The looting of the Greek marbles passed for Malta

Abstract

An intimate connection of Malta with this one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World has recently hit the news, not only the local newspapers (the Malta Times) but also the London based Times. Taking his cue from a passing comment made in a Turkish magazine a Maltese medical specialist claimed that Dock No I in the Grand harbour might have been built from masonry that had been excavated between 1856 and 1858 by Charles Newton on behalf of the British Museum. According to the same claim HMS Supply, the ship carrying crates of sculpture and masonry blocks lifted by Newton from the Mausoleum entered the Malta harbour in 1858 when Dock No I was allegedly under construction and, since Newton had stated that he had removed 'the Mausoleum wall', for use in a 'public object', this could be precisely Dock No l.