Ħaġar Qim
Ħaġar Qim (pronounced Hajar-'iim) is one of the five great Maltese temple complexes and is located, together with the nearby temple of Mnajdra , south of Qrendi on a high plateau above the Mediterranean Sea.
description
In this temple complex are the remains of four temples that were built between 3600 and 2500 BC. BC, including the best-preserved southern temple. On the one hand, it belongs to the beginning of the temple phase, but was created in its current form through various renovations in the late phase and is an agglutinating temple that is unique in Malta . Ceramic finds prove its use from the Mġarr phase during the entire temple culture in the history of Malta .
The original temple, still recognizable in its maple leaf shape , was provided with a second entrance in the central part (yellow-A2), in the area of the upper altar niche , and thus profaned . This proves the extensive removal of the floor slabs in this area. The left room bay of this part of the temple was extended to the left by a corridor that enables internal access to part B of the temple. This apparently replaces the bay in area A2, so that the red-yellow area can be understood as a unit. Temple B also has the previously usual head altar, which is only rudimentary compared to much older facilities (but no second room bay and no separate entrance). Temples C, D and E have separate external entrances, but are structured differently on the inside compared to the old form visible in temple A1-A2.
In the front part of the old temple A1, two altar blocks decorated with fern reliefs and the Venus of Malta were found. Its two bays or apses are divided by closed rows of megaliths, which only have window-like openings, which presumably had the same function as the oracle niche. The religious upheaval associated with the transformation apparently also meant that the population now had access to small, open outside temples (F) and the so-called oracle niche . It has an opening to the temple part (A2) through which it was not possible to prophesy, but offerings could be thrown into the temple , which accumulated in the red dashed area, which was bordered by a low stone barrier. Remnants of figurative representations that were found in the gray dashed area (G) show that this was mostly an action associated with disputes. This part was once inaccessible due to the (gray) filling material of the gusset areas, so that the stone images that were secondarily reused (disposed of) were no longer visible. The temples were built from globular limestone. The facade of the entire complex was surrounded by a bank altar to place offerings, the usual exedra was completely replaced. Next to the eastern outer temple (F), near the oracle niche, there is the largest monolith that has ever been used in a Maltese temple facade. It is 3 m high, 6.40 m long and weighs around 20 t. On the north side there is a standing megalith with a height of 5.20 m.
exploration
The complex has always been known to the residents of Malta for its free-standing stones, but it was not completely uncovered until 1839 with systematic archaeological excavations. 1992 Ħaġar Qim, together with other Bronze Age temples of Malta, as the Megalithic Temples of Malta to the World Heritage Site explained. In 2009 the complex of Ħaġar Qim, like the neighboring Mnajdra , was roofed over with a tent dome to protect it from harmful environmental influences, which is to remain in place for the rest of the restoration for the next 20 to 25 years.
See also
- Brochtorff Circle
- Rock graves and sites on Gozo
- Ġgantija
- Ghajnsielem
- Hypogeum of Ħal-Saflieni
- Mnajdra
- Ta 'Ħaġrat
- Tarxien Temple
literature
- Joachim von Freeden: Malta and the architecture of its megalithic temples. Scientific Book Society, Darmstadt 1993, ISBN 3-534-11012-9 .
- Jürgen E. Walkowitz: The megalithic syndrome. European cult sites of the Stone Age (= contributions to the prehistory and early history of Central Europe. Vol. 36). Beier & Beran, Langenweißbach 2003, ISBN 3-930036-70-3 .
Web links
Coordinates: 35 ° 49 ′ 40 ″ N , 14 ° 26 ′ 33 ″ E