News • 24 August 2003

Authorities give cold shoulder to claims of underground temple near Mnajdra

Kurt Sansone

The claims made by an archaeological enthusiast that the rock-hewn water tanks at Misqa, just 200 metres away from Mnajdra temples, could be lying on top of a yet undiscovered hypogeum, have elicited no reaction from the superintendent for national heritage.

Dr Louis Vella, a self-declared archaeology buff, last Sunday renewed the claims made almost three years ago that the ancient Misqa tanks are not simple water cisterns but form part of an elaborate pattern hewn into the rocky surface.

However, contacted by MaltaToday, the superintendent for national heritage, Tony Pace would not be drawn into commenting on Dr Vella’s claims.

"I have no comment to make," Mr Pace told MaltaToday when asked about the significance of the claims.

It is understood that the official heritage authorities dismiss the claims as pure fantasy and refuse to be drawn into controversy.

In October 2000, following a detailed investigation of the site, Dr Vella said he had discovered a number of petroglyphs, which possibly linked the ancient Maltese temple-builders to Egyptian civilisation. Dr Vella also speculated that Malta was the birth-place of Egyptian civilisation.

The Mnajdra temples are the world’s oldest free-standing structures, pre-dating the Egyptian pyramids.

The lawyer believes that the area underlying the Misqa petroglyphs could possibly house a hypogeum as part of the Mnajdra-Hagar Qim temple complexes.

Writing in the Sunday Times, last week, Dr Vella gave a re-interpretation of his original claims. He described the bird petroglyph at Misqa as a representation of the Egyptian god of knowledge, known as Thoth (originally known as Zehuti or Tehuti).

Dr Vella wrote that the Misqa bird image has all the characteristics of the primeval god that was represented by an ibis - a long straight beak, long neck and crane-like feet. He explained that the gaze of the stone carving points to the direction of a land depression where a fig tree is located.

Dr Vella speculated: "It is well known that fig trees flourish where there are hollow spaces underground, better still in humid conditions. All this surely indicates the exact spot where a flight of steps leads one down to an underground hypogeum."

Dr Vella also said that the hypogeum might even contain the mythical depository of the Books or Records of Thoth, supposedly written on emerald tablets.

The Misqa tanks are 200 metres to the north of Mnajdra temples but little is known about them. They have long-been described as water cisterns created by the temple-builders to supply fresh water to the area.

kurt@maltamag.com