Malta is an island of only 313 square kilometers and is one of the smallest and most populous countries in the world. This Mediterranean island is famous for the world's oldest buildings and secrets, many of which scientists have not yet been able to unravel. Humans have appeared in Malta for over 7000 years. This island was once inhabited by the Phoenicians, Greeks, Romans, Byzantines, Muslims of the Sicilian Emirate, and the crusaders of the Holy Roman Empire. The history of the mysterious Malta is, in fact, the embodied history of the entire Mediterranean.
1. Zippi Melkarta
Zippi Melkarta, who made it possible to decipher the Phoenician language
In 1694, the Knights of St. John discovered two decorative columns in the Maltese town of Marsaxlokk, known as the Zippi of Melqart. On these pillars, engravings were found that allowed linguists to partially decipher the ancient and mysterious Phoenician language (inscriptions were made on them in Greek and Phoenician). The tsippi (or tsippus, which were pyramidal pillars of tombstones) were erected in honor of Melqart, the Phoenician god of life and death. Around 500 BC, the Greeks began to associate Melqart with the demigod Hercules. Eventually, the Greeks and Phoenicians joined forces to build a temple in honor of the Maltese Hercules / Melkart, of which the 1 meter high qippy carved out of white marble were once part.
2. Temple of the Giants
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Temple of the Giants - Construction of the Giants
The megaliths of Malta are older than Stonehenge and the Egyptian pyramids. These ancient temples date back to 5500 - 2500 BC. The structures were dated through radiocarbon dating of human remains and pottery found in the vicinity. Located on the island of Gozo, Ggantija ("Tower of the Giants") is the oldest autonomous structure in the world. According to legend, it was once built by giants. Ggantija, which was first excavated in 1827, consists of two temples located close to each other and surrounded by a wall. These buildings were built from massive limestone blocks up to 8 meters in size.
3. Phoenician shipwreck
An incredible Phoenician underwater treasure
Off the coast of Malta, archaeologists have unearthed the remains of a 2,700-year-old Phoenician shipwreck. Not only is it the oldest known shipwreck in the central Mediterranean, the cargo hold of the ship has remained largely intact. Divers noticed the debris at a depth of 120 meters about 1.6 km (1 mi) off the coast of Gozo. From the bottom they managed to get more than 50 amphorae and almost two dozen 35-kilogram grinding stones. The amphorae retrieved from the hold of the ancient ship were of seven different types. This suggests that the ship visited several ports before embarking on its ill-fated final voyage to Sicily. The homeland of the Phoenicians was located on the territory of modern Lebanon. However, their trading empire stretched across the Mediterranean.
4. Mysterious ruts
Bronze Age track
In Malta you can find mysterious "ruts". These are whole networks of mysterious parallel furrows, which are "pressed" into the rocks. Nobody knows how these ruts were formed. Some of them climb steep cliffs, while others can be found underwater. Most of the "ruts" date from the Bronze Age (around 200 BC), when Sicilian settlers arrived in Malta.
5. Temple residents of Malta
"Maltese Templars"
Over the millennium, the "Maltese Templars" have erected more than 30 stone temple complexes on the small island. This culture developed in complete isolation, and the more it developed, the more it became "cut off from the rest of the world." In these temple complexes, ritual graves and hundreds of statues have been found. How this advanced culture developed is still a mystery, as is its sudden disappearance. The Maltese Templars were not destroyed by invasion, disease or famine. However, around 2900 BC. they just disappeared. Today there are no written documents left that could shed light on this secret. Isotope analysis of human remains showed that people of this culture consumed mainly meat and vegetables. Oddly enough for the people living on the island,there was very little seafood in their diet.
6. Catacombs under the college
Catacombs of the Roman Empire
During the renovation of St Paul's Missionary College, workers discovered the ancient catacombs. They contained the remains of at least eight people, including a child. The underground chambers in the form of miniature tombs with plastered walls were hand-carved in solid stone. The identity of the dead remains a mystery. It would be wrong to call them "Maltese", since this concept is modern, and the catacombs were created 2000 years ago during the Roman Empire.
7. Megaliths of Mnajdra
In the temple complex of Mnajdra
Mnajdra is a temple complex located on the isolated southern coast of Malta. This place dates back to 3600 BC. The most unusual thing about the temple complex is the moment that its builders paid direct attention to astronomy. The creators of Mnajdra sought to align location with celestial activity. The entrance to the southern temple is adorned with large stone blocks with hundreds of holes drilled into them, with the doorway and decorated blocks lined up so that the sun's rays fall through them at the equinox and solstice. In 2000, vandals tumbled about 60 megaliths from the Mnajdra temple complex to the ground, after which the complex was restored in 2009 and surrounded the ancient ruins with Teflon canopies.
8. Temple of the unknown cult of fertility
Temple of the unknown cult of fertility
The Neolithic temple complex of Hajar Kim is dedicated to the mysterious Maltese cult of fertility. During excavations, which began in 1839, a central temple and two side buildings were found, consisting of a series of C-shaped rooms known as apses. During the summer solstice, the rays of the rising sun penetrate the sanctuary through an elliptical hole cut in one of the apses and illuminate the stones of the floor. Combined with the many fertility statues found here, archaeologists suggest that Hajar Kim was dedicated to ancient reproductive rites. The ancient temple of fertility operated between 3600 and 3200 BC.
9. Early Christian catacombs
1,700-year-old crypts that were excavated in 1891
The Ta-Bistra catacombs are an example of a mixture of Christianity, Judaism and paganism. The 1,700-year-old crypts, which were excavated in 1891, had been looted long before. The catacomb style was adopted from previous Maltese rock tombs of the Phoenician and Hellenistic periods. The complex consists of 16 chambers carved into a mountain near St Paul's Bay. The catacombs are always 90 meters long and contain 57 tombs that are believed to have been part of a much larger catacomb system.
10.110 Hz Hypogeum
The oldest underground temple in the world
The Maltese Hypogeum or Hal-Saflieni is the oldest underground temple in the world. This structure was built 5,000 years ago, and its underground sanctuary is distinguished by its unique acoustics. Many people compare staying in the Hypogeum with standing under a giant bell. In the temple, human flesh and bones resonate like an ear. Sounds emanating from unknown sources literally pierce the underground temple and the people in it. The Maltese composer Ruben Zahra and the Italian team found that sounds in the Hypogeum reverberated at 110 Hz. It is still a mystery what makes the Hypogeum sound like that.
