A face from the past : death ritual in Punic Malta

Abstract

On 19th January 1918 the curator of the Valletta museum, Themistocles Zammit, was summoned to a rocky plateau outside Rabat (Malta) to inspect two rock-cut tombs that had been discovered there by accident (Fig. 1) . This was not the first discovery in the area of Qallilija (previously known as Kallilija). In July of the previous year, Zammit had excavated and recorded another tomb , whereas in the autumn of 1912 at least eight tombs had been investigated together with one each in 1914 and 1916 . What was unique about the 1918 find, however, was the discovery of a face sculpted in relief inside one of the tombs.