Elements of Continuity

Stone Cult in the Maltese Islands

George Azzopardi

• Publisher: Archaeopress Archaeology
• Year: 2017
• Print ISBN: 9781784916954
• eBook ISBN: 9781784916961
• Topic: Social Sciences
• Subtopic: Archaeology
• Index: Social Sciences

Stones can serve an infinite array of functions both when they are worked and when they are left in a 'raw' state. Depending on their function, stones can also be meaningful objects especially when they act as vehicles of ideas or instruments of representation. And it is, therefore, in their functional context, that the meaning of stones can be best grasped. The stones dealt with in this study are non-figural (or aniconic) or, sometimes, semi-figural. They come from ritual contexts and, as such, act as a material representation of divine presence in their role as betyls. But it is not mainly the representational aspect of these stones that this study seeks to highlight. As material representations of divine presence that are also worshipped, these particular stones form part of a phenomenon that seems to know no geographical or temporal boundaries. They are of a universal character. It is this universal character of theirs that seems to qualify these stones as elements forming part of the phenomenon of continuity: continuity across different cultures and in different places along several centuries. It is this phenomenon which this study seeks to highlight through a study of these stones. The Maltese islands are presented as a case study to demonstrate the phenomenon of continuity through a study of these stones. Worship of stones in representation of divine presence is found on the Maltese islands since prehistoric times. But the practice survived several centuries under different cultures represented by unknown communities during the islands' prehistory and the Phoenicians / Carthaginians and the Romans in early historic times.

Table of contents

• Copyright Information
• Cover
• Contents
• List of Figures
• Preface
• 1.0 Introduction
• Figure 1. Anthropomorphised stone betyl. From Sa Mandara (Samassi), Sardinia. Now, in the Museo Archeologico Nazionale of Cagliari, Sardinia. (Photo: The Author).
• Figure 2. A male herm. Kept at the Museo Nazionale Romano Palazzo Massimo, Rome. (Photo: The Author).
• Figure 3. Stela with vase-shaped betyl in relief inside a niche. The stela comes from the tophet at Motya and is now on display at the Museo del Vicino Oriente, Sapienza University, Rome. (Photo: The Author).
• Figure 4. Map of the Maltese islands. The map shows the main places mentioned in the text. (After www.geocities.ws/maltashells/NatHist.html).
• Figure 5. Table of Maltese chronology.
• Figure 6. An Apulian red-figure amphora attributed to the Varrese Painter (mid-4th century BC). The amphora shows a betyl decorated with a ribbon and standing on a pedestal. The amphora is to be found at the Museo Archeologico of Agrigento, Sicily. (Photo
• Figure 7. A bronze coin showing the betyl of the Syrian sun god El-Gabal in the temple of Emesa. The betyl is shown inside a temple where it substitutes a cultic statue of the god. The coin is of the 3rd century AD. (Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/R
• 2.0 Stone cult in prehistoric Malta and Gozo
• Figure 8. Plan of the Xagħra Brochtroff Circle. (Source: Malone, Mason et al. 2009: 70(Fig.5.11)).
• Figure 9. The semi-anthropomorphised pillar-like stone from the Xagħra Brochtorff Circle in Gozo (left) and the one from Ta’ Trapna ż-Żgħira at Żebbuġ in Malta (right). Both of them show the basic facial features while the second one was also stained with
• Figure 10. Large spherical stone. It was found in the upper levels of the east cave at the Xagħra Brochtorff Circle in Gozo. (Photo: The Author).
• Figure 11. A stone pillar / betyl. It was found in the north-east corner inside the east cave at the Xagħra Brochtorff Circle in Gozo. (Photo: The Author).
• Figure 12. Twin-seated figures carved in stone. The one on the right holds a vase in her hands (shown inset). Found at the Xagħra Brochtorff Circle but, now, kept at the Ġgantija Temples Visitors’ Centre in Xagħra, Gozo. (Photograph © Daniel Cilia).
• Figure 13. Plan of Ħal Saflieni Hypogeum, middle level. (Source: Evans 1971: Plan 14B).
• Figure 14. A stone pillar from Ġgantija southern temple. It was found at the foot of a niche in the first right-hand apse on e tering the said temple. Now, kept at the Ġgantija Temples Visitors’ Centre in Xagħra, Gozo. (Photo: The Author).
• Figure 15. Plan of Ġgantija Temples in Xagħra, Gozo. It shows the locations of the stone pillar and of the conical stones. (Source: Evans 1971: Plan 38A).
• Figure 16. Plan of Tarxien Temples at Tarxien, Malta. (Source: Evans 1971: Plan 30A).
• Figure 17. Plan of Ħaġar Qim Temples, limits of Qrendi in Malta. (Source: Evans 1971: Plan 18A).
• Figure 18. Plan of Mnajdra Temples near Ħaġar Qim Temples, limits of Qrendi in Malta. (Source: Evans 1971: Plan 20A).
• Figure 19. Plan of Borġ in-Nadur Temple at Birżebbuġa in Malta. (Source: Evans 1971: Plan 1).
• Figure 20. A torpedo-like ‘betyl’ from Borġ in-Nadur Temple (left) and a similar example in relief on a stela from the Punic ophet at Tharros in Sardinia (right). While the present whereabouts of the former are unknown, the latter is in the Archaeology M
• Figure 21. Plan of Tas-Silġ sanctuary in the area of Marsaxlokk, Malta. The plan shows the locations of the main betyls from both prehistoric and historic periods. (Source: Recchia 2007: 238(Fig.6)).
• Figure 22. Table showing elements of aniconic cults in relation to the earliest phases of Maltese prehistoric temples. Elements of figurine-based cults are also drawn in for comparison, particularly in peak phases of the same prehistoric temples’ lifetime
• 3.0 Tripillar shrines or altars
• Figure 23. Three upright stones at Borġ in-Nadur Temple at Birżebbuġa in Malta. Found in a semicircular niche, they may have comprised a tripillar shrine. (Source: Murray 1923: Plate XIX(2)).
• Figure 24. Tripillar altar in the temple of Zeus Meilichios at Selinunte, Sicily. (Photo: The Author).
• Figure 25. Tripillar altar in the sacello Triolo Nord at Selinunte, Sicily. (Photo: The Author).
• Figure 26. Relief tripillars inside a niche on a stela. The stela comes from the Punic tophet at Tharros in Sardinia and is, now, kept at the Archaeology Museum of Cabras (also in Sardinia). (Photo: The Author).
• 4.0 Betyl amulets?
• Figure 27. A possible pillar-amulet. The perforation at its end suggests hanging round one’s neck. It was found on the surface of the forecourt in front of the Ġgantija northern temple in Xagħra, Gozo. Now, kept at the Gozo Archaeology Museum in the Citad
• Figure 28. Miniature Djed pillars. The examples shown here were meant to be hung as amulets. They are on display at the archaeological museum of the tophet at Sant’Antioco, Sardinia. (Photo: The Author).
• 5.0 More betyls from Tas-Silġ
• 6.0 Stone worship at Ras il-Wardija, in Gozo
• Figure 29. The pyramidal ‘cippus’ / betyl discovered at Ras il-Wardija. Besides its pyramidal shape, the ‘cippus’ / betyl also stands on a base or pedestal. (Photo: The Author).
• Figure 30. A pyramidal stone from the small sanctuary at Capo San Marco (left) and a pyramidal betyl from Tharros’ southern necropolis, Sardinia (right). The latter is on permanent display at the Archaeology Museum of Cabras, also in Sardinia. (Left photo
• Figure 31. An artist’s impression of the temple on the first terrace at Ras il-Wardija, in Gozo. It includes a cut-out view showing the interior where the pyramidal betyl might have received worship. (Drawing: Joseph Calleja).
• Figure 32. Small ‘column’ betyl with its surface rendered in the form of a spiral. It was found beyond and in front of the ent ance to the cave on the fifth terrace at Ras il-Wardija, in Gozo. (Photo: The Author).
• Figure 33. An artist’s impression of the ‘column’ betyl standing behind the two conical cavities on top of which it was found. The two conical cavities might have been an offering table from where, standing behind, the betyl could have received offerings.
• Figure 34. Figure with outstretched hands in a niche inside the cave at Ras il-Wardija, in Gozo. This cruciform and semi-anthropomorphic figure may have represented a transitional stage in the evolution from aniconism to iconism. (Source: MISSIONE 1965: P
• Figure 35. A cruciform herm of the god Hermes. It is to be found at the Museo Nazionale Romano Palazzo Massimo, Rome. (Photo: The Author).
• 7.0 A pair of ‘twin’ betyls
• Figure 36. The two identical marble cippi each carrying a bilingual inscription in Punic and Greek. The inscriptions record an unspecified offering or dedication to Melqart / Heracles. The cippus on the left is still in Malta and is kept at the National M
• Figure 37. A marble cippus from the area of Santa Gilla in Cagliari, Sardinia. It carries a Punic inscription recording the dedication of the same cippus to Melqart of Tyre. The cippus in kept in the Museo Archeologico Nazionale of Cagliari. (Source: Amad
• Figure 38. A betyl representation of Apollon Agyieus decorated with acanthus foliage on its lowermost part. As indicated by an inscription it carries, it comes from a funerary context. This Roman betyl dates to the Claudian period and is now kept in the M
• 8.0 A gilded betyl in the temple of Proserpina at Mtarfa
• Figure 39. The inscription CIL, X, 7494 recording repairs and renovation works to an old temple of Proserpina by Chrestion, the procurator of the Maltese islands. It was found in fragments on Mtarfa hill, in Malta, in 1613. (Photograph © Daniel Cilia).
• Figure 40. Mtarfa hill (in Malta) outside the ancient urban centre and town of Melite. On the basis of inscription CIL, X, 74 4 found there, the hill seems to have been the place where an old temple of Proserpina once stood. The photograph reproduced here
• Figure 41. A coin from Byblos showing a betyl in the middle of a sacred enclosure of an old shrine evidently dedicated to Hera. Dated to the early 3rd century AD, this coin gives testimony to the survival of aniconic cults in Roman imperial times. (Source
• 9.0 Conclusion
• Appendix I
• Appendix II
• Appendix III
• Bibliography
• General Index