| The
ruins of Hagar Qim (“standing stones”)
were well-known throughout the island’s later
history and became a popular attraction for early
visitors and antiquarians. The archaeological significance
of the site was obvious and in 1839 the British
governor, Sir Henry Bouverie, funded the clearance
of the temple by J. G. Vance. This amounted to little
more than a plundering expedition and proper excavations
did not take place until 1885 under the direction
of the island’s chief librarian, Dr. A. A.
Caruana. Part of his brief was the re-erection of
many of the fallen stones in order to restore the
monument to something like its original condition.
Since then, the work of restoration and consolidation
of the temple has continued. |
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| The
location of the temple is a dramatic one, commanding
sweeping views of the south coast of Malta, and
the site is a prominent landmark. It on a low rise
at the top of the slope, overlooking the temple
of Mnajdra barely 500 metres away but facing southeast.
The builders used locally available Globigerina
limestone rather than hauling in more durable Corallines
from some distance away. As a consequence, the exposed
parts of Hagar Qim have suffered quite a bit from
rain and wind. It has been dated to the Tarxien
Phase (c. 3150-2500 BC). |
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Hagar
Qim. Main Entrance |
Hagar
Qim. Eroded Globigerina |
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| The
layout of the building is quite complex, perhaps
the most complex of any of the temples, and the
design is very sophisticated. Its most dramatic
feature was the use of exceptionally tall stone
uprights, which would have been highly visible for
miles around. As you approach the site, you are
immediately impressed by the building’s façade
of carefully dressed megalithic blocks. The tallest
ones were at the corners and had been notched to
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Temple
Façade from the South |
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| accommodate
two horizontal courses running between them—in
short, looking very similar to the model found at
Tarxien. The pillars and lintels that make up the
trilithon doorway have been compared to those of
the Lion Gate at Mycenae built some two thousand
years later. To either side was a low stone bench
that runs the whole length of the façade.
In front is a block with a V perforation—a
feature that is found at some other sites and is
generally thought to be for tethering animals. |
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Hagar
Qim. Aerial |
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| Essentially,
it is a single temple but it has so many unusual
features and modifications that interpretation of
the remains is extremely difficult. It would appear
that the original plan was for a ‘standard’
four or five-apse temple (Spaces 1-6) but instead
of a terminal apse or niche there is another doorway
at the rear of the building. It would appear that
at some point the decision was taken to add more
rooms (10-13) to the south and the external wall
was substantially rebuilt to accommodate them. As
was the case at other temples, such as Tarxien,
one of the apses (6) was remodelled to provide access. |
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Hagar
Qim. Porthole to Apse 2 |
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| The
main doorway led to a small court (1) with apses
on either side. However, each of these apses are
screened off by thin megalithic slabs. Access is
through carved porthole in the central stone. To
the left was an elaborately carved pedestal altar
with reliefs of potted plants on all four sides
and a slab with pitted and spiral decoration. Five
statues were found here, including the so-called
‘Venus of Hagar Qim,’ in the 1830’s
along with another four in the adjacent Apse 2.
Apart from the figures, little was found in either
of the rather plainly finished outer apses. |
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Pedestal
Altar |
Slab
with spiral decoration |
Venus
of Hagar Qim |
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| Further
along, Apse 5 is characterized by fairly uniform
megalithic architecture with a line of orthostats
of uniform height supporting a number of courses
of corbelled masonry. Inside the room is a curved
setting of smaller upright slabs set just inside
the wall. David Trump offers the opinion that it
was some sort of animal pen but this cannot be proven.
In the wall is small aperture known as an ‘oracle
hole’ that connects the room to a small shrine
(16) on the exterior of the building. In this case,
however, the hole is positioned so that the light
of the rising sun shines into the apse on the day
of the summer solstice. |
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Hagar
Qim. Apse 5 with interior stone setting &
'oracle hole' |
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| Apse
6, in addition to serving as the link to the
rest of the temple, was an important cult
area in its own right. There are no less than
three roofed niches and two pedestal altars
(right). The altars flank the entrance
to Room 7, an oddly shaped little space but
one that contained a number of niches. It
also gives access to the even smaller Room
8, which contains yet another pedestal altar.
A set of steps leads from Apse 6 to Room 10
and it was under these that a cache of three
statues and a fragment of a fourth were found
during restoration work in 1949. They include
both standing and seated limestone figures
of the “goddess” (below).
Room 10 was part of an additional temple but
one with a highly modified plan. There is
a small shrine opposite the doorway and a
carved monolith at the back end of the apse.
This type of object is often described as
a baetyl and was an object of worship in the
Eastern Mediterranean. |
Hagar
Qim. Pedestal Altars and Niche in Room 10 |
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Hagar
Qim. Statuette from Room 10 cache |
At
the south end of Apse 6 is an opening that
leads, through Room 13, to a less formal
entrance to the temple. All that remains
of the original furnishings of 13 are two
pair of rather dainty looking carved stone
feet, which were part of a large-scale twin-figure
sculpture. The position of the statue is
interesting—it faces into the wall
filling—and was either not meant to
be seen had been moved here from somewhere
else (possibly after breakage). The adjacent
room (12) is similarly plain and its function
is unknown. Room 11 is the only part of
the temple that is inaccessible from the
restof the interior and can only be reached
by an external doorway. There are two apses
and a terminal niche. |
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Hagar
Qim. Room 13 showing the twin statue base |
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| There
are a number of important external features
that are part of the temple. Where the enclosure
curves around to the east, there is a small
external shrine—a deep niche with a
triangular block to support a horizontal slab
that served as the altar. It sits between
a large solitary monolith 5.2 metres tall
and the largest stone block in the temple
façade—6.4 metres long and weighing
in at over twenty tonnes. The purpose of the
shrine may have been to allow more public
ceremonies to be conducted but it is right
next to the oracle hole mentioned above and
so may have had a calendrical connection,
marking the turn of the seasons. |
Hagar
Qim. Exterior Shrine 15 |
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Hagar
Qim. Room 13 showing the twin statue base |
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| In
addition to the main building, there are the remains
of a small five-apse temple about 30 metres to the
north. There are also traces of less formal looking
structures immediately in front of the main entrance.
A number of postholes have also been located at
various places around the site. The nature of the
relationship among all of these features is unknown
but relationship there certainly was. |
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