The Neolithic
Temples of Malta
The Tarxien Temples | Hagar Qim | Mnajdra Temples | The Hypogeum | Ggantija Temples
These are certainly the most
beautifully decorated and the largest temples. It is, in fact, a
temple complex. These beautiful temples lie in the village of
Tarxien not far from the Hypogeum. These temples may be
considered as the cathedral of megalithic culture in Europe. The
perfect architectural discipline of especially the middle temple
of Tarxien surpasses in beauty and perfection all the other
megalithic temples of the Maltese islands. Here one sees an
almost geometrical pattern. With their beautiful spiral motifs
and dot motifs, the Tarxien temples are undoubtedly the most
beautifully decorated temples. This monument consists of four
buildings. The megalithic remains of Tarxien were discovered in
1914 under one meter of earth, by chance by stone masons. The
stone-masons could not dig further and the Museums Department was
called in. Excavations started in 1915 by Sir Temi Zammit a
Maltese archaeologist. At the entrance on the left is a plan
showing the order of the layers as they were excavated. The
layers were found in this order. At the bottom were found only
paving stones. On top was fine grey soil - dating back to
Neolithic man. On top of this was found black ashy soil belong to
the Bronze Age Necropolis. Then were found stone chippings and on
top field soil dating back from Punic times till the present day.
Another interesting plan to be seen before one actually goes into
the temple is a plan showing the temples in the order they were
built. The middle temple is the only temple in the megalithic
culture in Malta with three pairs of apsides. Interesting about
the Tarxien temples is the fact that they were used as a temple
or place of worship by the Copper Age Man and 1000 years later
approximately 2500 BC as a burial place by the Bronze Age Man.
Just before one enters the
temple one can see on the left several spherical stones of
different sizes. These stones were used to transport the heavy
stones from the quarry to the building site. The first temple one
enters is the third temple that was built, dating back to 3300
years before Christ. This temple has a typical trilithon entrance
with two vertical stones and a horizontal one on top and a
slightly concave facade.
As one walks further in, one comes
across an enormous half statue of the fat lady which is the
symbol of fertility. It is probably to the Goddess of Fertility
that these temples were erected. These people saw in mother
nature, the mother who gave them their children and their food.
According to the findings, these temples were never used for the
sacrificing of humans but only for the sacrificing of animals,
mainly goat, sheep and ram. On one stone relief is carved a
picture of these animals, which according to historians, might
have served as animals of sacrifice. One can notice here also
several altars and decorated stones with dots and spiral motifs.
In all the temples spiral motifs be seen. According to
archaeologists, these people believed in a life after death and
hence the spiral motif which means a continuation of life.
Somewhat to the right of the next entrance to the next room is an
altar with a dainty spiral motif. During excavations, were found
in the niche above the altar, pottery, bones and horns of
animals. A flint knife was found in a part of the altar below.
These people decorated the stone with instruments made of flint,
obsidian (a hard volcanic stone brought by copper-age man from
Sicily as Malta was never volcanic), and hard bones of animals.
Most of the decorated stones in Tarxien as well as the statue of
the fat lady are not originals, but copies. The originals are
kept in the National Museum in Republic Street, Valletta. On some
of the vertical stones one can see loop-holes. These could have
been used for the tethering of the animals before the animals
were taken up to the altar of sacrifice. The Chapel served as the
Holy of Holies. It was only the High Priest or Priestess, who
could enter the temple. The people waited on the outside of the
temple and they could ask for advise or may be interpretation of
their dreams through the oracle. As one goes further in the
temple, one can see a relief in stone which looks like two eyes.
On the left room as an enormous stone vessel which is still in
original form. It could have been used for the saving of water or
for very special rituals. To the right is the entrance to a small
room. In this small room are stone relief of animals. One shows a
sow with 13 piglets and another stone relief showing a bull whose
upper half is badly damaged. The meaning archaeologists give is
that the bull represents strength, whilst the cow represents
fertility and hence the 13 pigs.
Further in one will notice that
the stones are rather brownish in color. The reason being that
this is the part that was used as a crematorium by the Copper-age
man. In the middle is a hearth which could also have been used
for herbs to take off the bad smell from the burning animals. An
interesting feature of our temples is that the entrances were
always uncovered. The reason being so that the smoke of the
animals could escape and the daylight could enter as well. On the
other hand, it is thought that the apsides were always covered on
top. The building of the apsides in the temples is always in a
corbelled shape. The horizontal slabs move gradually further and
further inwards to form a dome. Then the top must have been
covered with either leather or some thatch. Also on the vertical
stones of the entrance to the various rooms are holes which could
have been used for a leather door which could then be secured by
some vertical object. In order to reach the last room one must go
through an entrance. Even here can one can see a repetition of
the main entrance, i.e. a trilithon.
The first temple to be built
here in Tarxien dates back to the Ggantija phase i.e. 3300 BC.
This temple is built out of rough stones. This part is quite
independent of the other monuments. The remains we see here could
have been used as dwelling places. Here there are no entrances.
Items out of burnt loam, flint
and stone as well as personal jewelry were found in large
quantities in Tarxien. In the upper layer were items from Copper
and Bronze Age such as daggers and beautifully decorated urns
with dainty dot and zigzag motifs with ashes. The pottery found
in Tarxien is also the most beautiful. All these things
contribute to the unique beauty and magnificence of these temples
and therefore one can say that the Tarxien Temples are the most
beautiful prehistoric remains in Europe.
These temples are dated between 3300 -
3000 BC. Hagar Qim means 'standing stones' because before they
were excavated this site, all one could see was the top part of
these huge stones. Some of the stones are over 5 meters high. The
Hagar Qim temples enjoy a unique position. They are built on high
ground with a beautiful view reaching as far as Filfla (Malta's
smallest island). These temples lie near the village of Zurrieq
and the Blue Grotto. The temples were discovered in 1839 and in
1855 excavations were started under the leadership of A. Caruana.
The precision of the vertical and horizontal stones show the
amazing care and skill with which these stones were quarried and
then erected. Geometry and mathematics were normal practice for
the megalithic temple-builder when he erected these beautiful
temples. Their stonework is probably a portrayal of the way the
sun rises and sets. At certain times of the year, like the
equinox, the sun shines directly on the main altar. Seven statues
depicting the goddess of fertility were found in Hagar Qim. Deep
in Hagar Qim was found an altar and the only one of its kind in
copper-age Malta. This altar is built on a pillar. The pillar has
four sides and these four sides show a plant growing out of a
flower pot. This motif is unique to the Maltese megalithic art.
Some authors describe the plant as the tree of life. Another
interesting thing found in Hagar Qim is an altar, in fact two
altars, in the shape of a mushroom. The edge is somewhat raised
to prevent the running off of the blood of the sacrificed. The
pillar of the altar has a loop hole where the animal that was
going to be sacrificed was tethered. Yet another interesting item
found here in Hagar Qim is a very small statue only a few
centimeters high known as 'the Venus of Malta'. It shows a nude
lady standing up. This is perhaps one indication why it was a
goddess and not a god that these prehistoric people
worshipped.
From the outside these temples
have a typical, somewhat concave, facade with a trilithon
entrance consisting of two vertical and one horizontal stone.
Here and there one can see loop-holes, which could have been used
for the tethering of the animals, and holes in the sides, which
could have been used to secure a door of some sort. In Hagar Qim,
like in Tarxien, the apses were built to form a dome. The
horizontal slabs were built as in Tarxien in a Corbelled system.
The stones form themselves in a semi-circular dome.
These temples are only 500
meters to the south of the Hagar Qim Temples. They are built at
the same time but are mostly of hard coralline limestone, unlike
Hagar Qim, which was built of soft globigerina limestone.
Interesting about the Mnajdra Temple is that the temple has three
apsides built in a clover-shape. This is not the only one.
Ggantija in Gozo also has clover shaped temples with three
apsides. Some archaeologists interpret this as the present, past
and future (or birth, life and death).
The Hypogeum is dated
approximately 3000 BC. It was not built but hewn out of living
rock over an area of 145 square kilometers. It is approximately
100 meters away from the Tarxien Temples.
The word Hypogeum originates
from a Greek word and means 'under the earth'. It is an
underground temple that was always excavated deeper and deeper.
The Hypogeum of Hal Saflieni is the only place to be used as
a burial place and at the same time as a temple. The oracle room
witnesses this. This underground temple has the same trilithon
entrance like the temples that were built outside. The Hypogeum
was also discovered by chance.
To get to it one goes down a
winding stairs. In this room were found amulets and bones. Both
archaeologists Trump and Evans maintain that the Hypogeum was
reserved for special people. One can see here spiral motifs and
designs made of red ochre. Approximately a meter away from the
trilithon structure was found a hole with a statue of the fat
lady, but without a head. Two heads were also found which could
have belonged to the statue. It could also be that this hole was
used for the collection of alms. One must point out that even in
the Ggantija temples in Gozo statues were found and separate
heads were found as well. It could be that the head was changed
either according to the season or when a different goddess was
elected. When the statue was found without a head in most cases
there was always a hole in the neck where one could fit a head.
These statues and the heads were made out of globigerina
limestone. Going down more steps is another room. Bones of
animals which were probably used for sacrifice were found in this
room. Trump suggests that this room could have been used for
storage. The large stone above is one whole solid block. Here at
the entrance is where the statue of the sleeping lady was found.
She represents a priestess and lay here to give interpretation to
prophetic dreams.
Further on is the Holy of
Holies with libation holes used for the collection of blood of
the sacrificed animals. The holes were covered and in them was
found a paid of horns that belonged to goats. The facade is
concave like most of the temples outside and the horizontal
blocks were built in a corbelled system. One can also admire here
the outline of a bull and also recognize another shape of a black
hand and another hand. Another trilithon survived intact. Before,
the whole ceiling of the Hypogeum was decorated with red crosses.
The small holes in the ceiling were made close to each other. One
must remember that no metal tools were used. The items found here
were sharp bones and other tools made out of flint as well as
pieces of coralline limestone which could have been used as a
hammer. By going down three steps one reaches the oracle room. In
this room were found pieces of skeletons. The Hypogeum is unique
in Europe.
Prehistoric diggers using flint blades, sharpened bones
and local coralline rock hammers dug out of the live rock various
chambers in which fertility rites could be practised together
with the inter-related Death cult. Red ochre branching spiral
designs decorate the ceiling of both main chambers and a few of
the subsidiary cells. The paintings denote the tree of life: the
symbol representing life, prosperity and a source of
nourishment.
These temples are dated between
3600 - 3000 BC. They are situated on the northern side of the
hilly plateau known as ix-Xaghra in Gozo. They were excavated in
1827 although one knew of their existence some time before. In
1829 two years later a German artist by the name of Von
Brockdorff painted a series of watercolors of the temple area.
These pictures are very important as they show stones and reliefs
that through weathering have been destroyed. These pictures are
also the only report we have that show the excavations.
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- Ggantija Temples -
inner apse
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The Ggantija Temples have a
concave facade and the temple-builders built a platform outside
for the people. They laid big stones and then it was covered with
crushed earth (torba). The word Ggantija means gigantic or huge
and here one can really appreciate this word. The Ggantija
Temples consist of two separate buildings with separate entrances
but with a common outside wall at the back. These temples are
still in a very good state. They were built with a mixture of
coralline and globigerina limestone. The oldest temple has three
rooms with three apsides and dates back to 3600 BC. The one in
front of it still forming part of the first building, consists of
two rooms with two apsides. These two rooms were built in 3300
BC, 200 years after the first temple. These dates are all
according to radio-carbon analysis. Like in other temples in
Malta there are loop-holes for tethering and holes where a door
might have stood.
To go in the second temple one
has to go out of the first building. This temple was built in
3000 BC. This temple consists of four rooms with four apsides and
a niche in the middle. The rooms at the back are smaller than the
rooms at the front. The common wall is most interesting. There
are quarries in Gozo as well so it is little wonder that copper
age man built temples here too.
As a final note on the temples
one must point out that these buildings could not be the work of
one entire family for each place. Some of the stones have a
weight of 20 tons and one would need 40 men to carry the huge
blocks from the quarry site to the place where the temple was
going to be built.
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