As there are no written records from the Maltese Neolithic era, our archaeological knowledge of Mnajdra is dependent on critical interpretation of the material remains of the site, artefacts and environmental context.
Location
The substantial remains of the site dating from 3,600BC – 2,500BC provides tangible evidence of the resourcefulness and artistry of the ancient Maltese. In prehistory, as today, the temples are in a landscape setting, which includes the adjacent megalithic temples of Ħaġar Qim, the Misqa water tanks (perhaps cut to supply the needs of the temple), the Mediterranean and the rocky island of Filfla. The material to build the temples – limestone – is found locally. Mnajdra is made up of two types – the harder grey pink corraline limestone used on the outside and the softer pink yellow globigerina limestone in the interior.
Reuben Grima – former Senior Curator of the Mnajdra and Ħaġar Qim Temples
History of the Site
The original excavations at Mnajdra were carried out by Vance in 1840 and later catalogued by Dr Albert Mayr. For many years the ‘Mnaidra’ temples were thought to be of Phoenician origin with one proposal suggesting that they might be dedicated to the Phoenician god Eshmun. In the late 17th and throughout the 18thcentury, the Maltese sites were on the map as part of the Grand Tour and of particular interest to antiquarians. Zammit documents how around this time the British archaeologist, Charles Thomas Newtown secured two cart-loads of pottery from Ħaġar Qim and Mnajdra which have disappeared. Without the security we see today we can imagine what other invaluable materials from the site have been lost through the practice of recycled building and limestone fragments for roofing and walling or selling artefacts to visitors.
In 1910 Thomas Ashby, as director of the British School in Rome undertook a more formal survey of the site and identified the remains of the small (East) temple and found the area in front of the Middle temple to be paved. John D. Evans conducted a comprehensive survey in 1954 concluding that the site was of ceremonial or ritual purpose and proposing that they were of older origin. In the 1960s with the development of radio carbon dating, the temples’ dates were confirmed as from the 4th millennium BC. Currently the dating of the temples spans a period of over a thousand years with the East temples the oldest at 3,600BC, the South Temples 3,000BC and the Middle Temples from 2,500BC.