The desecration of Mnajdra temples

– The awakening of a people

‘Mnajdra is to Malta, what the Pyramids are to Egypt, the Mona Lisa to Paris, the Coliseum to Rome and Stonehenge to England.’ So ran an editorial comment feature in Maltatoday of 15 April a Sunday, just two days after this splendid historical site was vandalised.

Newspapers columns commented that ‘damage is four times that wrought by the storms’. And little wonder when, during the night of Good Friday some 60 megalithic stones at the Mnajdra prehistoric temple site were damaged by what was described by a museums department official as the worst criminal act ever inflicted on Maltese heritage. In 1992 the megalithic temple had been inscribed on the World Heritage List, together with the temples of Hagar Qim and Tarxien, plus the temple of Ggantija which had been inscribed back in 1980.

Even UNESCO Director-General Koichiro Marsuura expressed shock at the damage inflicted saying, "This exceptional architectural masterpiece, particularly impressive when considering the limited resources that were available to its builders, is a remarkable testimony of prehistoric megalithic art."

The perpetrators of the damage were suspected of having participated in Satanic rites, although many sources are doubtful of this version. Only days before the vandal act was carried out, the Planning Authority had handed out about 20 stop notices to hunters, ordering them to demolish the illegally constructed huts in the vicinity. These were being used regularly as trapping hides but since the fields close to the temple are being considered as a conservation zone by the Planning Authority, the orders to demolish could have irked some individuals into taking drastic and destructive action. But to date the authorities have not been able to pinpoint the vandals or their motives.

The authorities shamefacedly admitted that only one security guard was available for two sites – the Hagar Qim temples and Mnajdra. Not enough to stop the vandals from cutting through a fence, overturning the megaliths, breaking some of them, etching others with Satanic markings and graffiti and leaving the place in shambles.

Louis Galea, the minister responsible for culture announced promptly that Mnajdra would be guarded by Police and the Armed Forces of Malta round the clock. Until a reliable network of security personnel was set up. This however, did not deter protestors from calling for his resignation

In the wake of all this media attention, the minister promptly launched a Cultural Heritage Strategy Plan as a blueprint for the conservation of Malta’s leading heritage sites.

The International Council on Monuments and Sites (ICOMOS) sent a mission to the site whilst The World Monuments Fund agreed to grant money for the conservation of the temples with an initial grant of $50,000 being pumped in towards re-structuring. The painstaking project towards reconstructing according to a restoration plan drawn up immediately following the Good Friday vandalism, called for the intervention of around six people who would be reconstructing the damaged parts. The fact that some of the 5,000 year-old stones were broken would make the work even harder.

In mid-August, just three months after the April vandalism took place paint was daubed on a 17 century tower in Qrendi. The Ras il-Hamrija tower is within view of the Mnajdra temples themselves and could have easily been observed by any one of the seven to 10 security personnel in the Mnajdra perimeter.

This was another cause for concern which incited Alternattiva Demokratika, the Green Party, to call for the resignation of Minister Louis Galea. This was the second call for resignation for the same minister in just over three months.

To date visitors are still not being allowed to tour the temples, since reconstruction works are reportedly still in progress.

"I find it immensely annoying that no estimated date of its re-opening has been announced." commented Clotilde Mifsud of Goddess Tours To Malta. Ms Mifsud regularly organises tours, which allow American nationals with a special interest in ancient sites to visit our Maltese scenario.

She concluded: "When tourists are told that Mnajdra, which used to be one of the main focus points of my schedule, is inaccessible because of what happened, they accept it. When a tourist visits Malta repeatedly throughout the year and keeps finding the same site closed, then he or she will start really complaining.

“The most frustrating aspect with this case is that here we are at the end of the year after so many months since the vandalism occurred, and nobody has been charged for the crime. For an island as small as Malta where everybody knows everybody else’s business, it is hard to believe nobody has been found responsible. Moreover, I find it totally shameful that none of the authorities have taken direct responsibility for what was allowed to happen. This makes the authorities less credible both in the eyes of the local people as well as in the eyes of foreigners."