Megalithic Temples of Malta
Encyclopedia
The Megalithic Temples of Malta are a series of prehistoric monuments in Malta
of which seven are UNESCO World Heritage Sites. Archaeologists believe that these megalithic complexes are the result of local innovations in a process of cultural evolution. This led to the building of several temples of the Ġgantija phase (3600-3000 BC), culminating in the large Tarxien temple complex
, which remained in use until 2500 BC. After this date, the temple building culture disappeared.
The Ġgantija
temples (two sites) were listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1980. In 1992, the UNESCO Committee further extended the existing listing to include five other megalithic temple sites. These are Ħaġar Qim (in Qrendi
), Mnajdra
(in Qrendi) , Ta' Ħaġrat Temples (in Mġarr
), Skorba Temples
(in Żebbiegħ) and Tarxien Temples
(in Tarxien
). Nowadays, the sites are managed by Heritage Malta
, while ownership of the surrounding lands varies from site to site. They are the oldest free-standing structures on Earth
.
Other sites apart from those included in the UNESCO World Heritage list include Borġ in-Nadur
< (in Birżebbuġa
), Kordin III, Il-Bidni, Xemxija Temple, Hal Ginwi Temples, Tal-Quadi (fr, ru), Ta' Marżiena, Ta' Raddiena, L-Imramma Temple, Buggiba, Santa Verna, Tas-Silġ
(in Żejtun
) and a complex network of tracks gouged in the rock Misraħ Għar il-Kbir (in Dingli
) and other.
Many of the names used to refer to the different sites carry a link with the stones used for their building. The Maltese word
for boulders, 'ħaġar' is common to Ta’ Ħaġrat and Ħaġar Qim. While the former uses the word in conjunction with the marker of possession, the latter adds the word 'Qim' , which is either a form of the Maltese word for 'worship' or an archaic
form of the word meaning 'standing'.
Maltese folklore
describes giants
as having built the temples, which led to the name Ġgantija, meaning 'Giants’ tower' . The Maltese linguist Joseph Aquilina
believed that Mnajdra was the diminutive of 'mandra' , meaning a plot of ground planted with cultivated trees; however he also named the arbitrary derivation from the Arabic
root 'manzara' , meaning 'a place with commanding views.' The Tarxien temples owe their name to the locality where they were found (from Tirix, meaning a large stone), as were the remains excavated at Skorba.
The temples were the result of several phases of construction, from circa 3000 to 2200 BC; there is evidence of human activity in the islands since the Early Neolithic Period (ca. 5000 BC), testified by pottery shards, charred remains of fires and bones. The dating and understanding of the various phases of activity in the temples is not easy. The main problem found is that the sites themselves are evolutionary in nature, in that each successive temple brought with it further refinement to architectural development.
Furthermore, in some cases, later Bronze-age peoples built their own sites over the Neolithic temples, thus adding an element of confusion to early researchers who did not have modern dating technology. Sir Temi Żammit
, an eminent Maltese archaeologist of the late nineteenth century, had dated the Neolithic temples to 2800 BC and the Tarxien Bronze Age
culture to 2000 BC. These dates were considered "considerably too high" by scholars, who proposed a reduction of half a millennium each. However, radiocarbon testing favoured Żammit’s dating. A theory that the temple art was connected with an Aegean
-derived culture collapsed with this proof of the temples' elder origins.
, has split the period up to the Bronze Age
in Malta into eleven distinct phases. The first evidence of human habitation in the Neolithic occurred in the Għar Dalam phase, in c. 5000 BC. The Temple period, from c. 4100 BC to roughly 2500 BC, produced the most notable monumental remains. This period is split into five phases, however the first two of these left mostly pottery shards. The next three phases, starting from the Ġgantija phase, begins in c. 3600 BC, and the last, the Tarxien phase, ends in c. 2500 BC.
is named after the Ġgantija
site in Gozo
. It represents an important development in the cultural evolution of neolithic man on the islands. To this date belong the earliest datable temples and the first two, if not three, of the stages of development in their ground plan: the lobed or kidney-shaped plan found in Mġarr
east, the trefoil plan evident in Skorba, Kordin and various minor sites, and the five-apsed plan Ġgantija South, Tarxien East.
constitutes a transitional phase between two major periods of development. Its name derives from the site of the Hypogeum of Ħal-Saflieni.This period carried forward the same characteristics of the Ġgantija pottery shapes, but it also introduces new biconical bowls.
The Tarxien phase
marks the peak of the temple civilisation. This phase is named after the temple-complex at Tarxien, a couple of kilometres inland from the Grand Harbour
. To it belong the last two stages in the development of the temple plan. The western temple at Ġgantija represents, along with other units in Tarxien, Ħaġar Qim and L-Imnajdra, the penultimate stage in development, that is, the introduction of a shallow niche instead of an apse at the far end of the temple. The final stage is testified in only one temple, the central unit at Tarxien, with its three symmetrical pairs of apses. The Temple culture reached its climax in this period, both in terms of the craftsmanship of pottery, as well as in sculptural decoration, both free-standing and in relief.
Spiral reliefs resembling those at Tarxien once adorned the Ġgantija temples, but have faded to a level where they are only clearly recognisable in a series of drawings made by the artist Charles de Brochtorff in 1829, immediately after the temples’ excavation. The Tarxien phase is characterised by a rich variety of pottery
forms and decorative techniques. Most shapes tend to be angular, with almost no handles or lugs. The clay
tends to be well prepared and fired very hard, while the surface of the scratched ware is also highly polished. This scratched decoration remains standard, but it becomes more elaborate and elegant, the most popular motif being a kind of volute
.
The Maltese temple complexes were built in different locations, and over a wide span of years; while each individual site has its unique characteristics, they all share a common architecture. The approach to the temples lies on an oval forecourt
, levelled by terracing if the terrain is sloping. The forecourt is bounded on one side by the temples’ own façade
s, which faces south or south-east. The monuments’ façades and internal walls are made up of orthostats, a row of large stone slabs laid on end.
The centre of the façades is usually interrupted by an entrance doorway forming a trilithon
, a pair of orthostats surmounted by a massive lintel slab. Further trilithons form a passage, which is always paved in stone. This in turn opens onto an open space, which then gives way to the next element, a pair of D-shaped chambers, usually referred to as ‘apse
s’, opening on both sides of the passage. The space between the apses’ walls and the external boundary wall is usually filled with loose stones and earth, sometimes containing cultural debris including pottery
shards.
The main variation in the temples lies in the number of apses found; this may vary to three, four, five or six. If three, they open directly from the central court in a trefoil
fashion. In cases of more complex temples, a second axial passage is built, using the same trilithon construction, leading from the first set of apses into another later pair, and either a fifth central or a niche
giving the four or five apsial form. In one case, at the Tarxien central temple, the fifth apse or niche is replaced by a further passage, leading to a final pair of apses, making six in all. With the standard temple plan, found in some thirty temples across the islands, there is a certain amount of variation both in the number of apses, and in the overall length – ranging from 6.5m in the Mnajdra east temple to 23m in the six-apsed Tarxien central temple.
The external walls were usually built of coralline limestone, which is harder than the globigerina limestone used in the internal sections of the temples. The softer globigerina was used for decorative elements within the temples, usually carvings. These features are usually sculpted in relief, and they show a variety of designs linked to vegetative or animal symbol
ism. These usually depict running spiral motifs, trees and plants as well as a selection of animals. Although in their present form the temples are unroofed, a series of unproven theories regarding possible ceiling and roof structures have been debated for several years.
The Ġgantija temples stand at the end of the Xagħra plateau
, facing towards the south-east. Its presence was known for a very long time, and even before any excavations were carried out a largely correct plan of its layout was drawn by Jean-Pierre Hoüel
in the late eighteenth century. In 1827, the site was cleared of debris – the soil and remains being lost without proper examination. The loss resulting from this clearance was partially compensated by the German artist Brochtorff, who painted the site within a year or two from the removal of the debris. This is the only practical record of the clearance.
A boundary wall encloses the two temples. The southerly one is the elder, and is better preserved. The plan of the temple incorporates five large apses, with traces of the plaster that once covered the irregular wall still clinging between the blocks.
is on the eastern outskirts of the village, roughly one kilometer from the Ta' Skorba temples
. The remains consist of a double temple, made up of two adjacent complexes, both in the shape of a trefoil. The two parts are both less regularly planned and smaller in size than many of the other neolithic temples in Malta, and no blocks are decorated. Sir Temi Żammit excavated the site in 1925-27. A village on the site that pre-dates the temples by centuries has provided plentiful examples of what is now known as Mġarr phase pottery.
The oldest structure is the eleven metre long straight wall to the west of the temples’ first entrance. The deposit against it contained material from the first known human occupation of the island, the Għar Dalam phase. Among the domestic deposits found in this material, which included charcoal and carbonised grain, there were several fragments of daub, accidentally baked. The charcoal fragments were then radiocarbon dated, and their age analysis stood at 4850 BC.
Ħaġar Qim stands on a ridge some two kilometers away from the villages of Qrendi
and Siggiewi
. Its builders used the soft globigerina limestone that caps the ridge to construct the temple. One can clearly see the effects of this choice in the outer southern wall, where the great orthostats are exposed to the sea-winds. Here the temple has suffered from severe weathering and surface flaking over the centuries.
The temple’s façade is typical, with a trilithon entrance, a bench and orthostats. It has a wide forecourt, with a retaining wall, through which a passage runs through the middle of the building. This entrance passage and first court follow the common, though considerably modified, Maltese megalithic design. A separate entrance gives access to four enclosures, which are independent of each other and replace The north-westerly apse.
L-Imnajdra temples lies in a hollow 500 metres from Ħaġar Qim. It is another complex site in its own right, and it is centred on a near circular forecourt. Three adjacent temples overlook it from one side, while a terrace from the other separates it from a steep slope that runs down to the sea. The first buildings on the right are small irregular chambers, similar to the enclosures in Ħaġar Qim. Then there is a small trefoil temple, dating from the Ġgantija phase, with pitted decorations. Its unusual triple entrance was copied on a larger scale in the second temple. The middle temple was actually the last to be built, inserted between the others in the Tarxien phase, after 3100 BC. It has four apses and a niche.
The third temple, built early in the Tarxien phase and so second in date, opens on the court at a lower level. It has a markedly concave façade, with a bench, orthostats and trilithon entrance.
The southern temple is oriented astronomically aligned with the rising sun during solstice
s and equinox
es; during the summer solstice the first rays of sunlight light up the edge of a decorated megalith between the first apses, while during the winter solstice
the same effect occurs on a megalith in the opposite apse. During the equinox, the rays of the rising sun pass straight through the principal doorway to reach the innermost central niche.
The south and east temples were built in the Tarxien phase, between 3150 and 2500 BC. The second one has three parallel semi-circular apses, connected by a large passage; the third one has two parallel sets of apses with a passage in a direction parallel to that of the first temple. The first temple is solidly built with large stones, of which some are roughly dressed. The walls are laid with great accuracy, and are very imposing in their simplicity. The second temple is more elaborately constructed, the walls being finished with greater care, some of the standing slabs being decorated with flat raised spirals. In one of the chambers, two bulls and a sow are cut in low relief across one of the walls. The third temple has a carelessly-built frame, but most of its standing stones are richly decorated with carved patterns.
Malta
Malta , officially known as the Republic of Malta , is a Southern European country consisting of an archipelago situated in the centre of the Mediterranean, south of Sicily, east of Tunisia and north of Libya, with Gibraltar to the west and Alexandria to the east.Malta covers just over in...
of which seven are UNESCO World Heritage Sites. Archaeologists believe that these megalithic complexes are the result of local innovations in a process of cultural evolution. This led to the building of several temples of the Ġgantija phase (3600-3000 BC), culminating in the large Tarxien temple complex
Tarxien Temples
The Tarxien Temples are an archaeological complex in Tarxien, Malta. They date back to approximately 2800 BC. The site was accepted as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1980 along with the other Megalithic temples on the island of Malta.-Description:...
, which remained in use until 2500 BC. After this date, the temple building culture disappeared.
The Ġgantija
Ggantija
Ġgantija is a Neolithic, megalithic temple complex on the Mediterranean island of Gozo. The Ġgantija temples are the earliest of a series of megalithic temples in Malta. Their makers erected the two Ġgantija temples during the Neolithic Age , which makes these temples more than 5500 years old and...
temples (two sites) were listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1980. In 1992, the UNESCO Committee further extended the existing listing to include five other megalithic temple sites. These are Ħaġar Qim (in Qrendi
Qrendi
Qrendi is a small village in the southwest of Malta, with a population of 2,527 people . It isġ near Mqabba and Żurrieq. Within its boundaries are two well-known Neolithic temples called Mnajdra and Ħaġar Qim. In this village two feasts are held annually...
), Mnajdra
Mnajdra
Mnajdra is a megalithic temple complex found on the southern coast of the Mediterranean island of Malta. Mnajdra is approximately 500 metres from the Ħaġar Qim megalithic complex...
(in Qrendi) , Ta' Ħaġrat Temples (in Mġarr
Mgarr
Mġarr or Imġarr, formerly known as Mgiarro, is a small town in the northwest of the mainland of Malta. Mgarr is a typical rural village situated in an isolated region, west of Mosta. It is surrounded with rich farmland and vineyards...
), Skorba Temples
Skorba Temples
The Skorba temples are megalithic remains on the northern edge of Żebbiegħ, in Malta, which have provided detailed and informative insight into the earliest periods of Malta's neolithic culture. The site was only excavated in the early sixties, rather late in comparison to other megalithic sites,...
(in Żebbiegħ) and Tarxien Temples
Tarxien Temples
The Tarxien Temples are an archaeological complex in Tarxien, Malta. They date back to approximately 2800 BC. The site was accepted as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1980 along with the other Megalithic temples on the island of Malta.-Description:...
(in Tarxien
Tarxien
-Etymology:Ħal Tarxien is a small village in the south east of Malta. The etymology of the village may be a corruption of Tirix, meaning a large stone, similar to those used for the village's noted temples. The village motto is Tyrii Genure Coloni .-Population:Today, the village is inhabited by...
). Nowadays, the sites are managed by Heritage Malta
Heritage Malta
Heritage Malta is the Maltese national agency for museums, conservation practice and cultural heritage. Created by the Cultural Heritage Act, enacted in 2002, the national agency replaced the former Museums Department....
, while ownership of the surrounding lands varies from site to site. They are the oldest free-standing structures on Earth
Earth
Earth is the third planet from the Sun, and the densest and fifth-largest of the eight planets in the Solar System. It is also the largest of the Solar System's four terrestrial planets...
.
Other sites apart from those included in the UNESCO World Heritage list include Borġ in-Nadur
Borġ in-Nadur
Borġ in-Nadur is a Tarxien megalithic temple in open fields, overlooking St George’s Bay, near Birzebbuga, Malta. The site is now closed to the public and its preservation is the responsibility of Heritage Malta...
< (in Birżebbuġa
Birzebbuga
Birżebbuġa is a small but flourishing seaside resort not far from Marsaxlokk in south-east Malta. It is approximately 8 miles from the City of Valletta. Popular among Maltese holiday-makers for decades, this village is perhaps best known for its important archaeological sites, especially Għar...
), Kordin III, Il-Bidni, Xemxija Temple, Hal Ginwi Temples, Tal-Quadi (fr, ru), Ta' Marżiena, Ta' Raddiena, L-Imramma Temple, Buggiba, Santa Verna, Tas-Silġ
Tas-Silġ
The Tas-Silġ is a rounded hilltop in Zejtun, Malta, overlooking the head of Marsaxlokk-Bay. Tas-Silġ is a multi-period sanctuary site covering all eras from Neolithic to the fourth century AD.-Description:...
(in Żejtun
Zejtun
Żejtun is a medium sized town in the south of Malta. Żejtun holds the title of Città Beland, which was bestowed by Ferdinand von Hompesch zu Bolheim, Grandmaster of Knights of Malta in 1797, Beland being his mother's surname....
) and a complex network of tracks gouged in the rock Misraħ Għar il-Kbir (in Dingli
Dingli
Ħad-Dingli is a village on the west coast of Malta, with a population of 3,326 persons , 13 kilometers from the capital Valletta and two kilometers from the nearest town, Rabat. The village lies on a plateau some 250 metres above sea level, which is one of the highest points of Malta...
) and other.
Etymology
Maltese language
Maltese is the national language of Malta, and a co-official language of the country alongside English,while also serving as an official language of the European Union, the only Semitic language so distinguished. Maltese is descended from Siculo-Arabic...
for boulders, 'ħaġar' is common to Ta’ Ħaġrat and Ħaġar Qim. While the former uses the word in conjunction with the marker of possession, the latter adds the word 'Qim' , which is either a form of the Maltese word for 'worship' or an archaic
Archaism
In language, an archaism is the use of a form of speech or writing that is no longer current. This can either be done deliberately or as part of a specific jargon or formula...
form of the word meaning 'standing'.
Maltese folklore
Folklore
Folklore consists of legends, music, oral history, proverbs, jokes, popular beliefs, fairy tales and customs that are the traditions of a culture, subculture, or group. It is also the set of practices through which those expressive genres are shared. The study of folklore is sometimes called...
describes giants
Giant (mythology)
The mythology and legends of many different cultures include monsters of human appearance but prodigious size and strength. "Giant" is the English word commonly used for such beings, derived from one of the most famed examples: the gigantes of Greek mythology.In various Indo-European mythologies,...
as having built the temples, which led to the name Ġgantija, meaning 'Giants’ tower' . The Maltese linguist Joseph Aquilina
Joseph Aquilina
Joseph Aquilina, LL.D., Ph.D. was a Maltese author and linguist born in Munxar.Aquilina graduated first as Bachelor of Arts and later as a lawyer from the University of Malta. Between 1937 and 1940 he read Comparative Semitic Philology at the University of London where he obtained a doctorate...
believed that Mnajdra was the diminutive of 'mandra' , meaning a plot of ground planted with cultivated trees; however he also named the arbitrary derivation from the Arabic
Arabic language
Arabic is a name applied to the descendants of the Classical Arabic language of the 6th century AD, used most prominently in the Quran, the Islamic Holy Book...
root 'manzara' , meaning 'a place with commanding views.' The Tarxien temples owe their name to the locality where they were found (from Tirix, meaning a large stone), as were the remains excavated at Skorba.
Dating
Furthermore, in some cases, later Bronze-age peoples built their own sites over the Neolithic temples, thus adding an element of confusion to early researchers who did not have modern dating technology. Sir Temi Żammit
Themistocles Zammit
Sir Themistocles Zammit was a Maltese archaeologist and historian, professor of chemistry, medical doctor, researcher and writer, serving as Rector of the Royal University of Malta and first Director of the National Museum of Archaeology in Valletta.-Career:After graduating in medicine from the...
, an eminent Maltese archaeologist of the late nineteenth century, had dated the Neolithic temples to 2800 BC and the Tarxien Bronze Age
Bronze Age
The Bronze Age is a period characterized by the use of copper and its alloy bronze as the chief hard materials in the manufacture of some implements and weapons. Chronologically, it stands between the Stone Age and Iron Age...
culture to 2000 BC. These dates were considered "considerably too high" by scholars, who proposed a reduction of half a millennium each. However, radiocarbon testing favoured Żammit’s dating. A theory that the temple art was connected with an Aegean
Aegean civilization
Aegean civilization is a general term for the Bronze Age civilizations of Greece around the Aegean Sea. There are three distinct but communicating and interacting geographic regions covered by this term: Crete, the Cyclades and the Greek mainland. Crete is associated with the Minoan civilization...
-derived culture collapsed with this proof of the temples' elder origins.
Temple phases
The development of the chronological phases, based on recalibrated radiocarbon datingRadiocarbon dating
Radiocarbon dating is a radiometric dating method that uses the naturally occurring radioisotope carbon-14 to estimate the age of carbon-bearing materials up to about 58,000 to 62,000 years. Raw, i.e. uncalibrated, radiocarbon ages are usually reported in radiocarbon years "Before Present" ,...
, has split the period up to the Bronze Age
Bronze Age
The Bronze Age is a period characterized by the use of copper and its alloy bronze as the chief hard materials in the manufacture of some implements and weapons. Chronologically, it stands between the Stone Age and Iron Age...
in Malta into eleven distinct phases. The first evidence of human habitation in the Neolithic occurred in the Għar Dalam phase, in c. 5000 BC. The Temple period, from c. 4100 BC to roughly 2500 BC, produced the most notable monumental remains. This period is split into five phases, however the first two of these left mostly pottery shards. The next three phases, starting from the Ġgantija phase, begins in c. 3600 BC, and the last, the Tarxien phase, ends in c. 2500 BC.
Ġgantija phase (3600–3200 BC)
The Ġgantija phaseGgantija phase
The Ġgantija phase owes its name to the Ġgantija Temples in Xagħra, Gozo. The Ġgantija phase is directly preceded by the Mġarr phase , and is characterized by a change in the way the prehistoric inhabitants of Malta lived...
is named after the Ġgantija
Ggantija
Ġgantija is a Neolithic, megalithic temple complex on the Mediterranean island of Gozo. The Ġgantija temples are the earliest of a series of megalithic temples in Malta. Their makers erected the two Ġgantija temples during the Neolithic Age , which makes these temples more than 5500 years old and...
site in Gozo
Gozo
Gozo is a small island of the Maltese archipelago in the Mediterranean Sea. The island is part of the Southern European country of Malta; after the island of Malta itself, it is the second-largest island in the archipelago...
. It represents an important development in the cultural evolution of neolithic man on the islands. To this date belong the earliest datable temples and the first two, if not three, of the stages of development in their ground plan: the lobed or kidney-shaped plan found in Mġarr
Mgarr
Mġarr or Imġarr, formerly known as Mgiarro, is a small town in the northwest of the mainland of Malta. Mgarr is a typical rural village situated in an isolated region, west of Mosta. It is surrounded with rich farmland and vineyards...
east, the trefoil plan evident in Skorba, Kordin and various minor sites, and the five-apsed plan Ġgantija South, Tarxien East.
Saflieni phase (3300–3000 BC)
The Saflieni phaseSaflieni phase
The Saflieni phase of Malta's prehistory was named after the Hypogeum of Ħal-Saflieni. The hypogeum and part of the Ta' Ħaġrat temple complex both date from this period....
constitutes a transitional phase between two major periods of development. Its name derives from the site of the Hypogeum of Ħal-Saflieni.This period carried forward the same characteristics of the Ġgantija pottery shapes, but it also introduces new biconical bowls.
Tarxien phase: (3150–2500 BC)
Tarxien phase
The Tarxien phase followed the Saflieni phase and typifies the last and most advanced period of temple building in prehistoric Malta...
marks the peak of the temple civilisation. This phase is named after the temple-complex at Tarxien, a couple of kilometres inland from the Grand Harbour
Grand Harbour
Grand Harbour is a natural harbour on the island of Malta. It has been used as a harbour since at least Phoenician times...
. To it belong the last two stages in the development of the temple plan. The western temple at Ġgantija represents, along with other units in Tarxien, Ħaġar Qim and L-Imnajdra, the penultimate stage in development, that is, the introduction of a shallow niche instead of an apse at the far end of the temple. The final stage is testified in only one temple, the central unit at Tarxien, with its three symmetrical pairs of apses. The Temple culture reached its climax in this period, both in terms of the craftsmanship of pottery, as well as in sculptural decoration, both free-standing and in relief.
Spiral reliefs resembling those at Tarxien once adorned the Ġgantija temples, but have faded to a level where they are only clearly recognisable in a series of drawings made by the artist Charles de Brochtorff in 1829, immediately after the temples’ excavation. The Tarxien phase is characterised by a rich variety of pottery
Pottery
Pottery is the material from which the potteryware is made, of which major types include earthenware, stoneware and porcelain. The place where such wares are made is also called a pottery . Pottery also refers to the art or craft of the potter or the manufacture of pottery...
forms and decorative techniques. Most shapes tend to be angular, with almost no handles or lugs. The clay
Clay
Clay is a general term including many combinations of one or more clay minerals with traces of metal oxides and organic matter. Geologic clay deposits are mostly composed of phyllosilicate minerals containing variable amounts of water trapped in the mineral structure.- Formation :Clay minerals...
tends to be well prepared and fired very hard, while the surface of the scratched ware is also highly polished. This scratched decoration remains standard, but it becomes more elaborate and elegant, the most popular motif being a kind of volute
Volute
A volute is a spiral scroll-like ornament that forms the basis of the Ionic order, found in the capital of the Ionic column. It was later incorporated into Corinthian order and Composite column capitals...
.
Architecture and Construction
Forecourt
In architecture a forecourt is an open area in front of a structure's entrance.In archaeology, forecourt is the name given to the area in front of certain types of chamber tomb...
, levelled by terracing if the terrain is sloping. The forecourt is bounded on one side by the temples’ own façade
Facade
A facade or façade is generally one exterior side of a building, usually, but not always, the front. The word comes from the French language, literally meaning "frontage" or "face"....
s, which faces south or south-east. The monuments’ façades and internal walls are made up of orthostats, a row of large stone slabs laid on end.
The centre of the façades is usually interrupted by an entrance doorway forming a trilithon
Trilithon
A trilithon is a structure consisting of two large vertical stones supporting a third stone set horizontally across the top . It is commonly used in the context of megalithic monuments...
, a pair of orthostats surmounted by a massive lintel slab. Further trilithons form a passage, which is always paved in stone. This in turn opens onto an open space, which then gives way to the next element, a pair of D-shaped chambers, usually referred to as ‘apse
Apse
In architecture, the apse is a semicircular recess covered with a hemispherical vault or semi-dome...
s’, opening on both sides of the passage. The space between the apses’ walls and the external boundary wall is usually filled with loose stones and earth, sometimes containing cultural debris including pottery
Pottery
Pottery is the material from which the potteryware is made, of which major types include earthenware, stoneware and porcelain. The place where such wares are made is also called a pottery . Pottery also refers to the art or craft of the potter or the manufacture of pottery...
shards.
The main variation in the temples lies in the number of apses found; this may vary to three, four, five or six. If three, they open directly from the central court in a trefoil
Trefoil
Trefoil is a graphic form composed of the outline of three overlapping rings used in architecture and Christian symbolism...
fashion. In cases of more complex temples, a second axial passage is built, using the same trilithon construction, leading from the first set of apses into another later pair, and either a fifth central or a niche
Niche (architecture)
A niche in classical architecture is an exedra or an apse that has been reduced in size, retaining the half-dome heading usual for an apse. Nero's Domus Aurea was the first semi-private dwelling that possessed rooms that were given richly varied floor plans, shaped with niches and exedras;...
giving the four or five apsial form. In one case, at the Tarxien central temple, the fifth apse or niche is replaced by a further passage, leading to a final pair of apses, making six in all. With the standard temple plan, found in some thirty temples across the islands, there is a certain amount of variation both in the number of apses, and in the overall length – ranging from 6.5m in the Mnajdra east temple to 23m in the six-apsed Tarxien central temple.
The external walls were usually built of coralline limestone, which is harder than the globigerina limestone used in the internal sections of the temples. The softer globigerina was used for decorative elements within the temples, usually carvings. These features are usually sculpted in relief, and they show a variety of designs linked to vegetative or animal symbol
Symbol
A symbol is something which represents an idea, a physical entity or a process but is distinct from it. The purpose of a symbol is to communicate meaning. For example, a red octagon may be a symbol for "STOP". On a map, a picture of a tent might represent a campsite. Numerals are symbols for...
ism. These usually depict running spiral motifs, trees and plants as well as a selection of animals. Although in their present form the temples are unroofed, a series of unproven theories regarding possible ceiling and roof structures have been debated for several years.
Ġgantija
Plateau
In geology and earth science, a plateau , also called a high plain or tableland, is an area of highland, usually consisting of relatively flat terrain. A highly eroded plateau is called a dissected plateau...
, facing towards the south-east. Its presence was known for a very long time, and even before any excavations were carried out a largely correct plan of its layout was drawn by Jean-Pierre Hoüel
Jean-Pierre-Louis-Laurent Hoüel
thumb|250px|Prise de la Bastille Jean-Pierre-Louis-Laurent Houël was a French painter, engraver and draftsman...
in the late eighteenth century. In 1827, the site was cleared of debris – the soil and remains being lost without proper examination. The loss resulting from this clearance was partially compensated by the German artist Brochtorff, who painted the site within a year or two from the removal of the debris. This is the only practical record of the clearance.
A boundary wall encloses the two temples. The southerly one is the elder, and is better preserved. The plan of the temple incorporates five large apses, with traces of the plaster that once covered the irregular wall still clinging between the blocks.
Ta’ Ħaġrat
The Ta' Ħaġrat temple in MġarrMgarr
Mġarr or Imġarr, formerly known as Mgiarro, is a small town in the northwest of the mainland of Malta. Mgarr is a typical rural village situated in an isolated region, west of Mosta. It is surrounded with rich farmland and vineyards...
is on the eastern outskirts of the village, roughly one kilometer from the Ta' Skorba temples
Skorba Temples
The Skorba temples are megalithic remains on the northern edge of Żebbiegħ, in Malta, which have provided detailed and informative insight into the earliest periods of Malta's neolithic culture. The site was only excavated in the early sixties, rather late in comparison to other megalithic sites,...
. The remains consist of a double temple, made up of two adjacent complexes, both in the shape of a trefoil. The two parts are both less regularly planned and smaller in size than many of the other neolithic temples in Malta, and no blocks are decorated. Sir Temi Żammit excavated the site in 1925-27. A village on the site that pre-dates the temples by centuries has provided plentiful examples of what is now known as Mġarr phase pottery.
Ta’ Skorba (Skorba)
The importance of this site lies less in the remains than in the information garnered from their excavations. This monument has a typical three-apsed shape of the Ġgantija phase, of which the greater part of the first two apses and the whole of the façade have been destroyed to ground level. What remains are the stone paving of the entrance passage, with its perforations, the torba floors, and a large upright slab of coralline limestone. The north wall is in better shape; originally the entrance opened on a court, but the doorway was later closed off in the Tarxien phase, with altars set in the corners formed by the closure. East of this temple, a second monument was added in the Tarxien phase, with four apses and a central niche. Before the temples were built, the area had supported a village over a period of roughly twelve centuries.The oldest structure is the eleven metre long straight wall to the west of the temples’ first entrance. The deposit against it contained material from the first known human occupation of the island, the Għar Dalam phase. Among the domestic deposits found in this material, which included charcoal and carbonised grain, there were several fragments of daub, accidentally baked. The charcoal fragments were then radiocarbon dated, and their age analysis stood at 4850 BC.
Ħaġar Qim
Qrendi
Qrendi is a small village in the southwest of Malta, with a population of 2,527 people . It isġ near Mqabba and Żurrieq. Within its boundaries are two well-known Neolithic temples called Mnajdra and Ħaġar Qim. In this village two feasts are held annually...
and Siggiewi
Siggiewi
Siġġiewi is a village and a local council in the southwestern part of Malta. It is situated on a plateau, a few kilometres away from Mdina, the ancient capital city of Malta, and 10 kilometres away from Valletta, the contemporary capital...
. Its builders used the soft globigerina limestone that caps the ridge to construct the temple. One can clearly see the effects of this choice in the outer southern wall, where the great orthostats are exposed to the sea-winds. Here the temple has suffered from severe weathering and surface flaking over the centuries.
The temple’s façade is typical, with a trilithon entrance, a bench and orthostats. It has a wide forecourt, with a retaining wall, through which a passage runs through the middle of the building. This entrance passage and first court follow the common, though considerably modified, Maltese megalithic design. A separate entrance gives access to four enclosures, which are independent of each other and replace The north-westerly apse.
L-Imnajdra
The third temple, built early in the Tarxien phase and so second in date, opens on the court at a lower level. It has a markedly concave façade, with a bench, orthostats and trilithon entrance.
The southern temple is oriented astronomically aligned with the rising sun during solstice
Solstice
A solstice is an astronomical event that happens twice each year when the Sun's apparent position in the sky, as viewed from Earth, reaches its northernmost or southernmost extremes...
s and equinox
Equinox
An equinox occurs twice a year, when the tilt of the Earth's axis is inclined neither away from nor towards the Sun, the center of the Sun being in the same plane as the Earth's equator...
es; during the summer solstice the first rays of sunlight light up the edge of a decorated megalith between the first apses, while during the winter solstice
Winter solstice
Winter solstice may refer to:* Winter solstice, astronomical event* Winter Solstice , former band* Winter Solstice: North , seasonal songs* Winter Solstice , 2005 American film...
the same effect occurs on a megalith in the opposite apse. During the equinox, the rays of the rising sun pass straight through the principal doorway to reach the innermost central niche.
Tarxien
The Tarxien temple complex is found some 400 metres to the east of the Hypogeum of Ħal-Saflieni. The three temples found here were seriously excavated in the early twentieth century by Temi Żammit. Unlike the other sites, this temple is bounded on all sides by modern urban development; however, this does not detract from its value. One enters into the first great forecourt of the southern temple, marked by its rounded façade and a cistern, which is attributed to the temple. The earliest temple to the north-east was built between 3600 and 3200 BC; it consisted of two parallel sets of semi-circular apses, with a passage in the middle.The south and east temples were built in the Tarxien phase, between 3150 and 2500 BC. The second one has three parallel semi-circular apses, connected by a large passage; the third one has two parallel sets of apses with a passage in a direction parallel to that of the first temple. The first temple is solidly built with large stones, of which some are roughly dressed. The walls are laid with great accuracy, and are very imposing in their simplicity. The second temple is more elaborately constructed, the walls being finished with greater care, some of the standing slabs being decorated with flat raised spirals. In one of the chambers, two bulls and a sow are cut in low relief across one of the walls. The third temple has a carelessly-built frame, but most of its standing stones are richly decorated with carved patterns.
See also
- List of World Heritage Sites in Europe
- List of the oldest buildings in the world
- Megalithic architectural elementsMegalithic architectural elementsThis article describes several characteristic architectural elements typical of European megalithic structures.-Forecourt:In archaeology, a forecourt is the name given to the area in front of certain types of chamber tomb...
- Neolithic architectureNeolithic architectureNeolithic architecture is the architecture of the Neolithic period. In Southwest Asia, Neolithic cultures appear soon after 10000 BC, initially in the Levant and from there spread eastwards and westwards...
- Tombs of MaltaTombs of MaltaTombs of Malta are a series of prehistoric tombs in the Maltese archipelago.-Tombs:*Bingemma Rock Cut Tombs*Ghar Il-Midfna*Kercem Rock Cut Tombs*L'Ghar ta' Gejzu*Ta' Cenc Gallery Grave*Wied tax-Xlendi Tomb*Xagħra Stone Circle*Xemxija Tombs...
- Xagħra Stone Circle
- Tas-SilġTas-SilġThe Tas-Silġ is a rounded hilltop in Zejtun, Malta, overlooking the head of Marsaxlokk-Bay. Tas-Silġ is a multi-period sanctuary site covering all eras from Neolithic to the fourth century AD.-Description:...
- List of megalithic sites