Author: Melisande Aquilina

Malta’s temples are a magnificent testimony to the Neolithic temple culture which flourished on our islands between 3600 and 2500BC. They can be said to correspond with contemporary and similar monuments found in England, Ireland and Northern France, and their architectonic alignment to sunrises and sunsets reflects religious archetypes which have been perpetuated since prehistoric times. Despite the destruction, decay and reconstructions Maltese temples have had to withstand over the millenia, their original alignment can still be ascertained since the foundation walls and the axes of the buildings are still well preserved. The ancient people of Malta were always...

Natural history can be defined as being ‘the study of natural objects… the study of plants, animals, and sometimes ancient human civilizations’ (Merriam Webster Dictionary). This encompasses scientific research, but is not limited to it, being an ever-evolving discipline stemming back from the studies of Aristotle and other philosophers in the ancient world, continuing during the Middle Ages, and being further defined with the onset of scientific biology and disciplines such as zoology, palaeontology, botany and geology, amongst others. In Malta, those interested in learning more about our islands’ origins and local natural history, can visit the National Museum...