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.

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.

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.