Ancient History and Archaeology *** MALTA and GOZO ***

Islands of the »Great Mother«

Approximately in the center of the Mediterranean Sea, halfway between Sicily and Tunisia, there are the islands Malta and Gozo which are very famous for their mighty prehistoric temples. More than 5000 years ago there had existed a highly-developed civilization on these small Mediterranean islands. Imposing stone monuments give evidence of its former significance and prosperity.
On Malta there are the temples Hal Tarxien, Hagar Qim, Mnajdra and the subterranean temple Hal Saflieni, which impress and make you wonder how Stone Age people could make them; on Gozo there is the huge twin temple Ggantija.
The temples form a unity with their surrounding landscape. It is evident that the ancient people of Malta had very deliberately chosen the places for their temples.

front of the temple Hagar Qim

front of the Hagar Qim temple

huge enclosure of the Hagar Qim temple

portal of the Ggantija temple on Gozo

holy shrine of the Mnajdra temple

holy shrine of the Mnajdra temple with peculiar ornamentation

The subterranean temple Hal Saflieni was of special significance. In its elaborately constructed stone rooms there have been discovered the bones of about 7000 people. The walls had been painted red by ochre. There has been found the statue of a goddess in sleeping position. This sleeping goddess represents the aspect of death which in matriarchal religion was directly connected with rebirth. Correspondingly, in Greek mythology the god of sleep, Morpheus, was the brother of the god of death, Thanatos.

Many woman figurines - with very feminine shapes - have been found in the temples. They have to be interpreted as representations of the almighty »Great Mother«. The worship of the »Great Mother« is an essential characteristic of matriarchal cultures - those are civilizations in which women have the predominating gender role.

The impressing prehistoric remains of Malta and Gozo clearly give evidence that about 5000 years ago there had existed a highly-developed, presumably matriarchal civilization.

Goddess of Hal Tarxien