other. Each half consists of two elliptical
chambers set one behind the other. The south half is the better
preserved. It has a concave facade of large orthostatic slabs with
horizontal blocks set in front of them to keep them in position. In the
centre of this opens a short paved passage formed of fine upright slabs
of stone, one of which is 13 feet in height. The first elliptical
chamber (_E_) into which this passage leads us has a length of 45 feet.
Its walls (Pl. III) consist of roughly squared orthostatic slabs over 6
feet in height, above which are several courses of horizontal blocks
which carry the walls in places up to a height of nearly 14 feet. This
combination of vertical and horizontal masonry is typical of all the
Maltese temples. To the left of the entrance is a rectangular niche in
the wall containing one of the remarkable trilithons (_a_) which form so
striking a feature of Mnaidra and Hagiar Kim. It consists of a
horizontal slab of stone nearly 10 feet in length, supported at its ends
by two vertical slabs about 5 feet high. To the right of the entrance is
a window-like opening (_b_, behind the seated figure in Pl. III) in one
of the slabs of the wall, preceded by two steps and giving access to
an irregular triangular space (_F_). In the north-west angle of this
triangle is fixed a trilithon table (_c_) of the usual type, 32 inches
high; at a like height above the table is fixed another horizontal slab
which serves as a roof to the corner. The south corner of the triangle
is shut off by a vertical slab, in which is cut a window 29 inches by
17. Through this is seen a shrine (?) consisting of a box (_d_) made of
five well-cut slabs of stone, the front being open. The aperture by
which _F_ is entered was evidently intended to be closed with a slab of
stone from the inside of _F_, for it was rebated on that side, and there
are holes to be used in securing the slab. When the entrance was thus
blocked _F_ still communicated with _E_ by means of a small rectangular
window 16 inches by 12 in one of the adjacent slabs (visible in Pl.
III).

[Illustration: PLATE III TEMPLE OF MNAIDRA, MALTA. APSE OF CHIEF ROOM
To face p. 100]

Returning to the area _E_ we find in the south-west wall an elaborate
doorway (Pl. II, Fig. I, p. 82) leading to a rectangular room _H_. The
doorway consists of two tall pillars with a great lintel laid across the
top. The space between the pillars is closed by a fixed ver