Bank of Valletta’s Canada representative office recently sponsored a presentation entitled Lost Stone Age Genius in the Mediterranean at the Meridian International Centre in Washington. The event was organised in collaboration with the Embassy of Malta in Washington.
The presentation was delivered by Linda C. Eneix, director of the Florida-based OTS Foundation who introduced the audience to the various monuments and temples situated in Malta as well as to the rich collection of artifacts housed in the National Museum of Archaeology in Valletta.
In her presentation, Ms Eneix outlined that most of America has never seen anything like what is to be found in Malta such as huge stone ceremonial monuments more complex than Stonehenge and created before Egypt had crowned its first Pharaoh king. Ms Eneix said that the islands of Malta and Gozo are home to the remains of more than 23 of such structures which not only are extremely old, but are also evidence of advanced skill in engineering, the birth of architecture and a surprisingly sophisticated culture.
Ms Eneix also outlined that the temples, listed as UNESCO World Heritage sites, have been developed over the period of approximately 3800-2400 BC and that it is likely that in their time the monuments served far more than a religious function as we would define it today. The presentation highlighted that some of the remains represent some of humankind’s earliest known astronomical calendars in stone.
Commenting after the presentation, Albert Vella, manager of Bank of Valletta’s representative office in Canada, commented very favourably on this event. Mr Vella stated “this was an extremely positive opportunity for promoting Malta and its rich historic heritage especially when one considers that Ms Eneix is currently working with industry giant MacGillivray Freeman Films on the production of a documentary motion picture about the prehistoric Lost Civilisation for IMAX and other large screen format theatres.
“Promoting Malta’s culture and history is an ideal means to attract new visitors towards our country and we are very pleased that Bank of Valletta could enjoy direct involvement towards this effort.
Our association with this event gains further weight when one takes into account that Bank of Valletta is the sponsor of the BOV Tarxien Temples Project, a project launched last year to sustain, develop and enhance visitors’ experience at one of Malta’s most sophisticated temple sites,” concluded Mr Vella.
The presentation generated enormous interest and curiosity amongst the participants who had the opportunity to speculate on various themes such as the sculptured ‘fat ladies’, the explanation of which has been a subject of much debate.
The presentation also included discussions of scientific research underway, and also some of the most popular and challenging theories surrounding the mysteriously abrupt ending of the 1,500-year-long society.