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Malta - the island of Neolithic culture and megalithic temples |
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Written by jane69
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Monday, 11 April 2005 |
 | | Hagar Qim |
All the various period of Malta’s history make fascinating reading, but there is one particular period – the Neolithic period.
Until recently, the Egyptian pyramids were thought to be the oldest architectural monuments in existence. Recent archaeological research however, has shown that the earliest Neolithic temples on Malta are about 1000 years older than the famous pyramids of Giza. Huge rocks, several tons in weight were used in the construction of these temples. Even with modern techniques and tools this would not be an easy task today. How these enormous loads were moved, or even lifted, 5000 or 6000 years ago, remains a mystery.
 | | Ggantija temple |
The earliest temples, such as the one at Ggantija on Gozo, near Xaghra, were built by the piling of huge rocks on top of each other. They did not have any carving or decoration. The temples´ gigantic rocks weigh several tons and those used in the outer walls reach as high as 20 feet. According to local legend, a female giant called Sunsuna carried the rocks on her head from Ta’Cenc, a considerable distance away. The temples are considered to be oldest freestanding stone construction in the world. The Ggantija megalithic temples were built around 3 500 B.C., a thousand years before the earliest pyramid in Egypt (around 2800 BC) and Stonehenge in England (around 2400 BC). | | Hagar Qim temple |
Later temples, such as the one at Hagar Qim, in Malta were made of huge stones fitting very closely together and ornately decorated. Carving was done with only very primitive flint and obsidian tools. No archaeological remains made of metals from this period have been discovered on Malta. One theory is that this prehistoric people did not use metal because they foresaw, in its use, their own future destruction.
 | | Blue Grotto on Malta |
The subterranean burial place at Malta’s Hal Saflieni, the so-called Hypogeum, is an even more astonishing relic and its accidental discovery in 1902 caused quite a sensation in world archaeological circles. The temple must have been literally carved into the rocks over hundreds of years with simple tools made from flint and obsidian. Starting at ground level the Hypogeum descends several storeys below ground and covers an area of more than 1 640 sq feet. The Hypogeum was certainly a place of worship and burial – and could also have been used as a place for the training of priestesses. A number of relics support this hypothesis.
 | | Cart ruts |
All trace of the mysterious people who built the Hypogeum disappeared suddenly around 2000 B.C. – at the height of their culture. How this peaceful people disappeared we will never know. It remains pure speculation as to whether conquerors with modern metal weapons wiped out this unarmed, unfortified people, or whether a sudden epidemic destroyed all human life on Malta for centuries. Equally strange and mysterious are the cart ruts found on many of the rocky ridges in Malta. These cart ruts etched deep into the hard rock and leading off the cliffs edge or continue into the sea and also under the water in ocean. The most popular theory is that these were made by primitive slide-carts used before the invention of the wheel.
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Last Updated ( Sunday, 18 December 2005 )
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