Page 254 - Records of Bahrain (2)(ii)_Neat

580 Records of Bahrain

THE ISLANDS OF HAII11EIN. 199

stones, I left tlie top and began work again a few feet above
the base, running a cutting into the mound and taking care
to retain the same line cast and west, having remarked a
depression or shallow channel from the top to tho bottom of
the mound in this direction. Here, on going in a few feet,
our progress was blocked by enormous stones, which appeared,
on removal, to form part of a cyclopcan circular containing
wall. One of the blocks we had to break up with tho crow-
bar measured roughly over six feet long, by three feet six
broad, and eighteen inches deep.
Tho height of this wall above the ground level of my
tunnel was about seven or eight feet, which would make it at
least ten feet high from the level of the ground. The blocks
used wero unequal in size and unmortared.1
i
On breaking through this wall, I almost at once found
myself in a passage or gallery, about six feet broad, and
gradually narrowing (as I found afterwards) to five feet threo
inches at tho inner - end. Tho walls on cither side were
of rough, unmortared, and carelessly fitted stones, varying in
size, but sloping pyramidally upwards from the encircling
wall and also slightly outwards from their base. I picked my
way between these containing walls, removing the earth as I
went, and thus gradually clearing out the passage behind
a3 we proceeded.
' This increased tho labour enormously, and was I believo
i unnecessary, from tho compactness of tho mass, tho relative
small size of our gallery, and tho outward slope of the
walls.
A second barrier or inner wall, which blocked tho
entrance to tho tomb itself was met with at a distance
of thirty feet six inches from tho first circular wall of
. blocks. On nearing this inner wall we found tho passage
on either sido to bo roughly mortared, and where the
well-welded barrier forbade access, the wall on either

.
1 Somo of tho outlying blocks on tho other largo mounds (already noticed) aro
of sandstono, and havo been carefully shaped; perhaps tho architects wero equal
to shaping sandstone, hut not to shaping the harder limestone, or at any rato did
not think that it was worth wliilo to do so.