Temple of Tal-Qadi

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Alienated remains of the destroyed temple of Tal-Qadi

The small, in a bad condition located temple of Tal-Qadi is south of Is-Salina near Naxxar , on Malta . Tal-Qadi was used as early as 4000 BC, during the Ġgantija phase, but the temple was only built during the Tarxien phase, between 3300 and 3000 BC, and was subsequently used, as ceramic shards from this time show. Tal-Qadi is the only Maltese temple that is oriented to the northeast. Most of the others are oriented to the south or southeast. This was not possible in Tal-Qadi as there is a steep slope in this direction.

The outline of the temple is still visible. Remains of the central area with two apses can be seen. The temple probably had two other apses, which was typical of the late temple period. No traces of the exedra have survived.

The remains of the temple, which lie on an upper and a lower field, were discovered by Henry Sant in 1916 and excavated by Themistocles Zammit and L. Upton Way in 1927 . According to Zammit, the owner of the property destroyed a group of upright stones years before the temple was identified. These could have belonged to the facade of the temple.

During the excavation, a small broken limestone slab was found, carved into five sections separated by lines with star-like figures and a semicircular shape in the center. The plate may have been a star map or a lunar calendar. The plate is in the National Archaeological Museum in Valletta .

  • Evolution of the Maltese sacred architecture from the rock tomb of Xemxija to the temple of Tarxien - Tal-Qadi should belong to type 5 or 6

  • The star map on the Tal-Qadi sky table

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 .
  • Themistocles Żammit : The prehistoric temples of Malta and Gozo. A description. 2nd Edition. Masterson, Malta 1998, pp. 49-62.
  • Kai Helge Wirth: The Maltazodiac Tal Qadi Stone Enigma revealed . Hamburg, 2016, ISBN 978-3-7322-3278-9 .

Web links

Commons : Temple of Tal-Qadi  - Collection of images, videos and audio files
Wikibooks: The Tal-Qadi Sky Table  - Learning and Teaching Materials

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Archeology Online: The Star Map of Tal-Qadi

Coordinates: 35 ° 56 '12 "  N , 14 ° 25' 13.7"  E