DATE FROM – 5,400 BC. J.-C. /MEGALITHIC TEMPLES OF MALTA AND HYPOGEUM OF HAL SALFIENI

EXPLANATION OF THE PURPOSE OF THE MALTA TEMPLES SITE

This site, in many respects, is also absolutely extraordinary for the demonstration of this work, in fact, all the more extraordinary because it is very old.

Let us try to put in order what has been enumerated, in order to identify the key and convergent elements that are completely in the direction of the general demonstration of the cult of the mother goddess. 

In order not to waste time and overload you with information without giving you explanations, I will add to the above information, which is easily accessible, those coming from other more specialized documentary sources and in particular those resulting from the thesis work in Archaeology carried out by Mr. Ferguson, whom, without knowing him, I would like to thank for his numerous pertinent observations.

In this section, explanations will be provided in conjunction with Mr. Ferguson’s additional on-site observations rather than in two separate parts.

SYMBOLIC LANGUAGE: A PROTOLANGUAGE

In the introduction and prologue of this work, it was said that the postulate of this one is to say that the symbolic language is the first of the languages or more exactly the language of the sacred par excellence.

In this regard, the following introductory remark in Mr. Ferguson’s thesis is particularly noteworthy in echoing it:

If symbols are seen as a complement to the presumed limited forms of Neolithic language, Gimbutas is justified in stating that “images and symbols represent the grammar and syntax of a kind of metalanguage, through which a whole constellation of meanings and values is transmitted. ” (Gimbutas, 1989) In the same vein, Burkert says, “In recent times, the tendency is more to see rituals as an initially autonomous, quasi-linguistic system alongside and before spoken language. ” (Burkert 1985; 54) Thus, the rich ritual life of Neolithic societies can be seen as a semiotic device that incorporates symbols; rituals and symbols play a major role in enacting and transmitting the value and meaning of the systems of the societies to which they belong. (the temple builders of Prehistoric/Malta Doctoral thesis by Ian F.G.Ferguson for the University of London Ph. D in Archaeology/p.15)

The question is therefore asked: what does the universal symbolic language also in vogue on these two islands with their megalithic constructions tell us?

LOCATION ON AN ISLAND

In terms of location, it is already interesting to note that this megalithism was carried out on an island.

From a symbolic point of view, the island has the same meaning as the mountain. 

It is figuratively speaking the womb emerging from the waves of the mother goddess, except that obviously the island comes even more easily than the mountain (which does so by the river for water or by the volcano for blood) to represent the fluids flowing from the mother goddess since the island is literally encircled by water (review the symbolism of the island)

The fact that two sites (Mnajdra and Ħagar Qim) are located on cliffs 200 m above the Sea and facing it necessarily refers to this symbolism.

THE ARCHITECTURAL SYMBOLISM OF THE TEMPLES OF MALTA

TWO MAJOR TYPES OF TEMPLE FORMS

To this first consideration, let us now observe the form of the temples of Malta.

When we compare them, we can noticeably identify two forms of architecture:

• One characterized by a cloverleaf shape, say with three leaves, with a courtyard and three apses (or lobes), or with two apses and a central niche/apse
• The other one is characterized by a cloverleaf shape, let’s say with five leaves, with two superimposed courtyards, the first one with two apses and the upper one with three apses or with two apses and a central niche/apse.

Let’s take the examples available to us to illustrate this and see what each of its forms symbolically represents.

THE THREE-LEAF TREFOIL SHAPE

EXAMPLES OF TEMPLES IN THE SHAPE OF A THREE-LEAF CLOVER

Southern Temple of Skorba (3,600 – 3,000 B.C.),

Southern Temple of Skorba

The oldest. phase of Ġgantija (3,600 – 3,000 BC),

in trefoil form with a single courtyard with a triple apse (cross-shaped

facing southeast/northwest

First temple of Ta’ Ħagrat (3,600 to 3,000 BC)

First Temple of Ta’ Ħagrat

3,600 to 3,000 B.C.

Cloverleaf with a courtyard with three apses (cross-shaped)

Primitive (or superior) temple of mnajdra (before 3600 BC)

Primitive temple of Mnajdra

(Before 3 600 BC)

Cloverleaf with a courtyard with three apses (cross-shaped

The entrance is formed by a hole cut in a large vertical slab of limestone, a type of construction typical of other megalithic entrances in Malta.

The temple seems to have originally had a vaulted ceiling

The pillars are decorated with holes drilled in horizontal rows on their inner surface.

second temple of Ta’ Ħagrat (3,300 to 3,000 BC)

Second Temple of Ta’ Ħagrat

3,300 to 3,000 B.C.

courtyard with four apses.

South-north oriented (entrance is in the east apse of the first one).

THE SYMBOLISM OF THE THREE-LEAF CLOVER

The shape of the three-leaf clover must necessarily evoke several things to us with regard to what we have already examined:

• The symbol of the three-leaf clover evokes the symbol of the cross (review the symbolism of the cross in this volume and its complete symbolism in volume 3)

From this point of view, we will see it again in the corridor tombs of Ireland (Dowth, Knowth, Newgrange) whose corridor leads to a cruciform chamber with also three apses…

We will see that it will be said of the right apse of the Newgrange tumulus that its recess was larger, and that rock art was used there more than in the other two.

Now, the same observation has been made concerning the right apse of the southern temple of Ġgantija, which in, its early form was three-leafed.

We are thus well, in spite of the distance and the time which separates these two megalithic places, on a symbolism and a strictly identical ritual use

(we will see in the analysis of Stonehenge the probable reason for the major use of this right apse)

• The symbol of the three-leaf clover evokes the symbol of the double axe (see volume 3 for the symbolism of the double axe)

As a reminder, in the very primitive tomb of Xemxija, two miniature axe pendants (apparently not double) made of green stone were found. Obviously, the symbol of the axe was known to the inhabitants. Moreover, this green stone axe was found with shells also in pendants, shells whose symbolism is known (see symbolism of the shell) which is associated with that of the spiral.

• The symbol of the three-leaf clover also basically evokes the symbolism of the circle, since the clover is composed of a courtyard (usually a central circle) with three apses around it.

In this respect, the fact that the primitive temple of Mnajdra seems to have had a vaulted ceiling testifies to the fact that the symbolism sought was, together with that of the cross and the double axe, also that of the dome, the globe and the sphere.

So that from this point of view also, the Maltese primitive temple associates the same basic symbolic forms in representation of the mother goddess: cross and circle.

These different symbols have already been analyzed and it has been demonstrated that all three represent the mother goddess and her matrix power.

THE TREFOIL FORM HAS FIVE LEAVES

EXAMPLES OF TEMPLES IN THE SHAPE OF A FIVE-LEAF CLOVER

Southern Temple of Ġgantija (4,100 to 3,000 B.C.)

Southern temple of Ġgantija

(4100 – 3000 BC),

of trefoil form with two successive courtyards with double apse

Trefoil form perhaps 4,100 B.C.

Then preceded by a double apse room in 3600 BC).

Southeast/northwest facing

It should be noted that, as in the Irish corridor tombs, the apse on the right as you enter seems to have a particular importance for the cult.

A stone screen or paravent, preceded by a fireplace, delimits the back of the apse. There are two low altars sculpted with spirals, arranged on steps forming a platform. Above is a niche that was to receive the conical stone (1 m high), perfectly polished, which is exposed today in the national museum of archaeology.

The left apse of Ġgantija revealed decoration made of red ochre.

In Ġgantija, the corridor allowing passage into the back apses is made of upright stones decorated with small concavities.

Septentrional Temple of Ġgantija (3,600 to 3,000 BC)

Northern temple of Ġgantija

3,600 to 3,000 B.C.

in the shape of a double-apse cloverleaf (except that there is a niche in the back room instead of the traditional front apse)

Facing southeast/northwest.

The central temple of mnajdra (3 600 A 3 000 BC)

Central Temple of Mnajdra

(3 600 to 3 000 BC)

Cloverleaf with two courtyards with double apse

Northern Temple of Ħagar Qim (3,600-3,000 B.C.)

Northern Temple of Ħagar Qim

(3,600-3,000 B.C.)

Trefoil form with two courtyards with two apses (plus an apse/niche)

South facing entrance

Primitive temple of Tarxian (3250 BC)

Tarxian Primitive temple 3 250 BC.

Ġgantija phase (3,600-3,000 B.C.)

South-north oriented

Listed as having five apses

The lower temple of mnajdra (3000 to 2500 BC)

Lower Temple of Mnajdra

(3 000 to 2 500 BC)

Cloverleaf with two courtyards with double apse

There are the remains of a possible domed roof.

The temple is decorated with spiral engravings and indentations.

At the equinoxes, the sunlight passes through the main entrance and illuminates the axis of the temple. At solstices, it illuminates the edges of the megaliths to the right and left of this entrance.

” … ” In December 1949, two small statues, a large round stone were discovered.

Southern Temple of Ħagar Qim (3,000-2,500 B.C.)

In the center of the site, the original temple (3,000-2,500 B.C.) also has a trefoil (cross) shape with two courtyards with double apses plus a more distant apsis corresponding to a niche (the quoted text says “a temple has four apses and a distal apse replaced by a niche”)

Western Temple of Tarxian (3000 BC)

Western Temple of Tarxien

3,000 B.C.

Saflieni phase (3,000-2,900 B.C.),

facing southwest/northeast

Two courtyards, 5 apses.

Traditional concave façade

Statue, idol, monumental in the right apse in entrance (3)

Western temple of Tarxien : number of stones sculpted in low relief with geometrical motifs (volutes, spirals…) or animal motifs (goat, pig…). One of these decorated stones has a half-moon-shaped opening, blocked by a perfectly fitted and decorated stone. Excavations have revealed that this stone gave access to a space where offerings and the ritual stone knife were deposited.

Northern Temple of Skorba (2 900 – 2500 BC)

Northern Temple of Skorba

(Later) Tarxian phase (2,900 – 2500 BC)

Of trefoil shape with two courtyards, the first with a double apse, the second with a double or even triple apse (the “head” being visibly poorly preserved)

At the entrance to the southern temple of Skorba, the stone pavement consists of six slabs with five holes on three of them which, according to H. Trump, were intended for libations.

At the site of Skorba, figurines of stylized female torsos in stone and terracotta were found, clearly showing breasts and pubic triangle, as well as bovid bones worn down by rubbing to give them the shape of phalluses, as well as crushed goat skulls as one might see in a slaughterhouse.

EXAMPLES OF MULTIPLE TREFOIL SHAPES

Southern temple (with enlargement) of Ħagar Qim (3000-2,500 B.C.)

Southern Temple of Ħagar Qim

(3000 – 2500 BC)

View from the northwestern entrance called the oracle hole

It is on this site, in the first western apse, that the “Venus of Malta”
was found, a headless female nude statuette.

Central Temple of Tarxian (2 900 to 2 500 BC)

Tarxien Temple Central 

Tarxian phase (2,900-2,500 B.C.). 

With six apses and distal niche

facing southwest/northeast

THE SYMBOLISM OF THE FIVE-LEAF TREFOIL SHAPE: THE REPRESENTATION OF THE CROUCHING MOTHER GODDESS 

The trefoil form with five leaves is obviously more recent since concerning the southern temple of Ġgantija it is specified that primitively it was with three leaves (4,100 BC) before an additional court with three apses was added (3,600 BC).

But beyond its more recent character, what interests us most is obviously the reason for the choice of this form.

Some researchers compare the trefoil plan of the temples of Malta to the lobes of certain artificial sepulchral caves, which makes them think that they are simple sepulchres.

https://www.universalis.fr/encyclopedie/temple-megalithique/

However, after what we have already said, the reason for this architectural choice is obvious (and even without knowing anything about symbolism).

This specific plan undoubtedly serves to represent the mother-goddess herself in her local form, with her specific planted forms to the mother-goddess of the place, presumably, in different positions:

• lying down, on the back

with arms and legs spread out as in the symbolism of the hand of Tanit, or seen from above, head and limbs erect (like an erect hand seen from above),

• sitting with her arms and legs gathered,
• see also on the belly.

This is evident from the site of Xemxija:

For the supine form with arms and legs spread or raised in the air, look at the temple:

• Southern Ġgantija
• Septentrional de Ġgantija
• Central of Mnajdra
• Septentrional of Ħagar Qim
• West of Tarxien

Concerning the form lying on the back (arms and legs spread or erected), it seems to be the oldest architectural form.

For the sitting form, look at the temples:

• Southern Ħagar Qim
• Primitive of Tarxien
• Lower Mnajdra

By itself, the seated form can also be understood as lying on the back with arms and legs erect, but the southern temple of Ħagar Qim also preaches for a seated or crouched position.

For the form lying on the belly (?), we may have an example with the temple:

• Septentrional of Skorba

Let us note that this trefoil shape with five branches is to be directly associated with the symbolism of the hand which is, as we have seen with the symbol of the hand of Tanit, the emblem of the mother goddess described in the position of childbirth and in her gift of vital fluids.

This local trefoil shape is here simply due to the fact that the members of the mother goddess are corpulent.

Another symbolism associated with this five-leaf clover shape is the butterfly, the symbol par excellence of regeneration (see Volume 3 for the symbolism of the caterpillar and the butterfly). From this point of view, it is not simply the body of the mother-goddess that is represented, but her personal regeneration, like that which she produced on the father of the gods and by extension on all her worshippers whom she symbolically transforms into butterflies, into beings born again.

IDEALIZED TEMPLE AND OBVIOUS SYMBOLISM

To attest this representation, it is enough to throw an eye to the vision of the idealized temple such as the authors Mamone and Stoddart conceived it with regard to the comparison of the various elements found on the sites.

This vision synthesizes all the elements usually and statistically encountered in a Maltese monolithic temple:

Lateralized organization of space and activities in an idealized “temple” (Malone and Stoddart 2009, 372)

The captions are in English, but what interests us here is the general form.

Let’s just turn the image around and compare it with the local mother goddess:

Well, of course, she lost her head on the right side, but in the myth we also know why! (review under the analysis the death sentence by the logos/the symbolism of the decapitated mother goddess)

THE SCHEMATIC STATUETTE OF THE MOTHER GODDESS FROM THE VICTORIA MUSEUM

In the same vein, the article by Anne Larue, who, by the way, has the relevant intuition to understand that these temples are representations of the body of the mother-goddess, but, unfortunately, does not attribute to them the characteristic of temples, produces the following interesting photo of a figurine from the archaeological museum of Victoria :

Anne Larue invites us to compare it to the temple of Ggigantja and she is perfectly right on this point!

https://alka.hypotheses.org/1305

THE SYMBOLISM OF THE ARCHITECTURE OF THE HAL SALFIENI TEMPLE

To understand the reason for this particular site of the hypogeum, with an underground temple identical in every respect to the surface temples, it is appropriate to focus on the second level, on the area depicted as the most remarkable, having all the characteristics of a temple and not simply a burial place.

This area, this underground temple begins with a trilith door (in 2), with the offering well (in 3), the decorated room (in 7), the main room (in 9), the Holy of Holies (in 10), the Treasury (in 11).

Now, this area is once again, exactly like the surface temples, a representation of the subterranean mother goddess, goddess of the Earth and the underworld:

THE UNDERGROUND TEMPLE OF HAL SALFIENI

Framed texts (top to bottom) :

• Head or crown
• Head or upper torso
• Right arm or breast
• Left arm or breast
• Navel / Matrix
• Lower abdomen / Thighs
• Trilith / Vagina

It is remarkable that the offering well is located at the navel, in the central axis of the matrix.

It is also interesting to note that behind this offering well are the 3 main rooms, clockwise, the main room corresponding to the right breast, the holy of holies corresponding to the upper torso (or head), the treasure corresponding to the crown (or head), to which we can add the decorated room corresponding to the left breast.

Notice this propensity to segment the body of the goddess into 3 major circles, which recalls the primitive shape of the three-leaf clover, a primitive and central configuration in which the well of oracles would represent the door to the matrix.

THE TREASURE ROOM: THE HEAD OF THE MOTHER GODDESS

If we have any doubt that it is indeed so, it is remarkable to note that in the plan of the hypogeum made by Mr Ferguson, room 27 which corresponds to the treasure room corresponds to the head of the mother-goddess if we assume that this temple is a model of her body

On this plan of Mr. Ferguson, we can clearly see that room 27, the treasure room, corresponds to the head room of the mother goddess (here on his plan the head room 27 is at the bottom right)

Plan of the hypogeum by Ian F.G.Ferguson

Now, what was found in this famous room 27 ? The location of what must have been a statue-icon of the mother goddess, whose head could be removed and put back in place at will by means of a stone lip perforated above it and the means of a rope.

See indeed what we read:

The last room on this level, 27 “…” is a small, dark room even today, with a raised ledge in front of the entrance; this, as Evans points out outside, would have been appropriate for holding an icon, and as when lit it would have been visible from the southwest corner of 24, it is quite plausible to suggest that a limited glimpse of one of the figures might have been incorporated into an appropriate ceremonial. Again as Evans has pointed out, there is a perforated stone lip above the rim, suitable for the passage of a thin string. Since most of the stone statuettes had separate heads, and since such a standing statuette (S/S40, some 40 cm high) and even two limestone heads (S/S 38 and 39) were recovered from the hypogeum, it seems highly likely that we have here a form of ritual consultation of the goddess, whose head could have been moved by a rope controlled by an operator.

(the temple builders of Prehistoric/Malta Doctoral thesis by Ian F.G.Ferguson for the University of London Ph. D in Archaeology/p.152).

Is it not surprising that this most remote part of the temple, the treasury, the most sacred area, contains the “removable” head of the mother-goddess, even though in the interpretation of this work this room of the temple is precisely the place of her head (or crown)?

There is no doubt that there is no mistake in interpreting the temple with five clubs as the body of the crouching goddess.

THE GODDESS HAS HER HEAD CUT OFF AND PUT BACK ON

Moreover, this severed head directly associates this mother-goddess with other mother-goddesses who have suffered exactly the same fate.

Let us quote for example the case of the goddess Isis when she was decapitated by, according to the traditions, her son the god Horus or the hawk god Anty (in any case also associated with Horus) after which her head was given back to her, without the myth saying why, with that of a cow’s head. She then became, after the installation of this cow’s head, the goddess Hathor. After that she regenerated Anty, the one who had decapitated her after he had been flayed by Re.

This myth is actually very clear and has been explained (see note “the symbolism of the severed, decapitated head” in the analysis “the death sentence by the Logos”, Volume 1) giving the reason for both this decapitation and the return of this head.

Let us simply note here that the mother-goddess of Malta is thus, by this fact, directly associated with Isis as with other mother-goddesses who have also “temporarily lost their heads”.

THE HAND OF THE DECORATED ROOM: THE SQUATTING GODDESS WHO GIVES BIRTH AND DIFFUSES HER VITAL FLUIDS!

Now imagine for a moment that you are still plagued by doubt.

Observe with me what Mr. Ferguson observes in his analysis of room 20, commonly called the decorated room, which in our diagram is the left arm or left breast of the crouching mother goddess.

I take the liberty of making a long quotation that I hope he will forgive me for, but in order to allow you to accompany him as if you were there, like a guide in the progress of these observations and the conclusions that he himself draws:

Room 20 is known as the decorated room, although Ridley calls it the hexagon room; it’s a large, interesting hall with a number of features – painted walls and ceiling, a circular pit, two pillars and the final steps leading to the third level. ” … ” The circular pit, 22, is located in the ground and was deliberately cut as a 2 m deep pit with no possibility of entry or exit. Its shape, including the sloping shelf, resembles that of a wide-necked jar. Zammit believed that the pendants, amulets, and other personal objects carved from the ornaments were found here, as well as the famous terracotta figurine known as the Sleeping Lady and the accompanying coin, although Trump attributes them to the main room (Trump 1972; 60). Why was a circular pit cut into the floor here? It seems quite different from the side chambers used for burials. Could it have been used for grain storage, perhaps seed corn? This is a possible hypothesis.

Keeping this possibility in mind, it also seems possible that it could have been used for cultic purposes. This interpretation is supported by two small vertical pillars carved into the rock, both bearing quilted and ochre decoration. There is no evidence of a practical function, so they may have served a ritual purpose. The vertical columns (betyls), both natural (stalagmites) and artificial, are features commonly found in ritual and religious contexts on Crete and elsewhere, and appear in Malta associated with various temples during the Marxian phase.

Room 20 also has, on the wall facing the pit, the apparent outline of a right hand held vertically and bearing a thumb and five other fingers, which Ridley and others have considered a natural phenomenon. “It appears to be completely accidental, although it remains possible that the surface was pecked, but this is highly unlikely. No pigment can be seen. ” (Ridley 197 6; 61) For a long time I too was of this opinion.

However, there are three points that indicate another interpretation. First, there is a headless clay statuette that also has 6 fingers on each hand. Multiple sclerosis is still a relatively common medical abnormality (the sixth finger is now usually removed in early childhood) and is genetically transmitted; in prehistoric times, such a phenomenon must have been regarded with fear and superstition. Second, the hand motif is a common feature in Paleolithic rock art, as in the Grotte de Gargus, Hautes-Pyrénées, where some twenty negative hands, mostly vertical, were printed on an interior wall by blowing. Third, there is no doubt that the general context, both of the Salle des Hexagones and of the middle level as a whole, is one of ritual or cultic activity. Random coincidences likely occur, but there is a point beyond which healthy scientific skepticism becomes irrational nihilism (NB: I’m not the one saying this!). Since context plays an important role in archaeological matters, we should accept a fair probability that this “hand” is an artifact. We should also note that its height above the ground is exactly appropriate for a ritual act, possibly the taking of an oath (the temple builders of Prehistoric/Malta Doctoral thesis by Ian F.G.Ferguson for the University of London Ph. D in Archaeology/p. 145)

Do you realize the importance of this observation made by Mr. Ferguson and his rightful deduction (even if he does not understand its symbolic interpretation)?

He notes the presence in this room decorated with particular care, the presence of a circular pit, two betyls carved in the rock of stalagmites-betyls type and finally the same motif of the hand whose deep mystical meaning we know.

His reasoning is extremely interesting: he proceeds by association and does not let himself be overwhelmed by the ambient skepticism/relativism of his colleagues. He associates this hand with the great goddess, with the rupestrian hands of Gargas and attributes to it, given the eminently cult context, a ritual meaning, even if he does not know how to interpret it.

Amazing isn’t it?

However, unlike Mr. Ferguson, we know the symbolism of this hand and therefore why it is there!

It is there to represent the mother goddess in a squatting position symbolically giving birth to the reincarnated father of the gods and distributing his vital fluids to the living and the dead.

The receptacle of its fluids is precisely in this room the circular pit, in which we can imagine, given its depth of 2 m, that devotees were mystically immersed as a symbol of their death rebirth.

One can also observe in passing that each major circle of the body of the mother goddess seems to function decidedly as an independent mystical center, with its icon, its specific ritual, even if it always revolves around the central theme of regeneration made possible by the mother goddess.

In this case, the positioning of this distribution of fluids at the level of this piece which is situated at the level of the left breast of the mother goddess is implicitly not insignificant.

But the most important thing to remember here is, as we understand it intuitively, without perhaps affixing all the historical and religious significance, that this underground temple of Hal Salfieni makes neither more nor less the link between the caves of the prehistoric sites and the symbolism of the hand as in Gargas, as Mr. Ferguson pointed out, with these monolithic temples of Malta!

But, as we have shown, these temples are themselves representations of the crouching mother goddess!

And as Mr. Ferguson rightly pointed out, the hand is unmistakably that of the mother goddess since it has six fingers like the figurines that represent her!

So that the symbol of the prehistoric hand is undoubtedly also directly associated with the symbolism of the mother goddess (crouching)!

Even if there was no need for this site to understand and prove it by observation and analysis, it is an additional and flagrant proof of the accuracy of this interpretation, as well as of its universality and timelessness.

Universality and Timelessness, it is the case to say it because, from a scientist point of view, we find ourselves with identical representations of the mother goddess on a site of the Upper Paleolithic (Reminder: for Gargas and Cosquer, between 43,000 to 29,000 years for the Aurignacian and 31,000 to 22,000 years for the Gravetian) compared to “from – 4,100 years dated for the hypogeum of Ħal Saflieni.

Whereas one supposed the prehistoric ancestors incapable of mythological representations and religious cults, here they are carrying out basically strictly the same as “from 40 000 years to 18 000 years” later, in the era of megalithism!

A cult, moreover, as we shall see in this analysis, associated to Isis, to Demeter, and on which are found true mystical signatures of Eve and her husband.

But let’s continue.

HOLE “AT THE ORACLES” by ĦAGAR QIM

It is interesting to note the architectural nature of the oracle hole of the southern temple of Ħagar Qim.

As a reminder, the hole of the oracle is a sanctuary housing two betyls, one phallic and the other trapezoidal, representing the female sex.

The hole of the oracle is located in 2, the apse the oracle in 1, the sanctuary housing the two betyls in 3.

Here is a photograph of this hole in the oracle:

Arcana The mysteries of the world

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vD78nBjyAi8

Having understood that the temple is a representation of the mother-goddess here in a reclining position, arms and legs erect, given the symbolism of the lintel doorpost, which symbolizes the mother-goddess and the entrance to her womb, the door to the afterlife and regeneration, a lintel which is found here just before the hole, given the concomitant presence on the spot of a phallus and a feminine sex at this precise spot, the “hidden” meaning of this “hole to the oracles” is obvious!

CONCLUSION ON THE SHAPE OF THE TEMPLES

In fact, regardless of the exact position of the mother goddess that was intended to be represented (sitting, on her back, or even on her stomach), it is obvious that entering a temple of Malta meant for its worshippers to enter the body, the belly, the very heart of the mother goddess.

The fact that the primitive form was at first a circle (globe) and a cross, thus focusing initially on her belly, the central area of her womb, and then, visibly in later periods, representing her in her entirety with her head, arms and legs spread out or erect, or even later still seated, shows to what extent this mysticism of the temple systematically associated with the regenerating power of the matrix of the mother goddess, even if in different forms at different times, remains the common denominator of all these sites, yet located hundreds or thousands of years apart from each other.

Let us now look at the elements that allow us to identify this mother goddess

IDENTITY OF THE MOTHER GODDESS AND THE FATHER OF THE GODS OF THE MEGALITHIC TEMPLES OF MALTA

THE MOTHER GODDESS AGA/AKA AND THE SYMBOLISM OF THE TRILITH

Let us now address this aspect of the megalithic construction which is a true mystical or symbolic signature of the identity of the mother goddess in question.

The particularity of the sites of Malta is indeed that each monumental entrance is a trilith

What is a trilith?

Here is the definition:

PRELIMINARY NOTE ON THE TRILITH

The term is formed from the Greek words τρία (tria, “three”) and λίθοσ (lithos, “stone”), and literally means “three stones.” In archaeology, it refers to a structure consisting of three stones where the first two, arranged in a vertical position, the pillars, support the third, placed horizontally, the lintel.

The use of triliths is quite frequent in megalithic constructions with a monumental character (Stonehenge, megalithic temples of Malta). In the dolmens of Anjou, the portico that precedes the entrance to the burial chamber is generally constituted by a trilith.

https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trilithe

Here are examples of triliths acting as gateways to the Malta site:

Entrance to the site of Mnajdra

Entrance to the site of Mnajdra/WK/Mareksilarski

Entrance to the site of Ħagar Qim

Entrance to the temple of Ħagar Qim/WK/Erweh

open panel From Ħagar Qim

Although it is not a lintelled doorpost in the strict sense, the open panels cut into the stone slabs are likely part of the same symbolism.

Note in passing the analogy that can be made with the Chinese jade ring “pi”, to be compared with the symbolism of the well (see symbolism of the ring, the jade ring, the well)

WK/Michael Gunther

THE SYMBOLISM OF THE FAÇADE

Before going any further, let us stop on the obvious importance that the facade had to represent for the builders in order to impress the worshippers of the great goddess:

As Dr. P-R Giot observes, “The great lesson of Barnenez twenty years ago was that exterior walls were built to be seen. “… “…” … “It was not only the internal aspects of a megalithic architecture that could be grandiose – the facades were also intended to be grandiose (1983; 26). Thus these remarkable outer walls, built ostensibly in massive orthostats, were probably intended to make a statement of the strength, power and determination of the community that built them – and, as if to doubly ensure the sanctity of their politics, all of this was associated with and undoubtedly dedicated to the presiding Maltese deity. (the temple builders of Prehistoric/Malta Doctoral thesis by Ian F.G.Ferguson for the University of London Ph. D in Archaeology/p.95)

Thus, the symbolism of the façade is intimately linked to the mother goddess herself. The facade is, “from the outset” the emblem of her reputation and, as we will (re)see, of her name, a true dedication…

THE SYMBOLISM OF THE TRILITH

It is interesting to note in the analysis of the trilith post of the entrance that if it is considered as an ingenious structural solution to the problem of carrying the structure that constitutes the creation of an opening in such a heavy and massive work, its symbolic function is unmistakable:

The trilith – a lintel on two posts – is the perfect solution to engineering and architectural problems. It is also extremely strong because of its own weight, as evidenced by the ancient triliths at Stonehenge. Once the trilith solution was found, it was quickly adopted everywhere and became the standard entrance to all temples, to their inner courtyards and recessed chambers, and was even introduced into the hypogeum where it had no structural function, but was purely symbolic. (the temple builders of Prehistoric/Malta Doctoral thesis by Ian F.G.Ferguson for the University of London Ph. D in Archaeology/p.96)

When the outer pair of courtyards was added to Gg, they naturally received their trilith at their new main entrance and, as often elsewhere too, the passage was extended by having three triliths in series. This was partly required by the thickness of the wall with its supporting fillings, but was also sometimes preferred when the wall was thinner, as at Tarxien. This probably shows an adaptation of the formula for religious reasons: the temples were undoubtedly considered a sacred space, the door must have been considered as the portal to a sacred area. This is conclusively proven by the use of triliths in the hypogeum where they have no structural role. (the temple builders of Prehistoric/Malta Doctoral thesis by Ian F.G.Ferguson for the University of London Ph. D in Archaeology/p.176)

Indeed, the logic is simple: why would the builders of the temple of the hypogeum of Hal Salfieni have struggled to come to create a trilith in the middle of level 2, at the entrance of the underground temple, where, by nature, there was no need of a portage of any kind since the temple is in a cave under ground?

The symbolic significance of the trilith in relation to the mother goddess, whether at Hal Salfieni or in the surface temples, is thus proven and attested.

But, please also consider one additional piece of thinking:

One could also consider that the trilith was the simplest way to enter a stone building and that in this remote age, it was probably the only technique known to builders.

However, this argument does not hold since “the surviving rows of horizontal masonry elements indicate that the monuments had corbelled roofs, probably covered with horizontal beams. This method of construction was a remarkably elaborate solution for its time.

In the hypogeum of Ħal Saflieni we have seen that at the entrance of the underground temple is a trilith while in the walls of the rooms have for “particularity, never found in any other hypogeum, that their walls represent, carved in globigerine limestone, all the external and internal appearances of the surface temples, with their trilith entrances, their orthostats, their altars, their corbelled vaults.”

(Wikipedia/A. Pace – 2004 – p. 29 – 36/J. S. Tagliaferro [2000] p. 29.)

In other words, the builders mastered the technique of the corbelled roof as well as the corbelled vault, much more complex than the “basic” trilith!

It would have been perfectly possible for them to make one at the entrance.

In the logic of having to impress their peers and demonstrate their technical virtuosity, this should have been the first choice!

So why choose, even though the façade and entrance of the temple is to impress and highlight the great power of the great deity, a technique that is ultimately simpler, a stone doorpost, a trilith?

Obviously, this choice was made because the trilith was symbolically even more representative of the mother goddess and her power than the corbelled vault, even if the latter would have been more ostentatious.

Now, we understand perfectly why since as we have seen in the analysis of Eve’s name and in the analysis of the door and doorpost “aka” in Sumerian that doorpost with two straight posts and a lintel, this “aka” is both one of the major emblems of the mother goddess Eve as well as a strict Sumerian homonym of her name.

This trilith is undoubtedly a true symbolic signature inviting the devotee to enter through this “door” (“ka” in Sumerian), through this “door post”. (“ka” in Sumerian), through this “doorpost” (“aka” in Sumerian) (“aka” in Sumerian) in the matrix of the mother-goddess Eve-aga-aka.

THE SYMBOLISM OF THE FLOWERPOT ALTAR  

The floral altar in the courtyard 1 of Hagar Qim near the slabs pierced in the door.

Haqar Qim also has an interesting set of altars.

The best known is “Floral Altar 1 found in courtyard 1 (Plate 20.1). The theme of a plant growing in a pot, repeated on all four sides, is surely significant: presumably the plant was considered sacred “…” and possibly placed as an offering on the concave surface of the stem.

This altar should be of interest, because we have seen in the analysis of Isis, a synonym of Eve, that her name means in particular “a clay pot” by “Isi” the “clay pit”, or by “isi” the “butter pot, from the river”.

Moreover, in the mystical context of regeneration of the great god that the temple of the mother-goddess conveys, one of whose symbols is that of the grain (symbolic; see the symbolism of the grain volume 3) also illustrated in this temple (see a little further on) the symbolic presence of this flowerpot that carries grain is, indirectly, symbolically, another way of evoking Eve-Isis. 

SUMERIAN ETYMOLOGY

Since we are dealing with the nominative aspect of the mother goddess, let’s look at the names of the major sites of Malta and their Sumerian etymology, let’s see first of all the origins of Maltese and if this language can be useful.

Origin of Maltese

It reads:

The history of the Maltese language begins with questions that historians and linguists cannot answer in the present state of knowledge. The archipelago has certainly spoken a Phoenician language or dialect for five centuries and Punic for two centuries, perhaps three, together with ancient Greek for at least two centuries and perhaps with Latin for eight centuries. All the population certainly did not speak the same language at the same time, and it would be necessary to distinguish between the social or economic occupations, which the sources do not allow.

Historically, the first linguistic dispute about the Maltese language concerns its parent language. Globally, two main theories are in conflict: is Maltese of Punic or Arabic origin? There is at least one point in common between these two theories: the Maltese language is indeed a Semitic language.

If there is a consensus on the origin of today’s Maltese, it is that it is a Chamo-Semitic language. ” … ”

Maltese (Maltese: Malti) is a Chamito-Semitic (or Afro-Asiatic) language of the Semitic family.

” … “

If a language is the reflection of the history of its speakers, Maltese, spoken in the 21st century in the Maltese islands, is the memory of only a part of Maltese history. The rich Phoenician-Punic culture and the Greco-Roman civilization have left only a weak archaeological trace in Malta. The islands that have been able to create the oldest human monuments in the history of the world (6th millennium B.C.) have only had a language, Maltese, since, at best, the 9th century, thus erasing more than 60 centuries of their history.

https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maltais

What we basically retain from these elements is that Maltese is Chamo-Semitic, basically similar to Sumerian-Akkadian, since Sumer was a land of Cush, son of Ham (son of Noah), and Akkad was a land of Semites (named after Shem son of Noah)

It is then quite remarkable to note that in Maltese, the “grandmother” is said “in-nanna“! exactly like the Sumerian goddess Innanna that we know to be an avatar of Eve! (See https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maltais the Part on solar consonants)

Given the necessary original semantic proximity of Maltese to Sumerian-Akkadian, the etymological analysis of the name given to the sites of Malta, which one can only hope has remained in print since the origin of their construction, and has remained in this form in the collective memory, then becomes particularly interesting.  

SKORBA

It is difficult to give the exact meaning of skorba since the initial “s” can be a “sa” or a “si” or a “su” or a “šà” or a “še” or a “šu”. I refer you to the index of volume 3 for the analysis of these respective phonemes.

On the other hand, the phonemes “kur” and “ba” are more identifiable and therefore clearer. Concerning “ba”, the problem to be clear is to know if it is “ba” or the contraction of “aba”.

The phoneme “kur” is extremely charged and is one of the two phonemes with “du/dul” in which we find all the main stages of the transformation of a fallen being into a regenerated being, a being that it alone makes perfectly identifiable with the Father of the gods Adam.

If ” aba ” means the father, ” ba ” alone is also an important phoneme and according to the index, ” designates as well the father of the gods ” pa ” as the matrix of the goddess notably by ” ba ” (an ” open container ” a creature with a shell (turtle, snail…), a fish in a house (ba4); ‘ba7, ba is also synonymous with bar which means the soul, the entrails, the “fleece”; and by “bár” or “bara5,6 ” a king, a ruler, either the fruit of his entrails, the son-messiah called to be a religious and temporal ruler drawing his power from his mother.

It follows that “kurba” is obviously related to the regeneration of the father after his passage through the matrix-shell (in spiral form) in order to be reborn again under the vicarious son.

ĠGANTIJA

This name can easily be broken down into “ga” “an” “ti” “ia”

Ga

“ga” or “ka” (k and g being equivalent) have the meaning of “g” or “k” “reservoir” with “a” “water”, “sperm”, “father – ancestor”.

They thus represent the vagina, the matrix, of the mother goddess.

Especially since the phoneme “ka” by its homonymy with “ga” “ugu” designates a genitor ancestor, i.e. the genitor father and/or mother. ” … “

An

this name designates of course “a” the father “raised” “n” the father of the Sumerian gods, An

“ti”

Ti designates a side, a rib or an arrow

Ti also means life (equivalent to tìla, tìl)

This phoneme was used to name Eve by two different axes, both as the side, the coast since she was celebrated as such (review the symbolism of the goddess of the side, of the coast) and also by the fact that being by her name “haya” “the mother of the living” or “she who gives life” “ti”.

Ia

“i” by i7 means (like ída or íd) a river, a main channel, a stream, and by i a cry of pain (a derivative of ér, ír, “tears, lament?”); ì (and ìa) also means oil, fat, cream, a pebble.

Thus ” ída, íd, i7 ” designates more specifically the mother through her symbol of the river and her tears and laments which associate her with Isis (the one who laments)

ìa and ì refer more specifically to the mother’s children, her symbolic pebbles, or her body fluids (tears, etc.) and symbols (water, cream, fat, oil)

Link between Ida, Cybele-koubaba, all mother-goddesses and the mother-goddess of the side/coast:

“Ida” allows us to easily identify this mother:

Indeed, if we break down “ida” into “i” and “da”, who do we find?

 “da” has the double meanings of being a side, to hold protect; to surround by da5 (dab6); to hinder, to restrain, to take, to bind, “…” (with a movement in an open container) (by dab2,4,5, dib2)

This side designates none other than the mother-goddess of the coast or side, the first mother of humanity who protects, surrounds, ties symbolically with ropes.

Indeed, let us recall one of the meanings of “ama” to say “mother” in Sumerian:

 Meaning of “my”:

The word “ma” refers to the mother in Sumerian, “ama”.

am is a wild cow or ox (auroch type).

ma also means to bind, to tie [in Emesal dialect, ñál; ñá; in other words “ga” or “ka”]. We are thus faced with the mother-goddess who binds with ropes, in other words with the guts of her entrails, synonymous with maternal love and mercy (see the symbolism of the ropes).

If má is a boat, ma5 as well as mù means to grind, to burn (with the cuneiform sign ka׊È).

We find ourselves again with a vision of the mother goddess who loves with her guts (attachment), but also grinds, grinds, burns and who otherwise “has” the father of the gods, the ancestor, but also, by extension her worshippers, her own children, her subjects. This is also the meaning of the mother-cow goddess “am-a”.

Thus, this “i” “da”, the side that binds and produces children and vital fluids, is one with the mother-cow “ama” that binds, grinds, burns the father “a”.

Obviously this explains the meaning of the name of Cybele named Khubel by A.HISLOP and whose name ‘means not only “to tie with ropes”, but also “to be in child labor” (LDB p.228).

And this also explains the meaning of the name “Idæa mater”, i.e. Idaia Mater which means the mother of Ida, a sacred mountain of Phrygia named today kaz dag (in Turkish Kaz Dağı) name that was given to it by the Romans after the oracle of Delphi enjoined them to bring the black stone of the mother goddess from Phrygia to Rome.

We understand better now the real meaning of this mountain “Ida” dedicated to Cybele.

Although HISLOP tells us that in Chaldean, Ida means “science”, so Idaia Mater means for him “the mother of science”, the Sumerian, at the root of the Chaldean, reveals to us not only the reason why the rivers and springs flowing from the sacred mountains were the object of veneration, but also the person hiding behind the mother deities of these sacred mountains: the goddess of the coast/side

We can say that it gathers them all in itself.

Look at what we read about Cybele, for example:

This Mother Goddess was honored throughout the ancient world. The center of her cult [understand her original cult, because the Romans, after having brought her to Rome, associated her with another mountain, Ida] was in present-day Turkey on Mount Dindymon, in Pessinonte, where the betyl [the black cubic stone at the origin of her name, Kubele] which represented her would have fallen from the sky. ” … ” She was known in Greece from the fifth century BC and was soon confused with the mother of the gods [Rhea] and Demeter. ” … ” A close relationship has been established between the Artemis worshipped in Ephesus and the great goddesses of other peoples: indeed, they are thought to have a common origin. A biblical dictionary states: “Artemis presents such close analogies with Cybele the Phrygian goddess, and with other female representations of divine power in the countries of Asia, such as Ma of Cappadocia, Astarte or Ashtaroth of Phoenicia, Atargatis and Mylitta of Syria, that one can think that all these divinities are only the variants of a single religious concept, which presents some differences according to the countries, differences which are explained by the fact that this concept evolved according to the local circumstances and the mentality of the country“.

https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cybèle

It is also interesting to note the name with which Cybele is associated by some linguists:

The name of a goddess named Kubaba is attested in texts of many languages of the Ancient Near East and the Mediterranean world from the Middle Bronze Age in Central Anatolia until the time of the Roman emperor Augustus. In Akkadian and Hittite cuneiform texts, in hieroglyphic Levite, then in Aramaic, Lydian and Phrygian, and finally in Greek and Latin, with many variations in her names, to the point that it is sometimes difficult to know to what extent we are dealing with a single goddess designated by different names and adjectives, or with several deities that would derive from each other or coexist. This problem was posed in 1960 by Emmanuel Laroche, a linguist specializing in the languages of ancient Anatolia, who asserts that the Greek name of Cybele [Κυβέλη, Kubélè] derives from the older Syrian-Anatolian goddess Koubaba, who was worshipped especially in northern Syria. In particular, Laroche uses a separate but closely related goddess name, Κυβήβη [Kubebe], also attested, to make his case. This hypothesis is accepted and reinforced by several other historians of religion.

https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cybèle

Now, what does koubaba mean in Sumerian?

Let’s just say that “ku” designates a progenitor ancestor, “ub” a corner, an angle or a small room, “ub4” a cavity, a hole, a pitfall, a trap.

“ab” the cow, the opening, the corner “ba” the matrix [this is very reductive, because “ba” is one of the richest phonemes, but I cannot detail it here] and “ab-ba” the father.

So that koubaba designates both the ancestor who turned out to be a trap for the father, and the genitress-cow of the father through her womb.

It was also seen in the analysis of the side of the coast that the notions of corner angle, are similar to that of side.

So it is also the one who was standing next to him.

Who could it be…?

If we return to our Maltese sheep, what does this term Ġgantijja mean in Sumerian?

Very synthetically, “ga” the matrix of “ti” the companion (the side) and the life-giving mother (i.e. Eve) of the high ancestor father (Adam under his Sumerian avatar An) generating sons and vital fluids.      

TA’ ĦAGRAT

This name can easily be broken down into “ta” “ĥa” (pronounced like the German Ch or the Spanish Jota…) “aga” “ara” or “ra” “t”

Etymology of “ta

Ta, dá can mean as a preposition: from, to, for, by means of (instrumental ablative suffix for the nominative and verbal prefix for verbs; as a suffix of a noun it can be a locative with an understanding to be induced by the context as in an-ta or ki-ta)

Thus, while it is true that “ta” can play the role of (towards, for) it also has another very particular meaning:

Ta means a nature or a character [see Tán [MEN] contraction of (ta “nature, character” + an “sky”).

Tab designates a companion, a pair, “…” being or making double by being according to the lexicon the contraction of “side” and “open container”].

tál with the cuneiform sign “PI” means the extent or the width, the understanding being according to the lexicon the contraction of ‘sides; or of “character” and “abundant”). In the verbal sense, it has the meaning of being, to make wide, vast, extended; to spread, to propagate; to unfold, to deploy (said of wings, arms).

Thus, “ta” designates a character, a companion, a side.

Note that this is also the meaning of “pi”.

Moreover, the homophone phonemes taka, taga, tak, tag, tà have many meanings related to actions of everyday life, but almost all of them have an esoteric meaning (weaving, decorating, adorning; striking; fishing, hunting). One of these meanings is also to start a fire. 

What interests us here is that these phonemes would be the contraction according to the lexicon of “te”, “to approach” and “aka” “to make, place, fabricate”.

Thus “taka” is equivalent to “ta” and is the contraction of “te” “aka” which evokes of course “te” the mortar vulture “aka” i.e. Eve-aga-aka

But even the common action of “aka” “to make”, evokes it, by virtue of the explanation given under the analysis of the theft of the name of God where it has attributed to itself the capacity to make, to create which is the verbal root of the name of the supreme Judeo-Christian god.

Thus “ta” designates the companion Eve under her symbols “te” of the vulture and the mortar whose first act of creation for the purposes of regeneration is destruction.

Etymology of ĥa

This etymology is very interesting, because it conveys many very important ideas about the cycle of regeneration and its main actors:

ĥa has a precative meaning when prefixed with “let him/her become…, let him/her be…, may…”

ĥa and ĥé, two equivalent phonemes, are affirmative precative verbal prefixes (said of something expressed in prayer, e.g. “may it be praised…”)

For example, ĥáda, ĥad 2 which means to dry; to shine is composed according to the lexicon of “ĥé” translated as “let it become” and “dág” “shining”).

Thus, we notice that ĥé or ĥa placed before a verb means “let it become…, let it be…, may…”

ĥa has a sense of abundance

Indeed, ĥa also means “abundance”.

An example of this is the term ĥa-šu-úr which refers to a Persian cypress or tree trunk or its resin being translated in the lexicon as “abundance” plus “pour, pour out” plus “tree trunk”.

This certainly comes from the fact that “ĥ” alone means “many”, that ĥá or ĥi-a which are equivalent both mean many, diverse, assorted; mixed. The reason for this abundance, this character of “many” or meaning of “much” that ĥa carries is certainly due to the fact that “ĥi” means “mix”.

Thus, from what comes out of the mortar, from what is mixed, results abundance.

Remember that “ĥar” refers to a mortar.

It is also interesting to note that ĥa is associated with three distinct actions: opposition and confrontation, theft, ruin and destruction, but also the fact of distributing, giving a lot or an inheritance.

After that we will see the symbolic meaning related to the father followed by a synthesis of the mystical logical understanding of this phoneme.

ĥa has a sense of opposition, of confrontation

Equally interesting is the fact that ” ĥa ” is associated with the opposition, the conflict of a mother, an old woman witch.

Indeed, the Sumerian word ĥa-mun means in mutual opposition; contrasting, conflict, confrontation, being according to the lexicon the conjugated form of the verb “ĥum” “to struggle” just as in Akkadian “huud” “joy” is conjugated into “hadûm” “joyful”; except that in Sumerian there is no syllable “mum”, but just the syllable “mun”; cf. p.101 of the lexicon).

All this is extremely rich in meaning, because “ma” designates the mother who binds while “um” or “umu” means an old woman, a nurse, “um-ma” means an old woman, a witch the etymology of “witch” coming from “old woman who binds or ties”, necessarily with ropes knowing that (gi) um means a rope made of reeds (cf., umu). (Index of the meaning of the phonemes of Sumerian/Tome 2).

Even if “mun” is not the name for “moon” in Sumerian (review the symbolism of the moon), a star that generally represents the great feminine deity, it is interesting to note in passing the association between the Sumerian “mun” and the Akkadian “mum”, which very clearly designates the primitive mother-goddess

Association of ĥa with theft:

It is quite remarkable that a thief is called šu-ĥa, being the contraction of “šu” the “hand” and “ĥa” which expresses here the idea of stealing, taking without authorization. According to the lexicon, the equivalent of šu-ĥa is šu-ku6-d since ĥa and ku6 are equivalent.

And we know that one of the meanings of “ku” is ancestor-generator.

Thus, another example, “šu…ĥa-za” means “to hold in the hand” being the contraction of “šu” “hand” and “ĥaza” “to hold, to grasp”.

Association of ĥa with ruin, destruction :

It is also interesting to note that ĥa-lam means to ruin, to destroy (often with – ta) (see also ĥul 3)

If we take again the symbolic index of the phonemes of Sumerian, we can read:

“The” refers directly to abundance, luxury, wealth, freshness and beauty of youth; bliss, happiness; wish, desire.

“Lam” means both lushness and… the underworld. Its verbal form also means to grow or to grow luxuriantly.

Now láma, lám also designates the impressive power of a deity being the contraction of “la”, “abundance” and “me”, “the function, the power”).

lamma, làma designates a tutelary genius.

“…” lam thus designates a divine being, source of fertility, abundance, but also lord of the underworld.

We thus understand that “ĥa” means that (or the one) who mixes, destroys “lam” the abundance, freshness and beauty of youth…

This echoes another Sumerian word meaning the underworld: “arala or arali”; according to the lexicon, they are the result of the contraction of the words “ĥara/àra” “to pulverize” and “la” the “beauty and freshness of youth”; their explanation is found in the symbolism of the mortar and the spiral, denominated ĥar, àr, ur5)

Thus “ĥa” expresses well the first stage of the regeneration process, that of destruction, of the symbolic pulverization proper to the mortar, which, as we know, with the spiral, is a symbol of the matrix in its operation of destroying living beings, often picked in the flower of their age, and who find themselves in it as prisoners, engulfed in the underworld.

ĥa a sens de distribuer

In line with the notion of abundance that ĥa expresses, it is very interesting to note that ĥa-la means an inheritance, a portion, a lot (cf., ĥal).

What is then remarkable is that šu-ĥal-la means the open hand, being according to the lexicon the contraction of “šu” “hand” plus “ĥal” ‘to divide, to distribute plus “la” here in a nominative usage’).

In other words, the open hand, in Sumerian, šu-ĥal-la designates a gift in inheritance, one could say a participation in the abundance resulting from the very symbol of the open hand which, as we know, is the symbol of the crouching mother-goddess giving birth to and distributing to the mode her bodily fluids elixirs of abundance for the living!

This idea of distribution implied by “ĥa” thus makes it possible to understand that it evokes, at the end of the cycle of regeneration, one of its results, namely that after having, at the very beginning of the cycle, destroyed, crushed, crushed the father of the gods, abundance, the flower of youth, in the underworld, in the womb of the mother-goddess, the final result is always the same ambivalent and paradoxical esoteric finality, namely the production of abundance for the living and its distribution to all according to the good pleasure of the mother-goddess who presides over it.

A symbolic meaning of ĥa: the companion who mixes the father

We are also told that ĥá or ĥ i-a are equivalent and both mean numerous, diverse, assorted; mixed.

It follows that ĥa can be the contraction of “ĥi” and “a”, in other words, that which mixes “ĥi” the father “a”.

This is even more in line with the fact that * ĥa also refers to a fish.

By the way, following the lexicon, ĥa is not the usual word for fish, but the sign of Pisces may have assumed its syllabic meaning ĥa from “ĥ” “many” and “a” “water”; ĥa to say fish is an alternative word to ku6 or kua to say fish as well.

Now, we know that the fish is a symbol of the great sacrificial god, returned to the waters of the womb, especially since kua literally means, broken down, “ku” the ancestor’ “a” father or the ancestral father.

Thus, ĥá also means “that which mixes the ancestral father”.

But who or what is it exactly?

It was also noted that ĥa can be altered to “a” so that the “ĥ” disappears. There is an example with ara 3,5 which is equivalent to ĥara following the lexicon.

So that “h á ” and equivalent of “á” which mean it and its equivalents (áĥi, aĥ5) an arm, a wing, a horn, a side, a power…

We find the symbol of the side, of the coast, which designates neither more nor less than the “companion” of the ancestral father.

This sheds light on the meaning of me-maĥ, which designates the great “me”, the highest offices in reference to the power provided by the great deity to her high priests and emperors (the lexicon indicates that this term is the contraction of “office” and ‘high, exalted). Given the meanings of “me”, “ma” and “aĥ” (see index finger), which refer essentially to the power of the mother-goddess by “me”, to the mother who binds with the cords by “ma”, and to the side, the rib by “aĥ”, it is understood that the supreme power referred to here comes in direct line from the original companion and mother-turned-goddess, Eve. 

Synthesis and symbolic explanation of the deep meaning of ĥa

If we place these different meanings in a logical order with regard to esoteric thought, we will certainly better understand the reasons for its symbolic polymorphism.

In the first instance, ĥa can refer to both the ancestral father and his mate, his side/side, being in a situation of abundance.

After which, on the initiative of the woman visualized as an old mother-witch, a theft occurs, carried out by taking something with her hand, an action which then has the effect of ruining, destroying, the abundance, the flower and the beauty of youth (review one of the symbolism of the flower with the myth of Coré, Perséphone…) and to lead her/them to the underworld, where, by the power of her matrix-mortar-spiral, she crushes, crushes, pulverizes the dead bodies of her husband, the ancestral father, and by extension her own children, to then end up reproducing a state of abundance that she redistributes to the living.

It is thus necessary to understand that the apparent contradiction between abundance and destruction of abundance that ĥa evokes is not a contradiction at all.

It is only a cycle.

Abundance is an initial state and also an end result.

It existed initially, was or is destroyed by the consequences of the fault, but it is recovered by the self-repair of this fault by means of the passage through death (the underworld).

It is then that the precative, prayer-like meaning of ĥa takes on its full dimension when it means “so be it”!

This analysis of “ĥa”, which must be linked to that of the mortar and the spiral “ĥar, àr, ur5”, also sheds light on the symbolism of the open mouths and the postures of aggressive fawns showing their fangs, for the term zú… ur 5 which means chewing, biting (being according to the lexicon the contraction of “zú” “teeth” and “ur5” “chewing”) has as its cuneiform sign… ” ĥar “, the mortar, the spiral…

So we find ourselves with different symbols (mortar, spiral, mouth and fangs…) that all symbolize basically the same thing: the destruction that the matrix of the mother goddess operates in its preliminary phase of regeneration of the deceased.

You will also have noticed how a simple phoneme like ĥa, when mystically identified in all its etymological facets, becomes very meaningful.

I have decided to develop it here, because it lends itself particularly to the explanation relating to the temples as in Malta, but also elsewhere where the symbolism of the mortar, of the spiral (its Sumerian homonym) will be very present and is linked to this phoneme.

Brief reminder Etymology of aga

The meaning of “aga” has been reviewed in this same book in the examination of Göbekli Tepe and the sacred mountain karaca.

It is simply one of the major phonemes that designates Eve in Sumerian under her name, while invoking many of her major symbols.

Let’s remember that “g” has as equivalents “k” “ñ” and also, we just saw it again “ĥ”. So “aga”, “aka”, “aña”, “aĥa” are synonyms of Eve.

Etymology of ara

This phoneme was also detailed in the review of Karaca Mountain.

Etymology of “ara

(see for more details the symbolic index of the phonemes of Sumerian available in volume 3): 

“ara” means both to pulverize, to destroy (by ara 3,5) and to shine, to blaze by ara4 (or ar or rà). ” … ”  (hence the solar name of the Egyptian god ra, object of the cyclic regeneration)

Note also that “ar” alone with its strictly equivalent homophones (re7; ri6, rá, ir10; e-re7; er, ir) has many meanings, the most significant of which are to accompany, to lead, to carry, to go,…, to stir, to mix or to place, to pour, to put in… to emit, to engender, to flood, to take, to gather.

rí for example is an equivalent of uru2, (ki), iri, iri11 which mean a city, a town, a village, a district.

So that “ar” conveys all the actions that the matrix is supposed to produce for the benefit of the Father of the gods and their deceased worshippers in order to transform them into star-divinities as the fact of gathering the living in cities and towns, being the object of the feeding by its waters, fluids of abundance.

Etymology of “t

Concerning the final “t”, it has been observed on the analysis of the goddess of the coast, of the side, that the phonemes “ta” as well as “ti” basically designate a companion, both referring to the side, with ti associating the idea of life, inducing the notion of a companion who gives life.

It is also obvious that in Sumerian, the final “at” is the mark of the feminine, at least as far as the deities are concerned, with for example the goddess Anat (associated with Tanit and all the great mother-goddesses) who, historically, is probably none other than the consort of An, the father of the Sumerian gods, thus going beyond her Ugaritic and Egyptian origin.

It is not anecdotal in view of the explanation just given about “ta” that “Anat” was also named “Anta” in Egyptian.

Thus we see that the “at” or “ta” is the mark of the feminine at least for common nouns. This is probably the ancient reason why in Arabic, for example, the feminine nominative is also marked by the final “at” to distinguish it from the masculine.

Conclusion on TA’ ĦAGRAT

It follows from what we have just said that this name chosen for this sacred temple, TA’ ĦAGRAT, which has undoubtedly crossed the millennia, carries, until today, the same colossal symbolic charge as at its origin, a Chamo-Semitic origin, totally consanguineous of Sumerian.

It is difficult to summarize it in one word because of the multiple double meanings, but if we had to give it a primary meaning among all that it evokes and that I have detailed for you, it would probably be: the mortar of Eve, the companion of the father in the underworld who crushes it to make it light up and distribute in return abundance to his subjects.

ĦAGAR QIM

This name can easily be broken down into “ha” “aga” “ara” or “ra” then “qi/ki” “im”.

Concerning Ħagar it is the simple non-contracted version of Ħagr, “ar” or “ra” being equivalents in Sumerian (review the phoneme index).

By the way, the analysis of this term allows us to understand the meaning of the name of Abraham’s concubine, that his wife Sarah gave him so that she could have a son, and whose name was Hagar, the same one who would become the mother of Ishmael, who would be at the origin of many nations, including the Arab nation (Isaac, who would be born to Sarah, would give him the Jewish nation).

Let us not lose sight of the fact that Abraham lived in Sumer since he lived in Ur, one of its major cities, and that it was at Yahweh’s request that he left Ur to go and live in tents in the land of Canaan.

Thus, Hagar is a pure Sumerian name since Abraham left Ur with all his people and, as we have seen, its contraction of “aga” and “ar” is very evocative in that esoteric, pagan world where Abraham had to live. The meaning of “Agar” for the common people is certainly similar to that of the mother who generates the child, like “agarin” (father, mother, womb). (father, mother, womb) and its synonyms designating a genitating mother.

But with the meaning of Ħagar understood, what does Qim want to say?

The meanings of “imi, im, em” are “clay, loam, mud”.

As for ” k ” or ” g ” we have seen that isolated this term designates the matrix :

“ga” or “ka (k and g being equivalent) have the meaning of “g” or “k” “reservoir” with “a” “water”, “sperm”, father – ancestor”.

They thus represent the vagina, the matrix, of the mother goddess.

Especially since the phoneme “ka” by its homonymy with “ga” “ugu” designates a genitor ancestor, i.e. the genitor father and/or mother. ” … “

Moreover, we know that “ki” refers specifically to the Sumerian goddess of the Earth, so that “qim” or “kim” refers us to the symbolic imagery of the clay pot, that is to say, of the mother’s womb that shapes and reshapes humans in the sense that she is the mother of the living as well as the one who regenerates the dead.

The potter shaping the clay is obviously a universal symbolism of the creator shaping or creating humans (review the symbolism of the potter, clay, mud …)

CONCLUSION

It becomes, I think, obvious that these names-dedications were certainly not chosen by chance by the builders of these sites.

From the outset, they tell us what we will find there, major symbols of the operation of the destruction of the matrix of the mother goddess Eve, prior to any regeneration of the dead: mortars, spirals…

JOINT PRESENCE OF THE FATHER OF THE GODS

In the logic which would like the father of the gods to be also under a form or another, object of a representation and a veneration, even if reduced compared to the goddess-mother, it is interesting to notice that one finds a statuette which could represent him:

Fragments of this standing clay statuette were found in the central temple of Tarxian next to the double-shelved niche (the one in the left middle apse). The lack of breasts is just hypothetical. The skirt has been reconstructed. The head is well modeled.

http://web.infinito.it/utenti/m/malta_mega_temples/stattuet/statt/stat/sitknee.html

It seems obvious that it is a male god given the face, the absence of prominent breasts (which would probably have been the case if it had represented the local buxom mother goddess), the pattern of the tunic is different from that of the mother goddess (the folds or decorations of that of the mother goddess start from the mid-height while these start from the waist). This statuette is made of red clay.

Even if red clay is a commonplace for statuettes, it should be noted that given the expertise in the field of stone of the builders, it would have been easy for them to represent their divinity in stone.

Why resort to red clay, knowing the very meaning of the name Adam, the red man or the man from red clay (see Volume 3/note to Adam, the red man).

On the site of Majdra were also discovered two small statues. If nothing is said about their respective sex, it also goes in the direction of the presence of a couple of gods.

ANIMAL REPRESENTATIONS OF THE FIRST DIVINIZED HUMAN COUPLE: BULL COW GOAT AND GOAT

There is another evidence that attests to the joint presence of the first deified human couple as the father of the gods and the mother goddess: it is their representation under two of their respective privileged animal forms: the bull and the goat for the father of the gods and the cow and the goat for the mother goddess.

Indeed, despite the usual interpretations of the observers of these sites that I do not think it is necessary to recall and comment on here (according to which the animals serve to represent only the sacrificed animals and/or the local livestock of the time [sic…]), it has been demonstrated after the introductory analyses that even if it is true that the deities that they represented claimed them as offerings, bulls and goats or cows and goats did not represent the animals.), it has been demonstrated after the introductory analyses that even if it is true that the deities they represented claimed them as offerings, bull and goat or cow and goat are not there to represent the local fauna and flora, nor even that the animals usually dedicated to sacrifice.

It has been seen in this volume that the goat is one of the emblems of Adam, as well as the bull, the deer, the crab, the donkey… etc.

ditto for Eve, with her female counterpart, the cow, the goat.

It is therefore none other than the first deified human couple that is represented here on this site.

It has been mentioned that in the Western Temple of Tarxien we find a number of stones carved in low relief with geometric motifs [volutes, spirals…] or animal motifs [goat, pig].

[For the symbolism of the pig, see Volume 3]

Plate 16.1 in courtyard 13 of the site of Tarxien court 13 we find a fresco in bas-relief showing a bull and a cow)

(the temple builders of Prehistoric/Malta Doctoral thesis by Ian F.G.Ferguson for the University of London Ph. D in Archaeology/p.7)

Notice how the cow is represented with bangs under her belly and all along, like multiple folds, bangs like the one worn by the mother goddess (when she is dressed).

THE CENTRAL PILLAR OF SKORBA

On the other hand, it is quite logical that the father of the gods is not overrepresented since, basically, he is “only” the object of the regeneration of the mother-goddess’s matrix. All the attention and all the cult are directed towards the means of his regeneration, the mother-goddess and her matrix. 

Even if the visibility of the presence of the father of the gods is less obvious, it should not be forgotten that the purpose of the temple of the body of the mother goddess is the transformation of the father into a deity, after which he is said to make the choice to remain on earth to be reincarnated in his son (whom he himself has previously generated by impregnating his wife) and to remain a guiding deity for his followers on earth (exactly in the manner of an enlightened Buddha who chooses after having acquired divinity alone to remain on earth to guide humans on the same path and is then named bodhisattva).

If the mother’s womb is therefore the means of this regeneration-reincarnation, the manifestation of the fertilizing father and the regenerated father in the son is done by means of the usual symbol of the monolith in the center of the womb.

From this point of view, the central pillar of the temple of Skorba of 2.90 m in globigerine, given its location in the “choir” of the temple in the area above the central altar, is undoubtedly a manifestation of the father of the gods, both fertilizing (from the top to the bottom) and regenerating (from the bottom to the top).

It is at this place in the axis of the cosmos, ready to join the stars.

In fact, at the site of Skorba, the 3.90 m pillar made of globigerine limestone is located at the level of the upper apse.

The location of this massive pillar above the altar area and below the upper apse is similar to the traditional location of Jesus on the cross in the basilicas.

With this globigerine pillar we find perfectly the symbolism of the post, the column, the obelisk, the erected stone (review their respective symbolism) symbolizing in particular and especially because at this place, the regenerated father, emerging from the stone matrix of the mother-goddess to be catapulted in star-divinity towards the cosmos.

In view of what has been developed elsewhere, his name is certainly not written on it, but it is just the same. 

SYMBOLS FOR THE DIFFERENT STAGES OF THE REGENERATION CYCLE

THE MATRIX OF THE MOTHER GODDESS WHO GRINDS: THE SYMBOLISM OF MORTARS

THE GODDESS-MOTHER: A GODDESS OF GRAIN (PRO DEMETER)

It is particularly interesting to note that one of the conclusions of Mr. Ferguson’s thesis is that he finds characteristics of a matristic type, with the cult of a chthonic goddess associated with cereals

(the temple builders of Prehistoric/Malta Doctoral thesis by Ian F.G.Ferguson for the University of London Ph. D in Archaeology/p.3).

A chthonic goddess associated with cereals?

That is, we are in the presence of a goddess of the underworld, of the underworld, who is, moreover, associated with the symbolism of grain.

Mr. Ferguson further clarifies his thinking and what led him to this deduction with the presence of :

• mortars in the form of stone columns on the site of the temple of Tarxien

Mortar of the temple of Tarxien

• another mortar with seven compartments looking (too) strangely like the frieze on the plinth below the base of the giant statue of the mother goddess of the temple of Tarxien

Mortar with seven compartments from the western site of Kordin

On the mortar stone columns of the temple of Tarxien here are his observations delivered as is:

Mortars are generally simple flattened stone objects with a concave upper surface suitable for vigorous grinding when placed on the ground. From Tarxian we have a group of objects called mortars with a slightly concave upper surface that show signs of apparent use, but they form the top of a stone column about two feet high that seems most unsuitable for grinding. Taking the context of their temple into account, as well as the close similarity of their contours to seven objects carved in relief on the base of the monumental statue “…”, I interpreted them as perhaps ritual quests designed for use by an attendant before the cult image (Ferguson 1986).

Mr. Ferguson understands here that these mortars are not practical enough for everyday use and that, given the context of the temple, they necessarily have a ritual character

In another place, he talks about these mortar-columns of the Tarxian temple and makes the link with the seven-compartment mortar of the Kordin temple that his counterpart Mr. Trump takes for a communal mortar:

The Tarxian excavation also produced three straight stone objects, described as mortars, now in the Tarxian Temple Museum (Plate 23.2, 24.2). Two have concave sides, with an outline very similar to the seven objects carved on the Goddess pedestal (see Ferguson 1986), while the third looks more like a pillar with a base and capital; they all have a somewhat concave upper surface that could have been used for grinding corn, and these surfaces appear to have been used for grinding. But if they were really used as mortars, they were very specialized, since their shape is far too unstable to be practical for the vigorous action required to grind substantial amounts of flour; Neolithic mortars were generally placed on the ground and were flat, several examples from the Maltese Neolithic are preserved (often of lava). Since they came from the Tarxian enclosure, I conclude that their unusual shape implies a specific use, and since the statue base shows seven of these objects, we have a Neolithic association between the cult statue and these mortars in question. It would be inappropriate to remain seated when making an offering, so the conclusion must be that these mortars were specifically designed so that corn could be ground into flour while standing. This would be a ritual offering used only for small quantities of corn and flour, and so we should see these objects as much as altars as mortars. Their form, though not very elaborate, is similar to that of the floral altar at Hagar Qim, so it seems that the Tarxian community based their ritual on wheat and barley; the existence of a seven-compartment mortar built into the temple at Kordin III (Plate 23.1) implies similar concerns in this nearby (possibly kinship) community. Trump comments, “To me, the implication seems clear that this was the grain of the community being brought into the temple to be ground under the immediate protection of the community’s deity. There was almost certainly a strong social element to this communal grinding of daily flour. ” (1983; 73) (the temple builders of Prehistoric/Malta Doctoral thesis by Ian F.G.Ferguson for the University of London Ph. D in Archaeology/p.181,182).

As for these mortars, let us stop in passing on a particularity that Mr Ferguson notes later in his thesis, but does not explain:

Regarding lava, Bonanno comments, “The lava mortar stones of Tarxien…certainly came from Etna. This import of lava for grinding grain is even more significant given that the local coral limestone served this purpose just as effectively. Indeed among the grinders and mortar stones of the site of Skorba none was of this imported material. ” (1986 b; 38) (the temple builders of Prehistoric/Malta Doctoral thesis by Ian F.G.Ferguson for the University of London Ph. D in Archaeology/p.269)

The question here is: why did the builders of Tarxien bother to go and get lava stone from Etna to build their mortars?

After that, let us note the conclusion to which his observations lead Mr. Ferguson:

The evidence of the plinth (of the mother-goddess statue from the Tarxian temple) with its relief work indicates a goddess associated with grain and ritual mortars of the type found at Tarxian. This has a close parallel with Trump’s interpretation of the communal mortar at Kordin as used to grind flour daily; again, we see the proximity of Kordin and Tarxien in ritual. The implication is that of a goddess associated with grain and the fertility of plowed land, a proto-Demeter. Demeter, it should be remembered, is described in Homer’s Hymn as being finished procreating. There are other strong allusions in Malta to agricultural religion and ritual that have Greek analogues in Demeter and the Eleusis mysteries (these must have Neolithic roots). As in the study of comparative religion as a whole, this is not a discipline (understanding the Eleusinian mysteries) in which a positivist scientific approach has proved either fruitful or appropriate (p.191)…”

It is worth noting that the Greek evidence of the Homeric hymn to Demeter and our knowledge of the Eleusinian mysteries depicts Demeter specifically as a woman past childbearing age, a wet nurse, but one who did not breastfeed, and an explicit ritual (repeated in the Mysteries) has her sitting on the ground. Similarly, her followers, though married women, had to maintain ritual purity by abstaining from sexual relations during her Feast. The two cases are too similar to be dismissed as “coincidence”: the seated figures of Hagar Qim, however we try to read them, would certainly have been seen by the Greeks as representing Demeter in that characteristic position of hers, sitting on the ground. (p.193,194)

The similarity is further reinforced by the association of Demeter and the Maltese goddess with grain. My interpretation of the reliefs on the goddess’s pedestal at Tarxian would seem subjective if mortars with the same outline had not been discovered at Tarxian itself, and this precise context “…” means that the oval shapes on the pedestal are much better interpreted as grain. This association is further supported by the “trough” stone from Kordin III, first seen by Ashby as a mortar for grinding corn. Are we to accept as a “coincidence” the seven compartments at Kordin and the seven mortars sketched at Tarxien?

(the temple builders of Prehistoric/Malta Doctoral thesis by Ian F.G.Ferguson for the University of London Ph. D in Archaeology/p.194).

All this reflection is definitely very interesting.

It is as if Mr Ferguson were saying to us: at some point, let’s open our eyes! We must stop trying to look at things through the small end of the positivist scientific spyglass that wants to see, like Mr Trump (one of the great discoverers of the Malta site and one of his fellow researchers) in the mortar of the Kordin site a simple communal mortar for the local village! Enough of this vision which claims to be “scientific” and which completely obscures the obvious analogies to be made between this Maltese goddess of grain, seated and accompanied by a mortar which is obviously sacred (we are in a temple after all!), and the cult of Demeter, the Greek goddess of grain.

Even if Mr. Ferguson does not understand the symbolic meaning of mortars, grain, sitting, lava, nor the mysteries of Demeter, he has perfectly understood that we are at the antipodes of an agricultural cult and that he is touching with this cult on Malta an offshoot of a Neolithic cult in which the mysteries of Eleusis or the cult of Demeter also draws its roots!

Obviously, the dogmatic pseudo “experts” will howl when pointing out the temporal gap that separates the temples of Malta from Demeter of the Greeks, but this is to completely ignore the fact that we are speaking here a protolanguage, in fact the first of the sacred languages and which is therefore by nature universal, timeless, which crosses the ages and civilizations, even if here or there they privilege symbols, or a part of the symbolic language, rather than others.

As far as we are concerned, with the analyses delivered of the symbolism of the mortar (in this volume) of the grain (see volume 3) of the seated position of the mother-goddess, all this mystical furniture is perfectly understandable.

The mortar, let us briefly recall, serves to represent one of the first stages of the action of the matrix in the process of regeneration, namely the destruction, the crushing, the passage to the symbolic pestle of the father of the gods (or of the deceased) in order to make him symbolically pay for his faults. This is one of the preliminary stages, along with that of his combustion and that of his beating, churning, mixing, to allow his purification, his sublimation, his rebirth.

The use of lava stones to shape the mortar, which is a symbol of the womb, is obvious given the symbolism of lava, which is the blood of the womb of the mother goddess, including her menses. Lava stone is therefore ideal for shaping and symbolizing the blood-filled womb of the mother goddess.   

THE MATRIX THAT CHURNS THE FATHER OF THE GODS: THE SYMBOLISM OF THE ALTARS WITH SPIRALS

Since I am talking about shuffling, stirring, mixing, churning, so many words to designate this important step of the esoteric process of regeneration, let us now focus on what, on this site, illustrates it perfectly: the use of the spiral.

It is important to point out that, until the writing of this book, the reason for this was not well understood and was the subject of much speculation.

We will read again and again for example on the site of the tumulus of Newgrange in Ireland, that the motif of the spiral at the entrance of the temples remains an unexplained symbolism…

Well, it is no longer so, since, as we have read in his analysis, it simply represents the individual’s attainment of perfection by means of the matrix in its action of stirring, mixing, beating, churning the individual, the deceased, with a view to punishing him for his faults, as a preliminary stage to his purification and rebirth (all the more so, as we have just reviewed, since the spiral is said ĥar, àr, ur5 like the mortar-mixer, and is thus intimately associated with its symbolic action).

THE ALTARS AND THEIR LAYOUT

The arrangement of the altars is generally central, in the center of the clovers (or crosses), especially the upper clover:

• At the site of the Southern Temple of Ħagar Qim, the altar (in 4) is at the center of the structure, both before and after the expansion of the temple.
• At the site of the Western Temple of Tarxian, the altars (in 5) are in the center of the structure, around the courtyard of the first trefoil. The main altar is in the center of the second trefoil with three apses (or major cross).

This configuration of the altar in the center of the cross is similar to that which will be observed later in the basilicas.

Here is the main altar of the site described as “decorated”.

Let’s see why

DECORATED ALTAR OF THE SITE OF TARXIEN

Copy of the decorated altar in the (western) temple of Tarxian (the original is in the Museum of Archaeology in Valletta)

Reminder of what we are told about this stone: Number of stones carved in low relief with geometric motifs (volutes, spirals…). One of these decorated stones has a half-moon opening, blocked by a perfectly fitted and decorated stone. Excavations have revealed that this stone gave access to a space where offerings and the ritual stone knife were deposited.

Given the symbolism of the spiral which is above all the return to the center, to perfection thanks to the churning of the matrix, the symbolism of the half-moon which is also, in particular, when split on its height, a symbol of the vulva, what does this altar mean at this central location, at the level of the “choir” of the temple?

This is obviously the zone of sacrifice, or even of participation in sacrifice by the priests and adepts, the offering made to the matrix of the mother goddess to thank her for her own sacrifice and to give her back some “sa”, vital energy, so that in return she ensures the regeneration of the dead and continues to lavish her benefits, her vital fluids on the living. 

It is also illuminating to note that the structure behind the altar, with an orifice after a lintel door, all framed by two blocks of stone, represents the vagina, the entrance to the womb (in the manner of the hole of the oracles of Hagar Qim seen above) into which the offering will no doubt be in whole or in part, given, thrown after being sacrificed on the altar table. 

The sacrificial victim will allow the deceased to satisfy the great goddess in order to emerge victorious from the beating/shuffling/brushing that awaits him in the matrix symbolized by the spirals.

DECORATED AUTEL OF THE WESTERN TEMPLE OF TARXIEN

Altar of the apse of the western temple of Tarxian

Here’s what Mr. Ferguson says about him:

A final remarkable frieze of Tx W is the largest of all, measuring about 3 meters long, and carved with a double row of spirals running in the Tarxian style (Plate 8.1). Its position is particularly interesting: it stands just in front of the entrance to the often-reconstructed terminal apse “…” and effectively cuts the apse off from the audience much like the communion rail in Christian churches. Although there is no evidence that it was used to make or receive offerings, it apparently divides the area into a public area and an inner area for the priesthood (the temple builders of Prehistoric/Malta Doctoral thesis by Ian F.G. Ferguson for the University of London Ph. D in Archaeology/p.181).

We are on the same symbolism as before.

OTHER ELEMENTS WITH SPIRAL

Engraved stone screen from the central temple of Tarxien

Blocking stone of the central temple of Tarxien court 14

Even if the latter two are not related to altars, they share with them a common point in that they also mark a separation between the sacred area reserved for the priesthood on the one hand, and the likely attendants of the ceremonies on the other.

If the frieze (seen just before) of the apse of the western temple of Tarxian is a variant of the decorated altar (seen first), notice how obvious and striking the symbolism of the latter two examples is.

Mr. Ferguson mentions the fact that some have seen in it the two pairs of eyes of two mother-goddesses to signify that she sees everything (the temple builders of Prehistoric/Malta Doctoral thesis by Ian F.G.Ferguson for the University of London Ph. D in Archaeology/p.208).

But let’s look at the real primary symbolism:

Notice on the first one that there is a circle in the center with a point in its center: this is neither more nor less the universal symbol of the supreme deity, of reaching the center of the circle. Now this attainment of the supreme perfection is the fruit of a mixture, of a beating from all sides. Moreover, the triangles on either side serve to illustrate the fact that one is inside the toothed vagina, the symbolic mouth of the matrix (see the symbolism of the mouth, of the [toothed] vagina). 

This frieze illustrates perfectly the fact that the entry into the matrix to be crushed (with its teeth exactly as with a mortar) will also have the effect, following its successive action of beating/churning/smashing, of finally making the being it has swallowed, crushed and beaten perfect, of finally making it reach the center of the circle.

Ditto for the second one where the joint action of the two opposite flows of the beating

results in the elevation of the symbolic grain, from the individual to the center.

We thus have two different symbols, the reaching of the center of the circle, or the elevation (of the grain), two distinct symbols but which mean strictly the same thing: the reaching of divinity (one by the center, the other by the sky) in connection with the action of the churning of the matrix!

The symbolism of the hallucinated eyes of the mother goddess is related and is also induced, since, fundamentally, the eye is also a symbol of the mother goddess’s womb and a symbol of her wisdom as the all-seeing eye (see volume 3 the symbolism of the eye, the symbolism of the contemplative goddess).

But it remains here a secondary symbolism.

HYDROGRAPHY AND FLUID SYMBOLISM

HYDRAULIC MAPPING OF SITES

It is interesting to note that the oldest sites (Skorba and Ta Hagrat) are closest to the current water sources of the island):

The archipelago has its own water table which breaks the surface at various points in season to provide fresh water. Today the springs are found mainly in Gozo and western Malta, with the Neolithic sites of Skorba and Ta Hagrat within easy reach, as are the “megalithic clusters” on the west coast. But these modern sources are not necessarily indicative of those available in prehistoric times (the temple builders of Prehistoric/Malta Doctoral thesis by Ian F.G.Ferguson for the University of London Ph. D in Archaeology/p.19)

 Of course, there is nothing to say that the location of the springs is the same as it was in prehistoric times, but given the symbolism of the fluids, it makes sense that the builders would have come to build the primitive temples of their crouching goddess as close as possible to the water sources.

HYPOGEUM DISCOVERED FOLLOWING THE CREATION OF A WELL

In his thesis Mr. Ferguson suggests that there must be other hypogeums like those at Hal Salfieni, in order to absorb the names of the dead of the local community. And in his explanation, it is interesting to note that he specifies “that the site of Hal Saflieni was discovered only by chance that the construction plans of the surface building included a well at a crucial position”.

(the temple builders of Prehistoric/Malta Doctoral thesis by Ian F.G.Ferguson for the University of London Ph. D in Archaeology/p.159).

It must be noted that the hypogeum of Hal Salfieni is visibly located at the exact overhang of a water table, otherwise a well would not have been envisaged there.

THE USE OF LIMESTONE: A REMINDER OF THE CAVE

It is also useful to recall the nature of the rocks used on the sites for the creation of the temples: either coralline or globigerine (for the carefully shaped and finished slabs and blocks, generally used for doors and interiors, normally of medium size apart from the orthostats.

(the temple builders of Prehistoric/Malta Doctoral thesis by Ian F.G.Ferguson for the University of London Ph. D in Archaeology/p.89)

Globigerin is a form of limestone corresponding to fossilized plankton  

Let’s also observe what it says about the general landscape of the island:

The landscape is rugged and shaped by faults; limestone plateaus with fine soils are interrupted by steep valley slopes and wadi river systems forming the valley floors (Foglini et al. 2015; French et al. 2018)

The solubility of limestone, its consent to water, means that [it]… is rich in clandestine places: gullies, crevices, dens, caves, hollows, gullies.

Robert Macfarlane, “The Wild Places” (2008, 166/thesis by Jess Emma Thompson October 2019/Magdalene College, University of Cambridge)

However, it is not because the landscape is made of limestone that globigerine was within reach. Indeed, for example, the 3.90 m high block used for the construction of the inner embrasure of the temple of Tarxien came from a quarry at more than 1,500 m in a rugged landscape….

Why go to such lengths if not to express a strong symbol?

Now, from the moment we understand that the temple is the representation of the matrix of the mother goddess (step 1) or of her entire body (step 2), the use of limestone in the construction serves to restore the very nature of the stone body of the mother goddess of the Earth, of the rock, as well as of the fluids that circulate in it and that she distributes to her worshippers.

It is a way of representing the very texture of the womb filled with amniotic fluid, of recalling the primitive cave from which everyone is born and from which the whole world is flooded with vital fluids.

TANKS IN THE HYPOGEUM

In the examination of the site of the hypogeum, it is confirmed the existence of two large tanks:

There is a large cistern (33,000 liters) at the entrance interpreted as a water reserve, and a smaller one on level three (7,000 liters) interpreted as having also been a water reserve.

(the temple builders of Prehistoric/Malta Doctoral thesis by Ian F.G.Ferguson for the University of London Ph. D in Archaeology/p.155 on the hypogeum. P.158).

If some authors think that they are simple water reserves, however, in a cultic context with the underground temple representing the mother-goddess in a reclining position, with the cistern at the end of its course, it is likely that this cistern was used to represent the gift of her vital fluids to her devotees.

THE OFFERING WELL IN THE HYPOGEUM

If it is remarkable to note that the offering well is situated at the level of the navel of the underground temple of the hypogeum of Hal Salfieni, it is de facto symbolically in the central axis of the matrix, communicating at the same time with the cosmos from above, but also with the depth of the earth below. Being a well, one can imagine that it could have meant in the minds of the builders the well through which the mother-goddess comes to feed the earth with her vital fluids, the central well feeding the surrounding water tables. 

THE MONOLITHIC BOWL AND THE CONSUMPTION OF FERMENTED DRINKS

Central temple of Tarxien with monolithic bowl next to the trilithic entrance

Fireplace on the front

It is certainly not insignificant to note in the central temple of Tarxien the presence of a monolithic bowl which could have been a fermented drink tank of the beer type:

It was obviously designed to hold liquid, but whether it was water (another symbolically important element) or perhaps a fermented beverage such as mead or barley beer is somewhat uncertain. In the context of the popular agricultural temple of Tarxian, probably dedicated to a goddess associated with grain, a barley beer is more likely. In the ancient Near East and Egypt, the brewing of beer was practiced in temples, and large quantities were consumed at major festivals.

(the temple builders of Prehistoric/Malta Doctoral thesis by Ian F.G.Ferguson for the University of London Ph. D in Archaeology/p.208).

Given the symbolism of beer that was analyzed above, which participates totally in the symbolism of fluids as vital fluid, urine emanating from the body of the crouching mother-goddess represented by the temple, this presence of a monolithic bowl of beer in these places is not (anymore) a divine surprise.

THE MUSHROOM ALTARS 

In connection with the symbolism of the fluids and more precisely of the putrefaction, one finds also on site the symbolism of the mushroom (to review in volume 3 the symbolism of the mushroom):

The two “mushroom altars” (Trump calls them table altars) are also interesting, though not exactly a pair. The more finely cut top of the one on the left makes it support the use as an altar (a fluid, perhaps blood, is certainly implied). There are differences in their stems which also implies some difference in ritual use. (the temple builders of Prehistoric/Malta Doctoral thesis by Ian F.G.Ferguson for the University of London Ph. D in Archaeology/p.183).

Notice that Mr. Ferguson himself induces the notion of fluid on this mushroom altar. 

The presence of this mushroom altar is perfectly logical here since the mushroom is not only a phallic symbol of the great god and/or his worshippers considered as dead then regenerated and joining the sky like deities, but also a pure matrix symbol, representing the matrix of the mother-goddess and especially her vagina surmounted by a dome from which she expels the beings born again (review the symbolism of the mushroom).

THE SYMBOL OF THE CUT: THE semi-circular paRvis or elliptical half-moon terrace at the entrance to the temples

It has been noticed that the facades of the temples have a concave, cup or half-moon shape.

Thus we read:

Zammit says, “They have a semicircular forecourt and were originally confined by a high wall of monoliths which in many cases have survived to the present day. ” (Zammit 1929, 1980; 8) “…” Eliade says, “the vast elliptical terraces that extended in front of or between the shrines certainly served for processions and ritual choreography” (Eliade 1987;-168 – Temple Functions132). ” … ” Some evidence of sacrifice is shown by large perforated tethering blocks, surely the most appropriate for livestock, and libation is another established rite. (the temple builders of Prehistoric/Malta Doctoral thesis by Ian F.G.Ferguson for the University of London Ph. D in Archaeology/p.169).

If we keep in mind that the temple represents the body of the mother-goddess from which fluids will flow and which we will have to collect, it is normal to represent the courtyard as a cup in order to receive the fluids of the mother-goddess which will escape essentially through the entrance of her matrix, that is to say, at the level of the temple of her body seen in its entirety, the entrance door of the trilith

LIBATIONS AT THE TEMPLE STEPS

Is it any wonder that at the entrance to the southern temple of Skorba, the stone pavement includes six slabs with five holes on three of them which, according to H. Trump, were intended for libations?

At this very place of the entrance to the matrix, making libations is like the eternal give and take between the mother goddess and her subjects: you give me vital fluids, blood, “sa” in exchange for which I will give you the fluids of my body.

THE BETYLES OF THE PARVIS WITH THE GREAT MONOLITHIC BASSiN

In this respect, the presence on the forecourt of the temple of Tas Silg (not treated in our review of the major sites) of two betyls on either side of the forecourt and directly associated with a large monolithic basin attests to the fact that it is a question of water, of fluids of abundance, intended for the whole community gathered around the entrance to the temple of the mother goddess.

The two betyls being able to represent indistinctly the father of the gods as the goddess-mother (to review symbolism of the betyl, the post, the column…).

If the central betyl near the altar indisputably represents the father regenerated in the son, on the other hand the betyl, the sacred post, isolated, can represent, as we have seen in their analysis, indistinctly, one and/or the other. 

Here is the text commenting on this discovery:

In 1968, Italian excavators found a large betyl, 1.30 m high, about 30 m to the left and slightly in front of the Tx phase temple at Tas Silg (Fig. 7) – it was directly associated with a large monolithic basin about 5 m long. Azevedo noted that later “the planimetry and general situation of the area was respected” despite major alterations (in MaiaM 6, 1969; 118 trans. Fales). Suspecting a symmetrical arrangement in the forecourt, the Italians searched and in 1970 found another betyl in the equivalent position to the right of the forecourt.

Azevedo comments: “The baetylus has not only been preserved by respect

for its antiquity and for its link with the most sacred cult building; it was also considered a cult object in itself. On this point the evidence

from the excavation is very clear… (this) is proven both by fragments of votive baetyli, molded in a cylindrical shape, found in the area, and by the effigy of a betyl on the pediment of an aedicula. ” (Ibid; 119)

This important evidence from Tas Silg, involving design and planimetry of the forecourt, unambiguously establishes a cult of the betyl: this is further confirmed at Tarxian by Zammit1s finds which included the base of a betyl in Tx C, court 12, and various fragments of modeled pnalli (Plate 22.2), two of them in fact tripled. What is their significance?

(the temple builders of Prehistoric/Malta Doctoral thesis by Ian F.G.Ferguson for the University of London Ph. D in Archaeology/p.201)

RECURRENT USE OF RED OCHRE

It is also interesting to note the constant use of red ochre in the temples, including the hypogeum of Hal Salfieni.

Here is an example:

It is clear that burial was at least frequently associated with the traditional use of red ochre, probably extending a Paleolithic symbolism (the temple builders of Prehistoric/Malta Doctoral thesis by Ian F.G.Ferguson for the University of London Ph. D in Archaeology/p.155 on hypogeum)

In the examination of the symbolism of the red ochre, especially in the framework of the funeral rites, it was seen that it symbolizes several things: the primitive man, Adam, the red man, that is to say the man drawn from the red clay; the blood and the vital energy that this one conveys, which appears essential to represent if one wants to represent and hope for the regeneration of the deceased; but also the matrix blood, of which the menstrual periods of the mother goddess, of which one covered the deceased since this one is reputed by its vital fluids to be able to regenerate its dead children (to re-examine the symbolism of the red ochre)

In the context of this temple dedicated to the mother goddess, this last aspect of the symbolism is particularly significant. 

CONCLUSION

What can we conclude from the analysis of such a site?

In many ways it is a powerful demonstration of the accuracy of esoteric symbolic language and as we have seen its universality and timelessness.

The megalithic temples of Malta are true temples of the matrix (temples with three clubs) and of the whole body (temples with five clubs) of the mother-goddess Eve-Aga-Aka, the mother-goddess of the Earth and the underworld.

It is named by means of its trilith. It is identified by means of its universal symbols of the cow, the goat, the flowerpot.

In its temples, it operates by means of its matrix-mortier-vat the ritual operations of destruction and beating of the father of the bull-goat gods to make him pay for his faults before operating his purification, his sublimation, and allowing him to be reborn under their begotten son, under the central pillar, under the grain.

For this successful mystical birthing operation, she is also celebrated here as spreading her beneficial fluids over the world, as true substitutes for her son-messiah.

Here too she is symbolized in her sitting and crouching position by the hand and the temple of her body pouring her fluids of abundance on her followers, in pits, jars, wells, cisterns, monolithic bowls, on the steps of her temples, in the bowl of the public squares or the outdoor pools.

Fluids coming from her matrix and her body, which she promises to her devotees in exchange for their own sacrifices or for animals loaded with “her” that she demands from them in return, and which she intoxicates them in their own quest for immortality, in order to imitate the father of the gods, to leave their sinful flesh bodies loaded with faults and to reach, like him, by their passage through the matrix, the center of the circle, the elevation, the supreme divinity.