An exhibition, entitled Core and Periphery: Mdina and Safi in the 9th and 10th Centuries, will be on display until January 31 at the National Museum of Archaeology, Valletta.

This exhibition, the first of a series dedicated to medieval Malta, will be presenting some of the results obtained from two rescue excavations carried out in Mdina in 2008 and Safi in 2015.

Both excavations yielded precious archaeological information on Malta’s Dark Ages – a period of dramatic historical change that saw the end of Byzantine domination and the arrival of the Arabs in Malta. The ceramic typology for these periods is being presented for the first time as a way of introducing a wider discussion on the society and the economy of Malta in the 9th and 10th centuries.

In particular, the exhibition focuses on the dual nature of urban versus rural life in the period.

Admission to the exhibition, which is being held in collaboration with the Superintendence of Cultural Heritage and the University of Malta, will be free of charge. For more information, visit www.heritagemalta.org.