Making no bones about catacombs

If you like thrillers, you've probably heard or watched the new hair-raising movie, The Catacombs.

One evening, the star of the film, Victoria (Shannyn Sossamon), descents into the Parisian rave scene but instead of letting her hair down, she gets mired in the catacombs of the city where the bones of millions of humans, according to the film's trailer, are stuck to the walls forming a monochromatic macabre mosaic.

The film was shot in Romania and the catacombs are a replica of the underground chambers in the French capital. It could have been Malta, which has its own series of catacombs where Christians, Jews and Muslims buried their dead.

Heritage Malta will open this oft-forgotten world to the public today and tomorrow by organising tours to the catacombs in Rabat, taking in the Museum of Natural History and the Roman Domus.

One will be able to visit the Grenfell collection of Egyptian artefacts at the Museum of Natural History today from 8 to 10.30 p.m. Sir Francis Wallace Grenfell, who was Governor of Malta between 1889 and 1903, had bequeathed the collection to the Maltese.

The Roman Domus and, especially, the remains at the back will be illuminated by special lighting installed by Studio Seven.

Guided tours at the Natural History Museum taking in the reserve collection will be held tomorrow at 10 a.m., 11.30 a.m., 2 p.m. and 3.30 p.m. At 10 a.m. and at 11.30 a.m. there will be tours dedicated to children while at 2 p.m. and at 3.30 p.m. there will be a treasure hunt also for children.

Visitors to St Paul's catacombs between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m. will be provided with audio guides.

Tickets for adults, students and senior citizens cost €7 (Lm3). Children under 16 enter for free. Heritage Malta members pay €5 (Lm2.15).

Today's ticket is valid also for use tomorrow. Tickets can be bought at the door.

At the Jewish catacombs, which are close to St Paul's, entry will be allowed only during the tours starting at 10.30 a.m., lasting 30 minutes, till 4.30 p.m. However, the catacombs will be closed between noon and 2.30 p.m. All the tours will be in Maltese.

Heritage Malta communications coordinator Pierre Cassar said these events are directed at Maltese families. "The aim is to spread the idea of having the family as a unit going to a museum or historic site as a group. The response to these activities has been most encouraging," he said. Christians, Jews, and Muslims who settled in Mdina and Rabat several centuries after the birth of Christ had their own burial sites and methods.

In his book 5000 Years Of Architecture In Malta, Leonard Mahoney quotes art historian Mario Buhagiar saying it seems strange that, in an island where stone is remarkable for its plastic qualities, the possibilities of carved decoration were not better exploited.

On this point, Mr Mahoney wrote that one has to take into account the retrogression of the Maltese when one considers the state of the island in the post-Muslim period.

"Craftsmanship and artistic expression had simply collapsed for there is no evidence of invasion by barbarians and vandals before the Arab occupation," Mr Mahoney wrote.

The few surviving murals inside the catacombs constitute the only evidence of painting from the late Roman and early mediaeval periods.

Among the most interesting features are the tables that look like a reclining, circular couch carved out of the live rock. These agape tables were probably used to host commemorative meals during the annual festival of the dead.

Next to St Paul's catacombs are a number of catacombs that contain at least six Jewish tombs. As all the tombs have the same labyrinthine plan, it is often difficult to tell which are Jewish and which are Christian. Some bear engraved religious motifs such as crosses, palm fronds, doves with olive branches and, in some cases, the Jewish seven-branch candlestick (menorah).

In Rabat, a Muslim cemetery containing at least 245 burials was unearthed overlying the Roman house known as Domus Romana. On the upper floor of the Domus Romana is a replica of an Islamic tomb.

Most of these tombs were capped by a gravestone while some are inscribed in Kufic characters.

The small iron clamps near the head or foot of some of the skeletal remains may indicate that caskets containing Koranic scripts were buried with the dead.