Temples of Malta

The temples of Malta are a source of a rich culture for both the island and the people. I was lucky enough to be able to visit one of the temples found on the island. The one I visited was called Ħaġar Qim. This temples origin dates back to approximately 3600 B.C. These are some of the earliest known buildings still standing in the present day. 

I wanted to further understand what the temples on the island meant to the people who lived there so I set out to find someone to interview about. I had a chance to interview a Maltese woman about what the temples had meant to her.

She said that she had visited a few of the temples on the island but she never went to revisit them and that people generally don't. However she did say that she grew up learning about them in school. 

One comment that stood out to me was that she believed that their culture wouldn't be what it is today if it wasn't for all the people that came before, including the ones that created the temples. 

Overall, it appears that although most Maltese citizens don't visit the temples, they still have an appreciation for the history behind them and how it has effected their present day culture.  

Cultural Influence from the Knights of St John

The Knights of St John may have only occupied the island from 1530-1798, but they left a clear mark on the Maltese landscape and cultural heritage. Dr. Simon Mercieca, a historian and sociologist at the University of Malta, outlined some of the ways the legacy of the Knights continues to shape Malta today.

Many of the strongest effects he described are clear even after a short time on the island. Their flag, the white cross on a red background, can be seen on everything from churches to souvenirs. After Maltese and English, the third most-widely spoken language is Italian. Many of the holidays commemorate Catholic saints.

I was surprised to learn that the Maltese people feel a much stronger connection to the man-made environment—the churches, forts, harbors, etc.—than to the natural environment. According to Dr. Mercieca, this too can be attributed to the Knights.

Malta has been occupied by external powers for most of its history. Because of this, the land was often owned by the foreigners, but the city, where many Maltese lived was not. Though the Knights were born in other areas of Europe, they often came to Malta as children. Once here, they made an effort to integrate into the island culture, for example by learning the Maltese language. In turn, the Maltese people adopted parts of their culture including the architecture. Even today, people make a strong effort to preserve buildings from the time of the Knights and emulate their style in new construction projects and works of art.

Overall, I am really glad I was able to gain an academic's perspective on the culture we had the opportunity to experience while in Malta.

ICEX Malta 2018 - A Recap

Being in Malta through ICEX was an absolutely incredible opportunity and experience on several levels.  Not only did we finish our time there with great data and progress on our research, we were able to witness and learn from the exquisitely wonderful place and culture that is Malta.  Nearly every day, the students in the group would have some sort of discussion along the lines of "Wow, it is still completely unbelievable that this is our actual job."  Taking coding breaks from photogrammetry and motion planning to snorkel at coral beaches and making research decisions while bobbing around in a diving boat on the blue waters of the Mediterranean are undoubtedly experiences that very few other people will ever be lucky enough to have -- and those were just on the working days.  On the vacation days we ferried between islands, hiked through the stunning countryside, and visited Neolithic temples and Medieval castles.  Through it all we built great new friendships with our peers within and across school boundaries and got to spend time with experts in academic fields ranging from our own to others like history and technical diving that make up the actual motivation for our work.  The massive amount of learning we did could have only been done in Malta, and nowhere else could we possibly have enjoyed ourselves as much as we did. 

Even though our time in Malta has come to an end, our work for ICEX is far from over.  Now there are plots to generate, interview blog posts to finally complete, reconstructions to perfect, and papers to write.  There are many posts still to come on this blog, but now that the most incredible part of our ICEX journey is over, we wanted to thank Chris, Zoe, and the NSF for making this whole thing possible.