738 Professor John Garstang [April 25, 



WEEKLY EVENING MEETING, 



Friday, April 25, 1913. 



His Grace The Duke of Northujviberland, P.C. K.G. D.C.L. 

 LL.D. F.R.S;, in the Chair. 



Professor John Garstang, B.Litt. D.Sc. M.A. F.S.A. 



Meroe : 

 Four Years' Excavations of the Ancient Ethiopian Capital. 



On behalf of the University of Liverpool, and aided by the support 

 of private benefactors, the lecturer has been at work for four years in 

 scientifically uncovering the ruins of the once famous Ethiopian 

 capital. When his first expedition arrived upon the scene, there was 

 little to suggest the great extent and interest of the city which has 

 now come to light, in fact only one wall and a few objects of sculpture 

 were visible above the soil. Now, however, a number of temples, 

 palaces and public buildings have been laid bare ; the walls of the 

 Koyal City have been traced ; and during the past season's work, 

 from which the lecturer has just returned, a considerable portion of 

 this enclosure has been excavated so that a visitor may enter by the 

 city gate and walk along the ancient streets, turning right or left at 

 will into the different buildings. 



First amongst the greater buildings of the site is the Sun Temple, 

 which is designed in a series of ascending ambulatories with stone- 

 built cloisters, the sanctuary being found on the highest platform, in 

 the middle. A contemporary representation of the building upon its 

 own walls has enabled Mr. W. S. George, the able architect of the 

 expedition, by comparison with actual measurements, to attempt a 

 reconstruction. In character and situation this temple corresponded 

 to the " Table of the Sun " mentioned by Herodotus. An even 

 larger building is the Temple of Ammou, the main axis of which is 

 430 ft. in length ; the high altar and the special enclosure for sacri- 

 ficing animals, and other interesting features of the temple, are well 

 preserved. Other monuments excavated include an extensive palace 

 presumed to be of Roman period, two small temples, one of which 

 was dedicated to a Lion-deity, an ancient temple of Isis, later recon- 

 structed, pottery kilns of Meroitic times, and several hundred tombs 

 of the necropolis. All these features appear to have been outside the 

 chief or royal enclosure, and it appears that there is still untouched 

 by the excavators' spades a much larger area than has yet been attacked. 



