Megalithic Temples of Malta

Megalithic Temples of Malta
UNESCO world heritage
Ġgantija Ħaġar Qim Mnajdra Scorba Ta 'Ħaġrat Tarxien Location of the world heritage site megalithic temples of Malta
National territory:	Malta
Type:	Culture
Criteria :	(iv)
Surface:	3,155 ha
Buffer zone:	167 ha
Reference No .:	132ter
UNESCO region :	Europe and North America
History of enrollment
Enrollment:	1980  ( session 4 )
Extension:	1992, 2015

The temples of Malta are a group of Neolithic megalithic structures on the islands of Malta and Gozo . The Ġgantija temple was declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO in 1980 , the others followed in 1992. The temples were built between 3800 BC. BC and 2500 BC Built in BC.

The construction of the temple

Ġgantija Temple

During the final phase of the Neolithic , six large temples were built on Gozo and 22 on Malta. The temple phase lasted from about 3800 BC. Until 2500 BC BC, so over 1000 years. The temples were built by a people who lived around 6000 BC. And 4000 BC Reached the archipelago.

The early temples have three, the later five-lobed ground plan and consist of limestone blocks weighing up to 20 tons .

No temples younger than 4500 years have been found so far. The causes of the sudden disappearance of this culture are assumed to be the exhaustion of the arable land or droughts .

Relics in caves, rock tombs and hypogea also date from the time of the temples .

In those 25 temples whose building axes and exedra are documented, the builders did not prefer a single direction of the compass, as with the east-facing apse of Christian churches. The majority of the gates open in southerly directions between east and west. There are two focal points; one lies between the southeast and south-southeast with nine temples, the other between southwest and south-southwest with seven temples. Two fronts went south; three in directions between east and southeast, three in directions between west and southwest. Only Tas-Silg falls out of line with its west-northwest orientation.

Architectural miniatures

Six architectural miniatures are known, most of which are exhibited in the National Museum of Archeology in Valetta. All miniatures come from the great temples and are to be understood as cult objects or consecration offerings. Although they have realistic features and express formal principles of temple architecture, the miniatures are not to be viewed as true-to-scale models. There are similar models for the great nuraghi of the Sardinian nuragic culture .

Periodization

The temples were built in different phases. These are named after the temples. The dating of these archaeological phases has not yet been fully established and is often based on very old ¹⁴ C dates . This division is also used for the chronological classification of ceramics and sculptures. The following table therefore also contains some phases before and after the time of the temples.

period	phase	Years before Chr.	Findings
Bronze and Iron Ages	Baħrija	900-700
	Borġ in-Nadur	1500-700	Bronze Age village
	Tarxien Cemetery	2500-1500	Temple of Tal-Qadi
Temple period	Tarxien	3300/3000 - 2500	Tarxien Temple , Ħaġar Qim
	Saflieni	3300-3000	Hypogeum of Ħal-Saflieni
	Ġgantija	3600 - 3300/3000	Ġgantija , Mnajdra
	Mġarr	3800-3600	Temple of Kordin
	Żebbuġ	4100-3800	Brochtorff Circle
Neolithic	Red scorba	4400-4100
	Gray scorba	4500-4400
	Għar Dalam	5000-4500

World Heritage

Mnajdra

In addition to the Ġgantija temple on Gozo, which received this status as early as 1980, the temples of Ħaġar Qim , Mnajdra , Ta 'Ħaġrat , Skorba and the temple of Tarxien have also been part of the group since 1992 .

See also

• History of Malta
• List of megalithic temples in Malta

literature

• John Davies Evans : The prehistoric antiquities of the Maltese Islands: A survey. Athlone Press, London 1971, ISBN 0-485-11093-8 .
• Joachim von Freeden : Malta and the architecture of its megalithic temples. Scientific Book Society, Darmstadt 1993, ISBN 3-534-11012-9 .
• Richard Marti: Tarxien and Other Maltese Wonders . Karl Müller Publishing House
• David H. Trump : Malta. An Archaeological Guide. Faber and Faber, London 1972, ISBN 0-571-09802-9 .
• David H. Trump: Malta. Prehistory and Temples. Midsea Books, Valetta 2002, ISBN 978-9990993943 .
• Themistocles Żammit : The Tarxien Temples and the Saflieni Hypogeum . 1994.

Web links

Commons : Megalithic Temples of Malta  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

• Entry on the UNESCO World Heritage Center website ( English and French ).
• Malta Tourist Office website

Individual evidence

1. ^ David Trump et al .: Malta Before History. Miranda Publishers, 2004, ISBN 99909-85-08-1
2. ^ J. von Freeden: Malta and the architecture of its temples, p. 178
3. ↑ A selection of the sources see for example here: dmoz.org .
4. ↑ See e.g. B. Malta Before Common Era
5. ↑ Entry at Unesco (English)