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The Tarxien temple is situated on the main island of Malta and is close to the subterranean
temple complex of the Hypogeum Hal Saflieni. As is the case with all the other
temples of Malta, the big question is whether
this ‘temple’ really was a place of worship or whether it had some other
purpose.
The architecture is typical of all temples on Malta. It is in
a shape that resembles a clover-leaf with walls consisting of two separate walls
made of megalithic slabs a few metres apart. The space in between the two walls
was filled with sand and stone rubble. This created a solid wall which still
stands after many millennia.
The length to width ratio is roughly 40 to
30
metres and some of the megalithic slabs are more than
6 metres
high. It is unclear whether it was ever roofed. The walls
seem unsuited to bearing heavy megalithic roof plates.
This temple was excavated between 1910 and 1920.
The temple is placed in the timeframe 3600 – 3000 BC but this dating has never
been scientifically proven.
There are many
questions. Why is this temple here, on an island, far away from populated areas?
Perhaps it wasn't an island at all in those days. Was it part of the mainland?
And who quarried and transported the enormous slabs?
It doesn’t make sense.
More in the Dutch book "Verborgen geheimen van de
mensheid",
and in ref. Mayrhofer and Zammit.
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