Malta Today

            This week’s blog post will be on the archipelago, which Gozo is a part of, and its current state. The Maltese archipelago is made up of Malta, Gozo, Comino, Cominotto and Fifla, however most of the populations lives on the islands of Malta and Gozo. The region is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, 59 miles off the cost of Sicily to the north and 194 miles off the cost of Tunisia to the west. All five of the islands together make up roughly 95 square miles. Gozo is the most forested of all the islands and has the most farming done on it then any of the other islands. The thin soil and scarce groundwater makes for large amounts of runoff, which poses a problem for archeological areas. For this reason terracing is used on Gozo to contain erosion in the Ggantija sites. The Wild life of the island is largely insects and migratory birds. 

            The public means of transportation in the large towns is the local bussing system. Ferry services connect the five islands; and the beaches, coves, grottoes, and fishing villages are all connected by roadways. In some places on the island the land fall abruptly into the sea over rocks and cliffs creating beautiful views with medieval fortifications. The typical rainy season is from October to February; however the climate remains mild year round. The islands capital is Valletta, which is on the island of Malta and is also where the Grand Harbor is located. The population of the region was 369,451 in 1999, with 341906 living on Malta, 27545 on Gozo and the rest living on the other 3 islands. That year 4826 babies were born giving the reason a birth rate of 13.1 per thousand. This growing population makes the region one of the densest in the world, second only to Singapore.  

            The spoken language is Maltese. It is the only European language that is in the Afro-Asiatic family. This is due to its close relationship to forms of Arabic spoke in Libya and Tunisia. The language is heavily influenced by Sicilian and is written with a twenty-nine-letter alphabet. The language is universally understood by the citizens and has a minimal dialect variation. The more educated of the Maltese people often speak English as well as Italian. The national symbol is that of Saint Paul. He is credited with converting the Maltese to Christianity. The symbolism is a strong reference to how the islands continued to fight in the crusades long after most Europeans abandoned them. The other major symbols used throughout the island are that of Roman Catholicism, Dolphins, the Maltese Cross, a strong European identity, and that of siege mentality.

            The Maltese people have a combined culture with aspects taken from the Phoenicians, Romans, Greeks, Normans, Sicilians, Swabians, Arogonese, Castilian, the Knights, and the British. They share every little with the people of northern Africa that contributed much to their language however. The ethnic identity of the Maltese people is relatively homogeneous by modern standards. A small Jewish community in the region numbers at about one hundred twenty resides on the islands was well as a group of India settlers from Indian at about sixty people.

GOODWIN, S. C. (2001). Malta. In C. R. Ember & M. Ember (Eds.), Countries and Their Cultures (Vol. 3, pp. 1400-1407). New York: Macmillan Reference USA. Retrieved from http://go.galegroup.com.proxy2.cl.msu.edu/ps/i.do?id=GALE%7CCX3401700154&v=2.1&u=msu_main&it=r&p=GVRL&sw=w

Leading Up To Excavation

This week’s post will be about the time after the Maltese people lost control of Gozo until the discovery of the archeological site. In 2000 BC, life came crashing down around the Maltese people when an enemy came to Gozo, known as the Destroyers. They dominated the island until roughly 1400 BC, when another group from in Sicily moved to the island. These Sician held Gozo for five centuries, until the Phoenicians came who used the island as a staging post for their trade routes. In 600 BC, the Greeks had a large enough population that they began looking for new territories to inhabit. The Carthaginians supported the Phoenicians in their fight against the Greeks for land control in Italy, Sicily and occupied the island in 480 BC. Under their control the population grew and moved inland on Gozo and establishing the port known as Grand Harbor. In 218 BC, the last Punic War was being fought between the Carthaginians and the Romans and the Maltese people rebelled against Carthaginian rule and declared their loyalty to Rome. The island prospered under Roman rule and in 117 BC, Gozo was given the official status of Municipium and allowed to form autonomous local governments.

When the Roman Empire split in 395 AD, Gozo became occupied by the Goths and the Vandals until in the 6th century when the island fell under the control of the Byzantine Empire for the next four centuries. In 836 AD, the Aghlabid Arabs of North Africa began to raid the island and in 870 AD, Gozo succumbed to Arab rule for the next 220 years. Under Arab rule the cultural of the island drastically changed and set the foundation of modern Maltese. In 1061 AD, the Normans invaded Sicily and defeated the Arab rulers of the Gozo in 1090 AD. Originally the Arabs still living on the island were allowed to stay. However, in 1122 AD, King Roger I of Sicily deported them and established a feudal system. The island became a part of the Kingdom of Sicily and under King Tancred of Sicily; the islands of Malta and Gozo were turned into a fief under the rule of the Count of Malta. In 1194 AD, the Swabian dynasty of Hohenstaufens took control of the islands and the regain became a part of an immense empire stretching from the north to the south of Europe.

In 1266 AD, at the end of the Hohenstaufen rule of Malta, the islands briefly passed on to the French House of d'Anjou. This however, while the Maltese felt protected by the French forces, the ruling government was never popular. In 1275 when the island was sacked, large revolts against the French rule lead to the region falling under the rule of the Spanish House of Aragon from 1284 to 1412. During this time heavy taxes, failing crops, and raids of the islands by Arab forces lead to dissatisfaction of the Maltese. In 1425, they rose up in revolt against Count Gonsalvo Monroy and in 1428; King Alphonso gave governmental control of the islands to the Maltese people under Spanish rule.

In 1522, the Ottoman Empire showed interests in the islands to wage war in Africa, so in 1530, Charles V of Spain granted the islands to the Sovereign Military Order of the Knights of St. John in perpetual fiefdom, in exchange for an annual fee of a single Maltese falcon and to fend off the Ottomans. In 1565, the Ottoman Sultan Suleiman the Magnificent sent an army of 40,000 to expel the Knights from the Maltese islands. The population of Malta suffered one of the roughest and bloodiest sieges in history.  However, The Ottoman defeat started the turning point in Turkish naval domination, and after the siege the Knights embarked built the new city of Valletta.

The rule of the Knights remained strong until 1798, when the Order saw its revenues and its prestige decline and with the French revolution of 1789, Napoleon was able to capture the islands. In 1814, during the Napoleon wars, the Maltese rebelled against the French occupation of the islands. With Great Britain help in blockading the islands from French reinforcements with the signing of the First Treaty of Paris, The islands were declared to be a part of the British Empire who completed the excavation of the Ggantija ruins in 1827.

Works Cited:

"Maltese." Worldmark Encyclopedia of Cultures and Daily Life. Ed. Timothy L. Gall and Jeneen Hobby. 2nd ed. Vol. 5: Europe. Detroit: Gale, 2009. 298-308. Gale Virtual Reference Library. Web. 22 Mar. 2012.

The Malta

This Blog Entry will focus on the people of Malta who built the temple complex known as Ggantija. These people first arrived on the island of Gozo, around the year in history 5200 B.C. It is believe that they came here in this time only because it became feasible to do so then. The islands small size and low relief caused the sea between Gozo and the mainland to go black at night. One would have had to cross blindly for about 100 kilometers before making it to the island. It is theorized that the forest fires on the island of Gozo could have alerted people of the island present; however they still needed more developed technology to reach it. It is also believed that the island was considered a low priority due to the natural fertile land of the mainland produces to need to seek alternative land.

                

 These people’s first displays of culture appear to have similarities with those of the Monte Kronio. This leads us to believe that they had contact with or came from the people of eastern Sicily. They followed what became known as Ghar Dalam culture. They lived in rock shelters with open dwellings. This is a similar pattern to the Ggantija temples. Mostly farmers, they grew wheat, barley, and lentils. They fished and hunted to supplement their food sources but mainly farmed. These people saw the sea as more are an isolation factor and a means of security rather than a food source or means of trade. This is so, because the lack of resources made it so that the island was undesirable and saw very little travel. This culture evolved into the Grey Skorba culture sometime between 4500-4400 B.C., and into the Red Skorba culture between 4400-4100 B.C.

After this point the island of Gozo entered what became known as the Temple period when the complex of Ggantija was built. The first eight hundred years of this period are known as the Zebbug and Mgarr phases. These two phases did not yield any temples but played a critical rule in there later development.  This time period had major advances in agriculture. This allowed Neolithic community to provide a surplus of food. This allowed the community to become healthier and phosphorus. With wealth came a more complex social hierarchy, with leadership in religious, cultural and community affairs. The cultural and commercial contact with the mainland of Sicily did little but added to the national wealth. The Isolation of the sea gave them a change to develop internally and create the Megalithic monuments characteristic of the Temple Period. The complexity of each of these temples, with unique plans and structures, is one of mankind’s earliest achievements.

Not much is known about the Malta who built these complex structures of why there culture is disappeared. It is believed that the reason this is gone, is due to their legacy of these temples. The amount of timber that used in the construction of these sanctuaries is astounding. In order to acquire the amount of wood needed to produce it probably lead to deforestation, instability of climate, soil erosion, drought, and eventual crop failure. These factors lead to war, famine and disease, which eventually force the survivors to either leave or die.

Works Cited:

Atauz, Ayse Devrim. Trade, Piracy, and Naval Warfare in the Central Mediterranean: The Maritime History and Archaeology of Malta. Texas A&M University, 2004 United States -- TexasProQuest Dissertations & Theses (PQDT); ProQuest Dissertations & Theses A&I. 29 Feb. 2012 . 

The Island of Gozo

This week’s entry is my blog is about the Island that the archaeological site, Ggantija, is located on. This is the island of Gozo in the Mediterranean sea. The Island measures roughly about nine miles long, by four miles wide. Gozo is much greener and quieter than the rest of Malta, the region that the island resides in. The islands beautiful rocky mountains and lush green planes make for a breathtaking view when highlighted by the surrounding crystal blue water of the Mediterranean sea. The magnificent landscape and scenery makes the island a great travel destination. The settlements of Gozo used to be once several tranquil fishing villages are now more populated, but still quite picturesque seaside towns. Gozo is home to many other sites and tourist attractions other than just Ggantija. Victoria, named after Queen Victoria, is a Citadel built in the capital city. It was used as a 15th Century defense structure against the Turkish Empire and pirate attacks from the sea. St George's Basilica, built in the 1670s, is surrounded by narrow streets and contains paintings and artifacts dating back to Roman times. One of the more interesting spots on the Island is Calypso's Cave. Overlooking Gozo's best beach, Ramla l- Hamra, the cave is argued to be the one described in Homer's poem, The Odyssey. For in this cave the nymph Calypso forced Odysseus to be her prisoner of love for seven years. The island also has several museums, including one on archaeology and one devoted to the local folklore. However, the main attraction on the Island of Gozo is the Ggantija Temples. Built before 3500BC, they are situated about a 10-minute walk from the nearby village or can be reached by a ferry. The temples were cleared out in 1827. During this period, archaeology was still a treasure hunt and all the valuable pieces that can give us insight into the history of are lost. We can only guess what information, might have been yielded by a modern investigator. What is known is that the site was built by the people of Malta. These settlers first arrived and settled the area about 7,000 years ago. They left their pottery as evidence. These pottery pieces are the few things that remained at Ggantija after the site was lifted of all its artifacts. The pottery found was made of a utilitarian grey ware at first. Pottery was also found to be made of a more attractive material with a red slip. This pottery is believed to have arrived later then the gray pottery also found. It is estimated that a thousand years passed, and this new information in the pottery record indicates a new immigration. The origin of this immigration is unknown but is assumed to be from Sicily, which was close enough for contact. However, the culture of the newcomers soon developed along its own mode and remained different from the Malta people. This raises the question as to why this pottery from these people was found at Ggantija. Sometime about 5,600 years ago, the unique Maltese temples, such as Ggantija appeared. Their outside walls are constructed of great, roughly hewn stones fitted together without mortar, and the interior space is divided into a series of connected apses, some of which have altar tables made of stone slabs. It is speculated that these temples have religious nature, but with the lack of artifact known to be from this site it is difficult to know the truth about Ggantija’s true purpose. I think that the intermingling between the Malta people and the Newcomers that came later made for trade and that when they built Ggantija, the people of Malta had connections that allowed them to acquire this different style of pottery to but in the temple. However, that is just my belief. As my research into Ggantija continues I’ll see how my view on this changes.

Works Cited:

Evans, James Allan. "The Maltese Connection." Contemporary Review 2000: 309-12. ProQuest Research Library. Web. 18 Feb. 2012 .

"In and Around Gozo." TTG, Travel Trade Gazette, U.K.and Ireland.02624397 (1999): 48-. ABI/INFORM Complete. Web. 18 Feb. 2012.

Intro to Ggantija

This post is going to give so basic background information on to the archaeological site Ggantija. Ggantija is a well preserved temples is on island of Gozo in the Mediterranean sea. It was built by the Malta, who had no written language or knowledge of any kind of metal, had raised vast, yet where able to build sophisticated stone structures several hundred years before the Egyptians built the pyramids. Ggantija’s stone gray structure stands on one of Gozo's flat-topped hills above a fertile valley. Ggantija gained its name due to folk stories. Legend speaks of a female giant who, by day, strode the land carrying the great slabs on her head, and built them by night. This look of this temple gave it its name Ggantjia, the Maltese word for giantess. The Malta used Gozo’s abundance of multiple types of limestone in nearly all of their temples. However, nowhere else did they build a surrounding wall quite as astonishing as the one at Ggantjia. Blocks of hard grey stone, the size of small cars are laid alternately upright and sideways to form a first course eight meters high. Above this another layer of smaller blocks teeter upwards for a further two meters. The two entrances of Ggantija stand side by side on the concave façade. They are flanked by pillars of soft, golden limestone once doubtless capped by lintels of equally impressive dimensions. Gganjita’s threshold is made of one enormous slab of golden stone and beside it lay round rocks which that rolled it into place from the surrounding hillside. The interior walls were originally plastered and painted with red ochre, the remains of which could still be seen clinging to the stones until only a few years ago. Gganjita was the first uncovered in the 1820s. It was dug out by untrained hands, as was a common practice in archaeology in the 1800’s. It is guessed that many of the treasures from Ggantija must have disappeared with the rubbish. Of the few things that remained a carved snake climbing a stone and two finely modeled stone heads give some indication of what else might have been there. One artifact found at the site however, is difficult to associate with the terms of the Stone Age. A piece of pottery, part of a bowl incised all round with two lines of birds in flight. The Malta people who built this temple were farmers. They grew barley and wheat and raised with them cattle, goats, sheep and pigs. The Malta appear to have been a remarkably peaceful people, yet they fear no threat from each other or from the outside world. They lived in caves and houses made of mudbrick. Their homes were without a trace of any kind of fortification. The only things found from this period even resembling a weapon are two tiny arrowheads. Skeletal remains of the Malta show they had unusually healthy with strong bones and teeth though a few of them had bunions on their feet. One rather touching artifact found was the remains of a small child buried with a puppy. It is unknown if whether or not the site was meant for only privileged members of their society to be buried there, but several skeletons seem to indicate otherwise. These men buried at Ggantija had particularly thick, strong limbs and distinctively craggy faces suggesting they were more common people then not.

Work Cited:

Monsarrat, Ann. "The Stone Age Temples of Malta." The Unesco Courier 1994: 46-. ProQuest Research Library. Web. 2 Feb. 2012 .