MALTA: THE HALTING PLACE OF NATIONS 



463 



Two large upright s-.ones mark the en- 

 trance below ground and near by was 

 found a large quantity of heavy sling- 

 stones, conveniently ready for use in case 

 of emergency. 



Drilled in the threshold floor are two 

 holes the bottoms of which connect. 

 Through the loop thus formed was passed 

 a rope to tether the animal chosen for 

 sacrifice. A large cave near at hand ap- 

 parently was used as a pen for animals, 

 the top being so low that a man could 

 not stand erect in it. 



Proceeding down the entrance passage, 

 which is of course absolutely dark unless 

 lit artificially, we notice on the left a 

 round, well-like excavation. At first it 

 \ appears to be an ordinary pit, but on 

 closer examination a second inner well is 

 seen, the top of the latter being closed 

 by a tightly fitting lid. This was evi- 

 dently used for special security. In it 

 were found two stone figures of steatopy- 

 gous figures similar to those found at 

 Hagar Kim. The figures also had de- 

 tachable heads, both of which, fortu- 

 nately, were found. 



Continuing, we pass a side cave now 

 packed with human bones. At the en- 

 trance is a circular stone basin with a 

 hole bored in its center and covering an- 

 other pit which would form an ideal 

 dungeon. 



The passage finally narrows to a large 

 dolmen-shaped doorway, and through 

 this we pass to a lower floor, with a sud- 

 den drop of several feet. The absence 

 of steps to the different compartments is 

 puzzling, as it is open to doubt whether 

 perishable wooden ones were provided 

 when stone was available. 



THE MYSTERIOUS MAIN HAEL OE THE 

 TEMPLE 



We have now reached a long, silent 

 cave which must have looked very weird 

 when lit by a few hanging pottery lamps. 

 In the center is a large upright stone. 



Proceeding to the left, we climb a stone 

 wall a yard high, also without steps, and 

 pass through a doorway into a large cir- 

 cular cave which appears to be the main 

 hall of the temple. At once the attention 

 of the eye is called to a doorway carved 

 out of the end of the cave at a height of 

 several yards from the floor. 



The doorway leads to a small oval cave 

 at the back. On both sides are niches 

 each of which probably contained a sacred 

 pillar or other object of worship. Here 

 the carving is beautifully worked and 

 polished. Four other doorways lead to 

 caves on the level of the floor. The gen- 

 eral appearance of the niches suggests 

 that the lower ones were excavated later 

 and less carefully than the upper ones. 



The ceiling of the room is decorated 

 with ocher paint, partly in plain red and 

 partly in squares alternately black and 

 white. 



THE HOEY OE HOEIES 



Passing out of this room through a 

 doorway erected on a step a yard above 

 the floor, we come to what is called the 

 "Holy of Holies," the upper portion of 

 the room being carved and polished very 

 ornately (see page 468). 



A small room to the rear contains a 

 stone table, over the middle of which is 

 carved a stone hook from which some 

 sacred object or sacrifice or possibly a 

 lamp was suspended. The doonvay of 

 this little room has grooves for fitting a 

 closing slab, but this would also shut out 

 the air and the occupant would soon die 

 of suffocation. It is remarkable that the 

 "Holy of Holies" is the only room not 

 decorated with paint. 



In the illustration (see page 468) may 

 be noticed a hole in the right-hand curved 

 support, while another is near its foot. 

 The left-hand upright of the entrance is 

 also bored with a tie-hole. From these 

 three places it is supposed a curtain or 

 screen was hung to hide the holy place 

 from the sight of persons using the steps 

 leading down to the lowermost rooms. 



In the floor, in front of the left niche, 

 are two holes closed with plugs flush with 

 the ground. In the right hole two pairs 

 of ram's horns were discovered, doubt- 

 less having some religious significance. 



Retracing our way from the Holy of 

 Holies through the main hall to the room 

 containing the large upright stone, or 

 menhir, and turning to the left, we pro- 

 ceed toward another set of caves. It will 

 be noticed that in this passage the rock, 

 instead of sounding solid to the tread, 

 suddenly sounds very hollow, as if there 

 were a well or room not yet opened. 



