Two gripping ‘historical’ news items hit the headlines in Malta last week in quick succession: the finding of the wreck of a Punic vessel in the vicinity of Gozo and the revelation that Malta had on more than one occasion been hit by tsunamis.

Although the date of the last tsunami was correctly estimated as being 1693, following the earthquake that devastated eastern Sicily, we were made to understand that no written evidence of this survives.

Thankfully, that is not so. Gian Piet Agius de Soldanis records this tsunami in some detail, particularly its effects on Xlendi. He says that on January 11, 1693, the earth trembled and everyone was gripped by terror. The sea in Xlendi receded with great speed, and then returned with the fury of a tidal wave, with a thundering sound. At Sannat, land measuring one wejba (slightly more than one acre) crumbled into the sea.

The discovery of a Punic wreck off Gozo received the attention it so richly deserves and opens up exciting possibilities for state-of-the-art archaeological investigations. Those who might have got the impression that this is the first important archaeological find in Gozo waters are not correct.

A British services underwater team had located and ‘excavated’ extensive submerged Punic/Roman wrecks off Xlendi reef in 1961. Many of the artefacts recovered from these wrecks can be admired in Maltese and Gozitan museums.

By happy coincidence, Palazzo Falson and Fondazzjoni Patrimonju Malti will soon be publishing a lavishly illustrated book, Xlendi and its Ancient Wrecks by John Woods, which deals in great and fascinating detail with the effects of the 1693 tsunami on Gozo (it changed radically the profile of Xlendi Bay) and the discovery and exploration of the Punic and Roman wrecks off Xlendi in 1961.