Theo Stuck in Prehistoric Temple in Malta

 

This adventure is inspired by the history channel. Theo watches a show on cavemen and decides, out of the blue, that he wants to be a cave cat. What that means I don't know, but now he is inordinately interested in anything cavemen related.

"Theo, we're talking about long time ago. All the cavemen are gone. All we can do now is see whatever they left behind."

I think of prehistoric times and I imagine cave men, dressed in animal skins, lugging a large club around as a weapon, barefoot as they hunted for food. I never really thought much about where they lived--outdoors year-round surrounding a camp fire or obviously in a cave.  

Dan, Theo and I set out to find out what life might have been like. On Malta--a beautiful island south of Sicily--there are three ancient stone structures that are prehistoric and deemed UNESCO sites. In other words, their prehistoric dates have been verified and they are protected. 

How old? Hagar Qim is a complex of temples dating back to 5500 to 2500 years BC. These temples are older than Stonehenge in Great Britain and the Pyramids of Egypt. They are a marvel of construction considering what the "cavemen" didn't have to work with. Inside archaeologists have discovered animal bones, which means these temples were either places where animals were kept or sacrificed to the gods. 

Hagar Qim means "Standing/Worshipping Stones" that are constructed in such a way that they are not held together by nails or cement or crazy glue. Scholars over the years have speculated that the Phoenicians built the temples with no advanced technology, no tools and no system of writing. For years mythic folklore believed only giants could have moved the  boulders in place, partly because the facade contains the largest stone used in constructing these megalithic temples--it weighs 57 tons.

Hagar Qim wasn't excavated until 1839-1840, but since then the rain and sun and wind have been wearing away these megaliths. In 2009 a protective tent was erected. 

"Do you want me to get you a cavecat club?" I ask Theo before we set him down.

Theo shakes his head. He is too sophisticated for play acting. He is merely a modern day explorer, always curious, wanting to understand.

I worry. In a place like this, Theo will roam around and, of course, sniff. He will want to jump on the boulders. I can sympathize. I, too, want to touch something that is so old and yet has managed to survive. I convince myself that Theo will stay within the cool confines of the temple, especially since it seems to be getting hotter by the minute outside.

So with one eye on the temple and the other on Theo, we roam through what scholars consider the most ancient religious sites on earth. What were lives like back then? Did their lives resemble our lives at all? 

The temples were made of limestone. Features of the temple suggest fertility rituals because there are statues of obese people, representing people who had enough to eat and were, therefore, virile. The local museum in Valletta holds some of the finds which were excavated, including decorated pottery. The walls were decorated with etchings of plants. 

To the untrained eye (Dan and I) some of the boulders look as if they were blown apart as part of some kind of explosion and then hastily put together. 

But upon closer inspection, you can see that the boulders support each other and there are even smaller stones wedged between the boulders.

Scholars recognize a pattern that was reproduced throughout the world--the inner chambers and hallways.

Theo cares about none of this. He only wants to roam and sniff. Most of the temple ruins are not kept behind a gate or glass partition or cordoned off like the Acropolis in Athens. You can literally touch the stone, get close enough to see the decorations up close. Sniff the stones as much as you like.

Theo is in his glory. He jumps up, of course, on what looks like a piece of furniture and poses there as if he could be a cavecat statue. No harm, I think. And then he disappears.

For a brief moment I think about the plot of Diana Gabaldon's wonderful book Outlander where the heroine disappears near Stonehenge and travels back in time. Through a worm hole? 

Then I see his tail. Somehow Theo has wedged himself between two boulders--trying to get to the other side? Because he likes to be squeezed into tight spaces? 

Dan and I stand and stare. Is he stuck? What do we do--pull him out by his tail?

"Theo."

He seems frozen in time. Like a cat up a tree who doesn't know enough to turn around and climb back down. Until we hear something.

"Theo is snoring," Dan says.

Sure enough, adventure cat is taking a quick snooze. We yank his tail--gently--and he slowly backs out.

Embarrassed? Not really. Only hungry for another snack.