AFRICA, MALTA, ETC. 



the trilithons found in the niches played an 

 important part in the ritual. Sir Arthur Evans 

 in his famous article Mycencean Tree and Pillar 

 Cult has suggested that in Malta we have a cult 

 similar to that seen in the Mycenaean world. 

 This latter was an aneiconic worship developed 

 out of the cult of the dead ; in it the deity or hero 

 was represented by a baetyl, i.e. a tree or pillar 

 sometimes standing free, sometimes placed in a 

 1 dolmen-like ' cell or shrine, in which latter case 

 the pillar often served to support the roof of the 

 shrine. In Malta Sir Arthur Evans sees signs of 

 a baetyl-worship very similar to this. Thus at 

 Hagiar Kim we have a pillar still standing free 

 in a niche, and another pillar, which, to judge 

 from its shape, must have stood free, was found 

 in the Gigantia. On the other hand, at Mnaidra 

 we have pillars which support slabs in a cell or 

 shrine, and at Cordin several small pillars were 

 found which must originally have served a similar 

 purpose. 



There can hardly be any doubt that Sir Arthur 

 Evans is right in seeing in the Maltese temples 

 signs of a baetylic worship. But is he right in his 

 further assertion that the cult was a cult of the 

 dead ? Albert Mayr assumes that he is, and 

 endeavours to show that the ' dolmen-like ' cells 

 in the niches are not altars, but stereotyped 

 representations of the dolmen-tombs of the 

 heroes worshipped. He thinks that the slabs 



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