AEIZANAS'' STONE 403 



we now approached the town, which lies partly in, 

 partly at the mouth of, a valley running up in a north- 

 easterly direction into the plateau behind it. The most 

 prominent feature of the scene before us was the sacred 

 enclosure occupying nearly the whole breadth of the 

 valley, and filled with thatched tuculs and groves of 

 sycamores, from the midst of which rose the church. 

 Here I sent two of my men on to the Dedjatch Nebrid 

 Weldu Giorgis, to announce my arrival ; for Axum is a 

 territory by itself, subject to no one's commands but 

 those of the Emperor in person. 



Meanwhile I curiously examined some of the great 

 stone pedestals or altars which stretched in a long line 

 along the right side of the road. These have evi- 

 dently once been the bases of monoliths or statues, 

 more probably the latter, as in the majority the places 

 cut to receive the feet are still easily recognisable. 

 Each of them consists of a huge slab of granite some 

 two feet thick and about six feet square, topped in the 

 centre by a solid block fifteen inches in height and three 

 feet square. On three sides the upper surface of the 

 latter is grooved by runnels or gutters placed parallel to 

 the edge, which is formed by a stone coping three inches 

 high. On the side which has no runnel appear the 

 hollows spoken of above, in which no doubt stood the 

 feet of the statue or idol to whom the sacrifices were 

 offered, the runnels serving to receive and carry off the 

 blood of the victim. The altar nearest to Aeizanas' 

 stone seemed to contain the remnants of a long Semitic 

 inscription. Behind this row of pedestals, I noticed a 

 curious rock-terrace which looked almost like a causeway 



