Island of the giants

Philip Coppens discusses Malta's megalithic monuments built before the pyramids by 'apparently a peace-loving people'. The question is, Coppens says, who they were and why they disappeared so suddenly:

..Some of Malta’s prehistoric temples are currently indeed underwater. The most spectacular of such stories was launched by Hubert Zeitlmair, who in 1999 claimed to have discovered an underground temple one mile off the Maltese coastline. He organised a diving expedition off the coast of Sliema, bringing back footage of what some recognised as a megalithic temple, though left others – including official archaeologists – apparently unconvinced.

Graham Hancock, for his book and television series Underworld, investigated the story and was able to trace it back to a newspaper clipping from the Malta Sunday Times, dated February 13, 1994, in which Commander S.A. Scicluna was quoted as having found the site “last summer”, 2.5 km from land, at a depth of no more than 25 feet. Alas, Scicluna died just before Hancock wanted to interview him and details of this site remain controversial and unconfirmed – including its precise position.

It is nevertheless known that a megalithic structure once existed inside Valletta’s Grand Harbour, at the foot of Fort Saint Angelo. According to Jean Quintinus, this temple extended over “a large part of the harbour, even far out into the sea” as late as 1536 and in 1606, Megeiser could still see that it was constructed of “rectangular blocks of unbelievable sizes”. Today, we know that the sea level in 5000 BC was no less than 15 metres lower than it is today; by 2500 BC, the water level had already risen by almost ten metres! Hence, rather than a sudden deluge that might have killed all, there is instead a slow sinking of the islands.

So, what happened in 2500-2200 BC, when the Temple Culture ceased to exist? It is clear that magic was not involved in the disappearance of these people, but the loss of magic might have resulted in a migration...When the sun moved out of this house, were the temples of Malta simply no longer aligned to the sun, and had they therefore become useless? It might have resulted in a search for new lands, if not a new style – away from the power of the stone – which nicely describes the bull as animal, towards a design that was more in keeping with the ram. Wherever they found it, it was not in Malta, where the temples became forgotten, but the legend of the giants remained.