© JOSEPH S. ELLUL 1988
Augmented with new material by the author - 2004.
Not to retrace our steps, instead of continuing round the temple, we move out to the North towards a small cluster of stones about 30 yards away. This cluster of stones, some of which are almost totally worn out, is what was once a temple consisting of SEVEN semi-circular apses. The right half of this temple has disappeared completely, but the other half on the left can still suggest the form the temple had when it was still complete.
Its plan had the outline of one of their idols or statues in the form of a human figure sitting with folded legs and hands resting on the thighs. If one looks at the plan (Pic.3 - compare Pic.16 [and the much more recent Inanna.jpg]) and specifically at the small temple to the North, one can see more clearly the ground-plan and lay-out of this older temple. As one enters the main entrance, one finds an oval chapel with a semi-circular apse on each side. After the second doorway is another chapel with a semi-circular apse on each side, but a little smaller than the first one. This is exactly according to the shape of the statuette. The semi-circle formed by the arms is smaller than that formed by the legs. Then, at the place of the head there are three small apses, as if the statue had three heads. It is a great pity that today very little can be made out of what is left. The letters T, U, V, W, X, Y and Z on the plan mark the SEVEN apses.
Another important thing in this temple is that it had three layers of flooring. The two at the bottom were burnt with the fire of the sacrifices, but the top one was not burnt. Most probably it was at that stage used as a dwelling-house for their priests.
If one looks at the blocks resting on the floor, one notices that a few inches from the floor their polished surface bulges out an inch or two. This is because the part bulging out was below the top layer of flooring. The slabs were polished after the third and top layer had been put in place. It was during this period that they discovered flint and then, because of that, changed their method of working. This polishing of the stones after they have been put in place is also noticeable in the main temple. It would seem that flint-stone was discovered while the main temple was already in course of being built. Formerly they had used obsidian and bits of lava stone. They had axe-blades, 2" wide along the cutting-edge and 6" long, with a tapering hind-edge they fixed into a bull's horn. But when the use of flint was introduced, all their lava was discarded. Using flint, they polished their stones, made better and harder statuettes, and made rope-holes for hinges instead of using a crossbar to keep their doors in place. The existing hollows for crossbars went out of use to such an extent that they plastered them over with mortar, which is still inside them, petrified. All this could be observed in the back-door of the main temple from inside the main chapel.
An interesting comparison is that this old temple had three layers of paving, the chapel in the new temple facing this temple had two layers, while the rest of the new temple only had one layer. This leads us quite simply to the conclusion that these three different buildings were constructed at widely different periods in time.
To explain it more clearly, when the old temple was built, it was, quite naturally, given a layer of pavement. When the second temple, which is only a part of the new temple, was built and given a floor of its own, the old temple was given a second flooring. Subsequently, when the rest of the new temple was ready and given its layer of flooring, the other earlier parts were each given another layer.
A very curious object was discovered in this old temple during the first excavation. My great-grand-father, who at the time owned the field on emphyteusis, was one of the excavators, and he certainly knew what was going on. He used to narrate to his sons that between two of the layers of flooring in this temple they had found a piece of cloth that appeared to be not of a woven but rather of a knitted type. It was, however, so close to disintegration that when they tried to pick it up on a trowel, it fell into bits.
As soon as we leave the entrance of this temple, we look on both flanks of it and notice that the field rubble-walls are built of strangely large blocks. The wall to the West of the entrance runs as far as the remains of some dwelling-houses, consisting of a few blocks just lying about, and is about 20 metres long. On the East side there is about 15 metres, then a gap of about 10 metres, and then it continues again, curving in on itself until it comes near the main temple. None of the other field rubble-walls is built of such big blocks, and these seem to be the common factor all along this particular wall. This wall appears to have been some kind of defensive wall against the wild animals that were very abundant in those days. As I explained above, they also used a fire to scare away wild animals from the area.
Going back to the main temple, we observe the huge blocks forming the outside wall, all inclined inwards to keep the pressure on the filling of the walls. We see the huge shoring-blocks stuck in the ground to keep the first line of shoring-blocks from slipping outwards. After a few steps we arrive at a recess in the wall.
Inside this recess we see a stone pillar, round in shape, and a rectangular slab about 2½' high and 2' wide, stuck vertically in front of this pillar. It has been said that this pillar was a symbol of male fertility to which the women were required to give homage [Editor's note: Or, perhaps, for example - and whether men or women, adults or children - by communal overtone chanting, to impart their own measure of sustaining strength and vital support to the socially important proceedings within?]. At the top of the slab there are some spherical hollows which most probably served as holders in which to stand some small jars containing liquid offerings; the bottoms of the jars used by those people were oval-shaped, and could not stand upright unless placed in such hollows (Pic.30).
This chapel for the women was not originally as bare as it is now. It had flanking vertical blocks, the remnants of which still exist, one on each side. There were others further out, at least up to where the floor is paved - and surely it wasn't paved for nothing. It was also certainly roofed. On the right of this women's chapel, there is another recess in the wall, with an opening towards this chapel. In the wall of this recess there is the Acoustic Hole we saw in the Main Chapel. The sound from this hole would pass from the gap in the wall into the women's chapel [and vice-versâ?]. On the right side of this chapel there is a horizontal block that may have served as seats for women attending the service and making offerings in front of the perpendicular idol-stone. There will have been more seats both on the right and on the left. At Tarxien a similar chamber has been developed into a much larger chapel which, although much destroyed, still shows a broken port-hole doorway (Pic.26). The later acoustic hole, too, was of a different style, much larger and situated at the top of the upright slabs forming the semi-circular apse inside the third temple (Pic.25). The present Acoustic Hole was described when we were on the inside in Room B.
We leave the women's chapel to proceed, skirting the wall. It has been said already that those people used their biggest stones for the outside wall of their building, but here we come to the biggest of the biggest. This enormous block is a whole wall in itself. It has an over-all length of 23 feet, is 9 feet in height, and has an average thickness of 2 feet. It is a really prodigious stone that dwarfs all other stones in all the Megalithic Temples on these islands (Pic.11).
At the foot of this block are well set and squared shoring-blocks. In one of these blocks is a rope-hole, which is extremely well shaped. The openings are unusually wide, round and polished. Its use is rather perplexing. Someone has suggested that when those people started using an animal-guard in front of the temple instead of a fire, when they wanted to keep that animal out of the way for some time, they used to tie it up here.
Further out from the shoring-blocks is an outcrop of rocks with holes and rope-holes cut in it. This is not natural solid rock, but rather a large block of stone that was placed there for some purpose. It serves as a second line of shoring-blocks positioned at the foot of the biggest wall-blocks. Such stones could also be seen on the other side of the women's chamber we just passed, but there these extra shoring-blocks are lying flat on the ground.
A few paces in front of the temple lies a large cluster of stones which presumably once served as dwelling-houses. They are now in a very poor state.
Glancing over them, one will notice that this dwelling-place was divided into small chambers or, perhaps, a more suitable description would be artificial caves. Moving to the extreme left or North end of the group, we find a well-shaped entrance leading to a passage about 4' wide and 20' long. The entrance into this passage used to be blocked by a crossbar for which there are support-holes on both sides of the entrance. Lying about on the ground in the passage about a dozen stone balls of varying size may be seen. These balls of stone are commonly known as stone-rollers. These balls were not, however, used to roll the large stone blocks over them. The stone blocks were rolled along on round wooden logs but, when they wanted to change the direction of the movement or to alter the position of the slab of stone, they would place one of these balls under its central part, and then they could very easily turn it as much as they liked. But, of course, no logs or, indeed, any wooden items at all were found in any of the temples above ground, because all the wood was carried away by the wave. These stone balls shouldn't really be known as stone "rollers" but as stone "pivots".
Some 10 feet inside this passage there is a narrow gap in the right-hand wall leading into a semi-circular cubicle, while some 10 feet further up one comes to a circular room. The rest of this cluster of stones is a medley of minute divisions of the details of which almost nothing can be made out. "Dwelling-houses" is not a fitting term for these buildings, a far more suitable name would be "Sleeping Dens" that were also used for shelter during storms. There is no space in these buildings for any persons to "dwell" in them as we understand that term today.
We make our way out of these "dwellings" and continue our walk round them, to the right. To our left runs part of the defensive wall that used to enclose the whole of the ĦaÄ¡ar Qim complex of buildings, including the oldest as well as the main temples, and both groups of dwelling-houses. The size and form of the stones used in this surrounding wall is very different from the rest of the field's rubble walls. This wall is, in my opinion, of great archæological value, and it should be preserved as such.
Continuing our way, always skirting the dwelling-houses, we pass in front of the temple and across the court-yard to the high Southern Wall.
Here we stand facing the highest wall of the whole ruins. The first thing one should notice is that these stones have not been felled - precisely because they stand in line with the rush of the diluvial wave from the West. Let us now examine their present condition, and try to guess the ordeal through which they must have passed (Pic.31).
The wall is made up of four upright slabs, one of which is set crosswise for support. None of the blocks is in a state of erosion at the present time, yet the stones have been much worn out at some time in the past.
This is the wall I described when discussing the AGE of the Temple. Please refer back to that section.
The name "il-Misqa" is the Maltese word for "Drinking Trough".
The Stone-Age people of Ħaġar Qim and Mnajdra required a good supply of potable water. So, they had to find a place with a good solid piece of rock that would be impervious to water. This certainly wasn't an easy task for anybody to accomplish, and I believe that even today most people would (unless assisted by friendly Angels, otherwise known as E.T.s) find it practically impossible. The need was to find some suitable rock that wasn't very far away, a rock that was free from cracks and fissures, and of a type that was not porous, so that water would not leak out of it - not an easy thing to find, by any means. I imagine that those people must have tried several other spots without success, before they finally came across this excellent bit of rock suitable for their purpose.
"Il-Misqa" is an almost flat area of bare rock almost at the top of a hill, which seems to make it not a very good spot on which to collect water. This strange position notwithstanding, the wells still manage to get filled with rain-water during any winter with an at least average rainfall. [From the type of rock existing in the area, and even in all of Malta, it was humanly impossible to find such a piece of rock suitable for such a specific purpose. So, I am of the opinion that the people of that time must have had some help from Extraterrestrials. Some such extraordinary help will also have been required, I believe, to account of their discovery and use (mentioned above: page 32 in the original) of stone that fire does not crack…]
If one wishes to visit the Misqa water-tanks, one first has to locate the spot. Standing on the Mnajdra footpath as it leaves ĦaÄ¡ar Qim, and facing Mnajdra, one looks about 45º (half a right-angle) to the right and into the distance towards the wall that separates the arable land from the immediately adjacent stony wasteland. Follow that wall with your eyes until you see a big carob-tree. Just above the top of that tree you can make out a narrow strip of white land. That is "il-Misqa".
To get there, follow the Mnajdra path till you pass the last rubble-wall of the cultivated fields. Now descend into the wasteland, and look for a marked footpath going along through its grass-sprouting and rocky surface. Always keeping that carob-tree in sight, follow the path and walk towards the tree. You can't miss the place. After passing through the field where that carob-tree stands, you find yourself on the Misqa.
Never try to go to Misqa from Mnajdra, because you are sure to miss it; they all do. But it is easy to get from Misqa to Mnajdra, because from Misqa Mnajdra is always in full view and, besides, it is also downhill.
As those people believed firmly in the sacred number Seven, they also managed to dig SEVEN wells on this spot. Of these seven wells, five still hold water even to this day, and they are taken care of and used by the farmer to water his plants in the surrounding fields. Although [three] of the wells don't hold water at present, they certainly used to hold water in their time. These dry wells, which happen to be the deepest ones, are joined into one single tank deep below ground. Most of the space in two of these wells is filled with rubble now, and so one cannot know how large the tanks or wells really are. [The third well is filled with rubble and soil and a large fig-tree grows on top. So this well cannot be seen.] On the top of one of these dry holes lies a monolith measuring 2 metres long, 1.5 metres wide and 0.45 metres thick, with a central circular hole of 0.4 metre diameter that was used for drawing up water from the well. This certainly shows that these wells used to hold water at some time - otherwise, why should anyone have taken the trouble to put such a big stone over the opening of the well?
The [four] wells that hold water seem all to get filled up to the same level during the rainy season. The water-channels cut in the surface of the slightly sloping surface of the rock seem to distribute rain-water into the wells according to the needs of each. By observation I have noticed that the level of the water in a certain well is always kept at the same level as that of the immediately adjoining well. I also subsequently discovered that two of the larger wells are connected together by a narrow upright slot running from one well into the other. [A third well is connected to one of these two by a small tunnel.]
There is also a very curious and interesting thing to be seen at the Misqa. The wells, four of which still hold water, do not have any sealing-cover plastered on their walls and bottom. Yet one of the wells (Pic.51) which is almost filled with rubble has its visible wall covered to the brim with some kind of water-proofing material, made up of some kind of plaster or cement stuck to the wall, and with pieces of stone, between 5 and 15 centimetres in size, stuck into the cement. This very dark, almost black cement has hardened into stone. This system of water-proofing and lining of wells is quite different from any known relatively modern one. Those prehistoric Stone-Age people must have had a wealth of knowledge about which we know very little.
Professor Vere Gordon Childe, in his review of the prehistoric remains in the lands bordering the Mediterranean, when comparing them to those in Malta, stated that the age of the Maltese Prehistoric Remains "cannot be correctly estimated on available evidence by comparison to other countries."
There is good reason for his statement. His writings, as well as those of several other prominent archæologists, point out that the prehistoric remains in the lands bordering on the Mediterranean belong to POST-Diluvian times. Only very rare cases just preceded the Flood. But ĦaÄ¡ar Qim and its contemporaneous buildings, as has been proved above, belong to the PRE-Diluvian era. So it is no wonder that there can be no comparison between these different remains. This is because they belong to two completely different and separate epochs.
But to what archæological age does ĦaÄ¡ar Qim belong? Is is Early or Late Neolithic?
As has been explained above, the Ħaġar Qim group was built in three different stages. They even had different sets of statuettes, and used a Chalice made out of different types of stone. The soft-stone ones were worked before flint-tools came into use. At that time they had no rope-holes and no decorations; their wall-slabs were not even polished - they just fitted them together, without even removing the top and bottom surfaces of the stones. Even in the Main Temple at Ħaġar Qim the stones were dressed AFTER the temple had been completed. All this shows that their tools were still very primitive. They could not even bore a deep hole for a rope. They just used a rough cavity to support a wooden cross-bar.
According to Vere Gordon Childe, temples built with undressed stone are classified as belonging to Period 1A in the Montelius and Trichterbecher Kultur or Funnel-Beaker Culture classification systems. This Period 1A is the Northern or Early Neolithic. Yet these periods are also characterised as being those during which early flint-tools were already in use. But, as explained above, even when the Main Temple at ĦaÄ¡ar Qim was being built, the temple-builders did not have any flint-tools available with which to bore horn-shaped rope-holes. And, when those builders began to use flint chisels, these were of the chipped-edge type, a very early type. Later on, of course, they began to use polished flint tools with a ground edge, so that their chipped-edge tools were discarded and thrown away. Lots of these were, in fact, found by my father, while he was cultivating the surrounding fields; one doesn't expect to find discarded tools inside a temple…
So, the oldest and smallest temple at Ħaġar Qim was built during the Very Early Neolithic or Proto-Neolithic, the period of the very first buildings. The Main Temple was built during the Early Neolithic, and continued to progress up to the times of the Tarxien and Hypogeum periods in the Late Neolithic. The Tarxien Temples were built during the Late Neolithic, when those people smoothed the slabs of stone before they were put in place, and then fitted them together perfectly. The recess for the lever at the bottom of the slabs, seen at Ħaġar Qim, is not observed at Tarxien. If any of this recess was left, it was placed out of sight on the inside of the wall. This shows the great advance achieved between the Ħaġar Qim and the Tarxien periods.
But, although the different temples in Stone-Age Malta and Gozo were built in very different periods of time, they were all destroyed together in one single instant by a monstrously enormous wave that came from the West through Gibraltar, and flooded almost all of Europe, the western half of Asia and the northern half of Africa. That wave was the real cause of the destruction described as Noah's Great Flood, the flood mentioned in the biblical Book of Genesis.
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