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 〃 |
|
| 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.