Hagar Qim

The megalithic temple of Hagar Qim, Malta, 3150-2500 BC. Click on the pictures to enlarge. Hagar Qim is only one of eight of these great temples on Malta. It is hard to know what to make of the complex of enormous Bronze Age temples on these small, fairly barren islands. Obviously these people made a huge investment in religion. In a rough way, the locations of the temples correspond to the modern parishes, which follow the natural, geological divisions of the island and the locations of ports. The identity of each community must have been strongly tied to its local temple. The temples grew over the generations, giving them their interesting structure of numerous separate chambers.

Some interesting artifacts were found at the site. Since these figurines were found in the temple itself, they may indeed be religious icons of some sort.