Cultural exchange on Malta and Gozo : a study of the Aegyptiaca on Malta and Gozo from the Phoenician and Punic periods

Abstract

The Maltese Islands are located in the centre of the Mediterranean. Owing to their geographic position these islands have been in the cross-currents of major cultural and political developments which took place in the larger Mediterranean region. Malta’s rich archaeology bears witness to these diverse cultural, political, and religious influences. This thesis is concerned with the so-called Aegyptiaca found on Malta and the neighboring island of Gozo. This group of artifacts consists of small amulets, pendants, coins, and figurines, but includes also sarcophagi and architectural elements. The majority of the objects come from funerary contexts and share a common iconography related to ancient Egyptian belief systems. These objects have been studied as a group more than 20 years ago by the Austrian Egyptologist Günther Hölbl (1989). Over these years the assemblage of Aegyptiaca has increased, including new objects revealed in more recent excavations. Furthermore, new theoretical frameworks have been formulated within the context of culture contact and ancient religion, making this group of artifacts once again an interesting and challenging field of research. The research question of this thesis relates to the role of Aegyptiaca in the context of cultural exchange processes between the Maltese Islands and the wider Mediterranean region during the Phoenician and Punic periods. This study seeks new explanations for the presence and function of these objects, their variety and the choices made by the local and foreign populations who inhabited the islands. In order to obtain a deeper understanding of the significance these objects held for the population, this study will systematically examine these Aegyptiaca within their cultural setting. This study applies the term Aegyptiaca to group these objects into a more general category; in contrast, the description Egyptian would only refer to Egyptian culture or denote objects derived from Egypt proper. Equally misleading would be the use of the descriptive term Egyptianizing; this term is often used to refer to objects or written texts relating to Egyptian culture, language or its people, but would exclude objects deriving from Egypt proper. All in all, the term Aegyptiaca seems the most appropriate ‘label’ for these objects, especially since we have not yet been able to determine whether the objects from Malta are Egyptian, Egyptianizing or of local or foreign origin. This thesis has been divided into three parts followed by the conclusion. The first chapter will focus on the history of Malta and will offer a more detailed outline of the Phoenician and Punic periods. The historical outline is intended to present a referential framework to place the Aegyptiaca within their socio-political and economic setting. The second chapter is concerned with earlier research into the Aegyptiaca from Malta. From the examination of earlier published work it could be established that apart from Hölbl’s study not much systematic research has been carried out and therefore this thesis attempts to go beyond earlier publications and offers a data-based approach to the group of artifacts. The data-sets and the methodology of assessment will be discussed in chapter three. This chapter deals with the objects comprising Malta’s Aegyptiaca combining Hölbl’s (1989) assessment of artifacts from the Valletta Museum with Sagona’s (2002) account of find-contexts and her descriptions of tombs and tomb furniture. This chapter (three) forms the core of this thesis, and in addition to a thorough description of the objects it will examine them within the theoretical frame-work of cultural contact and acculturation. The final chapter (four), by way of conclusion, will present a synthesis of the results achieved by this thesis and will offer suggestions for future research.