[Illustration: FIG. 21. Plan of the megalithic sanctuary of Mnaidra,
Malta. (After Albert Mayr's plan.)]

The temple of Mnaidra is the simpler of the two in plan (Fig. 21). It
consists of two halves, the more northerly of which was almost certainly
built later than the other. Each half consists of two elliptical
chambers set one behind the other. The south half is the better
preserved. It has a concave façade 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