MALTA: THE HALTING PLACE OF NATIONS 



467 





THE MAIN HALL OF THE TEMPLE OF HAL SAFLIENI : MALTA 

 Four doorways lead from this chamber to caves on the level of the floor (see text, page 463). 



Another carving shows a woman, simi- 

 larly clad and proportioned, lying face 

 downward on her couch, her hands 

 stretched forward on either side. It is 

 suggested that the former represents a 

 priestess dreaming near the sacred places 

 in the hope of obtaining inspiration to 

 declare the words of the holy oracle, 

 while the second figure represents her in 

 the act of worship. 



A large number of axe-shaped pendants 

 of jade or polished stone were found, 

 suggesting some connection with the. sym- 

 bolic axe worshipers of Crete. Two ob- 



jects representing fish were found, one 

 being placed on a plate. Doubtless the 

 fish was venerated as an emblem of the 

 Giver of Life, and possibly the adoption 

 of a fish as the sign of a fellow-Chris- 

 tian in the Catacomb days of Rome was 

 the survival of an old belief. Today in 

 Malta fish is usually eaten on the first 

 night spent in a new house, to bring good 

 luck. 



Symbolic stones carved into the shape 

 of sea shells, votive lamps, real sea shells, 

 vertebrae of fish, artificial seeds, cones, 

 tiny pillars, large spheres, and holed 



