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.
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.
PARALLEL PASSAGE, FROM NORTH, ELLIPTICAL TEMPLE