National Museum of Archaeology, Malta
Encyclopedia
Malta
Malta , officially known as the Republic of Malta , is a Southern European country consisting of an archipelago situated in the centre of the Mediterranean, south of Sicily, east of Tunisia and north of Libya, with Gibraltar to the west and Alexandria to the east.Malta covers just over in...
museum of prehistoric artifacts, located in Valetta. It is managed by Heritage Malta
Heritage Malta
Heritage Malta is the Maltese national agency for museums, conservation practice and cultural heritage. Created by the Cultural Heritage Act, enacted in 2002, the national agency replaced the former Museums Department....
.
History=
The Auberge de Provence was opened as the National Museum in 1958 by Ms Agatha Barbara
Agatha Barbara
Agatha Barbara was a Maltese politician, having served as a Labour Member of Parliament and Minister, and President of Malta. She was the first and, to date, the only female President of Malta.-Early life:...
, then the Minister of Education. The museum originally included the archaeological collection on the ground floor and fine arts on the first floor. The first curator was Captain Charles G. Zammit, the son of the eminent Maltese archaeologist Sir Themistocles Zammit
Themistocles Zammit
Sir Themistocles Zammit was a Maltese archaeologist and historian, professor of chemistry, medical doctor, researcher and writer, serving as Rector of the Royal University of Malta and first Director of the National Museum of Archaeology in Valletta.-Career:After graduating in medicine from the...
.
In 1974, the fine arts collection was moved to the National Museum of Fine Arts
National Museum of Fine Arts (Malta)
The National Museum of Fine Arts is Malta’s major museum for the visual arts. It houses a collection of works by Maltese and foreign artists mainly representing the major European artistic styles....
, newly established in the Admiralty House building in South Street, Valletta, and the National Museum was renamed the National Museum for Archaeology.
The museum was refurbished and upgraded in 1998. Artifacts were placed in climate-controlled displays so that the exhibition met with current conservation standards.
Building=
The Auberge de Provence is a baroque
Baroque architecture
Baroque architecture is a term used to describe the building style of the Baroque era, begun in late sixteenth century Italy, that took the Roman vocabulary of Renaissance architecture and used it in a new rhetorical and theatrical fashion, often to express the triumph of the Catholic Church and...
building in Republic Street, Valletta, built for the Knights of Malta in 1571. It was probably designed by the Maltese architect Gerolamo Cassar, who directed the building of most important buildings in the early days of Valletta. The building’s façade
Facade
A facade or façade is generally one exterior side of a building, usually, but not always, the front. The word comes from the French language, literally meaning "frontage" or "face"....
is imprinted with Mannerist
Mannerism
Mannerism is a period of European art that emerged from the later years of the Italian High Renaissance around 1520. It lasted until about 1580 in Italy, when a more Baroque style began to replace it, but Northern Mannerism continued into the early 17th century throughout much of Europe...
characteristics usually associated with Cassar.
The Grand Salon on the first floor is the most ornate room in the building. The Knights used it for business discussions, and as a refectory
Refectory
A refectory is a dining room, especially in monasteries, boarding schools and academic institutions. One of the places the term is most often used today is in graduate seminaries...
and banqueting hall, where they sat at long tables according to seniority.
When Napoleon expelled the Knights from Malta in 1798 the Auberge was leased to the Malta Union Club. Though the lease was to expire in 2002, on 12 August 1955 the Auberge was assigned to house Malta’s National Museum.
Collection=
The ground floor of the museum exhibits prehistoric
Prehistory
Prehistory is the span of time before recorded history. Prehistory can refer to the period of human existence before the availability of those written records with which recorded history begins. More broadly, it refers to all the time preceding human existence and the invention of writing...
artefacts from the Maltese islands, from the Għar Dalam phase (5200 BC), the earliest appearance of settlement on the island, up to the Tarxien phase
Tarxien phase
The Tarxien phase followed the Saflieni phase and typifies the last and most advanced period of temple building in prehistoric Malta...
(2500 BC).
Early Neolithic Period Room (5200–3800 BC)
Neolithic
The Neolithic Age, Era, or Period, or New Stone Age, was a period in the development of human technology, beginning about 9500 BC in some parts of the Middle East, and later in other parts of the world. It is traditionally considered as the last part of the Stone Age...
, including decorated pottery from the Għar Dalam, Grey Skorba
Grey Skorba phase
The Grey Skorba phase follows the Early Neolithic Għar Dalam phase in Malta's prehistory. It is marked by a distinctive grey pottery, without decoration. Other remains from the period include seashells, bone ornaments and implements, stone tools and number of sling stones possibly used for hunting...
, Red Skorba and Żebbuġ phases.
Of particular importance are the Red Skorba figurines, the earliest local representations of the human figure and the predecessors of the statues of later temple periods.
The exhibition features a reconstruction of the rock-cut tombs
Hypogeum
Hypogeum or hypogaeum literally means "underground", from Greek hypo and gaia . It usually refers to an underground, non-Christian temple or a tomb...
that were a characteristic of the early Neolithic period in Malta. Rock-cut tombs reached their climax in burials like the Ħal Saflieni Hypogeum and the Xagħra Stone Circle; photographs of both sites are displayed in the museum.
Temple Period Rooms (3800–2500 BC)
These rooms show examples of architecture, human representation and other items that date from the MġarrMgarr phase
Following the Żebbuġ phase , the Mġarr phase was a short transitional period in Malta's prehistory. It is characterized by pottery consisting of mainly curved lines. Examples have been extensively excavated at the Ta' Ħaġrat Temples...
, Ġgantija
Ggantija phase
The Ġgantija phase owes its name to the Ġgantija Temples in Xagħra, Gozo. The Ġgantija phase is directly preceded by the Mġarr phase , and is characterized by a change in the way the prehistoric inhabitants of Malta lived...
, Saflieni
Saflieni phase
The Saflieni phase of Malta's prehistory was named after the Hypogeum of Ħal-Saflieni. The hypogeum and part of the Ta' Ħaġrat temple complex both date from this period....
and Tarxien
Tarxien phase
The Tarxien phase followed the Saflieni phase and typifies the last and most advanced period of temple building in prehistoric Malta...
phases of Maltese prehistory. The temples that were built at this time are considered to be the world’s first free standing monuments and are listed in the UNESCO World Heritage List.
The museum exhibits numerous corpulent statues representing human bodies unearthed from temple excavations, along with phallic representations. Until recently the statues were called Mother Goddesses, Fat Ladies, Deities and Priests among other names, but it is now argued that these statues were probably asexual and represented a human being, irrespective of whether it was male or female. The representations vary in size and shape, with the largest being as tall as 2.7m and the smallest 4mm.
The discovery of temple altar
Altar
An altar is any structure upon which offerings such as sacrifices are made for religious purposes. Altars are usually found at shrines, and they can be located in temples, churches and other places of worship...
s and corpulent human representations suggests that some type of cult
Cult (religious practice)
In traditional usage, the cult of a religion, quite apart from its sacred writings , its theology or myths, or the personal faith of its believers, is the totality of external religious practice and observance, the neglect of which is the definition of impiety. Cult in this primary sense is...
existed on the islands of Malta and Gozo
Gozo
Gozo is a small island of the Maltese archipelago in the Mediterranean Sea. The island is part of the Southern European country of Malta; after the island of Malta itself, it is the second-largest island in the archipelago...
in prehistory. Given the corpulency of the statues it may be that the cult was tied to a fertility rite
Fertility rite
Fertility rites are religious rituals that reenact, either actually or symbolically, sexual acts and/or reproductive processes: 'sexual intoxication is a typical component of the...rites of the various functional gods who control reproduction, whether of man, beast, cattle, or grains of seed'..They...
. Fertility at this time must have been very important since, apart from family growth, it also meant the reproduction of crops and animals.
The exhibition includes altars excavated from the Tarxien Temples that were probably used for animal sacrifice
Animal sacrifice
Animal sacrifice is the ritual killing of an animal as part of a religion. It is practised by many religions as a means of appeasing a god or gods or changing the course of nature...
s. They were brought to the museum for conservation reasons.
Temporary exhibitions=
It has recently hosted the following exhibitions, among others:
- Silent Warriors (March 2007), featuring artifacts from the terracotta armyTerracotta ArmyThe Terracotta Army or the "Terra Cotta Warriors and Horses", is a collection of terracotta sculptures depicting the armies of Qin Shi Huang, the first Emperor of China...
of the first emperor of ChinaChinaChinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...
, Shi Huangdi.
- Carravagio L’Immagine Del Divino (September – November 2007), exhibiting original masterpieces of the Italian artist, Michelangio Merisi da Caravaggio, who was active in Malta in the early 17th century.
- Renzo Piano’sRenzo PianoRenzo Piano is an Italian architect. He is the recipient of the Pritzker Architecture Prize, AIA Gold Medal, Kyoto Prize and the Sonning Prize...
designs for the redevelopment of Valletta’s City GateCity Gate (Malta)City Gate - also known as Putirjal in Maltese - is the main entrance to Malta's capital city, Valletta, a UNESCO World Heritage Site. It is most commonly called Bieb il-Belt, "Door to the city"....
, House of Parliament and Opera House (July 2009).
- In Quest of Beauty (26 February – 15 May 2011), an exhibition of works by the BohemianBohemianA Bohemian is a resident of the former Kingdom of Bohemia, either in a narrow sense as the region of Bohemia proper or in a wider meaning as the whole country, now known as the Czech Republic. The word "Bohemian" was used to denote the Czech people as well as the Czech language before the word...
Art NouveauArt NouveauArt Nouveau is an international philosophy and style of art, architecture and applied art—especially the decorative arts—that were most popular during 1890–1910. The name "Art Nouveau" is French for "new art"...
artist Alphonse Mucha.
Future plans=
The museum plans to open the first floor galleries and expand the exhibition in the near future to include archaeological artifacts from the Bronze Age, Phoenician, Punic and Roman Periods.
Opening hours=
The museum is open every day from 9am till 7pm, with last admission at 6:30pm.
They are closed on Good Friday
Good Friday
Good Friday , is a religious holiday observed primarily by Christians commemorating the crucifixion of Jesus Christ and his death at Calvary. The holiday is observed during Holy Week as part of the Paschal Triduum on the Friday preceding Easter Sunday, and may coincide with the Jewish observance of...
, Christmas Eve
Christmas Eve
Christmas Eve refers to the evening or entire day preceding Christmas Day, a widely celebrated festival commemorating the birth of Jesus of Nazareth that takes place on December 25...
and Day, and New Years Eve and Day.
External links=