Page:The New International Encyclopædia 1st ed. v. 13.djvu/165

* MASHONALAND. 139 MASK. Zimbabwe. Ho fouud ouo portion to be elliptical with a round tower and to cover a considerable area of a gentle rise; below this in the valley lay a mass of ruins; while another structure, ap- parently a fort, crowned a bold, rocky hill. The walls are constructed of small, squared blocks of rouj.'h-face granite, laid dry. an<l occasionally haviiijf ornamental courses in herring-bone or chevron pattern. The walls are very thick, in some places standing over thirtj- feet, and tlie coursing and broken joints show fair skill in masonry. The elliptical ruin has several gate- ways, the interior is broken by walls into a labyrinth, and in a central space arc an altar and two remarkable round towers, the latter built solid. Jlonoliths of rough, unhewn blocks of granite, set in the ground, occur in these ruins, and in some cases the monoliths are set upright on the top of the wall. The hill fort consists of curving walls built among gigantic granite bould- ers, forming a maze above a cliff 00 feet high, and is Hanked on the accessible side by a wall 36 feet high and 13 feet thick at the top. Around the rude altar in the temple ruins were found phallic emblems, birds, and decorated bowls carved from soapstone. Remains of gold smelt- ing furnaces with crucibles and pottery blow- pi])cs, and stone ingot molds, Avere discovered, and glass beads, celadon pottery, Persian pottery, and Arabic glass occurred in the ruins. Spearheads and arrowheads, battle-axes, bells, chisels, spades, and other tools were taken out. The ruins may be ascribed to the pre-Mohammedan Arabs, prob- ably of the Saba;o-Hiniyaritic period, so that there is good reason for locating the Land of Ophir in this region. The Mashonas are a Bantu negro people, whom the JIatabeles have driven to live in hill forts overlooking their fields. They are peaceful agri- culturists, raising corn, sweet potatoes, rice, to- bacco, and Indian hemp. They have herds of cat- tle and goats, and a common occupation is hunt- ing for gpld. The JIashonas are of chocolate brown color, above the average height, slender in build, and the young women have good figures and are graceful. The men wear bracelets of buffalo hide, necklaces of bone and claws of gazelle hoofs, and aprons of leather interwoven with Ijeads of iron and brass. Their headdress is of feathers and their coiffure is elaborate. The two front teeth are filed to a V-shape. The wom- en shave their heads, but young girls string beads on their hair. They wear aprons, and their bodies are decoratetl with raised tattocjing. The warriors carry three assagais, a club, shield and battle-axe. The bow and arrow are also used. They are skill- ful iron smelters and workers, using the double bellows and working out implements and weapons with stone tools. They also make pottery, wooden dishes, and bark cloth. They smoke and snuff tobacco and use the narcotic hemp to excess. Travelers remark on their fondness for heat; many are disfigured from scorching caused by sleeping too near the great fires. Their musical instruments are the African harp, jewsharp. and drum. Consult: Kerr. The Far Interior (Lon- don. ISSn) : Bent, The Ruined Cities of ^fnsJwnn- land (London, ISO.'?) : Knight-Bruce. Memories of Mnnhonrilnnrl (London. ISO.'i) : With Rhodes in Mashonal/ind. translated by Dr. Waal (Cape Town, 1806) : Brown. On the' f^outh African Fron- tier (New York, 1809). See Matabeleland. Vol. XIII.— lu. MASTNIS'SA (c.230-148 B.C.). King of the JIassylians, in Numidia. He was educated at Carthage, and in B.C. 213 induced his father to form a league with the Carthaginians, with whom he fought against Syphax, King of the Jlassa;- sylians, the ally of the Komans. He then passed over into Spain at the head of a troop of Numid- ian cavahy, and displayed great zeal and valor in the war against Rome. But the victory of the Romans at Silpia in B.C. 206, and (so the story goes) the action of tlie Carthaginians in giving Sophonisba, the beautiful daughter of Hasdrubal (son of Cisco), who had been prom- ised him in marriage, as wife to his old rival Syphax, led ilasinissa to enter into an alliance with the Romans. The Carthaginians incited Syphax to make war upon him. Defeated and stripped of his sovereignty, which he had just inherited from his father, he was compelled to seek refuge on the coast of Syrtis, where he brave- ly defended himself until the arrival of Scipio in B.C. 20-1. when he identified his cause with that of the Romans. He defeated Syphax, overran his country, captured his capital, and took prisoner his Queen. Sophonisba, whom Masinissa still loved. Seipio, who feared the influence of the Carthaginian princess, demanded her surrender as a captive of war, and Masinissa, to spare her the shame, gave her poison to drink. In the de- cisive battle of Zama, wiiich followed the arrival of Hannibal in Africa (B.C. 202), he made a brilliant charge at the head of his Xumidian liorse, drove the cavalry of Hannibal from the field, and was the first to turn the tide of battle against the Carthaginians. For this service he received the kingdom of Syphax in the following year. He now profited by the leisure which peace afforded him, devoting his attention to the or- ganization of his government and to the civilizing of his semi-barbarous subjects. But his lust of conquest was never satiated. He made con- tinuous inroads into the territory of Carthage, and' liis de])redations finally drove the Cartha- ginians to war (B.C. 150), an event which the Romans seized on as a welcome pretext for in- tervening and utterly crushing their ancient rival. MASK (Fr. inas<iue, from Sp. mdscara, from Ar. miislch(ir<it. bulToun, mask, fi-om sakhnra. to ridicule). A disguise or covering of the face, worn either to aid in the sinuilation of some character or for other purposes, as in the rites of savage people for the frightening away of demons or even protecting the faces of the dead. The use of masks in the drama originated perhaps in the harvest festivities of the most ancient CJreek peasantry, appearing subsequently to have been associated with the representation of Satyrs, Si- lenns, and Bacchus in the orgies of Bacchus. In CJreek tragedy, which was an outgrowth from these, masks were used from the first, and in comedy at least at a later day. Regular types of masks were developed for the different char- acters in tragedy and comedy, expressive of fixed emotions. They were often provided with metal- lic mouthpieces for the purpose of increasing the power of the voice, as was made necessary bythe great size and openness of the ancient theatres. Their use indeed was adapted both to the vastness of the buildings and to a formal style of dramatic representation in which the ideal prevailed over any reality of individual impersonation. In the modern theatre the use of masks, coming down