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.

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.

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.

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.

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.)

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.