Sam’s eyes narrowed, trying to work out what he was doing. It looked impossible for him to fit any farther inside. A moment later, Goddard pushed himself out.
Sam smiled. “Find anything?”
Goddard shook his head, his eyes somewhat furtive, darted away. “There have been some heavy rains since I was last here. It looks like it’s eroded a small opening just here. I hoped that maybe it would lead to a lower level.”
“Did it?”
“No. Just another dead end.” Goddard brightened up. “What about you? Did you find anything?”
Sam’s eyes drifted lazily down the hill toward the blue sea. He shook his head. “It wasn’t here.”
Goddard’s eyes narrowed. “You’re sure?”
“Certain. There’s always the chance that whoever built this structure did so directly on top of the much more ancient Chamber of Knowledge, but it definitely wasn’t the Master Builders.”
“All right, let’s go. Maybe we’ll have better luck at the Hypogeum of Ħal-Saflieni.”
“Agreed.”
They caught the afternoon ferry, and didn’t get to the Hypogeum of Ħal-Saflieni in Paola until the early evening. Sam Reilly knew one of the archeologists who had worked on the site, who agreed to open it up to them outside of the normal tour times.
The Neolithic subterranean structure dated back to the Saflieni phase — somewhere between 3300–3000 BC — in Maltese prehistory. The underground structure was thought to have been a sanctuary and necropolis, with the remains of more than 7,000 individuals documented by archeologists. The Hypogeum was discovered by accident in 1902 when workers cutting cisterns for a new housing development broke through its roof. The workers, fearing loss of construction work in the area, tried to hide the temple at first, but eventually it was found, and an archeology search was conducted.
Sam introduced Goddard to his friend, Jen Potter, who then led them in through the upper levels of the museum and down into the Hypogeum.
It was constructed entirely underground and consisted of three superimposed levels hewn into soft globigerina limestone, with its halls and chambers interconnected through a labyrinthine series of steps, lintels and doorways.
Jen said, “The upper level is thought to have been occupied first, with the middle and lower levels expanded and excavated later. Some of the middle chambers appear to share stylistic characteristics with the contemporaneous Megalithic Temples found across Malta.”
Sam ran his eyes across the limestone walls. “Was any obsidian ever found during the excavation?”
Jen thought about that for a moment. “Actually, there was. Crude tools including antlers, flint, chert, and obsidian were strewn throughout the cave system.”
“But none of the chambers were ever carved in obsidian?”
“No. Malta itself is almost entirely globigerina limestone. We don’t have any obsidian caves.”
Sam nodded. “Okay.”
They continued down into the first level, which had multiple rooms of individual and expanded caves. The second level was apparently a later expansion, with the rock hoisted up to the surface by Cyclopean rigging.
The middle level consisted of four unique rooms.
With a flashlight in his hand, he followed Jen into the main chamber. The main chamber was roughly circular and carved out from the limestone rock. A number of trilithon entrances were represented, some blind, and others leading to another chamber. Sam noticed that most of the wall surfaces had received a red wash of ochre.
Jen said, “It was in here that the Sleeping Lady was recovered.”
Sam frowned. “The Sleeping Lady?”
“Yes, when archeologists first entered this room, they found a small stone figurine. It’s now housed in the Museum of Archaeology, in Valletta.”
Sam and Goddard followed her through to the Oracle Room.
It was vaguely shaped like a rectangle. Running the beam of his flashlight across the walls and roof, Sam noticed the room had an elaborately painted ceiling, consisting of spirals in red ochre with circular spots.
Sam asked, “Why do they call it the Oracle Room?”
His voice echoed.
“It has to do with the peculiar acoustic resonance from any vocalization made inside.” Jen’s voice echoed as she spoke. “See?”
“Interesting.”
They turned left and entered a spacious hall, with circular, inward slanting walls, richly decorated in geometrical patterns of spirals. He flicked the beam of his flashlight around the vaulted room, stopping on the far-right side of the wall, near the entrance, where a petrosomatoglyph of a human hand was carved into the wall.
Goddard stared at the hand. “Does that have any specific relevance to the Master Builders?”
Sam shook his head. “No. Not that I’ve seen before.”
They turned left and entered the Holy of Holies.
The vault was the most central structure of the Hypogeum. According to Jen, the room was perfectly oriented toward the winter solstice, which would have illuminated its façade from the original opening, some six thousand years earlier.
Sam ran his eyes across the unique structure.
The focal point was a porthole within a trilithon — a structure consisting of two large vertical stones — which in turn was framed within a larger trilithon and yet another even larger trilithon. The corbelled ceiling matched with archeological recreations of the Megalithic temples found throughout Malta’s surface landscape.
Jen caught Sam’s eye. “Find what you were looking for?”
“I don’t think so, but the Hypogeum’s fascinating, nonetheless.” His eyes landed on a small wooden grate that protected people from falling down a vertical shaft. “Where does that lead?”
“Down into an empty storage chamber.”
“Does it lead anywhere?”
“No. The entire place has been mapped using lasers. Why?”
Sam crunched his face together. “We’re looking for an even older temple. We were hoping that maybe the Hypogeum was built on top of it. Any chance of a vault buried deeper?”
“No. Ground penetrating radar has been used. The Hypogeum ends there.”
Goddard looked at Sam. “What are you thinking?”
“It’s an amazing place, but I doubt very much that the Master Builders were involved in its construction.”
Jen said, “You have a theory that this place you’re looking for was protected by an ancient temple?”
Sam nodded. “Yeah. Think of an ancient cult, sworn to protect it. When they die out, the last person might try and pass the role onto the next generation. Religions change; things are buried, and only the best stories are passed down through the ages like legends. What we’re looking for is much more than six thousand years old.”
“If you’re looking for something like that, why stop at the Megalithic temples and Hypogeums?”
“Well,” Sam said. “What we’re looking for is probably the oldest man-made structure in Malta, so we needed to start with the oldest temples. Why? Do you have a better idea?”
“Yeah. Why restrict yourselves to Megalithic temples?” Jen glanced at him, judging his reaction. “What about a Catholic church.”
Sam and Goddard simultaneously dismissed the idea. “Too young.”
“Ah, but some of the great churches throughout Malta were built on top of ancient Megalithic temples.”
“Really?” Sam’s lips curled into a smile. “I didn’t know that. Why?”
“Probably for the same reason the temples were built there in the first place — they shared the best locations, a high point, a specific position in relation to the sun, or the most defensive landscape.” She made a small laugh. “That and, hey the island was riddled with Megalithic temples, so it was only a matter of time before our multitude of churches had to coincide with the same locations.”