Recent events in the environmental sphere have revealed that vast areas of archaeological and historical sites throughout the length and breadth of the Maltese archipelago are privately owned, continuously at the mercy of wanton vandalism and the vagaries of the weather.

This unhealthy situation has brought distress and consternation to the diminishing few who have our ancient patrimony at heart. At such difficult moments it is pertinent to underline the massive commitment of some of our past overlords, namely the governors, to ensure the conservation and preservation of the historical riches of our island home.

In the late 19th century, Mnajdra and Ġgantija were brought to the attention of the great German archaeologist Heinrick Schliemann, a giant in the field of archaeology, discoverer of Troy and the rich golden treasures of Mycene (Greece). He dispatched his assistant, Archibald Sayce, later professor of Assyriology at Oxford University, to Malta with a definite brief, specifically to study various aspects of our neolithic temples even then considered as the world’s earliest manifestations of designed architecture.

Sayce arrived on the island on February 7, 1882 and immediately had an appointment with the governor, Sir Arthur Borton (1878- 1884), who was obviously impressed by the erudition and enthusiasm of this eminent scholar and archaeologist who enjoyed international fame.

However, it was left to General Sir Arthur Freemantle (1893-1899) who immediately after his accession as governor took personal interest to obtain from the Church authorities perpetual lease of the property on which the ruins of the ‘Phoenician Temples’ of Mnajdra exist, as per letter dated July 21, 1894 by the acting chief secretary to the governor addressed to the Vicar General and locus tenens of the archbishop.

In November 1895, Freemantle pursued the matter further when he instructed the superintendent of the Public Works Department to prepare plans and estimates “for a boundary wall and a lodge for the custodian” round these sites. In compliance with the governor’s request, G. Pace, of the PWD, immediately prepared a detailed report and the estimates requested, which were subsequently forwarded by Freemantle to the Archbishop of Malta as the land on which Mnajdra and Ħaġar Qim were sited belonged to the Church.

At the time, the estimated cost for “the construction of the boundary wall around the remains and a lodge for the custodian” amounted to £366 sterling.

“Besides that sum, another amount of ninety-seven pounds,” stated the letter, “will be required for the formation of a foot-track which I consider sufficient”.

The Archbishop, in his communication through Deacon Vincenzo Vassallo, accepted Pace’s valuation of the land, which had been put at £4,14s, however, he suggested that the services of an archaeologist be obtained to make a proper evaluation of the archaeological remains of Mnajdra and Ħaġar Qim on the lines recommended by Pace.

The wanton neglect of our ancient national monuments reveals a nation mired in the Slough of Despond

One of the conditions for the release of the two sites to the Government stipulated that if the temples were not well kept and preserved they would revert back to Church ownership again at any time.

With the departure of Freemantle in 1899 and as the question of ownership dragged on and on, the boundary wall and lodge project was forgotten only to re-appear some four decades ago when, after interminable discussions, a shapeless and unsightly surrounding wall was eventually erected around Ħaġar Qim.

As we sadly mourn the senseless deterioration of Ras ir-Raheb, other sites await the same fate. Just look at the utter neglect of remote Ras il-Wardija in Gozo, an acknowledged Roman site excavated by the Italian Archaeological Mission in the mid-1960s, or the pristine Qlejgħa tal-Baħrija with its breathtaking panoramic view of the shimmering blue sea and its multiple silos dug out by the Bronze Age people to store grain, water or olive oil.

Such wanton neglect of our ancient national monuments entrusted to our care reveals a nation mired, like erring Christians of John Bunyan’s Pilgrims Progress, in the Slough of Despond, intent to look at the quality of life only in material terms.

Nearly 2,000 years ago, St Paul’s shipwreck branded us as being outside the linguistic periphery of Greece and Rome. Perhaps the appellation ‘barbarians’ was prophetically meant for today’s natives, myself included for venting my views at such a late period in my life when, I must admit, the spirit is very willing though the flesh is miserably weak.