The ancient structures of Malta - catacombs, temples, observatories and other megaliths - are some of the most mysterious on Earth. They are almost a thousand years older than the Egyptian pyramids.
It is unknown by whom they were built. And most importantly, why? Their purpose is as great a mystery as in the drawings of the Peruvian Nazca desert or in the stone rings of the English Stonehenge.
Some scientists cautiously suggest that the Maltese civilization is older than the Sumerian - it is officially called the most ancient on Earth. And in general, the very first among the developed.
The Sumerians appeared in the area of Mesopotamia 6,000 years ago. It is believed that it was they who came up with a lot of useful things: from the wheel, writing, arithmetic and the lunisolar calendar to nails and beer.
Excavations in Malta show that a developed civilization was here 8000 years ago. Researchers do not exclude that it was from the Maltese that the Sumerians received their knowledge.
“There is a hypothesis that the Maltese, possessing high technologies, participated in the construction of Stonehenge,” says the historian, archaeologist, professor at the University of Malta, Stephen FLORIAN. “For example, recently British archaeologists discovered an ancient burial site over four thousand years old near the famous megalith. And it contained the remains of a man who was very different from the local residents. Archaeologists do not hesitate to call it "alien".
“According to legend, the 'alien' was considered a magician,” says Andrew FITZPATRICK, director of the Wessex Archaeological Society, “he knew how to move huge stones and smelt ore, make objects out of metal.
According to one version, the legendary wizard Merlin himself was a magician. But on the other - the "technologist" arrived from Malta, from where, for some unknown reason, people suddenly disappeared around 2000 BC. e. And the date of construction of Stonehenge is 2440 - 2100. BC e. Converges!
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We will tell you about the mysterious disappearance of the Maltese civilization. And now let's try to figure out the riddle that immediately catches the eye. The island is streaked along and across by huge ruts, like a network of disorderly rails. Where are they left from?
Roads to nowhere
Mysterious "transport routes" pass along two of the three islands of the Maltese archipelago - Malta and Gozo. Some look like cart ruts. Others are as deep and wide as if they were abandoned by tanks or KamAZs.
Some grooves are cut into the stone by 70 centimeters - I was sitting on top with my legs dangling in them. The tracks can stretch across the entire island, through the mountains, can branch out like railway tracks at a large marshalling yard. Some end on cliffs, others go deep into the sea. There are those that disappear and appear again. As if these ruts were plowed by an object that took off, then fell on the stones.
The first thing that comes to mind: large chariots have ridden here for centuries, methodically cutting through the stone with their wheels. So the "rut" was formed - almost like on our asphalt roads, which need repair.
Having measured the furrows, enthusiasts even calculated that wheels with a diameter of two meters, made of a very durable material, most likely metal, could move along them.
“Malta was ruled by the Roman Empire for 700 years,” says Anthony BONANNO, vice-president of the Archaeological Society of Malta, professor at the University of Malta.
“Roman chariots could well have left deep marks.
Such a robust version has only one drawback: not a single wheel has been found in Malta. There are not even wooden ones.
Judging by the excavations, the first wheels appeared among the Sumerians in Mesopotamia (modern Iraq) in 3500 - 3000 BC. e. There they are found. And the age of the "rails", according to archaeologists, cannot be less than 6-7 thousand years. But they may be much older …
Atlanteans got crazy
The riddle of "roads" gives rise to a lot of assumptions. The Maltese architect George Grone de Wasse, for example, once argued that Malta is part of the sunken Atlantis. Therefore, the "rails" were left from the Atlanteans, who carried something along them. Maybe even under water.
Ufologists compare the ruts with drawings on the Nazca plateau. And they are credited with an alien origin: they say, brothers in mind streaked the island with a laser beam.
Local scientists laugh at this. But they themselves did not come up with anything worthwhile.
- "Rails" pass near ancient temples (at that time there were more than 40, now there are about 20. - Ed.), Which means that they were used to deliver multi-ton stone blocks for construction, - believes the curator of archaeological research of the Department of Heritage of Malta Katya STROUD … - Near some temples, many lime balls with a diameter of 40-60 cm were found. They could be used as bearings. They cut through the ruts with stone tools, put balls in them, put a plate on top, and a load on it. And so they rolled. Moreover, having rolled the plate forward, they could take the rear balls, carry them forward and roll further.
But here's the bad luck: most of the furrows, firstly, were laid in deserted places, far not only from temples, but even settlements, and secondly, the section of the furrows is basically a "trough", and not a semicircle that would remain from the balls. And will the limestone balls withstand the pressure of blocks weighing several tons? And who in general pushed or pulled this vehicle?
“It is possible that these tracks could have been artificial channels for collecting rainwater,” argues the historian Stefan Florian. - They blocked the furrow on both sides and dug it out.
And bummer again: why did they have to be done in pairs? With the same success, it can be assumed that water was supplied to the inhabitants along the furrows: cold water, hot water along the other.
Urgent evacuation
An interesting explanation of the Maltese artifact was given by a Russian geologist, a graduate of the St. Petersburg Mining Institute, who worked for 15 years in the Far North of Russia, and now a businessman, Dmitry BEKH-IVANOV.
- It's simple: no one hammered the limestone, did not grind it into dust with wheels, - Dmitry Evaldovich explained. - We drove through the mud - and the trail is ready. Hence the imperfection of the geometry of the prints - no one made them on purpose.
- Dirt? - I was sincerely surprised. - Malta is a stone, solid limestone!
“He’s solid now,” the geologist said. - And once Malta and Gozo were covered with soft, like clay, carbonate silts, which later, drying out, formed a stone-limestone. The tracks were left by wooden sledges, into which the inhabitants were harnessed and so transported goods. To navigate the mud, sleds are the best transport.
- And what did the Maltese take so far across the island?
“They were evacuated on a sleigh to escape. There was some kind of catastrophe in Malta, the ground was heaving in many places. And the surviving people who inhabited the shores of the reservoirs were suddenly far from the water, surrounded by swamp slurry. Having collected all their belongings, they began to go to a new place of residence, to the water. Therefore, the "rails" and go from the mountains to the lowlands. And not to the bottom of the sea, but to the water. And I found footprints of people.
Bekh-Ivanov's hypothesis is also not without a catch. The ruts are found in two layers of so-called "coral limestones": upper and lower. Geologists estimate the age of the first at 5 - 7 million years. And the second - at 25 - 35 million years. It turns out that people lived in Malta at that distant time?
May be so. Although the scientist himself does not exclude that 6-7 thousand years ago a catastrophe could have occurred in Malta, which moved and mixed limestones.
Source: Eye of the Planet