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Only a few hundred metres
from the Hypogeum, the above-ground Tarxien Temples provide a striking
contrast to those dark subterranean chambers. This complex is the largest
and most recent of the 'Copper Age' temples in Malta. It is also the most
elaborately embellished. As in the Hypogeum no metal tools were used and
the ornamentation, in the form of spiral reliefs and carved animals,
suggests a sophisticated community of temple builders and carvers.
The complex was also the richest repository of prehistoric art on the
islands, untouched for thousands of years until Sir Themistocles Zammit
started his excavations in 1915. The site comprises three main temples,
with a fourth in ruins. The age of the temples is a matter of some
controversy, though it is generally believed that they were built between
3500 and 2500 BC.
Upon entering the Tarxien Temples, you will see large stone balls which
were used as rollers to transport the massive megaliths from which the
temples were built. Inside the temple is also a half statue of a female
figure, with a frilled skirt and obese legs. The statue, which must have
originally stood nearly 3m high and dominated the whole temple, is thought
to have represented a fertility goddess.
In the niches of this temple still visible are the stones carved with a
procession of what could either be sheep or goats together with a raised
threshold carved with an elaborate system of spirals.
Throughout the other temples within the complex various discoveries were
made, such as cinerary urns, burial offerings and other material used during
the funeral pyres of late Bronze-Age invaders, a cruder, fiercer race of
people who made use of the temples after the original Neolithic builders
had disappeared into oblivion.
One of the most interesting parts of the Tarxien Temples, is the Eastern Temple
which used to be an oracle chamber. The acoustics in this temple are
exceptional. As you can see when you call out in a low voice through the
niche, the noise will reverberate through the temple and beyond. The oracle
chamber is believed to have been used by a priest or priestess.
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