In the greater number
- of instances these beams can be shown never to have been employed as
- monoliths. So far, at Zimbabwe, authenticated monoliths have been
- discovered only at the Elliptical Temple, and the Eastern and Western
- Temples of the Acropolis and Philips Ruins. Many of the beams found
- in these buildings are not and never were employed as<span class="pagenum" id="Page_175">175</span> monoliths, and
- the greatest possible care has to be taken in discriminating between
- monoliths and ordinary beams.</p>
-
- <p>Monoliths have their bases marked and worn by the stones in the sides
- of the holes on the summits of the walls in which they now stand or
- once stood, as if they had later become loose and had moved or even
- oscillated constantly while still in a fairly upright position. The
- marking of such as have fallen shows that they were made by rubbing
- against the edges of the enclosing blocks when the monoliths were in a
- perpendicular position, while some of the jagged notches on the bases
- must have been made when the monoliths were in a slanting position.
- The stumps of beams left in the side walls of entrances and passages
- which were once covered by slate and granite lintels, and across which
- the upper portions of the walls were carried, do not show the same
- markings; in fact, such ends of slate and granite lintels are not found
- to be worn by the friction caused by contact with the edges of blocks,
- and besides, these lack all evidence of having occupied a perpendicular
- position, or of having been exposed to the weather. Monoliths are
- decomposed and weather-worn on all faces, but there is generally more
- lichen on their south faces.</p>
-
- <p>Further, the bases of monoliths, plain or carved, especially those
- of soapstone and slate, are found to have their lowest extremities
- water-worn into smooth faces or grooves at such points round their
- faces where the bases did not come in contact with the enclosing
- blocks, and this smoothing has obviously been caused by rain-water
- running down the faces of the monoliths to the lowest part of their
- bases, till at last, especially those of slate, the bases which
- were once of greater circumference have become worn and tapered.
- The thickness of the wall and the depth to which the bases of the
- monoliths were built into them would prevent the sun’s heat drying the
- damp bases, and would so keep them moist for a long time after every
- shower. This constant moisture has<span class="pagenum" id="Page_176">176</span> caused the bases to splinter while
- the exposed portions of the monoliths remained practically intact.
- This water-wearing and the splintering on account of damp are absent
- in beams employed for any purpose in a horizontal position, and these
- usually show unmistakable signs of having been very well preserved from
- the effects of the weather, and the extremities of such beams do not
- taper, neither have they become splintered, and are usually as wide as
- the main portion of the beam.</p>
-
- <p>Undoubted monoliths of granite and slate have been found used by
- Makalanga as building material for their walls, and also as posts
- for cattle kraals. Also, in many cases, as posts for graves, and for
- decoration of Makalanga walls.</p>
-
- <h3>SOAPSTONE MONOLITHS AND BEAMS</h3>
-
- <p>Monoliths of soapstone have only been
- found in the three temples, but in greater profusion in the Eastern
- Temple on the Acropolis, and at Philips Ruins. Here they were found by
- their sections to have been of various diameters, but every one had
- been shaped with tools, some being artistically, others only crudely,
- decorated, but the majority were plain. Chevron pattern was evidently
- the favourite design employed. The Makalanga are believed to have
- used some of the broken sections of soapstone monoliths and beams for
- carving their <i>I-daha</i> pipe-bowls, in making which they are known to
- have excelled. This would save them the necessity of transporting the
- material to Zimbabwe from the soapstone formation, the nearest point of
- which is twelve miles in a north-western direction. Natives to-day have
- been seen taking away very small splinters of soapstone found in the
- débris heaps. These they cut with a knife into any crude shape that may
- be suggested to their passing fancy. The number of bases of soapstone
- monoliths is far greater than the number of splintered or broken
- sections found in the wall-débris heaps along the foot of the walls.</p>
-
- <p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_177">177</span></p>
-
- <p>Several sections of rounded soapstone beams were also found among the
- blocks on the summit of the main wall of the Elliptical Temple, and
- other sections were also discovered here in the débris at the foot
- of either side of the main wall. These sections, though plain, are
- beautifully finished, but being the lower portions above the bases, are
- without pattern. Probably the higher portions were decorated, as the
- decoration in several instances of soapstone beams discovered does not
- extend low down on the monoliths. The radii of the sections found in
- the Elliptical Temple varied considerably, while some had flat-worked
- faces with narrow ends artificially rounded.</p>
-
- <p>The discovery in all three temples of so many bases and sections of
- different sized soapstone monoliths suggests the question: Have the
- present standing slate and granite monoliths been, at any rate in some
- instances, erected at a later period to replace fallen or fractured
- soapstone monoliths?</p>
-
- <p>(<i>a</i>) Splinters of undoubted soapstone monoliths, some carved with
- geometrical patterns, have been found in large quantities in the lowest
- strata of wall-débris at each of the three temples only; sometimes they
- were found on the formation rock and below the wall débris, but at
- the foot of all the faces of the walls on the summits of which are at
- present only slate and unhewn granite are monoliths still more or less
- complete and erect.</p>
-
- <p>(<i>b</i>) On the summits of walls on which are slate and granite monoliths
- numerous small fragments of rounded lengths of soapstone, identical
- with soapstone beams and some similarly carved, have been found. These
- instances were frequently noticed in all the temples, May-November,
- 1902, but especially in the Elliptical Temple, where are now only
- granite and slate monoliths.</p>
-
- <p>Bent deduced from the various succeeding styles of Zimbabwe
- architecture that the ancient style of workmanship<span class="pagenum" id="Page_178">178</span> changed its form
- some time between the period of the earliest builders and the later
- ones, and this would explain why the original monoliths were of more
- artistic form, with carvings and decorations. How far this has any
- connection with the theory of the probable substitution, patent, at
- any rate, in some instances, of plain and unhewn granite and slate
- monoliths for the fallen and ornate soapstone monoliths, it might be
- premature to enlarge upon at present, for, judging by the condition of
- the oldest walls on which certain granite monoliths are fixed, some of
- these monoliths sunk deep into the summits of the walls were obviously
- erected when the walls were originally constructed. For instance, one
- carved soapstone monolith was found built into a wall on the north side
- of the Western Temple to a depth of 5 ft., while the original height of
- the wall could not have been more than 8 ft.</p>
-
- <p>However, both ancient architecture and relics unquestionably prove that
- between the earliest and the latest periods of ancient occupation there
- was a marked falling off and decadence in the conception and erection
- of both buildings and in the character of the articles found.</p>
-
- <h3>NUMBER OF MONOLITHS STILL MORE OR LESS ERECT</h3>
-
- <p>The number of monoliths
- still erect, or which have fallen, is as follows, but the number may
- be further increased as the débris at the bases of the temple walls is
- examined:—</p>
-
- <p>At Elliptical Temple.—Nine granite monoliths still erect, nine fallen;
- no slate monoliths erect, five fallen; two granite monoliths, one of
- which is fractured, stand in No. 5 Enclosure.</p>
-
- <p>At Eastern Temple, Acropolis.—There are no soapstone monoliths now
- standing, but a considerable number of sections of slate and soapstone
- monoliths, including bases, were found in the débris. Mr. Posselt, who
- resided at Zimbabwe before the Chartered Company took possession of
- the country, states that in 1888 three soapstone beams,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_179">179</span> with birds
- on their summits, were standing in the interior of the left-hand side
- of the West Entrance, and one at the northern end of the summit of
- the main east wall, on which is the dentelle pattern. The three beams
- stood on a small raised platform, and as this temple was then used as a
- cattle kraal, the cattle rubbed against them and eventually pushed over
- the beams.</p>
-
- <p>At Western Temple, Acropolis.—There are twelve slate and four granite
- monoliths still standing on the walls, and four slate monoliths, three
- still intact, have been found in wall-débris. Originally those on the
- south and west walls were exactly equi-distant. Bent found and removed
- several sections of different soapstone monoliths, both decorated and
- plain, but he found no soapstone bird in this temple. In 1891 the lower
- portion of a soapstone bird was discovered and taken to Johannesburg,
- and its whereabouts are at present unknown. In August, 1902, the head
- and neck of this same bird were found, as also a length of the beam
- upon which it stood, and this is beautifully carved with chevron
- pattern. This beam originally stood on the summit of the north wall.</p>
-
- <p>All slate monoliths are plain, but many of those of slate have been
- rounded with tools of which they bear the markings.</p>
-
- <p>Several monoliths have fallen since 1888. One immense granite beam
- which occupied an upright position immediately north of <em>The Platform</em>
- in the Elliptical Temple has disappeared since 1891. A monolith in
- the interior facing the <em>Western Entrance</em> has fallen within the last
- few years, while a tall granite beam at the same spot has broken off
- just above the ground within the same period. Another tall granite
- beam occupied the <em>Central Area</em> in the temple, and this has also
- disappeared within the last seven years.<a id="FNanchor_44" href="#Footnote_44" class="fnanchor">[44]</a> Relic prospec<span class="pagenum" id="Page_180">180</span>tors of the
- nineties appear to have excavated round the spots occupied by monoliths
- and caused their fall.</p>
-
- <p>The finest specimen of a bird on a soapstone beam yet discovered at
- Zimbabwe was found by the author in <em>Philips Ruins</em> in February, 1903.</p>
-
- <h3>SLATE AND GRANITE BEAMS.</h3>
-
- <p>These are plentifully found in all the
- enclosures. Sections and splinters of slate beams are found in
- entrances which have portcullis grooves, one still standing in
- position 8 ft. above the floor. Slate beams used as entrance posts in
- portcullis grooves were erected before the building of the entrance,
- as the enclosing blocks follow the irregularities of the beams. Wood
- posts found in some portcullis grooves in poorer built walls are not
- considered ancient, and their comparative modernity is testified to by
- experienced builders who have very recently examined a collection of
- such posts. Mopani hard wood and mahobohobo have not been used in all
- such instances, some of the posts being of soft wood. Wooden posts have
- not so far been found in well-built entrances. The posts outside the
- clay huts of old Makalanga are older in appearance and condition than
- the majority of the posts found in the poorer entrances, though they
- very closely resemble one another in measurements and in the wood used.
- In one instance the groove was too large for the wooden post which had
- been wedged in with granite splinters, the granite being only slightly
- weathered.</p>
-
- <p>Slate and granite beams were also employed for the bonds and ties of
- walls, also for ties in sharply curved walls, also for supporting the
- roofs over covered passages.</p>
-
- <p>The nearest point to the slate formation is seven miles in a
- north-easterly direction. It is believed that the long granite beams
- were brought from the Lumbo Rocks, one and three-quarter miles to the
- south, where a great quantity of exactly similar shaped beams are to be
- seen lying scattered round<span class="pagenum" id="Page_181">181</span> the high perpendicular column of granite,
- the sides of which split off into the shape of the long monoliths found
- on the Acropolis.</p>
-
- <h3>CEMENT DADOES</h3>
-
- <p>One of the discoveries made recently in clearing the
- lower portions of interior faces of walls from débris, which appears to
- have covered them for centuries, is that some portions of such walls
- have been found to be covered with the remains of excellent granite
- cement dadoes. This is particularly to be noticed on three walls of the
- <em>Sacred Enclosure</em>, on the south wall of <em>No. 11 Enclosure</em>, and at the
- <em>Little Enclosure</em> and the <em>Upper Passage</em> on the Acropolis, and in
- other ruins where portions of this dado still remain.</p>
-
- <p>These dadoes extended to a height of 7 ft., the cement being found in
- patches still intact and in the joints of the blocks to this height,
- the courses above this height being entirely free from traces of cement.</p>
-
- <p>In passages and narrow places great quantities of this cement lay on
- the original floors along the bottoms of the walls on either side, some
- fragments showing on their backs the ribbed markings of the courses
- up against which the cement had been pressed, also bevelled edges, as
- if from the top and ends of such dadoes. This was particularly the
- experience on clearing out the <em>Parallel Passage</em> in the Elliptical
- Temple. It is possible that these dadoes had once facings of white
- soapstone clay, beautifully smoothed, for this was found on some
- fragments of such cement dadoes, and the facing, when cut with a knife,
- powdered exactly as soapstone does.</p>
-
- <p>It can be noticed by anyone that the lower portions of the walls which
- once had dadoes have their block faces somewhat roughly built as
- compared with the upper portions of the walls. This appears to suggest
- that the original builders, in erecting the wall, had calculated upon
- certain portions of the faces being covered with dadoes. These rougher<span class="pagenum" id="Page_182">182</span>
- surfaces would provide a better hold for the cement than would the
- smoother faces of the walls above.</p>
-
- <p>The cavities in the dry masonry of the main walls of the Elliptical
- Temple contain cooled air even at noontide, and this rushes out from
- between the courses with such a force as to make it impossible to light
- a match close to them, while it is a very easy matter to carry on a
- conversation through a wall 15 ft. thick and 32 ft. high.</p>
-
- <p>To the original builders who, as is shown elsewhere, thoroughly
- understood and appreciated the art of sanitation, it is quite probable
- that these dadoes were considered necessary, especially as these dry
- masonry walls are the homes of snakes, lizards, and other unpleasant
- reptiles and creatures which probably were more abundant here three
- thousand years ago when, as competent scientists affirm, the climate
- was more humid. Whether for the exclusion of sound, for the securing
- of privacy, for the protection of their dwellings from reptiles, or to
- avoid the tearing by rough granite blocks in very narrow passages of
- such garments as they might have worn, or for the purpose of artistic
- effect—and these ancients practised several fine arts—the fact has
- recently been revealed that at any rate some of the ancient walls were
- once covered with these cement dadoes.<a id="FNanchor_45" href="#Footnote_45" class="fnanchor">[45]</a></p>
-
- <h3>BUILT-UP CREVICES</h3>
-
- <p>On the Acropolis Hill cliffs and boulders form
- such prominent features that these have often been employed as sides
- of enclosures. The ancients were in many instances at great pains to
- build up crevices and fissures in rocks, especially where these are in
- or near the enclosures. Even small crevices only a foot or so wide,
- and penetrating into the face of the cliffs and rocks for but two
- or three feet, <span class="pagenum" id="Page_183">183</span>the front being the only part giving access to such
- fissures, are carefully built up flush with the face of the rock. Some
- large perpendicular fissures in the cliffs have been so built up to an
- immense height. One fissure on the south side of the Rock Holes Path
- has been built up for 40 ft. above the ground. This fissure is from 1
- ft. to 3 ft. wide. The effect caused by this column of blocks running
- up the face of the cliff is very strange. Some fissures are so narrow
- that very small blocks have been used. From some of such fissures the
- built-up courses have fallen away, leaving a few courses, here and
- there at different heights wedged in between the sides of the fissures,
- and occasionally one sees a single block wedged into a fissure at
- an immense height above any ruin. This building-up of crevices and
- fissures is to be found almost over the whole face of the hill where no
- ruins are now to be seen. If two boulders are near together, it may be
- taken as almost a moral certainty that on examining the boulders they
- will be found to be connected with a wall, even if the space be only a
- foot or two wide.</p>
-
- <p>In a similar manner the holes under overhanging boulders have been
- neatly built up so as to effectually hide the hole. The natives have in
- two or three instances removed sufficient of the blocks to enable them
- to pass a corpse through, after which, with their peculiar style of
- building—column form—they have filled up the gaps with walling.</p>
-
- <h3>HOLES IN WALLS OTHER THAN DRAINS</h3>
-
- <p>This peculiar feature of ancient
- architecture is especially prominent at the Acropolis, also in East
- Ruins, and in almost all the ruins in the Valley of Ruins. There
- are holes, generally square, in the lower parts of the walls at two
- or three feet above any ancient floor. They are found only on the
- inside faces of walls, not one as yet having been discovered on the
- outer face. That they are intentionally made is a matter of ocular
- demonstration, for many have lintels either of large granite slabs or
- of<span class="pagenum" id="Page_184">184</span> slate beams. The blocks of the side framings are all built flush
- with each other. Their peculiarity is that they do not extend back
- into the wall for more than the length of a block, in one case of two
- blocks, and the internal packing blocks in the wall are seen inside.
- One such recess on the Acropolis shows traces of having once been lined
- with granite cement. The bottom portion of a similar recess in Upper
- Passage also has remains of cement lining. The largest recess is to be
- seen on the west side of a divisional wall in East Ruins. This is 3 ft.
- high and 1 ft. 10 in. wide. No such recess has so far been discovered
- in the Elliptical Temple, but at least fifty have been found elsewhere
- among the ruins.</p>
-
- <h3>BLIND STEPS AND PLATFORMS</h3>
-
- <p>In several enclosures in the principal
- ruins at Zimbabwe, but mainly at the Elliptical Temple, and in the
- angles formed by the meeting of side walls of the enclosures, are to
- be seen small raised platforms approached by two or three steps. These
- steps could not have led to higher positions than the small platforms,
- that is, they could not have been intended for mounting to the summit
- of the wall, for the bottom steps are at far too short a distance from
- the walls in comparison with their heights, besides which, the steps
- and platforms are perfect in themselves, and their summits, judging by
- the condition of the cement floor, terminated as is seen to-day. Nor
- are there any signs on the faces of the walls above such platforms of
- any steps, or that the blocks in the angles of the walls were at any
- time protected from the weather by any higher structure.</p>
-
- <p>These blind steps surmounted by miniature platforms are made of blocks
- thickly covered with granite cement similar to that found on the lowest
- floors of the temple—the steps being large and deep and boldly rounded
- off. The shape of these erections reminds one of the steps and raised
- platforms which are frequently seen in stableyards at<span class="pagenum" id="Page_185">185</span> home, and were
- once very generally used as mounting blocks.</p>
-
- <p>Bent, unfortunately, discovered only one of these platforms, and this
- was the one on the north side of the Sacred Enclosure (west), and when
- he saw it the platform was covered with débris, evidently débris,
- judging by its age, put there by Dr. Mauch, who had been exploring
- in this portion of the enclosure. This débris was foreign to this
- particular spot and had evidently been removed from nearer the Conical
- Tower. Bent therefore conjectured that these blind steps once led to
- the summit of the south wall of The Platform. The height of the wall
- here, 12 ft., could not have been surmounted by these steps, for if
- carried upwards with the same class of step as below, they would have
- failed to reach half-way up the wall.</p>
-
- <p>These erections might have served a similar purpose for the enclosures
- in which they were erected, as did the large Platform immediately
- in front of the Conical Tower for the whole of the Temple. The best
- examples are in the north-east corner of No. 12 Enclosure, the south
- corner of No. 7 Enclosure, both in the Elliptical Temple, and in the
- south-east corner of the Western Temple and in the north, east, and
- west angles of the Eastern Temple, both on the Acropolis. Possibly the
- platform and steps in the South Passage of the Elliptical Temple were
- used for a similar purpose, for this latter structure, though not built
- into any angle of walls, is of exactly similar construction to the
- others.</p>
-
- <h3>ANCIENT WALLS AT A DISTANCE FROM ANY MAIN RUINS ARE OF A LESS SUPERIOR CONSTRUCTION</h3>
-
- <p>There is another class of building found in
- walls erected at a distance from any main ruins, and these, though
- constructed in a somewhat rougher form, are otherwise all built upon
- the principles of the First Period of Zimbabwe architecture. These
- walls can be clearly shown to have formed part of the original purpose,
- plan, and con<span class="pagenum" id="Page_186">186</span>struction as the main ruins, and prove that the original
- ancient builders, while devoting their best skill to the temples and
- residential portions of the building, were satisfied with a somewhat
- inferior quality of workmanship for their more distant walls, and for
- such of their outlying buildings as were used for some purpose, judging
- by the finds, other than those of workshop or residence, most probably
- as forts, workshops, stores for grain, or as the housing places of
- slaves.</p>
-
- <p>The close connection between the well-built walls of the main ruins
- and these outlying walls and buildings is, in many instances, easy to
- establish, and this may be shown as follows:—</p>
-
- <p>1. The sole difference between the construction of the main ruins and
- the outlying buildings lies in the quality of workmanship and material,
- these outlying walls showing all other features of first-period
- architecture to the exclusion of any feature of the second or later
- periods of construction.</p>
-
- <p>2. Connecting passages between the inner portions of main ruins and
- the outlying buildings are well built in and near the main ruins, but
- are excellently constructed as distance is reached, though the line of
- foundations throughout, as also the cement flooring, are one and the
- same.</p>
-
- <p>3. Undoubted ancient floors are laid up to and against such walls.</p>
-
- <p>4. Relics of prehistoric character, similar to those discovered within
- any of the main ruins, have been found beyond main walls in connecting
- passages and in the more distant ruins.</p>
-
- <p>These evidences as to the early period during which some of the more
- distant walls were erected are also found in other large ruins of
- Southern Rhodesia, but at Zimbabwe, where the Acropolis affords such
- a commanding view of the lines of walls of the outer ruins and of the
- directions of recently unburied passages of great length, and of the
- sweep of the walls connecting main ruins with outlying<span class="pagenum" id="Page_187">187</span> buildings, the
- original purpose of many of the walls and minor ruins appears to be
- very manifest.</p>
-
- <p>In these outer walls the blocks are of far greater size, their shape
- is frequently irregular, and unhewn stones are employed, but their
- faces are even on either side and the internal parts are neatly filled
- in with stones. All these walls have the usual Zimbabwe batter-back,
- have rounded entrances, and the steps are not built in between the side
- walls, but are formed by the courses of the foundations. Plumb walls
- and angular entrances are very rarely met with.</p>
-
- <h3>CEMENT</h3>
-
- <p>The original builders of the Zimbabwe ruins, as well as
- those of later ancient periods, can be seen to have shown a peculiar
- partiality for the employment of cements for all constructive work save
- that of building the walls, which are all, without exception, of dry
- masonry. Evidently the ancients, judging by the immense quantity of
- cement work throughout the ruins, much of which is still in splendid
- condition, deliberately avoided the use of cement in the construction
- of the walls. Probably in this respect, and in the employment of blocks
- of a certain size, they were but following the methods of building to
- which they were accustomed before their arrival in this country.</p>
-
- <p>(1) The cement work of the oldest periods has been pronounced by
- practical builders to have been made of crushed fragments of decomposed
- granite mixed with a large proportion of lime, the latter being found
- in Suku Glen (see <i>Suku Glen</i>) in extensive areas. This cement is
- exceedingly hard, and has a glaze on the outer surface which, once
- broken, has caused the internal body of cement to rapidly decompose
- into yellow soil. Thus on the faces of steps, dadoes, and all
- perpendicular work, the cement is more intact, while on flat surfaces
- where rain-water could not be carried away owing to the stopping up of
- drains the cement floors are in many instances considerably ruined.
- Tree roots are rarely found<span class="pagenum" id="Page_188">188</span> to have penetrated any cement floor which
- was in a whole condition, and where a root has so penetrated the
- cement, the root, acting as a conductor of water, has caused all the
- cement along the line of root to become decomposed. All the roots of
- trees which have recently been removed from above cement floors are
- flat, while some of them assume the shape of the structure that was
- underneath. In one instance the roots of an immense fig tree, which was
- thought to be over one hundred years old, had wound round and round a
- circular cement platform which they had failed to penetrate.</p>
-
- <p>This class of cement has been very extensively used by the older
- occupiers for (<i>a</i>) flooring, (<i>b</i>) dadoes, (<i>c</i>) covering steps and
- platforms, (<i>d</i>) construction of steps and platforms made entirely of
- cement, (<i>e</i>) raised rims for dividing floors into separate catchment
- areas, so confining rain-water over certain areas to particular drains,
- (<i>f</i>) foundations of walls, (<i>g</i>) for short, low divisional walls made
- entirely of cement.</p>
-
- <p>(2) There is another class of granite cement which closely resembles
- the first-mentioned, and this is found on the higher levels. It is
- also yellow, but in it occur pieces of granite, and it has a decidedly
- coarser appearance. This is not so lavishly laid, being only one or
- two inches thick, whereas the former cement is most frequently found
- to have a thickness of at least 6 in., that is, in those instances
- where the structures are not entirely composed of this cement. A great
- quantity of this cement work can be seen on the Acropolis or in the
- Valley of Ruins.</p>
-
- <p>(3) A further class of cement is of a dull reddish colour, containing
- more soil than granite. Practically it is clay, but so fine and well
- polished that it deserves the designation of cement. This work had been
- burnt white, and its material is very strong and far superior to the
- best clay used by the oldest native occupiers.</p>
-
- <p>(4) A greyish-coloured cement, in which there are large proportions of
- lime. This is found in ruins. On the summit<span class="pagenum" id="Page_189">189</span> of Rusivanga Kopje there
- are floors and walls made of it. There is difference of opinion between
- builders and native authorities as to the makers of this cement. It is
- most certainly superior to any such material made by the natives of
- to-day. It closely resembles, if it is not identical with, the material
- used in building the two classes of huts Nos. 1 and 2 (see <cite>Native huts
- found in ruins</cite>). The natives state it is not of any known Makalanga
- make. It is found in large slabs, as if from the side walls of circular
- huts, fully 14 ft. in diameter, also in bevelled ruins of all sizes.
- This cement can be seen in some of the ruins, also on Zimbabwe Hill,
- where the natives state there has been no occupation, excepting, of
- course, Mogabe’s brief residence, for at least five generations.
- Judging by the high-class quality of Kafir “finds” here, it is quite
- possible that this cement is that of the mediæval Makalanga.</p>
-
- <p>(5) The other descriptions of <i>daga</i> (clay) vary in quality from
- fairly good to most inferior. These are mere veld soil, without being
- mixed with lime, and are seen in portions of distinctly old Kafir huts
- resembling the types Nos. 2 and 3. It is also to be found in quantities
- on the Bentberg and on Rusivanga Kopje. In many trenches can be seen
- three or four layers of this <i>daga</i> one above another, each layer being
- about one inch thick, and there are layers of ashes between the floors.</p>
-
- <h3>ANCIENTS AND CAVES AND ROCK HOLES</h3>
-
- <p>There are innumerable rock holes,
- chasms, and large fissures among the cliffs and boulders of the
- Acropolis Hill, but there is only one—the Balcony Cave—that actually
- deserves the title of cave, though this name is bestowed upon them all
- by several writers. Perhaps Balcony Cave approaches nearest to the
- general conception of what is a cave. But the holes under beetling
- boulders which constitute these “caves” are as a rule shallow, low, and
- narrow.</p>
-
- <p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_190">190</span></p>
-
- <p>There are no evidences in any of these holes, so far as they have been
- examined, that the ancients cut into the rock or quarried to make or
- improve these holes, the faces of the rock being all natural, and
- devoid of any traces of their having been worked. Sir John Willoughby
- makes a similar statement as to the rock never having been cut. It is
- also noticeable that small spurs of formation rock jutting up through
- the floors of enclosures have never been cut away. But the ancient
- builders were very clever in artificially improving the fronts of the
- rock holes, so as to add extra space to the size of the holes. This
- was done in at least two instances, though there are traces of its
- having been done elsewhere. A wall was built at some feet immediately
- in front of the hole, and this was carried up so high that its summit
- was connected with the cliff or boulder which rose above and arched
- outwards in front of the hole. This is seen at South Cave, where a wall
- was carried up to the over-arching boulder, thus more than doubling the
- area of the cave (see descriptions of each cave).</p>
-
- <p>There are a series of such rock holes on the north-east side of the
- hill and on the south of Rock Holes Path. The covered holes between
- the large boulders look very romantic, and their appearance suggests
- the probability of there being large caves here, but the appearance is
- most deceptive. The greatest number of such hollows are to be found at
- the east end of the Acropolis Hill, and some few of these are worth
- visiting, but the irregular and rugged contour of that face of the
- hill makes climbing there a most difficult matter, besides which our
- labourers have recently killed two tiger-cats at these holes, and they
- state that there are more of such animals there.</p>
-
- <p>Some few only of the caves near the main ruins of the Acropolis have
- had cemented floors, the formation rock being in most instances
- sufficiently smooth and level to make it unnecessary to lay cement
- floors. Platform Cave<span class="pagenum" id="Page_191">191</span> has at least three levels of cement flooring one
- above another.</p>
-
- <p>The purposes for which these caves have been used cannot be determined,
- for the finds made in them were very meagre and common, most being
- Makalanga hoes, spearheads, brass wire bangles still containing hair or
- grass, and fragments of pottery of poor and modern make. The only caves
- which yielded anything of antique character were Platform and Balcony
- Caves. In the former were sections of soapstone monoliths and fragments
- of soapstone bowls. In the latter were about a dozen large slate beams
- and plain soapstone beams. The soil in this cave has often been panned
- by visitors, as there has always been an idea that gold dust was once
- stored here. Almost all the pannings showed faint traces of gold, and
- one or two rather richly. Theodore Bent, Sir John Willoughby, and also
- many searchers for relics, have practically cleared the most important
- of these caves of all finds.</p>
-
- <p>A cave hole under an immense boulder on the south side of the Gold
- Furnace Enclosure is about 15 ft. square, but one has to crouch low
- down to move about in it. Here have been found quantities of quartz,
- copper ore, and ironstone, pieces of beaten copper and copper wire,
- sections of gold crucibles, and pottery whorls. No industry could
- have been carried on in this low-roofed area, but gold-, copper-, and
- iron-smelting were evidently conducted in the adjoining and higher Gold
- Furnace Enclosure, and this hole or chasm, as Bent calls it, was used
- for depositing the debris from such furnaces.</p>
-
- <p>Nearly all the rock holes on Zimbabwe Hill had been used for some
- purposes—up to four years ago by the Makalanga as burial-places, the
- hill abounding in such graves. Now the local Makalanga are prohibited
- burying on this hill, and at the same time their kraal was removed from
- the Acropolis. The bodies were placed in the corners<span class="pagenum" id="Page_192">192</span> of these rock
- holes and piled over with stones; the pot, assegais, knobkerries—and in
- one instance a large bark-string hunting-net, 5 ft. high and about 30
- yds. long—which belonged to the deceased, were laid upon the top of the
- stones.</p>
-
- <p>There are no Bushman paintings in any of these caves, nor on the
- immense rocks which are strewn all over the hill. Nor does the district
- round about possess any of these paintings. Almost every kopje within
- a few miles of Zimbabwe has very recently been carefully examined for
- walls, relics, caves, and paintings, several of the hills having been
- within the last few months ascended several times from various points.
- Natives, farmers, and prospectors state that these are altogether
- absent from this portion of the Victoria district.</p>
-
- <p>But caves and rock holes are very numerous on some of the kopjes which
- are within an easy walk of the ruins, and if some of these were cleared
- out some discoveries might possibly be made. It will be recalled that
- both the ancient cylinder with rosettes, the wooden platter with the
- signs of the zodiac, and the notorious pot “Fuko-ya-Nebandge” were all
- found in caves at some little distance from Zimbabwe.</p>
-
- <hr class="page" />
- <div class="chapter" id="CHAPTER_IX">
- <span class="pagenum" id="Page_193">193</span>
- <h2>
- CHAPTER IX<br /><br />
- <span class="small">THE ELLIPTICAL TEMPLE</span>
- </h2>
- </div>
- <div class="subheadc">Main Walls—Plan—Construction—Measurements—Summit—Foundations—Chevron
- Pattern—Ground Surface of Exterior.</div>
-
- <p class="drop-cap"><i>PLAN of main wall.</i>—Though popularly spoken of as the “Circular
- Temple,”<a id="FNanchor_46" href="#Footnote_46" class="fnanchor">[46]</a> the building is of elliptical plan, “a form of temple,”
- says Bent, “found at Marib, the ancient capital of the Sabæan kingdom
- in Arabia, and at the Castle of Nakab al Hajar, also in that country.”
- The resemblance between the temple at Marib and the Elliptical Temple
- at Zimbabwe is remarkable, and several scientists of repute, who have
- considered the plans of both these ruins, emphasise the remarkable
- resemblance, not only in the plan, but in the forms of worship
- practised by the ancients, as evidenced also by the relics discovered
- at both temples. For instance, Professor Müller, of Vienna, the great
- South Arabian archæologist (<i>Burgen und Schlösser</i>, ii. 20.) compares
- these two ruins as follows:—</p>
-
- <table summary="Marib and Zimbabwe temples comparison">
- <tbody>
- <tr>
- <th class="tdc"><div><i>Marib.</i></div></th>
- <th class="tdc"><div><i>Zimbabwe.</i></div></th>
- </tr>
- <tr>
- <td class="tdp">
- <p>Plan, system of curved walls, geometrical building, orientation.</p>
- </td>
- <td class="tdp">
- <p>Practically the same.</p>
- </td>
- </tr>
- <tr>
- <td class="tdp">
- <p>Inscription on Marib is in two rows, and runs round a fourth of the circumference.
- </p>
- </td>
- <td class="tdp">
- <p>Two rows of chevron pattern run round a fourth part of the circumference.</p>
- </td>
- </tr>
- <tr>
- <td class="tdp">
- <p>Half of elliptical wall, on side of inscription, is well built and
- well preserved, but opposite side is badly built and ruined.</p>
- </td>
- <td class="tdp">
- <p>The same at Zimbabwe, where the pattern side of the wall is
- well built. The other portion is rough.</p>
- </td>
- </tr>
- <tr>
- <td class="tdp">
- <p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_194">194</span>
- Temple was dedicated to the goddess Almaquah—the star
- Venus, which is called in the Himyaritic tongue Ialmaquah,
- or Almaq = illuminating.</p>
- </td>
- <td class="tdp">
- <p>Highly probable that Zimbabwe was a Sabæan Almaquah
- temple, as it is orientated and geometrically built for astronomical
- purposes, as in all cases of such buildings used for the
- worship of Almaquah. Sacred birds found at Zimbabwe are
- said to represent Venus the “Morning Star.”<a id="FNanchor_47" href="#Footnote_47" class="fnanchor">[47]</a>
- </p>
- </td>
- </tr>
- </tbody>
- </table>
-
- <p>Herr Brugsch believes the images of the birds found at Zimbabwe
- emphasised a Sabæan occupation, while M. Naville is especially of
- opinion that there exists a strong connection between Venus, the star
- of the Sabæans, and the goddess worshipped at Zimbabwe. The evidences
- pointing to the close connection of the South Arabian temples and
- Zimbabwe are almost inexhaustible. On this point Bent and Schlichter
- are at one with each other (see <cite>Petermann’s Mitteilungen</cite> 1892; also
- <cite>The Gold of Ophir</cite> by Professor A. H. Keane; and M. Arnaud’s plan of
- the temple at Marib).</p>
-
- <p>Professor Müller also states that the elliptically formed wall appears
- to have been always used in the temple buildings of ancient Arabia, and
- states that at Sirwah the Almaquah temple is built in an oval form. In
- these old temples, he says, sacred inscriptions to the deities were set
- up on stylæ (stone beams). At Zimbabwe some scores of carved soapstone
- beams have been discovered in the three temples, also ten birds perched
- on tall soapstone beams and three other birds detached from their
- beams, also four miniature birds on pedestals carved out of soapstone.</p>
-
- <p>The Elliptical Temple at Zimbabwe is a much larger building than that
- at Marib, having a circumference of about 833 ft. as against the 300
- ft. of the Marib temple.</p>
-
- <p>On entering the building it is at once seen that the most massive
- and excellently constructed portions of the main <span class="pagenum" id="Page_195">195</span>wall extend
- from slightly north of the North Entrance to the east and south and
- south-west, and that the other portions, particularly the north-west
- and west, are slighter, and though showing fairly good workmanship,
- it is not nearly so well built as the other portion of the wall, the
- average width of the summit of the poor wall being barely a third
- of the average width of the better-built portion. The general line
- of the summit is also fairly level, but it averages some 5 ft. to 8
- ft. less in height than that of the northern and eastern walls. The
- distinct character of the two portions of the main wall is very plainly
- noticeable on viewing the temple from the summit of the Acropolis Hill.</p>
-
- <div class="figcenter illow600" id="i_194">
- <img src="images/i_194.jpg" width="600" height="515" alt="" />
- <div class="attribr">Methuen &amp; Co.</div>
- <div class="caption">THE ELLIPTICAL TEMPLE<br />Great Zimbabwe</div>
- </div>
-
- <p>But this temple does not stand alone in showing its main wall massive
- and exceptionally well built at one point of its circumference and
- slighter built on the other part. This feature is common to many ruins
- in Rhodesia, excepting, of course, ruins of forts and those ruins
- built upon the angular plan and terraced. Bent was fully aware of this
- feature, and cites instances of its occurrence. Mr. Swan does the same,
- and so does Schlichter. At some time or another before the north-west
- and west wall was built that portion of the original wall had become
- dilapidated, and the temple had become “half-moon,” “section of a
- circle,” or “crescent” shaped, these being the terms applied by all
- writers, without exception, to such of the circular ruins in the First
- Period Ruins’ Area,<a id="FNanchor_48" href="#Footnote_48" class="fnanchor">[48]</a> where portions of the main wall had fallen down.
- The published plans of ruins demonstrate this fact. Probably Zimbabwe
- will again become a “section of a circle,” for it stands to reason that
- the weaker wall will be the first portion to disappear.</p>
-
- <p>The massive and well-built portions of the ruins, built upon a system
- of curves, almost always bear the mural pattern of the oldest types,
- while the slighter portions are without <span class="pagenum" id="Page_196">196</span>pattern. It is so at Marib,
- it is so at Zimbabwe, and it is so in some score of ruins built upon
- the same principles, as shown in the Elliptical Temple. This has been
- found to be so invariable a rule that on sighting a building of this
- class of ruin even at some distance one can almost fix the position
- of the pattern, that is, if the wall is not so reduced in height that
- the decoration, if originally any, has not disappeared. Assuming no
- principle of orientation to attach to such ruins, there yet remains
- something to be done in explaining the directions of the massive curved
- and decorated walls of the circular ruins, for the existence of so many
- scores of parallelisms can hardly be explained away as being but so
- many coincidences.</p>
-
- <p>It has now (June, 1903) for the first time been shown by ocular
- demonstration that the slighter wall, though ancient, is a
- reconstruction of a still more ancient wall which curved outwards more
- to the north and north-west. Recently some thirty tons of granite
- blocks which lay in the gap on either side of it were removed, and the
- foundations at this spot uncovered, showing the meeting in a mis-joint
- at an oblique angle of two distinct walls, the foundations of the
- massive north wall being 9 ft. 10 in. wide, and that of the later wall
- 6 ft. wide, while the class of building in the two walls is obviously
- distinct. The face of the end of the north wall was extended further
- outwards towards N.W. 40 ft., and the line of its foundation, according
- to its curve, points in that direction, where, it is believed, the old
- extended foundation has been come upon at 36 ft. outside the later
- wall. The slighter wall approaches the massive wall from W. 80. The
- bases of the foundations are practically on the same level.</p>
-
- <p>Though the later wall is not so well constructed as the older wall, it
- must not be taken as poorly built. (See “<cite>Construction of main wall</cite>,”
- later.)</p>
-
- <p>The wonderful feature is that no joint in the wall has so far been
- discovered in its south-west portion. Practical builders<span class="pagenum" id="Page_197">197</span> who have
- examined the wall on this side for such a joint are perplexed at
- not being able to discover it, and some consider, from certain
- circumstances noticeable, that it must have been at the West Entrances
- where this later wall was commenced, in which case no such joint would
- in all probability be found.</p>
-
- <h3>CONSTRUCTION</h3>
-
- <p>The construction of the main wall from the north to the
- east, and round to the south and south-west, is admittedly by far the
- finest specimen of ancient constructive work yet found in Rhodesia; it
- has consequently been made the standard by which the best-known writers
- and greatest authorities judge of the quality of the work shown in
- other walls in the country. Certainly two large and important ruins in
- the Lower Sabi Valley, which are much larger in area but with lower
- walls than Zimbabwe, closely rival the Great Zimbabwe in construction
- and boldness of design. But with regard to the more massive and highest
- portion of the main wall every practical builder who visits Zimbabwe
- is amazed at the equal distribution of the joints, the conscientious
- bonding of the outer courses, the good quality of stone selected, the
- careful dressing and the regularity of the sizes of the blocks, the
- neat packing throughout the whole width of the wall, and the tiling of
- the summits of the wall with “throughs.” The filling-in of the wall
- has been most conscientiously executed, and is seen to have been done
- course by course with the faces of the wall, as the courses throughout
- are pronounced to correspond with the outer courses of the wall on
- either side, and some builders have positively stated that some sort
- of a levelling instrument must have been used. “Straight joints” for
- more than two or three courses are absent, and these are rare, “false
- courses” are also rare, and there is little seen of chips levelling-up
- the corners of the blocks.</p>
-
- <p>The marvellous symmetry of the batter-back of the dry masonry,
- especially in the boldly conceived and most ex<span class="pagenum" id="Page_198">198</span>cellently constructed
- sweep of the wall on its inner face from north to north-east and
- south-west, secures the admiration of every visitor, and forms one
- of the chief features by which the Great Zimbabwe stamps itself on
- one’s memory. The scrupulously careful workmanship displayed here, and
- particularly in the courses near the Chevron Pattern and on the outer
- face of the north-east portion of the wall, show undoubtedly the most
- superior of any ancient building yet discovered in Rhodesia, if not
- also of the important ruins lying at some distance, to the south-east,
- of which only sketch-plans and a few photographs are yet to hand. The
- massive solidity and excellent construction, together with its batter
- (see <cite>Architecture</cite>, section “Battering of Walls”), which this wall
- displays, have, no doubt, secured its wonderful preservation in spite
- of earthquake, effects of tree and creeper growth, and the ravages of
- some millenniums of time.</p>
-
- <p>The construction demonstrates the fact that the ancients in their own
- home in the north were thoroughly well-practised in the building with
- either stone blocks or bricks. Moreover, as suggested by Bent and
- Schlichter, the extensive use of granite cement in making floors both
- inside and outside the ruins at Zimbabwe proves that it was by design
- that the ancients adopted the system of building with dry masonry.</p>
-
- <p>Concerning the construction of the north-west and west portions of
- the main wall there has been much controversy, Bent and Schlichter
- being emphatic in stating that not only was it most inferior to that
- of the other portions of the main wall, but that it was obviously
- of later construction on contracted lines, but still ancient. These
- two archæologists could have arrived at this conclusion only by the
- measurement of the wall and by its quality of workmanship. Sir John
- Willoughby, on the other hand, contended that it is built as well as
- any other portion of the main wall. It is certainly not poor building
- that renders it less easy to climb along its summit, the difficulty
- being the number of loose stones which line the <span class="pagenum" id="Page_199">199</span>top owing to the
- summit having been threshed by branches of large trees.</p>
-
- <div class="figcenter" id="i_198">
- <img src="images/i_198.jpg" width="600" height="425" alt="" />
- <div class="caption">SOUTH-EAST WALL, WITH CHEVRON PATTERN, OF ELLIPTICAL TEMPLE, ZIMBABWE</div>
- </div>
-
- <p>This wall—now recently shown to be a reconstruction in a later ancient
- period<a id="FNanchor_49" href="#Footnote_49" class="fnanchor">[49]</a>—is in every point better built than many walls on the
- Acropolis, and is superior in workmanship to many of the divisional
- walls of the Elliptical Temple. The outer face is fairly well
- constructed.</p>
-
- <h3>MEASUREMENTS OF MAIN WALL</h3>
-
- <p>The circumference of the outer face of the
- main wall taken at the level of the threshold of the entrances measures
- about 831 ft. As the foundations throughout the circumference are, as
- is shown later, some 3 ft. to 5 ft. below this level, and as the usual
- Zimbabwe batter-back prevails, the circumference of the foundations of
- this building may safely be estimated at a further 40 ft., which would
- make a total circumference of the base of the temple some 873 ft.</p>
-
- <p>The circumference of the inside face of the entire main wall measured
- at a corresponding level is about 776 ft. 6 in., the foundations, as
- shown later, being from 3 ft. to 5 ft. below the level at which this
- measurement was taken.</p>
-
- <p>Granite slabs with painted figures now mark the distances both outside
- and inside round the main wall, commencing in either case at the south
- side of the West Entrance and going south. The distances on the outside
- are marked at every 50 ft., and those on the inside at every 20 ft. A
- small black spot is painted on the wall just above each slab to denote
- the exact spot in each length measured.</p>
-
- <p>In this description of the Elliptical Temple all measurements in
- angular brackets are exterior measurements of the main wall only, and
- those in rounded brackets are those of interior measurements of the
- main wall, all commencing at the south side of the West Entrance and
- going south. For instance, “The North-West Entrance is situated between
- the <span class="pagenum" id="Page_200">200</span>following points in the main wall—[656 ft.] and [660 ft.] and (606
- ft. 6 in.) and (611 ft.),” or “A large granite beam lies at the base of
- the main wall at (338 ft.).”</p>
-
- <div class="center small mt5 mb2">MEASUREMENTS OF EXTERIOR OF MAIN WALL COMMENCING AT SOUTH SIDE OF THE
- WEST ENTRANCE AND GOING SOUTH</div>
-
- <table class="msmall" summary="Measurements of main wall exterior">
- <tbody>
- <tr>
- <td class="tdc xsmall">Position of wall.</td>
- <td class="tdc xsmall">Point of compass faced.</td>
- <td class="tdc xsmall">Height above cleared surface.</td>
- <td class="tdc xsmall">Height above bottom of foundation.</td>
- <td class="tdc xsmall">Width of present summit.</td>
- <td class="tdc xsmall">Batter-back of face of wall.</td>
- </tr>
- <tr>
- <td class="tdrt"><div>[0 ft.]</div></td>
- <td class="tdc">W.</td>
- <td>&nbsp; 7 ft. 6 in.</td>
- <td>11 ft.</td>
- <td>&nbsp; 6 ft. 6 in.</td>
- <td>&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; 8 in.</td>
- </tr>
- <tr><td colspan="6" class="tdl4">Between [0 ft.] and [10 ft.] summit of wall rises from 7 ft. to 22 ft.</td></tr>
- <tr>
- <td class="tdr"><div>[10 ft.]</div></td>
- <td class="tdc">—</td>
- <td>22 ft.</td>
- <td>23 ft. 10 in.</td>
- <td>&nbsp; 4 ft. 2 in.</td>
- <td>2 ft.</td>
- </tr>
- <tr>
- <td class="tdr"><div>[25 ft.]</div></td>
- <td class="tdc">—</td>
- <td>21 ft. 6 in.</td>
- <td>23 ft. 6 in.</td>
- <td>&nbsp; 5 ft. 6 in.</td>
- <td>2 ft.</td>
- </tr>
- <tr>
- <td class="tdr"><div>[50 ft.]</div></td>
- <td class="tdc">—</td>
- <td>22 ft.</td>
- <td>24 ft.</td>
- <td>&nbsp; 6 ft. 6 in.</td>
- <td>2 ft. 6 in.</td>
- </tr>
- <tr><td colspan="6" class="tdl4">Between [98 ft.] and [104 ft.] are traces of a wall of this width
- running towards S.W.</td></tr>
- <tr>
- <td class="tdr"><div>[100 ft.]</div></td>
- <td class="tdc">S.W.</td>
- <td>22 ft.</td>
- <td>24 ft.</td>
- <td>&nbsp; 6 ft. 6 in.</td>
- <td>2 ft. 6 in.</td>
- </tr>
- <tr>
- <td class="tdr"><div>[150 ft.]</div></td>
- <td class="tdc">S.S.W.</td>
- <td>22 ft. 6 in.</td>
- <td>24 ft. 6 in.</td>
- <td>&nbsp; 6 ft. 6 in.</td>
- <td>2 ft. 6 in.</td>
- </tr>
- <tr><td colspan="6" class="tdl4">Between [161 ft.] and [166 ft. 6 in.] are traces only of wall
- of this width protruding from main wall towards S.W.</td></tr>
- <tr><td colspan="6" class="tdl4">Chevron Pattern commences at [189 ft.] and extends to [455 ft. 6 in.].</td></tr>
- <tr>
- <td class="tdr"><div>[200 ft.]</div></td>
- <td class="tdc">S.</td>
- <td>22 ft. 8 in.</td>
- <td>25 ft. 2 in.</td>
- <td>10 ft. 2 in.</td>
- <td>1 ft. 10 in.</td>
- </tr>
- <tr>
- <td class="tdr"><div>[250 ft.]</div></td>
- <td class="tdc">S.E.</td>
- <td>25 ft.</td>
- <td>26 ft. 6 in.</td>
- <td>&nbsp; 8 ft. 2 in.</td>
- <td>2 ft. 6 in.</td>
- </tr>
- <tr>
- <td class="tdr"><div>[300 ft.]</div></td>
- <td class="tdc">S.E.</td>
- <td>29 ft.</td>
- <td>30 ft. 6 in.</td>
- <td>&nbsp; 8 ft. 6 in.</td>
- <td>1 ft. 8 in.</td>
- </tr>
- <tr>
- <td class="tdr"><div>[350 ft.]</div></td>
- <td class="tdc">E.</td>
- <td>29 ft.</td>
- <td>31 ft. 6 in.</td>
- <td>&nbsp; 9 ft. 6 in.</td>
- <td>1 ft. 4 in.</td>
- </tr>
- <tr><td colspan="6" class="tdl4">At [380 ft.] outer end of drain-hole through main wall.</td></tr>
- <tr>
- <td class="tdr"><div>[400 ft.]</div></td>
- <td class="tdc">E.</td>
- <td>30 ft.</td>
- <td>31 ft. 9 in.</td>
- <td>&nbsp; 7 ft. 4 in.</td>
- <td>2 ft. 6 in.</td>
- </tr>
- <tr><td colspan="6" class="tdl4">At [425 ft. 9 in.] outer end of drain-hole through main wall.</td></tr>
- <tr>
- <td class="tdr"><div>[450 ft.]</div></td>
- <td class="tdc">E.N.E.</td>
- <td>32 ft.</td>
- <td>34 ft.</td>
- <td>&nbsp; 9 ft. 6 in.</td>
- <td>3 ft.</td>
- </tr>
- <tr><td colspan="6" class="tdl4">From [450 ft.] to [565 ft.] is Outer Parallel Passage.</td></tr>
- <tr><td colspan="6" class="tdl4">Chevron Pattern ends at [455 ft. 6 in.].</td></tr>
- <tr><td colspan="6" class="tdl4">At [482 ft.] outer end of drain-hole through main wall.</td></tr>
- <tr>
- <td class="tdr"><div>[500 ft.]</div></td>
- <td class="tdc">N.E.</td>
- <td>33 ft.</td>
- <td>35 ft. 6 in.</td>
- <td>12 ft. 2 in.</td>
- <td>3 ft. 6 in.</td>
- </tr>
- <tr><td colspan="6" class="tdl4">At [510 ft. 6 in.] outer end of drain-hole through main wall.</td></tr>
- <tr><td colspan="6" class="tdl4">At [530 ft.] line of summit falls to 28 ft.</td></tr>
- <tr>
- <td class="tdr"><div>[550 ft.]</div></td>
- <td class="tdc">N.E.</td>
- <td>19 ft.</td>
- <td>21 ft.</td>
- <td>13 ft. 4 in.</td>
- <td>1 ft. 4 in.</td>
- </tr>
- <tr><td colspan="6" class="tdl4">Summit of wall very considerably dilapidated.</td></tr>
- <tr><td colspan="6" class="tdl4">Summit of wall very considerably dilapidated.</td></tr>
- <tr><td colspan="6" class="tdl4">At [571 ft. 6 in.] to [576 ft. 6 in.] steps of North Entrance.</td></tr>
- <tr>
- <td class="tdr"><div><span class="pagenum" id="Page_201">201</span>[575 ft.]</div></td>
- <td class="tdc">N.E.</td>
- <td>11 ft.</td>
- <td>(not examined)</td>
- <td>14 ft.</td>
- <td>2 ft. 6 in.</td>
- </tr>
- <tr><td colspan="6" class="tdl4">West side of North Entrance, 11 ft. high, rises to 17 ft. at [580 ft.].</td></tr>
- <tr><td colspan="6" class="tdl4">Between [586 ft.] to [590 ft.] wall this width, forming north-west side of North-East Passage,
- protrudes from main wall towards N.E.</td></tr>
- <tr><td colspan="6" class="tdl4">From [610 ft.] to [620 ft.] is gap in main wall and mis-joint of earlier and later walls.</td></tr>
- <tr>
- <td class="tdr"><div>[625 ft.]</div></td>
- <td class="tdc">N.</td>
- <td>16 ft. 6 in.</td>
- <td>19 ft.</td>
- <td>&nbsp; 5 ft.</td>
- <td>1 ft.</td>
- </tr>
- <tr><td colspan="6" class="tdl4">Original height of wall reduced to 16 ft. 6 in. on west side of gap.</td></tr>
- <tr>
- <td class="tdr"><div>[656 ft.]</div></td>
- <td class="tdc">N.N.W.</td>
- <td>17 ft.</td>
- <td>19 ft.</td>
- <td>&nbsp; 3 ft. 6 in.<br />(ruined)</td>
- <td>1 ft. 10 in.</td>
- </tr>
- <tr><td colspan="6" class="tdl4">East side of North-West Entrance.</td></tr>
- <tr>
- <td class="tdr"><div>[660 ft.]</div></td>
- <td class="tdc">N.N.W.</td>
- <td>17 ft.</td>
- <td>19 ft.</td>
- <td>&nbsp; 5 ft. 6 in.</td>
- <td>1 ft. 10 in.</td>
- </tr>
- <tr><td colspan="6" class="tdl4">West side of North-West Entrance.</td></tr>
- <tr>
- <td class="tdr"><div>[675 ft.]</div></td>
- <td class="tdc">N.W.</td>
- <td>17 ft.</td>
- <td>18 ft. 6 in.</td>
- <td>&nbsp; 5 ft. 2 in.</td>
- <td>1 ft. 10 in.</td>
- </tr>
- <tr><td colspan="6" class="tdl4">Face of wall bulges outwards above foundations.</td></tr>
- <tr>
- <td class="tdr"><div>[700 ft.]</div></td>
- <td class="tdc">N.W.</td>
- <td>18 ft.</td>
- <td>19 ft. 10 in.</td>
- <td>&nbsp; 4 ft. 6 in.</td>
- <td>1 ft. 6 in.</td>
- </tr>
- <tr><td colspan="6" class="tdl4">For several feet on either side of [700 ft.] summit of wall is considerably
- depressed by tree boughs hitting it.</td></tr>
- <tr><td colspan="6" class="tdl4">A wall connecting No. 1 Ruin with Elliptical Temple protrudes from main wall between
- [705 ft.] and [710 ft.].</td></tr>
- <tr>
- <td class="tdr"><div>[750 ft.]</div></td>
- <td class="tdc">W.N.W.</td>
- <td>21 ft.</td>
- <td>23 ft.</td>
- <td>&nbsp; 4 ft. 8 in.</td>
- <td>2 ft. 6 in.</td>
- </tr>
- <tr>
- <td class="tdr"><div>[800 ft.]</div></td>
- <td class="tdc">W.N.W.</td>
- <td>20 ft. 6 in.</td>
- <td>22 ft. 4 in.</td>
- <td>&nbsp; 4 ft. 10 in.</td>
- <td>3 ft.</td>
- </tr>
- <tr><td colspan="6" class="tdl4">From [814 ft.] to [829 ft.] the line of summit breaks downwards
- abruptly from 20 ft. to 8 ft. in height.</td></tr>
- <tr>
- <td class="tdr"><div>[827 ft. 9 in.]</div></td>
- <td class="tdc">W.</td>
- <td>&nbsp; 8 ft.</td>
- <td>(not examined)</td>
- <td>&nbsp; 6 ft.</td>
- <td>10 in.</td>
- </tr>
- <tr><td colspan="6" class="tdl4">This is the north side of West Entrance.</td></tr>
- <tr>
- <td class="tdr"><div>[831 ft. 9 in.]</div></td>
- <td colspan="5">This is the south side of the West Entrance, where the first measurement started.</td>
- </tr>
- </tbody>
- </table>
-
- <div class="center small mt5 mb2">MEASUREMENTS OF INTERIOR FACE OF MAIN WALL COMMENCING AT SOUTH SIDE OF
- THE WEST ENTRANCE AND GOING SOUTH</div>
-
- <table class="msmall" summary="Measurements of main wall interior">
- <tbody>
- <tr>
- <td class="tdc xsmall">Position of wall.</td>
- <td class="tdc xsmall">Side of temple.</td>
- <td class="tdc xsmall">Height above cleared surface.</td>
- <td class="tdc xsmall">Batter-back of face of wall.</td>
- <td class="tdc xsmall">Point in interior of temple.</td>
- </tr>
- <tr>
- <td class="tdr"><div>(0 ft.)</div></td>
- <td class="tdc">W.N.W.</td>
- <td>&nbsp; 7 ft. 6 in.</td>
- <td>&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; 8 in.</td>
- <td>No. 5 Enclosure</td>
- </tr>
- <tr><td colspan="5" class="tdl4">Between (0 ft.) and (10 ft.) is a large rounded buttress projecting
- into the temple. (See description of West Entrance.)</td></tr>
- <tr><td colspan="5" class="tdl4">Between (0 ft.) and (10 ft.) summit rises sharply from 7 ft. 6 in. to
- 18 ft. 6 in., measurement from present surface of interior soil.</td></tr>
- <tr>
- <td class="tdr"><div><span class="pagenum" id="Page_202">202</span>(10 ft.)</div></td>
- <td class="tdc">W.N.W.</td>
- <td>18 ft. 6 in.</td>
- <td>2 ft.</td>
- <td>No. 5 Enclosure</td>
- </tr>
- <tr>
- <td class="tdr"><div>(20 ft.)</div></td>
- <td class="tdc">W.N.W.</td>
- <td>21 ft.</td>
- <td>1 ft. 10 in.</td>
- <td class="pl10">〃</td>
- </tr>
- <tr><td colspan="5" class="tdl4">Measured from bottom of trench showing an old cement floor
- now decomposed.</td></tr>
- <tr>
- <td class="tdr"><div>(40 ft.)</div></td>
- <td class="tdc">W.N.W.</td>
- <td>21 ft.</td>
- <td>1 ft. 8 in.</td>
- <td>No. 5 Enclosure</td>
- </tr>
- <tr><td colspan="5" class="tdl4">Measured from bottom of trench showing an old cement floor<br />
- now decomposed.</td></tr>
- <tr>
- <td class="tdr"><div>(60 ft.)</div></td>
- <td class="tdc">W.</td>
- <td>21 ft. 4 in.</td>
- <td>1 ft. 6 in.</td>
- <td>No. 5 Enclosure</td>
- </tr>
- <tr><td colspan="5" class="tdl4">Measured from bottom of trench showing an old cement floor<br />
- now decomposed.</td></tr>
- <tr>
- <td class="tdr"><div>(80 ft.)</div></td>
- <td class="tdc">W.</td>
- <td>21 ft. 6 in.</td>
- <td>1 ft. 2 in.</td>
- <td>No. 5 Enclosure</td>
- </tr>
- <tr><td colspan="5" class="tdl4">Measured from bottom of trench showing an old cement floor<br />
- now decomposed.</td></tr>
- <tr>
- <td class="tdr"><div>(100 ft.)</div></td>
- <td class="tdc">W.</td>
- <td>18 ft. 6 in.</td>
- <td>1 ft. 9 in.</td>
- <td>No. 6 Enclosure</td>
- </tr>
- <tr><td colspan="5" class="tdl4">Measured from top of débris on summit of low divisional wall.</td></tr>
- <tr>
- <td class="tdr"><div>(120 ft.)</div></td>
- <td class="tdc">S.W.</td>
- <td>20 ft. 10 in.</td>
- <td>2 ft. 1 in.</td>
- <td>No. 6 Enclosure</td>
- </tr>
- <tr><td colspan="5" class="tdl4">Measured from red clay floor, believed to be of Makalanga construction.<br />
- At (134 ft.) to (138 ft.) are traces only of a divisional wall.</td></tr>
- <tr>
- <td class="tdr"><div>(140 ft.)</div></td>
- <td class="tdc">S.W.</td>
- <td>21 ft. 8 in.</td>
- <td>2 ft. 2 in.</td>
- <td>No. 6 Enclosure</td>
- </tr>
- <tr><td colspan="5" class="tdl4">Measured from a yellow granite cement floor.</td></tr>
- <tr>
- <td class="tdr"><div>(160 ft.)</div></td>
- <td class="tdc">S.W.</td>
- <td>22 ft. 4 in.</td>
- <td>2 ft. 2 in.</td>
- <td>No. 6 Enclosure</td>
- </tr>
- <tr><td colspan="5" class="tdl4">Measured from a yellow granite cement floor.</td></tr>
- <tr>
- <td class="tdr"><div>(179 ft. 3 in.)</div></td>
- <td class="tdc">&nbsp;</td>
- <td>&nbsp;</td>
- <td>&nbsp;</td>
- <td>&nbsp;</td>
- </tr>
- <tr><td colspan="5" class="tdl4">Angle of walls.</td></tr>
- <tr>
- <td class="tdr"><div>(180 ft.)</div></td>
- <td class="tdc">S.W.</td>
- <td>21 ft. 6 in.</td>
- <td>2 ft.</td>
- <td>No. 6 Enclosure</td>
- </tr>
- <tr>
- <td colspan="4" class="tdl4">Measured from a yellow granite cement floor.</td>
- <td>&nbsp;</td>
- </tr>
- <tr>
- <td colspan="4" class="tdl4">At (180 ft.) step-down of foundation of 5 ft.</td>
- <td>&nbsp;</td>
- </tr>
- <tr>
- <td class="tdr"><div>(200 ft.)</div></td>
- <td class="tdc">S.S.W.</td>
- <td>17 ft. 6 in.</td>
- <td>1 ft. 2 in.</td>
- <td>No. 8 Enclosure</td>
- </tr>
- <tr><td colspan="4" class="tdl4">Measured from summit of old excavated débris, 5 ft. high (since removed).</td>
- <td>Sacred Enclosure (west)</td>
- </tr>
- <tr>
- <td class="tdr"><div>(220 ft.)</div></td>
- <td class="tdc">S.S.W.</td>
- <td>22 ft.</td>
- <td>1 ft. 6 in.</td>
- <td>No. 8 Enclosure</td>
- </tr>
- <tr>
- <td colspan="4" class="tdl4">Measured from summit of old excavated débris, 5 ft. high.</td>
- <td>Sacred Enclosure (west)</td>
- </tr>
- <tr>
- <td class="tdr"><div>(240 ft.)</div></td>
- <td class="tdc">S.</td>
- <td>23 ft. 6 in.</td>
- <td>3 ft.</td>
- <td>No. 8 EnclosureNo. 8 Enclosure</td>
- </tr>
- <tr>
- <td colspan="4" class="tdl4">Measured from summit of old excavated débris, 5 ft. high.</td>
- <td>Sacred Enclosure (west)</td>
- </tr>
- <tr>
- <td colspan="4" class="tdl4">The large Conical Tower stands between (246 ft.) to (264 ft.).</td>
- <td>&nbsp;</td>
- </tr>
- <tr>
- <td class="tdr"><div><span class="pagenum" id="Page_203">203</span>(260 ft.)</div></td>
- <td class="tdc">S.</td>
- <td>26 ft. 6 in.</td>
- <td>2 ft. 10 in.</td>
- <td>No. 8 Enclosure</td>
- </tr>
- <tr>
- <td colspan="4" class="tdl4">Measured from yellow granite cement floor.</td>
- <td>Sacred Enclosure (east)</td>
- </tr>
- <tr>
- <td class="tdr"><div>(280 ft.)</div></td>
- <td class="tdc">S.</td>
- <td>26 ft. 6 in.</td>
- <td>2 ft. 4 in.</td>
- <td>No. 8 Enclosure</td>
- </tr>
- <tr>
- <td colspan="4" class="tdl4">Measured from yellow granite cement floor.</td>
- <td rowspan="2" class="top">Sacred Enclosure (east)</td>
- </tr>
- <tr>
- <td colspan="4" class="tdl4">The roughly built buttress at (286 ft.) to (303 ft.) is not ancient.</td>
- </tr>
- <tr>
- <td class="tdr"><div>(300 ft.)</div></td>
- <td class="tdc">S.</td>
- <td>28 ft.</td>
- <td>2 ft. 6 in.</td>
- <td>No. 8 Enclosure</td>
- </tr>
- <tr>
- <td colspan="4" class="tdl4">Measured from yellow cement floor.</td>
- <td rowspan="2" class="top">Sacred Enclosure (east)</td>
- </tr>
- <tr>
- <td colspan="4" class="tdl4">There are doubts as to the antiquity of buttress(east) at (306 ft.) to (319 ft.).</td>
- </tr>
- <tr>
- <td class="tdr"><div>(320 ft.)</div></td>
- <td class="tdc">S.S.E.</td>
- <td>29 ft.</td>
- <td>2 ft. 4 in.</td>
- <td>No. 8 Enclosure</td>
- </tr>
- <tr>
- <td colspan="4" class="tdl4">Measured from yellow granite cement floor.</td>
- <td rowspan="3" class="top">Sacred Enclosure (east). At West Entrance to Parallel Passage.</td>
- </tr>
- <tr><td colspan="4" class="tdl4">Granite monolith (conjected) fallen from wall at (340 ft.).</td></tr>
- <tr><td colspan="4" class="tdl4">Drain-hole through wall at (352 ft.).</td></tr>
- <tr>
- <td class="tdr"><div>(340 ft.)</div></td>
- <td class="tdc">S.S.E.</td>
- <td>28 ft. 10 in.</td>
- <td>2 ft. 2 in.</td>
- <td>Parallel Passage</td>
- </tr>
- <tr>
- <td colspan="4" class="tdl4">Measured from cement floor.</td>
- <td>&nbsp;</td>
- </tr>
- <tr>
- <td colspan="4" class="tdl4">At (352 ft.) is a drain-hole.</td>
- <td>&nbsp;</td>
- </tr>
- <tr>
- <td class="tdr"><div>(360 ft.)</div></td>
- <td class="tdc">S.S.E.</td>
- <td>30 ft. 6 in.</td>
- <td>2 ft. 2 in.</td>
- <td>Parallel Passage</td>
- </tr>
- <tr>
- <td colspan="4" class="tdl4">Measured from cement floor.</td>
- <td>&nbsp;</td>
- </tr>
- <tr>
- <td class="tdr"><div>(380 ft.)</div></td>
- <td class="tdc">S.E.</td>
- <td>30 ft. 4 in.</td>
- <td>3 ft.</td>
- <td>Parallel Passage</td>
- </tr>
- <tr>
- <td colspan="4" class="tdl4">Measured from cement floor.</td>
- <td>&nbsp;</td>
- </tr>
- <tr>
- <td colspan="4" class="tdl4">Drain-hole at (391 ft. 6 in.).</td>
- <td>&nbsp;</td>
- </tr>
- <tr>
- <td class="tdr"><div>(400 ft.)</div></td>
- <td class="tdc">S.E.</td>
- <td>29 ft.</td>
- <td>3 ft. 2 in.</td>
- <td>Parallel Passage</td>
- </tr>
- <tr>
- <td colspan="4" class="tdl4">Measured from cement floor.</td>
- <td>&nbsp;</td>
- </tr>
- <tr>
- <td class="tdr"><div>(420 ft.)</div></td>
- <td class="tdc">E.S.E.</td>
- <td>30 ft. 4 in.</td>
- <td>3 ft. 2 in.</td>
- <td>Parallel Passage</td>
- </tr>
- <tr>
- <td colspan="4" class="tdl4">Measured from cement floor.</td>
- <td>&nbsp;</td>
- </tr>
- <tr>
- <td class="tdr"><div>(440 ft.)</div></td>
- <td class="tdc">E.S.E.</td>
- <td>30 ft. 6 in.</td>
- <td>4 ft.</td>
- <td>Parallel Passage</td>
- </tr>
- <tr>
- <td colspan="4" class="tdl4">Measured from cement floor.</td>
- <td>&nbsp;</td>
- </tr>
- <tr>
- <td colspan="4" class="tdl4">Drain-hole at (442 ft.).</td>
- <td>&nbsp;</td>
- </tr>
- <tr>
- <td class="tdr"><div>(460 ft.)</div></td>
- <td class="tdc">E.</td>
- <td>31 ft.</td>
- <td>3 ft. 6 in.</td>
- <td>Parallel Passage</td>
- </tr>
- <tr>
- <td colspan="4" class="tdl4">Measured from soil surface.</td>
- <td>&nbsp;</td>
- </tr>
- <tr>
- <td colspan="4" class="tdl4">Drain-hole at (471 ft.).</td>
- <td>&nbsp;</td>
- </tr>
- <tr>
- <td class="tdr"><div>(480 ft.)</div></td>
- <td class="tdc">E.</td>
- <td>31 ft.</td>
- <td>2 ft. 4 in.</td>
- <td>Parallel Passage</td>
- </tr>
- <tr>
- <td colspan="4" class="tdl4">Measured from soil surface.</td>
- <td>&nbsp;</td>
- </tr>
- <tr>
- <td class="tdr"><div>(500 ft.)</div></td>
- <td class="tdc">N.E.</td>
- <td>27 ft.</td>
- <td>2 ft. 10 in.</td>
- <td>Parallel Passage</td>
- </tr>
- <tr>
- <td colspan="5" class="tdl4">The summit of the wall is much dilapidated. Between (500 ft.)
- and (520 ft.) the wall is broken, there being a large gap of this
- width, the bottom of which is 14 ft. above present level of floor.</td>
- </tr>
- <tr>
- <td class="tdr"><div><span class="pagenum" id="Page_204">204</span>(520 ft.)</div></td>
- <td class="tdc">N.E.</td>
- <td>13 ft. 6 in.</td>
- <td>1 ft. 6 in.</td>
- <td>Parallel Passage</td>
- </tr>
- <tr>
- <td colspan="5" class="tdl4">Between (520 ft.) and (530 ft.) is the North Entrance. Wall on
- east side 6 ft. high, on west side 6 ft. 6 in. high, but on each
- side rises sharply within a few feet of the entrance.</td>
- </tr>
- <tr>
- <td colspan="5" class="tdl4">From (536 ft.) to (544 ft.) are remains of small banquette below
- summit, and at 6 ft. above ground.</td>
- </tr>
- <tr>
- <td class="tdr"><div>(540 ft.)</div></td>
- <td class="tdc">N.N.E.</td>
- <td>18 ft.</td>
- <td>1 ft. 8 in.</td>
- <td>No. 2 Enclosure</td>
- </tr>
- <tr><td colspan="5" class="tdl4">Drain-hole at (549 ft.).</td></tr>
- <tr>
- <td class="tdr"><div>(560 ft.)</div></td>
- <td class="tdc">N.N.E.</td>
- <td>12 ft.</td>
- <td>2 ft.</td>
- <td>No. 2 Enclosure</td>
- </tr>
- <tr>
- <td colspan="5" class="tdl4">Centre of line of summit is 3 ft. higher than reduced inside edge.</td>
- </tr>
- <tr>
- <td colspan="5" class="tdl4">Between (566 ft.) and (570 ft.) is the mis-joint in earlier and later walls.</td>
- </tr>
- <tr>
- <td class="tdr"><div>(580 ft.)</div></td>
- <td class="tdc">N.</td>
- <td>&nbsp; 3 ft.</td>
- <td>—</td>
- <td>No. 2 Enclosure</td>
- </tr>
- <tr><td colspan="5" class="tdl4">At (580 ft.) the wall on west side of gap rises abruptly.</td></tr>
- <tr>
- <td class="tdr"><div>(600 ft.)</div></td>
- <td class="tdc">N.</td>
- <td>18 ft.</td>
- <td>1 ft. 10 in.</td>
- <td>No. 3 Enclosure</td>
- </tr>
- <tr>
- <td colspan="5" class="tdl4">Measured from an old cement floor.</td>
- </tr>
- <tr>
- <td colspan="5" class="tdl4">Between (606 ft. 6 in.) and (611 ft. 6 in.) is the North-West Entrance.</td>
- </tr>
- <tr>
- <td class="tdr"><div>(620 ft.)</div></td>
- <td class="tdc">N.W.</td>
- <td>&nbsp; 6 ft.</td>
- <td>10 in.</td>
- <td>No. 3 Enclosure</td>
- </tr>
- <tr><td colspan="5" class="tdl4">At (614 ft.) this wall rises perpendicularly to 16 ft.</td></tr>
- <tr>
- <td class="tdr"><div>(640 ft.)</div></td>
- <td class="tdc">N.N.W.</td>
- <td>16 ft. 6 in.</td>
- <td>1 ft. 6 in.</td>
- <td>No. 3 Enclosure</td>
- </tr>
- <tr><td colspan="5" class="tdl4">Measured from granite cement floor.</td></tr>
- <tr>
- <td class="tdr"><div>(660 ft.)</div></td>
- <td class="tdc">N.N.W.</td>
- <td>19 ft. 6 in.</td>
- <td>1 ft. 4 in.</td>
- <td>No. 3 Enclosure</td>
- </tr>
- <tr>
- <td colspan="5" class="tdl4">Measured from granite cement floor.</td>
- </tr>
- <tr>
- <td colspan="5" class="tdl4">Depression on summit caused by a tree.</td>
- </tr>
- <tr>
- <td class="tdr"><div>(680 ft.)</div></td>
- <td class="tdc">N.N.W.</td>
- <td>20 ft. 6 in.</td>
- <td>1 ft. 2 in.</td>
- <td>No. 4 Enclosure</td>
- </tr>
- <tr><td colspan="5" class="tdl4">Measured from granite cement floor.</td></tr>
- <tr>
- <td class="tdr"><div>(700 ft.)</div></td>
- <td class="tdc">N.N.W.</td>
- <td>20 ft. 6 in.</td>
- <td>2 ft.</td>
- <td>No. 4 Enclosure</td>
- </tr>
- <tr><td colspan="5" class="tdl4">Measured from granite cement floor.</td></tr>
- <tr>
- <td class="tdr"><div>(720 ft.)</div></td>
- <td class="tdc">N.W.</td>
- <td>18 ft. 6 in.</td>
- <td>1 ft. 4 in.</td>
- <td>No. 4 Enclosure</td>
- </tr>
- <tr>
- <td colspan="5" class="tdl4">Measured from granite cement floor.</td>
- </tr>
- <tr>
- <td colspan="5" class="tdl4">Depression on summit caused by a tree.</td>
- </tr>
- <tr>
- <td class="tdr"><div>(740 ft.)</div></td>
- <td class="tdc">N.W.</td>
- <td>19 ft.</td>
- <td>2 ft. 1 in.</td>
- <td rowspan="2" class="top">Wall separating Nos. 4 and 5 Enclosures</td>
- </tr>
- <tr><td colspan="4" class="tdl4">Measured from base of divisional wall.</td></tr>
- <tr>
- <td class="tdr"><div>(750 ft.)</div></td>
- <td class="tdc">N.W.</td>
- <td>18 ft. 10 in.</td>
- <td>1 ft. 10 in.</td>
- <td>No. 5 Enclosure</td>
- </tr>
- <tr>
- <td colspan="5" class="tdl4">Measured from surface of soil.</td>
- </tr>
- <tr>
- <td colspan="5" class="tdl4">Near (54 ft.) summit of wall drops to 9 ft. at north side of West Entrance.</td>
- </tr>
- <tr>
- <td class="tdr"><div>(763 ft. 6 in.)</div></td>
- <td class="tdc">W.N.W.</td>
- <td>&nbsp; 7 ft.</td>
- <td>10 in.</td>
- <td>No. 5 Enclosure</td>
- </tr>
- <tr><td colspan="5" class="tdl4">Opening of West Entrance between (763 ft.) and (766 ft.).</td></tr>
- <tr>
- <td class="tdr"><div>(776 ft. 6 in.)</div></td>
- <td colspan="4">This is the south side of West Entrance, where first measurement started.</td>
- </tr>
- </tbody>
- </table>
-
- <div class="figcenter" id="i_204">
- <img src="images/i_204.jpg" width="409" height="700" alt="" />
- <div class="caption">CHEVRON PATTERN ON EAST WALL, ELLIPTICAL TEMPLE</div>
- </div>
-
- <p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_205">205</span></p>
-
- <h3>SUMMIT OF MAIN WALL</h3>
-
- <p>For some fairly extensive lengths along the
- summit of the more massive portion of the main wall the blocks and
- stones are higher on the centre of the floor of the summit than at top
- outer edges on either side, from which edges the measurements of the
- heights above the exterior and interior surfaces of the ground were
- taken. Branches of trees beating in high winds upon the summit, the
- weight of heavy festoons of creepers hanging from the summit, and the
- growth of monkey-ropes and wild vines in the joints of the dry masonry
- have destroyed some of the upper courses on either side of the wall.
- Therefore to the heights stated in the foregoing tables should be
- added at least 1 ft. or 2 ft., this being a fair average height of the
- whale-back ridge along portions of the summit of the wall.</p>
-
- <p>An interesting question arises: What was the original height of the
- massive portion of the wall? There are some evidences that the original
- height could not have been more than six courses above the chevron
- pattern which runs on a true level on the upper and outer face of the
- wall between [189 ft.] and [455 ft.]. The greatest number of courses
- now remaining over this pattern is five, but these are only found at
- two points and for the length of a few blocks. At most points above
- the pattern there are no upper courses remaining; at other points one
- or two courses are perfect for some distance; the most frequent are
- three courses; while at several points there are four courses. To the
- heights given in the tables can safely be added 1 ft. to 2 ft. Were the
- obviously missing courses to be restored, the raised ridge along the
- centre of parts of the summit would be cleared, for these ridges of
- stones are formed of blocks once carefully packed, all on their flat
- sides, between side walls, and are similar to the existing internal
- portions of other well-built walls at Zimbabwe.</p>
-
- <p>Adding this further height of from 1 ft. to 2 ft. to the tabulated
- heights, we can carry the investigation much further. The<span class="pagenum" id="Page_206">206</span> upper faces
- of the blocks of the fourth and fifth courses above the pattern are too
- free from decomposition, weather-stain, and lichen to have formed the
- topmost courses; in fact, their upper surfaces are decidedly fresh,
- as if the courses above them had not long disappeared, and when it is
- recollected that experience shows that the exposed top surfaces of
- blocks are found to take on signs of decomposition and of exposure to
- weather, and also to become covered with lichen quicker than the side
- faces of blocks in the body of the wall, and that the upper courses
- would have given some evidences of long exposure, which they do not, we
- may be certain that the wall was carried a further course, or possibly
- two courses of the wall higher than the fifth course above the pattern.
- Therefore at many points along the highest portions of the wall, as
- shown in the tables, 2 ft. 6 in. may be added to the tabulated heights,
- and this would include the height of the six courses above the pattern
- throughout its whole length.</p>
-
- <p>Whether the original summit was higher than these six courses is a
- matter of conjecture. Possibly the wall was two or three courses higher
- than the six courses. Here, as elsewhere in the first-period ruins in
- Rhodesia, the best-built portion of the edifice is that which bears
- the decorative designs. This appears to be an invariable rule in such
- older ruins. But at this temple the whole wall, and especially the
- courses immediately above and below the pattern, are the best-built
- portions of the most superior wall of the building, the courses being
- far truer. Moreover, a good quality of stone is employed, giving the
- impression that it was specially selected for the purpose, so much so
- that their back parts are as well squared as their front faces. It is
- most obvious, as practical builders claim, that the pattern itself and
- its enclosing courses show the best workmanship on the part of the
- ancients, and this notwithstanding that this wall is admitted by all
- to stand pre-eminent among excellently constructed walls to be found
- anywhere in Rhodesia.</p>
-
- <div class="figcenter" id="i_206">
- <img src="images/i_206.jpg" width="600" height="430" alt="" />
- <div class="caption">NORTH-EAST WALL, WITH CHEVRON PATTERN, ELLIPTICAL TEMPLE</div>
- </div>
-
- <p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_207">207</span></p>
-
- <p>In removing the wall débris at the outer base of the wall containing
- the chevron pattern for the purpose of forming catchment areas for
- draining the ground near the wall, two classes of stone blocks were
- found, a quantity of large, shallow, flat stones similar to those lying
- in the middle parts of the summit of the walls, and also a quantity of
- well-shaped blocks as used both in the pattern and in the enclosing
- courses, but it was estimated that there were not enough of these
- blocks to have carried the outer face of the wall more than some two
- courses above the fifth course above the pattern. It is impossible to
- draw any corresponding inferences with regard to débris on the base of
- the interior side of the wall, for excavators have moved this out of
- all relative position to the wall from which it fell.</p>
-
- <p>But there is also some evidence as to the original height of the wall.
- Such of the undoubted monoliths as still stand more or less erect on
- the summit of the wall—and as is shown later, not every upright stone
- on this wall is necessarily a monolith—have no signs on their faces of
- having been built in by blocks up to any height above the level of the
- six courses above the pattern. In the case of any fallen monolith from
- the faces of which supporting blocks or any of them have disappeared,
- it can be ascertained to what depth the base of the monolith was built
- into the wall, and in this respect there is some evidence to guide one
- in estimating the original height of the ancient wall so adorned. The
- wearing of their sides by the edges of supporting blocks can almost
- always be noticed, in addition to which the rain of many centuries is
- guided to the base by the position of the supporting blocks which guide
- the water downwards, thus causing small rimlets to form on the lower
- part of the beams, especially those of slate or soapstone, where the
- rimlets have become in time beautifully smooth and glazed. Therefore
- it is highly probable that the height of the six courses above the
- pattern, with the present height of the wall above its foundations as
- given<span class="pagenum" id="Page_208">208</span> in the tables, formed the original height of the massive portion
- of the enclosing wall.</p>
-
- <p>The discovery in December, 1902, of what are believed to be traces of a
- line of small round towers on the outer edge of the summit immediately
- over the chevron pattern—and these are referred to later—affords very
- strong evidence as to what was the original height of the wall, and
- points to the limit of six courses above the chevron pattern. The line
- of small round towers (recently found to have been conical) on the
- outer edge of the west wall of the Western Temple on the Acropolis have
- their foundations a few inches below the present summit of the wall.
- The foundations of the towers on the wall at the Elliptical Temple,
- now being described, have their foundations on the present surface of
- the central ridge along the summit of the wall, but were the pattern
- made good at the height of the six courses alone, the positions of
- these foundations would be identical in several respects with those of
- the towers on the Acropolis. Thus these foundations provide a fourth
- important corroborative clue as to the original height of the wall.</p>
-
- <p>Along the floor of the summit are laid some large, broad, but shallow
- slabs of granite of irregular form, while down below on either side
- were a score of others which have fallen off the wall. Bent suggested
- that the summit was once paved with these slabs. In view of the four
- proofs just adduced with regard to the original height of the wall
- being somewhat higher than is seen to-day, the purpose of the slabs
- could hardly be that of providing a pavement for the summit. Most
- probably they were the “ties” or “throughs” to bind the wall at its
- top courses, as invariably found near the summits of the best class of
- walls, especially so in all rounded ends of walls, summits of rounded
- buttresses, and in the Conical Tower where, near its summit, the back
- and inside ends of the blocks are frequently longer than in the lower
- courses where they are short. Many of these slabs on the main wall
- lie across<span class="pagenum" id="Page_209">209</span> the wall on its present surface, but these are frequently
- covered with laid blocks. The best instances at Zimbabwe of the “tying”
- and bonding of the highest courses of walls are to be seen on the
- Acropolis, but this feature is elsewhere in Rhodesia common in several
- ruins which are not built upon the angular principle. It is natural to
- suppose that, if the ancients not only carefully tied the upper courses
- of almost all walls with “throughs,” and also tied several points
- between base and summit, this main wall bearing the decorative pattern,
- and once having on its summit, as is now believed, both round towers
- and soapstone beams, the ancients, admittedly being skilful builders,
- would regard the effective tying and bonding of such a wall as an
- important necessity, especially as the wide and commodious summit was,
- as stated by Bent, in all probability a look-out and much-frequented
- elevation. The stones which are uncovered are decomposed and lichen-
- and moss-covered on their upper faces, but are on their under side
- as fresh and as clean as if they had just been brought from the
- quarry. Some visitors, supposing these tie-stones to have been fallen
- monoliths, have placed four of them in an upright position where they
- now stand, but unlike all true monoliths, they are not weathered or
- time-eaten all round, and two so erected have all their faces perfectly
- clean and fresh.</p>
-
- <p>The summit of the north-west portion of the main wall is fairly level,
- save at north-west and west entrances where the wall is reduced in
- height, and also at several points where large branches of trees have
- beaten off the blocks of the upper courses. The narrow width of the
- summit, as shown in the foregoing tables, and the number of loose
- stones lying upon it, make it somewhat awkward for walking along it,
- still this can be done far more easily than might be supposed from Mr.
- Swan’s description. The battering-back of its outer and inner faces
- appears to point to its original summit being only slightly higher than
- its present top at its highest<span class="pagenum" id="Page_210">210</span> point. If the wall were once more than
- three or four courses above its present highest point, the débris must
- have been removed, for no greater quantity of blocks were found than
- would have sufficed to make good that height.</p>
-
- <h3>FOUNDATION</h3>
-
- <p>For such massive walls it is astonishing to find that the
- bottom courses of the foundation are not more than from 2 ft. to 3 ft.
- 6 in. below the present level of the ground immediately surrounding the
- building. The foundation has been examined at eighteen equi-distant
- points along the outer circumference, and in no single part does it
- rest on formation rock, the nearest proximity of which is at a further
- depth of 4 ft. on the north, 5 ft. on the west, 9 ft. on the south, and
- 4 ft. on the east. Nor are the bottom courses formed of large blocks,
- as is so frequently seen in foundations of other ruins, but blocks
- no larger than those in the upper courses have been employed almost
- without exception. Near (177 ft.) there is a step-up in the foundation
- westwards of 5 ft. 9 in. Near [625 ft.] there runs for a few feet a
- very narrow step-back in the three lowest courses of the foundation,
- but this is the only point in the circumference of the wall where this
- feature can be noticed.</p>
-
- <p>The foundation bed upon which the wall is built is purely artificial.
- Evidently the ancient architects prepared a level surface for the wall,
- because there is only from 3 ft. to 5 ft. difference in the level of
- the foundations all round, notwithstanding that on the south-east the
- ground towards the “Valley of Ruins” and the temple which is erected on
- the edge of its slope commands the “Valley of Ruins.”</p>
-
- <p>The surface of the prepared foundation consisted of fine cement, now
- decomposed<a id="FNanchor_50" href="#Footnote_50" class="fnanchor">[50]</a> to firm dry sand. This cement is in places at least 3
- ft. deep, is laid on the granite forma<span class="pagenum" id="Page_211">211</span>tion for 10 ft. and 15 ft.
- beyond the wall on both inside and outside the building, and later,
- when the lower courses of the foundation had been laid, a further
- flooring of cement was laid, making the side of the lower portion of
- the foundations at least 1 ft. 6 in., if not 2 ft. 6 in. deep.</p>
-
- <p>The enormous amount of time and labour required to be expended merely
- in preparing the surface on which to erect the temple is bewildering to
- contemplate, and fairly rivals as a demonstration of patient labour,
- length of time of construction, and good workmanship the massive walls
- themselves. The decomposed cement, which has now become mere sand, was
- very finely ground, there being not the smallest splinter of granite in
- its composition. The cement being yellow suggests that the ancients,
- to save breaking up large pieces of stone, were content to collect
- small fragments of granite which had become decomposed, and therefore
- were easier to grind, for everywhere in this locality, especially in
- damp places and near any granite boulder or glacis, are to be found
- quantities of small granite chips all yellow with decomposition.
- Possibly granite sand from neighbouring streams might also have been
- utilised.</p>
-
- <h3>CHEVRON PATTERN</h3>
-
- <p>On the upper portion of the exterior face of the south-east main
- wall is the celebrated chevron pattern which forms one of the most
- interesting features at the Elliptical Temple. This<span class="pagenum" id="Page_212">212</span> pattern runs
- for 265 ft. 6 in. from [189 ft.] to [456 ft. 6 in.] on the line of
- measurement of the exterior circumference of the temple, that is, from
- south-south-east to east-north-east.</p>
-
- <p>The pattern is in two rows or bands, which together are 18 in. deep,
- and Bent states that “it extends along the part of the wall which
- receives directly the rays of the sun when rising at the summer
- solstice.” The portion of the main wall carrying the pattern is in the
- form of an arc, and is the best-built and most substantial part of the
- wall. Granite monoliths still stand more or less erect on the summit
- of the wall above the pattern, but not elsewhere. Over the pattern
- are the foundations of what appear to have been small circular towers
- resembling in size and position those on the main west wall of the
- Western Temple on the Acropolis.</p>
-
- <p>In 1903 a quantity of sections of worked soapstone beams were found on
- the summit of the wall over the pattern. On no other portions of the
- summit are there traces of monoliths, round towers, or soapstone beams.
- Bent was unaware of the existence of the traces of round towers or of
- the soapstone beams on the wall over the pattern, yet he writes, as
- seems perfectly correct, “Those parts only of the wall which receive
- the direct rays of the sun when rising at the summer solstice are
- decorated by this symbolical pattern.” This statement equally applies
- to the Eastern Temple on the hill and to the large curved wall in
- Philips Ruins, also to the Western Temple, only in this latter case
- the great main wall, which is in the form of an arc and is decorated,
- receives on its face the rays of the setting sun at the winter
- solstice. A very strong corroboration of this statement is afforded by
- several other of the more important ruins in Rhodesia which are built
- upon the curved plan.</p>
-
- <p>In this pattern the blocks are placed on end with the top of each
- supported by the neighbouring block on one side, thus forming a series
- of triangular spaces with the bases<span class="pagenum" id="Page_213">213</span> alternately up and down. The
- sides of these angular spaces are about 7 in. long, and the openings
- have been neatly filled in with small stones set back inside 2 in. or
- 3 in. from flush with the face of the wall. The pattern is somewhat
- dilapidated in places owing to creeper growths on the wall and to the
- swinging of large tree branches, which in every wind beat the pattern
- and loosened the stones forming it.</p>
-
- <p>Chevron pattern was in ancient times the symbol for Fertility. It
- closely resembles the Egyptian hieroglyphic symbol for water, and also
- the zodiacal sign of Aquarius, and represents the sea on such Phœnician
- coins as have engravings of ships.</p>
-
- <p>This pattern is found on several of the ruins of the oldest type, and
- not on such as by their style of architecture may be considered to be
- of a later ancient period. It is found in several of the large ruins
- between Zimbabwe and the Sabi, also at Umnukwana Ruins. A portion of
- chevron of small size is to be seen at Dhlo-dhlo.</p>
-
- <h3>GROUND SURFACE OF EXTERIOR OF MAIN WALL</h3>
-
- <p>Till August, 1902, the area
- surrounding the Elliptical Temple was mere veld and bush, and trees and
- shrubs grew so thickly near the main wall that it was impossible at
- certain points to penetrate the jungle to make a complete examination
- of the wall, while piles of soil from excavations lay along the base
- of the wall, and some up against the wall itself, in some cases to a
- height of 6 ft. above the average level of the exterior ground.</p>
-
- <p>Trenches and deep holes, the main wall forming one side of them, were
- lined with mud, and filled with ferns and plants which could only
- flourish in a situation which was perpetually damp. There was every
- evidence that these trenches and holes were filled with water during
- each wet season, and that they retained a considerable amount of
- moisture even during the dry seasons. At two points this constant state
- of damp<span class="pagenum" id="Page_214">214</span> held by these cuttings had caused the foundations, which at
- no place rest on the bed-rock, to sink some inches, thus imparting
- wave-like lines to the courses of the wall close to such holes.</p>
-
- <p>To remove this source of injury to the wall by causing it to sink and
- also by stimulating tree and creeper growths which were damaging the
- wall, it was decided to remove all such débris piles, and also the
- veld soil, most of which had in the course of ages silted down from
- the lower slopes of the Bentberg some 200 yds. distant on the south
- side of the temple, and to leave a floor of hard soil which would
- serve to drain off all rain-water and protect the bases of the walls
- from being washed by the storm streams from the higher ground. This
- work was carried out for a width of some 6 to 8 yds. round the entire
- circumference of the temple. Five catchment areas were formed on the
- north-west, west, south, and east sides, and from each such area a
- run-off now leads all rain-water into a hole sunk in the ground at some
- 12 yds. distance from the main wall.</p>
-
- <p>These five holes, as shown later, have proved useful in demonstrating
- certain features connected with the temple which so far had been
- impossible of examination:—</p>
-
- <p>(1) The rock formation is at almost every point some feet below the
- lowest course of the foundations of the main wall, in most cases 3 ft.
- to 4 ft., and in one instance—the south—fully 6 ft.</p>
-
- <p>(2) The ground outside the temple has been raised by the silting of
- soil from the slopes of the Bentberg, by the spreading out of both
- ancient and old native débris piles, by the levelling up of the surface
- for laying clay floors of Makalanga huts, and by block débris from
- the main and several minor walls. This filling-in, both natural and
- artificial, averages to a height of at least 5 ft. above the level
- known to the ancients, thus reducing the comparative elevation of the
- temple to that extent. It is now clear that the temple<span class="pagenum" id="Page_215">215</span> once stood on a
- comparatively higher and far more imposing elevation than it stands at
- present.</p>
-
- <p>(3) The granite plateau which underlies the soil upon which the temple
- is built is irregular, and resembles on a larger scale the granite
- plateaux which extend eastward from the temple.<a id="FNanchor_51" href="#Footnote_51" class="fnanchor">[51]</a></p>
-
- <hr class="page" />
- <div class="chapter" id="CHAPTER_X">
- <span class="pagenum" id="Page_216">216</span>
- <h2>
- CHAPTER X<br /><br />
- <span class="small">THE ELLIPTICAL TEMPLE<br />(<i>Continued</i>)</span>
- </h2>
- </div>
- <div class="subheadc">Main Entrances</div>
-
- <h3>NORTH-WEST ENTRANCE</h3>
-
- <p class="drop-cap">THIS entrance is on the north-west side of the temple at (606 ft. 6
- in.) to (611 ft. 6 in.) inside, and [656 ft.] to [660 ft.] outside. As
- in the case of <em>North and West Entrances</em>, the foundations of the main
- wall are carried from side to side of the entrance and from the floor
- of the passage, and in them the outer steps are built. The east side
- wall is 4 ft. wide where it starts to curve inwards to form the passage
- and at 6 ft. above the floor of the entrance. The west side is 7 ft.
- wide where it starts to round inwards and at 6 ft. above the entrance
- floor.</p>
-
- <p>Evidently this entrance was not of the importance of either of the
- other two portals to the temple. No internal passages converge upon it;
- it is less massive, and its purpose appears to have been limited to
- serving as a communication with <em>No. 1 Ruins</em> only, as a substantial
- wall which encloses these ruins runs round to the north-west main wall
- of the temple between [705 ft.] and [710 ft.], where it joins it at
- right angles to the main walls. These enclosing walls thus cut off on
- either side the exterior of the <em>North-West Entrance</em> from the other
- portions of the exterior of the temple, and in these enclosing walls no
- signs have so far been discovered of there having been any entrances.</p>
-
- <div class="figcenter" id="i_216a">
- <img src="images/i_216a.jpg" width="443" height="550" alt="" />
- <div class="caption">NORTH-WEST ENTRANCE, ELLIPTICAL TEMPLE</div>
- </div>
-
- <div class="figcenter" id="i_216b">
- <img src="images/i_216b.jpg" width="433" height="550" alt="" />
- <div class="caption">ENTRANCE TO PASSAGE, No. 10 ENCLOSURE, ELLIPTICAL TEMPLE</div>
- </div>
-
- <p>This entrance is built on well-curved lines, but the rounded <span class="pagenum" id="Page_217">217</span>faces
- of the two side walls do not exactly face one another, since the
- outside face of the west side projects some 12 in. further north than
- that on the east side, the west wall being wider than the east one,
- though on their inside faces they are flush with each other. There are
- no buttresses on the outside of this entrance. The summits of the side
- walls, some 6 ft. above the outside level, are less ruined than those
- of the other two entrances; the gap between the two summits including
- the width of the entrance is only 8 ft. 6 in., the broken faces of the
- upper portions of the walls rising perpendicularly on either side.</p>
-
- <div class="figcenter" id="i_217">
- <img src="images/i_217.jpg" width="600" height="323" alt="" />
- <div class="caption">North-West Entrance<br />
- ELLIPTICAL TEMPLE<br />
- N<sup>o.</sup> 3 Enclosure</div>
- </div>
-
- <p>This entrance is 2 ft. 9 in. wide in the centre. The wall on the west
- side is perfect up to 5 ft. in height, and that on the east side to 6
- ft. 6 in. There are two steps on the outer side, and these are formed
- by the courses in the foundation being carried across the entrance and
- curved inwards at the centre of the passage.</p>
-
- <p>On either side of the entrance in the interior of the temple there are
- plumb and angular buttresses of poor construction resting upon soft
- soil. Each projects 5 ft. 6 in. into <em>No. 3 Enclosure</em>, and each is 1
- ft. 9 in. high, the width between their straight faces being 2 ft. 8
- in. Each buttress is rounded<span class="pagenum" id="Page_218">218</span> off on the outer side and joins the main
- wall, that on the east side being 7 ft. long, and that on the west side
- 9 ft. 6 in. long.</p>
-
- <p>When Bent arrived at Zimbabwe in 1891 he found this entrance built
- up to a height of 9 ft. This had then been done some fifty years
- previously by the Makalanga when the previous Mogabe Chipfuno was
- only a boy. This walling-up was for the purpose of closing in <em>No. 3
- Enclosure</em>, which was used as a cattle kraal. It is highly probable
- that the Makalanga took the upper portions of the two buttresses which
- are on either side of the inside of this entrance for building material
- in so walling it up, for these buttresses, judging by the absence of
- stone débris and the condition of the faces of the main wall where
- the buttresses were once built up against it, appear to have been
- deliberately denuded of their courses for at least some feet of their
- original height.</p>
-
- <p>Bent removed the walling-up, but left its foundation in the entrance
- at 2 ft. below which the paved passage and steps were unburied in
- September, 1902. This foundation of the Makalanga wall was laid across
- a pile of blocks thrown promiscuously on to the floor of this entrance,
- and this again rested on soil black with charcoal, decomposed vegetable
- matter, and bones of buck split open for the marrow, and this débris
- contained broken articles of Makalanga make, but of superior quality to
- those made by them to-day.</p>
-
- <h3>THE NORTH ENTRANCE</h3>
-
- <p>This entrance is in the north-east wall of the temple, and its exit
- faces north-east, twenty-five degrees, and is situated between the (523
- ft. 6 in.) and (536 ft.) points of the measurement of the inside base
- of the main wall from the south side of the west entrance, and between
- the [566 ft. 6 in.] and [571 ft. 6 in.] points of the measurement of
- the outside base of the main wall from the south side of same entrance.
- It has always been known as the North Entrance, as it is on the north
- side of the centre of the temple. Bent terms it the<span class="pagenum" id="Page_219">219</span> North Entrance, as
- do other writers, and in our description it will be so styled.</p>
-
- <p>Its massive size and excellent construction exceed those of any
- other known ancient entrance, unless it be the West Entrance, which,
- however, at present remains uncleared, and, except for the dilapidation
- of the higher portions of its rounded sides, it is certainly the
- best-preserved entrance so far discovered at Zimbabwe. Until November,
- 1902, the existence of its symmetrical and massive steps was altogether
- unsuspected, for these and the outer face of the entrance had been
- buried to a depth of 5 ft. in débris, the major portion of which could
- not have been disturbed for apparently many scores of years. The
- opening out of this entrance and also of the walled-in area immediately
- in front and to the north<span class="pagenum" id="Page_220">220</span> of it has revealed another leading
- architectural feature in addition to those already known at this
- temple. Photographs of the North Entrance, as it previously appeared,
- now only represent the tops of the side walls of the entrance.</p>
-
- <div class="figcenter" id="i_219">
- <img src="images/i_219.jpg" width="458" height="550" alt="" />
- <div class="caption">North or Main Entrance<br />
- ELLIPTICAL TEMPLE<br />
- Zimbabwe</div>
- </div>
-
- <p>Though its outer side faces towards north-east, twenty-five degrees,
- the entrance passage itself runs somewhat obliquely through the wall,
- the south end being slightly more to the east than is the outer end,
- and standing in the middle of the south end the line of passage further
- to the north than does its outer face, and there is a view of the
- eastern end of the Acropolis, the lower portion of which is at present
- hidden by a pile of granite block débris removed from the interior of
- the temple.</p>
-
- <p>The main walls on either side of the entrance are exceedingly massive
- and exceptionally well built, the entrance and steps forming a
- handsome piece of dry masonry, which reveals the artistic plan and
- bold conception of the ancient architects, admirably executed by the
- builders. On the east side the wall is 15 ft. 6 in. wide at the points
- where the main wall starts to curve in forming the east side of the
- entrance, and this measurement is taken at 13 ft. above the level of
- the outside area. On the west side the main wall is 14 ft. 6 in. wide
- at the points where the wall starts to curve in forming the west side
- of this entrance, this measurement being taken at 12 ft. above the
- level of the outside area.</p>
-
- <p>The entrance passage is 15 ft. 9 in. long. It is 7 ft. 10 in. wide at
- the foot of the steps on the north side, and 12 ft. wide at the south
- end between those points on either side where the walls start to curve
- in forming the entrance. The steps occupy 4 ft. 4 in. of the north end
- of the length of the passage, and the rest is paved level; but at the
- south end the flooring is slightly uneven owing to roots having moved
- some of the paving blocks. The level at the south end terminates in a
- step-down, which runs from the south face of one side wall to the south
- face of the other side wall. <span class="pagenum" id="Page_221">221</span>The present heights of the reduced
- walls of the entrance are: east side, 7 ft. 6 in.; west side, 6 ft. 10
- in.</p>
-
- <div class="figcenter" id="i_220">
- <img src="images/i_220.jpg" width="505" height="700" alt="" />
- <div class="caption">EXTERIOR OF NORTH ENTRANCE TO ELLIPTICAL TEMPLE</div>
- <div class="subcaption">(DISCOVERED 1903)</div>
- </div>
-
- <p>There are six rows of steps each 7 in. high, and each row in its centre
- recedes 10 in. beyond the one below it, the row curving inwards at its
- centre. The walls on either side of this entrance are not separate
- walls, but a common foundation runs under both, forming the floor of
- the passage, which floor is 3 ft. 4 in. higher than the level of the
- outer area.</p>
-
- <p>The steps are formed by the courses of blocks of the outer face of the
- wall on one side passing to the outer face of the wall on the opposite
- side, where they are continued, making a curve inwards, each curve
- receding with mathematical precision behind the curve in front. The
- courses on either side assume a fan-like form, thus making the curved
- courses of the steps wider in the middle than on the sides. The steps
- were built before the side walls of the passage were erected, and their
- marvellous regularity demonstrates the foresight of the builders. The
- end blocks of each row are partly built into the walls on either side.
- The courses in the main wall at this point are remarkably even and
- correct, the courses on the one side corresponding with the courses on
- the other. These steps are identical in measurement with all steps, so
- far discovered, found built in any ancient wall of the oldest type of
- ruin, and are of altogether different construction from those of the
- angular and terraced ruins of the later period in which the angular
- side walls of an entrance are first erected, and the steps afterwards
- built in between them.</p>
-
- <p>Bent frequently refers to this entrance as the main entrance of the
- temple. In so doing he is in all probability correct, though many of
- the facts concerning it, which give it an importance not possessed by
- either of the other two entrances, were then unknown to him. These were
- discovered in November, 1902. But the fact that three passages—Parallel
- Passage, Inner Parallel Passage, and<span class="pagenum" id="Page_222">222</span> South Passage—all converge
- on this entrance shows that it must have possessed considerable
- importance. But the recent clearing away of the débris to a depth of
- some 6 ft. has revealed the lower portion of the entrance with its
- well-constructed flight of steps, as well as the admirably proportioned
- structure of the entrance, which can now be seen to be by far the
- finest entrance to the temple.</p>
-
- <p>But the further discovery in November, 1902, of the long-buried
- North-East Passage, and the clearing out of the Outer Parallel Passage,
- both of which converge on the outer face of this entrance, have
- disclosed the fact that an even greater importance attached to this
- entrance than Bent or Sir John Willoughby could have supposed, for the
- existence of the North-East Passage was unknown to them, seeing that
- the summits of its side walls were buried at least 2 ft. under the
- veld. This passage, with buried enclosures on either hand, has now been
- cleared out for 108 yds., with traces of an extension for a further
- 70 yds. in a direct line towards the south-east Ancient Ascent to the
- Acropolis, and as the large area, known as the “Valley of Ruins,” lies
- along this route, and is connected with the passage by numerous side
- passages and openings, the importance of the North Entrance is very
- considerably enhanced, and Bent’s conjecture is shown to be fully
- confirmed.</p>
-
- <h3>WESTERN ENTRANCE</h3>
-
- <p>This is the second largest entrance to the temple, and would appear
- to have been of some importance. It is by the <em>West Entrance</em> that
- visitors now usually enter the building. The gateway opens directly
- into <em>No. 5 Enclosure</em>.</p>
-
- <p>The entrance is situated between [827 ft. 9 in.] and [831 ft. 9 in.] on
- the line of the measurement of the circumference of the exterior of the
- building, which starts on the south side of the entrance, and between
- (763 ft. 6 in.) and (766 ft. 6 in.) on the line of the measurement
- of the circumference of the <span class="pagenum" id="Page_223">223</span>interior of the main wall, which also
- starts on the south side of this entrance. (See <em>Main Wall</em>.)</p>
-
- <div class="figcenter" id="i_222a">
- <img src="images/i_222a.jpg" width="600" height="494" alt="" />
- <div class="caption">SUMMIT OF SOUTH-EAST MAIN WALL, ELLIPTICAL TEMPLE</div>
- </div>
-
- <div class="figcenter" id="i_222b">
- <img src="images/i_222b.jpg" width="600" height="479" alt="" />
- <div class="caption">WEST ENTRANCE FROM INTERIOR, ELLIPTICAL TEMPLE</div>
- </div>
-
- <p>The south side is formed by the boldly rounded end of the main
- wall, which is here reduced in height to 7 ft. 6 in., or including
- foundations to 11 ft. The reduced summit is 6 ft. 6 in. wide, and has
- a batter of 8 in. At 10 ft. from the side wall the main wall rises
- abruptly from 7 ft. to 22 ft.</p>
-
- <p>The north side is formed by the main wall, which has a rounded end. Its
- height is 8 ft., but rises sharply to 20 ft. The reduced summit is 6
- ft. wide, and there is a batter of 10 in. on the face of the side wall.</p>
-
- <p>The passage-way is 4 ft. 2 in. wide between the rounded ends of the two
- walls, and it has a total length of 20 ft. 6 in., 9 ft. 6 in. being
- over the foundation and 11 ft. over the semi-circular platform, which
- supports the two rounded buttresses on the inner side of the entrance.
- Unlike the <em>Main Entrance</em> this passage passes through the wall at
- right angles.</p>
-
- <p>The semi-circular platform projects into <em>No. 5 Enclosure</em> for 11 ft.,
- and upon it, and on either side of the entrance, are two buttresses,
- that on the south side being 9 ft. high and 10 ft. wide at the back;
- the one on the south side being very much dilapidated is now only 6 ft.
- high on the north side and 6 ft. wide at back. These buttresses and the
- platform are one structure, the courses in the buttresses are carried
- across the passage in a semi-circular form, thus forming steps.</p>
-
- <p>The problem as to the entrance having ever been covered over is at
- present an open one, and there is much to be said on either side. The
- old men of the Amangwa state that it once had wooden beams across, and
- that the entrance was blocked up with stones. The <em>North-West Entrance</em>
- was in 1891 found by Bent, who reopened it, to have also been built
- up at a very late date, and so completely blocked. (See <cite>Entrances</cite>,
- Chapter VII.)</p>
-
- <p>On the exterior, and on either side of the entrance, stood, till 1903,
- very large débris heaps, each of which was at least<span class="pagenum" id="Page_224">224</span> 8 ft. high and
- many yards in circumference. These on being removed were found to
- represent several distinct occupations of the temple, and two-thirds of
- their height was accounted for by native occupations and the removal
- by explorers of débris from the interior of the building. The native
- portion contained ashes and bones in large quantities, iron assegai
- heads, hoes, brass and iron wire bangles, clay whorls, and ordinary
- native pottery. Some few small relics were found in the soil which
- had been taken from the temple. In the lowest portion, which was not
- thicker than 18 in., were found phalli, splinters of soapstone beams,
- excellent pottery, gold crucibles, beaten gold and gold wire. There
- were several layers of ashes, but very few animal bones. The two heaps
- had been piled up against the main wall.</p>
-
- <hr class="page" />
- <div class="chapter" id="CHAPTER_XI">
- <span class="pagenum" id="Page_225">225</span>
- <h2>
- CHAPTER XI<br /><br />
- <span class="small">THE ELLIPTICAL TEMPLE<br />(<i>Continued</i>)</span>
- </h2>
- </div>
- <div class="subheadc">Enclosures Nos. 1 to 7</div>
-
- <h3>NO. 1 ENCLOSURE</h3>
-
- <p class="drop-cap">THIS enclosure is on the north side of the temple, the outer face of
- its north-eastern wall being 18 ft. south-west of the <em>North Entrance</em>.
- This is the most perfect of all the enclosures. It is roughly circular,
- and there are no angular features in the body of the wall, though both
- entrances have their outer corners squared. The area is: north to south
- 56 ft. 6 in., and east to west 55 ft. 6 in.</p>
-
- <p>The average height of the walls all round the enclosure is 7 ft. above
- the present surface of the filled-in area. At the north-east end the
- summit of the wall is 11 ft. above the bottom of an old hole excavated
- at that point, and in the hole the foundation is exposed. On the
- north-west side the summit of the wall is 9 ft. above the red cemented
- floor of an old Makalanga hut which had solid clay sides.</p>
-
- <p>The walls are very substantial, being 5 ft. 6 in. wide and 4 ft. and 5
- ft. above the surface of the area, as it was before clearing operations
- were commenced.</p>
-
- <p>There are two entrances, one on the north side and the other on the
- east side.</p>
-
- <p>The north entrance leads from <em>No. 3 Enclosure</em>, and is 2 ft. 6 in.
- wide, and its walls are rounded on the inside and angular on the
- outside, the side walls being between 3 ft. and 4 ft. high. There are
- four rows of steps, somewhat<span class="pagenum" id="Page_226">226</span> rudely constructed, each being about 10
- in. from front to back. A small parapet wall carries the steps from the
- lower level of <em>No. 3 Enclosure</em>.</p>
-
- <p>The walls of the east entrance are rounded on the inside and angular
- on the outside. The entrance is 2 ft. wide, 5 ft. long, with a level
- floor for this length, the foundation being carried across the opening,
- and the walls on either side are 4 ft. high. There is one step inside
- at the end of the 5-ft. length, and one step outside from the floor of
- <em>South Passage</em>. There are no portcullis grooves to this entrance. On
- the inside of this entrance is a stone platform which might once have
- carried buttresses.</p>
-
- <p>This enclosure has been subjected to the filling-in process more than
- any other enclosure of the temple, probably because of its proximity
- to the <em>North-West Entrance</em> through which the material could easily
- have been brought in from outside. On the present surface there are
- remains of an old Makalanga hut, which must be more than sixty years
- old, seeing that the Makalanga have not resided in the temple for over
- that period. At a depth of from 1 ft. 6 in. to 2 ft. below this surface
- the remains of a still very much older Makalanga hut have been exposed.
- This was constructed of red clay, beautifully polished, the flooring
- being on a very true level. This class of old huts had their clay
- sides altogether independent of the roof, which was supported by poles
- inserted at a distance of some inches from the outside of the walls.
- (See <cite>Architecture</cite>—<cite>Makalanga Huts</cite>.)</p>
-
- <p>The only “finds” made here were fragments of large soapstone bowls
- carved with herring-bone and cord patterns, small clay animals, assegai
- heads, and pottery of old, but not ancient, design or make, and
- comparatively recent native pottery.</p>
-
- <p>A drain passes through the west wall of this enclosure, and has a fall
- into <em>No. 3 Enclosure</em>.</p>
-
- <p>Bent stated that this enclosure was not a portion of the<span class="pagenum" id="Page_227">227</span> original
- building. There are indications that this conjecture is correct. The
- walls are built without any regularity in courses and of stones of all
- shapes and sizes, the west wall crossing over the foundations of an
- older wall.</p>
-
- <h3>NO. 2 ENCLOSURE</h3>
-
- <p>This is a pear-shaped enclosure at the north-north-west side of the
- temple, and is built up immediately against the main outer wall from
- (530 ft.) to (578 ft.), and is on the west side of the <em>North Entrance</em>.</p>
-
- <p>It is 47 ft. long from south-east to north-east, and 13 ft. wide from
- north-east to south-west at its broadest part.</p>
-
- <p>From (560 ft.) to (565 ft.) the main wall is considerably broken,
- having fallen outwards. It is between these points that there is a
- narrow break in the foundations, which supports the view regarding the
- reconstruction of the western wall at a later ancient period, a matter
- dealt with in the description of the main wall, and in the Preface.</p>
-
- <p>This enclosure has only one entrance, and this is at the south-east
- end. It has rounded walls, is 8 ft. long, 2 ft. 2 in. wide, and the
- wall on the south-west is 4 ft. high, and that on the north-east side 7
- ft. high. The floor of this enclosure is between 2 ft. and 3 ft. below
- the floor of the adjoining <em>North Entrance</em>, and there is one stone and
- one cement step in the entrance passage of this enclosure.</p>
-
- <p>A substantial wall, 4 ft. to 8 ft. high, and 4 ft. wide at 4 ft. from
- the ground, but evidently of later construction, is on the south side,
- and separates this enclosure from <em>No. 3 Enclosure</em>, but it has a deep
- depression on its summit, and is very considerably ruined for about 20
- ft.</p>
-
- <p>There is a drain-hole through the main wall at (545 ft.).</p>
-
- <p>This enclosure has suffered very considerably at the hands of
- unauthorised searchers for ancient gold relics, some of the flooring
- having been torn up, and the foundations of part of the southern wall
- have been undermined.</p>
-
- <p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_228">228</span></p>
-
- <p>Here in a débris heap was found the large plain flat-rimmed soapstone
- bowl which was lent by the late Rt. Hon. C. J. Rhodes to the South
- African Museum at Cape Town.</p>
-
- <h3>NO. 3 ENCLOSURE</h3>
-
- <p>This is the most north-westerly enclosure of the temple, the north-west
- main wall from (590 ft.) to (660 ft.) forming its north-westerly
- boundary. The south side is formed by <em>No. 1 Enclosure</em>, the west by
- <em>No. 4 Enclosure</em>, and the north and east by <em>No. 2 Enclosure</em>.</p>
-
- <p>The area is keystone-shaped, being 76 ft. long on its north-west side,
- 45 ft. 6 in. on its west side, 71 ft. on the south side, and 50 ft. 6
- in. on the north and east side.</p>
-
- <p>The <em>North-West Entrance</em> to the temple is at (606 ft. 6 in.) to (611
- ft. 6 in.) on the north-west side of the enclosure. (See <em>Main Wall,
- North-West Entrance</em>, for description.)</p>
-
- <p>The entrance in the west wall between <em>Nos. 3 and 4 Enclosures</em> was not
- at the present gap in the débris of this wall, as the gap was made for
- the convenience of visitors. The foundations of this wall end abruptly
- at 25 ft. from its east end, this portion of the wall being in a fairly
- good condition for 14 ft., and being from 3 ft. to 6 ft. high.</p>
-
- <p>The entrance to <em>No. 1 Enclosure</em> is in the south wall at 45 ft. to 49
- ft. from the west wall.</p>
-
- <p>The east entrance has rounded sides, is 2 ft. wide, and the side walls
- are 4 ft. high. This entrance leads from <em>South Passage</em>, and is
- immediately inside the <em>North Entrance</em> to the temple.</p>
-
- <p>A drain from <em>No. 1 Enclosure</em> is in the angle formed by the west and
- south walls.</p>
-
- <p>Possibly this enclosure was once subdivided, but when mediæval and even
- later Makalanga occupied the temple for their residence and cattle
- kraal the sub-divisional walls were removed. That this portion of
- the temple was used for this purpose is demonstrated both by “finds”
- and the condi<span class="pagenum" id="Page_229">229</span>tion of the enclosure, and these support the native
- assertion to this effect. The remains of a wall runs north-west from
- the south-west corner of the enclosure towards the west side of the
- <em>North-West Entrance</em>. This is 16 ft. long, 2 ft. high, and 3 ft. 6 in.
- wide. A second wall is believed to have once stood between the west
- side of the entrance to <em>No. 1 Enclosure</em> and the north and east side
- wall.</p>
-
- <div class="figcenter" id="i_228">
- <img src="images/i_228.jpg" width="600" height="450" alt="" />
- <div class="caption">Nos. 3 &amp; 4 ENCLOSURES AND WEST MAIN WALL, ELLIPTICAL TEMPLE</div>
- </div>
-
- <p>At (640 ft.) is a long granite slab, which has evidently fallen from
- the summit of the main wall. Probably it was a tie or “through” stone,
- as the summit of the main wall had been bonded with similar stones.</p>
-
- <p>In the angle formed by the north-east and north-west walls are
- the remains of a large rounded buttress now only 2 ft. high.
- Possibly this might be one of the platforms with “blind steps” (see
- <cite>Architecture</cite>—<cite>Blind Steps</cite>) which are found in the angles in several
- of the temple enclosures.</p>
-
- <p>This enclosure appears to have been filled in with stones and earth at
- a very late period, as the filling-in contains at all depths portions
- of Makalanga pottery and lumps of iron slag. The ancient floor is
- believed to be some 2 ft. below the present surface.</p>
-
- <h3>NO. 4 ENCLOSURE</h3>
-
- <p>This is the most westerly of the temple enclosures. Its form resembles
- that of a keystone with the broad side on the west main wall, along the
- inside of which it extends for 67 ft. from (666 ft.) to (730 ft.)</p>
-
- <p>It is bounded on the north side by the divisional wall separating
- it from <em>No. 3 Enclosure</em>, and this side is 47 ft. 6 in. long. This
- wall extends from the outer face of the west portion of the wall of
- <em>No. 1 Enclosure</em> for 14 ft., from which it is in a good state of
- preservation, except for reduction in height, it being now only between
- 4 ft. and 6 ft., while the rest of the wall is ruined, and is lost in a
- line of débris which marks where the wall once stood. At the west end
- of this débris are a few blocks still retaining their position, and
- these<span class="pagenum" id="Page_230">230</span> show where the north wall joined the main wall. As on the north
- side of this wall, where there is now no trace of entrance between
- <em>Nos. 2 and 3 Enclosures</em>, so is it on its south side, where the face
- of the wall is even more ruined than on the opposite side.</p>
-
- <p>On the south side this enclosure is bounded by the divisional wall
- between it and <em>No. 5 Enclosure</em>. This wall is 58 ft. long, and bends
- southwards in the middle of its length for 5 ft. from a line between
- the two extremities of the wall. At the east end of the wall it is 6
- ft. high for 5 ft. in length, when it is reduced to 2 ft. with débris
- 3 ft. higher lying along the summit. The west end of the wall is very
- poorly built, and as this enclosure has also been used by the Makalanga
- as a cattle kraal, probably finding the wall broken down at its
- western end, they rebuilt it in order to keep in the cattle. The wall
- throughout is built on a raised cement foundation only slightly wider
- than the wall itself.</p>
-
- <p>Though there is at present no trace of any entrance between this and
- <em>No. 5 Enclosure</em>, there are reasons for believing that traces of one
- may be discovered near the spot where a large fig tree grows on the
- line of wall.</p>
-
- <p>The east side is 33 ft. in length, and is formed for 10 ft. from the
- north side by the west outer face of the wall of <em>No. 1 Enclosure</em>,
- which is here 11 ft. high; for the following 12 ft. by the opening into
- the <em>West Passage</em> which runs parallel to the south-west and west sides
- of <em>No. 1 Enclosure</em>; and for 13 ft. by the outer and west face of the
- <em>West Passage</em>, the wall of which is 10 ft. high, and is well built,
- substantial, and in a good state of preservation.</p>
-
- <p>The whole of the interior of this enclosure has been deliberately
- and rudely filled in with soil, débris, also with stones which have
- fallen into it, and for almost 2 ft. in depth it is covered with rich
- vegetable mould. [This latter was removed in 1903.]</p>
-
- <p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_231">231</span></p>
-
- <h3>NO. 5 ENCLOSURE</h3>
-
- <p>This enclosure is immediately inside the <em>West Entrance</em> to the temple,
- the western and south-western main wall forming its boundary on those
- sides from (735 ft.) to (760 ft.) on the north side of the entrance,
- and from (0 ft.) to (100 ft.) on the south side of the entrance, thus
- making its length on the side of the main wall to be 130 ft.</p>
-
- <p>The area was once subdivided, but at present it is difficult to say
- exactly where the sub-divisional walls ran, though the faint traces of
- these are to be seen in several directions, but all appear to radiate
- from the eastern side of the enclosure towards the inside face of the
- main wall.</p>
-
- <p>The north side is 59 ft. long, the south wall of <em>No. 4 Enclosure</em>
- being its northern boundary. The face of this wall at its eastern
- extremity is well built, but the western portion of it is very poorly
- constructed. The probable cause of this difference in the building of
- the wall was explained in the description of <em>No. 4 Enclosure</em>, and
- also in the Preface.</p>
-
- <p>The eastern side for 36 ft. in length from the north side is formed
- by a very well-built wall which forms the southern extremity of <em>West
- Passage</em>. This wall is now only 6 ft. in height, but the great amount
- of wall-débris lying at its bases suggests that it was once some 7
- ft. higher. It is 6 ft. wide on its present summit. From this point
- to the southern end of the enclosure the rest of the eastern side is
- open space, with traces of substantial wall foundations all along this
- length. The total length of the eastern side of this enclosure is 93 ft.</p>
-
- <p>The south side, which is 37 ft. long, is formed by faint traces of a
- wall which divides this area from <em>No. 6 Enclosure</em>, extending from the
- west outer side of <em>No. 7 Enclosure</em> to the main wall.</p>
-
- <p>The width at the centre of this enclosure from east to west is 57 ft.</p>
-
- <p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_232">232</span></p>
-
- <p>A flat granite monolith stands at 30 ft. north-east of the north
- buttress of the <em>West Entrance</em> with a flat face towards the west. It
- rises from the ground 6 ft. 9 in., is 3 ft. broad, narrowing to 1 ft.
- 10 in. at the top. It is 3 in. thick, and leans slightly towards the
- east. No artificial markings can be discovered on either of its faces.</p>
-
- <p>A triangular-shaped granite beam stands 2 ft. 11 in. above the ground
- at 26 ft. north-east of the south buttress of the <em>West Entrance</em>. A
- fractured portion of the beam, until lately buried, lies near. This
- section is 8 ft. 2 in. long. Twelve years ago this beam was complete.
- It then had a tilt towards the north, and its base must be deep to have
- supported its heavy weight in a leaning position.</p>
-
- <p>Other sections of fractured granite monoliths were buried at this
- spot; one set of sections exceed together 8 ft., without taking into
- consideration a section which is missing.</p>
-
- <p>The latest floor of this enclosure is at least 2 ft. below the present
- surface, the soil on the top being vegetable mould thickly matted with
- roots of wild vines and other creepers. [In August, 1903, this top soil
- was removed from the whole area. Several pieces of beaten gold and some
- Arabian glass were found lying on the hard soil underneath it.]</p>
-
- <h3>NO. 6 ENCLOSURE</h3>
-
- <p>This adjoins <em>No. 5 Enclosure</em>, which forms its western boundary. The
- south side is formed by the south main wall of the temple from (100
- ft.) to (179 ft. 3 in.). The north and north-east side is formed by
- the south wall of <em>No. 7 Enclosure</em>. This wall is from 5 ft. to 11
- ft. high. The eastern side is formed by the west wall of the <em>Sacred
- Enclosure</em>, which is from 8 ft. to 11 ft. high.</p>
-
- <p>The measurements of this area are: south side, 79 ft.; north side, 58
- ft.; east side, 22 ft.; and west side, 31 ft.</p>
-
- <p>This enclosure has two entrances. Probably another<span class="pagenum" id="Page_233">233</span> entrance may be
- discovered on the western side on the removal of débris.</p>
-
- <p>The northern entrance is at 35 ft. to 37 ft., measuring from the
- eastern end of the north wall. This leads into <em>No. 7 Enclosure</em>. It
- has rounded walls, and the floor forms part of the foundation. There
- are no portcullis grooves.</p>
-
- <p>The eastern entrance is at 13 ft. to 15 ft., measuring from the north
- end of the east wall. This leads into the <em>Sacred Enclosure</em>. Its walls
- are rounded, and there are portcullis grooves. The steps are built into
- the wall. On either side of the entrance there are traces of rounded
- buttresses.</p>
-
- <p>Monkey-rope roots have done serious injury to the eastern end of the
- north wall, and have caused a depression of 5 ft. from the average
- height of the reduced wall.</p>
-
- <p>This enclosure is interesting because it showed three floors below the
- soil surface. On removing the mould which form the top surface for a
- depth of 1 ft. to 2 ft., was found the common red clay foundation of
- a Makalanga hut, about which lay iron hoes, assegai-heads, and also
- pottery of no great age. Below this, for a further depth of 1 ft. to 1
- ft. 6 in., was a promiscuous filling-in of blocks and soil, and below
- this again was a very hard soil, probably of decomposed cement, and on
- this hard surface was a pile of about 20 lbs. weight of portions of
- pottery scorifiers and small crucibles, all of which showed gold richly
- on the flux. These had evidently been piled up as rubbish, for they
- were all found within an area of 2 sq. ft., and no other portions of
- scorifiers or crucibles were found elsewhere in this enclosure. A pair
- of iron pincers made of two pieces of iron welded together at one end,
- an iron gong, and a soapstone amulet were discovered together, while
- on the lowest floor was a portion of a large soapstone bowl carved
- with herring-bone on cord pattern, and the fractured bases of what are
- believed to be true phalli. This lowest floor is 9 in. deeper than the
- one on which the gold crucibles were found, and<span class="pagenum" id="Page_234">234</span> is made of whitish
- cement, and has been exposed for about 4 sq. ft. in the north-east
- corner of the enclosure at 11 ft. below the summit of the east wall.</p>
-
- <p>The reconstruction of the north wall at its eastern end is very
- conspicuous. This reconstruction is referred to in the description of
- <em>No. 7 Enclosure</em>.</p>
-
- <p>In the soil débris pile, which had been removed from <em>No. 7 Enclosure</em>
- into this enclosure in 1891 by Bent, was (in August, 1902) found a
- piece of glass, being the lip portion of a bowl. This had bosses on its
- surface, with gold rims round each boss, indicating that the upper part
- of the neck of this bowl was once covered with gold enamel. This glass
- is believed to be identical with that found by Sir John Willoughby,
- and pronounced by authorities at the British Museum to belong to the
- thirteenth century.</p>
-
- <h3>NO. 7 ENCLOSURE</h3>
-
- <p>This enclosure is on the south side of the temple, the south and
- south-west wall running for 55 ft. parallel with the main wall at a
- distance of about 21 ft. This enclosure, next to <em>No. 1 Enclosure</em>, is
- in the best state of preservation of any chamber within the temple.
- Its area is 54 ft. 6 in. from north to south, and 39 ft. from east
- to west, and its form resembles a quarter section of a circle, with
- its rounded side extending from south-west to north, the centre of
- which quarter-circle is at the south-south-east end of the area. The
- present surface of the area is very uneven, owing to the operations of
- excavators and searchers for relics.</p>
-
- <p>There are two entrances still more or less intact, one on the
- south-west side leading into <em>No. 6 Enclosure</em>, and the other at the
- north corner, but facing west. Possibly there was also an entrance on
- the east side, where a gigantic fig tree, 50 ft. high, now stands.</p>
-
- <p>The south-west entrance (see section) is protected on the inside by
- rounded buttresses on either side, which project <span class="pagenum" id="Page_235">235</span>2 ft. 6 in. into
- the enclosure. These buttresses, of which only the lower courses now
- remain, are built upon, and at each end of, a semi-circular base 11 ft.
- long protruding 4 ft. 6 in. into the enclosure, the face courses of
- which curve inwards, one above and behind, the other between the side
- buttresses, and so form steps up to the entrance, the courses above
- the steps being carried round the buttresses. There are no traces of
- portcullis grooves. This is a form of steps found in the entrances
- through the main wall of the temple, and in the entrances in many
- ruins of the oldest or first-period style of architecture, whether at
- Zimbabwe or elsewhere in the country.</p>
-
- <div class="figcenter" id="i_234a">
- <img src="images/i_234a.jpg" width="427" height="550" alt="" />
- <div class="caption">WEST ENTRANCE TO No. 7 ENCLOSURE, ELLIPTICAL TEMPLE</div>
- </div>
-
- <div class="figcenter" id="i_234b">
- <img src="images/i_234b.jpg" width="444" height="550" alt="" />
- <div class="caption">SOUTH WALL OF No. 7 ENCLOSURE, SHEWING PART (TO LEFT)
- RECONSTRUCTED, ELLIPTICAL TEMPLE</div>
- </div>
-
- <p>The north entrance is of exactly similar construction, but is in a
- better state of preservation, the one buttress remaining being still 5
- ft. high. This entrance has portcullis grooves.</p>
-
- <p>The best-built portion of the walls of this enclosure is undoubtedly
- that of the curved wall which extends from south-west to north. This is
- a fine piece of work, and the face of the wall is very regular. This
- wall is from 11 ft. to 13 ft. high on the inside, and 11 ft. to 14 ft.
- high on the outside, and is 4 ft. 6 in. wide in its present summit, the
- line of which is even except at its extremities. Judging by the block
- débris, this wall might once have been fully 2 ft. to 3 ft. higher.
- The centre of the outward curve of the wall is 11 ft. west from a line
- drawn between the extreme points of the curve.</p>
-
- <p>The south wall may be divided into two sections, the westerly portion
- being well built, and the easterly portion very poorly constructed,
- having numerous straight joints, disappearing and false courses, and is
- built of stones of all sizes and shapes. This latter part is evidently
- a reconstruction at a later date and on the old foundations. Where the
- joint was made between the old and the later walls is very clearly
- discernible, while there is a deep depression in the summit of the wall
- at this point. These depressions almost<span class="pagenum" id="Page_236">236</span> always exist in joints between
- old and later walls. This wall is 32 ft. long, between 8 ft. and 9 ft.
- high, and is 4 ft. wide on its reduced summit.</p>
-
- <p>The eastern side is in four lengths: (1) a small portion of wall in
- the south-east corner 6 ft. long, 6 ft. high, and 4 ft. wide; (2) a
- gap of 14 ft., evidently made by past and present trees; (3) a wall 7
- ft. high, 13 ft. long, and 3 ft. wide on its summit (the lower portion
- of this section is built up against (4), but in the upper section it
- is built into it); and (4) a wall 16 ft. long, 9 ft. high, 4 ft. wide
- on summit. This wall has been partly ruined at its western end by the
- roots of a large tree.</p>
-
- <p>The connection between sections (3) and (4) where the lower portion
- of (3) is built up against and is independent of (4), while the
- upper portion of (3) is built and bonded into and forms part of (4),
- has an exact parallel in the west wall of <em>Recess Enclosure</em> on the
- <em>Acropolis</em>, where the lower portions of two walls are independent of
- each other, but their higher portions are bonded and built as one wall.</p>
-
- <p>In August, 1902, some thirty tons of explorers’ débris of old date
- were removed from this enclosure, and a floor of granite cement was
- disclosed at its south end, in the middle of which, and forming part of
- the cement work, is a raised circular platform 7 in. high, 16 ft. 10
- in. in circumference, and with rounded sides. Close to it was found a
- rounded piece of diorite extensively marked with hammerings, as if it
- had been used for an anvil.</p>
-
- <p>Along the base of the south wall is a cemented edging 6 in. high, 17
- ft. long, with rounded edges, protruding 8 in. to 12 in. from the wall.
- In the south corner are two blind steps made of granite cement (see
- <cite>Architecture</cite>—<cite>Blind Steps</cite>).</p>
-
- <hr class="page" />
- <div class="chapter" id="CHAPTER_XII">
- <span class="pagenum" id="Page_237">237</span>
- <h2>
- CHAPTER XII<br /><br />
- <span class="small">THE ELLIPTICAL TEMPLE</span>
- </h2>
- </div>
- <div class="subheadc">Sacred Enclosure—Conical Tower—Small Tower—Parallel Passage.</div>
-
- <h3>NO. 8<br />THE SACRED ENCLOSURE</h3>
-
- <p class="drop-cap">THIS enclosure, which contains the <em>Conical Tower</em> and the now ruined
- “<em>Little Cone</em>,” lies on the south-east of the temple area, the main
- east wall from south-east to east-north-east being its eastern boundary
- from (186 ft.) to (315 ft).</p>
-
- <p>In shape it is long and narrow, the <em>Conical Tower</em> practically
- dividing the area into two almost equal sections: <em>Sacred Enclosure</em>
- (<em>east</em>), and <em>Sacred Enclosure</em> (<em>west</em>).</p>
-
- <p>The length of this enclosure measured along the inside face of the main
- wall is 129 ft. 2 in. The northern side is formed by sections of walls
- which in the main run parallel with the south wall of the temple. The
- northern sections of walls are at the following distances from the main
- wall: at the extreme west 25 ft.; at (186 ft.) 31 ft.; on either side
- of the <em>Conical Tower</em> 26 ft.; at (300 ft.) 17 ft.; and at the extreme
- east 5 ft, this last portion for 13 ft. being greatly narrowed by large
- buttresses on either side up to the entrance of the <em>Parallel Passage</em>.</p>
-
- <p>The northern wall sections commencing at the west end are as follows:—</p>
-
- <p>A wall 28 ft. long forming the south wall of <em>No. 11 Enclosure</em>. The
- first section of 20 ft. is indifferently built, but the last 8 ft. well
- constructed. The joint between the two classes of walls is obvious,
- and the inferior wall is considerably dilapi<span class="pagenum" id="Page_238">238</span>dated at its western end,
- especially at the western entrance. The highest portion is 9 ft. 6 in.
- above the present surface of the interior.</p>
-
- <p>The second section is the south wall of <em>The Platform</em>, which rounds
- on a length of 24 ft. into <em>Sacred Enclosure</em> (<em>west</em>) for 7 ft., and
- recedes again directly north of the <em>Conical Tower</em>. This rounded wall
- is exceedingly well built. Its summit is practically level, and its
- height is 11 ft. to 14 ft., according to the rise and fall of the floor
- or steps of the enclosure.</p>
-
- <p>The third section is a wall 48 ft. long, extending from north of the
- <em>Conical Tower</em> to the entrance of the <em>Parallel Passage</em>. From the
- south side of this wall, and just inside the north entrance, is a
- wall 13 ft. high, 5 ft. wide, narrowing as the <em>Conical Tower</em> is
- approached, projecting towards the north-east side of the <em>Conical
- Tower</em>. The last 27 ft. of this third section is evidently of a later
- period construction. The joint of the older and later walls is very
- clearly defined, and there is a depression on the summit at this point.
- The height of the wall varies from 14 ft. to 16 ft.</p>
-
- <p>The <em>Sacred Enclosure</em> has four entrances—south-west, west, north, and
- east.</p>
-
- <p>The south-west entrance is from <em>No. 6 Enclosure</em>. This has rounded
- walls and portcullis grooves, and is 5 ft. high on either side, 2 ft.
- wide, and runs through a wall 4 ft. 10 in. thick. On the inside of
- this entrance are the remains of steps which relic prospectors have
- destroyed. The floor of the entrance is 4 ft. above the floor of the
- enclosure.</p>
-
- <p>The western entrance, which leads from <em>No. 9 Enclosure</em>, is also
- rounded, and had portcullis grooves, and its floor was once paved with
- cement. This entrance is in a very dilapidated condition, owing to
- trees and creepers.</p>
-
- <p>The north or main entrance to this enclosure is rounded on either side,
- and has portcullis grooves. It is 2 ft. 10 in. wide, and is directly
- north of the <em>Conical Tower</em>, between <span class="pagenum" id="Page_239">239</span>which and this entrance the
- floor is substantially paved with cement, and has cement steps leading
- down into the enclosure on the west side of the <em>Conical Tower</em>.</p>
-
- <div class="figcenter" id="i_238a">
- <img src="images/i_238a.jpg" width="447" height="550" alt="" />
- <div class="caption">VISITORS’ LADDER TO SUMMIT OF MAIN WALL, ELLIPTICAL TEMPLE</div>
- </div>
-
- <div class="figcenter" id="i_238b">
- <img src="images/i_238b.jpg" width="433" height="550" alt="" />
- <div class="caption">THE SMALL CONICAL TOWER, ELLIPTICAL TEMPLE</div>
- </div>
-
- <p>The east entrance leads from the <em>Parallel Passage</em>, and measurements
- of it are given in the description of that passage.</p>
-
- <p>The buttresses on either side of the inner side of the eastern entrance
- have not the appearance of being ancient, unless they had once
- collapsed and been roughly rebuilt at a much later period.</p>
-
- <p>The eastern section of this enclosure has been cleared of débris down
- to the level of a yellow granite cement floor. In several places this
- flooring has been destroyed by roots of both past and present trees of
- great size. This section appears to have had to absorb all rainfall
- from the south-east area of the temple, as this enclosure is at a much
- lower level than the adjoining enclosures, and this may account for
- the decomposition at some points of the cement floor. The clearing to
- the cement floor has also been carried round the base of the <em>Conical
- Tower</em>, which now stands upon an almost level floor. The spot where
- Bent sank the hole through the cement can plainly be seen on the south
- side of the tower. The clearing also disclosed a granite cement step
- at the north entrance with a level cement floor on the inner side
- between it and the north side of the tower. This floor is 2 ft. above
- the cement floor round the base of the tower, from which raised floor
- two granite steps between the tower and <em>The Platform</em> lead down to the
- floor of the western section of the enclosure.</p>
-
- <p>In the western section the floor along the base of the main wall is
- buried in débris to a depth of 1 ft. 6 in. to 5 ft. From the base
- of the northern wall of this section to the centre of the area is a
- cemented floor laid on a pavement of blocks, but in some places the
- cement has become decomposed. In the west corner of this section of the
- enclosure is a floor<span class="pagenum" id="Page_240">240</span> raised 3 ft. above the cement floor, but this is
- very roughly built, and appears to have been a filling-in by some late
- occupiers of the temple. On the east side of this raised floor, and
- acting as its retaining wall on that side, are the remains of a wall
- 4 ft. high and 4 ft. wide projecting from the reconstructed portion
- of the north wall, and most probably of even a later date than the
- obviously reconstructed wall, seeing that it is built up against it.</p>
-
- <p>In the angle formed by the 28-ft. section of the north wall of the
- western area and the wall of <em>The Platform</em> is a set of “blind
- steps,” two in number, and with a platform 8 ft. by 6 ft. square,
- the steps and the platform being covered with granite cement (see
- <cite>Architecture</cite>—<cite>Blind Steps</cite>).</p>
-
- <p>Small portions of granite cement are to be found in the joints of
- the blocks of the main wall up to a height of 7 ft., and also to
- a similar height on the north wall of the eastern section of this
- enclosure, while in the angle of this latter wall and the buttress
- built up against it are the remains of a granite cement dado (see
- <cite>Architecture</cite>—<cite>Cement Dadoes</cite>).</p>
-
- <h3>THE CONICAL TOWER<a id="FNanchor_52" href="#Footnote_52" class="fnanchor">[52]</a></h3>
-
- <p>This celebrated tower, which forms one of the chief architectural
- features of the Zimbabwe ruins, stands in the centre of the Sacred
- Enclosure, dividing it into two areas. The south-east of the tower is 3
- ft. 10 in. from the main wall of the temple (at 255 ft.) from the south
- side of the west entrance. It is 31 ft. high on its south-east face; 30
- ft. on the south-west side; 26 ft. 6 in. on its north-east side; and
- 29 ft. on the north-west side. These measurements are taken from the
- actual foundation, which is only a few inches below the granite cement
- flooring surrounding its base on all sides but the north. The average
- height of the reduced summit of the tower in 1894 was 32 ft., and it
- was then far more level than as seen to-day. Bent believed the original
- height <span class="pagenum" id="Page_241">241</span>to have been 35 ft., at which point he thought it once had a
- level top, 4 ft in diameter. Photographs taken in 1891 give a very good
- impression of what the tower was like previous to the dilapidation,
- which took place immediately after that time.</p>
-
- <p>It is difficult to state the exact circumference of the base throughout
- the extent of the foundations, as a granite cement raised floor, with
- steps, is constructed up against the base of the north side, but it may
- be taken to be about 57 ft. 6 in. The measurements of the circumference
- of the tower at different heights are as follows: at 5 ft. above floor
- 53 ft. 8 in.; at 10 ft., 50 ft. 4 in.; at 15 ft., 46 ft. 1 in.; at
- 20 ft., 39 ft.; at 25 ft., 32 ft.; at 27 ft. 6 in. (where the broken
- portion of the summit commences), 30 ft. 2 in. The average battering
- back of the tower, so far as the broken edges of the present summit
- will permit of approximately correct measurements being taken, is, at
- the following heights, as follows: at 10 ft. above floor 1 ft. 7 in.;
- at 15 ft., 1 ft. 10 in.; at 20 ft., 2 ft. 6 in.; at 25 ft., 4 ft. 2
- in.; and at 27 ft., 5 ft. 5 in.</p>
-
- <p>The battering is far more regular on the west and south sides, where it
- is also a few inches less severe. To secure the inclining back of the
- sides of the cone, the blocks from front to back on its circumference
- are laid on the flat on a dead level, and yet so slightly do the blocks
- of one course lie back beyond the edge of the faces of the blocks
- of the course below that, except at one or two points, it is almost
- impossible to notice where the batter takes place. Even the blocks in
- the bulge on the north side have been ascertained to be still perfectly
- level.</p>
-
- <p>There is a slight bulging on the east and north-east sides at 10 ft.
- to 15 ft. above the floor, and this somewhat reduces the extent of
- battering-back on those sides at that height. This bulging creates an
- optical delusion, for visitors almost always declare that the tower has
- tilted slightly to the north-east. But this tilting has now been proved
- not to exist.<span class="pagenum" id="Page_242">242</span> There are many causes which may have brought about
- the bulging. A large branch of hard-wood tree, the trunk of which is
- believed to have been over one hundred years old, had for years, even
- in light breezes, scraped up and down this side of the tower, and also
- it was on this side that most of the monkey rope, creepers, and bushes
- were growing out of the crevices of the tower from base to summit.</p>
-
- <p>The foundations are exceedingly shallow, being only some 10 in. to 18
- in. below the granite cement flooring. The foundation of the main wall
- near this point is only 10 in. below the same flooring. The lowest
- course of blocks of the tower is of the average size of the blocks used
- in the face of the structure. These rest on what was originally granite
- cement, but which, with the dripping of storm water for centuries
- down the large area of the face of the tower, has now become mere
- yellow sand. This, however, remains very firm, and still makes a good
- foundation. The foundations have not at any point sunk below their
- original level, but there are evidences that its enormous weight has
- caused the tower to settle firmly on to its bed.</p>
-
- <p>The present reduced summit of the tower, where it is intact, slants
- down from the west and south and south-east edges some 4 ft. towards
- the north-east, but the block débris on the summit only slants for 2
- ft. in the same direction. In the centre of the summit is a hole sunk
- down into the top of the tower some 4 ft. It will be remembered that
- Dr. Karl Mauch (1871) admitted having made this hole for the purpose
- of ascertaining whether the tower was solid. The hole was once much
- deeper, but debris has filled it up to 4 ft. from the summit. Mauch
- also made a second hole in the west face of the tower at 5 ft. from
- the floor. This also showed the tower to be solid. Theodore Bent
- (1891) also made a hole for a similar purpose. This is on the south
- face, and extends from the foundation to 4 ft. above the flooring, and
- he pronounced the tower to be perfectly solid. A certain Rhodesian,
- bent,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_243">243</span> as he confessed, on finding “The Treasure Chamber”(!), made
- another hole on the east side, at 5 ft. from the ground, and with the
- same result, but this hole is so neatly built up afresh that it can
- only just be located. The hole made by Mauch remained unbuilt up until
- 1902, and several courses above it have consequently sagged. In 1902 a
- thin wire rod inserted in this last hole and passed through joints of
- internal dry masonry for 8 ft. towards the centre showed the tower to
- be solid.</p>
-
- <p>The dentelle pattern, which Mauch stated ran round the eastern portion
- of the summit of the tower, is now represented by only ten blocks.
- These form three sets of double courses of the dentelle pattern, as
- on the summit of the eastern face of the Eastern Temple on the hill,
- and two blocks of a lower course more to the east, and two loose
- dentelle blocks lying on the summit of the tower. One extremity of the
- pattern was undoubtedly, as can be seen on close inspection, facing
- the south-east, but it extended some little distance round towards the
- east, but how far it is now quite impossible to ascertain. Mauch owned
- to having destroyed a portion of the pattern in making the hole on the
- summit.</p>
-
- <p>The pattern was formed by two rows of wedge-shaped blocks placed to
- project 2 in. beyond the face of the wall, while above them, just as in
- the dentelle patterns elsewhere, were placed heavy blocks and throughs
- or ties, as if to bind effectively the stones forming the patterns,
- as the introduction of a decorative pattern in ancient walls anywhere
- in Rhodesia can be seen to have proved a point of weakness in the
- durability of the faces of the walls. The summit of the tower has been
- greatly dilapidated by small trees and bushes growing on the top, the
- stumps and roots of which can still be seen.</p>
-
- <p>The best idea of the symmetry and accuracy of the contour of the tower
- can be obtained by standing on the summit of the main wall, near the
- top of the visitors’ ladder.</p>
-
- <p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_244">244</span></p>
-
- <h3>THE SMALL TOWER</h3>
-
- <p>The base of this stands in <em>Sacred Enclosure</em> (<em>east</em>), at 5 ft. 2 in.
- north-east of the large tower. Its circumference at the cement floor
- is 21 ft. 7 in. At 4 ft. above the floor it has a circumference of 19
- ft. 10 in., the dilapidation not being so serious as to prevent this
- measurement being taken. The present reduced height is as follows: west
- side, 3 ft. 2 in.; south side, 4 ft. 6 in.; east side, 6 ft. 6 in.; and
- north side, 5 ft. 3 in.</p>
-
- <p>Unfortunately this tower, which Bent proved to have been solid, has,
- within the last few years, been subject to serious dilapidation.
- Photographs taken in 1894 are now but a record of the appearance of
- this tower at that time, for now, on comparing the photographs with the
- tower, they have become obsolete. A large branch of the tall hard-wood
- tree, which stands 3 ft. from the east side of this tower, had thrown
- over the summit on to the floor on the west side, and in 1902 nothing
- of the tower was left save the outer face of the wall, the internal
- blocks having been taken out by some unauthorised relic prospectors.
- These were replaced, and all the blocks which belong to the tower
- preserved.</p>
-
- <p>Bent (p. 115) states:—</p>
-
- <blockquote>
- <p>“The religious purport of these towers would seem to be
- conclusively proved by the numerous finds we made in other
- parts of the ruins of a phallic nature, and I think a quotation
- from Montfaucon’s <cite>L’Antiquité Expliquée</cite> will give us the
- keynote of the worship: ‘The ancients assure us that all the
- Arabians worshipped a tower, which they called El Acara,
- or Alquetila, which was built by their patriarch, Ismael,’
- ‘Maximus of Tyre says they honoured as a great god a great
- cut-stone. This is apparently the same stone resembling Venus,
- according to Euthymius Zygabenus. When the Saracens were
- converted to Christianity they were obliged to anathematise
- this stone, which formerly they worshipped.’ This tower (at
- Zimbabwe) doubtless corresponded to the sacred <span class="pagenum" id="Page_245">245</span>tower of the
- Midianites, called Penuel, or the ‘Face of God,’ which Gideon
- destroyed (Judges viii. 7). Allusions to these towers are
- constant in the Bible, and the Arabian historian, El Masoudi
- (940 <span class="smcap">a.d.</span>), further tells us that this stone or
- tower was eight cubits high, and was placed in an angle of
- the temple, which had no roof. Turning to Phœnician temple
- construction, we have a good parallel to the ruins of the Great
- Zimbabwe at Byblos (in Phœnicia), as depicted on the coins; the
- tower, or sacred cone, is set up within the temple precincts,
- and shut off in an enclosure. Similar work is also found in the
- round temples of the Cabiri, at Hadjar Kem, in Malta, and the
- construction of these buildings bears a remarkable resemblance
- to that of those at Zimbabwe, and the round towers, or nuraghs,
- found in Sardinia may possibly be of similar significance. MM.
- Perrot and Chapiez, in their <cite>History of Art in Sardinia</cite>,
- speak of these nuraghs as forts or temples, around which the
- primitive inhabitants of the island once lived. They are
- truncated cones, built with stone blocks of different sizes,
- narrowing at the top. The stones are unhewn as a rule, and
- laid on without mortar. Here, too, we have a parallel for our
- monoliths, mention of unhewn stone, and also for the phalli,
- specimens of which are to be found carved on stone, and here,
- too, the intricate plan of the fortresses suggests at once a
- parallel to those at Zimbabwe; hence it would appear that the
- same influence was at work in Sardinia as in South Africa. In
- Lucian’s <cite>De Syria Dea</cite> we find a description of a temple at
- Hierapolis, in Mesopotamia, in the propylæa of which, he tells
- us (p. 16), ‘there stood two very large phalli, about thirty
- cubits high.’ Our tower at Zimbabwe stood apparently twenty
- cubits high, and ten in diameter. He further says (p. 29),
- ‘these phalli are solid, for when a priest had to ascend he had
- to put a rope round himself and walk up.’”</p>
- </blockquote>
-
- <p>Dr. Schlichter, 1898, remarks:—</p>
-
- <blockquote>
- <p>“We have in the Great Zimbabwe an enormous gnomon (dial
- calculating point) before us, comprising a total angle of 120°.
- Taking all the details into account, I found<span class="pagenum" id="Page_246">246</span>
- that the obliquity of the ecliptic was somewhat more than 23°
- 52´, which brings us (considering that we have a good Chinese
- observation of the same period) to a time somewhat 1100
- <span class="smcap">b.c.</span> for the erection of the Zimbabwe ruins.”<a id="FNanchor_53" href="#Footnote_53" class="fnanchor">[53]</a></p>
- </blockquote>
-
- <h3>THE PARALLEL PASSAGE</h3>
-
- <p>This passage, which is one of the most interesting features of ancient
- architecture at Zimbabwe, is 220 ft. long, and extends from (329 ft.)
- from the <em>West Entrance</em> to (513 ft.) from the same point, and runs
- along the inside of the east and north-east of the main wall of the
- temple, that is, from the <em>Sacred Enclosure</em> to the <em>North Entrance</em> of
- the temple.</p>
-
- <p>The ancient priests could by means of this long, deep, and exceedingly
- narrow passage reach the <em>Sacred Enclosure</em> from the exterior of the
- temple altogether unobserved, seeing that along its whole length it has
- no communication with any other part of the interior of the temple. It
- is therefore possible that this passage might have been exclusively
- used by the ministers of the sacred rites. In it have been found the
- bulk of the phalli yet discovered at Zimbabwe, and a number of both
- plain and decorated phalli were found here in August, 1902, when the
- débris which had covered its floor was being removed. The same surmise
- might be made with regard to the purpose of the <em>Parallel Passage</em> at
- the <em>Western Temple</em> on the <em>Acropolis</em>.</p>
-
- <p>The summit of the main wall on the outer side throughout the length
- of the passage averages from 28 ft. to 31 ft. above its present floor
- (see <em>Tables of Measurements of Main Walls</em>). The inner parallel wall
- varies in height, owing to dilapidations caused by past and present
- trees. This wall averages from 8 ft. to 16 ft. in height. The long
- and narrow passage between such high walls imparts a most weird and
- romantic aspect to this portion of the temple. The high, magnificently
- <span class="pagenum" id="Page_247">247</span>sweeping, and massive walls tower on either side for a considerable
- distance on a bold masterly curve that displays in the well-built
- and regular courses of the walls design and workmanship which always
- strongly impress the modern builder with unfeigned surprise and wonder.</p>
-
- <div class="figcenter" id="i_246">
- <img src="images/i_246.jpg" width="494" height="700" alt="" />
- <div class="caption">THE PARALLEL PASSAGE, FROM SOUTH, ELLIPTICAL TEMPLE</div>
- </div>
-
- <p>At the extremity near the <em>Sacred Enclosure</em> the passage is 4 ft. wide,
- but at 30 ft. further north-east it is 3 ft. 6 in. wide, at 55 ft. it
- narrows to 2 ft. 6 in., which width is maintained for about 40 ft., at
- the end of which it widens out owing to the inner parallel wall being
- here built upon a comparatively straight line. At (440 ft.) it is 4 ft.
- 6 in. wide, at (460 ft.) 5 ft. 6 in. wide, at (480 ft.) 7 ft., and at
- (513 ft.), which is its northern extremity, it narrows to 2 ft. 6 in.
- Between (490 ft.) and (513 ft.) there is a large gap in the main wall,
- where its inner face has collapsed into the passage. The bottom of the
- gap is about 6 ft. above the present level of the passage floor.</p>
-
- <div class="figcenter" id="i_247">
- <img src="images/i_247.jpg" width="600" height="323" alt="" />
- <div class="caption"><i>West Entrance to</i><br />PARALLEL PASSAGE<br />Elliptical Temple</div>
- </div>
-
- <p>Between (349 ft.) and (362 ft.) the inner parallel wall has collapsed
- into the passage, but the débris has now been cleared away. Between
- (470 ft.) and (500 ft.) the inner wall has been reduced by falls to a
- height of only 6 ft. 9 in.</p>
-
- <p>The north wall of the <em>Sacred Enclosure</em> (<em>east</em>) is continued for
- 55 ft. as the west wall of the passage. This section is<span class="pagenum" id="Page_248">248</span> obviously
- a reconstruction of a later date, the joints with this wall and the
- rest of the older and better-built wall at the south end can be seen
- near the small conical tower in the <em>Sacred Enclosure</em>, the opposite
- side of this joint being distinctly noticeable in <em>No. 11 Enclosure</em>.
- The joint at the north-eastern end of this reconstructed section of
- wall can be seen near (375 ft.), where the older wall recommences.
- This less excellently reconstructed wall shows a far greater amount
- of dilapidation than does the older portion. This circumstance is to
- be noticed in more than a score of other instances of reconstruction
- of lengths of older walls, the invariable experience in Zimbabwe
- architecture being that the reconstructed portions are much less
- lasting, although they are of later date, and these reconstructions
- always show a depression in their summits at the joints with the older
- portions of the wall.</p>
-
- <p>The entrance into this passage from the <em>Sacred Enclosure</em> is the east
- entrance mentioned in the description of that enclosure, and is at (320
- ft.). It is formed by rounded buttresses, 7 ft. high, on either side of
- the passage. The entrance is 2 ft. 6 in. wide, 9 ft. long (including
- the steps at either end), and has portcullis grooves of unusually large
- size. It is approached from the <em>Sacred Enclosure</em> by three large,
- broad, and deep block steps, which are still in a very good state of
- preservation, not one block being missing or even out of place. The
- floor is excellently paved with blocks. On the passage side of the
- entrance are three block steps also in a splendid condition, but these
- are narrower, as the rounded foundation of the west buttress projects 7
- in. into the passage further than the upper portion of the buttress.</p>
-
- <p>Immediately inside this entrance, and against the base of the main
- wall, is a raised level with rounded edges made of granite cement.
- This is 7 ft. long, 1 ft. 10 in. wide, and 3 in. higher than cement
- flooring, and 6 in. high at its north-east end above a step-down in the
- floor. Between this raised <span class="pagenum" id="Page_249">249</span>cement level and the west wall of the
- passage is a cemented floor 4 ft. 4 in. long, with a rounded face at
- its north-east end, this face forming the step-down just mentioned. The
- floor from this point northwards to (335 ft.) has been broken through
- by excavators, but from (335 ft.) northwards to (425 ft.) the cement
- flooring still remains intact. From (425 ft.) to the northern end of
- the passage the floor has been torn up by explorers.</p>
-
- <div class="figcenter" id="i_248">
- <img src="images/i_248.jpg" width="459" height="700" alt="" />
- <div class="caption">PARALLEL PASSAGE, FROM NORTH, ELLIPTICAL TEMPLE</div>
- </div>
-
- <p>Evidently the ancients were thoroughly well versed in the art of
- sanitation, for the lengths of cemented flooring are divided into
- catchment areas, separated from each other by raised step-barriers 4
- in. high, 3 ft. 10 in. broad, laid across the passage. These are made
- of granite cement and have rounded edges. The floor has a slight fall
- on either side of these raised barriers, and in the lowest part of
- each area is a drain-hole passing through the main wall, the object
- evidently being to divide up the rainfall so that each drain should
- only have such a quantity of water as its capacity would allow it to
- carry off. The drain-holes passing outwards and downwards through the
- main walls are at (352 ft.), (391 ft. 6 in.), (442 ft.), and (471 ft.).
- These are believed to have once been lined with yellow granite cement.
- It is possible that other drains from this passage-way may yet be found.</p>
-
- <p>Near (396 ft.) is a drain-hole leading into the passage from <em>No. 14 Enclosure</em>.</p>
-
- <p>The floor at the extreme north end of the passage has not yet been
- uncovered, as it would be unsafe to remove any more depth of soil owing
- to the threatening condition of the wall at the gap before mentioned.</p>
-
- <p>Near (338 ft.) is a flat granite beam 6 ft. long, which has evidently
- fallen from the summit of the main wall.</p>
-
- <p>The <em>Parallel Passage</em> and <em>Sacred Enclosure</em> were used by old and
- recent generations of Makalanga as places in which to deposit their
- ash, pottery, iron, and bone débris, and this<span class="pagenum" id="Page_250">250</span> was found in places to
- a height of 3 ft. and 4 ft. The bones were of animals, mostly of buck,
- but some of oxen, and all had been split open for the marrow, as is
- usually found to be the case in all Makalanga débris heaps whether at
- any ruins or at their villages. Being sunless and damp these two places
- for occupation purposes appear to have been avoided by them.</p>
-
- <div class="figcenter" id="i_250a">
- <img src="images/i_250a.jpg" width="431" height="550" alt="" />
- <div class="caption">SOUTH ENTRANCE TO PARALLEL PASSAGE, LOOKING SOUTH, ELLIPTICAL TEMPLE</div>
- </div>
-
- <div class="figcenter" id="i_250b">
- <img src="images/i_250b.jpg" width="437" height="550" alt="" />
- <div class="caption">PART OF PLATFORM AREA, LOOKING WEST, SHEWING DRAIN FROM
- No. 10 ENCLOSURE, ELLIPTICAL TEMPLE</div>
- </div>
-
- <hr class="page" />
- <div class="chapter" id="CHAPTER_XIII">
- <span class="pagenum" id="Page_251">251</span>
- <h2>
- CHAPTER XIII<br /><br />
- <span class="small">THE ELLIPTICAL TEMPLE<br />(<i>Continued</i>)</span>
- </h2>
- </div>
- <div class="subheadj">The Platform—Enclosures Nos. 9 to 15—Central area—Platform
- area—Inner Parallel Passage—South Passage—West
- Passage—North-East Passage—Outer Parallel Passage.</div>
-
- <h3>8a. THE PLATFORM</h3>
-
- <p class="drop-cap">THIS is a raised platform standing immediately in front of the
- <em>Conical Tower</em> at a distance of 4 ft. from north to north-west. The
- proximity of this structure to the <em>Conical Tower</em>, its position in
- front of it, its summit commanding a view of the interior of the
- temple, particularly of the interior of the <em>Sacred Enclosure</em>, its
- peculiar form as compared with other structures in the temple, and the
- excellent workmanship displayed in its walls, as well as the decoration
- of green chlorite schist on its east wall, would appear to show that
- it possessed some highly important significance in the minds of the
- ancient worshippers. So much is this so that visitors most frequently
- remark that this structure must have been the “pulpit” from which the
- priests addressed the crowd of worshippers.</p>
-
- <p><em>The Platform</em> possesses no angular feature. Its plan is oval, the
- entrance is rounded, and the curves of the walls are excellently worked
- out. The southern and eastern half of this building now only remains
- intact, the northern half, though still traceable, having been pushed
- over northwards by a huge tree.</p>
-
- <p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_252">252</span></p>
-
- <p>The inside area of the southern half is 14 ft. from north to south, and
- 16 ft. from east to west. The heights of its sides are as follows: east
- side, 9 ft. from granite cement step on floor of <em>No. 11 Enclosure</em>;
- west side, 10 ft. above floor of <em>No. 9 Enclosure</em>, including 3 ft.
- height of terraced wall; south side, 12 ft. above floor of <em>Sacred
- Enclosure</em> (<em>west</em>), and 11 ft. from top of “blind steps” in the same
- enclosure; the north side is ruined. The wall on its present summit is
- from 2 ft. to 2 ft. 6 in. wide.</p>
-
- <p>On the inside, and at a height of from 2 ft. to 4 ft. below the summit
- of the wall, is a raised platform 2 ft. wide running round the inside
- of the wall. This platform, which, in fact, is banquette work, is
- paved with stones, and these are covered with granite cement. This
- banquette was approached by well steps ascending up in the centre of
- the interior, and these were made of blocks covered with granite cement.</p>
-
- <p>The entrance to <em>The Platform</em> is on the north-east side, but only one
- side is now remaining. It is 9 ft. high and is rounded. The large upper
- granite cement step on the floor of <em>No. 11 Enclosure</em> led up to this
- entrance. The decorative pattern on the outer face of the north-east
- wall is described in the account of <em>No. 11 Enclosure</em>.</p>
-
- <p>This <em>Platform</em> appears to have served an identical purpose as that of
- the elevated <em>Platform</em> at the <em>Western Temple</em> on the <em>Acropolis</em>, and
- as that of the <em>Ancient Balcony</em> which commands the interior of the
- <em>Eastern Temple</em> on <em>Zimbabwe Hill</em>.</p>
-
- <p>Bent stated that in 1891 a tall unhewn granite monolith stood erect
- immediately north of <em>The Platform</em>, but there is no trace now of its
- existence, and several old residents of Victoria say it must have
- disappeared before they first visited the ruins.<a id="FNanchor_54" href="#Footnote_54" class="fnanchor">[54]</a> The positions
- of all three of the platforms suggest some purpose in the ancient
- religious services.</p>
-
- <p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_253">253</span></p>
-
- <h3>NO. 9 ENCLOSURE</h3>
-
- <p>This enclosure lies to the north of the western end of <em>Sacred
- Enclosure</em> (<em>west</em>), to the east of <em>No. 7 Enclosure</em>, to the west
- of <em>The Platform</em>, and to the south of the south passage to <em>No. 10
- Enclosure</em> and of <em>No. 10 Enclosure</em>.</p>
-
- <p>Its area is: north side, 26 ft; west side, 26 ft.; east side, 42 ft.;
- and south side, 24 ft.</p>
-
- <p>The south side is formed by the wall dividing this enclosure from
- <em>Sacred Enclosure</em> (<em>west</em>), and this is 9 ft. high, and shows the two
- classes of building as does the opposite side. The west side for 6 ft.
- from its south end is formed by a wall of this length, and which is 6
- ft. high. This wall at its northern end terminates abruptly and leans
- northwards, being supported by a bank of soil débris. The rest of this
- side is formed by the bank of soil débris as far as the south passage
- to <em>No. 10 Enclosure</em>. The north side is formed by the south wall of
- that passage and of <em>No. 10 Enclosure</em>. The passage wall is 6 ft. high,
- and the enclosure wall 8 ft. high. The east side for 14 ft. from the
- south end is formed by <em>The Platform</em>, and a terraced wall projecting
- westwards for from 5 ft. to 7 ft. The rest of the eastern side was an
- open space, until recently covered with soil débris.</p>
-
- <p>An entrance from <em>Sacred Enclosure</em> (<em>west</em>) is in the south-west
- corner, and this is described in the account of that enclosure. This
- entrance on the north side has two stone steps covered with granite
- cement. The entrance from <em>No. 10 Enclosure</em> is described in the
- account of the passage to that enclosure.</p>
-
- <p>At the south side there is a mass of granite cement rendered shapeless
- by roots of trees and creepers, and also considerably decomposed by
- annual accumulations of rain-water, as this is the lowest part of the
- enclosure. Traces of rounded faces can be seen at several points in
- this cement.</p>
-
- <p>On the eastern side the floor is made of granite cement.<span class="pagenum" id="Page_254">254</span> This is only
- 4 in. thick, and underneath it are several thin layers of floors made
- of granite cement.</p>
-
- <p>It is believed that the angle between <em>The Platform</em> and the south wall
- once held “blind steps.” The quantity of decomposed granite cement
- found in this corner, together with traces of two steps on the terraced
- wall, rather confirms this belief.</p>
-
- <h3>NO. 10 ENCLOSURE</h3>
-
- <p>This enclosure lies on the north side of <em>No. 7 Enclosure</em>. Until
- August, 1902, nothing was known concerning it, nor could it have been
- examined during the last fifty years. The Makalanga, as previously
- stated, whose last occupation of the temple as a kraal was some sixty
- years ago, had filled it in with stones and rubble and laid a common
- clay floor over the filling-in, as was their usual practice in almost
- all the ancient ruins in Rhodesia which they occupied. On this clay
- floor was built a circular hut of clay. The filling-in completely
- buried portions of the walls of the enclosure.</p>
-
- <p>In addition to this filling-in, the area had been used as a
- dumping-ground for soil excavated from neighbouring enclosures, and
- so much so that the soil heap was at least 6 ft. higher than the
- filling-in by the Makalanga, and it contained some twenty-five tons of
- soil, all of which has now been removed.</p>
-
- <p>In form the enclosure has the shape of a quarter of a section of a
- circle, the square sides being on the south and west.</p>
-
- <p>The south side is 27 ft. 6 in. long, the south entrance to this
- enclosure being at 20 ft. to 23 ft. from the west end. The south wall
- is the divisional wall between <em>No. 7 Enclosure</em> and this enclosure.
- It is massive and very well built, and is still from 6 ft. to 7 ft. in
- height.</p>
-
- <p>The west side is 31 ft. 6 in. in length. The first 21 ft. from its
- south end is well built, and is in a good state of preservation save
- for a reduction in its summit. It is 4 ft.<span class="pagenum" id="Page_255">255</span> wide at present level of
- ground. The northern extremity of the 21-ft. length is rounded. The
- wall at its southern end is 8 ft. high, but for 10 ft. at its northern
- end it averages only 4 ft. to 5 ft. in height. At 21 ft. to 23 ft.
- along the west side of the enclosure is the western entrance, the
- northern side of which is formed by a rounded buttress, now only 2 ft.
- in height. The rest of the wall towards the north is very dilapidated.</p>
-
- <p>The east side, which curves outwards towards the east, measures 40 ft.
- along the face of the wall. The length of 27 ft. from the north end is
- formed by a wall of this length, which is 3 ft. to 4 ft. high and 3 ft.
- wide. This wall is obviously of poor and late construction as compared
- with the west and south wall of this enclosure, and crosses in the
- middle of its length, at right angles, an old substantial foundation
- running east and west. The foundation of the upper wall is laid on the
- block and soil débris on the summit of the buried wall. Probably this
- buried wall was the north side of this enclosure at a lower level, and
- this would have once made the enclosure square in form. The eastern
- wall terminates at its south end with an angular buttress 2 ft. 6 in.
- wide, which protrudes westerly 16 in. into the enclosure, where it
- terminates abruptly in a broken end. From the 27-ft. point to the sound
- end of the wall is a very well-built substantial wall 4 ft. 6 in. wide
- at base, but for 5 ft. from its north end it is 1 ft. only above the
- present floor, but for the rest of its length it is 6 ft. in height.
- Where the wall so rises in height it is rounded across the wall, and
- this may have been the south side of an eastern entrance into the
- enclosure.</p>
-
- <p>Though this enclosure has been cleared, the coarse red clay of the
- Makalanga still remains in the centre of the area, but in the angles of
- this enclosure and along its south side is some yellow granite cement
- of a far greater age.</p>
-
- <p>On the yellow granite cement a quantity of what appear to have
- been gold-burnishing tools were found. All these<span class="pagenum" id="Page_256">256</span> were originally
- water-worn, but showed signs of having been artificially worn as tools.
- Five of these showed gold richly on the sides used for burnishing,
- others also showed gold. This was the only enclosure in this temple
- where such tools were found, and the number of them discovered at and
- near one spot suggests that this enclosure was in pre-Kafir occupation
- days a gold-burnisher’s workshop, just as <em>No. 7 Enclosure</em> was
- evidently a goldsmith’s workshop, while for corresponding reasons <em>No.
- 6 Enclosure</em> was a chief place for the smelting of gold. A quantity
- of pottery made of soapstone clay, the first of such pottery yet
- discovered, was found in this enclosure.</p>
-
- <h3>SOUTH APPROACH TO NO. 10 ENCLOSURE</h3>
-
- <p>This is formed by a passage 10 ft. long, which enters this enclosure
- at its south-east corner. It is probable that this passage was much
- longer, and that it once extended to the north-west corner of the
- <em>Sacred Enclosure</em>, where is an entrance facing the passage.</p>
-
- <p>The west side of the passage is formed by a wall 14 ft. 6 in. long, 4
- ft. high, and 3 ft. 6 in. on its present reduced summit, which wall is
- also the east wall of <em>No. 7 Enclosure</em>.</p>
-
- <p>On the east side is a very well-built wall 10 ft. 6 in. long, 4 ft.
- 6 in. high, and 3 ft. wide on its present summit, with a finely
- constructed rounded end tapering upwards and facing south. The rounded
- end is 7 ft. high, and rises from the floor of <em>No. 9 Enclosure</em>, which
- is on the east side but on a lower level.</p>
-
- <p>The south end of the passage is 4 ft. wide, but the north end is 6 ft.
- 6 in. wide, but is narrowed to 2 ft. 6 in. by a rounded buttress 4 ft.
- 6 in. high, and this and the rounded wall opposite, which forms the
- other side of the entrance, have upright portcullis-like grooves.</p>
-
- <p>The floor of the passage is paved with flat shallow stones covered for
- 2 in. in depth with granite cement.</p>
-
- <p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_257">257</span></p>
-
- <h3>NO. 11 ENCLOSURE</h3>
-
- <p>This immediately adjoins on the north side of <em>Sacred Enclosure</em>
- (<em>east</em>). On the west side it is bounded by <em>The Platform</em>, on the east
- by a large rounded buttress which separates it from <em>No. 12 Enclosure</em>,
- but its northern boundary, if any, is at present difficult to determine.</p>
-
- <p>Through this enclosure is the northern entrance to the <em>Sacred
- Enclosure</em>, and this entrance is within 8 ft. of the north face of the
- <em>Conical Tower</em>. Evidently both from its close proximity to the <em>Sacred
- Enclosure</em>, the <em>Tower</em>, and <em>The Platform</em>, the ancient occupiers
- considered this enclosure to be of importance, and the splendid
- construction of the massive steps leading toward the tower would appear
- to further confirm the correctness of this conjecture.</p>
-
- <p>The area is, south side 18 ft.; west 14 ft.; east 14 ft.; and north 17 ft.</p>
-
- <p>The wall on the south side is 13 ft. high at its western end, but
- is reduced by dilapidation to 6 ft. at the entrance to the <em>Sacred
- Enclosure</em>. At its highest point are five parallel horizontal bands
- of green chlorite schist<a id="FNanchor_55" href="#Footnote_55" class="fnanchor">[55]</a> separated from each other by two courses
- of granite blocks. This wall is excellently built, and most patently
- differs in style and excellence of construction from the same wall
- which also forms the southern side of <em>No. 12 Enclosure</em>, and the
- difference strongly suggests that during the later ancient occupation
- the part of the wall which was continued into the adjoining enclosure
- fell down and was rebuilt only in a poorer style. This can also be seen
- on the opposite face of the wall in the <em>Sacred Enclosure</em>.</p>
-
- <p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_258">258</span></p>
-
- <p>The wall on the west side is the outer face of the east wall of <em>The
- Platform</em>. This is 9 ft. high, measuring from the granite cement step
- at its base, and 10 ft. long. At the north end of this wall, which is
- rounded, is the approach to the summit of <em>The Platform</em>. On the face
- of this wall, and starting from the entrance to the <em>Sacred Enclosure</em>,
- is a decoration of seven parallel and horizontal rows of green chlorite
- schist, with two courses of granite blocks between each. Each row
- begins close up to the entrance, but all terminate towards the north of
- the wall, each lower row extending some 6 in. more north than the one
- above it.</p>
-
- <p>On the east side the rounded buttress projects 6 ft. 6 in. from the
- south wall, and is still 4 ft. 6 in. high, and 11 ft. long measuring
- towards the east. This length may be divided into two portions, the
- eastern part which is angular and of poor construction, being in all
- probability a later erection to support the joint in the superior and
- poorer portions of the south wall, also the western portion already
- described. On the north side of this buttress is a granite cement floor
- raised 4 in. above the floor of the enclosure, and the step is rounded
- along its edge. The western and northern sides of this buttress were
- once faced with granite cement 3 in. thick in the form of a dado. A
- portion of this cement still remains on the north side, and the quality
- of the cement is identical with the cement found in dado fashion on the
- faces of other walls in the temple and on the <em>Acropolis</em>. The eastern
- addition to this buttress does not appear ever to have had a cemented
- dado.</p>
-
- <p>The most striking features of this enclosure are its most excellent
- granite cement floor and its massive rounded steps. Until October,
- 1902, this enclosure was filled up to a height of 5 ft. above the
- present opened-out floors. The lowest strata of filling-in, 2 ft.
- thick, had been made by rains washing in the soil from adjoining and
- higher enclosures, the drain-hole through the south wall having become
- blocked. There was <span class="pagenum" id="Page_259">259</span>no vegetable matter in this stratum. The stratum
- of filling-in above the lowest one was a deliberate filling-in and
- levelling-up by Makalanga of a very early period, for this débris
- contained articles such as pottery, assegai-heads, clay whorls, which,
- though strongly resembling those of the present Makalanga pattern, were
- of a somewhat better quality than those made by them either to-day or
- within the last few generations. This stratum of filling-in was done
- at one and the same time, for the line of stratification was perfect
- and unbroken. Above this stratum was one of ordinary <i>daga</i> (clay) and
- not cement, and this contained articles more closely resembling those
- of present Makalanga make, but this stratum must have been filled in,
- judging by the quantity of débris found, more than seventy years ago,
- for according to local native accounts it was fully seventy years ago
- when the Makalanga ceased to occupy the <em>Elliptical Temple</em> as a place
- of residence, though sacrifices of oxen on certain feast days, as
- mentioned by Mauch, Phillips, and Bent, and local chiefs, took place in
- the temple down to thirty years ago, if not somewhat later. Above this
- stratum and forming the surface was a stratum of very rich leaf mould
- about 18 in. thick, and this was matted with vegetable growth.</p>
-
- <div class="figcenter" id="i_258a">
- <img src="images/i_258a.jpg" width="600" height="468" alt="" />
- <div class="caption">SOUTH WALL WITH PATTERN, No. 11 ENCLOSURE, ELLIPTICAL TEMPLE</div>
- </div>
-
- <div class="figcenter" id="i_258b">
- <img src="images/i_258b.jpg" width="600" height="469" alt="" />
- <div class="caption">JOINT BETWEEN ORIGINAL AND RECONSTRUCTED WALLS, Nos. 11
- &amp; 12 ENCLOSURE, ELLIPTICAL TEMPLE</div>
- </div>
-
- <p>On digging out the roots of a large parent monkey-rope tree, which
- had done considerable damage to the south wall of this enclosure, and
- which tree appears in all the old photographs of the <em>Conical Tower</em>,
- a section of an ancient floor was discovered at a depth of 5 ft. Some
- twenty tons of filling-in were removed, and the whole of the cement
- floor as seen to-day was exposed. The old visitors’ path crossed this
- enclosure 5 ft. above this cement floor.</p>
-
- <p>The cement work in this enclosure is most excellent, hardly a scratch
- being seen upon its surface. It is the finest and most perfect specimen
- yet found either at Zimbabwe or any ancient ruin in Rhodesia. The
- granite powder in the cement is so firmly set that picks cannot make
- any<span class="pagenum" id="Page_260">260</span> impression upon it. This flooring averages 18 in. to 2 ft. in
- thickness, and must rest on a splendid foundation, for the levels of
- the floor are almost true to this day.</p>
-
- <p>A large cement step runs north and south at 2 ft. from the west side.
- This is 14 in. high and 5 ft. long, but originally, according to its
- curve and traces of its continuation, 7 ft. long. The step which has a
- rounded edge forms the lower portion of the approach to <em>The Platform</em>.</p>
-
- <p>A second step runs from north to south at 5 ft. from the front of the
- first step, and slightly curves out eastwards. This step is 12 ft.
- high, 11 ft. 6 in. long, and has a boldly rounded edge. The floor has a
- slight fall to the south-east corner, where is a drain-hole which has
- its exit near the small tower in <em>Sacred Enclosure</em> (<em>east</em>).</p>
-
- <p>The entrance to the <em>Sacred Enclosure</em>, which is in the south-west
- corner of this enclosure, is 2 ft. 6 in. wide, is rounded, and has
- portcullis grooves on either side.</p>
-
- <h3>NO. 12 ENCLOSURE</h3>
-
- <p>This immediately adjoins <em>No. 11 Enclosure</em> on its north-east side.
- Its east wall for 28 ft. is formed by west wall of <em>Sacred Enclosure</em>
- (<em>east</em>), and for 21 ft. by the west wall of <em>Parallel Passage</em>. These
- walls are one, and curve outwards towards the east to the extent of 6
- ft. from a line drawn from end to end of the wall in this enclosure.
- This east wall is 49 ft. long and 10 ft. high, and from the angular
- buttress at the south-west corner has a banquette wall, 4 ft. high,
- projecting 1 ft. 6 in., and continued north-east for 32 ft. from the
- buttress. This wall is of inferior construction to the same wall on
- the east side of <em>No. 11 Enclosure</em>, the courses being most irregular,
- the stones ill-sorted, and there is no decoration on its face. The
- north-eastern portion is reduced to 3 ft. 6 in. in height for a length
- of 17 ft., the upper portion having fallen into <em>Parallel Passage</em>. The
- angular buttress in the south-west corner appears to have been built at
- a later<span class="pagenum" id="Page_261">261</span> period, when the west wall of <em>Sacred Enclosure</em> (<em>east</em>) was
- rebuilt, for the buttress covers the joint between the original portion
- and the later portion, as if to strengthen the wall at this point.
- The north side for 12 ft. is formed by a wall of this length, which
- is 4 ft. high and 3 ft. 6 in. wide on its present summit. But it is
- impossible at present to define either the western boundary or those of
- the remainder of the north and south sides, owing to the fact that all
- divisional walls in this portion of the temple have been covered over
- and buried during the period of some later occupiers.</p>
-
- <p>In the angle formed by the east and south sides is a platform 6 ft.
- high and 11 ft. wide, which is approached by five steps, the platform
- and the steps being covered with granite cement. Similar steps and
- platforms are found in the angles of other enclosures both in the
- <em>Elliptical Temple</em> and in the ruins on the Acropolis. These are all
- remarkably alike in position, dimensions, and construction, and all
- appear to have answered an identical purpose. The sizes of the steps,
- the nearness of the lowest step to the walls preclude the suggestion
- that they were flights on the summits of the walls. (See <cite>Blind
- Steps</cite>—<cite>Architecture</cite>.)</p>
-
- <p>A drain passes under the small platform and it has cement rims to lead
- the water to it.</p>
-
- <h3>NO. 13 ENCLOSURE</h3>
-
- <p>This adjoins <em>No. 12 Enclosure</em> on the north side, the west side of the
- inner wall of the <em>Parallel Passage</em> forming its eastern boundary for
- 25 ft. 6 in. This wall is 5 ft. high for 18 ft. from the south end of
- the enclosure, and 11 ft. 6 in. high for the last 7 ft. of its northern
- end.</p>
-
- <p>The south side is formed for 12 ft. by the wall separating this
- enclosure from <em>No. 12</em>, but <em>No. 13</em> being at a lower level, this wall
- is 6 ft. high from the present filled-in surface of the enclosure.</p>
-
- <p>The north and north-west side is formed by a wall 32 ft.<span class="pagenum" id="Page_262">262</span> long, with a
- rounded entrance from <em>No. 14 Enclosure</em> between the 21-ft. and 23-ft.
- points of this length, measuring from the east end of this wall. The
- wall is fairly well built at its eastern end, where it is still 4 ft.
- high and 3 ft. 6 in. to 4 ft. wide on its present reduced summit. This
- wall is built upon a red cement foundation. The south-west end of the
- wall is very dilapidated, but appears to have been originally of good
- construction. [Owing to piles of soil débris on the south-west side of
- this enclosure, it is impossible at present to define the exact limits
- on that side, but the shape of the enclosure is that of a keystone, its
- widest and rounded end being on the east side.]</p>
-
- <h3>NO. 14 ENCLOSURE</h3>
-
- <p>This enclosure, which is on the east side of the temple, is where the
- <em>Inner Parallel Passage</em> opens into the interior of the building. The
- area is 47 ft. from north to south, and 42 ft. east to west. It is open
- on the north and west sides where it adjoins <em>No. 15 Enclosure</em> and the
- <em>Central Area</em> respectively.</p>
-
- <p>The east side is formed by the south entrance to <em>Inner Parallel
- Passage</em> by the large buttress, 7 ft. high, projecting into, and
- forming, the south side of the entrance to that passage, and by a
- length of 17 ft. of the west wall of the large <em>Parallel Passage</em> which
- is here 14 ft. high.</p>
-
- <p>The south side is bounded by the divisional wall, 5 ft. high, between
- this enclosure and <em>No. 13 Enclosure</em>. In this wall is a rounded
- entrance between the two enclosures.</p>
-
- <p>The west side is open to the interior of the temple, but at 42 ft. in
- that direction there are traces of a wall running north and south which
- probably formed its west side.</p>
-
- <p>The north side was once formed by a wall of which traces can yet be
- seen, and which once divided this enclosure from <em>No. 15 Enclosure</em>.</p>
-
- <p>Projecting from the north face of the south wall are the remains of
- a sub-divisional wall. Several large, rounded<span class="pagenum" id="Page_263">263</span> structures of cement
- are on the south-west side of the enclosure. The topmost floor of the
- enclosure is made of a pinkish-coloured clay, which evidently has been
- burnt. Under this floor was found sections of carved soapstone beams,
- a few pieces of beaten gold, and other relics. On the surface of this
- floor only superior-made native articles were found, and the floor was
- covered by at least 2 ft. of rich black vegetable mould. Several trees
- which were growing in this enclosure have recently been removed.</p>
-
- <h3>NO. 15 ENCLOSURE</h3>
-
- <p>From an archæological point of view this enclosure is one of the most
- interesting compartments in the temple, for here are to be seen several
- layers of floors of a succession of occupiers each for a long period of time.</p>
-
- <p>In 1903 this enclosure was found to be filled in with soil, ashes, and
- bones to a depth of 12 ft., and on the top was a large tree at least
- seventy to a hundred years old. When this great body of filling-in
- was cleared away several most interesting architectural features were
- revealed.</p>
-
- <p>The area is 56 ft. from east to west, and at its widest point 18 ft.
- from north to south. The east, north, and west sides are formed by the
- south wall of the <em>Inner Parallel Passage</em>, and by a continuation of
- the same wall which curves outwards towards the north-west and forms
- the south wall of the <em>South Passage</em>. This wall is 12 ft. high all
- round and is well and massively built, the curve at the north-west end
- being exceedingly well carried out. A drain passes through the east end
- of the wall and opens into the <em>Inner Parallel Passage</em>.</p>
-
- <p>The south side is formed by two walls and a series of semi-circular
- cement buttresses. The first or western end wall is rounded, being 7
- ft. round the face and 8 ft. high. A straight wall joins on to the
- rounded length, and is 6 ft. 6 in. long and 7 ft. high. This length
- has a drain-hole<span class="pagenum" id="Page_264">264</span> passing through it from the passage which forms
- the eastern approach to the <em>South Passage</em>. A large rounded cement
- buttress follows the two walls, and this is 14 ft. long and 7 ft. high.
- A length of a few feet of soil showing several floors at different
- heights is on the east side of the cement buttress, and another rounded
- cement buttress, 3 ft. high, completes the boundary of the enclosure on
- the south side.</p>
-
- <p>The lowest of the floors is formed of paving stones and granite cement,
- and the level of this is flush with the bottom course of blocks in the
- drain. But underneath this undoubtedly old floor, which was apparently
- laid down when the east wall was built, there are cement steps and
- buttresses at a depth of some 18 in. below the level of the drain.
- Underneath the floor were found two phalli, fragments of ornamented
- bowls and soapstone beams, clearly showing that the space underneath
- this lowest floor had been occupied before the floor was laid.</p>
-
- <p>A floor of a pinkish-coloured cement, similar to that found in other
- enclosures, is at some distance above the granite cement floor, and on
- this floor were found very old native articles and quantities of buck
- bones and ashes. Above this are floors of thin <i>daga</i> (clay), and on
- each of these were also bones and ashes and native articles which are
- not now manufactured.</p>
-
- <p>The position of the east wall of this enclosure and the fact of its
- covering some older enclosure seem to point to it as not being a
- portion of the original building.</p>
-
- <h3>CENTRAL AREA</h3>
-
- <p>This area of unexplored ground lies at the centre of the temple. It was
- originally very much larger, but recent excavations have reduced it in
- extent. The space covered is 80 ft. from east to west, and 30 ft. from
- north to south, and it extends between <em>Nos. 5 and 14 Enclosures</em>, and
- <em>Nos. 1 and 10 Enclosures</em>.</p>
-
- <div class="figcenter" id="i_264">
- <img src="images/i_264.jpg" width="600" height="434" alt="" />
- <div class="caption">S.E. INTERIOR OF ELLIPTICAL TEMPLE, LOOKING N.N.E.,
- SHEWING EXCAVATIONS ON PLATFORM AREA, 1902–4</div>
- </div>
-
- <p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_265">265</span></p>
-
- <p>Some plans of the temple show dotted lines to mark position of
- conjectured walls, but most of these have been found not to exist. On
- the surface of the highest portion of this area are slight walls of
- shallow foundations and poor construction built across soil and blocks
- thrown promiscuously together, and probably the blocks and the debris
- of some buried structures at a lower level.</p>
-
- <h3>PLATFORM AREA</h3>
-
- <p>Immediately in front of and adjoining the <em>Sacred Enclosure</em> in which
- stands the <em>Conical Tower</em>, and overlooked by <em>The Platform</em>, is
- a large open area in the form of a bow, the rounded side—east and
- south-east—being formed by <em>No. 9 Enclosure</em>, <em>The Platform</em>, and <em>Nos.
- 11, 12, and 13 Enclosures</em>, while the straight side, from south-west
- to north-east, is formed by <em>Nos. 7 and 10 Enclosures</em>, a circular
- platform, and <em>No. 13 Enclosure</em>.</p>
-
- <p>The area covered by this open space is 126 ft. from south-west to
- north-east and 51 ft. from east to west. This space had not been
- previously examined by any modern explorer. Nor does any published plan
- of the temple attempt to deal with it, it having been always left as an
- unmarked space.</p>
-
- <p>Bent found a similarity between <em>The Platform</em> which overlooks this
- area from its east side and the <em>Agora</em> or platform-pulpit of the
- ancient temples in the Near East to which references are so frequently
- made in classic history, and he considered that this platform at
- Zimbabwe, especially in view of its position in front of the <em>Conical
- Tower</em>, was used for religious purposes, and that the open space
- immediately at its foot and in front of it most probably held the
- crowd of worshippers that might have been addressed from the elevated
- <em>Platform</em>.</p>
-
- <p>The examination of this area in 1903 shows that Bent in 1891 made a
- very shrewd conjecture as to the nature of<span class="pagenum" id="Page_266">266</span> the area. Over twelve years
- ago and until 1903 the space held out a prospect of its containing
- under its surface any number of walls, for in the Elliptical Temple
- divisional walls and other structures are closely packed together.
- Now that the space for 126 ft. by 51 ft. has been cleared to a depth
- of from 4 ft. to 8 ft. following the lines of old cement floors which
- were completely buried, the space is shown to be actually an open area
- without walls or traces of walls of any sort crossing it at any point.
- Excepting such granite blocks as lined the bases of the boundary walls
- of this area, not ten hundred-weight of blocks were found, and these
- were scattered about at different heights and in almost every position
- in the soil débris which was removed.</p>
-
- <p>In excavating this large space down to the floor which runs throughout
- the area at a similar level—a work occupying, forty native labourers
- for three months—“finds” of any antique character were only made on the
- cleared floor and not in the soil débris which was removed, and all
- such relics which included fragments of both plain and carved soapstone
- beams, gold plates, beads and wire, were about equally distributed over
- the whole area.</p>
-
- <p>The most important architectural features disclosed in the clearing of
- this area were as follows:—</p>
-
- <p>Drain from <em>No. 10 Enclosure</em> into this area.</p>
-
- <p>A rounded terrace wall on the west side of <em>The Platform</em>.</p>
-
- <p>Excellent granite cement dado work, several square feet being still
- intact.</p>
-
- <p>Two massive granite cement steps leading up to the north entrance to
- the <em>Sacred Enclosure</em>.</p>
-
- <p>The large granite cement steps leading up to the small platform in the
- angle formed by the north and east walls of <em>No. 12 Enclosure</em>.</p>
-
- <p>Drain-hole in buttress in <em>No. 12 Enclosure</em> with large cement guides
- to lead water to it.</p>
-
- <p>The suggestion made in description of the slight and <span class="pagenum" id="Page_267">267</span>poorly built
- east wall of <em>No. 10 Enclosure</em> that it was of later construction is
- confirmed.</p>
-
- <div class="figcenter" id="i_266a">
- <img src="images/i_266a.jpg" width="444" height="550" alt="" />
- <div class="caption">CIRCULAR CEMENT PLATFORM WITH STEPS AND CARVED SOAPSTONE
- BEAMS, DISCOVERED 1903, ELLIPTICAL TEMPLE</div>
- </div>
-
- <div class="figcenter" id="i_266b">
- <img src="images/i_266b.jpg" width="440" height="550" alt="" />
- <div class="caption">ENTRANCE TO INNER PARALLEL PASSAGE FROM SOUTH PASSAGE,
- ELLIPTICAL TEMPLE</div>
- </div>
-
- <p>Circular granite cement platform with steps leading to summit.</p>
-
- <p>This last-mentioned structure is worthy of more than a mere mention;
- as apart from its excellent construction and its position, its summit
- was found to be covered with soapstone beams, plain and decorated,
- while fragments of beams were lying all round its base. Near this spot
- numerous soapstone phalli, including one of very large size, were
- discovered.</p>
-
- <p>This platform is 69 ft., N. 20, from the north face of the <em>Conical
- Tower</em> measured through the centre of the north entrance to the <em>Sacred
- Enclosure</em>. It has a circumference of 30 ft. 6 in., and is from 2 ft.
- 4 in. to 2 ft. 8 in. in height, with a rounded bevel at base 3 in.
- high and projecting 6 in. There are two boldly rounded steps, each 8
- in. high, on the east side, and on the east side of the steps is a low
- cement parapet. This platform occupies a somewhat isolated position.
- Its summit was found to be buried for at least 2 ft. in soil. Close to
- the north side was a large tree, judged to have been almost one hundred
- years old. The roots of the tree had arched over and also encircled
- the structure, and so had preserved it. The roots had attempted to
- penetrate the cement, but failing to do so they passed completely round
- its face, and when cut away they were almost all semi-circular in shape.</p>
-
- <h3>INNER PARALLEL PASSAGE</h3>
-
- <p>This passage lies between the main <em>Parallel Passage</em> and <em>No. 15
- Enclosure</em>. It runs north-west to south-east from the <em>South Passage</em>
- near the <em>North Entrance</em> to the temple into <em>No. 15 Enclosure</em>, and
- is parallel with <em>Parallel Passage</em>. The three parallel walls forming
- the two passages are generally known as the <em>Triple Walls</em>. Whereas
- the <em>Parallel Passage</em> led from the <em>North Entrance</em> to the <em>Sacred
- Enclosure</em> only,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_268">268</span> this leads from near the <em>North Entrance</em> right into
- the interior of the temple.</p>
-
- <p>Its length is 71 ft., and at its eastern end it is 7 ft. wide for a
- short distance, but rapidly closes in to a width of 3 ft. 6 in., which
- is maintained throughout the greatest part of its remaining length.</p>
-
- <p>The north-eastern wall is the south-western wall of the <em>Parallel
- Passage</em>, and from the eastern end for 29 ft. this wall averages in
- height 12 ft. to 14 ft. above the present floor of the passage, and
- from the 29-ft. point to 67 ft. the face of the wall is damaged by
- roots, and the height here is only 7 ft.</p>
-
- <p>The south-western side is formed by the wall dividing this passage from
- <em>No. 15 Enclosure</em>. It averages 10 ft. in height, and is well and very
- substantially built. On this side, at 32 ft. from the eastern end, is a
- drain leading from <em>No. 15 Enclosure</em>.</p>
-
- <p>The western entrance to this passage has on the north-eastern side a
- rounded buttress 5 ft. high, 6 ft. long, and protruding 1 ft. 10 in.
- from the face of the wall. This buttress has a portcullis groove, but
- this has recently been built up in order to strengthen the buttress.
- On the opposite side there are traces only of a corresponding buttress
- in the shape of some foundation stones, and there are also signs that
- there were once steps extending from buttress to buttress.</p>
-
- <p>It is probable that the ancient floor was only a few inches below the
- present cleared-out floor, as what appear to be paving stones, together
- with small sections of granite floor, can be seen outcropping at
- several points along the passage, but vine and tree roots have lifted
- the rest of the stones out of place.</p>
-
- <p>At the eastern end is a large, substantial, and well-constructed
- rounded buttress protruding 9 ft. towards south-west from the
- north-eastern side of the passage, where it here opens on to <em>No. 14
- Enclosure</em>. This buttress gives the passage-way a turn south at almost
- right angles. This <span class="pagenum" id="Page_269">269</span>buttress is from 4 ft. to 10 ft. in height on its
- front face, but 21 ft. at its rear, and this buttress forms part of the
- boundary of <em>No. 14 Enclosure</em>.</p>
-
- <div class="figcenter" id="i_268a">
- <img src="images/i_268a.jpg" width="433" height="550" alt="" />
- <div class="caption">EAST WALL, No. 11 ENCLOSURE, WITH PATTERN, ELLIPTICAL TEMPLE</div>
- </div>
-
- <div class="figcenter" id="i_268b">
- <img src="images/i_268b.jpg" width="433" height="550" alt="" />
- <div class="caption">INNER PARALLEL PASSAGE, LOOKING EAST, ELLIPTICAL TEMPLE</div>
- </div>
-
- <p>It is possible that this buttress which is hollow, and to which there
- are traces of an entrance from the passage, once enclosed steps leading
- on to the summit of the wall between the <em>Parallel Passage</em> and the
- <em>Inner Parallel Passage</em>.<a id="FNanchor_56" href="#Footnote_56" class="fnanchor">[56]</a> Certainly the way the stone débris inside
- the buttress has fallen tends to support this conjecture.</p>
-
- <h3>SOUTH PASSAGE</h3>
-
- <p>This passage appears to have been the main artery leading from the main
- and <em>North Entrance</em> of the temple right into the central portion of
- the building, where it has its terminus. It is 68 ft. long from the
- broad step on the south side of the <em>North Entrance</em> to the steps at
- the south end of the passage.</p>
-
- <p>For 23 ft. from the north end where is the broad step there is an
- almost triangular area, 23 ft. from north to south, and 30 ft. from
- east to west, having its base on the north side. The western end of
- <em>Inner Parallel Passage</em> enters it at the eastern corner, and the
- entrance from <em>No. 3 Enclosure</em> is at its western corner. The heights
- of the walls forming this area are: north side being the south wall of
- the <em>Parallel Passage</em>, 15 ft.; south-west side being the north-east
- wall of <em>No. 1 Enclosure</em>, 12 ft.; the west side being the divisional
- wall between the area and <em>No. 3 Enclosure</em>, 6 ft.; the east and south
- being the wall dividing the area from <em>No. 15 Enclosure</em>, 12 ft. All
- these walls are well built and are very substantial.</p>
-
- <p>In the centre of this area is a raised platform, commencing at 9 ft.
- from the north side of the area and terminating at 21 ft. from the same
- point, thus giving it a length of 12 ft. It is 9 ft. 6 in. wide and 3
- ft. high, and has granite cement covering, where not broken, the whole
- summit. An old <span class="pagenum" id="Page_270">270</span>
- euphorbia tree was found growing out of this cement, its roots having
- played havoc with the side walls of the platform, the best portion now
- remaining facing the north-east side. The tree has now been removed.
- This platform is approached by three large granite cement steps, the
- two lower ones still being in a fair condition. These steps are each 12
- in. high, and from front to back are from 10 in. to 12 in., while they
- are 2 ft. 6 in. wide, and are rounded on the edges.</p>
-
- <p>The most peculiar circumstance about this platform is that under a
- foot depth of vegetable mould which completely covered it and rendered
- the platform shapeless, and lying on the surface of the cement floor,
- were found some hundred-weights of bones of oxen. There were no bones
- other than those of oxen, and the bones had not been split open for the
- marrow, as is so frequently found to be the case in very old Makalanga
- débris heaps. Nor were any broken pottery, iron implements, or iron and
- brass bangles, such as are most usually found together in such débris,
- to be seen, but carbonised wood was found in large quantities.</p>
-
- <p>It should be remembered that Mauch and others of the early writers on
- Zimbabwe state that they had witnessed sacrifices by the Makalanga of
- those days of black oxen in the <em>Elliptical Temple</em>, and the local
- natives also state that this was their practice up to within the last
- fifteen years. Possibly this was the spot where these sacrifices took
- place, for though Thomas Baines in a painting he made of one of these
- ceremonies places the <em>Conical Tower</em> in the background, there are no
- signs anywhere near that structure that such sacrifices ever took place
- in its immediate vicinity, all of which has now been cleared of débris
- down to the cement floor at every point where the <em>Conical Tower</em> could
- possibly have formed a background for such a ceremony. It is now almost
- certain that Baines painted this and other pictures of Zimbabwe from
- the descriptions given him by Renders,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_271">271</span> Phillips, and Mauch. But in the
- south-western end of the <em>Parallel Passage</em> for about 20 ft. or 30 ft.
- from its exit into the <em>Sacred Enclosure</em> (<em>east</em>) the débris was very
- mixed, and included bones of oxen and buck, the larger bones all split
- open. Probably this was one of the spots in the temple where these
- annual sacrifices of black oxen by Makalangas took place.</p>
-
- <p>The platform faces the north, the steps being on the south-east side.
- The area containing this platform was evidently once laid with granite
- cement, but sections of it only remain in the western corner and on its
- north-east side. A drain-hole leading into the <em>Parallel Passage</em> is at
- 6 ft. east of the broad steps ascending from this area to the <em>North
- Entrance</em>. This step is 11 ft. broad.</p>
-
- <p>At 23 ft. south from its north end the area narrows to 3 ft. 10
- in., which width is maintained for 18 ft., the passage for this
- length running between <em>No. 16 Enclosure</em> on the east side and <em>No.
- 1 Enclosure</em> on its west side. At this point in this section of the
- passage a large flat slab of granite has been banked up with stones to
- keep the upper portion of the wall on the west from collapsing into the
- passage. The walls here on either side are from 7 ft. to 10 ft. high.</p>
-
- <p>At 43 ft. south from the north end of the passage are two entrances,
- the one from the west being from <em>No. 1 Enclosure</em>, and this is
- angular, while the other facing it on the east being from a short
- passage on the south side of <em>No. 16 Enclosure</em>, is rounded, and has
- portcullis grooves. From the 43-ft. point the width of the passage is
- 2 ft. 8 in., but at its southern extremity it is increased during the
- last few feet to 4 ft. 10 in. The side walls are very well built, and
- are still in a good state of preservation. The entrance at the south
- end of the passage has a rounded buttress with portcullis groove on
- either side leaving a width of 3 ft. This entrance has five large stone
- steps practically perfect. The buttresses are 5 ft. high.</p>
-
- <p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_272">272</span></p>
-
- <h3>WEST PASSAGE</h3>
-
- <p>This passage lies on the west side of the interior of the temple, and
- is between <em>Nos. 4 and 5 Enclosures</em> on the west and <em>No. 1 Enclosure</em>
- and <em>Central Area</em> on the east. It runs north and south, and is formed
- on the west side by a massive and well-built wall, which is in the form
- of an arc; the length of the inside face of the wall being 65 ft., and
- that of the line drawn from extremity to extremity of the wall being 57
- ft., and this passes at 8 ft. from the inner face at the centre of the
- curve westwards.</p>
-
- <p>This large curved wall is independent of any other structure, and
- stands entirely by itself. It is clearly the best-constructed wall in
- the western half of the temple, and the excellent workmanship displayed
- in the regularity of the courses, the bold and well-executed curve, and
- its immense width, at once strike the attention of anyone who enters
- the temple at the western portal. Its width is 8 ft. at 6 ft. above the
- ground, and its height ranges from 6 ft. to 10 ft.</p>
-
- <p>The position and character of this wall induced Bent to conjecture that
- this arc was one of the proofs that the entire temple was a “multiform
- temple,” such as are found in South-West Asia, and these “little
- temples ... were dedicated to the cult of particular stars.” Bent
- considered that the massive and well-built curved walls in <em>Enclosures
- Nos. 7 and 15</em> were also employed for particular observations
- independently of the great temple itself. At the time Bent made this
- conjecture he was unaware that up against the centre of the inner face
- of this curved wall was a platform raised some 4 ft. above the level
- of the ground, and of the numerous relics of the older type found at
- and near it, or that there were originally three granite monoliths once
- standing parallel with, and at equal distance from, the west face of
- this wall. These discoveries have only just recently been made, as well
- as other corresponding discoveries in the other two enclosures<span class="pagenum" id="Page_273">273</span> which
- Bent took to be minor temples. Each of the monoliths is 29 ft. from the
- west face of the wall, and each is 9 ft. apart.</p>
-
- <p>At its south end the passage is 10 ft. wide, at the north end it
- narrows to 4 ft., but at its centre it averages a width of 10 ft. to 12 ft.</p>
-
- <p>The east side of the passage is formed for 49 ft. from the north end
- by the wall of <em>No. 1 Enclosure</em>, which here appears to be of poorer
- and later construction, also by a roughly built wall, 11 ft. long,
- with foundation some 4 ft. above the foundation of the wall of <em>No. 1
- Enclosure</em>, and by a rounded buttress, 12 ft. length of facing and 7
- ft. high, which has its foundation on the platform which overlooks the
- west curved wall.</p>
-
- <p>The platform, which is of cement, once had retaining walls at two
- levels, and portions of these still remain.</p>
-
- <h3>NORTH-EAST PASSAGE<a id="FNanchor_57" href="#Footnote_57" class="fnanchor">[57]</a></h3>
-
- <p>This passage is on the north-east side of the temple and immediately
- outside the <em>North Entrance</em>, running north-east at right angles from
- the main wall between that entrance and [590 ft.]. Its total length
- is 360 ft., but there is some evidence that it once extended further
- towards the north-east for at least some hundred yards beyond the 360
- ft. Only a portion of the 360 ft. length has at present been cleared of
- débris.</p>
-
- <p>On the north-west side it is bounded by a well-built wall 4 ft. 6 in.
- high and 12 ft. long, at the north-east end of which is a large rounded
- buttress with portcullis groove. This buttress projects 3 ft. into the
- passage, and is 3 ft. 6 in. high. Probably another buttress containing
- a corresponding portcullis groove faced it on the opposite side of the
- passage.</p>
-
- <p>The eastern side is bounded by the entrance to the <em>Outer Parallel
- Passage</em> and by the north wall of that passage, which curves round in
- front of the <em>North Entrance</em> to the temple, and runs at right angles
- to its former position. This <span class="pagenum" id="Page_274">274</span>wall, which is well built, is 7 ft. high,
- and forms the east side of the passage for some 35 ft., but at this
- point it is reduced to 3 ft. in height, and is carried on toward the
- north-east in a less carefully constructed style.</p>
-
- <p>The widths of the passage and the heights of the side walls, measuring
- from the <em>North Entrance</em> to the temple, are as follows:—</p>
-
- <table class="small" summary="Widths and heights">
- <tbody>
- <tr>
- <td colspan="2">&nbsp;</td>
- <td colspan="2" class="xsmall tdc">Heights.</td>
- </tr>
- <tr>
- <td>&nbsp;</td>
- <td class="xsmall">Width.</td>
- <td class="xsmall">West side.</td>
- <td class="xsmall">East side.</td>
- </tr>
- <tr>
- <td>S. Extremity</td>
- <td>12 ft.</td>
- <td>4 ft. 6 in.</td>
- <td>7 ft.</td>
- </tr>
- <tr>
- <td>25 ft.</td>
- <td>5 ft.</td>
- <td>2 ft. 6 in.</td>
- <td>6 ft.</td>
- </tr>
- <tr>
- <td>35 ft.</td>
- <td>2 ft. 10 in.</td>
- <td>3 ft.</td>
- <td>4 ft.</td>
- </tr>
- <tr>
- <td>50 ft.</td>
- <td>2 ft. 6 in.</td>
- <td>3 ft.</td>
- <td>3 ft.</td>
- </tr>
- </tbody>
- </table>
-
- <p>Between 35 ft. and 50 ft. are remains of pavement.</p>
-
- <p>This passage, with its length of 660 ft., is believed to have formed
- the chief line of communication between the <em>Elliptical Temple</em> and the
- <em>Acropolis</em>, seeing that it runs from the main entrance of the temple
- down into the valley at a point almost facing the lowest extremity of
- the <em>South-East Ancient Ascent</em> to the <em>Acropolis</em>.</p>
-
- <h3>OUTER PARALLEL PASSAGE</h3>
-
- <p>On leaving the temple by the <em>North Entrance</em> one enters a walled-in
- area. This area is formed by the southern extremity of the <em>North-East
- Passage</em> and the western extremity of the <em>Outer Parallel Passage</em>,
- both of which meet at, and converge upon, the <em>North Entrance</em>.</p>
-
- <p>The <em>Outer Parallel Passage</em> runs for 125 ft. east-south-east from
- the <em>North Entrance</em> parallel with the north-east wall of the temple
- between the points [450 ft.] and [575 ft.] of its outer circumference.
- At its extremity near the <em>North Entrance</em> this passage is 7 ft. wide,
- and 25 ft. further east-south-east of the entrance it is 3 ft. 8 in.
- wide, which width is maintained for a length of 50 ft., beyond which
- point it commences to widen out till the east-south-east extremity is
- reached, where it is 12 ft. 6 in. wide.</p>
-
- <p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_275">275</span></p>
-
- <p>Opposite the <em>North Entrance</em> the outer wall of the passage is 6 ft.
- high; at 25 ft. further east-south-east, 5 ft.; at 75 ft., 8 ft.;
- at 100 ft., 7 ft.; and at 125 ft., 5 ft., the line of summit from
- the 25 ft. point to the east-south-east extremity being fairly level
- throughout. This outer wall is well built. It is 4 ft. 2 in. wide on
- the summit at 5 ft. from the floor of the passage, and 3 ft. 10 in.
- wide at 7 ft. from the ground.</p>
-
- <p>At 25 ft. from the <em>North Entrance</em> is a rounded entrance through the
- outer wall. This has portcullis grooves. It is 1 ft. 10 in. wide, and
- has three steps formed of the courses of the foundation of the wall,
- the upper step being curved back into the entrance.</p>
-
- <p>At the extremity near the <em>North Entrance</em> there are the remains of a
- small rounded buttress projecting into the passage from the main wall
- of the temple.</p>
-
- <hr class="page" />
- <div class="chapter" id="CHAPTER_XIV">
- <span class="pagenum" id="Page_276">276</span>
- <h2>
- CHAPTER XIV<br /><br />
- <span class="small">THE ACROPOLIS RUINS</span>
- </h2>
- </div>
- <div class="subheadc">South-East Ancient Ascent—Lower Parapet—Rock Passage—Upper
- Parapet—Western Enclosure.</div>
-
- <p class="drop-cap">ON Zimbabwe Hill, at a height of some 230 ft. to 250 ft. above the
- valley which runs along its west and south sides, stands the Acropolis
- or Hill Fortress. Its prominent and strategic position on this
- precipitous and practically isolated granite kopje gives it a grandly
- imposing appearance among the many large ruins included within the
- Zimbabwe Reserve.</p>
-
- <p>Viewing the hill from the valley, one can well realise that Nature
- alone made the place impregnable, while the builders of almost four
- thousand years ago applied their highly developed engineering skill and
- ingenuity to make the stronghold even more absolutely unassailable.</p>
-
- <p>The south side of the hill is defended by a precipice some 90 ft.
- high, running without break from the western end for over 300 yds.
- to the eastern side of the hill, where the precipice loses itself in
- gigantic boulders, each of many hundred tons weight, which, owing to
- their beetling form, render that side of the hill inaccessible. Great
- boulders form the summit of the hill, and are in a cliff-shaped line
- running from west to east. Several of the highest boulders appear to
- be most delicately poised on the edges of the shoulders of gigantic
- cliffs, and these rise up at least 50 ft. to 70 ft. above the highest
- portion of the Hill Ruins, thus <span class="pagenum" id="Page_277">277</span>making the total height of the kopje
- to be slightly more than 320 ft.</p>
-
- <div class="figcenter" id="i_276">
- <img src="images/i_276.jpg" width="600" height="411" alt="" />
- <div class="caption">ZIMBABWE HILL</div>
- <div class="subcaption">VIEW FROM HAVILAH CAMP</div>
- </div>
-
- <p>The bases of the southern walls are built on the outward slope of the
- brink of the line of steep granite cliff, the lowest row of stones
- being deep at their front and narrow at the back. So markedly are these
- wedge-shaped rows of stones laid over the brink of the precipice that
- at first sight one hardly notices where the wall ends and the precipice
- begins, especially as the blocks in the walls present in the dry season
- the same colourings and tints as the line of cliff itself. Below the
- precipice the ground has a very sharp fall of some 70 ft. into the
- valley.</p>
-
- <p>The feelings provoked in one’s mind on visiting the Elliptical Temple
- and Sacred Cone, which are in the valley, are those of awe and
- reverence; but on inspecting the Acropolis the visitor is overcome
- by a sense of absolute amazement and sheer bewilderment, which are
- intensified at every step taken along its numerous labyrinthine
- passages on climbing the hill.</p>
-
- <p>Above the precipice, as seen from the valley, are massive walls, on
- the summits of which some dozen monoliths, more or less erect, are
- still to be seen standing clear against the sky-line. From this point
- of view alone—and this but represents a small fraction of the walls of
- which these ruins are composed—one realises that many thousands of tons
- of granite blocks (those in the outer faces having been squared and
- dressed) have been transported up the precipitous kopje to a height of
- no less than 230 ft., for examination of the rocks on the hill proves
- that the greater quantity of stone used in the walls was not quarried
- on the kopje itself.</p>
-
- <p>Apart from the infinite patience and painstaking toil of the ancients
- as displayed in their careful and correct building and complicated plan
- and style of architecture, this one fact of so much stone quarried
- and dressed elsewhere and carried up to such a height as a man could
- hardly climb who<span class="pagenum" id="Page_278">278</span> bore no burden, is one to amaze and perplex even the
- most casual and indifferent visitor. Later, on reaching the ruins it
- will be seen that very many thousand tons of granite blocks have been
- carried up the hill. This fact serves to still further accentuate the
- statements made by the authors on pages 60 and 65 of <cite>Ancient Ruins
- of Rhodesia</cite> that (1) not only did the ancients of the first period
- of Zimbabwe architecture realise that they were occupying a hostile
- country, but (2) the ancient builders had at their disposal slave
- labour to an enormous and incalculable extent, and this apart from the
- overwhelming evidences pointing to the same conclusion presented by the
- thousands of ancient workings spread over Southern Rhodesia, and the
- hundreds of massive fortresses and temples occupying a corresponding
- area.</p>
-
- <p>These and many other obvious suggestions present themselves most
- forcibly at even the partial view of the Hill Fortress as seen from the
- valley.</p>
-
- <p>The first question occurring to one ascending the hill is: Where is
- the ancient ascent? It is obvious that the path used by visitors could
- not be the ascent of the ancients, for were it not for the gaps in the
- walls, access to the summit by the ordinary path would be absolutely
- impracticable. Indeed, the ordinary path runs at several points along
- the reduced tops of broken walls, and crosses the foundations of some
- dozen outer defence walls, which are now practically demolished and
- barely traceable.</p>
-
- <p>There are two well-defined ancient approaches to the summit of the
- Acropolis, one being on the south side of the hill and the other on the
- face fronting the west-north-west. It is believed that at least two
- other ancient ascents exist. The N.N.W. ascent has not been completely
- cleared out, though it is very well defined, and some 320 ft. of its
- 940 ft. length can now be traversed by the visitor, but the south-east
- ascent has recently been cleared out of large trees, shrubs, and many
- tons of wall débris and silted soil, so that it is now <span class="pagenum" id="Page_279">279</span>possible for
- visitors to use it with ease. Mogabe, the Zimbabwe Makalanga chief, now
- seventy years of age, who at one time had his kraal on the northern
- side of the summit of Zimbabwe Hill, as well as the older of his
- headmen, all state they had never before seen this ancient ascent so
- cleared out. They say that the late Chipfuno’s people, and subsequently
- their own, used it as an approach to the kraal, but not generally,
- and this was only possible by climbing along the tops of the walls
- and over the large wall-débris heaps that blocked up the passage-way.
- Certainly for at least one hundred years this ascent could not have
- been used, for the débris piles were covered with lichens, and had
- every appearance of great age. The Makalanga had also purposely blocked
- up the passage with a substantial wall, which was erected in Chipfuno’s
- time. Some of the trees cleared from the passages proved by their size
- that they had stood there long before the Chartered Company’s advent
- into the country.</p>
-
- <div class="figcenter illow600" id="i_278">
- <img src="images/i_278.jpg" width="600" height="519" alt="" />
- <div class="attribr"><i>Methuen &amp; Co.</i></div>
- <div class="caption">ACROPOLIS RUINS<br />Zimbabwe</div>
- </div>
-
- <p>In fact, the ascent by this ancient approach now occupies a little
- more than half the time required to walk round by the circuitous path
- till recently used by visitors, besides affording to the climber a
- revelation as to the ingenuity and wonderful engineering skill of the
- ancients in effecting the defence of the hill. Unless this ancient
- approach be traversed by the visitor, one of the principal features
- provided by the Acropolis or Hill Ruins will have been missed.</p>
-
- <h3>SOUTH-EAST ANCIENT ASCENT</h3>
-
- <p>Leaving the huts at Havilah Camp, which occupy a low granite knoll on
- the north side of the Shangani Grave and overlook the narrow valley
- running at the south foot of the hill, one crosses the outspan and
- passes through the “Outspan Ruins,”<a id="FNanchor_58" href="#Footnote_58" class="fnanchor">[58]</a> which face the camp at a
- distance of 70 yds. due north, which ruins are part of an inner line
- of defence wall running round the base of the hill on the west, south,
- and east sides, and which lie within the main outer wall sweep<span class="pagenum" id="Page_280">280</span>ing
- round from the west side of the Elliptical Temple to the north side
- of Zimbabwe Hill, enclosing the large water-holes believed to have
- been made by the ancients. From the ascent facing the camp a newly-cut
- path leads in a direct line up some 70 ft. higher towards the ancient
- approach, but with a slight trend to the east.</p>
-
- <p>Before striking the walls of the passage-way, the path crosses at
- right angles the foundations of some seven or eight outer defence
- walls and walls of terraces and buried enclosures all rising in tiers
- one above and at the back of the other. The soil here is black with
- ash débris, and in cutting the rough steps in the path to the ascent,
- each shovelful of this black soil contained a large quantity of broken
- pottery and bones of animals. This débris on being examined shows
- most evidently that it is not ancient; further, it is pronounced by
- local natives to have been thrown out from the ruins above by previous
- generations of Makalanga, but not by the mediæval Makalanga, who,
- according to Portuguese records (1560 to 1750), occupied these ruins
- as one of the courts or chief residences of the succession of dynastic
- chiefs, each known as the Monomotapa or “The Lord of the Mines.” This
- débris is believed to cover that of the mediæval Makalanga and of the
- ancients, for all débris would by the formation of the cliff above
- be guided to this part of the lower southern slope, and the heavy
- downfalls of very many rainy seasons would distribute it over the steep
- face of the southern slope, and spread it into the valley, where any
- quantity of such débris may be found.</p>
-
- <p>The path from the camp strikes the ancient ascent at 70 ft. above
- the valley. The length of the approach, measured in the centre of
- the passage in all its turnings, is 349 ft. from this point to its
- termination on the summit of the precipice. It extends in a westerly
- direction from the 70 ft. to the 210 ft. level on the hill. This
- passage can be traced downwards into the valley to clear of the end of
- the kopje for 420 yds.</p>
-
- <p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_281">281</span></p>
-
- <p>The ascent is, for an ancient ruin, in a remarkably good state of
- preservation, except at a few points where whole lengths of walls have
- fallen into the narrow passage which runs between high walls. All this
- wall débris, which effectively blocked the passage, has just recently
- been removed. At one point the end of a wall had collapsed bodily into
- the passage, and being on higher ground had filled it up to the height
- of the walls below, but this débris has also been cleared away, so that
- visitors can now walk without the slightest hindrance up the ascent on
- practically what was the ancient flooring, and ascend the old flights
- of steps. To such an extent had the passage become choked up that it
- required some fifteen native labourers, working at different points,
- no less than four days to cut away sufficient growth as would enable
- a mere scramble to be made over the débris in the passages, while the
- thorough clearing away of wall débris occupied the whole gang for
- nearly a fortnight. Now that this ancient ascent has been made an easy
- approach, this passage to the summit of Zimbabwe Hill has become the
- most popular ascent.</p>
-
- <p>The chief architectural features represented in the ascent are the
- (<i>a</i>) Lower Parapet, (<i>b</i>) the Rock Passage, and (<i>c</i>) the Upper
- Parapet, as also the flights of steps occurring in several lengths.</p>
-
- <p>The point where the path from the camp strikes this ancient ascent is
- not its most easterly extremity nor its lowest point, for, as before
- stated, this passage can be traced for 420 yds. further east, where
- its emergence into the valley is protected by one, if not two, large
- fort-like ruins of some importance.</p>
-
- <p>On turning into the ascent from the camp path, an outer wall on the
- left-hand side runs for 42 ft. 6 in., and this wall is now only about
- 2 ft. high. The foundations are 4 ft. wide. The upper courses of
- this wall are not ancient, though the foundations and lower courses
- undoubtedly are, for it is evident<span class="pagenum" id="Page_282">282</span> that blocks which have fallen from
- terrace walls overlooking the passage into the ascent have been laid
- neatly, probably by mediæval Makalanga, on the tops of the wall which
- had already become ruined. The right-hand side of the ascent from this
- point, for a length of 65 ft., is formed by huge boulders. The passage
- throughout this length is 3 ft. 6 in. to 4 ft. wide.</p>
-
- <h3>(<i>a</i>) THE LOWER PARAPET</h3>
-
- <p>At the upper end of this 45 ft. length of wall, and on the left-hand
- side, is a natural parapet artificially improved. This is the Lower
- Parapet, the outer and left-hand side of which is formed by the summit
- of a large boulder 25 ft. long, and its highest point not more than
- 4 ft. 6 in. above the floor of the ascent. From this vantage ground
- a fine view is obtained of the hills to the south, with the Bentberg
- (<i>Matusa</i>) directly opposite, and the Elliptical Temple and the valley
- of Ruins below.</p>
-
- <p>On the inner and right-hand side of the Lower Parapet the rock glacis
- is surmounted by two terrace walls, really enclosures filled in, the
- second being behind and higher than the first. The lower terrace wall
- has a frontage to the south of 24 ft., and the upper terrace wall
- starts at 14 ft. to the rear of the top of the lower wall. Portions
- of the higher wall are still intact, and judging by the line of wall
- débris, it had a frontage to the south of some 20 ft.</p>
-
- <p>Facing the passage at the west end of the Lower Parapet is a wall 3
- ft. 6 in. high, running north for 12 ft. The top of this wall is 4
- ft. wide, and is built upon a large granite boulder, which beetles
- considerably at the outer and southern extremity of this wall. The
- northern end of the wall is wedge-shaped, the point being well made
- with finely tapering sides. A similar wedged-shaped buttress is to be
- seen at the entrance to the Upper Parapet, and also on the south side
- of the east entrance in the interior of the Eastern Temple on Zimbabwe
- Hill.</p>
-
- <p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_283">283</span></p>
-
- <p>The wall thus described acts as a division or parting of the ways, as
- in the case of the wedge-shaped end of the wall at the Upper Parapet,
- and a short passage 4 ft. wide and 12 ft. long runs along the west face
- of the wall to the brink of the boulder which beetles to a steep drop
- below.</p>
-
- <p>The object of this short passage jutting out from the main ascent to
- the brink of the boulder’s edge is inexplicable, unless it was intended
- as a débris shoot, for at the base of the south front of this boulder,
- and some 20 ft. below, is a large débris pile of past and present
- Makalanga ashes, pottery, and bones of animals. This is contained in
- a loose black soil, but the débris of the ancients underlying the
- obviously Makalanga débris is contained in a light yellow soil the
- surface of which has become almost as hard as cement. The examination
- of this lower stratum of débris fully confirms the suggestion that this
- short passage which terminates, so to speak, in space was one of the
- spots where the ancients shot their débris.</p>
-
- <p>At the north end of this short side-passage the main ascent takes a
- long curve for 51 ft. westwards, from south-west to north-west, and is
- formed on the outer side by a wall 5 ft. to 6 ft. wide on its present
- reduced summit and from 6 ft. to 9 ft. in height, which runs still
- ascending to the top end of the 51 ft. length. Here the ascent is
- steeper than near the Lower Parapet, and steps, and traces of steps,
- can be seen at several points.</p>
-
- <p>The inner or cliff side of the ascent, from the Lower Parapet to the
- higher end of the 51 ft. wall on the opposite side, is formed by large
- walls 3 ft. 6 in. wide on their present summits, and averaging 5 ft. in
- height, but are built back on a much higher level of foundation than
- the outer wall of the passage. These inner walls enclose an almost
- square open space on the inner side of the ascent, the area being 16
- ft. on the south-east, 12 ft. on the north-east, and 11 ft. on the
- north, the lower and south-east wall slanting down-hill<span class="pagenum" id="Page_284">284</span> towards the
- passage, so that the lowest corner of the area is at the point where
- the ascent enters the area. The enclosure is entirely thrown into the
- passage. This lower corner of the area is about 8 ft. north-west of
- the wedge-shape dividing wall just described. The arrangement of the
- walls and of the area, with its lowest point resting on the passage, is
- most patently an intentional design of the ancient military engineers,
- as the slanting-down wall on the south-east side would provide room
- within the area for a hundred defenders, while the narrow passage
- immediately below where the ascent enters the area could barely have
- held two invaders fighting abreast. But this narrow point was once
- much narrower, for the foundations of a projecting buttress, rounded
- into the lowest corner of the area, are to be seen about 2 ft. above
- where the south-east wall slopes down-hill to within 3 ft. of the inner
- face of the outer wall. The foundations of this projecting buttress
- are very indistinct, and probably will disappear, as, now the buttress
- has collapsed, visitors walk across the remaining foundation stones
- as a short cut. The wall débris here suggests that the buttress was a
- high structure. The Zimbabwe Makalanga headmen, who were watching the
- clearing operations, informed the author that this buttress was once a
- high one, but this was in their early days and many years before their
- kraal was removed from Zimbabwe Hill.</p>
-
- <p>From above the enclosed area to the end of the 51 ft. length of outer
- wall before mentioned the passage on the inner side is bounded by
- a wall which runs parallel to the outer wall in its curve from the
- south-west to the north-west.</p>
-
- <p>From the higher end of the 51 ft. length of wall the passage turns
- directly west for 43 ft., where it curves to the north-east for 26 ft.,
- averaging a width of 3 ft. 6 in., except just lower than the curve and
- through its continuation where it narrows to 2 ft. The heights of the
- outside wall run from 3 ft. to 4 ft. 6 in. before it reaches the curve.
- On <span class="pagenum" id="Page_285">285</span>the inner side wall of the lowest part of this length the wall is
- much broken, especially a length of 11 ft., which once held dentelle
- pattern, facing south.</p>
-
- <div class="figcenter" id="i_284a">
- <img src="images/i_284a.jpg" width="436" height="550" alt="" />
- <div class="caption">A TURN IN THE PASSAGE OF THE SOUTH-EAST ASCENT, ACROPOLIS</div>
- </div>
-
- <div class="figcenter" id="i_284b">
- <img src="images/i_284b.jpg" width="442" height="550" alt="" />
- <div class="caption">VIEW FROM SOUTH-EAST ASCENT, ACROPOLIS</div>
- </div>
-
- <p>The end walls or frame of this dentelle pattern are still to be seen,
- and many of the small blocks used in making this pattern were found
- in the passage-way. The blocks can always be identified by their
- exact similarity in size, and also on two faces they are exceedingly
- time-worn, if not decomposed, as they are built up in columns with one
- corner projecting outwards and flush with the face of the wall. This
- pattern has now become completely destroyed by wild vine trees growing
- inside the wall and forcing out its outer face on to the passage floor.
- This damage must have been done within the last ten years.</p>
-
- <p>This was one of the finest examples of dentelle pattern so far
- discovered in Rhodesia, and had it not been destroyed would have been
- by far the largest pattern of all the five instances. Dentelle pattern
- is one of the many distinguishing features of the first period of
- Zimbabwe architecture.</p>
-
- <p>On the floor of this passage at this point and upwards there is a
- flight of some thirty or forty steps. Each is very narrow from front
- to back, so much so that it is exceedingly awkward for anyone wearing
- boots to climb or descend them, though the Makalanga with their bare
- feet climb them with the greatest ease. The steps extend from side to
- side of the passage, but their end blocks, which here are very small,
- are not built into the foundations of the side walls as are the large
- steps to be found in the entrances and passages of all the original
- buildings at Zimbabwe. It is therefore believed that these steps in
- the ascent, or at least these particular steps, are not ancient, but
- are laid upon the original steps by mediæval Makalanga, for there is a
- freshness in their appearance which is never seen in steps which are
- undoubtedly ancient. This belief is strengthened considerably when one
- compares the flight of toe-lines with the broad,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_286">286</span> deep, and massive
- steps at several points in the ascent, which were built when the
- foundations of the passage walls were laid.</p>
-
- <p>At the top end of the curve in this length of passage the heights of
- both walls are 9 ft., with a width of passage at this point of 2 ft. 4
- in. In this curve are traces of several rows of large steps.</p>
-
- <p>At 12 ft. above the curve the passage turns with a sharp angle to due
- west-north-west. On the north or inner side at this turn is a large
- buttress built up against the face of the cliff. This buttress is 19
- ft. 6 in. in height at its rear and abuts from the cliff for 2 ft. 6
- in. The front of the buttress is only 7 ft. in height. The buttress
- is 19 ft. long, but wall débris fallen from the summit of the cliff
- extends upwards towards the entrance to the Rock Passage for another
- 8 ft. The outer wall here averages from 2 ft. 6 in. to 3 ft. 6 in. in
- height. This wall has every appearance of having been reconstructed at
- a later period. Its face is exposed to the fall of every stone from the
- walls on the summit of the precipice, and no wall débris could descend
- without damaging it. Up against its face were piles of blocks which had
- come from above, but some of these piles were comparatively modern.
- This point in the ascent, owing to the formation of the face of the
- cliff, would have guided to it all débris falling from the southern
- wall of the Eastern Temple, some portions of which have fallen into the
- ascent. The passage between the buttress of the outer wall is 2 ft.
- wide, but at the top end of the buttress it widens out to 4 ft. where
- it enters the Rock Passage.</p>
-
- <h3>(<i>b</i>) THE ROCK PASSAGE</h3>
-
- <p>From this point the ascent is continued in the same direction between
- the main cliff of the hill on the inner side (which at this elevated
- level of the ascent is only 50 ft. above the passage) and a colossal
- boulder on the outer side. This boulder beetles inwards towards the
- cliff and over the heads <span class="pagenum" id="Page_287">287</span>of passers-by. The outside height of the
- boulder appears to be some 80 ft. or 90 ft., and at one time before the
- occupation of the hill by the ancient builders it formed part of the
- main cliff from which it had fallen away for some feet, both outwards
- and downwards; the depression in the face of the cliff from which it
- slipped is still the exact shape of the boulder. In the Rock Passage
- the height of the inside face of the boulder above the artificially
- made raised floor is about 40 ft. to 20 ft., according as the ascent
- rises. The ancients are believed to have filled in the split opening
- between cliff and boulder to the needed height to carry their ascent.
- This practice was a common one with the ancients, and a good instance
- of this work is seen in the Buttress Passage in the Acropolis ruins.</p>
-
- <div class="figcenter" id="i_286a">
- <img src="images/i_286a.jpg" width="437" height="550" alt="" />
- <div class="caption">LOWER ENTRANCE TO ROCK PASSAGE, SOUTH-EAST ASCENT, ACROPOLIS</div>
- </div>
-
- <div class="figcenter" id="i_286b">
- <img src="images/i_286b.jpg" width="424" height="550" alt="" />
- <div class="caption">VIEW DOWN ROCK PASSAGE, SOUTH-EAST ASCENT, ACROPOLIS</div>
- </div>
-
- <p>Once inside the Rock Passage the path rises rapidly till it reaches
- the open at the 200 ft. level of the hill. The passage is 48 ft.
- long, and its average width is 2 ft. 6 in., but at one point it is
- barely 1 ft. 10 in. wide. Where the boulders end on the higher side a
- wall runs up on the outer side for 8 ft., and this is 4 ft. to 1 ft.
- higher, lessening as the path ascends. The cliff here still forms the
- inner side for this distance, and at the top end is a rounded buttress
- jutting out from the cliff for 3 ft., and below it, and on the south
- side, are several well-defined large steps of the undoubtedly ancient
- type ascending on the outer side of the buttress for 12 ft.</p>
-
- <p>At the end of this 12 ft. length the passage turns north and north-east
- for 21 ft., and passes on the west side of the wedge-shaped-ended
- wall, which forms the division where the path to the Higher Parapet
- leaves the ascent. At the end of the 21 ft. length the walls of the
- ascent appear to terminate, but the path to the Western Temple and to
- the other ruins on the hill is continued through a gap made recently,
- for the sake of visitors, in a Makalanga-built wall erected on ancient
- foundations. This reconstruction of the wall by Makalanga without
- leaving any entrance down<span class="pagenum" id="Page_288">288</span>wards to the ascent deliberately blocked it
- up. This bears out the Zimbabwe headmen’s statement that within the
- last fifty years they rarely used the ancient ascent in climbing up to
- their kraal on the summit of the hill. Passing through the gap in the
- Makalanga wall one enters the Western Enclosure, which lies at the foot
- of the west face of the west wall of the Western Temple.</p>
-
- <p>But the description so far given of the ascent is incomplete, for on
- the east side of the wedge-shaped buttress, which is on the west side
- of the Rock Passage, is a passage to the Western Temple by the Higher
- Parapet.</p>
-
- <h3>(<i>c</i>) THE HIGHER PARAPET</h3>
-
- <p>The length of this parapet, which extends from within 9 ft. 6 in. of
- the summit of the ancient ascent, is 78 ft., and it runs in an easterly
- direction from the right-hand side of the ascent at the point where is
- the upper wedge-shaped buttress and the outer parapet wall is built
- along a narrow ledge at the very utmost edge of the cliff. Its front
- foundation stones are wedge-shaped to suit the declivity of the rock
- on which they are placed. At certain points this parapet wall has
- fallen over the brink into the Rock Passage below, but the foundations
- remain. This dilapidation is more apparent at the eastern end of
- the parapet, where it passes on the precipice side of the face of a
- projecting boulder and also of a rounded buttress 7 ft. high, which
- is very well built. The boulder is erected up against the bottom part
- of the rounded end of the main west wall of the Western Temple on its
- southern extremity. This rounded buttress is 4 ft. west of the point
- where the Higher Parapet joins the Parallel Passage, which is a still
- more easterly and more elevated extension of the ancient ascent to the
- Western Temple.</p>
-
- <p>Coming up the ascent, and 9 ft. 6 in. from its summit, the path divides
- as before mentioned at the wedge-shaped buttress, the right-hand path
- being the approach to the Higher Parapet.<span class="pagenum" id="Page_289">289</span> Three feet above this
- wedge-shaped end of wall are clear traces of large steps, and at this
- point and on the right-hand side is a portion of dentelle pattern
- introduced into the wall, and this faces due west. This pattern
- originally consisted of five columns of blocks with projecting edges,
- but the lower portions of four columns now only remain. The blocks are
- in five courses. Unlike the dentelle blocks lower in the ascent, and
- also the blocks in this pattern on the Platform of the Western Temple,
- these blocks are of the ordinary size used in building the walls, and
- in size resemble the blocks used in this pattern on the east main wall
- of the Eastern Temple, and also those in this pattern on the Conical
- Tower in the Elliptical Temple.</p>
-
- <p>The highest part of the outer wall of the Higher Parapet is now only 2
- ft. 6 in., with a similar width on the top. The width of the approach
- to this parapet from the wedge-shaped end of the dividing wall is 2 ft.
- on the floor. The wall on the inner side of the parapet at its western
- end is 4 ft. 6 in. to 6 ft. high, and rounds off to the south to the
- wedge-shaped end where it terminates.</p>
-
- <p>Visitors should refrain from passing along the Higher Parapet unless
- they are perfectly certain no one is in the Rock Passage at the time,
- as any block put in motion even by the careful climber must fall
- into the passage below. As before stated, the parapet wall is very
- dilapidated and blocks might fall at the slightest movement near them.
- But even with this caution the Higher Parapet is not a safe place
- for visitors, for, as can be seen from below, the foundations of the
- parapet, which are built over the brink of the precipice, show a
- bulging out which must sooner or later effect the destruction of the
- parapet.</p>
-
- <p>The Higher Parapet would enable the ancient defenders to effectually
- block the approach of any enemy through the Rock Passage, however great
- their number.</p>
-
- <p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_290">290</span></p>
-
- <p>There are two points worthy of notice in connection with this ancient ascent:—-</p>
-
- <p>1. <i>Original heights of walls.</i>—The walls of the ascent in their
- original state were considerably higher than even the highest (9 ft.)
- as seen at two points to-day. In discussing this matter with some of
- the Makalanga headmen, it was ascertained that even within their day,
- say fifty years—for Mogabe is fully seventy years of age—some of the
- highest walls were 4 ft. or 5 ft. higher than they are at present. But
- on examining the numerous and immense wall-débris piles which were
- removed in August, 1902, the estimate as to the heights of the walls in
- their original form has to be very considerably increased, for these
- piles were only the débris of the inner side walls and of the inner
- faces of the outer walls, since the main portions of the outer walls
- which have fallen have gone down the precipice, for at its base one can
- walk for over 100 yds. on wide and high piles of wall débris which has
- fallen down from the outer walls of the ascent.</p>
-
- <p>The present widths of the walls also are some guide in forming an
- estimate of their original heights. Some of these walls are from 5 ft.
- to 7 ft. wide on their present very reduced summits, and taking the
- usual Zimbabwe batter-back of 1 ft. in 6 ft. which is found in many of
- the buildings of the first period of Zimbabwe architecture—and these
- buildings are most manifestly of that period—it would be within a safe
- limit were it stated that these passage walls were at least 15 ft.
- high on either side throughout the greater length of the ascent. This
- estimate would then fairly account for the great amount of wall débris
- with which whole lengths of the ascent were completely choked up, in
- some places to the tops of the walls on either side, and also for the
- wall débris at the foot of the ascent.</p>
-
- <p>Certainly most of the damage to the walls was done centuries ago, for
- the ancient blocks on the sides and tops<span class="pagenum" id="Page_291">291</span> of the débris piles have,
- since they fell into their present position on the piles, become on
- all their exposed faces and sides, and even on their back parts, as
- weathered and time-eaten, and in some cases as decomposed, as the front
- faces of the blocks remaining in the walls.</p>
-
- <p>But, unfortunately, irreparable damage has been done to these walls
- within the last twenty years, and certainly within the last ten years,
- for trees of not older growths than these periods were found to be
- growing right in the centres of the walls, their roots pushing out
- lengths of wall faces. This is the cause of the destruction of the
- lower set of dentelle pattern, which has certainly been effected during
- the last ten years. The inside of the wall from which the dentelle
- blocks have fallen has every appearance of being quite fresh, and is
- not in the slightest degree weather or time-worn.</p>
-
- <p>2. <i>The ascent from the coast route.</i>—This ancient ascent being on
- the south side of the hill, and running for 600 yds. from the valley
- at the clear east end of the hill up the south face to the summit,
- it may naturally be taken for granted that this was the path along
- which all arrivals by the route from the coast at or near Sofala would
- approach Zimbabwe Fortress. As there are only two ancient ascents, the
- southern and the north-western, and all other parts of the hill being
- inaccessible, this conjecture may probably be the correct one, for to
- have traversed the North-Western Passage for such a purpose would have
- taken the ancients at least one mile out of their way. Every step taken
- down the Southern Passage was one taken nearer to the coast.</p>
-
- <p>On referring to <cite>The Ancient Ruins of Rhodesia</cite>, it will be found
- that chains of ruins of forts, occupying strategic positions at
- comparatively equal distances from each other, run in a south-easterly
- direction along the Motelekwe River, and are further carried along the
- Sabi far into Portuguese South-East Africa. The south ascent appears
- to be the north-west termination of this line from the coast, and
- the<span class="pagenum" id="Page_292">292</span> importance of this approach is demonstrated by the presence of
- two outer distinct and large ruins in the valley at the south-eastern
- end of the hill, and these guard the lowest extremity of the ascent.
- The Mapaku Ruins, misnamed Little Zimbabwe, which lie eight miles
- south-east of the Great Zimbabwe, would form the first posting station
- and fort for the protection of the road to the Motelekwe chain of forts.</p>
-
- <p>Besides, the contour of the country round Zimbabwe very clearly points
- this route out as the ancient line of road to the south-east coast,
- any other line, as can be seen from the summit of Zimbabwe Hill, being
- barred by ranges of steep and high kopjes, in addition to which it may
- be observed that the wagon road from Zimbabwe towards the Motelekwe and
- Sabi rivers runs to-day along this identical line, as the formation of
- the land permits of no other route from Zimbabwe.</p>
-
- <p>It was shown in chapter vii. that discoveries demonstrated that the
- ancients exported a large quantity of the gold won from the thousands
- of ancient workings on the numerous gold-belts of Southern Rhodesia.
- This amount authorities have placed, on a conservative estimate, at no
- less than £75,000,000. Most probably a portion of whatever gold was won
- in the northern gold districts of Southern Rhodesia went to the coast
- by a northern route and not <i>viâ</i> Zimbabwe. But the gold collected from
- each of the capital towns in the more southern portion of Southern
- Rhodesia, the capital towns having collected the gold from their
- respective sub-districts on the reefs, would come to the metropolitan
- centre at Zimbabwe, ready for transmission by caravan to the coast.
- The districts that in all probability sent from their capital towns
- their stores of gold as they became accumulated, so far as the lines
- of forts and the contiguity, geographical position, and convenience
- indicate, would be the present Tati, Bulawayo, Bembesi, Selukwe,
- Gwanda, Filabusi, Belingwe, etc., and the gold districts of Southern
- Mashonaland. For the service of<span class="pagenum" id="Page_293">293</span> these districts the north-west ascent
- at Zimbabwe would appear to be extremely natural. The gold therefore,
- in all probability, was brought from these districts to Zimbabwe
- along its north-west ascent, and was taken away to the coast by the
- marvellously protected path leading to the south-east.</p>
-
- <p>This argument is not mere romancing. It is one which has every evidence
- in its favour so far as any evidence can at present be secured. Passing
- along the south-eastern ascent we may be pardoned if some poor attempt
- be made to reconstruct some of the scenes that have taken place in
- ancient times within its narrow and tortuous walls. Here may have
- occurred the greeting of fresh arrivals from the coast, or from the
- mother country of the ancient colonists; the bringing of news from a
- far country, possibly news from Yemen, and later from Tyre and Sidon;
- news of changes in home dynasties or of the progress of those ancient
- and classic wars which shook the world and started fresh eras and
- epochs in its history.</p>
-
- <p>There, too, might have been seen the train of slaves carrying their
- golden burden in claw-hammer-shaped ingots as stated to have been shown
- on the monuments of Punt, and as they are pictured in the tombs of
- ancient Egypt, of which the ancient soapstone moulds are represented
- in collections of relics found in Rhodesia. Ivory, apes, ostrich
- feathers, and gorgeous birds would be borne in the caravan, while gangs
- of slaves, doomed to exile, would follow in the convoy, for all these,
- since before the dawn of history, have been exported to the “Near East”
- from Sofala and ancient Rhodesia.</p>
-
- <p>Again, there might have been seen the dusky Semitic crowd watching the
- departure of the results of their toil on so many ancient gold-bearing
- districts, dressed in short, armless tunics (p. 108),<a id="FNanchor_59" href="#Footnote_59" class="fnanchor">[59]</a> and displaying
- massive gold bangles, exquisitely made and chased with Zimbabwe
- designs, on arms, wrists, legs, and ankles, and with chains of heavy
- gold beads round their necks, and in their hands the rods of office
- with <span class="pagenum" id="Page_294">294</span>the beaten gold sun images on the tops, gold ferules at the ends,
- or copper battle-axes and spearheads thickly plated with gold—for
- all these are articles plentifully found with the buried ancients of
- Rhodesia.</p>
-
- <p>One can almost see the vantage grounds seized by the younger members
- of the ancient crowd to view such spectacles, for on the same granite
- cliff-ledges, foot-polished by ages of wear, the young men of the
- Makalanga love to climb and squat.</p>
-
- <p>At the lower end of the passage, and near the two ancient forts which
- protect its south-eastern extremity, would be the soldiery in readiness
- to take up their position in guarding the caravan. One can realise how
- the ancients climbed on to the boulders at the very summit of Zimbabwe
- Hill to strain anxious eyes in watching the progress of the convoy
- down the valley towards the south-east till it disappeared in the blue
- distance of the lower land.</p>
-
- <p>Romance is most undoubtedly buried on the floors of all Zimbabwe ruins
- throughout Rhodesia, but Romance rivalling that of Rider Haggard at his
- best pervades the massive walls of this ancient ascent as it insinuates
- its upward way along the precipitous side of Zimbabwe Hill.</p>
-
- <h3>WESTERN ENCLOSURE</h3>
-
- <p>To reach the <em>Western Temple</em> on the hill from the <em>South-East Ancient
- Ascent</em>, the <em>Western Enclosure</em> must first be crossed, seeing that the
- <em>Higher Parapet</em> path is now become dangerous.</p>
-
- <p>This enclosure lies on the west side of the main west wall of the
- <em>Western Temple</em>. The highest part of the enclosure—the east—is 212
- ft., and the lowest—the west part—is 205 ft. above the valley. The main
- west wall of the <em>Western Temple</em> forms its easterly boundary for 71
- ft., the other walls making the enclosure nearly square. The wall on
- the north side is 52 ft. long, 4 ft. to 6 ft. high, and 3 ft. to 4 ft.
- wide on<span class="pagenum" id="Page_295">295</span> present summit. The west wall is 81 ft. long, and similar in
- width and height. The south side, with no wall now remaining, is 61 ft.
- long, and at 4 ft. to 7 ft. below the south edge, on the outside of
- this enclosure, runs the <em>Higher Parapet</em> previously described.</p>
-
- <p>None of these enclosing walls, except, of course, the main wall of the
- temple, are ancient. They are rudely built, or, rather, neatly piled.
- This is obviously Makalanga work of a generation or two past, and the
- Zimbabwe Makalanga admit this to be the case. But at several points the
- walls run on ancient foundations. These modern natives, in imitation of
- the monoliths on the temple wall above, have erected a slate monolith
- on their north wall, but upside down. Slate beams, evidently fallen
- from the wall above, have been used by the Makalanga as building
- material, as using them saved labour.</p>
-
- <p>But there are strong evidences that the builders of the ruins
- themselves used this ground as an enclosure, and these in addition to
- the remains of the enclosing walls’ foundations. At a distance of 15
- ft. in front of the main wall of the temple is a wall built in good
- style and, till recently, perfectly buried in soil. This portion of a
- wall runs from north-east to south-west for 7 ft. 6 in., and is 2 ft. 6
- in. high, ending at each extremity abruptly, the south-west end showing
- a tendency to curve more to the south.</p>
-
- <p>Also in the north-east corner and at the foot of the main wall of the
- temple, and at 7 ft. and 15 ft. respectively from it, there are very
- decided traces of terrace walls, with parapets descending into the
- interior of the enclosure. The probable purpose of these terraced walls
- is alluded to in the description of the <em>Western Parapet</em>, as this
- parapet runs through other enclosures described later.</p>
-
- <p>The drop of 7 ft. towards the west in the level of the surface of this
- enclosure rather tends to support the theory advanced by Messrs. Bent
- and Swan that the main west wall<span class="pagenum" id="Page_296">296</span> of the <em>Western Temple</em> once stood
- some yards more to the west of the present west main wall. This theory
- is at present somewhat difficult to accept, for the existing wall is
- the widest wall yet known in any ruin in Rhodesia, not excepting the
- huge main walls of the <em>Elliptical Temple</em> in the valley. This main
- wall of the <em>Western Temple</em> is 11 ft. wide on its summit at 18 ft.
- above the ground. Still there are other points, mentioned later in
- connection with the <em>Western Temple</em>, which would seem to support
- Messrs. Bent and Swan’s theory.</p>
-
- <p>Passing from the <em>Ascent</em>, along the south side of this enclosure,
- climbing the wall débris in front, and passing through a gap in the
- dilapidated part of the main wall directly opposite, one enters the
- <em>Western Temple</em> at its south-west corner.</p>
-
- <hr class="page" />
- <div class="chapter" id="CHAPTER_XV">
- <span class="pagenum" id="Page_297">297</span>
- <h2>
- CHAPTER XV<br /><br />
- <span class="small">THE ACROPOLIS RUINS<br />(<i>Continued</i>)</span>
- </h2>
- </div>
- <div class="subheadc">The Western Temple</div>
-
- <p class="drop-cap">THIS temple is the most westerly portion of the main ruins on <em>Zimbabwe
- Hill</em>, and is built upon the steep edge of the western side of the
- kopje at 220 ft. above the valley and also immediately on the summit
- of the precipice, some 90 ft. in height, which runs along the south
- face of the hill. A splendid view of the <em>Elliptical Temple</em> in the
- valley, as well as of the many ruins within the <em>Zimbabwe Reserve</em>, is
- obtainable from this point.</p>
-
- <p>The <em>Western Temple</em> has the form of an amphitheatre, its area being
- in the shape of a little less than a quarter of a circle, the centre
- from which the south and north walls radiate being at its most easterly
- point and 122 ft. from the centre of the inner face of the massive main
- west wall which curves with a magnificently bold and perfect sweep
- towards due west, connects the north and south walls at their westerly
- extremities, and runs for 137 ft. on its inner face from south-west to
- north-west.</p>
-
- <p>This curved west wall is the most massive structure so far discovered
- in any ancient ruin in Rhodesia, though it is not the longest. It has a
- width of summit at 25 ft. from the ground of 14 ft. 6 in., the general
- average width being 11 ft., and is still liberally decorated with huge
- granite and slate monoliths and a row of small conical towers which are
- now more or less imperfect.</p>
-
- <p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_298">298</span></p>
-
- <p>The lengths of the walls along their inner faces are as follows: north
- wall, 90 ft.; south wall, with gaps, 127 ft.; and the curved west wall,
- 137 ft.</p>
-
- <p>The present surface of the area is very irregular owing to the soil and
- wall débris having been piled up at several points by excavators whose
- trenches and digging are still to be seen. Disregarding these piles the
- highest part of the area is at its eastern end, the lowest being at the
- inside base of the west wall.</p>
-
- <p><em>North wall.</em>—This wall may be divided into several lengths from east
- to north. The 22 ft. length from the east reaches to <em>The Platform
- Cave</em>. This length of wall supports <em>The Platform</em> on its south-west
- side. Here the wall is 12 ft. high, measuring from the present surface
- of the temple, which is, so far as can be ascertained, some 3 ft. to
- 5 ft. above the highest and latest ancient floor. Towards the 15 ft.
- point the wall is carried over a huge boulder 11 ft. high, also over a
- smaller boulder partly resting on the first boulder and partly against
- another boulder, which forms part of the north side of <em>The Platform
- Cave</em>, along which boulders the height of the wall is 11 ft. over the
- large boulder, and 6 ft. over the smaller and higher one, but including
- the height of a rounded end of wall on <em>The Platform</em> above which is
- built upon this wall, the height of the wall above the smaller boulder
- is 11 ft.</p>
-
- <p>The 14 ft. length of this wall clears the entrance to <em>The Platform
- Cave</em> and the steps, now dilapidated, leading from the floor of the
- temple to the upper flight of steps to <em>The Platform</em>. In addition to
- these steps on the west side of the cave, there was once a wall on the
- summit of the boulder up which the steps ran, but the boulder is now
- bare save for a small cap of red <i>daga</i> (clay) which once formed the
- foundation of a small Makalanga granary, such positions being usually
- selected on account of their freedom from white ants.</p>
-
- <p>The 28 ft. length is built upon and along the top of a long boulder.
- This wall on its inner face is in good condition,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_299">299</span> but its back part
- which forms a portion of the south wall of the <em>Platform Enclosure</em> is
- very dilapidated. The heights of this wall are 7 ft. 6 in., 10 ft., and
- 5 ft. at three different points going north-west. The last 7 ft. of
- this length is a gap, the foundations only remaining.</p>
-
- <p>The 26 ft. length of this wall extends from the gap to the inside of
- the north end of the main west wall, where it acts as the south side
- of the west extremity of the deep passage recently unburied which runs
- down the centre of the <em>Platform Enclosure</em>. It is 5 ft. to 6 ft. high
- on the temple side. This 26 ft. length of wall has been very seriously
- damaged by roots of large trees.</p>
-
- <p>The widths of the summits of the north wall range between 3 ft. 6
- in. and 5 ft., but as <em>The Platform</em> ends where the west end of <em>The
- Platform</em> comes flush to the temple face of the wall, it is difficult
- to state any width, but still it must be exceptionally wide to carry
- the wall which here rises to 18 ft. from the present filled-in level of
- the centre of the temple.</p>
-
- <p><em>West wall.</em>—The west wall of the temple runs from north-west to
- south-west, and is 137 ft. long on its inner face, and may, for the
- purposes of this description, be divided into two lengths, <i>i.e.</i>, 29
- ft. and 108 ft. commencing at its north end.</p>
-
- <p>The 29 ft. length extends from the north end of the west wall to the
- south-west side of a divisional wall of the same height, but only 4 ft.
- wide on its summit, which is built up against the inner face of the
- main west wall and protrudes 9 ft. into the temple in a south-easterly
- direction. This divisional wall has a drain-hole right through it at 6
- ft. below its summit. It is evident that the bottom of the drain, which
- passes through dry masonry, once had a lining of cement which resembles
- in make and quality that used in the lowest floor of the temple. This
- length of the main wall is still intact.</p>
-
- <p>The 108 ft. length extends from the south-west side of the divisional
- wall just mentioned to the southern extremity of<span class="pagenum" id="Page_300">300</span> the main wall. At 10
- ft. south of this divisional wall is the lowest point in the interior
- of the temple. At 33 ft. along this length, still measuring in a
- southerly direction, the wall has been considerably damaged, there
- being a wide and deep gap on the outer side and a depression in the
- general line of summit of the wall on its inner face. From this point
- in this length to 86 ft. the wall is again intact, and at its original
- height. The last 22 ft. of the 108 ft. length is very considerably
- dilapidated. The west wall terminates on the south-south-west in a
- rounded end, the lower part of which is exceedingly well built and
- stands 11 ft. above the ground. This rounded end is one of the two
- rounded buttresses which form the north or right-hand side of the
- west end of the <em>Parallel Passage</em> on approaching it from the <em>Higher
- Parapet</em>.</p>
-
- <p>The widths of the west wall at the summit are as follows: north
- extremity, 13 ft. 8 in.; at north end of the 108 ft. length, 14 ft. 6
- in.; at the gap, 2 ft. to 3 ft.; at south-south-west of gap, 12 ft. The
- gap is 23 ft. long on the inner part and 29 ft. long on the outer or
- west side.</p>
-
- <p>The heights of the wall above the present levels of the ground, outside
- and inside, are as follows: northern extremity, 25 ft. outside, and
- 6 ft. inside; at northern extremity of the 108 ft. length, 22 ft.
- outside, and 16 ft. inside; at south-west of gap, 21 ft. outside, and
- 10 ft. 6 in. inside. The 22 ft. portion of the 108 ft. length is simply
- a great pile of wall débris. The outside measurements are taken from
- the top of the <em>Western Parapet</em>, which runs along at the foot of the
- west face of the wall.</p>
-
- <p>There are two points which will make this curved west wall of great
- interest to archæologists:—</p>
-
- <p>(1) It has the widest summit of any ancient wall yet discovered in
- Rhodesia, and</p>
-
- <p>(2) The <em>Monoliths</em> and <em>Conical Towers</em> alternating along its summit.
- It should be stated that there are two lengths of summits of this wall
- still remaining intact at their original <span class="pagenum" id="Page_301">301</span>heights. One length is at
- the northern end of the wall, and is 44 ft. in length, and the other at
- the south of the gap, and this is 46 ft. in length.</p>
-
- <div class="figcenter" id="i_300a">
- <img src="images/i_300a.jpg" width="445" height="550" alt="" />
- <div class="caption">ENTRANCE TO COVERED PASSAGE, WESTERN TEMPLE, ACROPOLIS</div>
- </div>
-
- <div class="figcenter" id="i_300b">
- <img src="images/i_300b.jpg" width="446" height="550" alt="" />
- <div class="caption">SMALL TOWER ON WEST WALL OF WESTERN TEMPLE, ACROPOLIS</div>
- </div>
-
- <p>On the first line of summit the centres of the towers, foundations,
- or traces, are at the following points, measuring from the northern
- end: 6 ft., north face of tower 2 ft. high only now remains; 12 ft.,
- foundations of tower with débris stones with rounded faces; 18 ft.,
- portion of foundation only; 24 ft., tower in good condition to 2 ft.
- in height; 30 ft., ditto; 36 ft., débris only; and 42 ft., traces of
- foundation and débris.</p>
-
- <p>On this length of summit there are three slate monoliths with tops,
- some fractured, standing 3 ft. to 5 ft. above the summit of the wall.
- These are practically equi-distant. Two other slate monoliths were
- found in the débris at the outer base of the wall, and judging by the
- spot where found, there are probably two others still buried in the
- débris.</p>
-
- <p>On the second line of summit, which extends for 46 ft. from south of
- the gap, one round tower remains intact to a height of 3 ft. 6 in.,
- where it has a diameter of 3 ft. 4 in. The towers or traces of towers
- on this line of summit are at the following points, commencing from the
- gap; 4 ft., tower, the most perfect specimen remaining; 10 ft., traces
- of tower; 15 ft., ditto; 20 ft., foundations only; 27 ft., ditto; 33
- ft., traces; 42 ft., ditto.</p>
-
- <p>On this line of summit there are four slate monoliths, more or less
- erect, standing at equi-distant points. One flat granite monolith
- lies on the wall by the side of the hole in which it once stood. One
- slate monolith was found at the outer base of the wall where the gap
- divides the two lines of summits. The heights of these monoliths, some
- fractured, range from 5 ft. to 9 ft. above the summit of the wall. One
- of these must, in all probability, be 15 ft. long.</p>
-
- <p>There seems to be little doubt that these towers, as erected
- originally, were conical. The most perfect tower shows a very decided
- drawing-in of the upper courses, while among<span class="pagenum" id="Page_302">302</span> the débris of each tower
- are smaller blocks, showing by the contracted curve of their rounded
- faces that the courses they represented had much smaller radii than
- those of the courses below.</p>
-
- <p><i>Architecture and construction of west wall.</i>—Both the architecture
- and construction of this wall are most obviously of the First Zimbabwe
- Period; but most of the material used is of an inferior quality to that
- in the other walls of this temple. This is patent to anyone inspecting
- the western face of the wall, where very many of the granite blocks
- are cracked, and in some places considerably decomposed. Some of the
- courses are also very irregular, and have steep gradients, while
- many courses disappear, or are false in order to restore the level
- of depressed courses, besides which the blocks vary greatly in size.
- Still, the wall does not show any other feature of the Second Period
- Zimbabwe architecture. As stated before, it is undoubtedly the most
- massive wall of any ancient ruin yet discovered in Rhodesia, but it was
- most probably built, or rather reconstructed, during a late portion
- of the First Period, and, as Bent suggests, later than other walls
- of this temple. He further suggests that this is a reconstruction
- of the west wall on a curve some yards further east of its original
- position. In the description of the <em>Western Enclosure</em> (see later),
- of which this wall forms the eastern side, it is stated that there
- is much difficulty in accepting this conjecture. The opportunities
- opened to the author for examining the ground to the west of the wall
- were far better than those opened to Bent, and the failure to discover
- any ancient foundation which could have carried even a much smaller
- wall was complete; in fact, no foundations whatever anywhere within
- the point of distance mentioned by Bent. Moreover, the south end of
- the present wall, as seen at the eastern end of the <em>Higher Parapet</em>,
- is most excellent work, and appears to have been erected at the same
- time as the other walls of this<span class="pagenum" id="Page_303">303</span> temple. Bent’s suggestion as to a
- reconstruction of this wall at a later period is highly probable, but
- this reconstruction was only partial, it did not include the south end,
- and it was upon the original foundations. The radius of the segment of
- the south end demonstrates that the correctness of the curvature of
- this wall would have been destroyed had the reconstructed portion been
- built upon any other line of foundation.</p>
-
- <p><em>South wall.</em>—This wall is the large massive wall seen from the valley
- on the south and west sides of the hill. It is built upon the actual
- brink of the south precipice, and is 78 ft. long, but including the
- foundations in the gap at its eastern extremity, its total length is
- 127 ft.</p>
-
- <p>The first 21 ft. measuring from the western end forms the outer wall of
- the narrow passage from the <em>Higher Parapet</em> in the <em>South-East Ascent</em>
- to the <em>Western Temple</em>, and also forms the south wall of the western
- end of the <em>Parallel Passage</em>. This wall at its western end is much
- reduced by dilapidation, and here its height rising from the bare rock
- of the precipice is 10 ft. above the floor of the passage. The wall at
- this point terminates in a beautifully rounded end, which is a splendid
- work of art, rivalling in this respect the round end of the wall on
- the south side of <em>Pattern Passage</em>. From the western extremity the
- south wall rises in height on its outer face as it extends east to 25
- ft., and 35 ft. for the rest of the wall as far as the gap. Here the
- original summit is practically intact as far as the west side of the
- gap, where the foundations of the wall are level with the ground and
- are about 8 ft. wide. The inside face of the wall above the interior
- surface of the temple ranges from 11 ft. to 17 ft. according as the
- ground rises and falls.</p>
-
- <p>There are no traces of round towers on this wall, but three slate
- monoliths and one of granite are still more or less erect on the higher
- portion of the wall. Two slate monoliths were<span class="pagenum" id="Page_304">304</span> found by the writer
- at the inner base of the wall, and these would have made the line
- equi-distant.</p>
-
- <p><i>East side of temple.</i>—This is 36 ft. long. The first 10 ft. from the
- south side is a débris heap; from 10 ft. to 26 ft. is a wall rounding
- towards the east, and this wall is 18 ft. 6 in. high; 26 ft. to 29 ft.
- is the <em>Covered Passage</em> where the wall is 9 ft. over the passage; 29
- ft. to 36 ft. is a wall extending to <em>The Platform</em>, where the height
- of the wall is 14 ft. from the lower end of the boulder some 9 ft.
- above the pile of débris lying on the floor. It is at this point that
- the north wall before described commences.</p>
-
- <p><i>Centre of arc.</i>—Schlichter suggested that the centres of the arcs of
- those massive and decorated walls, which are curved either towards the
- west or east, might have had some peculiar importance in the minds of
- the ancient builders. This suggestion is based on his examination, not
- only of the temples at Zimbabwe, but of the larger elliptical buildings
- elsewhere in the country.</p>
-
- <p>At the centre of the arc of the curved, decorated, and massively built
- west wall in the <em>Western Temple</em> on the <em>Acropolis</em> (and this is the
- widest wall yet discovered in Rhodesia) a discovery has been made which
- may possibly bear on the question of the orientation of these temples,
- though in the matter of orientation or otherwise it would be much
- safer to keep an open mind till more information can be placed before
- accredited experts acquainted with this branch of science.</p>
-
- <p>The spot marked R on Bent’s plan—“centre of arc of great wall”—was
- covered on the surface by a very old Makalanga <i>daga</i> floor broken in
- pieces by an old and decayed tree. These loose slabs of clay flooring
- having been removed, about 2 ft. depth of blocks and soil was found.
- The blocks had no relative position to one another, and they were in
- all positions. Immediately below this débris was found a yellow granite
- cement structure. This is semi<span class="pagenum" id="Page_305">305</span>-circular in shape, measuring 11 ft. 8
- in. round the curved base from end to end. The straight back part is 6
- ft. 3 in. across. The structure is formed by two rounded curved rims,
- one on the other, the top one receding 4 in. from the face of the lower
- one. The lower rim is 1 ft. high, and the upper one 8 in. The structure
- is hollow to a depth of 9 in., and the interior extends evenly all
- round to within 10 in. from the front upper face of the structure.</p>
-
- <p>At 8 ft. 6 in. from the centre of the front of this structure, and
- immediately due south behind it, is a granite cement cone in splendid
- condition. This cone is 4 ft. 11 in. in circumference at base, and is
- 1 ft. 4 in. high. At 10 in. due east of the first cone is a smaller
- one with a circumference at base of 2 ft. 4 in., and this is 6 in.
- high. The semi-circular structure and the two cones are connected by a
- flooring of the same excellent quality of cement, and are structurally
- one.</p>
-
- <p>On following the cement floor towards the north-east it was found to
- be decomposed by water and to have become like bright yellow clay. The
- lowest part of the surface of the interior of the eastern end of this
- temple is at this point, and from it rain-water could not escape. This
- decomposed cement was swagged and depressed considerably by the damp,
- but it was easily followed for 28 ft. 6 in. The granite cement floor
- runs in all directions from the semi-circular structure, but in most
- parts it is still solid, exceedingly hard, and in good condition.</p>
-
- <p>At the 28 ft. 6 in. point and at 5 ft. below the filled-in surface
- of the interior of the temple a cement cylinder was found. This is
- beautifully rounded and has four bevelled bosses, equi-distant, on
- its side. The cylinder was found upon a platform of the best cement
- yet discovered at Zimbabwe. It has a diameter of 1 ft. 8 in., is 5
- in. high, and has a circumference at the curved-in base of rounded
- side of 4 ft. 2 in. The bosses or knobs, which are bevelled, project<span class="pagenum" id="Page_306">306</span>
- outwards 1 in. The side is formed by three flat bevelled faces running
- all round, the centre bevelled face projecting half an inch beyond
- the others. The top is level, and the bottom part curves inwards at
- its base. The cylinder is perfectly free of any damage and is without
- the slightest scratch on its smooth surface. The workmanship is of
- so excellent a character that it is still almost equal in design and
- construction to any similar object that could be turned out at a
- European workshop.</p>
-
- <p>The cylinder stands on a platform at 3 ft. 6 in. from its front on west
- side, the face of the platform being formed of two almost semi-circular
- faces meeting and turning inwards some few inches eastwards towards the
- cylinder. The platform is 1 ft. 1 in. high on the northern curve, the
- southern extremity being well rounded off, while the northern extremity
- runs into and under a bank of débris not yet cleared away.</p>
-
- <p>The “finds” at the centre of the arc in this temple included the usual
- unpleasing emblems of Nature Worship; a piece of forked iron, more
- rust than iron, with six gold bosses the size of peas at equi-distant
- points; these are riveted on the iron with corresponding gold bosses on
- the opposite side, the rivets through the iron being of gold; a sheet
- of beaten gold 3½ in. by 2¼ in., also some fragments of beaten gold and
- gold tacks; fragments of soapstone bowls and beams, old pottery, some
- peculiarly shaped natural stones, including serpentine stones, and an
- Isafuba game stone.</p>
-
- <p>The “finds” at the cylinder were three large black beads with white
- lines possibly identical with a similar bead found by Bent on the
- Acropolis, to which (p. 205) he ascribes a very great age; also under
- the curved-in side of the cylinder were scratched out some fifty light
- green beads with encircling ribs, and these both local Makalanga and
- Barotse natives state are completely strange to them; some yellow and
- green glass beads of microscopic size, the holes being scarcely visible
- with<span class="pagenum" id="Page_307">307</span>out the aid of a magnifying glass; a miniature phallus carved,
- old pottery, and a small block of mica split up into sheets. In the
- side of the trench on a clay floor 1 ft. above, and at the back of
- the cylinder, is a stratum of ashes out of which a quantity of beaten
- copper sheetings, copper tacks, a large copper battle-axe, and a very
- thick copper bangle were drawn.</p>
-
- <p>Above the cylinder were at least four floors with ashes on each, and
- the remains of a furnace on two of them. Above the top floor were 3 ft.
- of very hard soil, and 18 in. of black soil, and on the top were the
- remains of a decayed tree, which must have been at least fifty or sixty
- years old.</p>
-
- <p><em>Covered Passage.</em>—This passage is at the eastern end of the temple, to
- which it served as an approach from <em>The Platform</em>. It is 2 ft. wide,
- 6 ft. 6 in. high, has a rounded end on the north side, is 10 ft. long,
- and the high wall over it is supported by five large slate lintels. The
- passage opens out at the east end at the foot of <em>The Winding Stairs</em>.
- In the passage the writer found (August, 1902) a Makalanga grave, and
- with the permission of the local chief, the skeletal remains were
- removed and re-interred elsewhere.</p>
-
- <p><em>Platform Cave.</em>—This cave is immediately below <em>The Platform</em>, and
- opens on to the floor of the temple. It is 8 ft. to 10 ft. high
- throughout a length of 22 ft. At 11 ft. from the entrance the width
- is 2 ft. 10 in., and at the innermost point 4 ft. 6 in., where it is
- walled up with blocks. The cave is formed by an immense boulder on
- the east side and by two large boulders on the west side. It had two
- floors, the higher floor being 4 ft. above the lower one. The top
- floor, which was of red clay, was obviously of Makalanga make, but the
- lower one, which is made of granite cement, is believed to be of a late
- ancient period. Probably a still more ancient flooring may be found
- lower. On the top floor was a modern Makalanga grave, and the remains
- were removed elsewhere and re-interred. On the lower floor some of the
- fragments of the decorated soapstone found by Bent, and of<span class="pagenum" id="Page_308">308</span> which he
- mentions what fragments were missing, were discovered by the writer
- within a few feet of the spot where Bent found the larger portions of
- this beam.</p>
-
- <p><em>Stairs to Platform.</em>—The entrance to the <em>Platform Cave</em> is narrowed
- by the lower steps of a flight of stairs rising from the interior of
- the temple over the two boulders, which form the northern side of
- the cave, up to the upper flight of stairs on the north side of <em>The
- Platform</em>. The steps are considerably ruined, but can be traced, the
- stones being covered with a cement not believed to be ancient.</p>
-
- <p><em>Parallel Passage.</em>—This passage extends from the point where the
- <em>Higher Parapet</em> enters the temple at its south-west corner, the south
- wall of the temple forming its south side. The eastern extremity of
- this passage is at the wide gap in the south wall. Its total length
- is 71 ft. The walls on the north side vary in height from 5 ft. to 13
- ft., according to the rise and fall of its floor. Its width varies
- from 2 ft. to 3 ft. Half-way along are traces of steps, also at its
- lowest point. This <em>Parallel Passage</em> appears to be similar in purpose,
- so far as can be surmised, to that of the <em>Parallel Passage</em> in the
- <em>Elliptical Temple</em> in the valley.</p>
-
- <p><em>Internal walls.</em>—These are five in number, so far as discoveries
- have been made; and for the purposes of this description, and for the
- assistance of visitors, are lettered A to E on boards affixed to the
- walls.</p>
-
- <p><i>A.</i> This is the wall mentioned in the description of the main west
- wall as being built up against the inner face of the main wall, and as
- protruding 9 ft. into the temple in a south-easterly direction.</p>
-
- <p><i>B.</i> This is a small isolated section of a wall with broken ends, and
- is 28 ft. south-west of the north wall, and 38 ft. from the west wall.
- It is 4 ft. long, 2 ft. 6 in. wide, 4 ft. high, and its faced sides are
- north-east and south-west.</p>
-
- <p><i>C.</i> A small isolated section of wall 38 ft. 6 in. from the north wall,
- and 44 ft. from the west wall. It is 5 ft. high and <span class="pagenum" id="Page_309">309</span>7 ft. wide, and
- its ends are broken. Its faces are fairly well built, its foundations
- rest on made ground, and red clay, not cement, can be seen on the
- trench all round the wall.</p>
-
- <div class="figcenter" id="i_308a">
- <img src="images/i_308a.jpg" width="442" height="550" alt="" />
- <div class="caption">WEST ENTRANCE TO PARALLEL PASSAGE, WESTERN TEMPLE, ACROPOLIS</div>
- </div>
-
- <div class="figcenter" id="i_308b">
- <img src="images/i_308b.jpg" width="440" height="550" alt="" />
- <div class="caption">BUTTRESS PASSAGE, ACROPOLIS</div>
- </div>
-
- <p><i>D.</i> A large wall stands at 9 ft. 6 in. from the west wall at a point
- 42 ft. north from the south end of that wall. It has an abrupt and
- unfinished end facing south, from which end it rounds boldly towards
- the east, where it appears to terminate in a bank of soil debris. The
- quality of material and workmanship displayed in this wall are very
- similar to those of the west wall. Its height is 9 ft. where it faces
- the south, but where it faces west is a portion of wall 6 ft. high
- erected on its summit, and this upper wall is 6 ft. long and 4 ft.
- wide, being rounded at its end facing west. The sides of the upper and
- lower walls are flush to each other.</p>
-
- <p><i>E.</i> At the foot of the boulder over which the north wall is carried
- is a trench, and at a depth of 4 ft. below the present level of the
- interior of the temple is a very strong cemented floor, on which stands
- about 4 sq. ft. of the rounded end of a cement wall of most excellent
- material and make. These are believed to be ancient, and if such be
- the case, then no antiquity could be claimed for walls B and C, which
- are built upon the filled-in soil of a higher level. The remains of a
- rounded stone buttress are also to be seen in this trench. This trench
- was sunk through the red clay of a Makalanga threshing-floor.</p>
-
- <p><i>Sections of floors.</i>—Three sections of what are believed to be ancient
- floors can be seen in the cutting at the angle formed by the north
- and west walls. At 5 ft. below the present surface of the temple is
- an ancient floor of strong yellow granite cement 1 ft. 4 in. thick;
- above this is a red cement floor 1 ft. thick; above this is another red
- cement floor 1 ft. 2 in. thick; while the top floor is made of ordinary
- Makalanga clay. A red cement bed lies under the lowest floor.</p>
-
- <hr class="page" />
- <div class="chapter" id="CHAPTER_XVI">
- <span class="pagenum" id="Page_310">310</span>
- <h2>
- CHAPTER XVI<br /><br />
- <span class="small">THE ACROPOLIS RUINS<br />(<i>Continued</i>)</span>
- </h2>
- </div>
- <div class="subheadj">Platform Enclosure—Cleft Rock Enclosure—The Platform—Balcony
- Wall—Little Enclosure—The Winding Stairs—Upper Passage—East
- Passage—Buttress Passage—South Enclosures A, B, and C—South
- Cave—South Passage—Central Passage.</div>
-
- <h3>PLATFORM ENCLOSURE</h3>
-
- <p class="drop-cap">THIS enclosure is on the north side of the <em>Western Temple</em>, and
- immediately at the foot of the stairs leading up the north-west side
- of <em>The Platform</em>. The east side is 46 ft. long, and is formed by a
- wall 19 ft. high and 7 ft. wide at 5 ft. above the present level of
- the interior. The north wall is 33 ft. along its face, and including
- a rounded corner at the north-east. It is 3 ft. wide at its present
- reduced height, which averages from 2 ft. 6 in. to 5 ft. above the rock
- floor. The north wall is built upon the edge of a high boulder, which
- boulder forms the floor of the enclosure on its north side. From north
- to north-west is an open space enclosed by a Makalanga-built wall which
- is carried across and blocks up an ancient entrance. From north-west to
- south the wall is 51 ft. long, and forms part of the north wall of the
- <em>Western Temple</em>. It is 4 ft. 6 in. wide on its present reduced summit,
- which is very dilapidated, its length including a wide gap. The extreme
- south-eastern side is formed by the walls supporting the steps from
- this enclosure to the summit of <em>The Platform</em>.</p>
-
- <p>In the south-east corner of this enclosure is a passage<span class="pagenum" id="Page_311">311</span> leading into
- the <em>Cleft Rock Enclosure</em>. This passage is 10 ft. long, the walls on
- either side are 6 ft. in height, and the width varies from 2 ft. to
- 4 ft. 10 in. This passage was only discovered in July, 1902, when it
- was found to contain a Makalanga grave apparently about twenty years
- old. The remains were removed and re-interred at the right side of the
- entrance to the <em>Cleft Rock Enclosure</em>. There were traces of steps in
- this passage, but these had been destroyed by masses of falling débris.</p>
-
- <p>On the east side and at 21 ft. from this passage is a large squared
- entrance, also leading into <em>Cleft Rock Enclosure</em>. This appears
- to be a reconstruction of an older entrance or a late construction
- altogether, or possibly a new entrance through an old wall. The
- entrance is 6 ft. high, 2 ft. 6 in. wide, 7 ft. long, and has squared
- walls. Most probably this entrance was originally covered, for the
- remains of slate lintels can be seen on either side in the wall above
- it, and quantities of long pieces of fractured slate beams were found
- on its floor.</p>
-
- <p>The area of this enclosure is divided into different levels. The floor
- on the south-west side for 28 ft. by 14 ft. is formed by the top of a
- huge flat-topped boulder. The floor at the extreme north is also formed
- by the top of a boulder. The middle portion between these two floors
- consists of a depression of some 10 ft. to 14 ft. lower than the rock
- floors on either side, the lowest portion being at the north-west end.</p>
-
- <p>In this depression, and running from the north-west toward the squared
- entrance in the east wall, is a deep and narrow passage, the wall of
- which on the south-west side is the retaining wall for the higher floor
- on that side. The north-east wall of the passage appears to have been
- a Makalanga reconstruction of an ancient wall, especially as several
- of the walls in the immediate vicinity are undoubtedly Makalanga, and
- claimed by them as such, and, moreover, Makalanga articles were found
- at the base of its foundation. Still, the<span class="pagenum" id="Page_312">312</span> wall is so dilapidated that
- it is difficult to state one’s opinion as to its age. This passage runs
- west for 72 ft. throughout the length of this enclosure, and passes
- out on to the <em>Western Parapet</em>, which runs along the west base of the
- west wall of the <em>Western Temple</em>. The width of the passage varies
- from 2 ft. to 4 ft., and with side walls averaging in height 5 ft. to
- 14 ft. on the south side, and 4 ft. to 7 ft. on the north side. In
- the description of the newly discovered <em>North-West Ancient Ascent</em>,
- it will be seen that this passage forms an important section in that
- ascent.</p>
-
- <p>At the south-east corner of the enclosure, and extending for 6 ft. from
- the east wall, is a small wall of three different faces at different
- levels all facing north. It was evidently intended to act as a buttress
- to the steps from <em>The Platform</em> down into the narrow passage between
- the two side floors of this enclosure.</p>
-
- <h3>CLEFT ROCK ENCLOSURE</h3>
-
- <p>This enclosure lies to the east of the <em>Platform Enclosure</em>, and its
- west wall is the same as forms the east wall of that enclosure. At all
- other points its sides are formed by cliffs and large boulders rising
- to the height of some 50 ft. and 60 ft. The west side is 46 ft. long,
- and its north and south sides are about 86 ft. each in length, these
- meeting at their extreme east.</p>
-
- <p><em>Cleft Rock</em>, which is so very often seen in photographs of the
- Zimbabwe ruins, rises for about 25 ft. above the surface of the
- enclosure on its north side and extends downwards for 15 ft. below it
- on the outside. It is 3 ft. 10 in. to 4 ft. 6 in. wide throughout.
- Possibly it was an ancient ascent from the <em>Rock Holes Walk</em>, as a
- quantity of wall débris lies at its outside base.</p>
-
- <p>All the divisional walls of the interior are undoubtedly of Makalanga
- construction, and the local Makalanga claim them as having been made
- early in the time of Mokomo, <span class="pagenum" id="Page_313">313</span>the previous Zimbabwe chief, whose
- kraal occupied the north summit of this hill. This remark does not
- apply to the buttresses on either side of the west entrance.</p>
-
- <div class="figcenter" id="i_312a">
- <img src="images/i_312a.jpg" width="435" height="550" alt="" />
- <div class="caption">THE CLEFT ROCK, CLEFT ROCK ENCLOSURE, LOOKING SOUTH FROM
- EXTERIOR, ACROPOLIS</div>
- </div>
-
- <div class="figcenter" id="i_312b">
- <img src="images/i_312b.jpg" width="430" height="550" alt="" />
- <div class="caption">A NATURAL ARCHWAY IN CENTRAL PASSAGE, ACROPOLIS</div>
- </div>
-
- <p>The enclosure is approached on the south-west by the recently opened
- passage at the north foot of <em>The Platform</em> steps, also on the west by
- the squared entrance from the <em>Platform Enclosure</em>, and on the south
- it is believed to have had an entrance through the <em>Buttress Passage</em>
- (described later). The huge pile of stone-wall débris on the south
- side was recently stacked here, having been removed from the <em>Platform
- Enclosure</em> and passage.</p>
-
- <h3>THE PLATFORM</h3>
-
- <p>This is an elevated position at the east corner of the <em>Western
- Temple</em>, commanding a splendid view of the whole of the interior of
- the temple and of the surrounding enclosures. It appears to have been
- erected for the same purposes as were <em>The Platform</em> in the <em>Elliptical
- Temple</em> in the valley, and the <em>Ancient Balcony</em> in the <em>Eastern
- Temple</em> on the hill.</p>
-
- <p>Its height is 27 ft. 6 in. above the present floor of the temple, and
- about 32 ft. above any of its ancient floors. It is 250 ft. above the
- level of the valley. The summit of <em>The Platform</em> projects out towards
- the west from the upper face of a huge boulder which forms the west end
- of the cliffs and boulders which ridge along the summit of this hill.</p>
-
- <p>A wall 2 ft. high and from 1 ft. 10 in. to 2 ft. 6 in. wide runs west
- from the boulder at the back across the centre of <em>The Platform</em> and
- terminates in a rounded end overlooking the temple. On the east side of
- this low wall is an embrasure 3 ft. wide, also overlooking the temple,
- at the south end of which is a parapet wall now from 1 ft. to 3 ft.
- high and 12 ft. long, also on the edge of the temple wall. This forms
- the west side of the approach to <em>The Platform</em> from the south, which
- is further formed by the <em>Winding Stairs</em>.</p>
-
- <p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_314">314</span></p>
-
- <p>On the north side of <em>The Platform</em> is a flight of stairs, now
- considerably ruined by roots of trees forcing out the steps. This
- flight ascends from the granite rock floor of the <em>Platform Enclosure</em>
- from between two rounded buttresses. Half-way up the steps pass between
- two small, low walls, the space between them being 2 ft. These walls
- are parallel for a few feet, but as the steps descend they round off
- on each side away from the steps. This flight of stairs is the last
- and highest section of the <em>North-West Ancient Ascent</em> from the valley
- where are the large water-holes or dongas (see <em>North-West Ancient
- Ascent</em>).</p>
-
- <p>At the top of these steps and on the east side of <em>The Platform</em> is the
- celebrated <em>Dentelle Pattern</em>.</p>
-
- <p>This ancient wall decoration is the sixth yet discovered in Rhodesia,
- and until more is known of the similar pattern at Matendele Ruins, it
- can be tentatively concluded that this pattern on <em>The Platform</em> is by
- far the best and the most complete specimen extant in Rhodesia.</p>
-
- <p>Its present dimensions are 3 ft. 6 in. wide and 3 ft. 6 in. high,
- and it consists of four columns of small, shallow blocks laid flat,
- with corners outwards, and flush with each other, each block thus
- showing two faces, the whole enclosed on top, bottom, and south sides
- by an angular frame of large blocks. The north side of the frame has
- disappeared. It is probable that this pattern once possessed a fifth
- column of dentelle blocks, as the foundations, providing sufficient
- space for another column, still remain, and there are more of these
- small blocks lying in the débris below, each with two faces, generally
- time-worn. This pattern faces west, but very slightly to the south of
- west. In the summer of the Southern Hemisphere it exactly faces the
- setting sun, the great slanting monolith then being between it and the
- setting sun.</p>
-
- <p>The other special features of <em>The Platform</em> are the <em>Monoliths</em>.</p>
-
- <p>Two tall and flat-faced granite monoliths are still standing <span class="pagenum" id="Page_315">315</span>on
- <em>The Platform</em>, while one slate monolith lies prone on the south floor
- of <em>The Platform</em>, with a few feet of its length projecting over the
- temple wall. This last monolith is 10 ft. long, and at its centre part
- is 2 ft. 2 in. in circumference. This monolith is intact.</p>
-
- <div class="figcenter" id="i_314a">
- <img src="images/i_314a.jpg" width="432" height="550" alt="" />
- <div class="caption">VIEW OF THE PLATFORM AT WESTERN TEMPLE, ACROPOLIS, FROM
- MAIN WEST WALL</div>
- </div>
-
- <div class="figcenter" id="i_314b">
- <img src="images/i_314b.jpg" width="440" height="550" alt="" />
- <div class="caption">DENTELLE PATTERN ON PLATFORM, WESTERN TEMPLE, ACROPOLIS</div>
- </div>
-
- <p>The heights of the two standing monoliths are: the erect monolith 8 ft.
- above <em>The Platform</em>, and the slanting monolith 11 ft. 6 in., and their
- respective circumferences are 2 ft. 2 in. and 2 ft. 9 in. The one in
- front of the <em>Dentelle Pattern</em> slants considerably to due north.<a id="FNanchor_60" href="#Footnote_60" class="fnanchor">[60]</a>
- Its base, built into the wall, must be of great length to support the
- enormous weight of this large and slanting slab of granite, especially
- as this monolith had once been of greater length. The fracture on its
- top can be seen from the summit of the boulder behind. The fractured
- portion was found at the foot of the stairs, and this measures 3 ft.
- 2 in., thus making the exposed portion of the monolith not less than
- 14 ft. 8 in. in length. There is no evidence of the slanting of the
- monolith having taken place since its erection.</p>
-
- <h3>BALCONY WALL</h3>
-
- <p>This is on the south side of <em>The Platform</em>, from which it is reached.
- The top of this wall is level with the top of the <em>Winding Stairs</em>, and
- it forms the western end of <em>East Passage</em>, and the eastern wall of
- the <em>Western Temple</em>. It is 21 ft. long and from 4 ft. to 6 ft. wide.
- Through it is the <em>Covered Passage</em> (see <em>Western Temple</em>).</p>
-
- <h3>LITTLE ENCLOSURE</h3>
-
- <p>This can be seen from the <em>Balcony Wall</em> between the southern end of
- which and the <em>Upper Passage</em> it lies. It is 8 ft. deep, 5 ft. wide,
- and 11 ft. long. The entrance appears to have been at outside of the
- south-western end of the <em>Upper Passage</em>. It is almost entirely filled
- up with débris. It once had a granite cement dado 3 in. thick on its
- sides, <span class="pagenum" id="Page_316">316</span>some of which still remain intact. It is from this enclosure
- that the drain-hole on the west side of the <em>Upper Passage</em> emerges.</p>
-
- <h3>THE WINDING STAIRS</h3>
-
- <p>These lead from <em>The Platform</em> to the <em>East Passage</em>, which again leads
- to the eastern extremity of the <em>Acropolis Ruins</em>. The stairs are 14
- ft. long, and descend 8 ft., and are 4 ft. to 6 ft. wide. The wall on
- the south side is 4 ft. to 7 ft. high as the stairs descend. The wall
- at the east end is 7 ft. high. The face of a huge boulder forms the
- north side. The foot of the stairs, where they turn towards the south,
- is covered by a narrow wall supported by an old wooden beam. This beam
- is not ancient, but the old Makalanga who occupied these ruins may have
- inserted it to make the stairs safer to use. Fragments of slate lintel
- were found in the débris at the foot of the stairs.</p>
-
- <h3>UPPER PASSAGE</h3>
-
- <p>This passage, which is 28 ft. long, connects the bottom of the <em>Winding
- Stairs</em> and the south side of the interior of the <em>Western Temple</em>. On
- the east side the wall is from 4 ft. 6 in. to 6 ft. high, and 5 ft.
- to 10 ft. on the west side. It is 3 ft. 6 in. wide throughout. It is
- approached at the northern end between buttresses, the one on the west
- side being round, while the one on the eastern side is rounded on the
- inner side and angular on the outer side. On the west side are the
- remains of a drain emerging from the <em>Little Enclosure</em> and a fragment
- of the slate beam which once carried the wall across it is still to
- be seen in the hole. This passage, though at the foot of the <em>Winding
- Stairs</em>, is some 8 ft. higher than the present floor of the <em>Western
- Temple</em>.</p>
-
- <h3>EAST PASSAGE</h3>
-
- <p>This passage is 80 ft. long from the foot of the <em>Winding Stairs</em> to
- the north side of <em>South Enclosure C</em>. At the foot <span class="pagenum" id="Page_317">317</span>of the <em>Winding
- Stairs</em> the passage-way turns east, the north side for 13 ft. being
- a large rounded buttress 6 ft. high. On the south side at this point
- is the eastern end of the <em>Covered Passage</em> leading up from the floor
- of the <em>Western Temple</em>, and a few feet further east is the northern
- entrance to the <em>Upper Passage</em>.</p>
-
- <div class="figcenter" id="i_316a">
- <img src="images/i_316a.jpg" width="440" height="550" alt="" />
- <div class="caption">BOTTOM OF WINDING STAIRS, WESTERN TEMPLE, ACROPOLIS</div>
- </div>
-
- <div class="figcenter" id="i_316b">
- <img src="images/i_316b.jpg" width="417" height="550" alt="" />
- <div class="caption">WEST ENTRANCE TO SOUTH CAVE, ACROPOLIS</div>
- </div>
-
- <p>From the 14 ft. length to the 31 ft. length of the passage going east
- are remains—only very ruined—of cement steps descending to a lower
- level. On the south side of this passage are <em>South Enclosure A</em>,
- <em>South Passage</em>, and <em>South Enclosures B and C</em>. The north side is
- formed by high, cliff-like boulders. The <em>Buttress Passage</em> starts
- north at the north side of the 51 ft. length going east. At the
- entrance to <em>Buttress Passage</em> a tree has lifted up a granite block 6
- ft. from the ground. It is firmly fixed in the bark of the tree.</p>
-
- <h3>BUTTRESS PASSAGE</h3>
-
- <p>This passage runs north and south for 39 ft. between two gigantic
- cliff-boulders on the summit of the hill. This passage connected the
- enclosures on the north and south sides of the cliff. The rocks on
- either side of the passage at its bottom and south end are 50 ft. high
- on the east side, and 35 ft. high on the west side, and at the upper or
- north end are from 15 ft. to 20 ft. high. The path ascends throughout
- its length, and its upper end is 14 ft. above the lower end. The width
- between the rocks varies from 4 ft. to 6 ft., but the top exit of the
- path goes between rocks only 3 ft. apart.</p>
-
- <p>The floor between the two cliffs is artificially made, and near the
- summit it has crowned in, and this crowning-in now bars the ascent to
- the <em>Cleft Rock Enclosure</em>, to which it formed an entrance from the
- south.</p>
-
- <p>The passage has been considerably narrowed by buttresses alternating on
- either side, these making the passage a true zigzag. The first buttress
- at the south end and on the west<span class="pagenum" id="Page_318">318</span> side is much reduced in height, being
- now but 1 ft. 6 in. This buttress is angular, and protrudes 2 ft. On
- the east side is a long rounded buttress, which leaves the passage 2
- ft. wide between it and the first buttress. This second buttress is 4
- ft. high, 7 ft. long, and protrudes 4 ft., the width of the passage
- between it and the opposite cliff being 1 ft. 3 in. The third buttress
- is 17 ft. from the south end of the passage; it is angular, and
- projects from the west side 2 ft., and is now only 2 ft. 6 in. high.
- The fourth buttress is angular on the bottom side and rounded on the
- top side. This projects 3 ft. 6 in. from the west side, and is 5 ft.
- high. Between the third and fourth buttresses the passage is 2 ft.
- wide. Above the fourth buttress the floor has crowned in, and on the
- upper side of the crowning-in is a wall 5 ft. high built across the
- passage. Judging by block débris, this wall, the summit of which is
- level with the floor of the <em>Cleft Rock Enclosure</em>, was once surmounted
- by steps.</p>
-
- <h3>SOUTH ENCLOSURE A</h3>
-
- <p>This enclosure is 51 ft. long from east to west, and is 25 ft. wide at
- its broadest point. Its shape is that of a long, narrow triangle, the
- apex resting at its south-east end. Most of the south wall has fallen
- over the edge of the precipice. There are two rounded entrances on the
- north side from the <em>East Passage</em>. The walls remaining are from 5 ft.
- to 7 ft. high. There is a drain-hole through the south wall at the
- south-east corner. The <em>South Passage</em> forms the eastern side. On the
- west side is a narrow recess between two boulders, and this appears to
- have been roofed over with slate and granite lintels, but the recess is
- now blocked up by wall débris. This enclosure appears to have been once
- divided into two enclosures, as a broken wall, 5 ft. long, 3 ft. high,
- and 3 ft. 6 in. wide, juts out into the interior from the east side.</p>
-
- <p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_319">319</span></p>
-
- <h3>SOUTH CAVE</h3>
-
- <p>This “cave” hardly deserves the name of cave, but as previous writers
- gave it this designation the title is retained in this description.</p>
-
- <p>The cave is situated immediately under <em>South Enclosure A</em>, and it
- opens on to the actual brink of the south precipice, being approached
- from both west and east sides by a path built along the top slope of
- the precipice. It is formed by a large boulder 16 ft. high and 17 ft.
- long, and is between this boulder and the top of the precipice, the
- floor being the natural rock of the declivity. It recedes but 3 ft.
- to 6 ft. under the boulder and is 7 ft. wide. It is 5 ft. high on the
- outside and only 1 ft. 6 in. to 2 ft. at its innermost part. It has
- been thoroughly cleaned out, but nothing of any antiquarian value was
- found. The boulder beetles outwards towards the face of the precipice.</p>
-
- <p>Immediately in front of this cave and on the south side and at 4 ft.
- distance a wall averaging 8 ft. in height runs for 37 ft. towards the
- west. The boulder which forms the cave beetles outwards over this wall,
- and judging by the block débris, the wall was once continued up to, and
- connected with, the rock above. This wall at its western extremity has
- a well-built rounded end in a good state of preservation.</p>
-
- <p>On the north side and starting at 10 ft. from the cave and running
- west for 46 ft. is a wall 8 ft. high with a rounded end at its eastern
- extremity. It starts from the face of the boulder forming the cave, and
- is continued until it reaches the interior of the <em>Western Temple</em>.</p>
-
- <p>These two walls form a passage averaging a width of 4 ft., though at
- the end of the south wall it narrows to 2 ft. 6 in. In the passage are
- traces of granite cement steps. This passage on entering the <em>Western
- Temple</em> is directly end on with the <em>Parallel Passage</em>, which is on the
- inside of the main south wall and is separated from it only by the gap
- in the<span class="pagenum" id="Page_320">320</span> outer wall, the main wall having at this point fallen down the
- precipice and taken with it the side wall of the passage from the cave.
- It is almost certain that this passage was but the extension of the
- <em>Parallel Passage</em>.</p>
-
- <p>On the eastern side of the cave is a built-up space between the boulder
- forming the cave and another boulder further east which beetles
- parallel to the precipice for 13 ft. This wall is 10 ft. high and is 6
- ft. across.</p>
-
- <p>The path to the east passes under this outer and beetling boulder,
- and between the outer side of <em>South Enclosure A</em> and the edge of the
- precipice, but here it is so much dilapidated by wall débris falling
- from above, that the safer approach to the cave is from the <em>Western
- Temple</em>.</p>
-
- <p>On the summits of these two large boulders are traces of a substantial
- wall once having been carried across them.</p>
-
- <h3>SOUTH PASSAGE</h3>
-
- <p>This passage is almost opposite the south end of <em>Buttress Passage</em>
- and leads from the <em>East Passage</em> to the edge of the south precipice,
- dividing <em>South Enclosures A and B</em>. It is 38 ft. long, from 1 ft. 6
- in. to 2 ft. wide, and at each extremity has rounded ends on either
- side. The wall on the east side averages 3 ft. to 7 ft. in height, the
- highest being at the southern end. The wall on the west side averages 7
- ft. to 12 ft. in height.</p>
-
- <p>The existence of this passage was, until July, 1902, unsuspected, as it
- had been filled up and entirely covered over with wall débris, across
- which was the visitors’ path, which crossed the débris at 7 ft. above
- the present exposed floor.</p>
-
- <h3>SOUTH ENCLOSURE B</h3>
-
- <p>This enclosure is on the east side of <em>South Passage</em>, and overlooks
- the south precipice. Its area is 37 ft. from east to west, and 31 ft.
- from north to south. The wall on the north side is 16 ft. high, and 4
- ft. 6 in. wide at 5 ft. from the floor,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_321">321</span> and is the best-built portion
- now remaining. It has three rounded entrances, one from <em>South Passage</em>
- and two from <em>East Passage</em>. Low walls of poor construction subdivide
- the enclosure into three compartments, but some portions of these walls
- are not believed to be ancient.</p>
-
- <h3>SOUTH ENCLOSURE C</h3>
-
- <p>This is on the north-east side of <em>South Enclosure B</em>, but on a level
- of some 6 ft. higher. The area is 41 ft. from east to west, and 19 ft.
- from north to south. The eastern wall curves outwards, and is 9 ft.
- high. The north side is formed by a large boulder, the west side by a
- raised parapet which is the eastern extremity of <em>East Passage</em>. There
- is one entrance only, and this is in the south-western corner. Here the
- south wall is very well built. A wall 3 ft. 6 in. high and 9 ft. long
- juts out southwards from the boulder on the north side.</p>
-
- <h3>CENTRAL PASSAGE</h3>
-
- <p>This passage connects <em>Cleft Rock Enclosure</em> and the <em>Eastern Temple</em>
- and forms the most direct communication between the western and
- eastern extremities of the <em>Acropolis</em>. This passage is practically
- the north-east extension of <em>Pattern Passage</em>, the two joining end on
- at the west entrance to the <em>Eastern Temple</em>. Cliffs and huge boulders
- form the main portion of its sides.</p>
-
- <p>Its length is 76 ft., and its width varies from 3 ft. to 4 ft. 6 in.
- There is a sharp rise of 6 ft. going west, at about half-way along its length.</p>
-
- <p>At the eastern end it lies between two large boulders, the one on the
- north side being 12 ft. long and 10 ft. high. This boulder has fallen
- from the position it occupied at the time of the ancients, and is come
- 6 ft. further south, destroying and blocking up the west entrance to
- the <em>Eastern Temple</em>. The boulder on the south side is 8 ft. long and
- 14 ft. high,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_322">322</span> and up against it, and projecting into the passage, was
- once a rounded buttress, traces of which now only remain.</p>
-
- <p>At 22 ft. going west is another large boulder, which forms the south
- side of the passage for a further 24 ft. This rock beetles right over
- the passage, and the open space under the boulder has been carefully
- walled up. At 48 ft. the south side is formed for a further 14 ft. by a
- low wall, in which are enclosed two boulders. On this side wall are the
- remains of a path leading from the passage to <em>South Enclosure C</em>, but
- a portion of this has crowned in and disappeared.</p>
-
- <p>The north side of the passage from its eastern end is formed by the
- boulder, 12 ft. long, just described, and for a further 35 ft. by a
- step-back wall 8 ft. high, along the summit of which was a path with
- steps leading into the <em>Eastern Temple</em>, but now blocked up by large
- scales of granite which have fallen from the face of the cliff above.</p>
-
- <p>The western extremity of this passage is formed by two boulders, one
- on either side, the one on the south side leaning up against the one
- on the north side, thus forming a natural arch 14 ft. long and 10 ft.
- high, the path descending about 4 ft. in passing through the archway,
- and rising sharply again where it emerges on the opposite end of the
- archway into <em>Cleft Rock Enclosure</em>, and runs for 27 ft. further west
- into the enclosure, where it ends on the south side in a rounded wall
- 5 ft. high. Large rocks form the north side. In the archway and on the
- south side under the boulder is a rock hole 5 ft. broad, 4 ft. deep,
- extending under the base of the boulder for 6 ft.</p>
-
- <p>In the passage are traces of steps, but the passage has been greatly
- damaged by falls of large slabs from the cliffs.</p>
-
- <hr class="page" />
- <div class="chapter" id="CHAPTER_XVII">
- <span class="pagenum" id="Page_323">323</span>
- <h2>
- CHAPTER XVII<br /><br />
- <span class="small">THE ACROPOLIS RUINS<br />(<i>Continued</i>)</span>
- </h2>
- </div>
- <div class="subheadj">Eastern Temple—Ancient Balcony—Balcony Enclosure—Balcony
- Cave—Gold Furnace Enclosure—Upper Gold Furnace
- Enclosure—Pattern Passage—Recess Enclosure—North Plateau—North Parapet.</div>
-
- <h3>THE EASTERN TEMPLE</h3>
-
- <p class="drop-cap">THIS temple is situated at the most easterly part of Zimbabwe Hill
- Ruins, on the south side of the line of high cliffs and gigantic
- boulders which extend from the east to the west along the summit of the
- hill. The centre of the present surface of the interior of this temple
- is 222 ft. above the valley.</p>
-
- <p>The main wall is built on a wide curve towards the east extending 98
- ft. from the south face of the cliff on the north side round to the
- south side, thus disposing the area in a quarter section of a circle
- with the apex of the section at the north-north-west of the interior.</p>
-
- <p>A cliff rising perpendicularly for 70 ft. from the floor of the temple
- forms the north side of the area, and the west side is formed by
- colossal boulders some 30 ft. to 50 ft. in height. The heights and the
- massiveness of the cliff and boulders lend a peculiar awe-inspiring
- appearance to this temple. These granite rocks, tapestried by Nature
- in all possible colours and shades of lichen, enclose two sides of
- the interior in the form of an amphitheatre, with the highest portion
- of the temple floor at the north end, the present surface gradually
- sloping down in a fall of 12 ft. towards the curved<span class="pagenum" id="Page_324">324</span> main and outer
- wall to its east and south-eastern points. On the highest part of this
- slope are two well-built retaining walls forming terraces behind them.
- These are described later.</p>
-
- <p>This temple is considerably better built than is the <em>Western Temple</em>
- on this hill. The blocks in the walls are more carefully selected and
- fit together more perfectly, are of a better class of granite, and the
- courses are truer, while it would appear from the extent of purely
- artistic detail and finish introduced by the original builders that far
- greater skill was bestowed upon its construction than on that of the
- <em>Western Temple</em>.</p>
-
- <div class="figcenter" id="i_324">
- <img src="images/i_324.jpg" width="600" height="597" alt="" />
- <div class="caption">Section of<br />EASTERN TEMPLE<br />Acropolis, Zimbabwe.</div>
- </div>
-
- <p>Both temples are built strictly upon the lines of the First<span class="pagenum" id="Page_325">325</span> Period of
- Zimbabwe architecture, all of the features of the Second Period being
- altogether absent. Certainly some of the cement work of the higher
- floors appears to be ancient, but not of the period of the original
- builders, and it is possible that the Second Period ancients occupied
- the buildings, and finding them in such excellent condition, had no
- need to make repairs or extensions to the walls as they did in so many
- scores of First Period ruins throughout the country. The floors of the
- original builders of this temple have been opened out by a trench and
- exposed at a minimum depth of 4 ft. below the latest floor.</p>
-
- <p>Bent and other writers have stated that this temple is orientated to
- the rising of the sun, which can be seen on a level and fairly distant
- horizon. The temple obviously affords a splendid natural means for
- observing the meridian.</p>
-
- <p>On midwinter day (1902), in the Southern Hemisphere, the sun rose
- facing the eastern end of the main wall, and shone on the line of
- <em>Dentelle Pattern</em>, and also for an hour afterwards shone on the
- inside of the south-western end of the wall, and also on that of the
- floor. At the end of that time, and until 10.30 a.m., the sun did not
- shine on the temple, but only on the inside face of the summit of the
- south-west end of the curved main wall, the sun being hidden by the
- 70-ft. cliff on the north side of the interior. At 11 a.m. it shone
- over the cliff on to the south-western side of the interior. Half an
- hour before midday the sun shone on the inside of the southern wall and
- on the south floor from over the cliff, and also in a single narrow
- bar across the floor of the building through the north entrance to the
- temple, which is formed by a long and narrow passage between the high
- cliffs and some gigantic boulders. The sun shone through this narrow
- opening till about half an hour after midday, when the sun had passed
- the face of this narrow entrance, and only shone on the south-west and
- north-west portions of the interior from over the <em>Ancient Balcony</em>,
- which is much lower than the cliff, till a little after<span class="pagenum" id="Page_326">326</span> one o’clock,
- the sun then ceasing to shine on the interior for the rest of the day.
- At the spot where the line from the point of sunrise at the summer
- solstice cuts the midday beam of light which comes through the cliff
- entrance on the north, is the site of the ancient altar as determined
- by Bent, the site being true south of the north passage. It was at
- this spot that Bent found the pottery and soapstone solar discs, the
- decorated and plain phalli, the soapstone birds, carved beams, and
- decorated bowls resembling Phœnician ware. The writer’s examination
- of this spot was rewarded by “finds” of carved soapstone in great
- quantities.</p>
-
- <div class="figcenter" id="i_326">
- <img src="images/i_326.jpg" width="450" height="500" alt="" />
- <div class="caption">Plan of<br />EASTERN TEMPLE<br />Acropolis, Zimbabwe</div>
- </div>
-
- <p>So obviously noticeable is the beam of light at midday that as the sun
- quickly passed the end of the long and narrow rock passage the natives
- working for the writer fixed their noon “<i>Tjiya!</i>” (“Cease work!”) by
- it, and this they did on their own initiative.</p>
-
- <p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_327">327</span></p>
-
- <p>Another feature may be noticed. A small circle of sunlight, about 2 ft.
- diameter, crosses the floor of the temple in a course equal to about a
- fifth part of the radius of a circle from the entrance to the <em>Balcony
- Enclosure</em> across the floor where Bent fixes the site of the ancient
- altar and passes over the eastern wall. This must have been observed by
- the ancients, for it is caused by a small opening between two boulders
- which they have utilised in “forming” the <em>Ancient Balcony</em>. At 3 p.m.
- this circle of light in the sunless interior, on the same day, rested
- on the spot at which, according to Bent, the ancient altar stood.</p>
-
- <p>On Midsummer Day, 1903, the whole temple area was flooded with sunlight
- at noontide.</p>
-
- <p>These particulars are given merely as matters of interest to the
- general reader, and scientists are referred to <cite>The Ruined Cities of
- Mashonaland</cite>, by Bent, for his calculations as to the orientation of
- this temple. Bent has given his opinion, based upon survey, that this
- temple was used for observing the summer solstice.</p>
-
- <p>Two points, however, which may bear upon the orientation of this
- building and its use in the observation of sunrise and meridian may be
- noticed.</p>
-
- <p>(<i>a</i>) No other temple which has been surveyed by scientists for the
- purpose of ascertaining its orientation, whether at Zimbabwe or
- elsewhere in Rhodesia, was so plentifully adorned with monoliths of
- carved slate or soapstone as was this temple, no less than thirty
- fallen monoliths, and the fractured portions of many others, having
- been found at the bases of the walls both inside and outside, while
- the débris heaps, which have only been very partially searched, must
- yet contain other specimens. No other temple, so far discovered, had
- such a profusion of geometrically carved soapstone beams as were
- unearthed by Bent and by other explorers before him. This would appear
- to still further testify to the importance the ancients attached to the
- decoration of this temple, whether<span class="pagenum" id="Page_328">328</span> used for observing the seasons of
- the year and astronomical occurrences or not.</p>
-
- <p>(<i>b</i>) The position of the <em>Dentelle Pattern</em> in two courses on the
- eastern face of the summit of the main wall is fixed on exactly the
- same plan as is shown in so many other ruins of temple buildings in
- Rhodesia (and the discovery of the ancient emblems of faith have so
- far only been made in buildings so decorated, on identical positions,
- with one of the three oldest patterns, namely, Dentelle, Chevron, or
- Herring-bone), and as this is so unmistakably seen in the case of
- numerous other ruins of similar buildings, the position of the pattern
- in this instance can hardly be a mere coincidence.</p>
-
- <p>The <em>Dentelle Pattern</em>, which forms a distinguishing feature at the
- Zimbabwe ruins both on the hill and in the valley, and which is only
- found in First Period buildings, is, in this instance, believed to
- have originally extended some 30 ft. further towards the south-west,
- as a trace of it still remains on the highest remaining portion of
- the 39 ft. length of the main wall. The pattern throughout the 24 ft.
- length of main wall is somewhat damaged at several points, and the rows
- of stones which in all instances elsewhere covered this pattern have
- almost disappeared.</p>
-
- <p>The interior measurements of this temple are as follows: 59 ft. 6 in.
- from north to south, the northern point for measurement being the
- large roughly built step at the south end of the <em>North Passage</em>;
- 66 ft. from south-east to north-west, the north-west point for
- measurement being the step at the bottom of the stairs leading from
- the temple to <em>Balcony Enclosure</em>; and 50 ft. from west-south-west to
- north-north-east.</p>
-
- <p>The main wall is 98 ft. long, measuring along its inside face, and
- starts on the eastern side from the south face of the cliff for 10 ft.
- to the rounded entrance to the <em>Gold Furnace Enclosure</em>. This 10 ft.
- length of wall is 8 ft. higher than the interior floor at the cliff
- end, and is 5 ft. high at the entrance. The entrance is 3 ft. wide at
- the present top and 2 ft. on its floor. From the <span class="pagenum" id="Page_329">329</span>rounded entrance
- the wall runs facing east-south-east for 24 ft. This section of the
- main wall stands 8 ft. above the present level of the interior, but 12
- ft. 6 in. from an ancient floor exposed in a trench sunk some 4 ft. 6
- in. into the present floor. At the south end of this length there is
- a gap in the wall of 22 ft., the wall which remains rising only 6 in.
- above the present surface of the lowest part of the temple. The wall
- starts again at the south end of the gap, and runs for 39 ft. towards
- the south-south-west. The highest portion of this length is 11 ft. 3
- in. above the ancient floor as exposed in the trench cut along the
- interior face of the main wall, the south-western end of the wall being
- only 4 ft. higher than the <em>Western Entrance</em>, which has been raised at
- a later period 5 ft. 6 in. above the original floor of the entrance.</p>
-
- <div class="figcenter" id="i_328a">
- <img src="images/i_328a.jpg" width="440" height="550" alt="" />
- <div class="caption">EXTERIOR OF MAIN EAST WALL, SHEWING DENTELLE PATTERN,
- EASTERN TEMPLE, ACROPOLIS</div>
- </div>
-
- <div class="figcenter" id="i_328b">
- <img src="images/i_328b.jpg" width="436" height="550" alt="" />
- <div class="caption">SUNKEN PASSAGE, LOOKING EAST, EASTERN TEMPLE, ACROPOLIS</div>
- </div>
-
- <p>The widths of the main wall are as follows:—</p>
-
- <p>The 10 ft. length is 7 ft. wide at the present floor, but was probably
- wider, as its eastern face has fallen out into the <em>Gold Furnace
- Enclosure</em>, which is immediately below. The angle between the east
- outside face and the cliff was filled in by a rounded buttress, which
- has also collapsed and fallen into the enclosure below.</p>
-
- <p>The 24 ft. length is 4 ft. 7 in. wide on the present summit. At 12 ft.
- south of the <em>Eastern Entrance</em>, an inner or banquette wall runs along
- the inside of the main wall, and stands out 2 ft. at its north end, 7
- ft. at south end, till it narrows into and becomes part of the main
- wall at the <em>Western Entrance</em>.</p>
-
- <p>The 22 ft. length is 5 ft. wide at the bottom of the gap, with a
- further width of 3 ft. 6 in., which includes that of the banquette wall.</p>
-
- <p>The 39 ft. length of main wall is 5 ft. wide on the summit, and this
- with the width of the banquette wall, which at this point is 5 ft. 6
- in. wide, makes a total width of 10 ft. 6 in.</p>
-
- <p>The heights of the main wall from the outer bases are as follows:—</p>
-
- <p>The 10 ft. length is 24 ft. above its base, and this, with the<span class="pagenum" id="Page_330">330</span> 24
- ft. length of main wall, forms the western side of the <em>Gold Furnace
- Enclosure</em>.</p>
-
- <p>The 24 ft. length is 25 ft. high, and is divided into two depths, one
- below the other, 11 ft. and 14 ft., the 11 ft. being the wall and the
- 14 ft. being a long buttress which starts at 9 ft. from the south side
- of the 22 ft. gap and runs to the cliff. The main wall, however, is
- continued down to the base of the buttress which is built up against
- it. This buttress forms a terraced passage, and was probably the way
- the ancients passed from the <em>Eastern Temple</em> to the <em>Gold Furnace
- Enclosure</em> below by means of a natural bridge formed by a long and
- narrow boulder, the west end of which is built into the buttress, down
- the north side of which is a narrow descent with a few block steps
- still remaining.</p>
-
- <p>The 39 ft. length is 22 ft. higher than the débris at its outer base,
- it is 17 ft. higher than the débris at the centre of the main wall,
- and 11 ft. at the steps which lead up from <em>Pattern Passage</em> to the
- <em>Western Entrance</em> of the <em>Eastern Temple</em>.</p>
-
- <p>On the top of the south banquette wall were most probably steps leading
- up to within 2 ft. or 3 ft. of the summit of the wall as if for a
- look-out. A rounded buttress stands out 2 ft. 6 in. from the main wall,
- and between it and the inner edge of the banquette wall are some blocks
- which, though displaced, have fallen in such a way as to provide very
- strong grounds for this conjecture.</p>
-
- <p>The <em>Eastern Entrance</em> has a pair of buttresses on a semi-circular
- platform projecting 7 ft. into the temple area, the faces of the
- buttresses being rounded and flush with the outside edge of this
- platform. The buttress on the north-east side is 3 ft., and judging by
- débris, it was once at least 7 ft. high. The opposite buttress is now
- only 1 ft. 6 in. high. (For measurements of this entrance, see <em>Main Wall</em>.)</p>
-
- <p>Between the south buttress and the banquette wall which runs southwards
- along the inside of the wall is another raised platform or “blind
- steps,” but very ruined and pro<span class="pagenum" id="Page_331">331</span>jecting now only 2 ft. from the main
- wall. Among the loose stones on the top of this small platform, which
- is 6 ft. long, Bent found one of the soapstone birds which has a
- <i>cystos</i>, with sections of a carved soapstone beam, all of which are
- now in the museum at Capetown.</p>
-
- <p>At the north side of this entrance is a wall 15 ft. long reaching
- from the entrance to an angular point in the north cliff. This space
- so enclosed was built up inside in the form of steps, or blind steps,
- for they led nowhere, resembling the blind steps in <em>Nos. 7, 9, and 12
- Enclosures</em>, and in the <em>Sacred Enclosure</em> (<em>west</em>) in the <em>Elliptical
- Temple</em> in the valley. The face of a small buttress protrudes some 18
- in. from the face of this wall at about midway. Possibly this may have
- been the lowest step of the blind steps built up in this corner. In
- 1888 this raised platform had on its summit a soapstone bird and beams.
- In 1903 two phalli and sections of four soapstone beams were found
- here, also small gold beads on and near this platform.</p>
-
- <p>The <em>North Entrance</em> is a narrow and deep rock passage 23 ft. long.
- The east side is formed by the north-west end of the north cliff, and
- is 45 ft. higher than the floor of the passage, but it beetles over
- the passage for 6 ft. beyond its north-western side, and so forms,
- with the immense boulders on the north-west side, an almost complete
- archway right over the passage. The passage is from 2 ft. to 7 ft. 10
- in. wide, but with rounded buttresses, the foundations and débris of
- which still remain, and also with a boulder that almost blocks the
- passage; the width of the passage throughout its whole length could not
- have been more than 2 ft. before the buttresses had become dilapidated.
- The passage emerges at its north end on the <em>North Plateau</em> (described
- later).</p>
-
- <p>The <em>West Entrance</em> is formed by the rounded end of the western
- extremity of the main wall and a large boulder between which it passes.
- On its present floor it is only 1 ft. 10 in. wide, the wall side having
- some six courses<span class="pagenum" id="Page_332">332</span> of blocks exposed. The boulder on the north side has
- moved some 2 ft. into the entrance since the wall was built, and so
- partially closed it up, for originally the floor of the entrance was
- fully 5 ft. lower, and passed into the temple without steps. This was
- discovered to be the case when the upper portion of <em>Pattern Passage</em>
- was cleared out (July, 1902), when steps were made over the entrance
- débris to enable visitors to pass from <em>Pattern Passage</em> into the
- temple.</p>
-
- <p>The remains of another raised platform—but this one of granite
- cement—are on the west side of the interior immediately on the
- left-hand side on entering the temple at the west entrance. This
- platform is now ruined owing to its having been trodden on by oxen when
- this temple was used as a cattle kraal. In 1888 three large soapstone
- birds on tall beams stood on this platform, but in 1890 were removed by
- Bent, and are now in the museum at Capetown. The holes in the cement
- made by Bent on digging out the bases of the beams can still be seen.</p>
-
- <p>From 6 ft. north of this last-mentioned platform is some semi-circular
- clay-work rising in three tiers. Possibly these were steps leading up
- to the highest terraced level of the interior, but it may be doubted
- whether they had any claim to antiquity.</p>
-
- <p><em>Sunken Passage.</em>—This passage runs from south-west to north-east under
- the present floor of the Eastern Temple for 23 ft., starting from
- inside the banquette wall at 8 ft. east of the west entrance. Its depth
- is 9 ft. below the surface of interior of temple, but its side walls
- are only 7 ft. high. It is 4 ft. wide at the south end and 6 ft. wide
- at the north. At north-east end is a rounded buttress 5 ft. high. No
- approach or steps down into the passage have so far been discovered.
- The passage terminates at the large buttress (already mentioned), the
- summit of which is 4 ft. below the surface, is situated within 3 ft.
- and immediately in front of Bent’s “altar.” The east side wall of the
- passage is better built than the west side.</p>
-
- <p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_333">333</span></p>
-
- <p><i>Bent’s “altar.”</i>—This “altar” was stated by Bent to be 10 ft. nearer
- to the rising sun at the solstice than the centre of the arc of the
- curved, massive, and decorated main wall. Surveyors having located
- this spot, examinations were made in 1903, with the result that some
- twenty-five phalli, also some sections of phalli, and of carved
- portions of soapstone beams and bowls, were found within 3 ft. of this
- spot on two sides, and all within a few minutes of each other. This is
- by far the largest “find” of phalli ever made at Zimbabwe. At this spot
- Bent also made his largest “find” of phalli, solar discs, and other
- relics. The large soapstone birds were found 3 ft. or 4 ft. further
- south-west of the “altar.” Messrs. Posselt, who resided and farmed at
- Zimbabwe in 1888 and before the Occupation, wished to remove these
- birds, but the previous Mogabe (Chipfuno) refused his consent.</p>
-
- <p><i>Internal walls.</i>—On the north side of the interior of this temple is
- a wall acting as a retaining wall, with filled-in ground behind it
- forming a terrace. This upper terrace is at the highest point of the
- floor of the temple, and is 16 ft. long, 4 ft. high, and 2 ft. 6 in. on
- the summit. Judging by the amount of débris, this terrace had in all
- probability a parapet wall along its summit. The wall runs from N. 25°
- E. to S. 20° W., and starts from the south side of a huge boulder at 16
- ft. north-west of the <em>North Entrance</em>.</p>
-
- <p>On the south-west side and at the north-west end of the interior of the
- temple, and corresponding with the first terraced wall just described,
- is another terrace wall 12 ft. long and 3 ft. high, running eastwards
- from the south side of the cliff which forms the north-west side of
- the temple and the south-west side of the passage which runs from the
- <em>Cleft Rock Enclosure</em> to this temple. The two corresponding terraces
- form a junction with an abutment wall projecting south-east for 2 ft. 6
- in. This projection is 2 ft. high and 5 ft. 6 in. wide.</p>
-
- <p>Immediately in front of this projection on the south-east<span class="pagenum" id="Page_334">334</span> side and
- sloping down for some distance towards the lower part of the temple is
- some cement work, which, though old, does not appear to be ancient, for
- it contains splinters of time-worn monoliths which show signs of having
- once stood upon one of the walls. The purpose of this cement projection
- is not clearly seen, for tree roots have easily passed through such
- rough cement and have torn it out of all shape, besides which it has
- become decomposed and soft.</p>
-
- <p>Between the angle formed by this last-described terraced wall and the
- projection just mentioned is a very rudely cemented floor also much
- decomposed. The few steps leading up from the flooring at this point
- towards the path to the <em>Cleft Rock Enclosure</em> are quite modern, having
- been built by the writer to enable visitors to pass over the débris of
- a large rounded buttress which once stood against the north-west side
- of the nearest boulder. From the top of this débris pile steps of an
- ancient character, and more or less defined, continue up the slope at
- the foot of the south side of the cliff where runs a path towards the
- <em>Cleft Rock Enclosure</em>.</p>
-
- <p>A second and lower terrace is 4 ft. long and 4 ft. high, and is carried
- on a red cement foundation 18 in. thick. It terminates abruptly on the
- south-west extremity in a broken end. This wall juts out from the south
- side of the north cliff at 15 ft. east of the <em>North Entrance</em>, and
- runs south-west. Immediately behind this wall is a second wall running
- parallel with it, the face of the second or back wall actually touching
- the back of the front wall. This back wall runs south-west for 5 ft.
- beyond the end of the front wall, where it also terminates in a broken
- end. It is 3 ft. high, but in all probability it was once much higher.</p>
-
- <p>The <em>Balcony Enclosure</em>, which is at the north-west end of the temple
- and is described later, provided another entrance to this temple, the
- <em>Balcony Enclosure</em> being approached from the west and north sides
- respectively by the<span class="pagenum" id="Page_335">335</span> passage through the <em>Balcony Cave</em> and the ascent
- from <em>Rock Holes Path</em>.</p>
-
- <p>The <em>Ancient Balcony</em> is at the north-west end of the temple, the whole
- interior of which it overlooks, and appears to have acted for this
- temple in the same manner and for the same purposes as <em>The Platform</em>
- of the <em>Western Temple</em> and <em>The Platform</em> in the <em>Elliptical Temple</em>
- in the valley. This <em>Ancient Balcony</em> is described later.</p>
-
- <p>The interior of this temple has been used by the past and present
- Makalanga as a cattle kraal, and very possibly the cattle have trodden
- any cement work out of shape. It was found to be covered with a thick
- stratum of cattle manure, which again was covered by wall débris, and
- still further by a foot depth of rich vegetable mould thickly matted
- with roots of creepers, shrubs, and trees.</p>
-
- <h3>THE ANCIENT BALCONY</h3>
-
- <p>At the north-west end of the <em>Eastern Temple</em>, and at the highest point
- of the interior and immediately behind the higher of the terraced walls
- before described, fourteen steps, eight of granite cement and six of
- blocks, lead for 26 ft. in a north-westerly direction up a passage-way
- formed on the south side by a cliff, and on the north side by two large
- boulders. Each step is 5 in. high and extends back 18 in. The ascending
- passage is 7 ft. wide at its lowest part, and narrows to a creep-hole
- between the cliff and the upper of the two large boulders to just the
- size that will permit of a man passing through by stooping.</p>
-
- <p>Over this passage are two colossal boulders, held up in a horizontal
- position by the cliff, the level top of the southernmost being 26 ft.
- above the bottom of the steps, which are exactly underneath. The steps
- are laid on cement, and probably are of a late period, at any rate
- there is evidence that they have been very considerably repaired.</p>
-
- <p>Immediately facing the top of the steps, and 4 ft. above<span class="pagenum" id="Page_336">336</span> the
- creep-hole, is a rounded buttress projecting from the side of the
- cliff, and measuring 15 ft. in circumference. The highest part faces
- east, and is still 9 ft. 6 in. in height, while the north-west side is
- considerably dilapidated.</p>
-
- <p>This passage is the approach to the <em>Ancient Balcony</em> and <em>Balcony
- Enclosure</em>. Following up the passage, and turning to the right at the
- top, one ascends a bank with traces of steps between the boulder which
- forms the creep-hole, and a wall on the north, and arrives on the
- <em>Balcony</em>.</p>
-
- <p>The <em>Balcony</em> is formed by the level and parallel tops of the
- horizontal boulders, and is 39 ft. long, and at its widest part 12 ft.
- 10 in. On the south-east side is a parapet wall from 1 to 3 ft. present
- reduced height, and 2 ft. 6 in. wide.</p>
-
- <p>The <em>Balcony</em> is 248 ft. above the valley, and commands a most
- extensive view to the south-east, including the <em>Elliptical Temple</em> in
- the valley, and the <em>Schlichter Gorge</em>, which extends into a sea of
- romantically shaped summits of kopjes and blue distances. The <em>Balcony</em>
- commands a complete view of the whole of the interior of the <em>Eastern
- Temple</em>.</p>
-
- <h3>BALCONY ENCLOSURE</h3>
-
- <p>The length of this enclosure from north to south is 51 ft., and the
- average width from 15 ft. to 20 ft., the whole of the sides being
- formed by cliff and boulders, except on the north side, where a space
- between two large boulders has been built up by the ancients. This wall
- is 9 ft. long and 11 ft. high.</p>
-
- <p>The wall extending from the north-east corner of the <em>Balcony</em>, and
- on the north side, except for one short length, is not ancient. Local
- Makalanga state their people of some two or three generations back
- re-erected the wall on the old foundation. This is obviously the fact.
- But an entrance from the <em>North Plateau</em> was once at this point, and
- led down steps on the outside, going west between two large boulders
- zigzag downwards to the <em>Rock Holes Path</em>.</p>
-
- <p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_337">337</span></p>
-
- <h3>BALCONY CAVE</h3>
-
- <p>At the west end of this enclosure is a steep descent of 36 ft. between
- two boulders into <em>Balcony Cave</em> formed by a cliff, the east face of
- which beetles over the descent. The cave is 19 ft. wide at the bottom
- and is very much filled in with wall débris, silted soil, and large
- scales of granite off the face of the overhanging rock. This cave
- formed an entrance into the <em>Balcony Enclosure</em> from the <em>Rock Holes
- Path</em>, which runs along the north-west face of the cliff, only on a
- very much lower level. A wall 18 ft. high starts from the bottom of the
- cave and is built across it on the north side, running west to east.
- This wall is partly rounded on the upper portion. At 7 ft. from the
- ground the lower part of this wall has collapsed and blocked up the
- exit. Another wall 8 ft. long and 6 ft. high and in two rising tiers
- crosses from side to side at a higher level. Two almost perfectly
- shaped monoliths, very much weather-worn, were found among the débris
- in this cave.</p>
-
- <h3>GOLD FURNACE ENCLOSURE</h3>
-
- <p>This enclosure is 12 ft. lower than the <em>Eastern Temple</em>, the outer
- face of the eastern main wall for 15 ft. forming its west side. On all
- other sides it is surrounded by cliff and boulders, a continuation of
- the north cliff of the <em>Eastern Temple</em> forming its north side. The
- area is 46 ft. from west to east, and 32 ft. from north to south. At
- the south-west corner is a chasm 14 ft. long, 2 ft. to 5 ft. wide,
- and 11 ft. high running between the front base of the temple wall
- and the west end of the huge boulder, 44 ft. long, which forms the
- southern side of the enclosure. The chasm leads out of the enclosure
- to the south side of the outer wall of the temple. It was once much
- larger, but owing to silting in of soil and débris, and the falling
- of decomposed slabs of granite from its roof, it has become narrowed
- and shallowed. Along the buttress which forms the lower part of the
- east<span class="pagenum" id="Page_338">338</span> front of the temple wall was a path from the east entrance of
- the temple to the top of the chasm, which was further arched with
- granite slabs making a wider bridge, and this led to the floor of
- this enclosure by means of steps which ran down the north face of the
- boulder on the south-west side of the enclosure.</p>
-
- <p>It was in this enclosure that Bent believed he had discovered ancient
- gold furnaces. At the south-east corner is an open space 9 ft. wide,
- which once had a rounded buttress on either side. Beyond this point the
- ground falls rapidly to the south towards the edge of the precipice.
- Under the cliff are holes hardly deep enough to be termed caves, and
- these have been reduced in size by the silting in of soil.</p>
-
- <h3>UPPER GOLD FURNACE ENCLOSURE</h3>
-
- <p>This is situated at the north-east corner of the <em>Gold Furnace
- Enclosure</em>, but on a level of 4 ft. higher. Separating the two
- enclosures is a well-built wall 10 ft. long with a rounded entrance in
- the centre.</p>
-
- <p>The greatest width of this enclosure is 9 ft. at the entrance, and its
- length is 44 ft., but it is very narrow except for about 12 ft. in the
- middle of the length. The south end runs between and under boulders,
- while the north end includes a cave under the continuation of the cliff
- which forms the north sides of the <em>Eastern Temple</em> and the <em>Gold
- Furnace Enclosure</em>. This cave has also been reduced in size by the
- filling in of débris and soil.</p>
-
- <h3>PATTERN PASSAGE</h3>
-
- <p>This passage runs for 51 ft. along the outside of the south and
- south-west portion of the curved main wall of the <em>Eastern Temple</em>.
- In the south-west portion the passage is 2 ft. wide, and formerly its
- floor throughout this section was level with that of the present floor
- of <em>Recess Enclosure</em>, but a large boulder at the west entrance to the
- <em>Eastern Temple</em> <span class="pagenum" id="Page_339">339</span>having slipped and disturbed the entrance walls,
- steps have recently been erected to enable visitors to climb over the
- débris heap.</p>
-
- <div class="figcenter" id="i_338a">
- <img src="images/i_338a.jpg" width="438" height="550" alt="" />
- <div class="caption">EAST ENTRANCE TO PATTERN PASSAGE, ACROPOLIS</div>
- </div>
-
- <div class="figcenter" id="i_338b">
- <img src="images/i_338b.jpg" width="439" height="550" alt="" />
- <div class="caption">PATTERN PASSAGE, LOOKING EAST, ACROPOLIS</div>
- </div>
-
- <p>On the west side of the northern length of the passage the wall is 11
- ft. high, the upper portion receding from the passage at 8 ft. above
- the level of the floor at the foot of the newly-erected steps, and
- in the recess so formed is what appears to be a decorative pattern
- of original form made of rows of blocks, each row at the back of the
- other, and rising backwards in miniature steps or shelves. But these
- rows are not believed to have been intended or used as steps, as the
- lines of blocks on either side round off to come flush with the face
- of the wall and become part of the wall at each end, and are continued
- as ordinary courses in the faces of the wall. The exact correctness
- of these step-like rows and curves of blocks is remarkable. For the
- present, and until the purpose of these steps can be ascertained, this
- feature is called <em>Step Pattern</em>. It has been suggested that these
- steps must have formed a post for a guard to protect the <em>Western
- Entrance</em> to the temple.</p>
-
- <p>The wall opposite the approach to <em>Pattern Passage</em> from <em>Recess
- Enclosure</em> is 8 ft. high, and rises to 17 ft., as the floor of the
- southern section of the passage descends somewhat sharply. The southern
- section terminates at the rounded end of the east wall of <em>Recess
- Enclosure</em>, which here is rather a fine piece of dry masonry. Formerly
- this section had steps let into the wall on either side, fragments of
- such stones still projecting from the walls, the foundations of which
- have been laid bare, and at one point undermined. This vandalism is not
- the work of archæologists, but of unauthorised prospectors for gold
- relics, who have torn up the whole length of stairs and pavement, not
- only in this passage, but in every other passage on the hill which was
- not protected by being filled in with wall débris.</p>
-
- <p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_340">340</span></p>
-
- <h3>RECESS ENCLOSURE<a id="FNanchor_61" href="#Footnote_61" class="fnanchor">[61]</a></h3>
-
- <p>This is an almost complete enclosure on the south side of the <em>Eastern
- Temple</em>, and separated from it by a deep and narrow passage, now known
- as <em>Pattern Passage</em>. Formerly a passage-way ran along the west side of
- the enclosure from north to south. The area of this enclosure is—south
- side, 17 ft. 6 in., north side 18 ft., west side 25 ft., and east side
- 20 ft. The surface shows signs of the enclosure having been filled in
- above its original floor by some later occupiers. The south wall has
- collapsed except for about 4 ft. at its west end, and this section is 8
- ft. high, but the foundations of the rest of this wall are practically
- intact. The north wall is considerably broken, its highest point being
- now only 5 ft. above the present floor. The west wall, which is intact,
- is formed by the outer wall of a building erected at a much higher
- level, called <em>South Enclosure C</em>. This wall is 22 ft. high, and is in
- two parts—the upper part being rounded outwards at the extremities, and
- the centre rounded inwards. This wall is exceedingly well built, and
- is one of the finest pieces of masonry to be seen on the <em>Acropolis</em>,
- and shows very great architectural skill on the part of the ancient
- builders.</p>
-
- <p>The south wall is now only 8 ft. to 9 ft., and on the inside face
- has a row of five vertical recesses built in the wall and flush with
- its face. These are altogether unlike anything yet discovered in any
- ancient ruins,<a id="FNanchor_62" href="#Footnote_62" class="fnanchor">[62]</a> except, perhaps, at <em>No. 1 Ruin</em> at <em>Khami</em>. The
- widths of the faces of the wall between the recesses from north to
- south are 2 ft. 4 in., 1 ft. 9 in., 1 ft. 10 in., 1 ft. 7 in., and 1
- ft. 8 in., and these are separated from each other by perpendicular
- crevices, each <span class="pagenum" id="Page_341">341</span>5 in. wide. Most probably the recesses were once
- considerably higher. What practical purpose they could have served is
- at present impossible to state, but it has always been held that they
- probably once contained wooden beams.</p>
-
- <div class="figcenter" id="i_340a">
- <img src="images/i_340a.jpg" width="425" height="550" alt="" />
- <div class="caption">WEST WALL, RECESS ENCLOSURE, ACROPOLIS</div>
- </div>
-
- <div class="figcenter" id="i_340b">
- <img src="images/i_340b.jpg" width="435" height="550" alt="" />
- <div class="caption">THE RECESSES, RECESS ENCLOSURE, ACROPOLIS</div>
- </div>
-
- <p>The north-west entrance has rounded walls, and from the east side
- of this entrance are the remains of a passage wall running south.
- This wall is 6 ft. long, 2 ft. 6 in. high, and 2 ft. 6 in. wide; the
- foundations of this wall run almost as far as the south wall of the
- enclosure.</p>
-
- <p>All the walls of this enclosure are well built.</p>
-
- <p>In the north-east corner is an excavated hole, showing a wall running
- parallel to the east wall at a depth lower than the present floor of
- the enclosure. The north end of the east wall is beautifully rounded
- and tapers from its base to present summit, its face forming the south
- side of the east end of <em>Pattern Passage</em>.</p>
-
- <h3>NORTH PLATEAU</h3>
-
- <p>This plateau is situated to the north of the <em>Eastern Temple</em> and at
- the north of the cliffs, which form its north-east and north sides.
- Its shape is that of a quarter of a circle—the east side being formed
- by cliffs running towards the north-east, and the south side by huge
- boulders running out towards the north-west, the apex being at the
- north end of the <em>North Passage</em> of the <em>Eastern Temple</em>. The area from
- north to south is 67 ft., and from east to west 53 ft., the outer and
- open side being supported by a terrace wall extending along the front
- for 43 ft. This terraced wall is well built for this length. It has
- a drop from the outer surface edge of this plateau of 11 ft. Traces
- of a continuation of this wall across the gorge on the north side on
- to the opposite shoulder of the kopje can be seen; but the Makalanga
- state that the superstructure built upon these traces was made by their
- people long ago, and, indeed, this is very obvious. A Makalanga-built
- wall juts out from the north-east side a<span class="pagenum" id="Page_342">342</span> few feet towards the
- <em>Visitors’ Path</em> to this plateau. The plateau is covered with the clay
- foundations of the circular huts of the Makalanga, who up to four years
- ago had their kraal on the northern summit of the hill.</p>
-
- <h3>NORTH PARAPET</h3>
-
- <p>This structure is at the outer and northern base of the large curved
- main wall of the <em>Western Temple</em>, on which are the small towers and
- monoliths, where it curves towards the north-east and runs parallel
- with it for 44 ft. In this parapet is a rising passage with steps
- leading from the <em>North-West Ancient Ascent</em> up to the main wall, where
- it once passed through it and curved into <em>Platform Enclosure</em> where it
- can still be walked along. The point where this passage went through
- the main wall has been blocked up by the Makalanga, and the wall is
- so very dilapidated that it would be altogether unsafe to clear the
- entrance of the obstructing blocks.</p>
-
- <p>The parapet was evidently once more extended towards the east, but the
- fall of débris from the broken end of the main wall has carried the
- parapet below away.</p>
-
- <p>The western extremity of this parapet is formed by a wall 11 ft. long
- projecting at right angles from the foot of the main wall. This wall
- is 8 ft. high and is 4 ft. wide on its present reduced summit. From
- opposite the north end of this wall commences the west side wall of the
- ancient ascent described later.</p>
-
- <p>Immediately on the east side of the wall forming the western extremity
- of the parapet there are steps rising 3 ft. 6 in. facing north and
- leading up to the sunken passage on the parapet, and above these steps
- the passage turns east at right angles along the centre of the parapet.</p>
-
- <p>The width of the parapet is 11 ft., and this width is divided as
- follows: width of passage 3 ft., of outer parapet wall 4 ft., and of
- inner wall 3 ft. 6 in. The passage rises 8 ft. between<span class="pagenum" id="Page_343">343</span> where it enters
- the <em>North Parapet</em> and where it rounds off towards the south-east
- through the main wall. The outer and inner walls are 3 ft. to 4 ft.
- above the passage floor, but the outer wall was probably once very much
- higher. There are traces of steps in the passage.</p>
-
- <p>The height of the north face of the <em>North Parapet</em> from above the
- filled-in floor on the outside is from 9 ft. to 11 ft. This floor
- contains the remains of a rather old Makalanga hut.</p>
-
- <p>A parapet wall of a similar character runs from the western end of
- <em>North Parapet</em> along the outer base of the main wall, and this is
- described later under the title of <em>Western Parapet</em>.</p>
-
- <hr class="page" />
- <div class="chapter" id="CHAPTER_XVIII">
- <span class="pagenum" id="Page_344">344</span>
- <h2>
- CHAPTER XVIII<br /><br />
- <span class="small">THE ACROPOLIS RUINS<br />(<i>Continued</i>)</span>
- </h2>
- </div>
- <div class="subheadj">North-West Ancient Ascent—Water Gate Ruins—Terraced Enclosures
- on North-West Face of Zimbabwe Hill—South Terrace—Ruins on
- South Face of Zimbabwe Hill—Outspan Ruins.</div>
-
- <h3>NORTH-WEST ANCIENT ASCENT</h3>
-
- <p class="drop-cap">UNFORTUNATELY in describing this ascent it is necessary to commence at
- the summit and work downwards instead of upwards. The amount of débris
- which covered its lower lengths precluded the tracing of the ascent
- from below, and further it is only the higher lengths which have been
- cleared out, though now the lower parts can be easily followed.</p>
-
- <p>The ascent begins at the <em>Water Gate</em> at the north-west base of the
- hill, and terminates at <em>The Platform</em> which overlooks the <em>Eastern
- Temple</em> on the Acropolis. Its total length is a little more than 500 ft.</p>
-
- <p>Walking across the north-west face of the hill it would have been
- impossible to discover this ascent owing to the confusing number of
- lines of foundations and outcrops of walls running in all directions
- over the side of the hill, and the intermediate ground being so much
- covered with blocks. The idea that this ascent existed along its
- present lines was suggested by viewing the face of the hill from
- Mogabe’s kraal, which is on the opposite side of the north-west valley.
- From this point the step-like form of the side of the hill can be seen
- as a whole, and it appears obvious that artificial<span class="pagenum" id="Page_345">345</span> means had been
- employed in making the lines of projection on the side of the hill.
- These were subsequently examined, with the result that sections of a
- passage-way downwards were found in one chain extending from the summit
- to the base of the hill, though there were some long gaps between the
- sections, while the sections themselves were filled in up to where the
- side walls out-cropped for a few inches.</p>
-
- <p>The sections of this ancient ascent, commencing at the summit, are as
- follows:—</p>
-
- <p>(<i>a</i>) Passage through <em>Platform Enclosure</em> 72 ft. long (see <em>Platform
- Enclosure</em>).</p>
-
- <p>(<i>b</i>) Passage through main wall 16 ft. long (do.).</p>
-
- <p>(<i>c</i>) Passage along <em>Northern Parapet</em> 28 ft. long (see <em>Northern
- Parapet</em>).</p>
-
- <p>(<i>d</i>) Section of ascent between <em>Northern Parapet</em> and the old
- visitors’ path which the ascent crosses 233 ft. long.</p>
-
- <p>(<i>e</i>) Section between Visitors’ Path and the <em>Water Gate</em>, which is at
- the lowest point of the ascent, over 600 ft. long.</p>
-
- <p>(<i>f</i>) <em>Water Gate</em> (see <em>Water Gate</em>).</p>
-
- <p>The first three sections have already been described.</p>
-
- <p><i>Section (d).</i>—This extends from the <em>Northern Parapet</em> to the old
- visitors’ path. The passage on leaving the parapet turns north-west
- for 41 ft. The walls on either side are from 3 ft. to 5 ft. high, but
- these heights are increased on either side by a further 2 ft. or 3 ft.,
- owing to the depth of soil and block débris lying along the summits of
- the side walls, the passage for this length being found buried for this
- depth below the surface of the face of the hill. This length of passage
- is 2 ft. to 3 ft. in width. At 31 ft. from the upper end of this length
- and on the east side is a rounded entrance leading into an enclosure
- which is completely buried under débris and silted soil.</p>
-
- <p>At the bottom end of this length of 41 ft. the passage turns due east
- for 32 ft., the corner wall being rounded. At this corner a passage
- from the west side enters the ascent, but<span class="pagenum" id="Page_346">346</span> this passage is at present
- buried in débris. The width of the ascent here averages 4 ft. to 5 ft.
- 6 in., but it is narrowed at one point to 2 ft. 6 in. by a rounded
- buttress projecting from the north side into the ascent. The heights
- of the walls for this length are: south side 6 ft. to 8 ft., with
- several feet depth of débris on its summit; north side 4 ft. to 8 ft.
- The ascent in this length has a fall of 6 ft. At the bottom of this
- length on the south side, and fronting up the ascent, is a rounded
- buttress in form of a quarter section of a circle, and this is 11 ft.
- round its base. It has a further buttress on its west side and traces
- of another on its east side, and between these two buttresses are the
- remains of steps, but a tree growing out of the steps has caused their
- dilapidation.</p>
-
- <p>From this buttress the passage turns due north for 75 ft.; its eastern
- side from 28 ft. to 56 ft. of this length had fallen into the passage,
- but the rest of that side of the passage is still practically intact.
- Along this length the passage is deeply sunk into the face of the hill.
- The widths average from 2 ft. 10 in. to 6 ft. The side walls are of
- the following heights above the passage floor: east side, 7 ft. to
- 10 ft.; west side, 5 ft. to 10 ft. On either side of this length are
- enclosures which are completely filled in with débris and buried, but
- the entrances to these can be seen. This length of passage was found
- (October, 1902) to be completely buried, even for some feet above the
- 10 ft. side walls, and the floors of Makalanga huts were built across
- them and the passage.</p>
-
- <p>At the 63 ft. point in this length are two entrances, one on either
- side of the passage. The one on the east side is rounded and is 6 ft.
- high, and steps are formed by the curving inwards of the courses of the
- wall. This leads into an enclosure until recently filled in and buried,
- and this enclosure is mentioned in the description of the <em>North-West
- Face of Zimbabwe Hill</em>, where it is described as being typical of so
- many other enclosures on this side of the hill. On the opposite side of
- the passage the entrance there is angular on <span class="pagenum" id="Page_347">347</span>one side and rounded on
- the other. Its side walls are 6 ft. high. This entrance is blocked up
- in the same manner as was the ascent. This leads into another buried
- enclosure, a portion of which has been cleared out and examined. The
- passage along the 75 ft. length has a fall of 11 ft.</p>
-
- <div class="figcenter" id="i_346a">
- <img src="images/i_346a.jpg" width="433" height="550" alt="" />
- <div class="caption">SUNKEN PASSAGE, SECTION OF NORTH-WEST ASCENT, ACROPOLIS</div>
- </div>
-
- <div class="figcenter" id="i_346b">
- <img src="images/i_346b.jpg" width="435" height="550" alt="" />
- <div class="caption">HERRING-BONE PATTERN, WATER GATE RUINS, ZIMBABWE</div>
- </div>
-
- <p>At the bottom end of this length and going north is an enclosed area
- triangular in shape 47 ft. long, and with the apex resting in the lower
- end, where the passage becomes narrowed to 2 ft. 6 in. This area and
- the corresponding area of similar shape in the <em>South-East Ancient
- Ascent</em> appear to have been intended to serve a similar purpose—that
- is, to enable a crowd of defenders on a high level to act against two
- or three bands of the attacking party on a lower level and in a narrow
- passage. Into this area open out at least three entrances from buried
- enclosures on either side. The area has in its length a fall of 9 ft.</p>
-
- <p>At the foot of this triangular-shaped area the passage runs north for
- 38 ft. It is 2 ft. to 4 ft. wide, and the side walls are 4 ft. high.
- The fall in this length is 5 ft. At the northern end of this length and
- crossing it at right angles is the old path used by visitors in making
- the ascent of the hill.</p>
-
- <p><i>Section (e).</i>—This extends from the old path used by visitors
- ascending the hill, down to the <em>Water Gate</em>.</p>
-
- <p>From the Visitors’ Path the descent to the <em>Water Gate</em> is somewhat
- uninteresting, the passage walls being very much dilapidated, the
- upper side wall being particularly damaged, having been subject to the
- full force of falls of block débris down the face of the hill. In this
- way the lower side walls, having been so protected, are in a somewhat
- better condition.</p>
-
- <p>Starting down from the path there appears to be a chaos of stones
- for some 15 ft., but still the passage can be traced. As there are
- several lines of well-laid blocks close to the crossing of the path
- and passage, it is quite probable that side passages ran into the main
- passage at this point. At<span class="pagenum" id="Page_348">348</span> the 15 ft. down a very wide wall 4 ft. to 5
- ft. high runs down the north side of the passage for 140 ft.</p>
-
- <p>The south side shows an unburied wall 30 ft. long and about 3 ft.
- high. At 80 ft. from the Visitors’ Path the passage opens out into
- a triangular space 25 ft. wide, with the apex resting at the lowest
- point of the steep enclosure. Such triangular spaces on the lines of
- steep passages are not uncommon, being found at several ruins. There is
- one higher up the same ascent, and another on the South-East Ancient
- Ascent. In each case the descent is steep, and the lowest point of the
- triangular area rests on a narrow passage coming up from below.</p>
-
- <p>At 140 ft. below the Visitors’ Path the north wall alone is standing,
- and this runs downwards for 50 ft. This wall is 4 ft. high and is
- rather wide. The south wall is now represented only by a line of wall
- débris running parallel with the north wall.</p>
-
- <p>At 190 ft. the passage becomes lost, but exactly parallel and at a
- distance of 20 ft. south is the commencement of another passage.
- Probably the upper length takes a sharp turn west under a pile of
- débris which lies between the two passages. This second passage has a
- buried wall 3 ft. high on the south side. On the north side the wall
- is 150 ft. long, and on this length the south wall has practically
- disappeared.</p>
-
- <p>At the down side of this length the passage becomes far better defined,
- having side walls from 3 ft. to 5 ft. high, and 3 ft. wide on their
- summits. The passage here takes a sharp turn towards the north for 50
- ft., then to the south-west for 25 ft., and again to the north for
- almost 100 ft., the side walls being intact for this length, the east
- wall being from 4 ft. to 7 ft. high, and the passage 2 ft. 6 in. wide.
- This is the best-preserved portion of the lower half of the <em>Ascent</em>.
- The west side walls are from 3 ft. to 4 ft. high. Between these walls
- are traces of steps, also a few buttresses, all rounded.</p>
-
- <p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_349">349</span></p>
-
- <p>At the end of this length the passage is continued between walls 4
- ft. high to its extremity, before reaching which it takes some sharp
- W-shaped turns and terminates in very well-built walls.</p>
-
- <p>The <em>Water Gate</em> faces this point at 100 ft. distance, only at a lower
- level of some 30 ft. to 40 ft. The side of the hill is here very
- steep, and is faced in parts with granite glacis, between which the
- path descended to the <em>Water Gate</em>. Converging on the extremity of the
- passage are traces of other passages from each side, which give the
- impression that the <em>North-West Ascent</em> was the main approach to the
- summit of the <em>Acropolis</em> from this side of the hill.</p>
-
- <h3>THE WATER GATE RUINS</h3>
-
- <p>This is situated at the lowest extremity of the North-West Ancient
- Ascent to the Acropolis, and forms its approach and entrance from the
- valley on the west and north sides of Zimbabwe Hill. It has been styled
- the Water Gate on account of there being immediately in front of it a
- large donga (water-hole), one of the chain of dongas which run round
- the hill from the south-west to the north-east, and are believed to be
- artificial, but have become reduced from the original area and depth
- by the silting in from the side of the hill during a very long period
- of sub-tropical rains. Sections of walls have been discovered at great
- depth in these dongas.</p>
-
- <p>This entrance forms part of a long line of wall which runs round the
- base of the hill for some two or three hundred yards, and is called
- the Inner Defence Wall, in which on the south-west side of the hill is
- another large entrance, known as the Outspan Ruins. This line of wall
- is in some places very well defined, being from 2 ft. to 4 ft. above
- the level of the veld, but some lengths of it are mere lines of stone
- débris or ridges of mounds full of blocks; but seen from<span class="pagenum" id="Page_350">350</span> some heights
- up the face of the opposite hill it can be traced throughout its length.</p>
-
- <p>The gateway is exceedingly well constructed, and the curves of the ends
- of the walls which form its sides are very bold and massive. Though
- it is distant over 900 ft. from the main ruins on the summit of the
- hill, it must be admitted to be a very good example of entrances of the
- earliest ancient period. But the construction of the wall on either
- side of this entrance, and at some little distance from it, becomes
- only fairly good, and at a still greater distance roughly built, and
- yet the entrance and the line of wall are of the same original plan.
- This grading off of the quality of construction on either side of the
- entrance and at some little distance from it is also seen in many
- other entrances which are not in proximity to the main ruins. The line
- of the Inner Defence Wall in which this entrance is inserted curves
- outwards towards the west-north-west from about 30 ft. on either side
- of it. The entrance is thus in the centre of the curve, and faces
- west-north-west. It is 2 ft. 10 in. wide, and 7 ft. from outside to
- inside. The side wall on the south is 7 ft. 6 in. high above the steps,
- and on the north 5 ft. 6 in., though on either side the present reduced
- summit of the wall is from 2 ft. to 4 ft. higher at a few feet from the
- entrance. Like all main entrances, save one, at Zimbabwe, it is without
- portcullis grooves, these having been found in rounded entrances in
- internal and divisional walls. The wall on the south side is 8 ft. wide
- on the floor of the entrance, and 7 ft. 6 in. on the north side. There
- are remains of three steps on the entrance which commence flush with
- the front faces of the two side walls. These are greatly dilapidated,
- but it can be seen that they form part of the foundations of the wall.
- One stone of what is left in the front row is considerably worn on the
- top, as if it had been trodden on for many generations.</p>
-
- <p>As in very many entrances of the earliest style of ancient<span class="pagenum" id="Page_351">351</span>
- architecture—for instance, the main entrance to the Elliptical
- Temple—the walls on either side widen out as they approach the
- entrance. In this instance the walls widen out from 4 ft. and 5 ft. to
- 8 ft. as the entrance is neared. There are also traces of buttresses
- on either hand on the inner sides of the entrance, also of a few steps
- ascending into the interior of the enclosed area.</p>
-
- <p>The front face of the wall on the north side is 5 ft. above the veld,
- but the summit increases in height towards the interior face of the
- wall, as most of the dilapidations have taken place on the outer side
- of the wall. The front face of the south wall is 7 ft. in height, and
- the summit of this wall ascends much higher towards its inner face.
- At 12 ft. from the entrance, along the face of the south wall, it is
- clearly seen where the excellent workmanship of the entrance grades off
- to an inferior construction in the continuation of the wall southwards.
- The line of wall on the south side is more or less intact for 48 ft.,
- at which point it becomes lost in débris and silted soil, though its
- line of route can of course be traced much further. The wall on the
- north side extends for 90 ft., but from this point northward it is very
- easy to follow the course of its débris.</p>
-
- <p>The interior faces of the wall, for about 30 ft. on either side of the
- entrance, are still in a good condition, and are from 4 ft. to 7 ft.
- above the inside cleared-out level.</p>
-
- <p>On the inner face of the south wall, at 5 ft. above the present level
- of the enclosed area, is a herring-bone pattern which directly faces
- east-south-east. The pattern remaining is 3 ft. 6 in. long, and 1 ft.
- 2 in. deep, and is formed of tile-like blocks, varying from 10 in.
- to 1 ft. 3 in. in length. Judging by the positions of the stones, it
- is highly probable that this pattern extends at least 2 ft. further
- towards the entrance. The usual frame for this pattern, and also for
- Dentelle and Chevron Patterns, is still good for three courses at its
- south end. The size of the stones employed in this<span class="pagenum" id="Page_352">352</span> pattern is above
- the average size used for the same pattern in other ruins, and is
- somewhat larger than those in the pattern at Little Umnukwana Ruins, in
- the M’Pateni district, where the average length of the stones is 10 in.
- So far this is the only herring-bone pattern discovered at Zimbabwe. It
- was first noticed by Mr. J. W. Clarke, of Victoria, in September, 1902.</p>
-
- <p>From immediately behind this entrance the north-west face of the hills
- rises very sharply, so much so that the rains of many years have silted
- soil to a great depth behind the walls. Rain-water would naturally be
- guided by the contour of this part of the hill towards this entrance,
- so that the area behind it has become filled up to a very much higher
- level than in the time of the original occupiers. Some two dozen cubic
- feet of this silted soil was cleared out of the entrance in October,
- 1902, and while the work was progressing a heavy storm, lasting only an
- hour, broke over Zimbabwe. On visiting the entrance later in the day it
- was found that this one shower had caused the almost entire filling up
- of the excavation by mud streams, which had washed down the side of the
- hill.</p>
-
- <p>Immediately in front of the outer faces of this entrance and running
- parallel with this length of the Inner Defence Wall, and at a distance
- of 90 ft. from it, are the remains of a line of wall almost hidden in
- débris. This wall can be traced for a distance of at least 130 ft.,
- and there appears to have been a passage or entrance through it at a
- point almost due north of the Water Gate. Further to the north and
- north-west of this wall is a donga, and on the north-north-west of this
- donga runs the outer defence wall, which is at least 600 yds. long, and
- encloses the line of dongas from west of the Elliptical Temple with the
- north-east of the base of Zimbabwe Hill. In this Outer Defence Wall
- is an opening, and in all probability, judging by the arrangement of
- the wall débris and the contour of the ground, a gateway or<span class="pagenum" id="Page_353">353</span> entrance
- was once situated at this point. This opening in the Outer Defence
- Wall, the traces of an entrance in the ruined wall in front of the
- Water Gate, and the Water Gate entrance are all in one line, and the
- line is further made complete by the remains of two small walls in
- the donga itself, which equally divide its width, as if these walls
- either carried or supported a bridge; or at any rate afforded the means
- for crossing the donga. In fact, the size of these dongas and their
- relative positions appear to indicate that on this side of the hill the
- Acropolis was further defended by water. These two small walls show
- signs of having had rounded entrances in their centres.</p>
-
- <p>Taking into consideration the line of the three entrances, the fact
- that the ancient ascent through the Water Gate leads into the heart
- of the main ruins of the Acropolis, and further that the contour of
- the ground beyond the Outer Defence Wall indicates the direction in
- which a road from Zimbabwe to the north and north-west must take, it
- is reasonable to conjecture that the ancient road from Zimbabwe in
- that direction passed on the north side of the Makuma Kopje, on which
- Mogabe’s kraal is now located.</p>
-
- <h3>TERRACED ENCLOSURES ON NORTH-WEST FACE OF ZIMBABWE HILL</h3>
-
- <p>About forty or fifty ledges protrude in step form up the north-west
- face of Zimbabwe Hill from the valley below up to the front of the west
- main wall of the <em>Western Temple</em>, and these projections are not only
- upwards in terrace form, but broadways, extending across the entire
- length of the north-west face of the hill.</p>
-
- <p>The best view of these ledges is obtained from <em>Makuma Kopje</em>, on which
- is Mogabe’s kraal. From this point it is seen that these projections
- must have been artificially made. So great has been the fall of
- wall débris, and the washing of soil for many centuries by heavy
- sub-tropical rains down the<span class="pagenum" id="Page_354">354</span> hillside, that even the outer faces, or
- retaining walls, of many of these projecting ledges or platforms are
- completely buried, and their outline can but barely be traced owing to
- the absence of any outcrop of walls. In fact, the whole of this face of
- the hill for over 300 yds. upwards, and the same distance broadways, is
- but a chaos of fallen blocks, and the visitor, while walking over this
- area, sees infinitely less of their arrangement and plan than can be
- seen at a distance of a third of a mile from the opposite kopje.</p>
-
- <p>These terraces are not disposed in lines across the hill as are the
- <em>Hill Terraces</em> of <em>Inyanga</em>, but each is independent of the other.
- Nor do they in any point resemble the terrace system of the retaining
- walls so often met with in ruins of the Second Period of Zimbabwe
- architecture.</p>
-
- <p>Several of these projecting areas on the steep face of the hill have
- recently been cleared of the débris which has in so many instances
- completely covered them, and rendered their form but a mere suggestion
- of an outline. The outer faces of some of the terrace walls have been
- laid bare, and their construction is seen to be of true Zimbabwe
- building of the First Period, all features of the Second Period, so far
- as examinations have extended, being altogether absent.</p>
-
- <p>The walls are not built on straight lines but on curves, some of the
- curves being laid on bold lines, in some instances amounting to a
- semi-circle. The angular wall is absent. The construction of most of
- the walls is superior to that of Second Period walls. There is no
- promiscuous filling-up of the interiors of the walls. The walls are as
- well built on the inside as they are on their outside faces, and they
- possess the true Zimbabwe batter-back, and such entrances as have been
- discovered are excellently rounded.</p>
-
- <p>The spaces between the outside edge of the summits of these walls in
- front and the rising surface of the hill behind them have been levelled
- by falling débris, but there is no lack of evidence to show that, where
- not wholly filled in naturally<span class="pagenum" id="Page_355">355</span> in the course of time, the work of
- their complete filling-in has been systematically carried out by people
- who were not the original builders. On clearing the irregular surfaces
- of these ledges of débris it was found that the areas were rudely
- covered with red clay or <i>daka</i>, and on this flooring were the clay
- foundations of Makalanga huts, with piles of buck bones and quantities
- of charcoal and bits of iron slag. Mogabe’s headmen state that these
- hut foundations are not those of Makalanga of their time, as Mogabe’s
- kraal, and that of Mokomo before him, though on the north side of the
- hill, were situated much higher up the hill and much nearer to, or even
- among, the main ruins. Nor do they belong to Makalanga of sixty years
- ago, for Mogabe’s people say that when Chipfuno arrived as a boy some
- seventy years ago this portion of the hill was then in the same state
- as is seen to-day. Judging by the weathered blocks piled and strewn
- upon these areas, it is very possible that these rough clay floors and
- hut foundations are at least seventy years old, if not considerably
- older. Portions of iron assegais and Makalanga hoes found on these
- floors are so eaten by rust that they have become thin, and are almost
- as brittle as glass.</p>
-
- <p>But the most interesting feature of these terraced areas lies in the
- fact, obvious to anyone who inspects the areas cleared out in July
- and August, 1902, that these areas were not originally terraces but
- ordinary enclosures, with floors from 4 ft. to 10 ft. lower than the
- present reduced summits of the outer walls. Some people of times
- later than those of the original builders had deliberately taken the
- blocks from the outer or down-side walls of the enclosures and thrown
- them inside till the interiors were filled up level with the reduced
- height of the walls, and over such filling-in had spread a clay floor,
- and so made these enclosures into terraced platforms and dry vantage
- ground on which to build their huts, lay their corn-drying, threshing,
- and winnowing floors, and also<span class="pagenum" id="Page_356">356</span> their small <i>daka</i> granaries, which,
- occupying these well-drained and soilless positions, would be free from
- the ravages of white ants.</p>
-
- <p>By clearing the outer faces of these walls from block débris, which
- has fallen or rolled down from higher positions on the hill—and these
- falls have in some instances utterly ruined the walls beneath—and
- following the curve of wall round to its opposite side on the face of
- the hill, the rounded entrances into some of these enclosures have been
- unburied, the floor of such entrances being on an average 5 ft. to 9
- ft. below the débris. These entrances, so far as discoveries have been
- made, are all at the rear of the enclosure and close to the face of the
- hill. These entrances are narrow, 1 ft. 10 in. and 2 ft. 2 in. being a
- fair average width, and once the line of floor which is level with the
- floor of the entrances is cleared, it is seen that there are no steps
- inside the enclosures, though outside the entrances there are in a
- few instances steps leading up to the entrances only, but never steps
- leading upwards from inside the entrances. The floor of the entrance,
- in each case, is the level of the floor of the enclosure. Inside is
- seen a mass of dry blocks without soil, and many of these blocks show a
- face that was once exposed to the weather and become time-eaten if not
- greatly decomposed, which shows that they once formed part of the face
- of an ancient wall.</p>
-
- <p>In removing this block débris from these enclosures no pick or spade
- was necessary. The blocks were picked up and handed outside, and when
- the enclosures had been emptied there was not 12 in. depth of soil, and
- what was there was mainly fine granite chippings caused by the throwing
- in of the blocks, and of decomposed <i>daka</i>, which had formed the floor,
- and which, being of poor quality, constant rainfalls had practically
- rotted into sand. It was on these cleared-out floors that portions
- of large carved soapstone bowls were discovered in July and August,
- 1902. The “finds” on the bottom and original floors bore undoubted<span class="pagenum" id="Page_357">357</span>
- evidences of antiquity, and were totally different in character from
- the unmistakable Makalanga objects found on the <i>daka</i> floor some feet
- above.</p>
-
- <p>As before stated, these terraces of enclosures are in some points
- independent of each other—that is, they extend across the face of the
- hill most irregularly. The second enclosure may be 20 ft. or 30 ft. in
- front of the level of its neighbour on either hand, the third 20 ft.
- or 30 ft. to the rear of the level of the first enclosure, and so on.
- But the enclosures are built very nearly one behind the other up the
- face of the hill, the front wall of one being the back wall of the next
- below. Between these ascending lines of enclosures are narrow sunken
- passages, the existence of which, until August, 1902, was altogether
- unsuspected, as such passages showed no outcrop of their side walls.
- Two of these passages are now known to be at least 350 ft. long, and
- one of them has been cleared out for this length. They were exceedingly
- narrow, so that at many points only one person could pass at a time.
- The widths average 2 ft., and their floors are from 3 ft. to 12 ft.
- below the present débris-strewn surface of the slope of the hill. Into
- these passages the entrances to enclosures on either side open.</p>
-
- <p>Evidently the same people who filled in the enclosures and converted
- them into platforms likewise deliberately filled in the passages for
- the foundations of old Makalanga huts, and granaries were laid across
- the filled-in passages. The “finds” on the floors of these passages and
- those found on their “filled-in” tops showed as great differences in
- every respect as were presented by the objects found on the original
- floors of the enclosures and those on the later clay floors above them.</p>
-
- <h3>SOUTH TERRACE</h3>
-
- <p>This is a natural ledge of ground artificially improved, running east
- at the foot of the south precipice for 200 yards from the foot of the
- <em>Rock Passage</em>, and extending beyond the<span class="pagenum" id="Page_358">358</span> point where the most easterly
- ruins of the Acropolis are built along the summit cliff. This terrace
- is supported on its south side by several retaining walls.</p>
-
- <p>Almost all the enclosure walls along this terrace have been demolished
- by the falls of great masses of walls from the ruins on the summit of
- the cliff. Barely the foundations of such enclosure walls now remain,
- the only exception being the enclosure adjoining the bottom end of the
- <em>Rock Passage</em>.</p>
-
- <h3>THE “OUTSPAN RUINS”</h3>
-
- <p>These ruins, which lie 75 yds. to the north of Havilah Camp, are on the
- outspan in the valley which runs along the south side of Zimbabwe Hill,
- and also on the path leading from the camp to the South-East Ancient
- Ascent. This block of ruins was entirely cleared out of wall débris and
- silted soil in September, 1902, and now visitors may walk upon what was
- practically the ancient floor. The cement which once formed the floor
- has become decomposed to granite sand, and owing to the enclosures of
- the ruin having been buried some 3 ft. to 5 ft. under the veld, the
- enclosures held all the water which in rainy seasons would pour down
- the side of the hill immediately behind.</p>
-
- <p>These ruins form part of the line of Hill Inner Defence Wall, which
- encloses the whole of Zimbabwe Hill on its west, south, and east sides
- and runs along the foot of the lower slopes of the hill. The most
- complete view of this continuous line of wall is obtained from the
- summit of the hill. This line of defence wall is again enclosed on the
- west side by the Outer Defence Wall, which runs from the north side of
- the hill almost as far as the Elliptical Temple, and between these two
- walls are the three large dongas on the west side of the hill.</p>
-
- <p>The “Outspan Ruins” form the most perfect section of the Hill Inner
- Defence Wall, not excepting the fine entrances to<span class="pagenum" id="Page_359">359</span> the North-West
- Ancient Ascent with its herring-bone pattern, which is also another
- section of the same line of inner defence wall, only on the north-west
- side of the hill. They also must have served as an important entrance
- through the south-west portion of the Hill Inner Defence Wall. The
- entrance is complicated and rendered very difficult of attack by a
- number of rounded buttresses, in addition to which there are small
- enclosures most substantially built, which, most probably, were
- guard-rooms.</p>
-
- <div class="figcenter" id="i_359">
- <img src="images/i_359.jpg" width="600" height="373" alt="" />
- <div class="caption">Sketch Plan<br />OUTSPAN RUINS<br />Zimbabwe </div>
- </div>
-
- <p>There is nothing angular in the plan and construction of these ruins.
- They very patently resemble other outlying buildings which obviously
- formed part of the original plan of the main Hill Ruins. The courses
- in the wall are not very regular, and stones of all shapes and sizes
- have been introduced. There is no decorative pattern in this section
- of the Hill Inner Defence Wall, but there is one peculiarity in its
- architecture, and in that of a conical tower which is described later.</p>
-
- <p>These ruins occupy an area of 113 ft. from south-east to north-west,
- and 70 ft. from north-east to south-west.</p>
-
- <p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_360">360</span></p>
-
- <p>The main wall faces south. The 113 ft. length only includes the line of
- main wall which still stands some 5 ft. to 11 ft. in height, the wall
- at either end of this length can be traced extending for 500 yds. to
- the east and 350 yds. to the west and north.</p>
-
- <p>The entrance which has rounded walls on either side is 4 ft. wide, and
- passes diagonally south-west through the main wall, thus giving it a
- length of 8 ft. On its eastern side the wall is 7 ft. high, and 5 ft.
- on the western side.</p>
-
- <p>The ruins on the north side of main wall form a central enclosure to
- the north of the entrance with an enclosure on either side of it, also
- a passage on the south and west sides of the central enclosure.</p>
-
- <p>The central enclosure is formed by a wall 22 ft. long, 4 ft. high, and
- 5 ft. to 7 ft. wide on the present reduced summit, which runs north at
- right angles from the inside of the main wall at 4 ft. east from the
- east side of the entrance. The wall, which at its northern extremity
- is rounded, forms the divisional wall between the central and eastern
- enclosures. The west side of the central enclosure is formed by a wall,
- rounded at each end, which starts at 4 ft. from opposite the inside of
- the entrance, and goes west for 13 ft. and north-east for 19 ft. This
- wall averages 3 ft. to 8 ft. in height, and is from 4 ft. to 5 ft. 6
- in. wide at base, and 3 ft. 6 in. on the highest summit. Where the east
- wall of this enclosure comes opposite the end of the north-east wall is
- an entrance 3 ft. 6 in. wide. The area of this enclosure is 14 ft. from
- west to east and 19 ft. from north to south. It is possible that in the
- centre of this enclosure once stood a round buttress or tower, and the
- position of a few blocks in the floor makes this something more than a
- mere conjecture.</p>
-
- <p>On passing through the main entrance from the south, one enters a
- passage which runs parallel with the north side of the main wall
- for 17 ft. towards the west, and then curves sharply towards the
- east-north-east for 19 ft. At its two<span class="pagenum" id="Page_361">361</span> extremities the passage is from
- 3 ft. to 3 ft. 6 in. wide, but at the curve at the end of the first
- length of 17 ft. it is 6 ft. wide. The western wall of this passage is
- 19 ft. long, 5 ft. wide at base, and 3 ft. 6 in. on the highest portion
- of the summit, this being at the south end, where the wall is 8 ft.
- high. This wall is rounded at its northern extremity, and forms the
- divisional wall between the passage and the eastern enclosure. Neither
- the eastern nor the western enclosures can at present be defined on
- their northern sides, though lines of block débris would appear to fix
- their boundaries.</p>
-
- <p>The most interesting architectural feature in the “Outspan Ruins” is
- the conical tower built to form part of the main wall. This is an
- independent structure from its base upwards. It is 9 ft. high, and
- though built of irregularly shaped stones and without much adherence to
- courses, it is symmetrical in appearance. On its west side between it
- and the rounded end of the main wall is a space 2 in. wide on the floor
- and 5 ft. wide at 6 ft. from the floor. This narrow loopholed space
- still remains open, save for a single slab which at 6 ft. above the
- floor is built into the tower and the main wall, thus forming a sort of
- stone shelf. On the eastern side of the tower the space between it and
- the rounded wall of the entrance is neatly built up, and a slab is laid
- from the rounded wall into the courses of the tower at 5 ft. above the
- floor. Possibly these slabs on either side of the tower formed raised
- platforms to afford a view over the wall, while the narrow loophole
- might have served as a look-out. The circumference of the tower at 5
- ft. from its base is 19 ft. 3 in.</p>
-
- <p>The portion of these ruins which lies to the south of the main wall
- comprises (1) a wall running south at right angles to the main wall at
- 4 ft. from the west side of the entrance. This wall is 24 ft. long,
- and averages 3 ft. 6 in. in height, and is 2 ft. wide on its present
- summit; (2) a circular buttress built independently and standing
- opposite the outside of the main entrance at a distance of 8 ft. 6 in.
- Its height is now<span class="pagenum" id="Page_362">362</span> only 3 ft. 10 in., and its circumference at base
- is 28 ft. 4 in. It is hollow in the centre, and it has collapsed from
- summit to base on its southern side for a width of 3 ft. The obvious
- object of this buttress is to divide the open space on the outside of
- the entrance into two narrow passages, each of which could easily be
- defended by a few even against a great number of besiegers.</p>
-
- <p>At 36 ft. east of the south side of the entrance is an outcrop of a
- wall 6 ft. long, and this runs due south at some 5 ft. in front of the
- main wall.</p>
-
- <hr class="page" />
- <div class="chapter" id="CHAPTER_XIX">
- <span class="pagenum" id="Page_363">363</span>
- <h2>
- CHAPTER XIX<br /><br />
- <span class="small">“THE VALLEY OF RUINS”</span>
- </h2>
- </div>
- <div class="subheadc">Posselt, Philips, Maund, Renders, Mauch Ruins, and South-East Ruins.</div>
-
- <p class="drop-cap">“THE Valley of Ruins” is on the north-east and east sides of the
- Elliptical Temple, and almost half-way between it and the south side
- of the east end of the Acropolis Hill. This conglomeration of ruins
- extends from the edge of the slope which runs along the north-east
- sides of both Elliptical Temple and No. 1 Ruins to within 60 yds. of
- the west side of East Ruins, and covers an area of about 250 yds. from
- east to west and 120 yds. from north to south. This area is the upper
- portion of the Zimbabwe Valley, which descends towards the east, the
- streams from this valley during the rainy season falling into the
- Mapudzi stream, which runs southwards down the Schlichter Gorge towards
- the Moshawasha Valley, and later finds its way into the Motelekwe River.</p>
-
- <p>Till 1902–3 these extensive ruins, some of which are massive and most
- excellently constructed, remained not only unexplored but unexamined,
- and no particulars or plan had ever been attempted to be given, all
- writers being content to refer to them as “The Valley of Ruins,” while
- some writers altogether ignore the existence of the group. Dr. Helm, of
- Morgenster, whose professional duties have taken him twice every month
- for the last six years within a few score yards of the ruins, states
- that he never supposed the wood and the jungle contained any walls.</p>
-
- <p>Since the Occupation in 1890 no attention has been paid to these
- ruins. No visitors’ or even native paths crossed the<span class="pagenum" id="Page_364">364</span> area, nor are
- there the slightest traces in the shape of trenches of relic hunters
- and gold prospectors having worked here. So unfrequented has it been
- that some fair-sized buck have recently been shot within the walls.
- The area was found to be covered with an almost impenetrable jungle of
- trees, bushes, and creepers. The local natives declared the place to be
- bewitched, and consequently they avoided it.</p>
-
- <p>“The Valley of Ruins” has recently (1903) been found to consist of
- three groups, each of which includes several distinct ruins, some being
- of an important character.</p>
-
- <p>The area is divided as follows:—</p>
-
- <p>1. Lower or north-eastern section, including the Posselt, Philips, and
- Maund Ruins.</p>
-
- <p>2. Middle section, which lies between the lower section and the edge of
- the slope of land on the north-east side of the Elliptical Temple.</p>
-
- <p>3. Upper section, including all ruins between the Elliptical Temple
- and the edge of the slope overlooking lower portions of “The Valley of
- Ruins.”</p>
-
- <p>Before describing these complicated groups there are some features
- represented by them which may be mentioned.</p>
-
- <p>(<i>a</i>) Several of these ruins, especially those in the lower section,
- are exceedingly massive and well built, the courses marvellously
- true with an absence of straight joints. The curves of the wall are
- beautifully designed and are laid on boldly sweeping lines. The
- material is good, and is also most carefully selected and sized. The
- masonry of many of the walls is far superior to that of some of the
- divisional walls of the Elliptical Temple and to the majority of the
- walls on the Acropolis.</p>
-
- <p>(<i>b</i>) The absence of the angular style of buildings, except with
- certain structures in the middle section. Rounded entrances and
- buttresses and gracefully rounded ends of walls form the most
- prevailing features of most of these ruins. Two conical towers, several
- very large semi-circular buttresses<span class="pagenum" id="Page_365">365</span> or platforms form prominent
- features. Two drains were discovered (1903) in Philips Ruins and three
- in Posselt Ruins (B).</p>
-
- <p>(<i>c</i>) The middle section is poorly built, and possesses some angular
- features. The upper section is well built.</p>
-
- <p>(<i>d</i>) The discovery (1903) in the lower section of these ruins of gold
- articles, decorated and plain soapstone beams and relics of the oldest
- type, including the soapstone beam with bird on summit—the finest
- specimen yet found in Zimbabwe—point to the fact that certain of these
- ruins were used for somewhat higher purposes than those of forts or
- workshops, possibly, as many now suggest, as residences for priests
- or officials connected with the temple. This surmise is justifiable,
- seeing that the north-east passage connects such well-built and
- substantial portions of these mines directly with the North Entrance
- and Parallel Passage and Sacred Enclosure of the Elliptical Temple.
- In the lower section of these ruins there are no traces of ancient or
- native industries having been carried on.</p>
-
- <p>(<i>e</i>) In the lower section of these ruins there are fewer signs of
- modern or even of very old Makalanga clay huts, such as are fully
- described in “<em>Native huts found in ruins</em>.” No modern articles were
- found here. The consequence is there has been in this lower group of
- ruins very little artificial filling-up of the enclosures, and the
- ruins are more open and are easier of examination than most of the
- other ruins at Zimbabwe. But being on lower ground, with a huge bank
- of granite and soil on the south-western flank, there has been a
- considerable amount of soil silted into the ruins during the course of
- hundreds of years, but not to any great depth. The filling-in, both
- natural, is no more than about 2 ft., as compared with 5 ft. and 7
- ft. in other ruins elsewhere where there are abundant signs of native
- occupation.</p>
-
- <p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_366">366</span></p>
-
- <div class="center">LOWER SECTION OF THE “VALLEY OF RUINS”</div>
-
- <h3>POSSELT RUINS</h3>
-
- <p>These ruins are the most westerly of the lower section of <em>The Valley
- of Ruins</em>. They consist of two almost oval-shaped buildings adjoining
- each other, and for the purposes of this description are marked <i>A</i> and
- <i>B</i> respectively on the plan. This set of ruins lies at the north-east
- extremity of the <em>North-East Passage</em> leading from the <em>Elliptical
- Temple</em>.</p>
-
- <p><i>A</i> is 175 ft. long from north to south, and 91 ft. from east to west.
- <i>B</i> lies at almost right angles to <i>A</i> on its south-west side, and is
- 110 ft. from east to west, and 75 ft. from north to south.</p>
-
- <p>The interesting points concerning the Posselt Ruins are:—</p>
-
- <p>(1) The discovery of beaten gold and of the older class of relics.</p>
-
- <p>(2) Two entrances with unworked soapstone beams used as lintels in
- portcullis grooves.</p>
-
- <p>(3) Complicated entrances; a small conical tower; cement dadoes; a
- parallel passage; circular and semi-circular buttresses; only slight
- artificial filling-in of interior; some evidence of occupation by old
- or modern natives.</p>
-
- <p>(4) Massive character of walls originally averaging at least 15 ft.
- in height; excellent construction, main walls being superior to many
- divisional walls in the <em>Elliptical Temple</em> and to most of the walls on
- the <em>Acropolis</em>; the overwhelming predominance of the rounded style of
- architecture.</p>
-
- <p>(5) No evidence of either ancient or native industries having been
- carried on in these ruins.</p>
-
- <h3>SECTION A OF POSSELT RUINS</h3>
-
- <p><i>Main walls.</i>—The main walls average from 7 ft. to 12 ft. in height
- above the surface of the veld, while the height of the interior
- faces, which are some 3 ft. above the outside level, averages 6 ft.
- to 9 ft. The great amount of wall débris<span class="pagenum" id="Page_367">367</span> at the foot of the walls
- suggests an original average height of at least 15 ft. above the cement
- floors. Some practical builders have computed it to have been almost
- 20 ft., and the batter-back would permit of this. The average of 15
- ft. is a very conservative estimate of the original height. There is
- more dilapidation on the outside top edges of the walls than on the
- inside. The width of the main walls at base averages 6 ft., and on
- the reduced summit at 9 ft. above the outer surface of the ground
- 4 ft. Some of the divisional walls are almost equally as massive.
- As is usual in the rounded style of building, the main walls, also
- the foundations, widen out as they near an entrance. The curves of
- the walls are most symmetrical, especially of the wall which curves
- outwards from the north to the east-south-east. Two granite beams—one 6
- ft. 3 in. high—once stood erect on the north-east portion of the main
- wall. A flat granite slab still stands erect on the west wall. Other
- long granite beams were found at the foot of the wall both outside
- and inside. The foundations of the main walls are carried under the
- entrances and form their floors.</p>
-
- <div class="figcenter" id="i_367">
- <img src="images/i_367.jpg" width="600" height="383" alt="" />
- <div class="caption">Sketch Plan<br />POSSELT RUINS<br />“Valley of Ruins”<br />(<em>Lower Section</em>) </div>
- </div>
-
- <p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_368">368</span></p>
-
- <p><i>Construction.</i>—The construction of the main walls and also of some of
- the divisional walls is good, though there are places where a rather
- inferior workmanship can be noticed. On the whole, the courses are
- regular, straight joints are infrequent, and the sizes of the blocks of
- each course show they were carefully selected. There are a few short
- lengths of walls in the interior which do not appear to have been parts
- of the original building. These are erected upon the black vegetable
- mould, and are poorly constructed, are slight and of indifferent
- material, being almost identical, if not quite so, with old Makalanga
- walls, the noticeable feature of which is the building of one stone
- exactly above and squarely on the block below without any pretence at
- bonding. This is known as the column style, and can be seen in walls
- in native villages as well as within certain ruins at Zimbabwe, mainly
- on the <em>Acropolis</em>, where, as in these ruins, there are the remains of
- very old Makalanga cement huts.</p>
-
- <p><i>Entrances.</i>—There are four rounded entrances through the main wall;
- possibly there was a fifth on the east side where there is a wide gap.
- There are twelve entrances in divisional walls, nine of which are
- rounded, two being partly angular and partly rounded, and one angular,
- this last being before referred to as probably of later construction.
- It is almost certain that many more divisional entrances will yet be
- discovered, as several of the divisional walls only just outcrop above
- the surface of the interior. Almost every entrance has portcullis
- grooves. All four of the entrances through the main wall have rounded
- buttresses on either side projecting into the interior of the building.
- Three of the more important divisional entrances also have rounded
- buttresses on each side of the entrance.</p>
-
- <p>The E.N.E. entrance was evidently the main entrance. Its walls are very
- massive, and the arrangement of the inner walls strongly suggests the
- intention to protect the entrance and afford a second line of defence.
- This entrance generally<span class="pagenum" id="Page_369">369</span> is the most imposing of all four approaches.
- It opens directly on to the exterior of the building, which the west
- entrance does not; nor most probably did the S.E. entrance, which
- opens out towards other ruins. The E.N.E. entrance varies in width
- from 2 ft. 10 in. to 4 ft., and the passage is 12 ft. long. The side
- walls are 5 ft. high, but rise sharply towards the exterior to 8 ft.
- and 11 ft. respectively, and both are about 6 ft. wide on floor level.
- As in the entrances through the main wall of the <em>Elliptical Temple</em>,
- the foundations run under the entrance and form its passage floor.
- The entrance has two buttresses on the inner side, and these have
- portcullis grooves.</p>
-
- <p>The west entrance opens in <em>Section B</em> of the <em>Posselt Ruins</em>. This is
- 1 ft. 10 in. wide, 7 ft. long, and the side walls are 7 ft. high above
- the floor and 6 ft. wide on the floor level. The entrance shows remains
- of portcullis grooves. The floor of the entrance is 2 ft. above the
- cement floor of the interior of the building, and there are the remains
- of large rounded cement steps down on to the floor. On the inner side
- is the <em>Parallel Passage</em>, described later, and as in this passage
- are a quantity of buttresses, these show that the entrance was well
- protected from attack from the side of <em>Section B</em>, especially on the
- north outer side of the entrance, where is what visitors have called a
- “sentry-box,” a small walled-in area immediately adjoining and opening
- directly upon the entrance into <em>Section A</em>. The elaborate protection
- of this entrance from attacks from <em>Section B</em> would appear to show
- that <em>Section A</em> was regarded by the builders as the more important
- portion of these buildings.</p>
-
- <p>The south-east entrance opens out on to the veld, but there are
- extensive ruins, portion of the middle section of “The Valley of
- Ruins,” at a few yards’ distance in front of it with traces of walls
- between. This entrance is 2 ft. 4 in. wide between the buttresses, and
- 3 ft. wide between the sides of the main wall. It is 11 ft. long, and
- the side walls are 7 ft.<span class="pagenum" id="Page_370">370</span> high on either side, rising rapidly on the
- east side to 10 ft. There is a pair of rounded buttresses 5 ft. high on
- the inner side, and these have portcullis grooves. It is probable that
- this was the entrance used by the ancient occupiers on ascending from
- these ruins to the <em>Elliptical Temple</em>, as the north-eastern extremity
- of the <em>North-East Passage</em> is not many yards away from this entrance.</p>
-
- <p>An entrance through a divisional wall just within and on the west side
- of the E.N.E. entrance is worthy of notice. This passes through a
- wall 6 ft. wide on floor level, and 7 ft. high on the south-west side
- and 6 ft. high on the north-east side. In this entrance, which has
- rounded buttresses on the inner side, a length of unworked soapstone
- beam was found acting as a side lintel in a portcullis groove, also
- the fragments of a corresponding soapstone lintel. In this entrance
- was discovered (March, 1903) beaten gold and fragments of decorated
- soapstone bowls.</p>
-
- <p><em>Parallel Passage.</em>—This is the sixth parallel passage so far
- discovered at Zimbabwe, and is about the fifth in importance. It runs
- for 66 ft. on the inside of, and parallel to, the west main wall. The
- inner or east wall of the passage is formed by a line of buttresses
- with short walls between each, and in these walls are various entrances
- leading towards the interior of the building. No portion of this inner
- wall is more than 5 ft. in height, though the wall débris along their
- summits rises 2 ft. higher. The passage is defended by several pairs of
- rounded buttresses with portcullis grooves, and averages in width from
- 5 ft. to 8 ft.</p>
-
- <p>The passage commences on the south side of the west entrance which
- leads from <em>Section B</em> of these ruins. Two large rounded buttresses
- form its southern extremity. The buttress on the west side, which is
- 5 ft. high, projects 5 ft. into the walled-in area opposite to the
- inside of the west entrance, and the eastern buttress, which is 4 ft.
- high, projects 3 ft. to meet it, leaving the entrance between them 3
- ft. wide. There<span class="pagenum" id="Page_371">371</span> are no portcullis grooves, but it is probable, judging
- by the position of the débris, that a pair of rounded buttresses once
- stood on either side of the entrance. Portcullis grooves are most
- usually found in such additional buttresses. In this walled-in area,
- facing the inside of the west entrance, is a passage-way leading into
- the interior of the building, but this still remains unexplored.</p>
-
- <p>Going north from this point, the Parallel Passage is narrowed to 4
- ft. by a rounded buttress 5 ft. high projecting from the inner or
- eastern side of the passage. From this buttress a wall 5 ft. high runs
- north-east and parallel to the inside of main wall for 13 ft., the
- passage along this length being about 4 ft. 6 in. wide. At the northern
- end of this length of wall are a pair of rounded buttresses 4 ft. 6 in.
- high with portcullis grooves. The entrance between the two is 1 ft.
- 10 in. wide, and these are built upon the same foundation which forms
- the floor of the entrance. At 16 ft. further north is another pair
- projecting from either side into the passage. The one on the west side
- is 5 ft. high, is rounded, and has a portcullis groove. The opposite
- is 3 ft. high and greatly dilapidated. It is angular on one side and
- rounded on the other, and there are traces only of a portcullis groove.
- The quality of the construction differs, the rounded buttress being the
- better built. Possibly the other buttress is a reconstruction of a much
- later date. The entrance between the buttresses is 2 ft. 6 in. wide.
- Both buttresses are erected on the same foundation which forms the
- floor of the entrance.</p>
-
- <p>Between the last-described two pairs of buttresses and on the east side
- is a roughly built entrance 1 ft. 10 in. wide, with the two buttresses
- angular on the outside and rounded on the inside. This leads into
- the interior of the building. At the northern end of the passage and
- on the east side and leading into the interior is an entrance with
- portcullis grooves built upon a curved line. The west corners, which
- are 3 ft. 6 in.<span class="pagenum" id="Page_372">372</span> high, are angular, but the inside walls are rounded.
- This is altogether better built and more substantial than the entrance
- previously described. The northern extremity of the passage is abrupt
- on its eastern side, which faces the south end of the gap in the main
- west wall, and the presumption is that the passage was originally
- continued further north, but that when the main wall fell the eastern
- side of the passage was also destroyed.</p>
-
- <p>In places the floor of the passage shows by the wall of a large
- semi-circular buttress which projects 11 ft. from the inner face of
- the main wall. All the walls surrounding the area are very well built.
- The south side is formed by an opening 2 ft. 4 in. wide between the
- semi-circular buttress and the west side of the conical tower, by the
- conical tower, by an opening 2 ft. wide between the east side of the
- tower and a rounded buttress 4 ft. high, which projects 3 ft. 6 in.
- from the wall forming the east side of the enclosure. The floor, which
- is made of granite cement, is 1 ft. above the floor on the south, and
- is approached by a rounded step.</p>
-
- <p><em>Conical Tower.</em>—This tower and the Conical Tower in the adjoining
- <em>Philips Ruins</em> are almost identical in construction and position. It
- has a circumference at 14 in. above its foundation of 17 ft. 6 in., and
- at 3 ft. 6 in. above this level the circumference is 15 ft. 6 in. It
- is impossible to measure its circumference at base owing to the cement
- floor enclosing its north and north-east sides. It is 5 ft. 8 in. high
- from base on the north side and 4 ft. on the south side. The filling-in
- process of very late occupiers has caused its dilapidation. The tower
- has been proved to be solid.</p>
-
- <p><i>Semi-circular Buttress.</i>—A large remains of pavement, portions being
- cemented and portions paved with blocks. A large rounded granite cement
- step crosses the northern end of the passage.</p>
-
- <p><i>Dadoes.</i>—In the passage and on the lower inside face of the main wall
- are several lengths of granite cement dadoes,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_373">373</span> the longest being 10 ft.
- and 12 ft. The dadoes are still 2 ft. to 3 ft. high, and about 3 in. to
- 5 in. thick.</p>
-
- <p><i>Enclosures.</i>—It is probable, judging by the number of sections of
- divisional walls outcropping above the surface of the interior, that
- there are some eight or ten distinct enclosures within <em>Section
- A</em> of these ruins. Some enclosures have several entrances, all so
- far discovered being rounded. The divisional walls of most of the
- enclosures are massive and well built, some being far superior in
- construction and material to several of the divisional walls in the
- <em>Elliptical Temple</em>.</p>
-
- <p>The most perfect enclosure is on the inner side of the north-east,
- immediately west of the E.N.E entrance. This was entirely filled in
- with soil and blocks up to the tops of the walls, which are 7 ft. and 8
- ft. high. All this filling-in has now been removed (March, 1903), and
- a conical tower, which had been completely buried, was discovered. The
- area is formed on the north-east side by the inner face of the main
- wall, which is 7 ft. high and 11 ft. long, on the east side by a wall
- 7 ft. high and 9 ft. long, and on the west side it averages from 2 in.
- to 4 in. in thickness. Its faces are usually smoothed and the tops are
- rounded off inwards.</p>
-
- <p><i>Native huts.</i>—There are the remains of seven old native huts in this
- section of the ruins. These are identical with No. 3 huts described in
- “<cite>Makalanga huts within ancient ruins</cite>,” see “<cite>Notes on Architecture</cite>.”
- They are built about 2 ft. and 3 ft. above the ancient cement floors.
- Two are built across gaps in divisional walls, and one partially covers
- a portion of the gap in the north-west main wall, which, had it been
- intact, would not have enabled the builders of the hut to find room for
- the erection of their dwelling.</p>
-
- <h3>POSSELT RUINS. SECTION B</h3>
-
- <p>This lies to the west of <em>Section A</em> of the <em>Posselt Ruins</em>, which it
- immediately adjoins on its south-west side and practically forms part
- of the same ruins.</p>
-
- <p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_374">374</span></p>
-
- <p>Its area is 110 ft. from east to west, and 75 ft. from north to south,
- and is oval in plan. The construction of the walls is excellent, and
- this section appears to be one of the earliest period ruins. Its
- central portion has been filled in, and some of the walls dividing off
- the enclosures are still buried beneath the débris. There are no signs
- of native occupation of the interior of the ruins, but on the outside
- of the building are the circular ruins of old native huts and débris
- consisting mostly of ashes, bones, and pottery.</p>
-
- <p>Only the three enclosures at the west end have been cleared out to
- their old floors, but nothing was found of any antique character.</p>
-
- <p><i>Walls.</i>—The outer walls are massive and show excellent construction,
- and average in height between 5 ft. and 10 ft., their width being 6 ft.
- at 5 ft. above the ground. The inner walls are also massive and are
- fairly well built, being 5 ft. wide at 4 ft. above the ground. There is
- a narrow and low divisional wall of poor construction cutting off the
- north-east portion of these ruins, and this most probably is of later
- date.</p>
-
- <p><i>Entrances.</i>—There are only two entrances through the main or outer
- walls. The one on the north-east side is 2 ft. 6 in. wide, and has
- very massive walls, which are rounded, and all exceptionally well
- constructed. There is a pair of rounded buttresses immediately inside,
- and these have portcullis grooves. The foundation of the main wall
- forms the floor of the entrance passage.</p>
-
- <p>The south entrance is 4 ft. wide, and is built upon the foundation of
- the main south wall. It is narrowed to 2 ft. by two rounded buttresses,
- and these have portcullis grooves.</p>
-
- <p>“<i>Sentry-box.</i>”—This class of structure has been popularly termed
- “sentry-box.” In the angle at the north-east corner is a rounded wall
- with a narrow opening into the inside. This is situated close to the
- entrance leading into <em>Section A</em>, and its position suggests the idea
- that it was used as a<span class="pagenum" id="Page_375">375</span> sentry-box guarding the entrance. There are
- several of these structures at Zimbabwe, and they all occupy a similar
- position near entrances.</p>
-
- <p><i>Drains.</i>—There are three drains through the walls of this section of
- the <em>Posselt Ruins</em>, one in the south wall passing through a wall 5 ft.
- 6 in. wide, one in a divisional wall, 4 ft. wide, which projects from
- the south main wall towards the north, and one in a divisional wall 5
- ft. wide at the north-west of the building.</p>
-
- <p>A semi-circular buttress projects 11 ft. into the interior from the
- cunei face of the north-east main wall. It is 27 ft. round its outer
- face. On the east side the buttress is 8 ft. high, and on the south and
- west sides, owing to dilapidations, and also to a higher floor, these
- faces are only 4 ft. and 5 ft. high. The top surface is covered with a
- foot depth of granite cement.</p>
-
- <p><i>Circular platform.</i>—This is at the eastern extremity of the ruins.
- It is 21 ft. in diameter and 5 ft. above the floors of the adjoining
- enclosures. On the east side the summit is approached by granite cement
- steps which are large and well rounded, and on the south by stone steps.</p>
-
- <p>On the west of this platform are two raised enclosures immediately
- on the inside of the main wall. The northern one has steps leading
- some way towards the west side of the <em>Circular Platform</em>, and there
- probably once reached its summit.</p>
-
- <p><i>Cement dadoes.</i>—In these ruins are many lengths of granite cement
- dado work, the greatest length intact being 33 ft., and this is on the
- east of the west main wall. This work is also extensively found in
- the <em>Parallel Passage</em>. Not only is it found on the faces of walls,
- but also on round buttresses and on the side walls of entrances, thus
- reducing their widths by about 5 in. It runs about 3 ft. higher than
- the cemented floors.</p>
-
- <p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_376">376</span></p>
-
- <h3>PHILIPS RUINS</h3>
-
- <p>These ruins lie to the east of the <em>Posselt Ruins</em>, which they almost
- adjoin, being only 8 yds. apart at their nearest points. These ruins
- present several most interesting features:—</p>
-
- <p>(1) The discovery (March, 1903) of the finest, most perfect, and most
- elaborately decorated soapstone beam with bird on summit yet found at
- <em>Great Zimbabwe</em>, also of phalli and beaten gold.</p>
-
- <div class="figcenter" id="i_376">
- <img src="images/i_376.jpg" width="600" height="447" alt="" />
- <div class="caption">Sketch Plan<br />PHILIPS’ RUINS<br />“Valley of Ruins”<br />(<i>Lower
- Section</i>)</div>
- </div>
-
- <p>(2) An excellently constructed and massive wall, built upon the plan
- of a section of a circle, with its centre facing due east, and the
- discovery of quantities of sections of worked soapstone beams along
- its base, together with fragments of carved soapstone bowls, and also
- ancient relics of the oldest type.</p>
-
- <p>(3) A small conical tower uncovered March, 1903.</p>
-
- <p>(4) Excellent and massive character of the construction of the walls of
- the numerous rounded entrances, buttresses, and<span class="pagenum" id="Page_377">377</span> ends of walls. There
- are two drains, also a tall slate beam built into a portcullis groove
- to form a side lintel post in an entrance.</p>
-
- <p>(5) The complete absence of signs of native occupation of these ruins
- except on the east side of the large curved wall, and these are slight.</p>
-
- <p><i>Area.</i>—The area occupied by these ruins is 140 ft. from east to west,
- and 150 ft. from north to south. There is no main outer wall on the
- south side, and it is probable, judging by wall débris, that these
- ruins extended some 20 yds. further south.</p>
-
- <p><i>Main walls.</i>—These extend from the west side round the north to the
- south-east, the rest having disappeared; or possibly Posselt Ruins and
- these were originally one immense ruin, so that an outer wall on the
- west side might never have existed; but this could not have been the
- case with regard to the south side.</p>
-
- <p>The main outer walls average from 5 ft. to 9 ft. in height on their
- outer faces, and 3 ft. to 8 ft. on their inner sides, the interior of
- the building being on a considerably higher level than the exterior.
- This is owing mainly to the natural fall of the ground towards the
- north-east and east on which the ruins are built. The widths of the
- main walls vary from 6 ft. to 8 ft. on floor level, 5 ft. at 6 ft.
- above the floor, while some reduced summits have a width of 5 ft. at 9
- ft. above the floor.</p>
-
- <p><i>Construction.</i>—These ruins, especially some portions, such as the
- massive curved wall, are most excellently built. The selection of
- the blocks, the good and even quality of the granite employed, show
- that some special importance was attached to these portions of the
- ruins. Except for one small buttress, the angular style of building is
- absolutely absent from these structures.</p>
-
- <p>The divisional walls are also well built, and are superior to the main
- and outer walls of several ruins at Zimbabwe.</p>
-
- <p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_378">378</span></p>
-
- <p><i>Curved wall.</i>—This wall forms the most prominent feature in these
- ruins, and it at once attracts the attention of all visitors on account
- of its symmetrical and massive character, excellent workmanship, and
- the height of its reduced summit, which has the extraordinary width of
- 5 ft. at 13 ft. from the ground. The curve is laid on so exact a plan
- that it was an easy matter for a surveyor to definitely determine the
- centre of the arc. The centre of the curve faces outwards due east,
- and standing at the centre of the arc the extremities of the wall
- are found to be E.N.E. and E.S.E. respectively. It is 125 ft. round
- its inner face at 6 ft. above the remains of cement flooring, and 84
- ft. round its outer face at the same height from the ground, but its
- outer extremities are hidden behind rounded walls and buttresses. The
- distance between the two extremities across the bow is 75 ft., and
- from that line to the centre of the curve the distance is 23 ft. The
- batter-back of the wall is 1 ft. 3 in. in 10 ft.</p>
-
- <p>The height of the reduced summit for 60 ft. averages 9 ft. to 13 ft.
- on either side of the wall, but as these heights are taken from raised
- cement steps, platforms, and sections of floors, at least another 2 ft.
- or 3 ft. may be added to their present reduced height, for the greatest
- height from foundation to summit is 15 ft. 6 in. The original height
- may safely be estimated at 20 ft. above the cement flooring. This
- estimate is justified by the great amount of wall débris found along
- the bases of either side of the wall. On the summit near the south end
- of the wall are the remains of a banquette, and these inner terraces or
- look-outs are almost invariably behind walls which are at least breast
- high above the floor of the banquette; moreover, the batter-back of
- the faces of the wall would well allow of a wall 20 ft. high and yet
- leave a fairly wide summit. Where the entrance facing the E.N.E. passes
- through this wall, the side walls are reduced to 5 ft. in height on
- either side above the floor of the entrance, which is 3 ft. above the
- foundation of the wall.</p>
-
- <p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_379">379</span></p>
-
- <p>This entrance, like those in the main walls of the <em>Elliptical Temple</em>,
- is carried over the foundation of the wall, and this forms its passage
- floor. It is 2 ft. wide and 6 ft. 6 in. long, and has two rounded
- buttresses on the inner side, and these have portcullis grooves. These
- buttresses are built upon a semi-circular platform projecting 6 ft.
- into the interior of the building, thus making the entrance passage
- about 12 ft. in length. The floor of the entrance is covered with
- granite cement.</p>
-
- <p>One peculiar feature in the construction of this wall is that, while
- the northern end is rounded off, the southern end is continued in the
- form of a portion of a loop, which circles southwards and eastwards,
- and then runs back into the east face of the curved wall, enclosing
- an almost circular area of 10 ft. in diameter. The wall in this loop
- is well built. The average height of the loop-wall is 6 ft., but on
- the south side it rises to 10 ft., where the width of the summit is 3
- ft. The interior was rudely filled up with stones, below which was a
- cement floor 3 ft. higher than the outside level and 6 ft. above the
- foundation. This raised platform or pulpit is approached on the west
- side by a few steps leading up to a rounded opening into the loop.</p>
-
- <p>This curved wall, massive as it is, does not form an outer wall of
- these ruins, but crosses their centre, dividing them into two parts.
- It is apparently independent so far as its plan, superior character of
- construction, and purpose are concerned.</p>
-
- <p>At the west side of the curved wall, and at the centre of the curve,
- is a wall 23 ft. long projecting towards the interior of the building.
- This is 3 ft. high at its western extremity, but its summit rapidly
- rises to 8 ft. in height. It has a slight curve towards the south. On
- its north side is a small recess extending from base to summit, and
- this is exactly similar in construction to the recesses in “<em>Buttress</em>”
- or “<em>Recess Enclosure</em>” on the <em>Acropolis</em>.</p>
-
- <p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_380">380</span></p>
-
- <p>On either side of this wall, and in the angles formed by the curved
- wall, are low granite cement platforms which are rounded on the front
- faces. These resemble the “<em>blind steps</em>” found in all the main ruins
- at Zimbabwe.</p>
-
- <p>The purpose of the erection of the curved wall might possibly have
- been for solar or astronomical observations, and though this is a mere
- conjecture, the following points may lend it some support:—</p>
-
- <p>(1) In close proximity to this curved wall, and on its eastern side,
- was discovered the soapstone beam with carved bird on the summit—this
- being the finest specimen yet discovered at Zimbabwe—also phalli and
- ancient relics of the oldest type. The soapstone birds had so far been
- discovered only at the <em>Western and Eastern Temples</em> on the <em>Acropolis</em>.</p>
-
- <p>(2) The discovery under the wall débris which lay along each side of
- the wall at its base of quantities of lengths of broken soapstone beams
- which, though not carved, had been worked with tools, the widths of the
- edges of the chisel being very plainly discernible, some sections being
- beautifully rounded and polished. These are believed to have originally
- decorated the summit of the wall, a suggestion supported by the shape
- and markings on the bases of several beams so discovered. Soapstone
- beams once fixed on the summits of walls had previously been discovered
- only at the three temples.</p>
-
- <p>(3) The proximity of a small conical tower in an adjoining enclosure at
- the north-eastern end of this wall.</p>
-
- <p>(4) The large raised platform formed by the looped wall, and originally
- approached by steps on the west side, somewhat corresponds in position
- with the <em>Platform</em> in the <em>Elliptical Temple</em> and at the <em>Western
- Temple</em>, and with the <em>Balcony</em> at the <em>Eastern Temple</em>.</p>
-
- <p><i>Conical Tower.</i>—This is situated in the most north-easterly enclosure
- of these ruins. It is still 6 ft. 6 in. in height, but judging from the
- block débris it was once much higher. At<span class="pagenum" id="Page_381">381</span> 3 ft. 6 in. above the granite
- cement floor at its base it has a circumference of 18 ft. 10 in. It is
- impossible to measure the circumference of its base, as a large rounded
- cement step extends between it and the south wall of the enclosure. The
- tower, which has a fair and noticeable batter-back, is very well built.
- It has been proved to be solid. Its foundations are 6 in. below the
- cement floor. There are four of these small conical towers at Zimbabwe,
- two having been discovered in March, 1903. On the east side of this
- tower, and built up against its east side, is a small rounded platform
- 3 ft. high, covered with granite cement, which is approached by two
- large steps.</p>
-
- <p><i>Entrances.</i>—There are three entrances to these ruins—the north,
- north-east, and east—and most probably others will be found as further
- exploration work is carried on here.</p>
-
- <p>The north entrance appears to have been the main approach. This
- is an intricate entrance, and one which appears to have possessed
- considerable importance in the minds of the original builders. It lies
- between two outer rounded walls, each 6 ft. high, which curve inwards
- towards each other so as to form a passage-way about 6 ft. wide, which
- is again narrowed at its southern extremity to 2 ft. 6 in. by two
- rounded buttresses on either side. These buttresses have portcullis
- grooves. The area opens into a small walled-in area, 10 ft. by 10 ft.,
- the walls being 6 ft. high, and very well and substantially built.
- The floor is made of granite cement. There are three rounded walls in
- this area. A buttress with a portcullis groove is in the south-western
- corner of the area, but the corresponding buttress has disappeared. The
- walled-in area would have enabled twenty defenders to protect the 2 ft.
- 6 in. wide entrance from being forced by an attacking party. The west
- side of the entrance passage is carried further south by two walls,
- each built upon a semi-circular plan.</p>
-
- <p>The north-east entrance opens into the enclosure which<span class="pagenum" id="Page_382">382</span> contains the
- Conical Tower already described. The side walls are 5 ft. high, and 4
- ft. and 5 ft. wide at this height from the floor. The entrance is 2 ft.
- 4 in. wide, and including the steps it is 9 ft. long. A semi-circular
- platform projects 6 ft. into the enclosure, and on it are built two
- rounded buttresses with portcullis grooves. These buttresses are in an
- advanced state of dilapidation. There are three steps between these
- buttresses, and these lead down on to the floor of the interior.
- An immense slate beam rises out of the ground immediately on the
- north-east side of the exterior of the entrance.</p>
-
- <p>At present only the south side of the east entrance has been opened
- out. This is 4 ft. high, and is rounded. On the inner side is a
- semi-circular buttress hollow inside with an opening into it from the
- south side.</p>
-
- <p>All the entrances, of which there are seven in the divisional walls,
- are rounded, and most have portcullis grooves.</p>
-
- <p>At the centre of the eastern face of the curved wall is a rounded
- entrance with portcullis groove, in which is built a slate beam which
- stands 8 ft. above the floor. The total length of the beam is at least
- 11 ft. This is the most perfect specimen of all the stone lintels built
- in portcullis grooves.</p>
-
- <p><i>Enclosures.</i>—Judging from sections of divisional walls, there were in
- all probability no less than sixteen enclosures in these ruins. Some
- were of large area, but subdivided. All the divisional walls are laid
- on curved lines. The only complete enclosure is the one on the north
- side, where is the Conical Tower. The wall on the south side is from 5
- ft. to 9 ft. high, on the west side 5 ft. to 10 ft., and on the north
- side, which is the main outer wall of the ruins, 5 ft. This latter
- wall, which is curved outwards towards the north-east, is 4 ft. wide at
- 5 ft. above the ground. A cement floor is laid around the tower. The
- west entrance was described earlier under the heading of “<em>Entrances</em>.”</p>
-
- <p><i>Buttresses.</i>—In these ruins are numerous rounded buttresses. A large
- semi-circular buttress 4 ft. to 5 ft. high, 22 ft. round<span class="pagenum" id="Page_383">383</span> the face,
- 9 ft. from back to front, and 12 ft. across the back, faces the east
- and outer side of the centre of the curved wall, from which point the
- buttress is due east at 25 ft. distance. On the west side of this
- buttress is a passage with cement floor, rounded steps, and dadoes.</p>
-
- <p><i>Drains.</i>—So far as these ruins have been cleared, only two drains have
- been exposed, one through a wall 5 ft. wide, which wall runs parallel
- to the east side of the large curved wall, and one through the main
- wall leading from the north-east enclosure.</p>
-
- <p><i>Cement.</i>—Granite cement has been extensively employed at these ruins,
- both for flooring, dadoes, and steps, also for platforms in the angles
- of walls, which somewhat resemble the “blind steps” in the angles of
- the divisional walls of the <em>Elliptical Temple</em>.</p>
-
- <h3>MAUND RUINS</h3>
-
- <p>These ruins, though not extensive, appear to have been of some
- importance. They are situated at a distance of 60 yds. from the
- east-north-east side of Philips Ruins, and lie almost half-way between
- those ruins and the East Ruins.</p>
-
- <p>Their construction is excellent, and the walls are massive, while all
- the entrances are rounded, most having possessed a pair of granite
- lintel beams. Although built upon by far the lowest level of any
- ruin at Zimbabwe, it is the least filled-in, either naturally or
- artificially, by any native occupiers. There are very few traces of
- Makalanga occupation. The granite cement floors are at a depth of 1 ft.
- to 2 ft. below the surface soil within the interior. No ancient relics,
- save fragments of soapstone bowls carved with chevron pattern, have
- been found here.</p>
-
- <p>The most interesting points as to these ruins are:—</p>
-
- <p>(1) Two very fine rounded ends of walls, both being excellent pieces of
- masonry.</p>
-
- <p>(2) Two structures facing east and west respectively, the<span class="pagenum" id="Page_384">384</span> summits
- being approached by large steps, and each associated with one of the
- rounded walls.</p>
-
- <p>(3) Sections of red clay walls in the gaps of the stone walls.</p>
-
- <p>The area of these ruins is 143 ft. from east to west, and 138 ft. from
- north to south. There is some evidence that these ruins once occupied a
- larger area.</p>
-
- <div class="figcenter illow500" id="i_384">
- <img src="images/i_384.jpg" width="500" height="521" alt="" />
- <div class="caption">Sketch Plan<br />MAUND RUINS<br />“Valley of Ruins”<br />(<em>Lower Section</em>)</div>
- </div>
-
- <p>There is only one entrance, so far discovered, through the main wall,
- and this faces north. It is massive and well built, and opens into a
- vestibule enclosure 15 ft. long, 9 ft. wide, and 5 ft. and 7 ft. in
- height. The side walls of the entrance are 5 ft. high, the width of the
- main wall is 6 ft. 6 in., the width of the passage 3 ft., but narrowed
- on the inside to less than 2 ft. by two rounded buttresses with
- portcullis grooves, the south one of which has almost disappeared.</p>
-
- <p>The east end of the south wall of the vestibule enclosure is <span class="pagenum" id="Page_385">385</span>one of
- two beautifully rounded ends of walls before referred to. The symmetry
- of the batter-back is perfect. This wall is 7 ft. high, 5 ft. wide at
- base, and 3 ft. 10 in. at summit. The vestibule has a granite cement
- floor. At the east end of the vestibule is one large rounded buttress
- with portcullis grooves. The corresponding buttress on the south-west
- side is much ruined.</p>
-
- <div class="figcenter" id="i_384a">
- <img src="images/i_384a.jpg" width="600" height="475" alt="" />
- <div class="caption">ROUNDED END OF WALL OF WEST SIDE OF MAUND RUINS, SHEWING
- STEPS TO PLATFORM, VALLEY OF RUINS</div>
- </div>
-
- <div class="figcenter" id="i_384b">
- <img src="images/i_384b.jpg" width="600" height="481" alt="" />
- <div class="caption">NORTH-EAST WALL, MAUND RUINS, VALLEY OF RUINS</div>
- </div>
-
- <p>On the west side of the ruins, and immediately west of the west wall
- of the vestibule wall, and built from wall to wall in the angle of the
- main and vestibule wall, is a raised platform 6 ft. high approached
- by four rows of stone steps once covered with granite cement. This
- structure is apparently different in purpose and construction from
- the “<em>blind steps</em>” found in some of the ruins at Great Zimbabwe, for
- in this instance the platform must have afforded a good position for
- seeing over the outer wall, and also for watching the entrance which it
- overlooks.</p>
-
- <p>A similar structure is to be found on the east side of these ruins.
- This also is an excellent piece of workmanship. The steps in this
- instance lead from the west side of the base of the wall to its summit,
- and were once covered with granite cement, portions of which still
- remain. The wall is 8 ft. high, and its north end is beautifully
- rounded. It is 4 ft. 6 in. wide at its base, and 3 ft. wide on the
- summit. The north or rounded end of the wall, at 6 ft. above the
- ground, turns on each side towards the centre of the summit, forming a
- small round tower 2 ft. high. There are four steps, but it is possible
- that other steps were in between each of the steps now seen. The summit
- of the steps faces due east. This wall is not an outer wall.</p>
-
- <p>There appear to have been at least ten enclosures. There are eleven
- divisional entrances, all rounded, of which eight have portcullis
- grooves and several have rounded buttresses on the inside. Two long
- granite beams and some sections of broken beams were found in most of
- the entrances, but<span class="pagenum" id="Page_386">386</span> not in those in which the portcullis grooves had
- been carefully built up.</p>
-
- <p>In the northern enclosures and 2 ft. under the surface were found
- several large and massive cement steps laid on curved lines.</p>
-
- <div class="center">MIDDLE SECTION OF “THE VALLEY OF RUINS”</div>
-
- <h3>RENDERS RUINS</h3>
-
- <p>These are the best-defined ruins of the Middle Section of the Valley of
- Ruins, are of better construction, and have walls still standing of a
- fairly good height. All the other ruins in this section are almost, if
- not quite, impossible to trace, and a view of them gives the impression
- that they are of much later construction than the Renders Ruins.</p>
-
- <p>These ruins, which lie east and west, cover an area of 300 ft. from
- east to west, and 200 ft. from north to south. They lie within 30
- yds. of the south and south-west sides of Posselt Ruins, A and B, the
- intervening space, being full of outcrops of walls. On the south and
- south-west sides of these ruins is the Upper Section of the Valley of
- Ruins.</p>
-
- <p>The most striking features of the Renders Ruins are (1) their
- complicated plan; (2) the banquette wall on the summit of the south
- wall of No. 3 Enclosure; and (3) the great amount of ancient gold,
- Arabian pottery and glass, and other relics discovered in No. 1
- Enclosure.</p>
-
- <p>The ruins are built upon the formation rock which slopes down from
- south-west to north-east, the floors of all the enclosures being the
- bed-rock itself, and this has such a steep gradient that at some points
- it makes it difficult for those wearing nailed boots to ascend from the
- lower to the higher portions of the ruins.</p>
-
- <p>These ruins are approached from the Mauch Ruins by a passage and steps,
- also from the Motelekwe wagon-track, and by a path passing the west end
- of Posselt Ruins B. The North-East Passage leading from the Elliptical
- Temple is<span class="pagenum" id="Page_387">387</span> scarcely any longer an approach, as the passage walls have
- in some places fallen inwards and blocked the passage.</p>
-
- <p><i>No. 1 Enclosure.</i>—This is the most easterly of the enclosures of
- these ruins. It is oval in plan, being 73 ft. from east to west, and
- 52 ft. from north to south. The walls are substantially built, but are
- constructed in the style usually found in ruins built at some distance
- from any of the main ruins. The highest walls are on the west and
- southern sides, and these average from 7 ft. to 9 ft. in height, 4 ft.
- to 5 ft. at 5 ft. above the floor in width, and are 4 ft. wide at the
- summit. The other walls are considerably dilapidated and average about
- 4 ft. in height. The bare formation rock forms its floor, and it slopes
- considerably from south to north.</p>
-
- <div class="figcenter illow600" id="i_387">
- <img src="images/i_387.jpg" width="600" height="360" alt="" />
- <div class="caption">Sketch Plan<br />RENDERS’ RUINS<br />Valley of Ruins<br />Middle Section</div>
- </div>
-
- <p>On the rock floor the following “finds” were made: Twenty pieces of
- beaten gold and gold wire, a few gold beads, amounting altogether
- to 3 ozs. In the yellowish soil above the floor and at a depth of 4
- ft. Arabian glass with arabesque patterns most delicately engraved,
- beautifully glazed pottery of white clay with different bevels on the
- edges, and sunken designs under the glazes which are both sea-green
- and a delicate shade of forget-me-not blue, also very<span class="pagenum" id="Page_388">388</span> thin china of
- white clay with rich deep blue-and-gold enamel, also some minutely thin
- green glass, a large soapstone bowl, a fine copper chain, and some
- other pottery of excellent make and covered with green glaze, which has
- the appearance of being ancient or certainly of being of very antique
- character. On the upper level was found half a hundred-weight of
- twisted iron wire in coils ready to be cut off in lengths for bangles.
- The coils were fused together. Coils of fine brass wire similarly
- fused, over 200 ivory and glass beads unrecognisable by local natives,
- two pairs of double iron gongs, brass bangles, large cakes of copper,
- crucibles used for smelting copper, and two hundred-weight of hoes,
- axes, and chisels far superior in make to those of the Makalanga of
- to-day. The local natives examined this last class of “finds” with much
- wonderment. There was a total absence of articles of modern native make.</p>
-
- <p>There is overwhelming evidence that during the last two periods of
- occupations of this enclosure it was most extensively occupied as a
- copper and iron-smelting place.</p>
-
- <p>On the outer side of the south wall is a remarkable instance of the
- silting of the soil from higher ground. The depth of soil on the south
- face of the wall is at least 5 ft., and this has been washed into its
- present position by the rainstorms of many years. The triangular space
- formed by the wall and the sloping granite rock was thus filled in for
- a length of fully 70 ft.</p>
-
- <p>There are no signs of any entrances into this enclosure except on the
- north-east side, where there is a long gap in the wall.</p>
-
- <p><i>No. 2 Enclosure.</i>—This is situated due west of No. 1 Enclosure. Its
- area, which is square save on the south side where it slightly rounds
- outwards, is 30 ft. by 20 ft. The débris from the high east wall of No.
- 3 Enclosure has almost filled it up to the summit of its walls. Nothing
- of any antiquarian value was found here, but the examination work<span class="pagenum" id="Page_389">389</span> was
- only partial. This enclosure probably acted as a passage-way from the
- North-East Passage to Nos. 1 and 5 Enclosures, and possibly towards the
- Lower Section of “The Valley of Ruins.”</p>
-
- <p><i>No. 3 Enclosure.</i>—The plan of this enclosure, which lies directly west
- of No. 2 Enclosure, is almost circular save that its north-east wall is
- slightly squared. The area is 39 ft. from north to south, and 36 ft.
- from east to west. The walls are exceedingly massive, some being 7 ft.
- wide at base and 5 ft. wide on the present summit at 7 ft. from the
- ground. They are obviously of better construction than any of the other
- walls of these ruins.</p>
-
- <p>On the summit of the south wall are the remains of a banquette wall
- still 4 ft. long and 4 ft. high, which makes the total height of the
- wall at this point 11 ft. There is only one entrance, which is on the
- north-west, is rounded, and has portcullis grooves.</p>
-
- <p>This enclosure has not as yet yielded any article of an antique
- character, but modern native articles are practically absent.</p>
-
- <p><i>No. 4 Enclosure.</i>—This is practically an open space separating these
- ruins on the south side from the ruins which are on higher ground,
- and extend up to the north-east walls of the Elliptical Temple. In
- area it is 150 ft. long from east to west, and averages in width from
- north to south some 50 ft. It is bounded on the south by three long
- semi-circular terraced walls, each about 8 ft. in height. Its floor on
- the north side is of formation rock, which slopes at a steep gradient
- to the north side where soil has silted in to a depth of 5 ft. On the
- north-east side it is bounded by the outer faces of Enclosures Nos. 1,
- 2, and 3.</p>
-
- <p>The North-East Passage runs into the south-west corner of the area,
- and there are steps and a passage leading down from Mauch Ruins at the
- south-east corner of the area.</p>
-
- <p>In this enclosure were found some fine pottery with Arabic<span class="pagenum" id="Page_390">390</span> lettering
- on the rim with beautiful designs, also a few gold beads.</p>
-
- <p><i>No. 5 Enclosure.</i>—This area is 86 ft. from north to south, and 40 ft.
- from east to west. It is bounded by No. 8 Enclosure on the west, by
- No. 2 Enclosure on the south, and by No. 1 Enclosure and a large open
- space not yet explored on the east and north sides. The walls are still
- fairly high, averaging 9 ft. on the south side, 8 ft. on the west, 7
- ft. on the north and east sides. The construction is massive, the walls
- averaging 5 ft. to 6 ft. in width at base.</p>
-
- <p>The entrance on the north-east side is rounded and had portcullis
- grooves. The foundations of the wall, as in all the older buildings,
- form the floor of the passage.</p>
-
- <p>The only other entrance is in the south-east corner, and this leads
- into No. 2 Enclosure.</p>
-
- <p><i>No. 6 Enclosure.</i>—This enclosed area is directly on the west side of
- No. 3 Enclosure, and is 90 ft. from east to west, and averages 35 ft.
- from north to south. Possibly it contained sub-divisions, for small
- walls and traces of walls are to be found within it. The average height
- of the walls, so far as they are intact, is from 6 ft. to 8 ft. The
- floor of this enclosure is formed of granite rock which slopes slightly
- to the north. The eastern end of the south wall runs up a steep rock
- incline sideways, and is in consequence much dilapidated.</p>
-
- <p>The North-East Passage runs from No. 4 Enclosure into this area at
- its south-east corner where it divides, one part going down into “The
- Valley,” while the other, following along the higher ground, trends to
- the west as far as No. 1 Ruins.</p>
-
- <p>The two entrances at the south-east corner of the enclosure where
- the North-East Passage divides are both rounded—the entrance on the
- north-east side is also rounded.</p>
-
- <p><i>No. 7 Enclosure and Passage.</i>—This enclosure, which is triangular in
- form, is the most westerly of all the clearly<span class="pagenum" id="Page_391">391</span> defined areas of the
- Renders Ruins. It is 28 ft. long on its western side, 18 ft. on its
- north-east side, and 29 ft. on its southern side. The inner faces of
- the walls average 8 ft. in height. A large entrance, evidently of some
- importance, is on the west side. This is rounded and has portcullis
- grooves, while the side walls are 5 ft. high and the passage is 3 ft. 6
- in. wide. Steps led from the entrance downwards on the outward side.</p>
-
- <p>A drain runs through the south wall leading from No. 6 Enclosure.</p>
-
- <p>A passage 31 ft. long with side walls 6 ft. high leads from this
- enclosure into No. 8.</p>
-
- <p><i>No. 8 Enclosure</i> appears to be of a very chaotic and irregular
- character, mounds of soil, piles of stones, and traces of
- sub-divisional walls being the principal features of this area, the
- surface measurements of which are 150 ft. from east to west, and 70 ft.
- from north to south. Soil has been evidently brought into the enclosure
- for the purpose of forming platforms on which are the remains of very
- old Makalanga clay huts.</p>
-
- <p>Probably there were at least six sub-divisions of this enclosure. On
- the north, north-west, west, and south-west the walls average 6 ft.
- to 9 ft. in height, and about 4 ft. on the other sides. The walls are
- substantial and are fairly well built in places, the more substantial
- building being on the west side, where there is a prominent end of an
- angular wall 15 ft. high facing the north.</p>
-
- <p>There are at least four entrances to this enclosure, viz. one on the
- north side which is rounded, a second on the south side which is also
- rounded and has portcullis grooves, one on the north-east side which is
- angular, and the fourth on the east side, and this is rounded.</p>
-
- <p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_392">392</span></p>
-
- <div class="center">UPPER SECTION OF “THE VALLEY OF RUINS”</div>
-
- <h3>MAUCH RUINS</h3>
-
- <p>These are well-defined ruins, and they form part of the Upper Section
- of “The Valley of Ruins,” and are situated on the north-east of the
- north-east extremity of the chevron pattern on the Elliptical Temple at
- a distance of 105 yds. They occupy the granite plateau on the edge of
- steep ground overlooking the Middle and Lower Sections of “The Valley
- of Ruins.”</p>
-
- <p>The plan and the excellently constructed portions of some of the walls,
- and the class of relics found here in 1903, when these ruins were
- partially cleared out, all point to the building having a distinct
- claim to some antiquity, although of a more subsequent age than that of
- some of the main ruins.</p>
-
- <p>The distinctive features of this ruin are its high walls, a passage
- running parallel with the inside of the main north-east wall, a large
- semi-circular buttress or platform, and the quantity of beaten gold and
- gold wire discovered here.</p>
-
- <p><i>Main walls.</i>—The workmanship of some of the lengths of main walls
- is excellent, but some are of inferior construction, portions being
- obviously reconstructions with the joints plainly visible. There are at
- least two reconstructed walls—one on the west side of the main wall,
- and the other on the north-east side of the Parallel Passage. In the
- inferior portions blocks of all sizes and shapes have been employed.
- The best-built portions are the north-east main wall and the divisional
- wall which runs north-east to south-west. All the main walls are built
- upon a curved plan.</p>
-
- <p>The main walls are still high, though evidently somewhat reduced from
- their original heights. The heights from the outside surface average
- from 9 ft. to 12 ft., and in places the level of the summits is very
- fairly maintained. From the interior surface the heights vary from 7
- ft. to 10 ft.</p>
-
- <p>The widths of the walls are evenly maintained throughout,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_393">393</span> being about
- 4 ft. 6 in. wide at 4 ft. above the ground, and 3 ft. to 3 ft. 6 in.
- at a summit of 12 ft., the battering-back being about 1 ft. in 8 ft.
- Some of the walls have been thrown out of batter, and the upper edges
- overhang.</p>
-
- <p>All the ends of the walls are rounded, except in the large divisional
- wall, where is an unfinished end facing north, which terminates
- abruptly.</p>
-
- <div class="figcenter" id="i_393">
- <img src="images/i_393.jpg" width="600" height="450" alt="" />
- <div class="caption">Sketch Plan MAUCH RUINS “Valley of Ruins” (<em>Upper Section</em>)</div>
- </div>
-
- <p><i>Interior Area.</i>—The measurements of the interior are: 98 ft. from
- east to west, and 83 ft. from north to south. The area is of a rough
- oval shape. It originally contained at least three enclosures. The
- soil filling-in is artificial. The elevation of the ruin precludes any
- suggestion of silting in naturally. This work is believed to be that of
- all local natives of some few generations past.</p>
-
- <p><i>Parallel Passage.</i>—This is 99 ft. long down its centre, and was most
- probably much longer, as its extremities disappear in débris. The
- north-east side wall of the passage, which is<span class="pagenum" id="Page_394">394</span> the main wall, is from
- 7 ft. to 9 ft. high at the eastern end, and there is a break owing to
- dilapidations at 50 ft. west of this point, while near the lower or
- western end the walls on either side are 7 ft. high. The north-west end
- is formed by a wall 7 ft. high, a low wall, a semi-circular wall, and
- boulders. On the south side, and opposite the opening in the north-east
- wall, steps to a somewhat higher level can be traced, leading
- southwards up from the passage, and these steps have a rounded wall on
- each side. The rounded end of the north-east main wall is a fine piece
- of workmanship. The passage is from 3 ft. to 4 ft. wide.</p>
-
- <p><i>Entrances.</i>—There are five entrances, and each is rounded, and all
- the buttresses are also rounded. One entrance leads into the ruin on
- the west side, and there are rounded buttresses on either side, which
- are erected on a semi-circular platform projecting 16 ft. into the
- interior. This entrance opens into a passage which was discovered by
- Bent (1891), but was not opened out till 1903. A second entrance is in
- the north-east wall, but on its western side only traces of the side
- wall remain. A third entrance is on the east side of the building. This
- is 6 ft. high on either side, and is without buttresses or portcullis
- grooves. The floor of the passage is formed by the foundation walls.
- This entrance leads into an outer enclosure on the eastern side. The
- last entrance is between the south end of the large divisional wall
- and the semi-circular buttress or platform. Possibly a buttress has
- disappeared from the south side of this entrance.</p>
-
- <p><i>Divisional walls.</i>—There are two divisional walls, one being the wall
- already mentioned as separating the two main enclosures. This runs
- north-east from the large semi-circular buttress for 16 ft. It is 9
- ft. high and is well built, and has a drain passing through the lower
- courses. The north-eastern extremity of this wall is 32 ft. from the
- inside face of the main north-east wall. The other wall is 15 ft. long,
- and runs out eastwards from the inside face of the main west wall.<span class="pagenum" id="Page_395">395</span>
- This is 7 ft. high, but its height is reduced to 3 ft. at its eastern
- extremity. It is 3 ft. wide at the surface level.</p>
-
- <p><i>Drain-holes.</i>—There are three well-constructed drains running through
- walls; one passes the divisional wall which is on the eastern side
- of the building, another passes through the main eastern wall into
- the outer enclosure, and the third is in the east wall of the outer
- enclosure.</p>
-
- <p><i>Semi-circular Buttress.</i>—This structure lies on the south side of
- the ruins, and projects 16 ft. into the interior. The total length
- round the face is 32 ft. It is 24 ft. across the back, and 10 ft. high
- on the west, 6 ft. high on the north, and 6 ft. high on the east. It
- appears to be perfectly solid, and once to have had a level surface.
- Large trees have grown on its south and west sides, and have done
- considerable damage to it. Two small walls are on its north-east side,
- and these run towards the buttress as if they once had formed the
- approach to the summit.</p>
-
- <p><i>Outer Enclosure.</i>—On the eastern side is an enclosure, but somewhat
- roughly built. It is 51 ft. from north to south, and 30 ft. from east
- to west at its southern end, and 19 ft. from east to west at its
- northern end. This enclosure has been extensively filled in with soil
- and the usual Kafir débris, among which were found two pairs of double
- iron gongs.</p>
-
- <p><i>West Passage.</i>—This passage, which was discovered by Bent in 1891,
- runs along the outer side of the main west wall for 60 ft. It is 3
- ft. to 4 ft. wide, and the wall on the west side of it is very much
- dilapidated. From the western entrance to these ruins the passage runs
- 27 ft. further north, and descends some 29 ft. by means of stairs, and
- then passes out between high walls on to the granite floor of <em>Renders
- Ruins</em>, which are in the Middle Section of “The Valley of Ruins.”</p>
-
- <p><i>General.</i>—The position of the Mauch Ruins on their east and north-east
- sides is strengthened for defensive purposes by a steep drop of about
- 12 ft. down on to the level occupied by the Middle Section of “The
- Valley of Ruins.” This drop<span class="pagenum" id="Page_396">396</span> is formed by an almost vertical granite
- glacis, which it would have been very difficult to climb.</p>
-
- <p><i>Finds.</i>—Gold wire, beaten gold, and gold beads, and portions of
- sea-green glazed pottery of white clay.</p>
-
- <h3>SOUTH-EAST RUINS</h3>
-
- <p>These ruins are situated at the south-eastern extremity of the Zimbabwe
- Ruins’ area where the Valley of Ruins terminates on its eastern side,
- and are only ten minutes’ walk from Havilah Camp. They occupy a summit
- of a bare and rounded kopje, commanding most extensive views of the
- country beyond Schlichter Gorge to the south and of the Arowi district
- towards the east-north-east. Its position is highly strategetic, and
- there is a steep descent on the south-west side into a deep gorge, down
- which the stream rising on the east side of the Elliptical Temple flows
- toward the Mapudzi.</p>
-
- <p>The area of well-defined walls is 140 ft. from north to south, and
- 120 ft. from east to west, but there are traces of walls in all
- directions—on the south at 70 yds. and on the south-west at 20 yds.
- distance. The formation rock crops to the present surface at many
- places, and the depth of soil elsewhere is inconsiderable.</p>
-
- <p>The style of building very closely resembles that of Ridge Ruins, which
- lie between the Elliptical Temple and Havilah Camp, as to which there
- are considerable doubts of its being of very remote antiquity.</p>
-
- <p>The walls, the majority of which are of massive proportions, are not at
- all well built, blocks of all sizes and shapes having been employed,
- and there is little or no attempt to adhere to courses. The present
- reduced average height of the walls is from 4 ft. to about 6 ft., but,
- judging from wall débris, every wall must have originally been at least
- some 7 ft. or 8 ft. in height. The walls are from 4 ft. to 5 ft. wide
- at base, and 3 ft. to 4 ft. wide at their very much reduced summits.</p>
-
- <p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_397">397</span></p>
-
- <p>The plan of the building is laid on curved lines, and the only entrance
- which remains intact has rounded sides. It is possible these buildings
- once had six outer and inner entrances. The main entrance appears to
- have been on the west side.</p>
-
- <div class="figcenter illow600" id="i_397">
- <img src="images/i_397.jpg" width="600" height="389" alt="" />
- <div class="caption">SOUTH-EAST RUINS<br />Zimbabwe</div>
- </div>
-
- <p>There are about eight enclosures, and in some of these there are
- remains of very old Makalanga huts, and the soil of the interior is
- filled with great quantities of Kafir pottery, iron-work, iron slag,
- cattle bones, and ashes. Two Kafir graves were found, but these were
- not of any great age. Local natives state their own people once lived
- here, but not in their time, and this is extremely probable; but they
- do not think the walls were built by any Makalanga.</p>
-
- <p>On the east side, just outside the main wall, there are three sets of
- <i>isafuba</i> game-holes cut into the formation rock. Each set has four
- rows of eight holes each.</p>
-
- <p>The ruins have been but partially examined at several points, but
- nothing of any antique character has been found here.</p>
-
- <hr class="page" />
- <div class="chapter" id="CHAPTER_XX">
- <span class="pagenum" id="Page_398">398</span>
- <h2>
- CHAPTER XX<br /><br />
- <span class="small">“THE VALLEY OF RUINS”<br />(<i>Continued</i>)</span>
- </h2>
- </div>
- <div class="subheadc">No. 1 Ruins—Ridge Ruins—Camp Ruins, Nos. 1 and 2.</div>
-
- <h3>NO. 1 RUINS</h3>
-
- <p class="drop-cap">THESE ruins, which are of an important character, lie on the north side
- of the Elliptical Temple at a distance of 63 yds. from the north-west
- entrance to that building, with which it is connected by a substantial
- and well-constructed wall running out due north from the north-west
- outer face of the main wall of the temple at 43 ft. west from the
- north-west entrance and at the points [705 ft.] and [710 ft.].</p>
-
- <p>Visitors would know this ruin as the one which lies back on the
- left-hand side of the path leading from Havilah Camp to the west
- entrance of the Elliptical Temple, and as the one with the tall
- column-like forms of the aloes crowned with fleshy leaves which line
- the summit of its walls, as also do the candelabra-shaped branches
- of numerous large euphorbia trees which together impart to these
- walls a pre-Raphaelite appearance peculiarly striking because of
- its old-world-looking character. But though this ruin may be known
- to visitors, they rarely examine its enclosures, for the internal
- portions, owing to extensive excavations during past years, are most
- uneven, and require some climbing over their irregular surfaces.</p>
-
- <p>Whether the age of this ruin synchronises with that of the Elliptical
- Temple is for several obvious reasons open to some question, but that
- it is “ancient” admits of no possible doubt.<span class="pagenum" id="Page_399">399</span> Its architecture and
- construction are both inferior to those of the Elliptical Temple, and
- to many ruins throughout the country which belong to the earliest type
- of Zimbabwe buildings, though it must be admitted that great care is
- shown in its construction. Possibly these buildings are of somewhat
- later date than the Elliptical Temple, while the purpose to which
- it was devoted was such as not to warrant such elaborate care being
- lavished upon it as on the temples and the buildings used as residences.</p>
-
- <p>Excavators have literally turned this ruin inside out, and have
- excavated whole areas to depths of 5 ft. to 7 ft. till the granite
- formation was reached, and have left some of the foundations both bare
- and undermined. There is no doubt that the building has thus been
- completely ransacked, and yet there is nothing to show that it was
- either a temple or a place where at any time gold-smelting was carried
- on, there being no traces of gold furnaces, blow-pipes, crucibles,
- scorifiers, or cement spattered with gold; in fact, pannings of such
- soil as still remains within it has not so far shown any “traces”
- or fragments of gold wire or beads and pellets of gold such as are
- so frequently and abundantly found in other ruins at Zimbabwe. Nor
- have any indications of copper-smelting been found here as in other
- ruins. There is no suggestion in its plan that it was a temple.
- Certainly there is no decorative pattern on its walls, nor are there
- any monoliths, nor even fragments of what might have been monoliths.
- Certainly stones said to be phalli have been found there, but a few
- years ago it was the fashion in Rhodesia to style every stone of
- peculiar shape a phallus. But supposing some of these objects were
- undoubted phalli, these might easily have come from the Elliptical
- Temple a few yards away, especially seeing that the north-west entrance
- to the temple was enclosed on either hand by walls of No. 1 Ruins,
- and that phalli and miniature soapstone birds have been discovered
- by almost all explorers of these ruins among the débris deposited
- outside all three entrances<span class="pagenum" id="Page_400">400</span> to the temple. The inner banquette walls
- on either side of the north-west entrance to these ruins, as well as
- the massively built outer walls, strongly suggest a fortification,
- and the conglomeration of tall buttresses overlooking the Elliptical
- Temple, and also “The Valley of Ruins,” rather confirms this view,
- especially as the ruins contain no evidences of any industry having
- been carried on by the ancients within them. Moreover, these are
- the only ruins of any importance on the north and west sides of the
- Elliptical Temple which could possibly have served as a fort for the
- protection of that side of the temple, and its site occupies a strongly
- strategetic position on the summit of sloping ground. Unless it was
- a fortification, the whole flank of the area of small ruins in the
- vicinity of the north entrance would have been undefended, for on the
- northern and eastern sides of such area of ruins are very substantially
- built forts occupying elevations of vantage.</p>
-
- <p>Sir John Willoughby states that the design of this building is very
- irregular, the inner walls terminate abruptly and form only three sides
- of an enclosure with floors ever varying in their relative levels, the
- wall foundations are of unequal depths, and the interiors of some of
- the walls are carelessly filled in with stones, this latter being a
- feature absent in the earliest types of Zimbabwes, but present in later
- ruins.</p>
-
- <p>All these departures from the style of construction as employed in
- the Elliptical Temple, and in very many of the ruins at Zimbabwe, are
- obvious to anyone on making an inspection, as also the irregularity in
- the sizes of the stones of any single course, the poorer quality of
- the granite, the employment of unhewn stones, and the introduction of
- the angular and plumb style of building so peculiarly absent in the
- Elliptical Temple and elsewhere at Zimbabwe. There are no drain-holes
- in any of the walls of these ruins.</p>
-
- <p>Of old and recent Makalanga occupations of these ruins there is
- ample evidence. Kafir pottery, bones, ashes, and<span class="pagenum" id="Page_401">401</span> scraps of iron are
- abundant, and the clay foundations of Makalanga huts and granaries can
- be seen in every enclosure on floors overlying rudely filled-in areas.</p>
-
- <p>These ruins occupy an area of 62 yds. from east to west, and 54 yds.
- from north to south. The portion of the ruins in the best condition, as
- well as the most important parts, are situated on the west side. The
- north and east portions are the most dilapidated. The building on the
- north and north-east sides is on the edge of a sharp slope down into a
- valley which contains the walls of several minor ruins.</p>
-
- <div class="figcenter" id="i_401">
- <img src="images/i_401.jpg" width="400" height="573" alt="" />
- <div class="caption">N<sup>o</sup>. 1 RUINS<br />Zimbabwe</div>
- </div>
-
- <p>The main or outer wall of these ruins runs for 185 ft. from the west
- entrance on the west side of the building round in a curve outwards
- towards the west-north-west, north, and north-east. There are three
- short gaps in the northern portion of the wall. On the whole, the
- greater portion of the wall is still<span class="pagenum" id="Page_402">402</span> in a fairly good condition,
- it being from 12 ft. to 15 ft. high above the outside level of the
- bed-rock on which its foundations are laid. The wall is practically
- plumb as compared with the main wall of the Elliptical Temple, besides
- being angular at the entrances. It is 4 ft. wide at 6 ft. above the
- outside level, but the north-western side is slightly wider. The wall,
- though substantially constructed, does not show great evenness of
- courses, while the sizes of the blocks vary considerably. Near the west
- entrance it is very poorly built, while the wall on the opposite side
- of the passage is excellently constructed. Possibly this indifferently
- built portion was repaired at a much later date. It is on this wall
- that grew the tall aloes and large euphorbia trees, some of which have
- recently been removed. The north and north-east portions of the wall,
- being built upon the edge of the declivity, tend to give the wall
- a more imposing appearance, while its elevated position commands a
- splendid view of “The Valley of Ruins.” The large mound on the north
- side of the north-west entrance is soil débris brought by explorers
- from the interior of the ruins in 1892.</p>
-
- <p>Three entrances pass through this wall, on the west, north-west, and
- north sides.</p>
-
- <p>The west entrance is 2 ft. 6 in. to 3 ft. wide, the west side wall
- being 4 ft. to 5 ft. high, and the east side 5 ft. to 7 ft. high. The
- entrance walls are plumb and angular. There are no buttresses on either
- side, and no portcullis groves. The entrance leads into Enclosure A,
- but there are traces of a wall which runs across the inside at a short
- distance, and might have been that of a sort of vestibule to Enclosure
- A. Immediately on the outside of this entrance there is a passage
- between the outer face of the main wall on the east side and the east
- wall of Enclosures W X Y Z on the west side, and this passage, which is
- 46 ft. long, 3 ft. 6 in. wide and has the west side wall 5 ft. high,
- actually forms part of the entrance. At 31 ft. from the north end of
- the passage<span class="pagenum" id="Page_403">403</span> there is one side of a rounded entrance into Enclosure Y.
- There are no traces of steps having been built here.</p>
-
- <p>The north-west entrance was evidently the main entrance. It is the
- largest and best-constructed of all these entrances. It has a banquette
- wall on either hand in the interior, also a strongly built vestibule
- with entrances into Enclosures C and D, and opposite the entrance on
- the outside are walls of other ruins.</p>
-
- <p>It is 3 ft. 6 in. wide, 7 ft. long, and the walls on either side are
- only 6 ft. high, but they rise sharply to the level of the general line
- of summit of the wall. Three feet of the length of the entrance on the
- east side are formed by the end of the banquette wall, but on the west
- side the banquette wall is only about 16 in. wide. The entrance is
- angular and plumb and has portcullis grooves. This is the only instance
- so far discovered where a completely angular entrance has portcullis
- grooves, also the only instance where the main or, indeed, any outer
- entrance has such grooves, except the north entrance to this ruin,
- which is partly angular and partly rounded. There is no indication that
- this entrance was once covered in.</p>
-
- <p>Immediately on the inside of this entrance is a small enclosure which
- served as a vestibule and as an approach to enclosures C and D. This is
- 9 ft. long, 6 ft. wide, and the walls are from 5 ft. to 8 ft. above the
- paved floor which was destroyed some years ago. At the west end there
- is a passage 4 ft. 4 in. long and 2 ft. 10 in. wide with angular sides
- leading into Enclosure C, the walls on either side being 4 ft. to 5 ft.
- high. At the east end of this vestibule is a passage 9 ft. long and 2
- ft. 10 in. wide leading to Enclosure D, the walls on either side being
- 5 ft. to 7 ft. high.</p>
-
- <p>The north entrance opens into Enclosure D at its north-east corner. It
- is angular on the outside but rounded on the inside. It is 2 ft. 10
- in. wide, 4 ft. 6 in. long, and the walls on either side are now only
- from 3 ft. to 5 ft. high. There are<span class="pagenum" id="Page_404">404</span> portcullis grooves in the rounded
- portions of the side walls. The entrance does not pass through the wall
- at right angles, but obliquely towards the north, which the opening
- faces. A wall runs north for 15 ft. from the east outer side of the
- entrance, but its extremity terminates in block débris. In the angle
- of the two walls at the outer foot of the entrance are traces of steps
- leading for a few feet down the declivity along the west side of the
- projecting wall.</p>
-
- <p>The banquette wall rounds round the inside face of the main wall
- on either side of the north-east or main entrance, and forms a
- terrace behind it which would afford a good view over the main wall.
- Practically the main wall and the banquette wall are one and the same
- structure at certain points, since the stones of the main wall project
- into the banquette; but at other points they are independent of each
- other, and at these points the space between the two structures is
- filled in with stones to the level of the summit of the banquette.</p>
-
- <p>The eastern length of banquette starts from the east side of the
- north-west entrance and runs along the inside of the main wall into
- Enclosure D for a length of 17 ft., the summit being 6 ft. high
- and 3 ft. 6 in. wide at the entrance and 5 ft. wide at its eastern
- extremity. This length of banquette cannot be described as of excellent
- workmanship.</p>
-
- <p>The western length of banquette is 48 ft. long and 4 ft. to 8 ft.
- high, and is 1 ft. wide at the north-west entrance, but widens out to
- 11 ft. at the west end, where it connects with the “conglomeration of
- buttresses,” all rounded, which overlook every part of this ruin. The
- workmanship in this length of banquette is somewhat inferior.</p>
-
- <p>There are at least ten enclosures, and these, for the purposes of this
- description, are lettered from A to H or named. On the west side there
- are four outer enclosures, and these are lettered W to Z.</p>
-
- <p><i>Enclosure A.</i>—The area of this enclosure is 105 ft. from<span class="pagenum" id="Page_405">405</span> north to
- south, its longest points, and 51 ft. from east to west, its widest
- points. It has four entrances.</p>
-
- <p>The north-west entrance is the west entrance to these ruins, and has
- already been described.</p>
-
- <p>The south-west entrance is approached by an outer passage on this
- side, but the actual entrance, owing to the amount of débris, can only
- be traced, the débris being level with the summits of the walls on
- either side. These walls are from 4 ft. to 5 ft. high, 3 ft. 6 in. on
- their present summits, and are fairly well built. The passage walls
- are 8 ft. apart for a length of 64 ft. from this enclosure towards the
- south-west, at which point they curve off in different directions,
- the west side wall running a further 51 ft. towards the west, with
- traces of continuation. The east side wall curves round towards the
- south-south-east for 105 ft., including gaps, and at its extremity
- it becomes lost in débris, but in all probability, judging by recent
- clearing away of débris and also by excavations, it ran up to the west
- outer face of the Elliptical Temple. There are no signs of any entrance
- passing through these side walls. The workmanship of both walls is
- fairly good.</p>
-
- <p>The north-east entrance is from Enclosure E, which lies on the
- north-east side. This was a wide entrance with rounded sides, and
- appears to have been built at a higher level than the floor of
- Enclosure A, but the entrance and the steps leading up to it are now
- almost lost in débris.</p>
-
- <p>The east entrance is from Enclosure B. This was rounded, but is now
- filled in to the top by wall débris.</p>
-
- <p>The floor of this enclosure is formed by bed-rock. The highest parts of
- the walls are as follows: south side, 4 ft.; east side, 7 ft.; north
- side, 14 ft.; and west side, 5 ft. to 8 ft.</p>
-
- <p><i>Enclosure B.</i>—The area of this enclosure, which lies at the south-east
- side of Enclosure A, is 49 ft. from north to south and 23 ft. from east
- to west. This enclosure has two entrances, the one on the west side
- being the east entrance<span class="pagenum" id="Page_406">406</span> to Enclosure A, while the one on the north
- side is from a passage which connects this enclosure with Enclosure F.
- Both entrances are rounded. This enclosure appears to have been cleared
- out to below the levels of the bottom of the foundations.</p>
-
- <p>The passage connecting Enclosures B and F runs from south-west to
- north-east. Including the two entrances, it is 23 ft. long, and 3 ft.
- wide at the south-west end, and 5 ft. wide at the north-east end. The
- side walls, which are very substantial, are still 8 ft. high. The
- entrance from this passage into Enclosure F is formed by two large
- rounded buttresses with portcullis grooves.</p>
-
- <p><i>Enclosure C.</i>—This enclosure is on the west side of the ruins, and
- is on the south side of the main and north-west entrance to these
- ruins, and north of Enclosure A, and is on the inner side of the west
- portion of the main wall. Its length from north to south is 43 ft.,
- and its width from east to west 17 ft. The western length of banquette
- wall forms its west side, and the face of this wall is poorly built.
- The south wall must be considered as badly built. On its south and
- south-east sides is the “conglomeration of buttresses,” the character
- of which can better be seen by glancing at the accompanying plan. The
- buttresses are almost circular, and have their centres filled with
- stones, thrown in most promiscuously. The east wall is well built;
- still it is inferior to any of the main walls of the Elliptical Temple.
- Through this wall is an aperture 2 ft. wide and with side walls 3 ft.
- high. The floor of this enclosure has been cleared away in places,
- showing the foundations of the walls.</p>
-
- <p><i>Enclosure D.</i>—This enclosure is on the inner side of the north portion
- of the main wall, and east of the north-west entrance to these ruins
- and of the Entrance Enclosure.</p>
-
- <p>The area of this enclosure is 41 ft. from north to south, and 45 ft.
- from east to west. It is bounded on the north, west, and south sides by
- the banquette and main walls for 23 ft.,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_407">407</span> on the west by the Entrance
- Enclosure for 5 ft., and by Enclosure EE for 18 ft., on the south by
- a wall dividing it from Enclosure E for 10 ft., but the rest of the
- southern boundary wall for 12 ft. is now only débris, and in places can
- barely be traced. On the east side is a wall 15 ft. long, 4 ft. high, 2
- ft. 10 in. wide on present summit, which separates this enclosure from
- Enclosure H; the rest of the eastern boundary is lost in débris.</p>
-
- <p>From the north inner side of the main wall at 20 ft. from the
- north-west corner of this enclosure there is a wall 4 ft. high
- projecting southwards into the enclosure for 5 ft., and this has an
- angular end.</p>
-
- <p>A wall 6 ft. long, forming part of the passage from the north-west
- entrance, projects into this enclosure. Judging by the arrangement of
- débris in the space between this wall and the main wall, it is very
- probable that there were steps here leading up to the summit of the
- banquette wall.</p>
-
- <p>At the eastern corner of this enclosure is the north entrance to these
- ruins. This has already been described.</p>
-
- <p><i>Enclosure EE.</i>—This enclosure is bounded on the north by Enclosure
- D, on the north-west by Entrance Enclosure, on the west by Enclosure
- C, and on the south by Enclosure E. Its area is 26 ft. from north to
- south, and 27 ft. from east to west.</p>
-
- <p>The floor of the south-west corner was once at a higher level than that
- of the rest of the enclosure, and to this originally raised portion
- there are remains of a narrow-rounded entrance on the south side, now
- filled up with débris, from Enclosure E. There are traces of steps up
- to this raised entrance. The floor of the aperture in the wall on the
- east side of Enclosure C appears to have been on the level of this
- raised floor.</p>
-
- <p><i>Enclosure E.</i>—This lies directly to the south of Enclosure EE. Its
- area is 49 ft. from north to south, and 48 ft. from east to west. It
- is bounded on the west for 49 ft. by<span class="pagenum" id="Page_408">408</span> a wall and the “conglomeration
- of buttresses” already mentioned, which respectively separates it from
- Enclosures A and C; on the south for 45 ft. by Enclosures B and the
- passage which connects Enclosures B and F; on the east for 36 ft. by
- a wall and a large rounded buttress, which is one of the prominent
- features of these ruins; the rest of the east boundary cannot be
- traced, owing to débris piles; lastly, on the north by Enclosures EE
- and D.</p>
-
- <p>There are still two entrances remaining—one from Enclosure A and the
- other from Enclosure C. Both are approached from the enclosure by
- steps, now ruined but traceable, leading up either side of the central
- buttress of the “conglomeration of buttresses.”</p>
-
- <p>The large buttress on the east side is semi-circular, the centre of
- its face is towards the west. It is 6 ft. high, 30 ft. round its face,
- and is fairly well built, it being a wall with its internal portion
- promiscuously thrown in till its summit was levelled throughout.</p>
-
- <p>On the south-west are two rounded buttresses with their faces towards
- the east and west respectively.</p>
-
- <p>The enclosure contains piles of excavators’ soil débris of some age.</p>
-
- <p><i>Enclosure F.</i>—This is situated on the east side of Enclosure E, and
- lies between that enclosure and Enclosure G. Its area is roughly
- circular, it being 37 ft. from north to south, and 42 ft. from east to
- west. Its southern boundary is formed for 37 ft. by the outer south
- wall of these ruins, which wall is 5 ft. high and 4 ft. wide on its
- present very reduced summit. There is a gap of 12 ft. on its north-west
- side, where there are now only traces of a wall.</p>
-
- <p>The enclosure has two entrances now remaining—the entrance from the
- passage leading from Enclosure B, which has already been described,
- and an entrance through the outer south wall. This entrance which
- is rounded is 2 ft. 6 in. wide, the side walls are 3 ft. high, and
- there are portcullis<span class="pagenum" id="Page_409">409</span> grooves on either hand, and these have been
- deliberately built up. This enclosure resembles the other portions of
- these ruins with regard to large piles of soil débris on its area.</p>
-
- <p><i>Enclosure G.</i>—This is the most easterly enclosure in these ruins. It
- is bounded on the south by Enclosure F, on the west by Enclosure H,
- and on the north and east by the outer east wall of the ruins, which
- wall is 8 ft. high and 3 ft. 6 in. wide on its present summit. Its
- area is 35 ft. from east to west, and 47 ft. from north to south. It
- possessed three entrances, and these were on its west, north, and east
- sides. The west entrance is barely distinguishable, but has traces of
- its having been angular. The north entrance has rounded sides, and
- leads from Enclosure H, a wall 22 ft. long and 5 ft. high forming a
- division between the two enclosures. The enclosure has been filled in
- with débris up to the level of this wall and overlooks the east end of
- Enclosure H, which here is very much lower. The east entrance through
- the outer wall is rounded on its south side, but the north side has
- disappeared.</p>
-
- <p><i>Enclosure H.</i>—This lies on the inner side of the north and north-east
- portions of the main wall, which here is considerably broken. It is
- bounded on the west by Enclosure D, on the south by Enclosures E and
- F, and on the east by Enclosure G. Most probably there was an entrance
- between the main wall on the east side and Enclosure G, and this led
- to the network of ruins which are built up against this side of No. 1
- Ruins and extend for some 300 yds. towards the east. The area of this
- enclosure is 53 ft. from east to west, and 31 ft. from north to south.
- The western end of this enclosure is considerably higher than the
- eastern end.</p>
-
- <p><i>Outer enclosures.</i>—Four enclosures lie to the west of the south-west
- extremity of the main wall, and are separated from it by the passage
- which leads to the west entrance of these ruins, and connects these
- enclosures with Enclosure A.</p>
-
- <p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_410">410</span></p>
-
- <p>These enclosures adjoin one another in a single line broadways from
- south to north, there being a common wall for all of them on their west
- sides. These enclosures are lettered W to Z, commencing at the south
- end.</p>
-
- <p>Their areas are as follows:—</p>
-
- <div class="ml10">
- W 25 ft. N. to S., and 20 ft. E. to W.<br />
- X 15 ft.&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; 〃&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;26 ft.&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; 〃<br />
- Y 12 ft.&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; 〃&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;22 ft.&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; 〃<br />
- Z 16 ft.&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; 〃&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;19 ft.&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; 〃<br />
- </div>
-
- <h3>RIDGE RUINS</h3>
-
- <p>These ruins are situated on the highest point of the bare granite ridge
- which extends from the north-west of the <em>Elliptical Temple</em> towards
- the north-west, and curves towards the north, where it terminates at
- <em>Havilah Camp</em>.</p>
-
- <p>The southern extremity of these ruins is 140 yds. from the north-west
- side of the <em>Elliptical Temple</em> and 100 yds. west of <em>No. 1 Ruins</em>. The
- path from the outspan and camp to the water springs and the <em>Elliptical
- Temple</em> passes close to its west side, while another path to the
- <em>Temple</em> passes close to its east side. The <em>Outer Defence Wall</em>,
- which runs from the west side of the <em>Temple</em> round towards the west,
- north-west, and north of the <em>Acropolis Hill</em>, runs parallel to the
- west side of these ruins at a distance of 96 ft. A number of euphorbia
- trees and aloes line its walls, which are now comparatively low, the
- highest parts being about 9 ft.</p>
-
- <p>The whale-back granite glacis on which these ruins are built dips
- sharply from immediately outside the walls all round these ruins,
- except at the south-east end, which is here only slightly higher than
- the present ground level outside the <em>Elliptical Temple</em>. Except for
- vegetable mould at a few points, the whole of the floors of these ruins
- are formed by the formation rock.</p>
-
- <p>The plan of these ruins shows an oval area, with a long and wide outer
- passage running along its east side for 246 ft.<span class="pagenum" id="Page_411">411</span> from the north to the
- south of the oval enclosure, this passage having its southern extremity
- well protected by traverses and buttressed entrances.</p>
-
- <p>These ruins, though built of irregularly sized stones, have the faces
- of the walls which still remain remarkably true and even, so much so
- that experienced builders after examining the walls state that with
- such irregularly sized stones it would be most difficult to erect
- walls with faces as true as those of these ruins. There appears to
- be no similarity whatever between the second-period architecture and
- construction and these ruins, except that the filling-in of the walls
- between their faces is more promiscuous than is the case with walls
- of first-period architecture and construction. Its entrances and
- buttresses are all rounded, and the walls have a fair batter-back,
- there being no plumb wall present.</p>
-
- <div class="figcenter" id="i_411">
- <img src="images/i_411.jpg" width="600" height="443" alt="" />
- <div class="caption">Sketch Plan<br />RIDGE RUINS<br />Zimbabwe.</div>
- </div>
-
- <p>It would be difficult to state the purpose these ruins were intended to
- serve, but seeing they occupy the most westerly position of the main
- ruins’ area, and that they are built on a<span class="pagenum" id="Page_412">412</span> commanding and strategetic
- position, it might be inferred, if their claim to any great antiquity
- were established, that their purpose was that of a fort, defending
- not only the westerly side of the main ruins’ area, but also part of
- a main line of communication, of which the Parallel Passage formed
- a section, between the <em>Elliptical Temple</em> and the west end of the
- <em>Acropolis Hill</em>. This suggestion is, in fact, apparently supported by
- the numerous traverses in the passage, traces of which can still be
- noticed, and by the fact that the oval enclosure overlooks the passage
- throughout its length. But, as stated before, these ruins cannot at
- present be classed as <em>ancient</em>, though they are undoubtedly of great
- age.</p>
-
- <p><i>Oval Enclosure.</i>—The area of the oval enclosure is 170 ft. from north
- to south, and 86 ft. from east to west. These are its longest and its
- widest points. The floor is formed by comparatively level surfaces of
- granite rock. There is very little soil within the enclosure, and this
- consists of black mould, decomposed cement, and native clay. The walls
- still standing average some 4 ft. to 7 ft. in height, and are about 3
- ft. 6 in. wide on their present reduced summits, and are battered-back.
- Plumb and angular walls are absent. The east wall is at one point
- carried over a large boulder 8 ft. high, and a few courses of blocks on
- the summit still remain. The north wall is considerably dilapidated,
- and the débris of this portion lies on the face of the declivity.
- The external faces of the walls are in a much better condition than
- the inner faces, for trees and shrubs which could not grow on the
- outer granite slopes manage to thrive in the very scanty soil of the
- interior. This enclosure has been used by the natives as a cattle
- kraal. Though cattle could not climb into the enclosure from outside,
- they no doubt damaged the inside faces of the walls by attempting to
- get outside from over the walls. The material for the stone foundations
- of circular huts of no very great age, which are to be seen in<span class="pagenum" id="Page_413">413</span> the
- enclosure, was very probably taken from the inside faces of the walls.</p>
-
- <p>These Makalanga stone foundations, which are identical with those found
- in old Makalanga kraals, occupy the following positions. At 60 ft.
- from the south end and 12 ft. from the west side, foundations of stone
- blocks 19 ft. in diameter. At 110 ft. from south end and almost facing
- the west entrance, stone foundations of hut 22 ft. in diameter. At 8
- ft. from north end foundation blocks disarranged and exact measurement
- impossible. At 60 ft. from south end and 10 ft. from east side is
- another foundation, but here again the blocks have become considerably
- disturbed.</p>
-
- <p>This enclosure has two entrances, and these are on the south and west
- sides respectively. The south entrance is comparatively intact, but the
- west entrance is buried in wall débris and can only be traced on one
- side. Both are rounded. The south entrance walls are 3 ft. 6 in. high,
- the passage is 2 ft. wide and 7 ft. long, and there are portcullis
- grooves. The north side of the west entrance is formed by a large
- boulder 6 ft. high.</p>
-
- <p>There is no trace of ornamentation on the walls, but if it ever
- existed, the walls having become so reduced, it must have disappeared.
- No article was found for which the slightest antiquity could be
- claimed, all the finds being obviously of native make, though somewhat
- superior to their make of to-day.</p>
-
- <p><i>Parallel Passage.</i>—Roughly speaking, the passage throughout its length
- of 246 ft. from north to south runs parallel with the east wall of
- the oval enclosure and follows it round in its curves, but narrowing
- towards its southern extremity. There is no entrance from the passage
- to the oval enclosure except at the south end. At the north end the
- passage is 47 ft. wide, and the formation rock forms the floor; at
- 40 ft. further south the passage is 36 ft. wide; at 80 ft. from the
- north end 22 ft. wide; at 160 ft., 19 ft. wide; at 190 ft., 13 ft.
- wide, which<span class="pagenum" id="Page_414">414</span> width is maintained as far as the southern extremity. The
- heights of the outer wall vary from 5 ft. to 7 ft., the best-preserved
- lengths being near the southern end, where a pair of traverses with
- rounded ends stand at a few feet north of the south entrance to the
- passage. This entrance has rounded sides.</p>
-
- <p>A passage crosses from east to west at the southern extremity, and in
- it are three entrances with rounded sides. Opposite the south face
- of the southern extremity of the passage, and at 6 ft. distance is
- an independent screen wall, 16 ft. long and 5 ft. high, covering the
- approach to the entrance from the south. At several points in the
- parallel passage there are distinct traces of traverses.</p>
-
- <p>The new path from <em>Havilah Camp</em> to the <em>Elliptical Temple</em> now runs
- through the parallel passage of these ruins.</p>
-
- <h3>CAMP RUINS NO. 1</h3>
-
- <p>Camp Ruins Nos. 1 and 2 lie north and south respectively of the
- Shangani Grave, which separates them, the huts of the camp being built
- on the north and wrest sides and within a few feet of the remains of
- Camp Ruins No. 1, which is Sir John Willoughby’s No. 3 Ruins in his
- <cite>Further Excavations at Zimbabye</cite>, 1892.</p>
-
- <p>Sir John describes this ruin as follows:—</p>
-
- <blockquote>
- <p>“Previous to my arrival, the only trace of ruins here was one
- small stone buttress on the eastern side. My original intention
- was to find any wall foundations that might exist, and then to
- cross-cut right through the mound at their level from east to
- west, and from north to south. But I was deterred from carrying
- this out, because as the work proceeded, traces of cement
- floors at different levels were discovered. By starting low
- down the mound, I came upon a wall, varying in height from 4
- ft. to 6 ft., which encircled it. The original height of this
- wall can only be estimated by comparing the existing structure
- with the fallen débris which was buried by an accumulation of
- soil. At the foot of this<span class="pagenum" id="Page_415">415</span> wall, and on the outside, I found
- many specimens of arrow-heads, Kafir pottery, bracelets, and
- necklaces of iron and copper. I also found something which may
- perhaps prove to be an object of special interest. This was a
- piece of copper about 6 in. in length and a quarter of an inch
- thick, covered with a green substance (whether enamel, paint,
- or lacquer, I am unable to determine), and inlaid with one of
- the triangular Zimbabwe designs. It was buried 5 ft. below
- the surface, almost in contact with the east side of the wall
- itself.</p>
- </blockquote>
-
- <div class="figcenter" id="i_415">
- <img src="images/i_415.jpg" width="300" height="393" alt="" />
- <div class="caption">CAMP RUINS N<sup>o</sup>. 1.<br />
- Zimbabwe</div>
- </div>
-
- <blockquote>
- <p>“I also discovered a small cave under a big rock that
- culminates in the highest point of the mound, but the only
- object of interest here found, besides bits of coarse pottery,
- was a piece of crystal or glass. On driving into the mound
- through a somewhat broken entrance in the inside wall of the
- west side, I was much puzzled by striking a level cement floor
- some 4 ft. above the wall foundations, and on following this
- level I came upon a second floor about 2 ft. above the first.
- It would therefore seem that originally there were a series of
- cement terraces, one above the other, culminating in a point
- of observation on the south side on the summit of a large
- rock, or that different occupants at varying dates had made
- new floors. It was near this rock that I came upon one of the
- few pieces of masonry inside the other wall,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_416">416</span> and that only
- very fragmentary in character. In following the outside wall
- on its inner face, I found it varied in width between 2 ft. 6
- in. and 4 ft., and that its foundations also varied much in
- depth. In the cutting thus made I came upon three small furnace
- holes close together on a level with the top of the wall as it
- now stands, the foundations of which increased in depth as I
- proceeded, and disclosed here and there what appeared to be an
- extensive layer of ashes with the bones and teeth of animals. A
- notable peculiarity in this mound is the variety of stratified
- soil with folding concave towards the centre. The surface soil
- is more or less black; then comes a bright red clay divided by
- a broad yellow streak, and below this a dash of yellow, with
- here and there a vein of decomposed sandstone or other rocky
- substance. During this excavation I was not very successful in
- finds, which were only represented by three pieces of sea-green
- china, one of which was lying in the solid red clay below the
- surface, and 8 ft. to 10 ft. into the side of the mound, and
- two dull green porcelain beads, found 7 ft. deep and near its
- centre. Taking into consideration the ash beds and furnace
- holes already referred to, I feel justified in suggesting that
- once a workshop was here the scene of useful activity, and
- at that time surrounded by an irregular wall for protective
- purposes, with a point of outlook to guard against surprise,
- such as the big rock with the summit would represent.”</p>
- </blockquote>
-
- <p>As the author resided actually within Camp Ruins for fully two years
- (1902–4), very frequent opportunities of thoroughly examining the walls
- have presented themselves, the result being that it is now ascertained
- that these ruins as seen to-day can be shown to be not ancient but of
- a some very old Makalanga period. The furnace holes alluded to have
- been used for iron-smelting, and to the depth of 11 ft. no single
- article approaching an antique or even mediæval character has been
- found within or near its walls. The brass wire bangles found at depth
- still have their grass, hair, or fibre intact. Garden hoes, assegai
- heads, and<span class="pagenum" id="Page_417">417</span> coarse pottery of ordinary Kafir make are here found in
- abundance. The green pottery beads are found in almost every ruin at
- Zimbabwe, and never at lower depth than the yellow soil which lies
- immediately under the black vegetable mould on the floors of all the
- ruins. Certainly, the present natives do not know this class of beads.
- That this building, as suggested by Sir John Willoughby, was once a
- workshop is obvious from the quantities of iron slag and ashes and
- burnt clay floors and iron furnaces found in the vicinity. The bones
- of animals are mainly those of buck of all kinds. The construction of
- the walls precludes any suggestion that they could have been standing
- very many centuries, certainly not extending back to any period which
- could, even by long inference, be considered “ancient.” The workmanship
- is decidedly poorer than that shown in modern Kafir buildings in the
- district.</p>
-
- <p>But while this ruin, as seen to-day, may not itself be ancient, there
- is some evidence that the ancients must have fortified this knoll;
- and when we consider its strategetic position on the granite ridge,
- extending from the south-west foot of the Acropolis Hill and the
- Elliptical Temple, it becomes highly probable that later people have
- utilised the material of some older buildings once occupying this
- position in the erection of their poorer structures. Foundations of
- walls surround the knoll at distances of some fifty and one hundred
- yards from these ruins, and these show a fair claim to be recognised as
- ancient, or, at any rate, as older than the walls on the summit. The
- “cement” mentioned by Sir John is common soil <i>daga</i> (clay), similar to
- that found in old Makalanga huts and floors.</p>
-
- <p>The ruin crowning the knoll is roughly circular, with a diameter of
- about 100 ft., with walls varying in height from 4 ft. to 6 ft. The
- accompanying plan, with explanatory notes, kindly lent to the author
- by Sir John Willoughby, shows the character of this ruin. The “finds”
- made here in<span class="pagenum" id="Page_418">418</span> 1902–3 are identical with those discovered by Sir John
- Willoughby.</p>
-
- <h3>CAMP RUIN NO. 2</h3>
-
- <p>This ruin lies 50 ft. south of Camp Ruins No. 1, and is on the same
- knoll, the two being separated from each other by the Shangani
- graveyard.</p>
-
- <div class="figcenter" id="i_418">
- <img src="images/i_418.jpg" width="300" height="435" alt="" />
- <div class="caption">CAMP RUINS N<sup>o</sup>. 2<br />
- Zimbabwe</div>
- </div>
-
- <p>Sir John Willoughby writes:—</p>
-
- <blockquote>
- <p>“I carefully attacked Ruin No. 2, but with a disappointing result. It
- merely appears to be an enclosure formed by an irregular outside wall,
- varying in thickness and in the depth of its foundations. In tracing
- this wall, the bed-rock was occasionally exposed at a depth of 3 ft.
- The only ‘finds’ here were two small pieces of sea-green china, one
- small piece of white china, a few Kafir arrow-heads, whorls of poor
- make, two fragments of pottery having a kind of basket design, and a
- copper or brass clasp or fastening, which probably formed part of a box
- of modern date.”</p>
- </blockquote>
-
- <p>This ruin has recently been re-examined with similarly<span class="pagenum" id="Page_419">419</span> disappointing
- result, and the remarks made with regard to No. 1 Ruin apply equally
- to this ruin. Clay foundations and floors of old Kafir huts fill the
- interior at different levels. Probably in the most ancient period, long
- before the present structures were erected, one large ruin occupied the
- site of both Nos. 1 and 2 Ruins, and encircled and crowned the knoll,
- for judging from very old foundations, walls surrounded the knoll. At
- least there were two such walls, one being within and higher than the
- other.</p>
-
- <hr class="page" />
- <div class="chapter" id="CHAPTER_XXI">
- <span class="pagenum" id="Page_420">420</span>
- <h2>
- CHAPTER XXI<br /><br />
- <span class="small">RUINS NEAR ZIMBABWE</span>
- </h2>
- </div>
- <div class="subheadc">East Ruins—Other Ruins within the Zimbabwe Ruins’ Area.</div>
-
- <h3>EAST RUINS</h3>
-
- <p class="drop-cap">THESE ruins lie 20 yds. to the south of the Motelekwe Road at 550 yds.
- east of Havilah Camp, and face the east end of the Acropolis Hill at a
- distance of 300 yds. south.</p>
-
- <p>They occupy a rise overlooking the Valley of Ruins, and are built
- upon an open granite glacis which originally formed its floor. Their
- elevated and strategetic position at once claim the attention of
- visitors. These ruins have always been written and spoken of as being
- a fort for the defence of the east side of the Valley of Ruins, and,
- in fact, for all the ruins of the lower Zimbabwe group, including the
- Elliptical Temple, and especially for the eastern end of the South-East
- Ancient Ascent to the Acropolis. Judging from the contour of the
- country round about, the only possible line the ancient road from the
- east and the coast could have taken must have passed within a few yards
- of this ruin.</p>
-
- <p>The view from East Ruins towards the east is most extensive and
- picturesque, for the land slopes on that side for over two miles
- towards the Beroma Range and the valley of the Motelekwe, while in the
- hollow are the Chipo-popo and Mapudzi rivers. Opposite are the peculiar
- and romantic columns of granite near Chenga’s kraal.</p>
-
- <p>For the purposes of defence these ruins are ideally situated. On the
- south side they are protected by a steep declivity of<span class="pagenum" id="Page_421">421</span> some 40 ft. into
- the valley, and down this the original builders and later occupiers
- have shot their débris in great quantities. The space between the ruin
- and the declivity, some 25 yds. in width and 100 ft. in length, is
- covered with short lengths of walls and wall débris.</p>
-
- <div class="figcenter" id="i_421">
- <img src="images/i_421.jpg" width="500" height="568" alt="" />
- <div class="caption">Sketch Plan<br />
- EAST RUINS<br />Motelekwe Road<br />Great Zimbabwe</div>
- </div>
-
- <p>The area covered by these ruins is 140 ft. from north to south, and 93
- ft. from east to west. It is most probable that on the south and east
- sides there were other enclosures.</p>
-
- <p>The walls on the north, west, and south are fairly well built and
- massive, and are still some 8 ft. to 10 ft. in height, and average 3
- ft. 6 in. to 4 ft. width of summit at those heights. The walls on the
- south-east and east average a height of from 4 ft. to 7 ft., while the
- divisional walls which remain have a reduced height of 4 ft. and 5 ft.,
- and these latter are also substantially constructed.</p>
-
- <p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_422">422</span></p>
-
- <p>There are four well-defined enclosures, the two on the west side being
- the most perfect. The northern enclosure had once been subdivided into
- at least six separate compartments.</p>
-
- <p>Both in plan and construction these ruins excel most of the minor
- ruins, including No. 1 Ruins, and many walls on the Acropolis. The
- curved lines of the walls on the northern and southern sides are bold
- and striking, and well and exactly carried out. Their solidity is very
- noticeable, especially on both outer and inner faces. Not only are the
- courses in these walls fairly even, but the blocks are well-sized and
- are of a good quality of granite. In some portions of the walls the
- workmanship is of an inferior character.</p>
-
- <p>But, whatever the style of construction may be, the faces of the walls
- are beautifully even from base to summit and also lengthways, for
- placing one’s eye close up against the wall and glancing along an area
- of wall-face, there is hardly to be seen half an inch of front of block
- protruding in front of its neighbours. This, of course, does not apply
- to the batter-back, which is only that of an average wall at Zimbabwe.
- The impression gained on viewing these massive walls, which occupy such
- an excellently strategetic position, is that the original builders
- intended the building to be used for some important purpose.</p>
-
- <p>The northern enclosure is 60 ft. from north to south, and 67 ft.
- from east to west. The south-west enclosure is 61 ft. from north to
- south, and 51 ft. from east to west. The eastern enclosure is 55 ft.
- from north to south, and 22 ft. from east to west. The south-eastern
- enclosure, which is rather rudely constructed, and the walls of which
- are very considerably dilapidated, is 20 ft. from north to south, and
- 80 ft. from east to west.</p>
-
- <p>There are three entrances through the outer walls, and these are on the
- west, south, and east, and all are rounded; two have buttresses, one
- has portcullis grooves, and the<span class="pagenum" id="Page_423">423</span> foundation forms the passage floor in
- each case. Two divisional entrances now only remain, and these are also
- rounded.</p>
-
- <p>Immediately inside the west entrance and on the north side is what
- appears to have been a raised platform, facing west, about 4 ft. above
- the original floor. This may have an area of 15 ft. from north to
- south by 12 ft. from east to west, but the artificial filling-in of
- the ruin with soil has raised the interior surface to the level of
- this platform. Probably, as at other ruins at Zimbabwe with identical
- platforms in corresponding positions, this afforded a look-out
- overlooking the entrance. On the eastern side of these ruins there is a
- similar but smaller structure which may have answered the same purpose.</p>
-
- <p>In the eastern enclosure and on the east face of the west wall is a
- recess starting upwards from the ground. This is 3 ft. high, 1 ft. 10
- in. wide, and the blocks on each side respectively are flush-edged with
- each other. The recess goes back about the length of two blocks (see
- <cite>Architecture</cite>—<cite>Blind Recesses</cite>).</p>
-
- <p>These ruins have been artificially filled in with soil to a depth of 3
- ft. to 5 ft. by native occupiers of a comparatively late date, for the
- soil on the surface and downwards to the bottom of the filling-in is
- thick with old native pottery and the broken-up remains of Kafir huts.</p>
-
- <p>Although almost every relic-hunter seems to have paid attention
- to these ruins, nothing of any antique value has been found here.
- Probably when the original occupiers left the granite floors were
- still exposed, and any objects found there may have been removed long
- before the filling-in took place. So far, there is no evidence that any
- industry—whether of ancient, mediæval, or modern occupiers—has ever
- been carried on in this building.</p>
-
- <p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_424">424</span></p>
-
- <h3>OTHER RUINS WITHIN THE ZIMBABWE RUINS’ AREA</h3>
-
- <p><i>Bentberg (Matusu).</i>—This kopje, which is 240 ft. above the threshold
- of the West Entrance to the Elliptical Temple, lies immediately south
- and south-west of the temple. Only 200 yds. separate the building from
- the foot of the hill. Here are many signs of very old occupations in
- the form of ruined terrace walls apparently of the Zimbabwe style, but
- of a very late period. The local Makalanga state that though their
- predecessors of the same race have had kraals on this hill, the terrace
- walls are not of any Makalanga construction; and this appears to be
- obvious. Further, though Makalanga pottery is abundant, yet there
- can be found both pottery and cement of a very superior quality and
- make; and such are repudiated by the natives as having been made by
- Amangwa, Makalanga, or Barotse. Great quantities of quartz broken into
- very small splinters are to be found in large areas on the hill. The
- nearest quartz reefs are six miles west of Zimbabwe. The older remains
- of terraces—many buried in silted soil—are to be found on the north
- side of the hill, but traces of walls can be met with extending almost
- to the summit and round the western flank. It is impossible to imagine
- that the ancients did not in some manner occupy the hill, as otherwise
- the Elliptical Temple would have been exposed on its south side without
- any defences. The old Barotse had a kraal at the foot of the north side
- of the hill just above the spot where are still the traces of Bent’s
- camp.</p>
-
- <p><i>Rusivanga Kopje.</i>—This hill (190 ft.) rises from the Zimbabwe Valley
- at some 300 yds. west of Havilah Camp. It is directly on the right of
- the road from Victoria to Zimbabwe at about a third of a mile from
- the main ruins, the road passing between it and Makuma Kopje on which
- is Mogabe’s kraal. The northern and eastern faces of this hill<span class="pagenum" id="Page_425">425</span> show
- in places from base to summit abundant evidence of occupations by
- ancients and also by very old Makalanga and Barotse. The remains of
- walls are in most instances of inferior construction, though at some
- points the courses of excellently built wall can be traced. There are
- also rudely built ramparts and enclosure walls of some later period. On
- the summit of the hill was once a fort. Fragments of soapstone, slate,
- quartz, and ironstone are to be found, also large stone-crushers, some
- excellent pottery, and cement work of superior quality. At one point
- is a cement wall carried across the top of a boulder. There are stone
- foundations of Makalanga huts which are circular and lined with cement,
- and winnowing floors with raised edges. On the eastern side of the
- hill two sets of <i>isafuba</i> game-holes have been cut into the surface
- of the granite rock. Each of these has thirty-six holes. On the west
- side and near the summit there are at least thirty different sets of
- game-holes cut into the granite, the holes of the sets varying in size.
- On the open granite areas on the hill are several places where deep
- depressions have been worn into the rock, evidently by the sharpening
- of tools or by grinding stones.</p>
-
- <p><i>Ruin on Bingura’s Path.</i>—This is located on the left-hand side of the
- path leading to Bingura’s kraal at about half a mile from the camp.
- Only its south-east wall is now standing, but its outlines can be
- traced by piles of blocks on all other sides. The area covered is about
- half an acre. The wall is well and substantially built, and is still 6
- ft. high. This appears to be of very old construction. There have been
- no important “finds” made here, the ruin not having yet been examined.
- It occupies a strategetic position on slightly raised ground in the
- valley between the Bentberg and Rusivanga.</p>
-
- <p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_426">426</span></p>
-
- <h3>RUIN NEAR CHENGA’S KRAAL</h3>
-
- <p>This is situated one mile and a quarter east of Havilah Camp, and is
- the most easterly ruin of the Zimbabwe group. It stands upon a low
- ledge on the west side of the Beroma Range, and is a quarter of a mile
- west of Chenga’s kraal, and directly overlooks the Mapudzi stream,
- which flows at about 60 ft. immediately below the west face of the
- ruin. The position is strategetic and affords a view over several
- valleys. The area covered by walls and stone débris is fully an acre
- and a half, but the actual walls now standing in any recognisable form
- of plan only cover 100 ft. by 80 ft.</p>
-
- <p>A cluster of large boulders has been utilised, and over these and
- between them the walls have been erected, the interior being filled
- up with earth almost up to the summits of the walls by some later
- occupiers. On clearing this foreign soil from the interior faces
- of the walls, two buried entrances, both rounded, were discovered,
- and it was then possible to prepare a plan of such of the walls as
- were so cleared. Nothing of any antique value was found during these
- operations, all the “finds,” which were not numerous, being of old
- native articles.</p>
-
- <p>All the walls are curved, and all buttresses, entrances, and ends of
- walls are rounded, and have a distinct batter-back. The granite blocks
- in some portions of the walls are as regular in size and shape as those
- to be seen in the Elliptical Temple, but the construction is not of
- the best. The outer faces of the walls have been first raised, and the
- internal portions afterwards filled in with stones of all sizes and
- shapes, but larger than those seen in the filling-in of the interiors
- of many of the walls at Khami Ruins. The courses at some points are
- very regular, but at others there has been no attempt at making any
- courses. The column style of building adopted by old Makalanga and
- Barotse is present in parts. The walls average about 4 ft. in width at
- base and 3 ft.<span class="pagenum" id="Page_427">427</span> on present reduced summit. There is no mural decorative
- work introduced.</p>
-
- <div class="figcenter" id="i_427">
- <img src="images/i_427.jpg" width="400" height="497" alt="" />
- <div class="caption">Sketch Plan<br />
- RUIN near CHENGA’S KRAAL<br />
- (Zimbabwe)</div>
- </div>
-
- <p>The natives state that this ruin was not built by the same people that
- built the rough walls of the minor ruins at Zimbabwe, their theory
- being that it was erected by Barotse very many generations ago, and
- on this point they are very emphatic. The translations of the native
- expressions for relics are “pretty stone” and “money.” In starting work
- here, the labourers, who receive small rewards for discovering relics,
- grumbled considerably, and informed the author that it was useless to
- work there, as no “pretty stones” or “money” would be found there.
- Similar remarks were made about other small ruins, and in every case
- they have been proved to be correct. Whether this ruin has actually any
- claim to antiquity is a matter which, at present, it would be unsafe to
- dogmatise upon.</p>
-
- <p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_428">428</span></p>
-
- <h3>CHENGA’S AND MADAVID PATH RUINS</h3>
-
- <p>These ruins are in a valley which runs north and south on the Beroma
- Range at one mile distance south-east of Chenga’s kraal, and lie a few
- yards to the west of the native path leading from Chenga’s to Madavid’s
- kraal. Madavid is the native name for David, a Basuto, who lives near.</p>
-
- <p>The area covered is fully a third of an acre on the summit of a knoll,
- which rises some 30 ft. above the valley. Traces of walls covering an
- area of an acre and a half are to be seen on the south, west, and north
- sides. Large granite boulders have been utilised in the construction,
- the walls being carried in curved lines from boulder to boulder,
- enclosing a rudely drawn circular area 51 ft. from east to west, and
- 42 ft. from north to south. In one instance the wall is carried over a
- boulder.</p>
-
- <p>The faces of the walls show good workmanship, the courses being fairly
- even, the joints uniformly distributed, and the blocks regular in size.
- The bases of the walls average from 4 ft. to 5 ft. in width, while the
- very reduced summits are 3 ft. 6 in. wide at 5 ft. from the ground. The
- walls display a carefulness in construction which is absent from some
- of the divisional walls of the main ruins at Zimbabwe. The side walls
- of the entrance on the east side of the building are most perfectly
- rounded. There is no mural decoration. The interior of the building is
- of earth, which contains Kafir pottery, etc. No exploration work has
- been done here.</p>
-
- <h3>MAPAKU, OR “LITTLE ZIMBABWE” RUINS</h3>
-
- <p>These ruins are situated at a distance of seven miles south-east of
- Zimbabwe, and occupy a position overlooking the Motelekwe Valley,
- and are on the eastern side of the lower shoulders of the southern
- extremity of the Beroma Range. On the south side of the ruins the
- ground falls in the direction of the Motelekwe River, which here flows
- south to south-west of the ruins at the distance of about a mile. The<span class="pagenum" id="Page_429">429</span>
- Mapaku kraal is a quarter of a mile north-west of the ruins. At the
- village are some caves (<i>I-Baku</i>, cave; <i>Mapaku</i>, caves). The headman
- is a Molinye, younger brother to the Mogabe Handisibishe of Zimbabwe.
- Good water can be obtained from several places in the vicinity of the
- ruins.</p>
-
- <div class="figcenter" id="i_429">
- <img src="images/i_429.jpg" width="600" height="512" alt="" />
- <div class="caption">MAPAKU RUINS<br />or “Little Zimbabwe”</div>
- </div>
-
- <p>The area covered by these ruins, excepting traces of outlying walls,
- is 70 ft. from north to south, and 80 ft. from east to west. Though
- the ruins are small in area, yet they have a considerable importance,
- seeing that they form one of the ruins of the chain of such structures
- which stretches at certain intervals from Zimbabwe along the Motelekwe
- River, which chain again connects with the chain of a similar class
- of ruins running from the lower Sabi in Portuguese territory in the
- direction of Sofala. The chains of ruins appear to point out the
- ancient approach from the coast to the metro<span class="pagenum" id="Page_430">430</span>politan centre at Zimbabwe
- and the gold districts of Southern Mashonaland and Matabeleland.</p>
-
- <p>The thickness and height of the walls are the first features which
- will strike anyone on entering the building, especially when the small
- size of the centre ruins are taken into consideration. The walls are
- all built on curved lines, and average a width of 4 to 5 ft. at the
- base, and 3 ft. at present reduced summits at 8 ft. above the ground.
- All the walls are built upon the granite rock formation, and there is
- comparatively very little soil on the floors, and most of this is black
- vegetable mould. Fortunately these ruins have not been subjected to the
- filling-in operations of the very old Kafir peoples as have so very
- many ancient ruins in Rhodesia. The absence of sufficient soil for the
- growth of large trees has no doubt saved the walls from more serious
- dilapidation. The walls are white with lichen, this being a feature in
- all the ruins along the Motelekwe Valley, which, seen from Zimbabwe, is
- usually filled with mist-fogs.</p>
-
- <p>The main entrance evidently is the one on the south-west side of the
- building, for here is a long narrow passage leading from the interior,
- the passage running parallel to the south main wall forming an easily
- defended approach. The ruins have only two entrances—the main entrance
- and an angular entrance on the north side without portcullis grooves.
- This latter entrance leads into an outer enclosure only, and is
- protected on the inside by what may be described as a “sentry-box.”
- This is a curved wall 7 ft. long and 5 ft. high, enclosing a small area
- large enough to hold two or three men, and its entrance opens on to the
- inside of the entrance in the main wall. There are several of these
- “sentry-boxes” at Zimbabwe occupying exactly similar positions near
- entrances.</p>
-
- <p>The interior of the building contains at least four enclosures and two
- long passages, and these may be described as follows:—</p>
-
- <p>No. 1 Enclosure, which is on the north-east side of the <span class="pagenum" id="Page_431">431</span>ruins, is
- 22 ft. from east to west, and 13 ft. 6 in. from north to south. The
- floor is formation rock covered over (1903) with a few inches’ depth of
- vegetable mould. The main wall, which forms its north and east sides,
- is 6 ft. high throughout, the wall on the west is 8 ft. high, and the
- curved walls which divide this enclosure from No. 2 Enclosure average
- 6 ft. and 7 ft. in height, except at the entrance to No. 2 Enclosure,
- where the height on either side is reduced to 5 ft.</p>
-
- <div class="figcenter" id="i_430a">
- <img src="images/i_430a.jpg" width="437" height="550" alt="" />
- <div class="caption">THE PASSAGE, LOOKING SOUTH, MAPAKU RUINS</div>
- </div>
-
- <div class="figcenter" id="i_430b">
- <img src="images/i_430b.jpg" width="438" height="550" alt="" />
- <div class="caption">SLATE BEAM IN RECESS OF ENTRANCE, PHILIPS’ RUINS, VALLEY
- OF RUINS</div>
- </div>
-
- <p>No. 2 Enclosure, which is roughly circular in form, is only approached
- by one entrance, and this is on its north side, and leads from No. 1
- Enclosure. This entrance is angular, and has portcullis grooves, and is
- 2 ft. 8 in. wide and 3 ft. 6 in. long. The walls of this enclosure are
- substantially built, being 3 ft. wide at their summits, which average
- 7 ft. to 9 ft. in height. The area enclosed is 20 ft. from north to
- south, and 24 ft. from east to west. This enclosure, judging by its
- complicated approach, was evidently the principal part of the ruins.</p>
-
- <p>Nos. 1 and 2 Enclosures are only approached by a passage 25 ft. long
- running north and south, which is 2 ft. 10 in. wide at its northern
- end and widens to 6 ft. 6 in. at the south end. The west wall of the
- passage is from 5 ft. to 6 ft. high, and that on the east side 7 ft. to
- 8 ft. high.</p>
-
- <p>Leading from the north end of this passage into No. 1 Enclosure is a
- covered entrance, 5 ft. high, 2 ft. 6 in. wide, and 5 ft. long. The
- roof is supported by flat granite slabs. On either side, and extending
- from floor to roof, are portcullis grooves. This entrance is somewhat
- dilapidated, and it is feared that one side of it may soon fall down.</p>
-
- <p>No. 3 Enclosure is bounded on the north by the divisional wall of No.
- 2 Enclosure, on the east and south by the curved main wall, and on the
- west by a very dilapidated divisional wall, which separates it from
- No. 4 Enclosure. It is 21 ft. 6 in. from north to south at its widest
- point, and about 35 ft. from east to west at its longest point.</p>
-
- <p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_432">432</span></p>
-
- <p>This enclosure is the first to be approached from the main or west
- entrance to the building, with which it is connected by a passage
- running parallel to the south main wall for 28 ft. Where the passage
- enters No. 3 Enclosure are the remains of a rounded buttress on the
- north side. From this buttress the passage westwards is 4 ft. 6 in.
- wide, but quickly narrows to 2 ft. 8 in., which width is maintained
- till it reaches the main entrance. The wall on the south side of
- the passage is from 6 ft. to 9 ft. high, and that on the north side
- averages 5 ft., but is greatly dilapidated toward its eastern end.</p>
-
- <p>No. 4 Enclosure is on the western side of the building, and is 41 ft.
- from north to south at its broadest part, and 39 ft. from east to west
- at its longest part.</p>
-
- <p>On the south side of the exterior are two circular stone foundations
- of one course each. These are 9 ft. in diameter. A number of granite
- blocks lie to the east of the building, and suggest the former
- existence of some structure.</p>
-
- <p>The construction as a whole is somewhat similar to that seen in some of
- the buildings in the Valley of Ruins at Zimbabwe. Straight joints and
- tilted blocks, long and shallow in form, and a disregard of courses,
- are the principal features in the workmanship shown in these ruins.
- There is no mural decoration.</p>
-
- <hr class="page" />
- <div class="chapter" id="NOTES_AND_ADDENDA">
- <span class="pagenum" id="Page_433">433</span>
- <h2>APPENDIX</h2>
- </div>
-
- <h3 id="NOTE_A">NOTE A<br /><br />
- GREAT ZIMBABWE</h3>
-
- <div class="center small">NOTICE TO VISITORS</div>
-
- <p>1. The only outspan is between Havilah Camp and the south side of the
- Acropolis Hill.</p>
-
- <p>2. No trees or bush on the Zimbabwe reserve to be cut by visitors or
- their native servants. Cut firewood is provided on the outspan.</p>
-
- <p>3. No visitor shall take into any ruin any spades or other tools for
- the purpose of prospecting for relics or gold, or use the same within
- the reserve. No excavated soil shall be panned, nor any stones removed
- from the ruins. Surveys can only be made on the written authority of
- the chief secretary.</p>
-
- <p>4. Visitors are requested not to touch or damage old cement work,
- or shake any ancient monoliths, or climb on walls or places marked
- “Dangerous,” and are asked to assist the Government in the preservation
- of the ruins by giving immediate notice to the magistrate at Victoria,
- or to any official in charge of the ruins, of any of the above offences
- being committed.</p>
-
- <p>5. The provisions of the “Ancient Monuments Protection Ordinance,
- 1902,” with regard to the illegal possession of relics, prospecting for
- same, or damage to ruins, and the consequent penalties of fines and
- imprisonment for such offences will be strictly enforced.</p>
-
- <p>6. The attention of visitors is also directed to the subjoined rules
- framed under the said ordinance.</p>
-
- <div class="ml40">By order,</div>
- <div class="right">H. H. CASTENS, <i>Chief Secretary</i>.</div>
- <div class="small mt1">
- <div class="smcap ml1">Chief Secretary’s Office, Salisbury.</div>
- <div class="ml10"><i>1st May, 1904.</i></div>
- </div>
-
- <p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_434">434</span></p>
-
- <div class="center mt6">GOVERNMENT NOTICE No. 103 OF 1904</div>
-
- <div class="small mt1">
- <div class="smcap right2">Chief Secretary’s Office, Salisbury.</div>
- <div class="right"><i>28th April, 1904.</i></div>
- </div>
-
- <p>It is hereby notified for public information that His Honour
- the Administrator has been pleased to approve of the subjoined
- rules, framed under the provisions of Section 7 of the “Ancient
- Monuments Protection Ordinance, 1902,” for visiting and
- inspecting the ruins of Zimbabwe.</p>
-
- <p>By command of His Honour the Administrator.</p>
-
- <p class="right mb2">H. H. CASTENS, <i>Chief Secretary</i>.</p>
-
- <p>1. The public will ordinarily be permitted to visit and inspect the
- ancient ruins at Zimbabwe between the hours of 6 a.m. and 6 p.m.,
- subject to the conditions prescribed by these rules.</p>
-
- <p>2. Any person producing a written permit granted to him by the
- Administrator, or by a magistrate, or a printed ticket in the
- prescribed form for the admission of visitors to the ruins, will be
- allowed access to them. All such permits and tickets shall, before
- admission, be delivered to the caretaker or person in attendance at the
- time.</p>
-
- <p>3. No person shall:—</p>
-
- <ol class="paren">
- <li>Dig or search within or about the walls of the ruins for
- minerals, precious stones, or curiosities; or</li>
-
- <li>Carry into any part of the ruins any spades or other tools; or</li>
-
- <li>Pan or sift any excavated soil in or about the ruins; or</li>
-
- <li>Remove any stone, wood, brick, or material from the ruins; or</li>
-
- <li>Remove trees, shrubs, or plants growing within or about the
- ruins, under a penalty, upon conviction, of a sum not exceeding £5.</li>
- </ol>
-
- <h3>NOTE B<br /><br />
- ROBERT M. W. SWAN</h3>
-
- <p>We regret to record the death, which took place on March 26th last,
- of Mr. R. M. W. Swan, well known for his share in the earlier
- investigations of the ruins of Mashonaland. Mr. Swan was born in 1858,
- and after receiving a technical training in Glasgow University and in
- the laboratory of Mr. R. Tattock, went out to Spain<span class="pagenum" id="Page_435">435</span> in 1878 in the
- capacity of a mining expert. In 1879 he went to Greece, and the next
- seven years were spent in mining work, principally in Antiparos and
- neighbouring islands. In addition to his professional employment, he
- devoted much attention to archæology, publishing several papers on his
- researches, and sending many specimens to the British Museum. It was
- during this period that he first made the acquaintance of Mr. and Mrs.
- Theodore Bent, whom he accompanied during their visits to several of
- the islands, afterwards taking part in the expedition to Mashonaland,
- carried out by them in 1891, for the examination of the Zimbabwe and
- other ruins. During this expedition he undertook the cartographic
- portion of the work, executing for the first time a careful plan of
- the ruins, besides mapping the country along the routes followed,
- and fixing the positions of a number of points astronomically. When,
- after his return to this country, Mr. Bent described the results of
- his journey before the Society, Mr. Swan added some notes on the
- geography and meteorology of Mashonaland, and subsequently contributed
- to the <cite>Proceedings</cite> (May, 1892), a short paper on the orientation
- of the ruins, showing in a striking way the close connection which
- existed between the arrangement of the structures and the astronomical
- phenomena to which, as sun-worshippers, their builders had paid so much
- attention. The subject was more fully discussed in the section which he
- contributed to Mr. Bent’s <cite>Ruined Cities of Mashonaland</cite>. The theory
- which he developed was subjected to some criticism; but on returning
- to South Africa to continue his investigations, he collected <em>data</em>,
- which, as he claimed, fully bore out his ideas. During this journey,
- carried out in 1893, he examined various ruins, till then undescribed,
- besides doing something to improve the mapping of the country along his
- route, which led inland by way of the Limpopo.</p>
-
- <p>This visit to South Africa lasted about two years, spent in part in
- geological and mining work. In 1896 he examined the mining districts of
- Western Australia and Tasmania, and in 1898 went to Siam with a similar
- object, leaving again, after a short visit to this country, for the
- Malay Peninsula, where he was engaged in mining work until his death,
- which took place at Kuala Lumpur after an operation for abscess of the
- liver. Here, as in South Africa, he did much careful cartographical and
- geological work.</p>
-
- <p>Mr. Swan was an expert linguist, and from his residence in Greece had
- acquired a great love for the classics. He possessed a large<span class="pagenum" id="Page_436">436</span> store
- of knowledge on varied subjects, which he was always anxious to share
- with others. He was a Fellow of the Geological and Chemical Societies,
- as well as of our own, which he joined in 1893, having received the
- Murchison Grant in 1892. (<cite>Royal Geographical Society’s Journal</cite>, May,
- 1904.)</p>
-
- <h3 id="NOTE_C">NOTE C<br /><br />
- NOTE ON OLD POTTERY FOUND AT DEPTH AT RENDERS RUINS, GREAT ZIMBABWE, JULY, 1903</h3>
-
- <p>This “find” consists of pottery of a very good quality about a quarter
- of an inch thick, but covered with a most excellent glaze of blue,
- white, and gold enamel, the white forming the background.</p>
-
- <p>There are at least four bands of pattern which encircled a large open
- bowl. No. 8 is a part of the rim, which was straight. No. 1 appears by
- its form to have been portion of the upper band; Nos. 2, 4, 5, 6, and 7
- the second band; No. 9 the third band; and a decoration of palm fronds,
- in brown paint and in outline only, its lowest band.</p>
-
- <p>The clay is a light brown and of fine quality.</p>
-
- <p>The lettering or pattern is outlined with faint gold, with yellow
- paint scroll-work filling the spaces between, and so minute are these
- decorations that very few would notice them. They resemble, only on a
- very minute scale, No. 3.</p>
-
- <p>I cannot piece the fragments together, but Nos. 4 and 7 seem to fit.</p>
-
- <p>The glaze is very thickly laid on, and both inside and outside are
- covered, and it is of such splendid make, colour, and appearance that
- many who have seen it say it is of the highest quality.</p>
-
- <p>The inside is white, and has lines of faint blue artistically drawn
- without being of any set pattern.</p>
-
- <p>No portion of the base found would enable one to judge whether the bowl
- had been made on a potter’s wheel or not.</p>
-
- <p>All the fragments were found together on a deeply buried floor, and at
- the same spot a quantity of large pieces of beaten gold and some gold
- beads were discovered.</p>
-
- <p>Some very thin light-brown pottery covered with white enamel, extending
- some inches down from the rim inside and with thick bars of dull blue
- enamel running from rim to centre, were also found at the same spot.</p>
-
- <p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_437">437</span></p>
-
- <h3>NOTE D<br /><br />
- ZIMBABWE RUINS</h3>
-
- <blockquote>
- <p>[Extracted, by permission, from the Reports (1900–1902) of the
- British South Africa Company.]</p>
- </blockquote>
-
- <p>I arrived at Victoria on the 23rd May, and left for Zimbabwe the
- following morning.</p>
-
- <p>On inspecting the ruins I found the interior of the Elliptical Temple
- one impenetrable jungle of trees, bushes, creepers, tall grass (6
- to 10 ft.), and decayed tree stumps and branches, so that it was
- impossible to see beyond a few feet, while the surface of the ground
- was most irregular and thickly covered with wall débris. The air
- inside was fetid and heavy-smelling from the rank vegetation. There
- being no opening on the eastern side, the interior is protected from
- the prevailing winds, and the sun shining on the damp, dense, and
- almost tropical foliage and plant growth made the air oppressive and
- unhealthy, so that one could not remain long at a time in the building.</p>
-
- <p>Our first work was to clear away the undergrowth, but it was so dense
- and matted with creepers that, with fifteen men working for a whole
- day with hatchets, sickles, and spades, we were only able to advance
- a few feet into the interior from the west entrance. It required nine
- days for fifteen men to clear the interior of undergrowth alone. A
- further three days were given to pulling up grass and shrub roots. The
- atmosphere of the interior is completely changed, as the sun has dried
- the surface of the ground. It is now possible to stand in the centre of
- the building and obtain an uninterrupted view of the walls all round,
- and at the same time to see at a glance the whole of the divisional
- walls and enclosures.</p>
-
- <p>The north side of the summit of the Conical Tower has in very recent
- years been denuded of several courses of blocks owing to the boughs
- of large trees swinging upon it in the high winds. The tower is more
- reduced than is shown in photographs taken six years ago. The dentelle
- ornamentation on the summit has practically disappeared within the last
- ten years. Some ancient blocks in the top courses are likely to fall.
- These blocks could be pushed back flush with the face of the tower, and
- some of the blocks which have very recently fallen might be restored to
- their original position.<span class="pagenum" id="Page_438">438</span> The summit when cleared of vegetation should
- be cemented over. It is a feature in Zimbabwe construction everywhere
- in Rhodesia, for a block, when it falls, to carry with it the stones of
- the course beneath it.</p>
-
- <p>Visitors point out that the tower has lately shown a tendency to tilt
- somewhat towards the north-east. This is mainly due to the dense tree
- growth enveloping the tower, which keeps it constantly dripping with
- moisture, especially on the north side, where the main wall further
- screens it from the morning sun. The only remedy appears to be to
- so thin out the trees that the tower and its foundations may become
- perfectly dry. The wet state of the tower has caused it to become
- overgrown with lichen, which, decaying, produces vegetable matter
- which lodges in the crevices of the courses, and out of which grow
- small plants and shrubs, many of which we have removed. A large bush
- was growing out from the side in mould so formed, and the remains of
- a large bush on the summit are still to be seen. Should the tilting
- not be prevented by such means as the thinning out of adjacent trees,
- the value of the tower to scientists as a means of calculating the
- orientation of the temple, and therefore its age, would become lost.
- Three or four trees from close to the north-east, north, and north-west
- sides of the tower have been cleared away, and the vicinity has already
- a much drier appearance.</p>
-
- <p>The dank air and soil round the tower have caused the extensive growth
- of large parent monkey-rope trees, which with their ropes spread in
- great lengths in all directions, thickly interlacing the tops of the
- trees, while their roots have in very many places pierced into both
- main and divisional walls and torn out lengths of stonework. Monkey
- ropes appear to be the most active source of the dilapidations of the
- walls near the tower, but wild vines also have done considerable harm.
- Several hundred yards of monkey rope have been cut down and taken
- outside the temple, also very long stretches of monkey rope roots have
- been pulled up. All lower branches are being removed, so as to give a
- clear view all round the temple. Some of the upper branches are being
- thinned out.</p>
-
- <p>The surface of the ground within the temple is covered with rich
- leaf mould soil to a depth of at least one foot, and sometimes under
- trees to a depth of one foot and a half. It is in this mould that
- the thickets of large shrubs, creepers, especially monkey-ropes and
- wild vines, seem to have thriven, as also in the débris heaps left by
- Mr. Bent (1891) and Sir John Willoughby (1892), where the turning<span class="pagenum" id="Page_439">439</span>
- over of the old time-hardened soil has ventilated it and caused most
- sturdy growth of plants and trees. This leaf mould has been removed
- from the floors of the inner parallel passage and in the passage on
- the north-east, east, and south-east sides of No. 1 Enclosure, and
- has been passed through sieves, and the soil neatly piled for future
- examination. Thus has been removed in these places the unhealthy smell
- formerly noticed. This work ought to be done in all internal enclosures
- of the building.</p>
-
- <p>All wall débris is being neatly stacked and piled near where it
- obviously came from. All scattered stones on the floors are being
- collected and placed in piles. This work has made the enclosures to
- appear neat and tidy. Messrs. Bent and Willoughby’s débris is also
- being stacked in much smaller compass. All débris heaps are being
- marked “débris” on painted boards. A large quantity of such débris
- might after examination be removed outside the building and stacked.</p>
-
- <p>The summits of the main walls have been damaged at several points
- by past and present boughs overspreading the walls and beating them
- till several courses, the whole width of the walls, have disappeared,
- thus causing depressions in the top line of walls at several points.
- All branches, whether from trees within or without the temple, which
- overhang the walls, are being carefully removed with the aid of
- guide-ropes. Leaf mould has collected on the summits of the main walls
- to such an extent that large shrubs and small trees are thriving on the
- summits; these will be removed.</p>
-
- <p>Seven monoliths have been found under the leaf mould and grass and
- shrub roots both inside and outside the foot of the main walls. Their
- former positions on the walls are being ascertained, and where obvious
- they will be re-erected.</p>
-
- <p>The chevron pattern on the outside of the walls of the temple has been
- damaged, and in three places partially destroyed by large swinging
- boughs. It is also destroyed in two places by heavy festoons of
- creepers which had their roots in the open work of the pattern, the
- roots pushing out some of the blocks of which the pattern is composed.
- Some of these fallen blocks have been found, and there is a probability
- that a portion of the pattern, where damaged, may be restored. It is
- proposed to hand-pick all vegetable soil from the open spaces of the
- pattern to prevent future growths of creepers.</p>
-
- <p>A clearing 8 yds. wide has been made round the outside of the<span class="pagenum" id="Page_440">440</span> whole of
- temple, and an inspection of the walls by visitors is now possible.</p>
-
- <p>All the tops of divisional and broken portions and ends of walls, and
- all interstices on both faces, are having the leaf mould carefully
- hand-picked from them. This is a slow process, but will check their
- dilapidation by vegetable growth for a very long time.</p>
-
- <p>The trenches made by Mr. Bent and Sir John Willoughby are being cleared
- of grass and silted soil, and their spade and pick marks on the bottoms
- can be seen. No ancient floor or soil has been disturbed, the ancient
- floors being some 3 ft. to 5 ft. below the present surface.</p>
-
- <p>Roots of monkey-ropes and trees are binding the inside of main walls
- below the present surface, as does a large plant in a small pot, and
- are in most places, and below the surface, penetrating into the dry
- masonry with damaging effect. I would suggest that a trench 2 ft. wide
- by 3 ft. deep be made on the inside of all walls, and all such roots
- removed. A yearly inspection of such trenches could be made, and any
- new roots and runners lopped off as they appeared. Run-offs could be
- made to prevent any accumulation of water in the trenches.</p>
-
- <p><i>Architectural features.</i>—(<i>a</i>) Four ancient drains, in addition to
- those mentioned by Bent and Willoughby, have been discovered.</p>
-
- <p>(<i>b</i>) A rounded entrance with double curves; the only instance so far
- known.</p>
-
- <p>(<i>c</i>) Three sets of stone steps and several square yards of ancient
- cement flooring (not of the original builders) have been carefully
- uncovered.</p>
-
- <p>(<i>d</i>) A second-period architecture building with terraces superimposed
- on the walls of a first-period ruin.</p>
-
- <p>(<i>e</i>) An enlarged plan of the temple, based on Mr. Bent’s and Sir
- John Willoughby’s measurements, is being prepared, and a quantity of
- altogether fresh architectural detail included.</p>
-
- <p>Though the present is not a treasure-seeking expedition, yet there is
- strong probability that some “finds” of historic value may be made.</p>
-
- <p>I have visited the Hill Fortress several times. Both the Western and
- Eastern Temples on this hill are so full of undergrowth that it is
- quite impossible to make any examination until it is cleared away.
- Within a week I hope to put on men to make a good path up to the
- fortress.</p>
-
- <p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_441">441</span></p>
-
- <p>The following new features in ancient architecture have been
- discovered:—</p>
-
- <p>1. A dentelle pattern till recently covered with wall débris. A portion
- destroyed by roots (Acropolis Ascent).</p>
-
- <p>2. A small enclosure with cemented lining on face of walls (Acropolis).</p>
-
- <p>3. Three wedge-shaped buttresses, first set discovered in Rhodesia
- (Acropolis).</p>
-
- <p>4. Two drains, one showing signs of having been cemented (Acropolis).</p>
-
- <p>5. A northern ancient ascent between parallel walls from large rounded
- entrance near donga in the valley.</p>
-
- <p>6. Passage 7 ft. deep and about 20 ft. long, completely buried in
- fallen wall débris, over which the visitors’ path had crossed (South
- Enclosure, Acropolis).</p>
-
- <p>7. Passage 8 ft. deep and 30 ft. long, completely covered by wall
- débris, over which the old visitors’ ascent path had crossed (Platform
- Enclosure).</p>
-
- <p>8. The round towers on the large west wall of Acropolis can now be
- shown, by the radii of stones of the top courses recently discovered,
- to have originally been conical.</p>
-
- <p>9. Two large ancient entrances, hitherto unknown, deliberately filled
- in by Makalangas for graves, the remains removed and reburied with
- Mogabe’s consent (Cleft Rock Enclosure).</p>
-
- <p>10. The covered passage at foot of platform which had been blocked
- up by Makalangas for graves (fifteen years old) cleared, the remains
- removed and reburied with Mogabe’s consent. Visitors can now traverse
- this passage.</p>
-
- <h3 id="NOTE_E">NOTE E</h3>
-
- <blockquote>
- <p>[Extracted from Report presented to the Chief Secretary,
- Government Offices, Salisbury, Rhodesia, November, 1903.]</p>
- </blockquote>
-
- <p><i>Zimbabwe, Acropolis Ruins.</i>—I regret having to report that the
- slanting granite beam on the platform at the Western Temple of the
- Acropolis Ruins has fallen and is fractured. This happened during the
- heavy thunder and rain storms of last week. The discovery of its fall
- was made to-day by Mr. Molyneux (Scientific Association, Bulawayo),
- Mr. Herbert Hayles (Sheriff of Victoria), and myself. No clearing or
- any other operations have been conducted here<span class="pagenum" id="Page_442">442</span> within a distance of
- twenty feet. Mr. Molyneux thoroughly agrees with me that the fall was
- perfectly natural.</p>
-
- <p>The beam has for at least twelve years leant over at a severe angle,
- and now it can be seen that it was once perpendicular. The base was
- only fixed in the stonework for 1 ft. 8 in. The length of the beam from
- the base was 12 ft. 11 in., but this was longer by 2 ft. 4 in. some
- time previously to Mr. Theodore Bent’s visit in 1891.</p>
-
- <p>The great marvel is that no one has been killed by its fall, for many
- visitors climbing to the platform have used the beam to assist in the
- ascent, and also in descending, and I have, as is well known, on scores
- of occasions warned them not to do so.</p>
-
- <p>The beam in falling did but slight damage to the surrounding masonry.
- The portions of the beam are now laid together.</p>
-
- <p>I have photographs of the platform, and showing this beam, taken from
- all points of the compass.</p>
-
- <div>
- <span class="ml40">RICH<sup>D.</sup> N. HALL,</span><br />
- <span class="small ml50"><i>Curator of Great Zimbabwe</i>.</span><br />
- </div>
-
- <h3 class="mt5" id="NOTE_F">NOTE F<br /><br />
- INVENTORY OF RELICS AND “FINDS” DISCOVERED BY THE AUTHOR AT GREAT
- ZIMBABWE IN 1902–3</h3>
-
- <table class="small" summary="Inventory">
- <tbody>
- <tr>
- <th>No.</th>
- <th>Article.</th>
- <th>Where found.</th>
- </tr>
- <tr>
- <td class="tdrt"><div>1.</div></td>
- <td class="tdl">Gold wire bangle, 3½ oz.</td>
- <td class="tdc"><div>South Terrace, Acropolis.</div></td>
- </tr>
- <tr>
- <td class="tdrt"><div>2.</div></td>
- <td class="tdl">Beaten gold round carbonised wood. A few gold tacks in the wood</td>
- <td class="tdc"><div>Do.</div></td>
- </tr>
- <tr>
- <td class="tdrt"><div>3.</div></td>
- <td class="tdl">Head and neck of carved soapstone bird (the ninth yet discovered); believed
- to be the largest and best-preserved specimen</td>
- <td class="tdc"><div>Western Temple, Acropolis.</div></td>
- </tr>
- <tr>
- <td class="tdrt"><div>4.</div></td>
- <td class="tdl">Fragment of carved soapstone bowl. Two horned animals</td>
- <td class="tdc"><div>Do.</div></td>
- </tr>
- <tr>
- <td class="tdrt"><div>5.</div></td>
- <td class="tdl">Fragment of carved soapstone bowl. Herring-bone on cord pattern</td>
- <td class="tdc"><div>South Enclosure, Acropolis.</div></td>
- </tr>
- <tr>
- <td class="tdrt"><div>6.</div></td>
- <td class="tdl">Fragment of carved soapstone bowl. Horned animal</td>
- <td class="tdc"><div>Western Temple, Acropolis.</div></td>
- </tr>
- <tr>
- <td class="tdrt"><div>7.</div></td>
- <td class="tdl">Fragment of rim of carved soapstone bowl, cord pattern</td>
- <td class="tdc"><div>South Enclosure, Acropolis.</div></td>
- </tr>
- <tr>
- <td class="tdrt"><span class="pagenum" id="Page_443">443</span><div>8.</div></td>
- <td class="tdl">Two sections of large soapstone bowl; believed to be two of the three
- missing sections of bowl lent by the Right Hon. C. J. Rhodes to the Cape Town Museum</td>
- <td class="tdc"><div>No. 2. Enclosure, Elliptical Temple.</div></td>
- </tr>
- <tr>
- <td class="tdrt"><div>9.</div></td>
- <td class="tdl">Phallus in two sections; found broken; undecorated soapstone</td>
- <td class="tdc"><div>Elliptical Temple.</div></td>
- </tr>
- <tr>
- <td class="tdrt"><div>10.</div></td>
- <td class="tdl">Phallus (section of), with “breast and furrow” pattern, which was an ancient symbol of fertility; soapstone</td>
- <td class="tdc"><div>Do.</div></td>
- </tr>
- <tr>
- <td class="tdrt"><div>11.</div></td>
- <td class="tdl">Phallus (section of), found with true}Do. phalli; soapstone; undecorated.</td>
- <td class="tdc"><div>Do.</div></td>
- </tr>
- <tr>
- <td class="tdrt"><div>12.</div></td>
- <td class="tdl">Phallus; soapstone</td>
- <td class="tdc"><div>Do.</div></td>
- </tr>
- <tr>
- <td class="tdrt"><div>13.</div></td>
- <td class="tdl">Phallus (section of), “breast and furrow” pattern; soapstone</td>
- <td class="tdc"><div>Do.</div></td>
- </tr>
- <tr>
- <td class="tdrt"><div>14.</div></td>
- <td class="tdl">Base of phallus; soapstone; found with true phalli</td>
- <td class="tdc"><div>Do.</div></td>
- </tr>
- <tr>
- <td class="tdrt"><div>15.</div></td>
- <td class="tdl">Cut soapstone, plain, found with true phalli</td>
- <td class="tdc"><div>Do.</div></td>
- </tr>
- <tr>
- <td class="tdrt"><div>16.</div></td>
- <td class="tdl">Phallus (section of, conjectured), found with true phalli; soapstone</td>
- <td class="tdc"><div>Do.</div></td>
- </tr>
- <tr>
- <td class="tdrt"><div>17.</div></td>
- <td class="tdl">Soapstone amulet</td>
- <td class="tdc"><div>Acropolis.</div></td>
- </tr>
- <tr>
- <td class="tdrt"><div>18.</div></td>
- <td class="tdl">Soapstone whorl</td>
- <td class="tdc"><div>Elliptical Temple.</div></td>
- </tr>
- <tr>
- <td class="tdrt"><div>19.</div></td>
- <td class="tdl">Ten fragments of neck of carved soapstone vase</td>
- <td class="tdc"><div>Do.</div></td>
- </tr>
- <tr>
- <td class="tdrt"><div>20.</div></td>
- <td class="tdl">Fragment of carved rim of soapstone bowl; cord pattern</td>
- <td class="tdc"><div>No. 10 Enclosure, Acropolis.</div></td>
- </tr>
- <tr>
- <td class="tdrt"><div>21.</div></td>
- <td class="tdl">Carved soapstone bead</td>
- <td class="tdc"><div>Elliptical Temple.</div></td>
- </tr>
- <tr>
- <td class="tdrt"><div>22.</div></td>
- <td class="tdl">Four pottery whorls and two fragments</td>
- <td class="tdc"><div>Do.</div></td>
- </tr>
- <tr>
- <td class="tdrt"><div>23.</div></td>
- <td class="tdl">Serpentine stone, with veins of asbestos chrysotile (not chrysolithic,
- as stated by Mr. Bent); not ordinary asbestos, but similar to Canadian.
- Veins have decomposed before body of stone</td>
- <td class="tdc"><div>Western Temple, Acropolis.</div></td>
- </tr>
- <tr>
- <td class="tdrt"><div>24.</div></td>
- <td class="tdl">Do.</td>
- <td class="tdc"><div>Do.</div></td>
- </tr>
- <tr>
- <td class="tdrt"><div>25.</div></td>
- <td class="tdl">Copper spearhead</td>
- <td class="tdc"><div>Do.</div></td>
- </tr>
- <tr>
- <td class="tdrt"><div><span class="pagenum" id="Page_444">444</span>26.</div></td>
- <td class="tdl">Two copper spearheads, broken</td>
- <td class="tdc"><div>Do.</div></td>
- </tr>
- <tr>
- <td class="tdrt"><div>27.</div></td>
- <td class="tdl">Two iron ringed instruments, conjectured to have belonged to Arab
- colony once settled at Zimbabwe</td>
- <td class="tdc"><div>Elliptical Temple.</div></td>
- </tr>
- <tr>
- <td class="tdrt"><div>28.</div></td>
- <td class="tdl">Two wedge-shape headed nails</td>
- <td class="tdc"><div>Do.</div></td>
- </tr>
- <tr>
- <td class="tdrt"><div>29.</div></td>
- <td class="tdl">Beaten copper</td>
- <td class="tdc"><div>Acropolis.</div></td>
- </tr>
- <tr>
- <td class="tdrt"><div>30.</div></td>
- <td class="tdl">Iron handle of double-pointed iron hand-pick</td>
- <td class="tdc"><div>Elliptical Temple.</div></td>
- </tr>
- <tr>
- <td class="tdrt"><div>31.</div></td>
- <td class="tdl">Jasper stone with gold embedded. Found with burnishing stones</td>
- <td class="tdc"><div>No. 10 Enclosure.</div></td>
- </tr>
- <tr>
- <td class="tdrt"><div>32.</div></td>
- <td class="tdl">Quartz pebble, showing visible gold; also artificially worn. Found with
- burnishing tools</td>
- <td class="tdc"><div>Do.</div></td>
- </tr>
- <tr>
- <td class="tdrt"><div>33.</div></td>
- <td class="tdl">Quartz pebble, showing visible gold. Found with burnishing tools</td>
- <td class="tdc"><div>Do.</div></td>
- </tr>
- <tr>
- <td class="tdrt"><div>34.</div></td>
- <td class="tdl">Collection of stone tools, artificially worn; some are burnishers. 3 ft. deep</td>
- <td class="tdc"><div>Do.</div></td>
- </tr>
- <tr>
- <td class="tdrt"><div>35.</div></td>
- <td class="tdl">Fragments of soapstone beams; crude decorations</td>
- <td class="tdc"><div>Acropolis.</div></td>
- </tr>
- <tr>
- <td class="tdrt"><div>36.</div></td>
- <td class="tdl">Collection of iron articles from depth in Elliptical Temple which has not
- been occupied as a Makalanga kraal for over sixty years</td>
- <td class="tdc"><div>Elliptical Temple.</div></td>
- </tr>
- <tr>
- <td class="tdrt"><div>37.</div></td>
- <td class="tdl">Collection of seven fragments of soapstone bowls</td>
- <td class="tdc"><div>Acropolis and Elliptical Temple.</div></td>
- </tr>
- <tr>
- <td class="tdrt"><div>38.</div></td>
- <td class="tdl">Section of soapstone mould</td>
- <td class="tdc"><div>No. 7 Enclosure, Elliptical Temple.</div></td>
- </tr>
- <tr>
- <td class="tdrt"><div>39.</div></td>
- <td class="tdl">Cake of gold</td>
- <td class="tdc"><div>North-East Passage.</div></td>
- </tr>
- <tr>
- <td class="tdrt"><div>40.</div></td>
- <td class="tdl">Stone, both water and artificially worn, showing gold on both sides. Found with burnishing tools</td>
- <td class="tdc"><div>No. 10 Enclosure, Elliptical Temple.</div></td>
- </tr>
- <tr>
- <td class="tdrt"><div>41.</div></td>
- <td class="tdl">Flat stone showing gold on one side. Found with burnishing tools</td>
- <td class="tdc"><div>Do.</div></td>
- </tr>
- <tr>
- <td class="tdrt"><div>42.</div></td>
- <td class="tdl">Three portions of crucibles, six clay scorifiers, one portion of clay lining
- of furnace, all showing gold in flux</td>
- <td class="tdc"><div>No. 6 Enclosure, Elliptical Temple.</div></td>
- </tr>
- <tr>
- <td class="tdrt"><div>43.</div></td>
- <td class="tdl">Fragment of soapstone bowl, herring-bone pattern on cord</td>
- <td class="tdc"><div>No. 1 Enclosure, Elliptical Temple.</div></td>
- </tr>
- <tr>
- <td class="tdrt"><div>44.</div></td>
- <td class="tdl">Fragment of soapstone bowl, herring-bone pattern on cord</td>
- <td class="tdc"><div>No. 6 Enclosure, Elliptical Temple.</div></td>
- </tr>
- <tr>
- <td class="tdrt"><div>45.</div></td>
- <td class="tdl">Fragment of soapstone bowl, carved</td>
- <td class="tdc"><div>No. 7 Enclosure, Elliptical Temple.</div></td>
- </tr>
- <tr>
- <td class="tdrt"><div><span class="pagenum" id="Page_445">445</span>46.</div></td>
- <td class="tdl">Fragment of soapstone bowl, cord pattern</td>
- <td class="tdc"><div>No. 6 Enclosure, Elliptical Temple.</div></td>
- </tr>
- <tr>
- <td class="tdrt"><div>47.</div></td>
- <td class="tdl">Fragment of large soapstone bowl, carved</td>
- <td class="tdc"><div>Do.</div></td>
- </tr>
- <tr>
- <td class="tdrt"><div>48.</div></td>
- <td class="tdl">Section of soapstone mould; conjectured old Makalanga</td>
- <td class="tdc"><div>Do.</div></td>
- </tr>
- <tr>
- <td class="tdrt"><div>49.</div></td>
- <td class="tdl">Do.</td>
- <td class="tdc"><div>Do.</div></td>
- </tr>
- <tr>
- <td class="tdrt"><div>50.</div></td>
- <td class="tdl">Soapstone I-daha pipe bowl, carved; old Makalanga</td>
- <td class="tdc"><div>Elliptical Temple.</div></td>
- </tr>
- <tr>
- <td class="tdrt"><div>51.</div></td>
- <td class="tdl">Soapstone amulet</td>
- <td class="tdc"><div>No. 6 Enclosure, Elliptical Temple.</div></td>
- </tr>
- <tr>
- <td class="tdrt"><div>52.</div></td>
- <td class="tdl">Iron pincers; conjectured old Makalanga</td>
- <td class="tdc"><div>Do.</div></td>
- </tr>
- <tr>
- <td class="tdrt"><div>53.</div></td>
- <td class="tdl">Iron gong; do.</td>
- <td class="tdc"><div>Do.</div></td>
- </tr>
- <tr>
- <td class="tdrt"><div>54.</div></td>
- <td class="tdl">Do.</td>
- <td class="tdc"><div>Do.</div></td>
- </tr>
- <tr>
- <td class="tdrt"><div>55.</div></td>
- <td class="tdl">Barbed copper spearhead</td>
- <td class="tdc"><div>Western Temple, Acropolis.</div></td>
- </tr>
- <tr>
- <td class="tdrt"><div>56.</div></td>
- <td class="tdl">Twenty-three pottery whorls</td>
- <td class="tdc"><div>On old Makalanga floors.</div></td>
- </tr>
- <tr>
- <td class="tdrt"><div>57.</div></td>
- <td class="tdl">Conjectured base of soapstone phallus, converted by old Makalanga into a crude mould</td>
- <td class="tdc"><div>No. 6 Enclosure, Elliptical Temple.</div></td>
- </tr>
- <tr>
- <td class="tdrt"><div>58<i>a</i>.<br />58<i>b</i>.<br />58<i>c</i>.</div></td>
- <td class="tdl">Three sections of soapstone beams</td>
- <td class="tdc"><div>Summit of main wall above chevron pattern, Elliptical Temple.</div></td>
- </tr>
- <tr>
- <td class="tdrt"><div>59.</div></td>
- <td class="tdl">Section of soapstone beam</td>
- <td class="tdc"><div>Eastern Temple, Acropolis.</div></td>
- </tr>
- <tr>
- <td class="tdrt"><div>60.</div></td>
- <td class="tdl">Do.</td>
- <td class="tdc"><div>Do.</div></td>
- </tr>
- <tr>
- <td class="tdrt"><div>61.</div></td>
- <td class="tdl">Do.</td>
- <td class="tdc"><div>Do.</div></td>
- </tr>
- <tr>
- <td class="tdrt"><div>62.</div></td>
- <td class="tdl">Do.</td>
- <td class="tdc"><div>Do.</div></td>
- </tr>
- <tr>
- <td class="tdrt"><div>63.</div></td>
- <td class="tdl">Do.</td>
- <td class="tdc"><div>Do.</div></td>
- </tr>
- <tr>
- <td class="tdrt"><div>64.</div></td>
- <td class="tdl">Do. (showing tool marks)</td>
- <td class="tdc"><div>Do.</div></td>
- </tr>
- <tr>
- <td class="tdrt"><div>65.</div></td>
- <td class="tdl">Section of cement cylinder with bevel round base. Age uncertain</td>
- <td class="tdc"><div>Mauch Ruins.</div></td>
- </tr>
- <tr>
- <td class="tdrt"><div>66.</div></td>
- <td class="tdl">Beaten gold</td>
- <td class="tdc"><div>Western Temple, Acropolis.</div></td>
- </tr>
- <tr>
- <td class="tdrt"><div>67.</div></td>
- <td class="tdl">Forked iron instrument, with six gold bosses riveted with gold; spiral
- grooves at base</td>
- <td class="tdc"><div>Do.</div></td>
- </tr>
- <tr>
- <td class="tdrt"><div>68.</div></td>
- <td class="tdl">Beaten gold (2⅛ oz.)</td>
- <td class="tdc"><div>Valley of Ruins.</div></td>
- </tr>
- <tr>
- <td class="tdrt"><div><span class="pagenum" id="Page_446">446</span>69.</div></td>
- <td class="tdl">Phalli (8) and fragments of phalli</td>
- <td class="tdc"><div>W. and E. Temples, Acropolis, and Philips Ruins.</div></td>
- </tr>
- <tr>
- <td class="tdrt"><div>70.</div></td>
- <td class="tdl">Fragments of rim of soapstone bowl carved with procession of horned
- animals. Pieces fit each other</td>
- <td class="tdc"><div>No. 5 Enclosure, Elliptical Temple.</div></td>
- </tr>
- <tr>
- <td class="tdrt"><div>71.</div></td>
- <td class="tdl">Pottery animals (3); conjectured old Makalanga</td>
- <td class="tdc"><div>No. 1 Enclosure, Elliptical Temple.</div></td>
- </tr>
- <tr>
- <td class="tdrt"><div>72.</div></td>
- <td class="tdl">I-daha pipe-bowls (2) of soapstone, carved; conjectured old Makalanga</td>
- <td class="tdc"><div>No. 5 Enclosure, Elliptical Temple.</div></td>
- </tr>
- <tr>
- <td class="tdrt"><div>73.</div></td>
- <td class="tdl">Iron with gravitating holes for drawing wire; old Makalanga. These wire
- drawers were in use until a few years ago</td>
- <td class="tdc"><div>No. 6 Enclosure, Elliptical Temple.</div></td>
- </tr>
- <tr>
- <td class="tdrt"><div>74.</div></td>
- <td class="tdl">Copper finger-rings (2); snake pattern</td>
- <td class="tdc"><div>Renders Ruins.</div></td>
- </tr>
- <tr>
- <td class="tdrt"><div>75.</div></td>
- <td class="tdl">Copper sheathing (2 lbs.)</td>
- <td class="tdc"><div>Western Temple, Acropolis.</div></td>
- </tr>
- <tr>
- <td class="tdrt"><div>76.</div></td>
- <td class="tdl">Single iron gong</td>
- <td class="tdc"><div>Renders Ruins.</div></td>
- </tr>
- <tr>
- <td class="tdrt"><div>77.</div></td>
- <td class="tdl">Large piece of coral</td>
- <td class="tdc"><div>Renders Ruins.</div></td>
- </tr>
- <tr>
- <td class="tdrt"><div>78.</div></td>
- <td class="tdl">Pottery whorls (200)</td>
- <td class="tdc"><div>Old native floors.</div></td>
- </tr>
- <tr>
- <td class="tdrt"><div>79.</div></td>
- <td class="tdl">Double iron gongs (3 sets) and single gongs (2)</td>
- <td class="tdc"><div>Upper floors.</div></td>
- </tr>
- <tr>
- <td class="tdrt"><div>80.</div></td>
- <td class="tdl">Serpentine stone</td>
- <td class="tdc"><div>Elliptical Temple.</div></td>
- </tr>
- <tr>
- <td class="tdrt"><div>81.</div></td>
- <td class="tdl">Nozzle of blow-pipe</td>
- <td class="tdc"><div>Do.</div></td>
- </tr>
- <tr>
- <td class="tdrt"><div>82.</div></td>
- <td class="tdl">Porcelain beads, unknown to present natives. 5 ft. deep</td>
- <td class="tdc"><div>Western Temple, Acropolis.</div></td>
- </tr>
- <tr>
- <td class="tdrt"><div>83.</div></td>
- <td class="tdl">Pottery beads, unknown to present natives</td>
- <td class="tdc"><div>Various ruins.</div></td>
- </tr>
- <tr>
- <td class="tdrt"><div>84.</div></td>
- <td class="tdl">Soapstone amulet or seal (?)</td>
- <td class="tdc"><div>Renders Ruins.</div></td>
- </tr>
- <tr>
- <td class="tdrt"><div>85.</div></td>
- <td class="tdl">Block of solid copper</td>
- <td class="tdc"><div>Do.</div></td>
- </tr>
- <tr>
- <td class="tdrt"><div>86.</div></td>
- <td class="tdl">Iron striker found with gong</td>
- <td class="tdc"><div>Do.</div></td>
- </tr>
- <tr>
- <td class="tdrt"><div>87.</div></td>
- <td class="tdl">Quantity of fragments of carved soapstone. Ribbed pattern</td>
- <td class="tdc"><div>Elliptical Temple.</div></td>
- </tr>
- <tr>
- <td class="tdrt"><div>88.</div></td>
- <td class="tdl">Fragments of rim of soapstone bowl carved with ring pattern. (These
- fit together)</td>
- <td class="tdc"><div>Maund Ruins.</div></td>
- </tr>
- <tr>
- <td class="tdrt"><div>89.</div></td>
- <td class="tdl">Portion of carved soapstone beam converted into double claw-hammer
- shaped ingot moulds</td>
- <td class="tdc"><div>Elliptical Temple.</div></td>
- </tr>
- <tr>
- <td class="tdrt"><div>90.</div></td>
- <td class="tdl">Soapstone phallus</td>
- <td class="tdc"><div>Platform Area, Elliptical Temple.</div></td>
- </tr>
- <tr>
- <td class="tdrt"><span class="pagenum" id="Page_447">447</span><div>91.</div></td>
- <td class="tdl">Copper barbed spearheads (2)</td>
- <td class="tdc"><div>Platform Area, Elliptical Temple.</div></td>
- </tr>
- <tr>
- <td class="tdrt"><div>92.</div></td>
- <td class="tdl">Soapstone with gravitating holes</td>
- <td class="tdc"><div>Renders Ruins.</div></td>
- </tr>
- <tr>
- <td class="tdrt"><div>93.</div></td>
- <td class="tdl">2⅛ oz. beaten gold, gold beads, gold bar, and gold wire</td>
- <td class="tdc"><div>&nbsp;</div></td>
- </tr>
- <tr>
- <td class="tdrt"><div>94.</div></td>
- <td class="tdl">Fifteen sections of soapstone beams (plain)</td>
- <td class="tdc"><div>From near arc wall in Philips Ruins; also from circular cement
- platform in Platform Area, Elliptical Temple.</div></td>
- </tr>
- <tr>
- <td class="tdrt"><div>95.</div></td>
- <td class="tdl">Case of sections of soapstone bowls, plain and decorated</td>
- <td class="tdc"><div>Elliptical Temple, Acropolis and Philips Ruins.</div></td>
- </tr>
- <tr>
- <td class="tdrt"><div>96.</div></td>
- <td class="tdl">Section of carved soapstone beam</td>
- <td class="tdc"><div>No. 15 Enclosure, Elliptical Temple.</div></td>
- </tr>
- <tr>
- <td class="tdrt"><div>97.</div></td>
- <td class="tdl">Iron spoon</td>
- <td class="tdc"><div>Renders Ruins.</div></td>
- </tr>
- <tr>
- <td class="tdrt"><div>98.</div></td>
- <td class="tdl">Iron lamp and stand (conjectured)</td>
- <td class="tdc"><div>Do.</div></td>
- </tr>
- <tr>
- <td class="tdrt"><div>99.</div></td>
- <td class="tdl">Iron pick</td>
- <td class="tdc"><div>Elliptical Temple.</div></td>
- </tr>
- <tr>
- <td class="tdrt"><div>100.</div></td>
- <td class="tdl">Iron pick and 2 handles</td>
- <td class="tdc"><div>Do.</div></td>
- </tr>
- <tr>
- <td class="tdrt"><div>101.</div></td>
- <td class="tdl">Twisted iron wire in coils</td>
- <td class="tdc"><div>Renders Ruins.</div></td>
- </tr>
- <tr>
- <td class="tdrt"><div>102.</div></td>
- <td class="tdl">Bar mould of soapstone</td>
- <td class="tdc"><div>Elliptical Temple.</div></td>
- </tr>
- <tr>
- <td class="tdrt"><div>103.</div></td>
- <td class="tdl">Section of soapstone beam carved with maize pattern</td>
- <td class="tdc"><div>Western Temple, Acropolis.</div></td>
- </tr>
- <tr>
- <td class="tdrt"><div>104.</div></td>
- <td class="tdl">Bundle of brass wire bangles</td>
- <td class="tdc"><div>Renders Ruins.</div></td>
- </tr>
- <tr>
- <td class="tdrt"><div>105.</div></td>
- <td class="tdl">Three iron nails</td>
- <td class="tdc"><div>Elliptical Temple.</div></td>
- </tr>
- <tr>
- <td class="tdrt"><div>106.</div></td>
- <td class="tdl">Ornamented iron spearhead</td>
- <td class="tdc"><div>Western Temple, Acropolis.</div></td>
- </tr>
- <tr>
- <td class="tdrt"><div>107.</div></td>
- <td class="tdl">Bevelled cement</td>
- <td class="tdc"><div>General.</div></td>
- </tr>
- <tr>
- <td class="tdrt"><div>108.</div></td>
- <td class="tdl">Spearhead</td>
- <td class="tdc"><div>Renders Ruins.</div></td>
- </tr>
- <tr>
- <td class="tdrt"><div>109.</div></td>
- <td class="tdl">Two stone balls</td>
- <td class="tdc"><div>Elliptical Temple.</div></td>
- </tr>
- <tr>
- <td class="tdrt"><div>110.</div></td>
- <td class="tdl">Collection of specimens of hoes, assegai-heads, arrow-heads, axes,
- and iron-work found in ruins</td>
- <td class="tdc"><div>&nbsp;</div></td>
- </tr>
- <tr>
- <td class="tdrt"><div>111.</div></td>
- <td class="tdl">Several pieces of worked soapstone</td>
- <td class="tdc"><div>&nbsp;</div></td>
- </tr>
- <tr>
- <td class="tdrt"><div>112.</div></td>
- <td class="tdl">Soapstone bird on beam</td>
- <td class="tdc"><div>Philips Ruins.</div></td>
- </tr>
- <tr>
- <td class="tdrt"><div>113.</div></td>
- <td class="tdl">Packet of large gold beads, 1 in. fine gold chain, one single gold wire
- bangle, gold wire, and beaten gold</td>
- <td class="tdc"><div>Various Ruins.</div></td>
- </tr>
- <tr>
- <td class="tdrt"><div>114.</div></td>
- <td class="tdl">Four soapstone phalli (one ornate) and two amulets</td>
- <td class="tdc"><div>Philips Ruins.</div></td>
- </tr>
- <tr>
- <td class="tdrt"><span class="pagenum" id="Page_448">448</span><div>115.</div></td>
- <td class="tdl">Two small bronze bells</td>
- <td class="tdc"><div>Renders Ruins.</div></td>
- </tr>
- <tr>
- <td class="tdrt"><div>116.</div></td>
- <td class="tdl">Two large enamelled beads</td>
- <td class="tdc"><div>Western Temple.</div></td>
- </tr>
- <tr>
- <td class="tdrt"><div>117.</div></td>
- <td class="tdl">Collections of copper ingots, copper bars, copper wire, copper bangles,
- and cakes of copper</td>
- <td class="tdc"><div>Elliptical Temple, Renders Ruins, and Acropolis.</div></td>
- </tr>
- <tr>
- <td class="tdrt"><div>118.</div></td>
- <td class="tdl">Copper band 12 ft. 6 in. long and 1 in. wide</td>
- <td class="tdc"><div>Renders Ruins.</div></td>
- </tr>
- <tr>
- <td class="tdrt"><div>119.</div></td>
- <td class="tdl">Box of Nankin china, sections showing plates of various sizes and designs</td>
- <td class="tdc"><div>From most ruins.</div></td>
- </tr>
- <tr>
- <td class="tdrt"><div>120.</div></td>
- <td class="tdl">Portions of glass basin, engraved and hand-painted</td>
- <td class="tdc"><div>No. 7 Enclosure, Elliptical Temple.</div></td>
- </tr>
- <tr>
- <td class="tdrt"><div>121.</div></td>
- <td class="tdl">Glazed pottery, with conjectured post-Koranic lettering</td>
- <td class="tdc"><div>Renders Ruins.</div></td>
- </tr>
- <tr>
- <td class="tdrt"><div>122.</div></td>
- <td class="tdl">Fragments of Venetian glass</td>
- <td class="tdc"><div>Do.</div></td>
- </tr>
- <tr>
- <td class="tdrt"><div>123.</div></td>
- <td class="tdl">Fragments of antique glazed earthenware, showing potter’s wheel marks</td>
- <td class="tdc"><div>Do.</div></td>
- </tr>
- <tr>
- <td class="tdrt"><div>124.</div></td>
- <td class="tdl">Three fragments of antique pottery, glazed</td>
- <td class="tdc"><div>Do.</div></td>
- </tr>
- <tr>
- <td class="tdrt"><div>125.</div></td>
- <td class="tdl">12 ft. fine copper chain</td>
- <td class="tdc"><div>Do.</div></td>
- </tr>
- <tr>
- <td class="tdrt"><div>126.</div></td>
- <td class="tdl">Pottery nozzle of blow-pipe</td>
- <td class="tdc"><div>Do.</div></td>
- </tr>
- <tr>
- <td class="tdrt"><div>127.</div></td>
- <td class="tdl">Fused brass wire</td>
- <td class="tdc"><div>Do.</div></td>
- </tr>
- <tr>
- <td class="tdrt"><div>128.</div></td>
- <td class="tdl">Two iron instruments</td>
- <td class="tdc"><div>Do.</div></td>
- </tr>
- <tr>
- <td class="tdrt"><div>129.</div></td>
- <td class="tdl">Bronze axe-head, and fractured bronze arrow-head</td>
- <td class="tdc"><div>Western Temple.</div></td>
- </tr>
- <tr>
- <td class="tdrt"><div>130<i>a</i>.</div></td>
- <td class="tdl">Part of young lion’s jaw</td>
- <td class="tdc"><div>Renders Ruins.</div></td>
- </tr>
- <tr>
- <td class="tdrt"><div>〃 &nbsp;<i>b</i>.</div></td>
- <td class="tdl">Large lump of resin</td>
- <td class="tdc"><div>Do.</div></td>
- </tr>
- <tr>
- <td class="tdrt"><div>〃 &nbsp;<i>c</i>.</div></td>
- <td class="tdl">Wart-hog tusk</td>
- <td class="tdc"><div>Do.</div></td>
- </tr>
- <tr>
- <td class="tdrt"><div>〃 &nbsp;<i>d</i>.</div></td>
- <td class="tdl">Two sections of glass prism</td>
- <td class="tdc"><div>Do.</div></td>
- </tr>
- <tr>
- <td class="tdrt"><div>131.</div></td>
- <td class="tdl">Remains of antique copper box</td>
- <td class="tdc"><div>Do.</div></td>
- </tr>
- <tr>
- <td class="tdrt"><div>132.</div></td>
- <td class="tdl">Oldest form of gold crucible, showing gold in flux</td>
- <td class="tdc"><div>Exterior (west) of Elliptical Temple.</div></td>
- </tr>
- <tr>
- <td class="tdrt"><div>133.</div></td>
- <td class="tdl">Piece of slag showing gold</td>
- <td class="tdc"><div>Do.</div></td>
- </tr>
- <tr>
- <td class="tdrt"><div>134.</div></td>
- <td class="tdl">Packet of sheets of beaten gold</td>
- <td class="tdc"><div>Parallel Passage, Elliptical Temple.</div></td>
- </tr>
- <tr>
- <td class="tdrt"><div>135.</div></td>
- <td class="tdl">Several cases of duplicates of soapstone, iron, copper, and pottery articles</td>
- <td class="tdc"><div>Various Ruins.</div></td>
- </tr>
- </tbody>
- </table>
-
- <p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_449">449</span></p>
-
- <h3 id="NOTE_G">NOTE G<br /><br />
- FORMATION ROCK UNDER ELLIPTICAL TEMPLE</h3>
-
- <div class="center small">Examinations made by the Author, August, 1903</div>
-
- <p><i>No. 1 Hole.</i>—No. 5 Enclosure. 6 yds. south-east of west entrance.</p>
-
- <p>3 ft. 10 in. diameter.</p>
-
- <p>9 in. to 12 in., burnt clay floor (pinkish), 2 in. layer of small
- stones.</p>
-
- <p>Below floor, bright yellow granite sand, set very hard, contains no
- stones.</p>
-
- <p>On north side to 3 ft. depth, old trench of prospectors, filled in with
- blocks and red soil.</p>
-
- <p>Formation rock exposed at 8 ft. 7 in., and this has a fall of 1½ in. in
- 3 ft. 10 in. towards east.</p>
-
- <p>Surface of bed-rock is rough and decomposed to a depth of ⅓ of an
- inch, and can easily be chipped with pick.</p>
-
- <p>Above formation rock is 1 ft. depth of granite sand, filled with flakes
- of decomposed granite from rock, and of deep orange colour.</p>
-
- <p>Water passes along surface of bed-rock, and soil was damp and wet for 3
- in. in depth.</p>
-
- <p><i>No. 2 Hole.</i>—No. 5 Enclosure. 6 ft. north-east of monoliths.</p>
-
- <p>3 ft. 9 in. diameter.</p>
-
- <p>1 ft. burnt clay floor and scattered blocks and granite chips, soil
- damp for 2 ft. and wet for a few inches above formation rock, which is
- decomposed and easily scaled.</p>
-
- <p>Formation rock disclosed at 12 ft. 7 in., with fall of 7 in. in 3 ft. 6
- in. towards E.N.E.</p>
-
- <p>Sides show bright yellow granite sand set hard, and no stones.</p>
-
- <p><i>No. 3 Hole.</i>—South side of No. 5 Enclosure.</p>
-
- <p>3 ft. 9 in. diameter.</p>
-
- <p>6 in. burnt clay floor.</p>
-
- <p>Sand red at top and yellow beneath; no stones.</p>
-
- <p>Bed-rock covered with 1 ft. depth of decomposed granite with aphite
- chips, surface of rock rough and greatly decomposed; aphite chips.</p>
-
- <p>Formation rock disclosed at 10 ft. 1 in. depth.</p>
-
- <p>Fall of rock 4 in. in 3 ft. 4 in. towards east.</p>
-
- <p>Bottom very wet.</p>
-
- <p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_450">450</span></p>
-
- <p><i>No. 4. Hole.</i>—Between No. 5 Enclosure and Central Area.</p>
-
- <p>3 ft. 6 in. diameter.</p>
-
- <p>9 in. burnt clay and small stones, forming bedding for clay.</p>
-
- <p>2 ft. red veld soil.</p>
-
- <p>1 ft. 8 in. decomposed granite above rock.</p>
-
- <p>Rest bright yellowy and set hard.</p>
-
- <p>Formation rock disclosed at 12 ft. 1 in. depth, showing fall of 3 in.
- in 3 ft. towards north and north-east.</p>
-
- <p>Bottom very wet.</p>
-
- <p><i>No. 5 Hole.</i>—West side of No. 6 Enclosure.</p>
-
- <p>At depth of 11 ft. no formation rock, but rods showed rock at 3 ft. 4
- in. lower; unsafe to make hole deeper. Soil very wet.</p>
-
- <p><i>No. 6 Hole.</i>—East end of No. 6 Enclosure.</p>
-
- <p>At depth of 14 ft. no sign of rock.</p>
-
- <p><i>No. 7 Hole.</i>—Centre of Platform Area.</p>
-
- <p>At depth of 12 ft. no sign of rock; bottom wet.</p>
-
- <p><i>No. 8 Hole.</i>—Centre of Central Area.</p>
-
- <p>At depth of 8 ft. no trace of rock. Hole passed through two clay
- floors, and below one granite cement floor.</p>
-
- <p>The Central Area had previously been cleared to a depth of 5 ft. before
- hole was sunk.</p>
-
- <hr class="page" />
- <div class="chapter">
- <p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_451">451</span></p>
- <h2 id="INDEX">INDEX</h2>
- </div>
-
- <ul class="index">
- <li class="ifrst"><b>Abolosi.</b> <i>See</i> <b>Barosie</b></li>
-
- <li class="indx"><b>Acropolis Ruins</b>—</li>
- <li class="isub2">Situation, <a href="#Page_3">3</a></li>
- <li class="isub2">First impressions of, <a href="#Page_5">5</a></li>
- <li class="isub2">View from, <a href="#Page_6">6–11</a></li>
- <li class="isub2">Sunset on, <a href="#Page_24">24–30</a></li>
- <li class="isub2">Description of, <a href="#Page_276">276–362</a></li>
- <li class="isub2">S.E. ascent, <a href="#Page_276">276–294</a></li>
- <li class="isub2">Lower Parapet, <a href="#Page_282">282–286</a></li>
- <li class="isub2">Rock Passage, <a href="#Page_286">286–288</a></li>
- <li class="isub2">Higher Parapet, <a href="#Page_288">288–290</a></li>
- <li class="isub2">Original heights of walls, <a href="#Page_290">290</a>, <a href="#Page_291">291</a></li>
- <li class="isub2">Ascent from coast route, <a href="#Page_291">291</a>, <a href="#Page_292">292</a></li>
- <li class="isub2">Possible ancient scenes on ascent, <a href="#Page_293">293</a>, <a href="#Page_294">294</a></li>
- <li class="isub2">Dentelle Pattern on ascent, <a href="#Page_285">285</a>, <a href="#Page_289">289</a></li>
- <li class="isub2">Western Enclosure, <a href="#Page_294">294–296</a></li>
- <li class="isub2">Western Temple, <a href="#Page_xxviii">xxviii</a>, <a href="#Page_xxix">xxix</a>, <a href="#Page_297">297–309</a></li>
- <li class="isub2">North Wall, <a href="#Page_298">298</a>, <a href="#Page_299">299</a></li>
- <li class="isub2">West Wall, <a href="#Page_299">299</a>, <a href="#Page_300">300</a></li>
- <li class="isub2">Monoliths and Conical Towers, <a href="#Page_300">300</a>, <a href="#Page_302">302</a></li>
- <li class="isub2">Architecture and construction of West Wall, <a href="#Page_302">302</a>, <a href="#Page_303">303</a></li>
- <li class="isub2">South Wall, <a href="#Page_303">303</a>, <a href="#Page_304">304</a></li>
- <li class="isub2">East side of Western Temple, <a href="#Page_304">304</a></li>
- <li class="isub2">Centre of arc of West Wall, <a href="#Page_304">304–307</a></li>
- <li class="isub2">Covered Passage, <a href="#Page_307">307</a></li>
- <li class="isub2">Platform Cave, <a href="#Page_307">307</a>, <a href="#Page_308">308</a></li>
- <li class="isub2">Stairs to Platform, <a href="#Page_308">308</a></li>
- <li class="isub2">Parallel Passage, <a href="#Page_308">308</a></li>
- <li class="isub2">Internal walls, <a href="#Page_xxix">xxix</a>, <a href="#Page_308">308</a>, <a href="#Page_309">309</a></li>
- <li class="isub2">Sections of floors, <a href="#Page_xxviii">xxviii</a>, <a href="#Page_xxix">xxix</a>, <a href="#Page_309">309</a></li>
- <li class="isub2">Platform Enclosure, <a href="#Page_310">310–312</a></li>
- <li class="isub2">Cleft Rock Enclosure, <a href="#Page_312">312</a>, <a href="#Page_313">313</a></li>
- <li class="isub2">The Platform, <a href="#Page_313">313–315</a>, <a href="#Page_441">441</a>, <a href="#Page_442">442</a></li>
- <li class="isub2">Balcony Wall, <a href="#Page_315">315</a></li>
- <li class="isub2">Little Enclosure, <a href="#Page_315">315</a>, <a href="#Page_316">316</a></li>
- <li class="isub2">The Winding Stairs, <a href="#Page_316">316</a></li>
- <li class="isub2">Upper Passage, <a href="#Page_316">316</a></li>
- <li class="isub2">East Passage, <a href="#Page_316">316</a></li>
- <li class="isub2">Buttress Passage, <a href="#Page_317">317</a>, <a href="#Page_318">318</a></li>
- <li class="isub2">South Enclosure A, <a href="#Page_318">318</a></li>
- <li class="isub2">South Cave, <a href="#Page_319">319</a>, <a href="#Page_320">320</a></li>
- <li class="isub2">South Passage, <a href="#Page_320">320</a></li>
- <li class="isub2">South Enclosure B, <a href="#Page_320">320</a>, <a href="#Page_321">321</a></li>
- <li class="isub2">South Enclosure C, <a href="#Page_321">321</a></li>
- <li class="isub2">Central Passage, <a href="#Page_321">321</a></li>
- <li class="isub2">Eastern Temple, <a href="#Page_323">323–335</a></li>
- <li class="isub2">Section of Eastern Temple, <a href="#Page_324">324</a></li>
- <li class="isub2">Plan of Eastern Temple, <a href="#Page_326">326</a></li>
- <li class="isub2">Dentelle Pattern at Eastern Temple, <a href="#Page_328">328</a></li>
- <li class="isub2">Bent’s “altar” at Eastern Temple, <a href="#Page_333">333</a></li>
- <li class="isub2">The Ancient Balcony, <a href="#Page_335">335</a>, <a href="#Page_336">336</a></li>
- <li class="isub2">Gold Furnace Enclosure, <a href="#Page_337">337</a>, <a href="#Page_338">338</a></li>
- <li class="isub2">Balcony Cave, <a href="#Page_337">337</a></li>
- <li class="isub2">Balcony Enclosure, <a href="#Page_336">336</a></li>
- <li class="isub2">Upper Gold Furnace Enclosure, <a href="#Page_338">338</a></li>
- <li class="isub2">Pattern Passage, <a href="#Page_338">338</a>, <a href="#Page_339">339</a></li>
- <li class="isub2">Step Pattern, <a href="#Page_339">339</a></li>
- <li class="isub2">Recess Enclosure, <a href="#Page_340">340</a>, <a href="#Page_341">341</a></li>
- <li class="isub2">North Plateau, <a href="#Page_341">341</a>, <a href="#Page_342">342</a></li>
- <li class="isub2">North Parapet, <a href="#Page_342">342</a>, <a href="#Page_343">343</a></li>
- <li class="isub2">N.W. ascent, <a href="#Page_344">344–349</a></li>
- <li class="isub2">Water Gate Ruins, <a href="#Page_349">349–353</a></li>
- <li class="isub2">Terraced Enclosures on N.W. face of hill, <a href="#Page_353">353–357</a></li>
- <li class="isub2">South Terrace, <a href="#Page_357">357</a>, <a href="#Page_358">358</a></li>
- <li class="isub2">Outspan Ruins, <a href="#Page_279">279</a>, <a href="#Page_358">358–362</a></li>
-
- <li class="indx"><b>Aden (Eudaemon)</b>, <a href="#Page_67">67</a></li>
-
- <li class="indx"><b>Almaquah (Venus or Ashtaroth)</b>, Sabæan Divinity, <a href="#Page_108">108</a>, <a href="#Page_194">194</a></li>
-
- <li class="indx"><b>Amangwa Tribe</b>, <a href="#Page_53">53</a>, <a href="#Page_57">57</a>, <a href="#Page_59">59</a>, <a href="#Page_84">84</a>, <a href="#Page_85">85</a>, <a href="#Page_91">91</a></li>
-
- <li class="indx"><b>Ancient Architecture at Zimbabwe</b>, <a href="#Page_135">135–192</a></li>
- <li class="isub2">Sabæans (Himyarites) as builders, <a href="#Page_xxxii">xxxii</a>, <a href="#Page_xxxvii">xxxvii</a> (note), <a href="#Page_136">136</a>, <a href="#Page_193">193</a>, <a href="#Page_194">194</a></li>
- <li class="isub2">Degree of durability of walls, <a href="#Page_138">138</a></li>
- <li class="isub2">Dilapidations, <a href="#Page_139">139–148</a></li>
- <li class="isub2">Makalanga walls within ruins, <a href="#Page_xxix">xxix</a>, <a href="#Page_149">149–152</a>, <a href="#Page_312">312</a>, <a href="#Page_336">336</a>, <a href="#Page_373">373</a></li>
- <li class="isub2">Some other walls not ancient, <a href="#Page_xxvii">xxvii</a>, <a href="#Page_xxix">xxix</a>, <a href="#Page_152">152</a></li>
- <li class="isub2">Makalanga huts within ruins, <a href="#Page_xx">xx</a>, <a href="#Page_xxix">xxix</a>, <a href="#Page_149">149–156</a>, <a href="#Page_365">365</a>, <a href="#Page_368">368</a>, <a href="#Page_373">373</a>, <a href="#Page_413">413</a></li>
- <li class="isub2"><span class="pagenum" id="Page_452">452</span>Passages, <a href="#Page_156">156–162</a></li>
- <li class="isub2">Entrances and buttresses, <a href="#Page_162">162–166</a></li>
- <li class="isub2">Dilapidations to entrances and buttresses, <a href="#Page_166">166</a>, <a href="#Page_167">167</a></li>
- <li class="isub2">Drains, <a href="#Page_168">168–172</a></li>
- <li class="isub2">Battering of walls, <a href="#Page_172">172–174</a></li>
- <li class="isub2">Monoliths, <a href="#Page_174">174–176</a></li>
- <li class="isub2">Soapstone monoliths, <a href="#Page_176">176–178</a></li>
- <li class="isub2">Number of monoliths still more or less erect, <a href="#Page_178">178–180</a></li>
- <li class="isub2">Slate and granite beams, <a href="#Page_180">180</a>, <a href="#Page_181">181</a></li>
- <li class="isub2">Cement dadoes, <a href="#Page_181">181–182</a>, <a href="#Page_240">240</a>, <a href="#Page_372">372</a>, <a href="#Page_375">375</a>, <a href="#Page_383">383</a></li>
- <li class="isub2">Built-up crevices, <a href="#Page_182">182</a>, <a href="#Page_183">183</a></li>
- <li class="isub2">Holes in wall other than drains, <a href="#Page_183">183</a>, <a href="#Page_184">184</a>, <a href="#Page_423">423</a></li>
- <li class="isub2">Blind steps and platforms, <a href="#Page_184">184</a>, <a href="#Page_185">185</a>, <a href="#Page_236">236</a>, <a href="#Page_240">240</a>, <a href="#Page_254">254</a>, <a href="#Page_261">261</a>, <a href="#Page_385">385</a></li>
- <li class="isub2">Ancient walls at a distance from any main ruins are of less superior construction, <a href="#Page_185">185–187</a></li>
- <li class="isub2">Cement, <a href="#Page_187">187–189</a></li>
- <li class="isub2">Ancients and caves and rock holes (<i>see</i> <b>Caves</b>), <a href="#Page_189">189–192</a></li>
- <li class="isub2">Recesses, <a href="#Page_340">340</a>, <a href="#Page_341">341</a>, <a href="#Page_379">379</a></li>
- <li class="isub2">“Sentry-boxes,” <a href="#Page_374">374</a>, <a href="#Page_430">430</a></li>
-
- <li class="indx"><b>Ancient clothing</b>, surmise as to, <a href="#Page_293">293</a></li>
-
- <li class="indx"><b>Ancient output of gold</b>, <a href="#Page_292">292</a></li>
-
- <li class="indx"><b>Ancient relics discovered at Zimbabwe</b>, <a href="#Page_102">102–135</a></li>
- <li class="isub2">Inventory of, <a href="#Page_142">142</a>, <a href="#Page_148">148</a></li>
-
- <li class="indx"><b>Ancient road, Zimbabwe and Sofala</b>, Taunton, <a href="#Page_63">63</a>, <a href="#Page_74">74</a></li>
-
- <li class="indx"><b>Arab “finds” at Zimbabwe</b>—</li>
- <li class="isub2">Box, <a href="#Page_116">116</a></li>
- <li class="isub2">Lamp chain, <a href="#Page_116">116</a></li>
- <li class="isub2">Lamp-stand, <a href="#Page_118">118</a></li>
- <li class="isub2">Iron keys, <a href="#Page_122">122</a></li>
- <li class="isub2">Calcedony beads, <a href="#Page_126">126</a></li>
- <li class="isub2">Glass, <a href="#Page_128">128</a></li>
- <li class="isub2">Pottery, <a href="#Page_131">131</a>, <a href="#Page_436">436</a></li>
-
- <li class="indx"><b>Arab gold and ivory traders</b>, <a href="#Page_67">67</a></li>
-
- <li class="indx"><b>Arab trading station at Zimbabwe</b>, <a href="#Page_132">132–134</a></li>
-
- <li class="indx"><b>Area of Zimbabwe Ruins</b>, <a href="#Page_xv">xv-xvii</a></li>
-
- <li class="indx"><b>Arowi Kopje</b>, <a href="#Page_11">11</a>, <a href="#Page_66">66</a>, <a href="#Page_69">69</a>, <a href="#Page_95">95</a></li>
-
- <li class="indx"><b>Ashtaroth.</b> <i>See</i> <b>Almaquah</b></li>
-
-
- <li class="ifrst"><b>Bailey, Thomas</b>, grave of, <a href="#Page_19">19</a></li>
-
- <li class="indx"><b>Baranzimba’s kraal</b>, <a href="#Page_10">10</a>, <a href="#Page_16">16</a>, <a href="#Page_52">52</a></li>
- <li class="isub2">His old kraal, <a href="#Page_52">52</a>, <a href="#Page_57">57</a></li>
- <li class="isub2">The headman, <a href="#Page_41">41</a>, <a href="#Page_88">88</a></li>
-
- <li class="indx"><b>Barbosa, Duarte</b> (1514), on the Makalanga, <a href="#Page_123">123</a>, <a href="#Page_132">132</a>, <a href="#Page_133">133</a></li>
-
- <li class="indx"><b>Barotse (Barosie, Marosie, Varosie, Abolosi)</b>—</li>
- <li class="isub2">Derivation and origin of, <a href="#Page_81">81</a>, <a href="#Page_82">82</a></li>
- <li class="isub2">Excellent stone-builders, <a href="#Page_82">82</a>, <a href="#Page_85">85</a></li>
- <li class="isub2">Jerri’s people Barotse, <a href="#Page_82">82</a></li>
- <li class="isub2">Head kraal at Zimbabwe, <a href="#Page_8">8</a>, <a href="#Page_83">83</a>, <a href="#Page_424">424</a></li>
- <li class="isub2">Resided in the ruins, <a href="#Page_83">83</a></li>
- <li class="isub2">Resided on Bentberg, <a href="#Page_153">153</a></li>
- <li class="isub2">Totem of race, <a href="#Page_91">91</a></li>
- <li class="isub2">Totem of tribe, <a href="#Page_91">91–92</a></li>
- <li class="isub2">Pottery, <a href="#Page_129">129</a></li>
- <li class="isub2">Kraal of Motumi, <a href="#Page_58">58</a></li>
-
- <li class="indx"><b>Baduma Tribe</b>, <a href="#Page_91">91</a>, <a href="#Page_94">94</a></li>
-
- <li class="indx"><b>Beads</b>, <a href="#Page_126">126</a></li>
- <li class="isub2">Gold, <a href="#Page_113">113</a></li>
- <li class="isub2">Calcedony, <a href="#Page_126">126</a></li>
- <li class="isub2">Porcelain, <a href="#Page_132">132</a></li>
- <li class="isub2">Glass, <a href="#Page_132">132</a></li>
- <li class="isub2">Ivory and bone, <a href="#Page_126">126</a></li>
- <li class="isub2">Unknown to natives, <a href="#Page_306">306</a></li>
-
- <li class="indx"><b>Bent, F.R.G.S., Theodore</b>, <a href="#Page_xv">xv</a>, <a href="#Page_xv">xvii</a>,
- <a href="#Page_xxix">xxix</a>, <a href="#Page_3">3</a>,
- <a href="#Page_8">8</a>, <a href="#Page_18">18</a>, <a href="#Page_35">35</a>,
- <a href="#Page_39">39</a>, <a href="#Page_55">55</a>, <a href="#Page_64">64</a>,
- <a href="#Page_106">106</a>, <a href="#Page_108">108</a>, <a href="#Page_109">109</a>,
- <a href="#Page_111">111</a>, <a href="#Page_112">112</a>, <a href="#Page_125">125</a>,
- <a href="#Page_135">135</a>, <a href="#Page_151">151</a>, <a href="#Page_161">161</a>,
- <a href="#Page_171">171</a>, <a href="#Page_193">193</a>, <a href="#Page_195">195</a>,
- <a href="#Page_198">198</a>, <a href="#Page_208">208</a>, <a href="#Page_209">209</a>,
- <a href="#Page_218">218</a>, <a href="#Page_221">221</a>, <a href="#Page_222">222</a>,
- <a href="#Page_223">223</a>, <a href="#Page_226">226</a>, <a href="#Page_234">234</a>,
- <a href="#Page_242">242</a>, <a href="#Page_244">244</a>, <a href="#Page_245">245</a>,
- <a href="#Page_265">265</a>, <a href="#Page_272">272</a>, <a href="#Page_273">273</a>,
- <a href="#Page_295">295</a>, <a href="#Page_296">296</a>, <a href="#Page_304">304</a>,
- <a href="#Page_306">306</a>, <a href="#Page_327">327</a>, <a href="#Page_338">338</a></li>
-
- <li class="indx"><b>Bentberg Hill (Matusa)</b>, <a href="#Page_7">7</a>, <a href="#Page_8">8</a>, <a href="#Page_9">9</a>, <a href="#Page_137">137</a></li>
- <li class="isub2">Ruins on, <a href="#Page_424">424</a></li>
-
- <li class="indx"><b>Benzi</b>, nickname of the present Mogabe, <a href="#Page_42">42</a></li>
-
- <li class="indx"><b>Beroma Range</b>, <a href="#Page_11">11</a>, <a href="#Page_31">31</a>, <a href="#Page_49">49</a>, <a href="#Page_51">51</a>, <a href="#Page_63">63</a></li>
-
- <li class="indx"><b>Beroma Ruins</b>, <a href="#Page_68">68</a>, <a href="#Page_69">69</a></li>
-
- <li class="indx"><b>Besa Mountains</b>, <a href="#Page_10">10</a></li>
-
- <li class="indx"><b>Bethûl</b>, “dwelling-place of God” of Phœnicians, <a href="#Page_15">15</a></li>
-
- <li class="indx"><b>Bingura</b>, Amangwa chief, <a href="#Page_57">57</a></li>
-
- <li class="indx"><b>Bingura’s kraal</b>, <a href="#Page_9">9</a>, <a href="#Page_17">17</a>, <a href="#Page_57">57</a>, <a href="#Page_58">58</a>, <a href="#Page_84">84</a></li>
-
- <li class="indx"><b>Bingura’s Path</b>, <a href="#Page_56">56</a>, <a href="#Page_59">59</a>, <a href="#Page_137">137</a></li>
-
- <li class="indx"><b>Bingura’s Path Ruins</b>, <a href="#Page_425">425</a></li>
-
- <li class="indx"><b>Brass articles</b>, bangles and wire, <a href="#Page_123">123</a>, <a href="#Page_124">124</a></li>
- <li class="isub2">Brass bartered for by Makalanga (1514), <a href="#Page_123">123</a></li>
-
- <li class="indx"> “<b>Breasts, Queen of Sheba’s</b>,” on Beroma Range, Zimbabwe. <i>See</i> <b>Marsgi</b> and <b>Sueba</b></li>
-
- <li class="indx"><b>British South Africa Company</b>, <a href="#Page_2">2</a>, <a href="#Page_3">3</a>, <a href="#Page_279">279</a></li>
-
- <li class="indx"><b>Bryce, Professor</b>, on Makalanga stone buildings, <a href="#Page_151">151</a></li>
-
- <li class="indx"><span class="pagenum" id="Page_453">453</span><b>Budge, Dr.</b> (British Museum), opinion on Arabian glass, <a href="#Page_128">128</a></li>
- <li class="isub2">On “finds” in later ruins, <a href="#Page_xv">xv</a>, <a href="#Page_xv">xv</a>, <a href="#Page_xxvi">xxvi</a></li>
-
- <li class="indx"><b>Bungu</b>, Makalanga Headman, <a href="#Page_55">55</a></li>
-
- <li class="indx"><b>Burial-places of ancients</b>, searches for, <a href="#Page_xvii">xvii-xviii</a></li>
-
- <li class="indx"><b>Bushman paintings</b> absent from Zimbabwe district, <a href="#Page_192">192</a></li>
-
- <li class="indx"><b>Byblos, Temple of</b>, in Phœnicia, compared with Great Zimbabwe, <a href="#Page_xxxix">xxxix</a>, <a href="#Page_245">245</a></li>
-
-
- <li class="ifrst"><b>Camp Ruins Nos. 1 and 2</b>, <a href="#Page_414">414–419</a></li>
-
- <li class="indx"><b>Calcedony beads</b>, <a href="#Page_126">126</a></li>
- <li class="isub2">Prof. Flinders Petrie’s opinion on, <a href="#Page_126">126</a></li>
-
- <li class="indx"><b>Caves</b>, <a href="#Page_189">189–192</a></li>
- <li class="isub2">At Wuwuli, <a href="#Page_55">55</a></li>
- <li class="isub3">Chibfuko, <a href="#Page_59">59</a></li>
- <li class="isub3">Chicagomboni, <a href="#Page_61">61</a></li>
- <li class="isub3">Mapaku, <a href="#Page_63">63</a>, <a href="#Page_70">70</a></li>
- <li class="isub3">Majerri, <a href="#Page_73">73</a></li>
- <li class="isub3">Nini, <a href="#Page_86">86</a></li>
- <li class="isub2">South Cave, <a href="#Page_319">319</a>, <a href="#Page_320">320</a></li>
- <li class="isub2">Balcony Cave, <a href="#Page_337">337</a></li>
-
- <li class="indx"><b>Chamananga (Middle Kopje)</b>, <a href="#Page_56">56</a></li>
-
- <li class="indx"><b>Chenga</b>, Makalanga headman, derivation and position, <a href="#Page_11">11</a>, <a href="#Page_17">17</a>, <a href="#Page_31">31</a>, <a href="#Page_41">41</a>, <a href="#Page_57">57</a></li>
-
- <li class="indx"><b>Chenga Ruins</b>, <a href="#Page_66">66</a>, <a href="#Page_67">67</a>, <a href="#Page_426">426</a>, <a href="#Page_427">427</a></li>
-
- <li class="indx"><b>Chenga and MaDavid’s Path Ruins</b>, <a href="#Page_428">428</a></li>
-
- <li class="indx"><b>Cherimbila</b>, Makalanga chief, <a href="#Page_10">10</a></li>
- <li class="isub2">Renders died at kraal, <a href="#Page_62">62</a></li>
- <li class="isub2">Stone buildings at kraal, <a href="#Page_152">152</a></li>
-
- <li class="indx"><b>Chevron pattern</b> at—</li>
- <li class="isub2">Majerri Ruins, <a href="#Page_73">73</a></li>
- <li class="isub2">Elliptical Temple, <a href="#Page_147">147</a>, <a href="#Page_211">211–213</a></li>
-
- <li class="indx"><b>Chibfuko Hill</b>, <a href="#Page_10">10</a></li>
- <li class="isub2">Caves at, <a href="#Page_59">59</a></li>
-
- <li class="indx"><b>Chicagomboni Hill</b>, <a href="#Page_61">61</a></li>
-
- <li class="indx"><b>Chickwanda’s kraal</b>, <a href="#Page_95">95</a></li>
-
- <li class="indx"><b>Chinaka’s kraal</b>, <a href="#Page_72">72</a></li>
-
- <li class="indx"><b>China</b>, Nankin, <a href="#Page_130">130</a></li>
- <li class="isub2">Arabian, <a href="#Page_131">131</a></li>
- <li class="isub2">Sketch of, with Arabic lettering, <a href="#Page_131">131</a>, <a href="#Page_436">436</a></li>
-
- <li class="indx"><b>Chinongu’s kraal</b>, <a href="#Page_11">11</a></li>
-
- <li class="indx"><b>Chipadzi’s kraal</b>, <a href="#Page_52">52</a>, <a href="#Page_59">59</a>, <a href="#Page_60">60</a>, <a href="#Page_61">61</a></li>
-
- <li class="indx"><b>Chipfuno</b> (late Mogabe), <a href="#Page_42">42</a>, <a href="#Page_55">55</a></li>
-
- <li class="indx"><b>Chipo-popo Falls</b>, <a href="#Page_51">51</a></li>
-
- <li class="indx"><b>Comoro Islands</b>, peopled by Jews under Solomon, <a href="#Page_xxxvii">xxxvii</a></li>
-
- <li class="indx"><b>Condor, Colonel</b>, Syro-Arabian archæologist, <a href="#Page_4">4</a></li>
-
- <li class="indx"><b>Conical towers</b> at—</li>
- <li class="isub2">Elliptical Temple, <a href="#Page_240">240–246</a></li>
- <li class="isub2">Traces on walls, <a href="#Page_208">208</a></li>
- <li class="isub2">Western Temple, <a href="#Page_297">297</a>, <a href="#Page_300">300–302</a></li>
- <li class="isub2">Outspan Ruins, <a href="#Page_361">361</a></li>
- <li class="isub2">Philips Ruins, <a href="#Page_380">380</a>, <a href="#Page_381">381</a></li>
- <li class="isub2">Posselt Ruins, <a href="#Page_372">372</a></li>
- <li class="isub2">Byblos, <a href="#Page_xxxix">xxxix</a>, <a href="#Page_245">245</a></li>
-
- <li class="indx"><b>Copper articles</b>, <a href="#Page_115">115–116</a></li>
- <li class="isub2">Sheathing, <a href="#Page_115">115</a></li>
- <li class="isub2">Spearheads, <a href="#Page_115">115</a>, <a href="#Page_116">116</a></li>
- <li class="isub2">Wire, <a href="#Page_116">116</a></li>
- <li class="isub2">Cakes and slag, <a href="#Page_116">116</a></li>
- <li class="isub2">Ore, <a href="#Page_116">116</a></li>
- <li class="isub2">Cupolas, <a href="#Page_116">116</a></li>
- <li class="isub2">Chain, <a href="#Page_116">116</a></li>
- <li class="isub2">Box, bangles, finger-rings, <a href="#Page_116">116</a></li>
-
- <li class="indx"><b>Coral</b>, finds of, <a href="#Page_134">134</a></li>
-
- <li class="indx"><b>Cotopaxi Mountain</b>, <a href="#Page_10">10</a></li>
-
- <li class="indx"><b>Cowrie shells</b>, finds of, <a href="#Page_133">133</a></li>
-
-
- <li class="ifrst"><b>De Barros</b> (1552) mentions Zimbabwe, <a href="#Page_xxvi">xxvi</a>, <a href="#Page_132">132</a></li>
-
- <li class="indx"><b>Delitzsch, F.</b>, on the signs of the Babylonian Zodiac, <a href="#Page_xxxviii">xxxviii</a></li>
-
- <li class="indx"><b>Dentelle pattern</b> on—</li>
- <li class="isub2">Conical Tower, <a href="#Page_243">243</a></li>
- <li class="isub2">S.E. ascent, <a href="#Page_285">285</a>, <a href="#Page_289">289</a></li>
- <li class="isub2">Platform of Western Temple, <a href="#Page_314">314</a></li>
- <li class="isub2">Eastern Temple, <a href="#Page_325">325</a>, <a href="#Page_328">328</a></li>
-
- <li class="indx"><b>Derembghe’s kraal</b>, <a href="#Page_95">95</a></li>
-
- <li class="indx"><b>Doro (Dorah)</b>, native beer, <a href="#Page_16">16</a>, <a href="#Page_18">18</a>, <a href="#Page_45">45</a>, <a href="#Page_46">46</a></li>
-
- <li class="indx"><b>Drew, Mr. Alfred</b>, Native Commissioner, Victoria district, <a href="#Page_2">2</a>, <a href="#Page_59">59</a>, <a href="#Page_81">81</a>, <a href="#Page_82">82</a>, <a href="#Page_85">85</a>, <a href="#Page_86">86</a>, <a href="#Page_152">152</a>, <a href="#Page_156">156</a></li>
-
-
- <li class="ifrst"><b>East Kopje</b> (Mazanda), <a href="#Page_64">64</a></li>
-
- <li class="indx"><b>East Ruins</b>, <a href="#Page_420">420–423</a></li>
-
- <li class="indx"><b>Edwards, M.E., the late Telford</b>, on the ancient mines of Rhodesia, <a href="#Page_xxvii">xxvii</a>;</li>
- <li class="isub2">on the terraced slopes of Inyanga, <a href="#Page_xxxiv">xxxiv</a></li>
-
- <li class="indx"><b>Elliptical Temple</b>, <a href="#Page_3">3</a></li>
- <li class="isub2">First impressions of, <a href="#Page_4">4</a></li>
- <li class="isub2">Sunday morning in, <a href="#Page_13">13–16</a></li>
- <li class="isub2">Midnight in, <a href="#Page_16">16–24</a></li>
- <li class="isub2">Goldsmith’s shop in, <a href="#Page_256">256</a></li>
- <li class="isub2">Formation rock under, <a href="#Page_449">449</a>, <a href="#Page_450">450</a></li>
- <li class="isub2">Plan, <a href="#Page_xxiii">xxiii</a>, <a href="#Page_193">193–197</a></li>
- <li class="isub2">Construction of, <a href="#Page_197">197–199</a></li>
- <li class="isub2">Measurement of main wall, <a href="#Page_199">199–204</a></li>
- <li class="isub2"><span class="pagenum" id="Page_454">454</span>Summit of main wall, <a href="#Page_xxiii">xxiii</a>, <a href="#Page_205">205–210</a></li>
- <li class="isub2">Foundations of, <a href="#Page_210">210–211</a></li>
- <li class="isub2">Probable ages of walls of, <a href="#Page_xxiii">xxiii</a></li>
- <li class="isub2">Chevron pattern, <a href="#Page_211">211–213</a></li>
- <li class="isub2">Ground surface of exterior of, <a href="#Page_213">213–215</a>, <a href="#Page_449">449</a>, <a href="#Page_450">450</a></li>
- <li class="isub2">N.W. entrance, <a href="#Page_216">216–218</a></li>
- <li class="isub2">Plan of, <a href="#Page_217">217</a></li>
- <li class="isub2">North entrance, <a href="#Page_xx">xx</a>, <a href="#Page_218">218–222</a></li>
- <li class="isub2">Plan of, <a href="#Page_219">219</a></li>
- <li class="isub2">West entrance, <a href="#Page_222">222–224</a></li>
- <li class="isub2">Enclosure Nos. 1–7, <a href="#Page_xxii">xxii</a>, <a href="#Page_7">7</a>, <a href="#Page_225">225–236</a></li>
- <li class="isub2">Sacred Enclosure, <a href="#Page_237">237–240</a></li>
- <li class="isub2">Conical Tower, <a href="#Page_240">240–244</a></li>
- <li class="isub2">Small Tower, <a href="#Page_244">244</a></li>
- <li class="isub2">Bent on import of, <a href="#Page_244">244</a>, <a href="#Page_245">245</a></li>
- <li class="isub2">Dr. Schlichter, do., <a href="#Page_245">245</a>, <a href="#Page_246">246</a></li>
- <li class="isub2">Parallel Passage, <a href="#Page_xx">xx</a>, <a href="#Page_246">246–250</a></li>
- <li class="isub2">The Platform, <a href="#Page_251">251</a>, <a href="#Page_252">252</a></li>
- <li class="isub2">No. 9 Enclosure, <a href="#Page_xxii">xxii</a>, <a href="#Page_253">253</a>, <a href="#Page_254">254</a></li>
- <li class="isub2"> 〃 10&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; 〃&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;<a href="#Page_xxii">xxii</a>, <a href="#Page_254">254</a>, <a href="#Page_256">256</a></li>
- <li class="isub2"> 〃 11&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; 〃&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;<a href="#Page_257">257–260</a></li>
- <li class="isub2"> 〃 12&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; 〃&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;<a href="#Page_260">260</a>, <a href="#Page_261">261</a></li>
- <li class="isub2"> 〃 13&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; 〃&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;<a href="#Page_261">261</a>, <a href="#Page_262">262</a></li>
- <li class="isub2"> 〃 14&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; 〃&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;<a href="#Page_262">262</a>, <a href="#Page_263">263</a></li>
- <li class="isub2"> 〃 15&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; 〃&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;<a href="#Page_263">263</a>, <a href="#Page_264">264</a></li>
- <li class="isub2">Central Area, <a href="#Page_xxii">xxii</a>, <a href="#Page_264">264</a>, <a href="#Page_265">265</a></li>
- <li class="isub2">Platform Area, <a href="#Page_xxi">xxi</a>, <a href="#Page_xxii">xxii</a>, <a href="#Page_265">265–267</a></li>
- <li class="isub2">Cement platform, <a href="#Page_267">267</a></li>
- <li class="isub2">Inner Parallel Passage, <a href="#Page_267">267–269</a></li>
- <li class="isub2">South Passage, <a href="#Page_269">269–271</a></li>
- <li class="isub2">West Passage, <a href="#Page_272">272</a>, <a href="#Page_273">273</a></li>
- <li class="isub2">N.E. Passage, <a href="#Page_273">273</a>, <a href="#Page_274">274</a></li>
- <li class="isub2">Outer Parallel Passage, <a href="#Page_274">274</a>, <a href="#Page_275">275</a></li>
-
- <li class="indx"><b>Eudaemon (Aden)</b>, <a href="#Page_67">67</a></li>
-
- <li class="indx"><b>Explorations at Zimbabwe</b>—</li>
- <li class="isub2">Extracts from Reports by author to Government, <a href="#Page_437">437–442</a></li>
-
- <li class="indx"><b>Ezion-geber</b>, a gold mart, <a href="#Page_xxii">xxii</a></li>
- <li class="isub2">Joint port of Jews and Phœnicians, <a href="#Page_67">67</a></li>
-
-
- <li class="ifrst"><b>Finger Rock</b> (Morgenster), <a href="#Page_51">51</a></li>
-
- <li class="indx"><b>Flux on gold scorifiers</b>, analysis of, <a href="#Page_114">114</a></li>
-
- <li class="indx"><b>Foreign stones</b> at Zimbabwe: dolorite, quartz, jasper, serpentine, calcedony, crystal, metamorphic slate, mica schist, ironstone, copper ore, flint, <a href="#Page_125">125</a></li>
-
- <li class="indx"><b>Frond Glen</b>, <a href="#Page_51">51</a></li>
-
- <li class="indx"><b>Fuko-ya-Nebandge</b>—the Mashonaland relic, <a href="#Page_86">86–88</a></li>
-
-
- <li class="ifrst"><b>Gallois, L.</b>, attributes the Rhodesian monuments to the Himyarites, <a href="#Page_xxxvii">xxxvii</a></li>
-
- <li class="indx"><b>Glass finds</b>—</li>
- <li class="isub2">Venetian, <a href="#Page_127">127</a></li>
- <li class="isub2">Arabian, <a href="#Page_128">128</a></li>
- <li class="isub2">Dr. Budge’s opinion thereon, <a href="#Page_128">128</a></li>
-
- <li class="indx"><b>Gobele’s kraal</b>, <a href="#Page_60">60</a>, <a href="#Page_71">71</a></li>
-
- <li class="indx"><b>Gold articles</b>—</li>
- <li class="isub2">Two periods of gold manufacture at Zimbabwe, <a href="#Page_xix">xix</a>, <a href="#Page_xx">xx</a>, <a href="#Page_111">111</a></li>
- <li class="isub2">Gold crucibles, <a href="#Page_112">112</a>, <a href="#Page_113">113</a></li>
- <li class="isub2">Gold beads, <a href="#Page_113">113</a></li>
- <li class="isub2">Beaten gold, <a href="#Page_113">113</a></li>
- <li class="isub2">Gold tacks, <a href="#Page_113">113</a></li>
- <li class="isub2">Bar and cake gold, <a href="#Page_113">113</a></li>
- <li class="isub2">Gold bangles, <a href="#Page_114">114</a></li>
- <li class="isub2">Gold scorifiers, <a href="#Page_114">114</a></li>
- <li class="isub2">Dr. Hahn’s opinion on, <a href="#Page_114">114</a>, <a href="#Page_115">115</a></li>
-
- <li class="indx"><b>Goruma Hill</b>, <a href="#Page_71">71</a></li>
-
- <li class="indx"><b>Government notices</b> to visitors, <a href="#Page_3">3</a>, <a href="#Page_433">433</a>, <a href="#Page_434">434</a></li>
-
- <li class="indx"><b>Grandidier, Alfred</b>, on the early relations of the Israelites with Madagascar and
- the Comoro Islands, <a href="#Page_xxxvii">xxxvii</a></li>
-
-
- <li class="ifrst"><b>Hahn, Dr. P. Daniel</b>, metallurgical chemist, opinion on gold scorifiers,
- <a href="#Page_111">111</a>, <a href="#Page_114">114</a>, <a href="#Page_115">115</a></li>
- <li class="isub2">On soil under west wall of temple, <a href="#Page_xxv">xxv</a>, <a href="#Page_210">210</a>, <a href="#Page_211">211</a></li>
- <li class="isub2">On metamorphic slate, <a href="#Page_257">257</a></li>
-
- <li class="indx"><b>Haig, General</b>, on terraced slopes of South Arabia, <a href="#Page_xxxiv">xxxiv</a></li>
-
- <li class="indx"><b>Hand-clapping</b>, <a href="#Page_100">100</a></li>
-
- <li class="indx"><b>Havilah</b>, of Scripture, identified with Rhodesia, <a href="#Page_xxxii">xxxii</a>, <a href="#Page_15">15</a>, <a href="#Page_68">68</a></li>
-
- <li class="indx"><b>Havilah Camp</b>, Zimbabwe—</li>
- <li class="isub2">Residence of author, <a href="#Page_2">2</a>, <a href="#Page_16">16</a></li>
- <li class="isub2">A day at, <a href="#Page_31">31–50</a></li>
- <li class="isub2">Evening at, <a href="#Page_48">48–50</a></li>
-
- <li class="indx"><b>Hayles, Mr. H. H.</b>, of Victoria, <a href="#Page_3">3</a></li>
-
- <li class="indx"><b>Helm, Dr. John</b>, of “Morgenster,” <a href="#Page_53">53</a>, <a href="#Page_81">81</a>, <a href="#Page_363">363</a></li>
-
- <li class="indx"><b>Herring-bone pattern</b>—</li>
- <li class="isub2">Carved, <a href="#Page_110">110</a></li>
- <li class="isub2">On wall, <a href="#Page_352">352</a></li>
-
- <li class="indx"><b>Himyarites</b>, builders of the earliest Rhodesian monuments, <a href="#Page_xxxii">xxxii</a>, <a href="#Page_xxxvii">xxxvii</a> (note)</li>
- <li class="isub2">Source of their food supplies, <a href="#Page_xxxiii">xxxiii</a></li>
- <li class="isub2">Their old Semitic language long survived in Abyssinia (Geez), and still survives
- in South Arabia (Ehkili), <a href="#Page_xli">xli</a></li>
- <li class="indx"><span class="pagenum" id="Page_455">455</span><b>Humours of Explorations</b>, <a href="#Page_48">48</a></li>
-
-
- <li class="ifrst"><b>I’daha (hemp)</b> smoking, <a href="#Page_45">45</a></li>
-
- <li class="indx"><b>Idumean Jew</b>, impression of, <a href="#Page_xxxvii">xxxvii</a>, <a href="#Page_101">101</a></li>
-
- <li class="indx"><b>Ingot moulds</b>, double claw-hammer-shaped, <a href="#Page_110">110</a></li>
- <li class="isub2">Straight bar moulds, <a href="#Page_111">111</a></li>
-
- <li class="indx"><b>Ingumaruru Hill</b>, <a href="#Page_71">71</a></li>
-
- <li class="indx"><b>Inner Defence Wall</b>, <a href="#Page_358">358</a>, <a href="#Page_359">359</a></li>
-
- <li class="indx"><b>Inscription</b>, the vanished Great Zimbabwe, probably post-Koranic, <a href="#Page_xlii">xlii</a></li>
- <li class="isub2">Himyaritic and Phœnician, absence of, on Rhodesian monuments explained, <a href="#Page_xxxix">xxxix-xlii</a></li>
- <li class="isub2">Searched for, <a href="#Page_xviii">xviii</a>, <a href="#Page_xix">xix</a></li>
-
- <li class="indx"><b>Inventory of Relics and Finds</b> discovered by author at Zimbabwe, <a href="#Page_442">442–448</a></li>
-
- <li class="indx"><b>Iron articles</b> discovered—</li>
- <li class="isub2">Hoes, <a href="#Page_116">116</a></li>
- <li class="isub2">Picks, <a href="#Page_117">117</a></li>
- <li class="isub2">Chisels, <a href="#Page_118">118</a></li>
- <li class="isub2">Spoon, spearhead, lamp-stand, bangles, <a href="#Page_118">118</a></li>
- <li class="isub2">“Collars” and “shoes,” <a href="#Page_119">119</a></li>
- <li class="isub2">Forked instrument and pincers, <a href="#Page_120">120</a>, <a href="#Page_121">121</a></li>
- <li class="isub2">Gongs, <a href="#Page_121">121</a>, <a href="#Page_122">122</a></li>
- <li class="isub2">Rod or sceptre, keys (conjectured), <a href="#Page_122">122</a></li>
- <li class="isub2">Smelting furnaces, <a href="#Page_123">123</a></li>
-
- <li class="indx"><b>Inyanga district</b>, its terraced slopes, <a href="#Page_xxxiv">xxxiv</a></li>
- <li class="isub2">Its “slave-pits” relatively recent, <a href="#Page_xxxv">xxxv</a></li>
- <li class="isub2">Its terraces dissimilar to Zimbabwe terraces, <a href="#Page_354">354</a></li>
-
- <li class="indx"><b>Inyuni Hills</b>, <a href="#Page_11">11</a>, <a href="#Page_69">69</a></li>
-
- <li class="indx"><b>Isafuba game</b>, <a href="#Page_32">32</a>, <a href="#Page_43">43</a>, <a href="#Page_44">44</a>, <a href="#Page_45">45</a></li>
- <li class="isub2">Holes on Rusivanga, <a href="#Page_425">425</a></li>
- <li class="isub2">Holes at S.E. Ruins, <a href="#Page_397">397</a></li>
-
- <li class="indx"><b>I’zhuba Kuru (Sunday)</b>, <a href="#Page_46">46</a></li>
-
-
- <li class="ifrst"><b>Jerri’s people</b>, Barotse tribe, <a href="#Page_82">82</a></li>
- <li class="isub2">Lived at Khami Ruins till 1836, <a href="#Page_82">82</a></li>
- <li class="isub2">Now live at Jerri Mountains, South Mashonaland, <a href="#Page_82">82</a></li>
-
-
- <li class="ifrst"><b>Kaprazine</b>, the Monomotapa in 1620, <a href="#Page_133">133</a></li>
-
- <li class="indx"><b>Kafir</b> (Kaffir), derivation of, <a href="#Page_30">30</a></li>
-
- <li class="indx"><b>Keane, Dr. A. H.</b>, his solution of the “Gold of Ophir” question, <a href="#Page_xxxi">xxxi-xliii</a>, <a href="#Page_3">3</a></li>
-
- <li class="indx"><b>Khami Ruins</b></li>
- <li class="isub2">Jerri’s people (Barotse) lived here till 1836, <a href="#Page_82">82</a>, <a href="#Page_121">121</a></li>
- <li class="isub2">Some walls at, similar to Barotse walls in Zimbabwe district, <a href="#Page_426">426</a></li>
-
-
- <li class="ifrst"><b>Livouri Mountains</b>, <a href="#Page_9">9</a>, <a href="#Page_10">10</a></li>
- <li class="isub2">Niande Hill at, <a href="#Page_10">10</a>, <a href="#Page_62">62</a>, <a href="#Page_69">69</a>, <a href="#Page_76">76</a></li>
-
- <li class="indx"><b>Louw, Rev. A. A.</b>, “Morgenster,” <a href="#Page_53">53</a>, <a href="#Page_81">81</a></li>
-
- <li class="indx"><b>Lovugwe country</b>, <a href="#Page_11">11</a></li>
-
- <li class="indx"><b>Lumbo Rocks</b>, <a href="#Page_8">8</a></li>
- <li class="isub2">Described, <a href="#Page_52">52</a></li>
- <li class="isub2">Stones from, <a href="#Page_180">180</a></li>
-
- <li class="indx"><b>Lumbo kraal</b>, <a href="#Page_88">88</a></li>
-
-
- <li class="ifrst"><b>Madagascar</b>, its early relations with the Jews, <a href="#Page_xxxvii">xxxvii</a></li>
-
- <li class="indx"><b>Magdoshu kingdom</b>, <a href="#Page_xxvi">xxvi</a></li>
-
- <li class="indx"><b>Mahobohobo trees</b>, <a href="#Page_53">53</a>, <a href="#Page_60">60</a>, <a href="#Page_79">79</a>, <a href="#Page_155">155</a></li>
-
- <li class="indx"><b>Majerri Ruins</b>, <a href="#Page_65">65</a>, <a href="#Page_73">73</a></li>
-
- <li class="indx"><b>Makalanga “People of the Sun,”</b> <a href="#Page_80">80–101</a></li>
- <li class="isub2">Appearance of, <a href="#Page_2">2</a>, <a href="#Page_6">6</a></li>
- <li class="isub2">Feasts of full moon, <a href="#Page_16">16–24</a></li>
- <li class="isub2">Feasts of new moon, <a href="#Page_27">27</a></li>
- <li class="isub2">Dread of ruins at night, <a href="#Page_19">19</a></li>
- <li class="isub2">Labourers, <a href="#Page_31">31–50</a></li>
- <li class="isub2">Letter-runners, <a href="#Page_33">33</a></li>
- <li class="isub2">Dual character, <a href="#Page_38">38</a></li>
- <li class="isub2">Defilement by touching dead, <a href="#Page_43">43</a></li>
- <li class="isub2"><b>I’daha</b> smokers, <a href="#Page_45">45</a></li>
- <li class="isub2"><b>Doro</b> drinkers, <a href="#Page_45">45</a>, <a href="#Page_46">46</a></li>
- <li class="isub2">Talking distances, <a href="#Page_47">47</a></li>
- <li class="isub2">Blood-cupping, <a href="#Page_55">55</a></li>
- <li class="isub2">Sunday, <a href="#Page_46">46</a></li>
- <li class="isub2">Mystic Bar, <a href="#Page_57">57</a></li>
- <li class="isub2">Chibfuko Hill, veneration of, <a href="#Page_59">59</a></li>
- <li class="isub2">Will not disclose ruins, <a href="#Page_68">68</a></li>
- <li class="isub2">Light-skinned boy, <a href="#Page_73">73</a></li>
- <li class="isub2">Women’s skin pattern, <a href="#Page_74">74</a>, <a href="#Page_96">96</a></li>
- <li class="isub2">Where found to-day, <a href="#Page_81">81</a></li>
- <li class="isub2">Language polished, <a href="#Page_81">81</a></li>
- <li class="isub2">Makalaka, a nickname for, <a href="#Page_81">81</a>, <a href="#Page_90">90</a></li>
- <li class="isub2">Once a powerful nation, <a href="#Page_80">80</a></li>
- <li class="isub2">At Zimbabwe, sixteenth century, <a href="#Page_80">80</a></li>
- <li class="isub2">Excellent stone-builders, <a href="#Page_82">82</a>, <a href="#Page_151">151</a></li>
- <li class="isub2">Used ruins as cattle kraals, <a href="#Page_83">83</a></li>
- <li class="isub2">Barbosa, refers to, <a href="#Page_123">123</a>, <a href="#Page_132">132</a>, <a href="#Page_133">133</a></li>
- <li class="isub2">Check pattern on huts, <a href="#Page_74">74</a></li>
- <li class="isub2">Name for Elliptical Temple, <a href="#Page_85">85</a></li>
- <li class="isub2">Idea of origin of ruins, <a href="#Page_85">85</a>, <a href="#Page_86">86</a></li>
- <li class="isub2">Agricultural and pastoral people, <a href="#Page_89">89</a>, <a href="#Page_95">95</a></li>
- <li class="isub2">Intellectual and physical superiority of, <a href="#Page_89">89</a></li>
- <li class="isub2"><span class="pagenum" id="Page_456">456</span>Contact with Portuguese, <a href="#Page_90">90</a></li>
- <li class="isub2">Totem of Zimbabwe, <a href="#Page_90">90</a></li>
- <li class="isub2">Objects of veneration, <a href="#Page_91">91</a></li>
- <li class="isub2">Insects eaten by, <a href="#Page_92">92</a></li>
- <li class="isub2">Astronomical ideas, <a href="#Page_92">92</a></li>
- <li class="isub2">Sacrifices by, <a href="#Page_93">93</a>, <a href="#Page_259">259</a>, <a href="#Page_270">270</a></li>
- <li class="isub2">Burial customs, <a href="#Page_94">94</a>, <a href="#Page_95">95</a></li>
- <li class="isub2">Manufactures, <a href="#Page_95">95</a></li>
- <li class="isub2">Dress, <a href="#Page_96">96</a></li>
- <li class="isub2">Witchcraft, <a href="#Page_97">97</a></li>
- <li class="isub2">Harmony, <a href="#Page_97">97</a></li>
- <li class="isub2">Proverbs, <a href="#Page_98">98</a></li>
- <li class="isub2">Whorls, <a href="#Page_99">99</a></li>
- <li class="isub2">Salutations, <a href="#Page_100">100</a></li>
- <li class="isub2">Jewish customs, <a href="#Page_100">100</a>, <a href="#Page_101">101</a></li>
- <li class="isub2">Of 1514 bartered gold for brass, <a href="#Page_123">123</a></li>
- <li class="isub2">Pottery, <a href="#Page_40">40</a>, <a href="#Page_41">41</a>, <a href="#Page_129">129</a>, <a href="#Page_130">130</a></li>
- <li class="isub2">Occupied Elliptical Temple until sixty years ago, <a href="#Page_254">254</a></li>
-
- <li class="indx"><b>Makuma Kopje</b>, <a href="#Page_9">9</a>, <a href="#Page_26">26</a>, <a href="#Page_32">32</a>, <a href="#Page_33">33</a>, <a href="#Page_160">160</a></li>
-
- <li class="indx"><b>Mamba</b>, or <b>Mombo</b>, old dynastic title of Barotse chiefs, <a href="#Page_82">82</a></li>
-
- <li class="indx"><b>Manamuli’s kraal</b>, <a href="#Page_72">72</a></li>
-
- <li class="indx"><b>Mandarali’s kraal</b>, <a href="#Page_65">65</a></li>
-
- <li class="indx"><b>Mandindindi’s Ruin</b>, <a href="#Page_71">71</a></li>
-
- <li class="indx"><b>Mangwa</b> (Morgenster), <a href="#Page_84">84</a></li>
-
- <li class="indx"><b>Mapaku Ruins</b> (“Little Zimbabwe”), <a href="#Page_7">7</a>, <a href="#Page_11">11</a>,
- <a href="#Page_60">60</a>, <a href="#Page_63">63</a>, <a href="#Page_292">292</a>,
- <a href="#Page_428">428–432</a></li>
-
- <li class="indx"><b>Mapaku kraal</b>, <a href="#Page_70">70</a></li>
-
- <li class="indx"><b>Mapudzi Stream</b>, <a href="#Page_7">7</a>, <a href="#Page_59">59</a>, <a href="#Page_61">61</a>, <a href="#Page_66">66</a></li>
-
- <li class="indx"><b>Marosie.</b> <i>See</i> <b>Barotse</b>.</li>
-
- <li class="indx"><b>Marota’s kraal</b>, <a href="#Page_72">72</a></li>
-
- <li class="indx"><b>Marsgi Hill</b> (one of “Sheba’s Breasts”), <a href="#Page_11">11</a>, <a href="#Page_66">66</a>, <a href="#Page_69">69</a></li>
-
- <li class="indx"><b>Mashona</b>, derivation of, <a href="#Page_80">80</a></li>
-
- <li class="indx"><b>Masua’s kraal</b>, <a href="#Page_63">63</a>, <a href="#Page_95">95</a></li>
-
- <li class="indx"><b>Masungye</b>, <a href="#Page_84">84</a></li>
-
- <li class="indx"><b>Mauch, Dr. Karl</b>, German scientist, <a href="#Page_9">9</a>, <a href="#Page_62">62</a>, <a href="#Page_185">185</a>, <a href="#Page_242">242</a>, <a href="#Page_243">243</a>, <a href="#Page_270">270</a></li>
-
- <li class="indx"><b>Mauch Ruins</b>, <a href="#Page_392">392–396</a></li>
-
- <li class="indx"><b>Maund Ruins</b>, “find” at, <a href="#Page_110">110</a></li>
- <li class="isub2">Description of, <a href="#Page_383">383–386</a></li>
-
- <li class="indx"><b>Matgwain</b>, a Barotse, <a href="#Page_59">59</a></li>
-
- <li class="indx"><b>Mazanda</b> (East Kopje), <a href="#Page_64">64</a></li>
-
- <li class="indx"><b>Mazili River</b>, <a href="#Page_72">72</a></li>
-
- <li class="indx"><b>Meziro River</b>, <a href="#Page_71">71</a>, <a href="#Page_72">72</a></li>
-
- <li class="indx"><b>Middle Kopje</b> (Chamananga), <a href="#Page_56">56</a></li>
-
- <li class="indx"><b>Milton, Sir W. H.</b>, <a href="#Page_xxx">xxx</a></li>
-
- <li class="indx"><b>Mogabe, the</b>, Handisibishe, <a href="#Page_2">2</a>, <a href="#Page_6">6</a>, <a href="#Page_39">39</a>, <a href="#Page_40">40</a>, <a href="#Page_42">42</a>, <a href="#Page_83">83</a>, <a href="#Page_84">84</a>, <a href="#Page_85">85</a>, <a href="#Page_279">279</a></li>
- <li class="isub2">His kraal, <a href="#Page_16">16</a></li>
-
- <li class="indx"><b>Mogabe, the late, Chipfuno</b>, <a href="#Page_6">6</a>, <a href="#Page_55">55</a>, <a href="#Page_84">84</a>, <a href="#Page_218">218</a>, <a href="#Page_279">279</a>, <a href="#Page_333">333</a>, <a href="#Page_355">355</a></li>
-
- <li class="indx"><b>Mogabe, the late</b>, Molinye, <a href="#Page_84">84</a></li>
-
- <li class="indx"><b>Mogabe, the late</b>, Mokomo, <a href="#Page_312">312</a></li>
-
- <li class="indx"><b>Mogoma’s kraal</b>, <a href="#Page_62">62</a>, <a href="#Page_63">63</a></li>
-
- <li class="indx"><b>Mojejèje</b> (Mystic Bar), <a href="#Page_55">55</a>, <a href="#Page_57">57</a></li>
-
- <li class="indx"><b>Molembo Tribe</b>, their Jewish customs, <a href="#Page_101">101</a></li>
- <li class="isub2">Metal smiths, <a href="#Page_111">111</a></li>
-
- <li class="indx"><b>Monomotapa, the</b>, <a href="#Page_80">80</a>, <a href="#Page_85">85</a></li>
- <li class="isub2">Kapranzine (1620), <a href="#Page_133">133</a></li>
- <li class="isub2">Pedro (1643), <a href="#Page_133">133</a>, <a href="#Page_280">280</a></li>
-
- <li class="indx"> “<b>Morgenster Mission</b>,” <a href="#Page_52">52</a></li>
-
- <li class="indx"><b>Moro!</b> salutation, origin of, <a href="#Page_100">100</a></li>
-
- <li class="indx"><b>Moscha</b>, a port of “Ophir,” <a href="#Page_67">67</a></li>
-
- <li class="indx"><b>Moshagashi Valley</b>, <a href="#Page_1">1</a>, <a href="#Page_11">11</a></li>
-
- <li class="indx"><b>Moshagashi River</b>, <a href="#Page_10">10</a>, <a href="#Page_51">51</a>, <a href="#Page_69">69</a></li>
-
- <li class="indx"><b>Mowishawasha Valley</b>, <a href="#Page_8">8</a>, <a href="#Page_53">53</a></li>
-
- <li class="indx"><b>Mowishawasha Hill</b>, <a href="#Page_10">10</a>, <a href="#Page_54">54</a>, <a href="#Page_59">59</a></li>
-
- <li class="indx"><b>Motelekwe River</b>, derivation of, <a href="#Page_7">7</a>, <a href="#Page_9">9</a>, <a href="#Page_11">11</a>, <a href="#Page_53">53</a>, <a href="#Page_54">54</a>, <a href="#Page_60">60</a>, <a href="#Page_125">125</a>, <a href="#Page_291">291</a></li>
-
- <li class="indx"><b>Motuminshaba Hill</b>, <a href="#Page_11">11</a></li>
-
- <li class="indx"><b>Motumi</b> (a Barotse headman), <a href="#Page_58">58</a></li>
- <li class="isub2">His kraal, <a href="#Page_58">58</a>, <a href="#Page_59">59</a>, <a href="#Page_63">63</a></li>
-
- <li class="indx"><b>Motusa (Bentberg)</b>, <a href="#Page_7">7</a>, <a href="#Page_8">8</a></li>
-
- <li class="indx"><b>M’Tijeni’s kraal</b>, <a href="#Page_11">11</a></li>
-
- <li class="indx"><b>M’Tima’s kraal</b>, <a href="#Page_10">10</a></li>
-
- <li class="indx"><b>M’uali</b> (the chief spirit; in some districts the prophet of the Deity), <a href="#Page_19">19</a>, <a href="#Page_94">94</a></li>
-
- <li class="indx"><b>Müller, Professor</b>, on Zimbabwe, <a href="#Page_193">193</a></li>
-
- <li class="indx"><b>Munda</b> (a Makalanga headman), <a href="#Page_73">73</a>, <a href="#Page_74">74</a></li>
-
- <li class="indx"><b>Mystic Bar.</b> <i>See</i> <b>Mojejèje</b></li>
-
-
- <li class="ifrst"><b>N’Djena Valley</b>, <a href="#Page_53">53</a></li>
-
- <li class="indx"><b>Neal, the late W. G.</b>, co-author of <i>The Ancient Ruins of Rhodesia</i>, <a href="#Page_82">82</a></li>
-
- <li class="indx"><b>Niande Hill</b> (Livouri), <a href="#Page_10">10</a></li>
-
- <li class="indx"><b>Nini country</b>, near Zimbabwe, <a href="#Page_9">9</a>, <a href="#Page_61">61</a>, <a href="#Page_62">62</a>, <a href="#Page_84">84</a>, <a href="#Page_85">85</a>, <a href="#Page_95">95</a></li>
-
- <li class="indx"><b>No. 1 Ruins</b>, location of, <a href="#Page_8">8</a>, <a href="#Page_19">19</a></li>
- <li class="isub2">Description of, <a href="#Page_398">398–410</a></li>
-
- <li class="indx"><b>North-East Passage</b>, discovered by author in 1902, <a href="#Page_273">273</a>, <a href="#Page_274">274</a></li>
-
-
- <li class="ifrst"><b>Omar l’Wardi</b> (<i>circa</i> 1200 <span class="smcap">a.d.</span>) on gold of S.E. Africa, <a href="#Page_123">123</a></li>
-
- <li class="indx"><b>Ophir</b>, not a gold land but a gold mart, <a href="#Page_xxxii">xxxii</a></li>
- <li class="isub2">Is identified by Oppert with Tharshish, <a href="#Page_xlii">xlii</a></li>
- <li class="isub2">Dr. Keane, author of <i>The Gold of</i>, <a href="#Page_5">5</a></li>
- <li class="indx"><span class="pagenum" id="Page_457">457</span><b>Oppert, Professor G.</b>,
- his solution of the “Tharshish-Ophir” problem examined, <a href="#Page_xlii">xlii-xliii</a></li>
-
- <li class="indx"><b>Outer Defence Wall</b>, <a href="#Page_210">210</a>, <a href="#Page_358">358</a>, <a href="#Page_410">410</a></li>
-
- <li class="indx"><b>Outer Parallel Passage</b>, <a href="#Page_274">274</a>, <a href="#Page_275">275</a></li>
-
- <li class="indx"><b>Outspan Ruins</b>, <a href="#Page_279">279</a></li>
- <li class="isub2">Described, <a href="#Page_358">358–362</a></li>
-
- <li class="indx"><b>Output of gold, ancient</b>, <a href="#Page_292">292</a></li>
-
-
- <li class="ifrst"><b>Paphos</b>, embossed cylinder from, compared with one from Great Zimbabwe, <a href="#Page_xxxiv">xxxix</a></li>
-
- <li class="indx"><b>Pasosa Ruins</b>, <a href="#Page_10">10</a></li>
-
- <li class="indx"><b>Passages</b>, <a href="#Page_xx">xx</a>, <a href="#Page_156">156–162</a></li>
- <li class="isub2"><i>At Elliptical Temple</i>—</li>
- <li class="isub3">Parallel Passage, <a href="#Page_246">246–250</a></li>
- <li class="isub3">Inner Parallel Passage, <a href="#Page_267">267</a>, <a href="#Page_268">268</a></li>
- <li class="isub3">South Passage, <a href="#Page_269">269–271</a></li>
- <li class="isub3">West Passage, <a href="#Page_272">272</a>, <a href="#Page_273">273</a></li>
- <li class="isub3">No. 10 Enclosure Passage, <a href="#Page_256">256</a></li>
- <li class="isub2"><i>Passages outside Elliptical Temple</i>—</li>
- <li class="isub3">Outer Parallel Passage, <a href="#Page_274">274</a>, <a href="#Page_275">275</a></li>
- <li class="isub3">N.E. Passage, <a href="#Page_273">273</a>, <a href="#Page_274">274</a>, <a href="#Page_390">390</a></li>
- <li class="isub2"><i>Passages on Zimbabwe Hill</i>—</li>
- <li class="isub3">S.E. ascent, <a href="#Page_279">279–294</a></li>
- <li class="isub3">Central Passage, <a href="#Page_321">321</a>, <a href="#Page_322">322</a></li>
- <li class="isub3">Sunken Passage (Eastern Temple), <a href="#Page_332">332</a></li>
- <li class="isub3">South Cave Passage, <a href="#Page_319">319</a></li>
- <li class="isub3">Covered Passage, <a href="#Page_307">307</a></li>
- <li class="isub3">Parallel Passage, <a href="#Page_308">308</a></li>
- <li class="isub3">Winding Stairs, <a href="#Page_316">316</a></li>
- <li class="isub3">Upper Passage, <a href="#Page_316">316</a></li>
- <li class="isub3">East Passage, <a href="#Page_316">316</a>, <a href="#Page_317">317</a></li>
- <li class="isub3">Buttress Passage, <a href="#Page_317">317</a>, <a href="#Page_318">318</a></li>
- <li class="isub3">South Passage, <a href="#Page_320">320</a></li>
- <li class="isub3">Pattern Passage, <a href="#Page_338">338</a>, <a href="#Page_339">339</a></li>
- <li class="isub3">N.W. ascent, <a href="#Page_344">344–349</a></li>
- <li class="isub2"><i>In Minor Ruins</i>—</li>
- <li class="isub3">Outspan Ruins, <a href="#Page_360">360</a>, <a href="#Page_361">361</a></li>
- <li class="isub3">Ridge Ruins, <a href="#Page_413">413</a>, <a href="#Page_414">414</a></li>
- <li class="isub3">No. 1 Ruins, <a href="#Page_402">402</a>, <a href="#Page_406">406</a></li>
- <li class="isub2"><i>In Valley of Ruins</i>—</li>
- <li class="isub3">N.E. Passage, <a href="#Page_390">390</a></li>
- <li class="isub3">Bent’s Passage, <a href="#Page_395">395</a></li>
- <li class="isub3">Posselt Ruins, <a href="#Page_370">370–372</a></li>
- <li class="isub3">Philips Ruins, <a href="#Page_381">381</a></li>
- <li class="isub3">Maund Ruins, <a href="#Page_384">384</a></li>
- <li class="isub3">Mauch Ruins, <a href="#Page_393">393</a>, <a href="#Page_395">395</a></li>
- <li class="isub3">Renders Ruins, <a href="#Page_390">390</a>, <a href="#Page_391">391</a></li>
- <li class="isub2"><i>Near Zimbabwe</i>—</li>
- <li class="isub3">Mapaku Ruins, <a href="#Page_430">430</a></li>
-
- <li class="indx"><b>Pedro</b>, the Monomotapa in 1643, <a href="#Page_133">133</a></li>
-
- <li class="indx"><b>Petrie, Professor Dr.</b>, Egyptologist, opinion on pattern on bowl, <a href="#Page_110">110</a></li>
- <li class="isub2">On calcedony beads, <a href="#Page_126">126</a></li>
-
- <li class="indx"><b>Phalli</b>, <a href="#Page_104">104</a></li>
-
- <li class="indx"><b>Phœnicia</b>, <a href="#Page_xxxvii">xxxvii</a>, <a href="#Page_xxxix">xxxix</a>, <a href="#Page_xl">xl</a>, <a href="#Page_213">213</a>, <a href="#Page_245">245</a></li>
-
- <li class="indx"><b>Philips, George</b>, elephant hunter from Natal, <a href="#Page_9">9</a>,
- <a href="#Page_62">62</a></li>
-
- <li class="indx"><b>Philips Ruins</b>, <a href="#Page_103">103</a>, <a href="#Page_105">105</a>,
- <a href="#Page_107">107</a>, <a href="#Page_108">108</a>, <a href="#Page_376">376–383</a></li>
-
- <li class="indx"><b>Plunket, Hon. E. M.</b>, on the Babylonian Calendar and Zodiac, <a href="#Page_xxxviii">xxxviii</a></li>
-
- <li class="indx"><b>Posselt, The Brothers</b>, big-game hunters, resided at Zimbabwe, 1888–9, <a href="#Page_7">7</a></li>
- <li class="isub2">Camp at, <a href="#Page_8">8</a></li>
- <li class="isub2">Visited Majerri ruins, <a href="#Page_74">74</a></li>
- <li class="isub2">Discover “Fuko-ya-Nebandge,” <a href="#Page_86">86</a>, <a href="#Page_87">87</a></li>
- <li class="isub2">Soapstone birds, <a href="#Page_333">333</a></li>
-
- <li class="indx"><b>Posselt Ruins</b>, <a href="#Page_366">366–375</a></li>
-
- <li class="indx"><b>Pottery</b>, Barotse, <a href="#Page_129">129</a></li>
- <li class="isub2">Makalanga, <a href="#Page_129">129</a>, <a href="#Page_130">130</a></li>
- <li class="isub2">Of uncertain date, <a href="#Page_130">130</a>, <a href="#Page_131">131</a>, <a href="#Page_132">132</a>, <a href="#Page_436">436</a></li>
-
- <li class="indx"><b>Providential Pass</b>, <a href="#Page_9">9</a></li>
-
-
- <li class="ifrst"><b>Relics and “finds”</b> at Zimbabwe (1902–1904)—</li>
- <li class="isub2">Inventory of, <a href="#Page_442">442</a>, <a href="#Page_448">448</a></li>
- <li class="isub2">Descriptions of, <a href="#Page_102">102–134</a></li>
- <li class="isub2">Positions and associations of “finds,” sections of floors, <a href="#Page_103">103</a>, <a href="#Page_134">134</a></li>
- <li class="isub2">Soapstone articles, <a href="#Page_104">104–111</a>, <a href="#Page_333">333</a></li>
- <li class="isub2">Gold articles, <a href="#Page_111">111–115</a></li>
- <li class="isub2">Copper articles, <a href="#Page_115">115</a>, <a href="#Page_116">116</a></li>
- <li class="isub2">Iron articles, <a href="#Page_116">116</a>, <a href="#Page_123">123</a></li>
- <li class="isub2">Brass articles, <a href="#Page_123">123</a>, <a href="#Page_124">124</a></li>
- <li class="isub2">Foreign stones, <a href="#Page_124">124–126</a></li>
- <li class="isub2">Glass, pottery, and china, <a href="#Page_127">127–132</a></li>
- <li class="isub2">Mediæval Arab articles, <a href="#Page_132">132–134</a></li>
- <li class="isub2">Arabian glass, <a href="#Page_128">128</a></li>
- <li class="isub2">Arabian pottery, <a href="#Page_131">131</a></li>
- <li class="isub2">Venetian glass, <a href="#Page_127">127</a></li>
- <li class="isub2">Tin, <a href="#Page_116">116</a></li>
-
- <li class="indx"><b>Renders, Adam, “Sa-adama,”</b> ivory trader, rediscoverer of Zimbabwe, <a href="#Page_9">9</a></li>
- <li class="isub2">Camp at Zimbabwe, <a href="#Page_9">9</a></li>
- <li class="isub2">Camp at Nini, <a href="#Page_9">9</a></li>
- <li class="isub2">Cave at Chicagomboni, <a href="#Page_61">61</a></li>
- <li class="isub2">Death, <a href="#Page_62">62</a></li>
-
- <li class="indx"><b>Renders Ruins</b>, <a href="#Page_386">386–391</a></li>
-
- <li class="indx"><b>Ridge Ruins</b>, location of, <a href="#Page_8">8</a></li>
- <li class="isub2">Description of, <a href="#Page_414">410–414</a></li>
-
- <li class="indx"><b>Rock Holes Path</b>, <a href="#Page_190">190</a>, <a href="#Page_312">312</a></li>
-
- <li class="indx"><b>Rugutsi Kopje</b>, <a href="#Page_54">54</a></li>
-
- <li class="indx"><b>Rumeni Ruin</b>, <a href="#Page_71">71</a></li>
-
- <li class="indx"><b>Rushumbi Hill</b>, <a href="#Page_72">72</a></li>
-
- <li class="indx"><b>Rusinga Rocks</b>, <a href="#Page_69">69</a></li>
- <li class="indx"><span class="pagenum" id="Page_458">458</span><b>Rusingu</b>, native name for Elliptical Temple, <a href="#Page_85">85</a></li>
-
- <li class="indx"><b>Rusivanga Kopje</b>, derivation of, <a href="#Page_9">9</a></li>
- <li class="isub2">References to, <a href="#Page_125">125</a>, <a href="#Page_137">137</a>, <a href="#Page_189">189</a></li>
- <li class="isub2">Ruins on, <a href="#Page_424">424</a></li>
-
-
- <li class="ifrst"> “<b>Sa-adama.</b>” <i>See</i> <b>Renders</b></li>
-
- <li class="indx"><b>Sabæans (Himyarites)</b> of South Arabia, worshipped Almaquah (Venus, Ashtaroth), <a href="#Page_108">108</a></li>
- <li class="isub2">As original builders, <a href="#Page_136">136</a></li>
- <li class="isub2">Parallelisms with Sabæan architecture, <a href="#Page_193">193</a>, <a href="#Page_194">194</a></li>
-
- <li class="indx"><b>Sabi (Sabæ, Saba) River</b>, no native derivation, <a href="#Page_67">67</a></li>
- <li class="isub2">Ruins in Sabi Valley, <a href="#Page_197">197</a>, <a href="#Page_291">291</a></li>
-
- <li class="indx"><b>Salutations</b>, native, <a href="#Page_100">100</a></li>
-
- <li class="indx"><b>Sana</b>, South Arabia, its decorative art compared with that of the Rhodesian monuments,
- <a href="#Page_xxxvi">xxxvi</a></li>
-
- <li class="indx"><b>Sanuto, Livio</b> (1588), <a href="#Page_132">132</a></li>
-
- <li class="indx"><b>Sayce, Dr. A. H.</b>, on the Ophir of Scriptures, <a href="#Page_xxxii">xxxii</a></li>
- <li class="isub2">On the Babylonian Zodiac, <a href="#Page_xxxix">xxxix</a></li>
-
- <li class="indx"><b>Schlichter, Dr.</b>, German archæologist, <a href="#Page_7">7</a></li>
- <li class="isub2">Camp at Zimbabwe, <a href="#Page_7">7</a></li>
- <li class="isub2">References to, <a href="#Page_198">198</a></li>
- <li class="isub2">On Conical Tower, <a href="#Page_245">245</a>, <a href="#Page_246">246</a></li>
- <li class="isub2">On centres of arc walls, <a href="#Page_304">304</a></li>
- <li class="isub2">On the Zimbabwe Zodiac, <a href="#Page_xxxviii">xxxviii</a></li>
-
- <li class="indx"><b>Schlichter Gorge</b>, <a href="#Page_7">7</a>, <a href="#Page_11">11</a></li>
- <li class="isub2">Description of, <a href="#Page_60">60</a>, <a href="#Page_61">61</a>, <a href="#Page_64">64</a></li>
-
- <li class="indx"><b>Selous, Mr. F. C.</b>, big-game hunter, on moulds, <a href="#Page_110">110</a>, <a href="#Page_151">151</a></li>
-
- <li class="indx"> “<b>Sheba’s Breasts.</b>” <i>See</i> <b>Marsgi</b> and <b>Sueba</b></li>
-
- <li class="indx"><b>Skarduza’s kraal</b>, <a href="#Page_72">72</a></li>
-
- <li class="indx"><b>Soapstone beams</b>, <a href="#Page_104">104–106</a></li>
- <li class="isub2">Birds, <a href="#Page_106">106–108</a></li>
- <li class="isub2">Position of birds, <a href="#Page_106">106</a></li>
- <li class="isub2">Bowls, <a href="#Page_108">108–111</a></li>
- <li class="isub2">Ingot moulds, <a href="#Page_111">110–111</a></li>
-
- <li class="indx"><b>Sofala</b>, identified with Tharshish, <a href="#Page_xxxii">xxxii</a></li>
- <li class="isub2">Zimbabwe road to, <a href="#Page_63">63</a>, <a href="#Page_67">67</a>, <a href="#Page_74">74</a></li>
-
- <li class="indx"><b>South Arabia</b>, its terraced slopes, <a href="#Page_xxxiv">xxxiv</a></li>
-
- <li class="indx"><b>South-East Ruins</b>, <a href="#Page_396">396</a>, <a href="#Page_397">397</a></li>
-
- <li class="indx"><b>Stanley, Sir H. H.</b>, on double iron gongs used in Upper Congo, <a href="#Page_122">122</a></li>
-
- <li class="indx"><b>Step pattern</b>, <a href="#Page_339">339</a></li>
-
- <li class="indx"><b>Sueba Hill</b> (one of “Sheba’s Breasts”), derivation and position, <a href="#Page_11">11</a>, <a href="#Page_66">66</a>, <a href="#Page_72">72</a></li>
-
- <li class="indx"><b>Suku Dingle</b>, <a href="#Page_56">56</a>, <a href="#Page_187">187</a></li>
-
- <li class="indx"><b>Swan, the late M. W.</b>, explorer of Zimbabwe, biographical notice of, <a href="#Page_434">434</a>, <a href="#Page_436">436</a></li>
-
-
- <li class="ifrst"><b>Tchivi Kopje</b>, <a href="#Page_11">11</a></li>
-
- <li class="indx"><b>Thabas Imamba</b>, <a href="#Page_82">82</a>, <a href="#Page_91">91</a></li>
-
- <li class="indx"><b>Tharshish</b>, probably the present Sofala, <a href="#Page_xxxii">xxxii</a></li>
- <li class="isub2">Identified by Oppert with “Ophir,” <a href="#Page_xlii">xlii</a></li>
-
- <li class="indx"><b>Tokwe River</b>, derivation of, <a href="#Page_9">9</a></li>
-
-
- <li class="ifrst"><b>Valley of Ruins, the</b>, <a href="#Page_3">3</a>, <a href="#Page_363">363–397</a>,
- <a href="#Page_398">398–419</a></li>
-
- <li class="indx"><b>Varosie.</b> <i>See</i> <b>Barotse</b></li>
-
- <li class="indx"><b>Veroma Range.</b> <i>See</i> <b>Beroma</b></li>
-
- <li class="indx"><b>Victoria, township of</b>, <a href="#Page_1">1</a>, <a href="#Page_2">2</a>, <a href="#Page_10">10</a>, <a href="#Page_33">33</a>, <a href="#Page_41">41</a></li>
- <li class="isub2">Native names for, <a href="#Page_99">99</a></li>
-
- <li class="indx"><b>Visitors to Zimbabwe</b>, regulations, <a href="#Page_433">433</a></li>
-
-
- <li class="ifrst"><b>Washa.</b> <i>See</i> <b>Mowishawasha</b></li>
-
- <li class="indx"><b>Water Gate Ruins</b>, <a href="#Page_349">349–353</a></li>
-
- <li class="indx"><b>Welsh Bardic emblem</b> (parallelism), <a href="#Page_18">18</a>, <a href="#Page_96">96</a></li>
-
- <li class="indx"> “<b>West Wall controversy</b>,” <a href="#Page_xxiv">xxiv-xxvii</a></li>
-
- <li class="indx"><b>White, M.E., Mr. Franklin</b> (Bulawayo), <a href="#Page_xxx">xxx</a></li>
-
- <li class="indx"><b>Whorls</b>, soapstone, <a href="#Page_111">111</a></li>
- <li class="isub2">Pottery, <a href="#Page_127">127</a></li>
-
- <li class="indx"><b>Willoughby, Sir John</b>, <a href="#Page_xv">xv</a></li>
- <li class="isub2">On extent of Great Zimbabwe Ruins, <a href="#Page_xxxiii">xxxiii</a></li>
- <li class="isub2">Explorations, <a href="#Page_8">8</a>, <a href="#Page_135">135</a>, <a href="#Page_137">137</a>, <a href="#Page_170">170</a>, <a href="#Page_190">190</a>, <a href="#Page_191">191</a>, <a href="#Page_222">222</a>, <a href="#Page_234">234</a>, <a href="#Page_400">400</a>, <a href="#Page_414">414</a></li>
-
- <li class="indx"><b>Wilson, Major Alan</b>, grave at Zimbabwe, <a href="#Page_5">5</a>, <a href="#Page_8">8</a>, <a href="#Page_19">19</a></li>
- <li class="isub2">Removal of remains, <a href="#Page_5">5</a></li>
-
- <li class="indx"><b>Wuwuli Village and Caves</b>, <a href="#Page_54">54</a></li>
-
-
- <li class="ifrst"><b>Yemen</b>, South Arabia, <a href="#Page_15">15</a>, <a href="#Page_293">293</a></li>
- <li class="indx"><span class="pagenum" id="Page_459">459</span><b>Zimbabwe, The Great</b>—</li>
- <li class="isub2">Derivation of, <a href="#Page_1">1</a>, <a href="#Page_85">85</a></li>
- <li class="isub2">Author’s arrival at, <a href="#Page_1">1</a>, <a href="#Page_2">2</a></li>
- <li class="isub2">Lord Milner’s visit, <a href="#Page_2">2</a></li>
- <li class="isub2">Dr. K. Mauch at, <a href="#Page_9">9</a></li>
- <li class="isub2">Bent’s camp at, <a href="#Page_3">3</a></li>
- <li class="isub2">Dr. Schlichter at, <a href="#Page_7">7</a></li>
- <li class="isub2">Posselt Brothers reside at, <a href="#Page_7">7</a>, <a href="#Page_8">8</a></li>
- <li class="isub2">Willoughby’s camp, <a href="#Page_8">8</a></li>
- <li class="isub2">Adam Renders’ camp, <a href="#Page_9">9</a></li>
- <li class="isub2">George Philips’ camp, <a href="#Page_9">9</a></li>
- <li class="isub2">Reserve, map of, <a href="#Page_3">3</a></li>
- <li class="isub2">Ruins’ area, plan of, <a href="#Page_7">7</a></li>
- <li class="isub2">Bentberg, <a href="#Page_7">7</a></li>
- <li class="isub2">Makuma Kopje, <a href="#Page_9">9</a></li>
- <li class="isub2">Arab station at, <a href="#Page_132">132–184</a></li>
-
- <li class="indx"><b>Zimbabwe creeper</b>, <a href="#Page_4">4</a>, <a href="#Page_78">78</a>, <a href="#Page_147">147</a></li>
-
- <li class="indx"><b>Zimbabwe Hill</b>, <a href="#Page_2">2</a>, <a href="#Page_276">276–362</a></li>
-
- <li class="indx"><b>Zimbabwe revival</b>, <a href="#Page_xxix">xxix</a></li>
-
- <li class="indx"><b>Zimbabwe, Sofala Road</b>, <a href="#Page_63">63</a>, <a href="#Page_74">74</a></li>
-
- <li class="indx"><b>Zodiac, the Zimbabwe</b>, its antiquity vindicated, <a href="#Page_xxxviii">xxxviii</a></li>
- </ul>
-
- <div class="footnotes">
- <div class="footheader"><b>FOOTNOTES:</b></div>
-
- <div class="footnote">
- <a id="Footnote_1" href="#FNanchor_1" class="label">[1]</a> The major portion of this Preface was read before the
- British Association at Cambridge, August 17, 1904.
- </div>
-
- <div class="footnote"><a id="Footnote_2" href="#FNanchor_2" class="label">[2]</a> Stanford, 1901.</div>
-
- <div class="footnote">
- <a id="Footnote_3" href="#FNanchor_3" class="label">[3]</a> On this crucial point I am glad to find myself in accord
- with Dr. A. H. Sayce, who has independently arrived at the same
- conclusion. “There is no gold in Southern Arabia,” he writes, “and
- consequently Ophir must have been an emporium to which the gold was
- brought for transhipment from elsewhere” <i>The Early History of the
- Hebrews</i>, 1897, p. 463).
- </div>
-
- <div class="footnote">
- <a id="Footnote_4" href="#FNanchor_4" class="label">[4]</a> Somewhat similar terraced slopes are to be found in the
- Lydenburg district of Transvaal Colony.
- </div>
-
- <div class="footnote"><a id="Footnote_5" href="#FNanchor_5" class="label">[5]</a> See <i>Lundi Ruins</i>, in <i>Ancient Ruins</i>, p. 178.</div>
-
- <div class="footnote">
- <a id="Footnote_6" href="#FNanchor_6" class="label">[6]</a> So also M. L. Gallois, in a review of <i>The Gold of
- Ophir</i>, contributed to the <i>Annales de Géographie</i> for September 15,
- 1902: “Ces monuments de l’Afrique du Sud ont <i>une parenté certaine</i>,
- avec les monuments himyarites de l’Arabie méridionale. Les hommes qui
- ont construit les forteresses de la Rhodesia venaient, portés par la
- mousson, de la côte méridionale d’Arabie chercher l’or du Manica et du
- Mashona.”
- </div>
-
- <div class="footnote"><a id="Footnote_7" href="#FNanchor_7" class="label">[7]</a> <i>Babel und Bibel</i>, p. 44.</div>
-
- <div class="footnote"><a id="Footnote_8" href="#FNanchor_8" class="label">[8]</a> <i>Assyria</i>, pp. 110, 116.</div>
-
- <div class="footnote"><a id="Footnote_9" href="#FNanchor_9" class="label">[9]</a> <i>Gold of Ophir</i>, p. 6.</div>
-
- <div class="footnote"><a id="Footnote_10" href="#FNanchor_10" class="label">[10]</a> <i>Ruined Cities</i>, p. 167.</div>
-
- <div class="footnote">
- <a id="Footnote_11" href="#FNanchor_11" class="label">[11]</a> And, it may be asked, in the above-quoted passage from
- 1 Kings, does the expression “ships of Tharshish” mean “ships of the
- sea”? The Hebrew text has אֳנִיּוֹת תַּרְשִׁישׁ, “ships of Tharshish.” And if
- for Tharshish we substitute Ophir—Oppert’s alternative suggestion—we
- get nonsense; “ships of Ophir go to Ophir.” Even the “higher critics”
- will scarcely accept this.
- </div>
-
- <div class="footnote">
- <a id="Footnote_12" href="#FNanchor_12" class="label">[12]</a> <i>Das Problem scheint jetzt in der That gëlost</i> (No. 19,
- 1902, p. 357).
- </div>
-
- <div class="footnote">
- <a id="Footnote_13" href="#FNanchor_13" class="label">[13]</a> Correctly, <i>Zim-bāb-gi</i> (<i>zimba</i>, pl. buildings;
- <i>mābgi</i>, pl. stones), words in common use in <i>Chicaranga</i>, the
- language of the Makalanga. Authorities on <i>Chicaranga</i> agree that
- <i>zimba</i>, though applying to dwellings, is also applied to buildings
- which are not dwellings.
- </div>
-
- <div class="footnote">
- <a id="Footnote_14" href="#FNanchor_14" class="label">[14]</a> See <i>Appendix</i>, <a href="#NOTE_A">Note A</a>. Government Notice, No. 103 of
- 1904, “Great Zimbabwe, Notice to Visitors, with Regulations.”
- </div>
-
- <div class="footnote">
- <a id="Footnote_15" href="#FNanchor_15" class="label">[15]</a> Remains removed to Matoppas, 1904.
- </div>
-
- <div class="footnote">
- <a id="Footnote_16" href="#FNanchor_16" class="label">[16]</a> Correctly, <i>Motirikoi</i> (<i>Chicaranga</i>, “a river that rises
- suddenly”).
- </div>
-
- <div class="footnote">
- <a id="Footnote_17" href="#FNanchor_17" class="label">[17]</a> Correctly, <i>Togue</i> (passive); in <i>Chicaranga</i>, “a river
- where people are swept away.” The <i>Togue</i> is a strong and fast-running river.
- </div>
-
- <div class="footnote">
- <a id="Footnote_18" href="#FNanchor_18" class="label">[18]</a> In <i>Chicaranga</i>, “the hill of those who ran away.”
- </div>
-
- <div class="footnote"><a id="Footnote_19" href="#FNanchor_19" class="label">[19]</a> “Black.”</div>
-
- <div class="footnote">
- <a id="Footnote_20" href="#FNanchor_20" class="label">[20]</a> Chewers, probably of tobacco.
- </div>
-
- <div class="footnote">
- <a id="Footnote_21" href="#FNanchor_21" class="label">[21]</a> Usually but wrongly spelt <i>Kaffir</i>. It is the Arabic
- كافِر, Káfir = Infidel, Unbeliever, applied indifferently to all
- non-Mohammedan peoples, hence has no ethnical significance.
- </div>
-
- <div class="footnote">
- <a id="Footnote_22" href="#FNanchor_22" class="label">[22]</a> In <i>Chicaranga</i> the Zulu <i>l</i> becomes <i>r</i>. The Sebele <i>l</i>
- in <i>Abolse</i> (see pp. 3, 17, 133, 134, and 191 <i>The Ancient Ruins</i>, 2nd
- edition) becomes <i>r</i>—or <i>Barose</i>, <i>Barotse</i>, etc.
- </div>
-
- <div class="footnote">
- <a id="Footnote_23" href="#FNanchor_23" class="label">[23]</a> The Mogabe Handisibishe is called <i>Benzi</i>, “the
- quarrelsome man,” owing to his frequent quarrellings with the chiefs of
- other Makalanga tribes.
- </div>
-
- <div class="footnote">
- <a id="Footnote_24" href="#FNanchor_24" class="label">[24]</a> See also Isafuba, <i>Ancient Ruins</i>, pp. 79, 80, 140, 152,
- 268.
- </div>
-
- <div class="footnote">
- <a id="Footnote_25" href="#FNanchor_25" class="label">[25]</a> Waterfall (<i>Chicaranga</i>).
- </div>
-
- <div class="footnote">
- <a id="Footnote_26" href="#FNanchor_26" class="label">[26]</a> Bingura’s people are Amangwa.
- </div>
-
- <div class="footnote">
- <a id="Footnote_27" href="#FNanchor_27" class="label">[27]</a> <i>Mashona</i>, probably a corruption of <i>Mashuli</i>, <i>Mahuli</i>,
- “slaves,” is the name by which the Makalanga are known to the whites;
- hence “Mashonaland,” the now established name of their territory, which
- should properly be <i>Makalangaland</i>.
- </div>
-
- <div class="footnote">
- <a id="Footnote_28" href="#FNanchor_28" class="label">[28]</a> <i>Barotse</i>, <i>Barose</i>, <i>Marose</i>, and <i>Varose</i> are all
- variant forms of <i>Baharutse</i>, who appear to be the original stock of
- the Bechuana nation, hence are regarded by all the other branches of
- the family as their “elder brothers.”
- </div>
-
- <div class="footnote">
- <a id="Footnote_29" href="#FNanchor_29" class="label">[29]</a> The proper totem of the Barotse people is the <i>Chuene</i>
- (Cape baboon), but sub-tribes of Barotse each have also a totem of
- their own. The <i>Mamba</i> (puff-adder) was the totem of the Barotse of
- Thabas I’Mamba districts.
- </div>
-
- <div class="footnote">
- <a id="Footnote_30" href="#FNanchor_30" class="label">[30]</a> Coillard, pp. 220, 224, and 333.
- </div>
-
- <div class="footnote">
- <a id="Footnote_31" href="#FNanchor_31" class="label">[31]</a> See Dr. Keane’s Introduction to this volume; also <i>The
- Gold of Ophir</i>; also M. Grandidier’s work on the Sabæan, Phœnician, and
- Idumean Jew influences on South-East Africa and Madagascar; and <i>The
- Ancient Ruins of Rhodesia</i> (2nd edition).
- </div>
-
- <div class="footnote">
- <a id="Footnote_32" href="#FNanchor_32" class="label">[32]</a> See <i>The Ancient Ruins of Rhodesia</i>, 2nd edition, pp.
- 141–3, for descriptions of relics found at Zimbabwe in 1891 and 1892.
- See Appendix hereto, <a href="#NOTE_F">Note F</a>, for inventory of relics found by the
- author at Zimbabwe, 1902–4.
- </div>
-
- <div class="footnote">
- <a id="Footnote_33" href="#FNanchor_33" class="label">[33]</a> All the birds found at Zimbabwe either by Mr. Bent and
- the author were discovered occupying an eastern position, cut off from
- south-west, west, and north by cliffs or large and high walls.
- </div>
-
- <div class="footnote">
- <a id="Footnote_34" href="#FNanchor_34" class="label">[34]</a> Professor Dr. Flinders Petrie informs the author that this
- pattern is decidedly of Eastern origin, possibly Assyrian.
- </div>
-
- <div class="footnote">
- <a id="Footnote_35" href="#FNanchor_35" class="label">[35]</a> See also <i>Preface</i>, “Two Periods of Gold Manufacture at
- Zimbabwe.”
- </div>
-
- <div class="footnote">
- <a id="Footnote_36" href="#FNanchor_36" class="label">[36]</a> Dr. Flinders Petrie has informed the author that calcedony
- beads, identical in shape and size to those found in ruins in Rhodesia,
- are of mediæval Arab origin.
- </div>
-
- <div class="footnote">
- <a id="Footnote_37" href="#FNanchor_37" class="label">[37]</a> Dr. Budge, Head Keeper of Egyptian and Assyrian
- Antiquities at the British Museum, considers this glass to belong to
- the thirteenth or fourteenth century of this era.
- </div>
-
- <div class="footnote">
- <a id="Footnote_38" href="#FNanchor_38" class="label">[38]</a> The author is preparing a monograph on the pottery of the
- Barotse and Makalanga.
- </div>
-
- <div class="footnote">
- <a id="Footnote_39" href="#FNanchor_39" class="label">[39]</a> See <a href="#NOTE_C">Note C</a>, Appendix to this volume, which gives a fuller
- description of this “find.”
- </div>
-
- <div class="footnote">
- <a id="Footnote_40" href="#FNanchor_40" class="label">[40]</a> For descriptions of ancient architecture in the ruins of
- Rhodesia generally, see <i>The Ancient Ruins of Rhodesia</i> (2nd edition),
- Chapter XII.
- </div>
-
- <div class="footnote">
- <a id="Footnote_41" href="#FNanchor_41" class="label">[41]</a> For a probable explanation of the absence of inscriptions,
- see Dr. Keane’s Introduction to this volume.
- </div>
-
- <div class="footnote"><a id="Footnote_42" href="#FNanchor_42" class="label">[42]</a> See Preface.</div>
-
- <div class="footnote">
- <a id="Footnote_43" href="#FNanchor_43" class="label">[43]</a> Figures in round brackets are points of the circumference
- of the interior face of the main wall measured from the south side of
- the west entrance and going south.
- </div>
-
- <div class="footnote">
- <a id="Footnote_44" href="#FNanchor_44" class="label">[44]</a> This has now been discovered. It had been removed by relic
- hunters in 1892.
- </div>
-
- <div class="footnote">
- <a id="Footnote_45" href="#FNanchor_45" class="label">[45]</a> Since the above was written further exploration in the
- ruins shows several lengths of these granite cement dadoes, one 16 ft.
- and another 33 ft. long, still intact. Cement dadoes have also been
- found round the faces of buttresses and on the side walls of entrances,
- thus reducing the width of such passage-ways by at least 5 in.
- </div>
-
- <div class="footnote">
- <a id="Footnote_46" href="#FNanchor_46" class="label">[46]</a> Most of the Sabæan temples were round. <i>El Masoudi</i> (940
- <span class="smcap">a.d.</span>).
- </div>
-
- <div class="footnote">
- <a id="Footnote_47" href="#FNanchor_47" class="label">[47]</a> All the birds found at Zimbabwe occupied eastward
- positions.
- </div>
-
- <div class="footnote">
- <a id="Footnote_48" href="#FNanchor_48" class="label">[48]</a> For <i>Areas of varying styles of Ancient Architecture</i> see
- <i>Ancient Ruins</i>, p. 164, section (a).
- </div>
-
- <div class="footnote">
- <a id="Footnote_49" href="#FNanchor_49" class="label">[49]</a> See Preface, <i>West Wall Controversy</i>.
- </div>
-
- <div class="footnote">
- <div><a id="Footnote_50" href="#FNanchor_50" class="label">[50]</a> <i>Report on the examination and analysis of No. 2 Sample
- of mineral.</i>—This was a sample of powdery, earthy mineral. One-half
- of it has been assayed with the view to the presence of gold, and was
- found to contain 1½ dwts. of gold per ton. The other portion has been
- analysed as to its chemical composition, which was found to be as
- follows:
- </div>
-
- <div class="center-container">
- <div class="center-block">
- <table summary="Chemical composition">
- <tbody>
- <tr>
- <td class="tdl5">Silica</td>
- <td>73·18&nbsp; %</td>
- </tr>
- <tr>
- <td class="tdl5">Oxide of Iron</td>
- <td>17·83&nbsp;〃</td>
- </tr>
- <tr>
- <td class="tdl5">Alumina</td>
- <td>&nbsp; 8·98&nbsp;〃</td>
- </tr>
- <tr>
- <td class="tdl5">Lime</td>
- <td>Trace.</td>
- </tr>
- </tbody>
- </table>
- </div>
- </div>
-
- <div>
- This powdery earth is most probably formed through the disintegration
- of the slag and furnace ashes, which make an excellent foundation for
- the floor of a large building. On exposure to the action of the weather
- it crumbles to powder.<br />
- <span class="smcap ml50">P. Daniel Hahn, ph.d, m.a.,</span><br />
- <span class="ml55">Professor of Chemistry.</span>
- </div>
- </div>
-
- <div class="footnote">
- <a id="Footnote_51" href="#FNanchor_51" class="label">[51]</a> See Appendix, <a href="#NOTE_G">Note G</a>, as to formation rock under the
- temple.
- </div>
-
- <div class="footnote">
- <a id="Footnote_52" href="#FNanchor_52" class="label">[52]</a> See <i>Frontispiece</i>.
- </div>
-
- <div class="footnote">
- <a id="Footnote_53" href="#FNanchor_53" class="label">[53]</a> Several independent astronomical calculations point
- to the age of the Elliptical Temple being from 1100 to 1300 years
- <span class="smcap">b.c.</span>
- </div>
-
- <div class="footnote">
- <a id="Footnote_54" href="#FNanchor_54" class="label">[54]</a> This has been now found by the author. It had been removed
- in 1892 by relic hunters.
- </div>
-
- <div class="footnote">
- <div><a id="Footnote_55" href="#FNanchor_55" class="label">[55]</a> <i>Report on the examination and analysis of No. 1 sample of
- minerals</i>:—</div>
- <div class="mt1">
- This was a piece of metamorphic slate, such as may be found in the
- vicinity of the contact-zone of clay slate and granite or other
- crystalline rock. Its composition does not present any peculiar
- features.<br />
- <span class="smcap ml20">P. Daniel Hahn, ph.d., m.a.</span><br />
- <span class="ml30"><i>Professor of Chemistry, South African College</i></span><br />
- <span class="ml40"><i>Chemical and Metallurgical Laboratory.</i></span>
- </div>
- </div>
-
- <div class="footnote">
- <a id="Footnote_56" href="#FNanchor_56" class="label">[56]</a> Two rounded buttresses are built on the larger buttress,
- and are against the summit of this wall.
- </div>
-
- <div class="footnote">
- <a id="Footnote_57" href="#FNanchor_57" class="label">[57]</a> Discovered 1902.
- </div>
-
- <div class="footnote">
- <a id="Footnote_58" href="#FNanchor_58" class="label">[58]</a> For description of these ruins, see p. 358.
- </div>
-
- <div class="footnote">
- <a id="Footnote_59" href="#FNanchor_59" class="label">[59]</a> <i>Ancient Ruins of Rhodesia</i> (2nd edition).
- </div>
-
- <div class="footnote">
- <a id="Footnote_60" href="#FNanchor_60" class="label">[60]</a> See Author’s Report on <i>Slanting Monolith</i>, <a href="#NOTE_E">Note E</a>,
- Appendix.
- </div>
-
- <div class="footnote">
- <a id="Footnote_61" href="#FNanchor_61" class="label">[61]</a> The author was the first to break through the old habit
- of bestowing misleading or suggestive titles to various architectural
- features. These recesses unfortunately have thus always been known as
- “buttresses.” A long list of such incorrect titles could easily be
- compiled from printed descriptions of ruins.
- </div>
-
- <div class="footnote">
- <a id="Footnote_62" href="#FNanchor_62" class="label">[62]</a> The author has since discovered similar recesses elsewhere
- at Zimbabwe.
- </div>
- </div>
-
- <hr class="page" />
-
- <div class="center mt10 mb3"><i>Price 10s. 6d. net. With seventy illustrations.</i></div>
-
- <div class="center large mb3">THE<br />
- ANCIENT RUINS OF RHODESIA</div>
-
- <div class="center mb3"><span class="xsmall">BY</span><br />
- W. G. NEAL <span class="smcap">and</span> R. N. HALL</div>
-
- <div class="center xsmall mb3">SECOND AND ENLARGED EDITION</div>
-
- <div class="center">LONDON: METHUEN &amp; CO.</div>
-
- <div class="transnote mt10">
- <div class="large center mb2"><b>Transcriber’s Notes:</b></div>
- <ul class="spaced">
- <li>Blank pages have been removed.</li>
- <li>Obvious typographical errors have been silently corrected.</li>
- <li>Headings have been made more consistent.</li>
- <li>Advertisement has been moved to the back.</li>
- </ul>
- </div>
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-<pre>
-
-
-
-
-
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