Just below the southern tip of Italy, in its extreme west section

Mediterranean is the island of Malta. In the past, it has been under the auspices of various nations and has been seen as one of the most strategic areas of the world: a port and a crossing point for Europe, Asia, the Middle East and Africa. This small island, only 14.5 km long, was already an ancient center of civilization when the Carthage Phoenicians submitted it.

Malta hypogeum mysteries

 Since the time of the Carthage, Malta had accepted many rulers: the Romans, the Arabs, the Normans, the Castilians and the Order of St. John of Jerusalem, later known as the Knights of Rhodes and even later as the Knights of Malta, who remain there until now, having their second headquarters in Rome. A few miles south of Valletta town is the small village of Kazal Paula.

In 1902, when some workers were digging a well, the land retreated and they fell into it. They thus discovered a series of ancient caves, mostly dug over a solid rock, which descended into the earth and three lower levels. These multi-level catacombs became known as the “Basement of Hal Safleni”, by the name of the street under which they were discovered.

The Hypogeum of Hal saflieni

The Hal Saflieni Hypogeum is a complex composed of interconnecting rock-cut chambers set on three distinct levels. Earliest remains at the site date back to about 4000 BC, and the complex was used over a span of many centuries, up to c. 2500 BC.

The uppermost level consists of a large hollow with burial chambers on its sides. This hollow was probably originally exposed to the sky and excavations in the early 1990s indicate that there might have been a monumental structure marking the entrance. A doorway leads to the Middle Level, which contains some of the best-known features of the Hypogeum, such as the intricate red wall paintings and the beautifully carved features in imitation of common architectural elements in contemporary Megalithic Temples. The deepest of the three levels is known as the Lower Level, which is accessed seven steps in the chamber popularly known as the ‘Holy of Holies’.

The Hypogeum was first opened to visitors in 1908 and since then it has been visited by many thousands of people. Unfortunately, this has been a delicate microclimate of the site that has affected the conservation of the site and unique red eye paintings. For this reason, after a conservation project that saw the site closed for 10 years between 1990 and 2000, a new system was established in which only 10 visitors per hour are allowed in up to 8 hours a day, supplemented by an environmental control system which keeps temperature and humidity at required levels.

Malta elongated skulls

Within the Hypogeum, archaeologists have uncovered tombs, rooms of unknown function, and a ‘Main Chamber’, a circular room carved into the rock with a few trilithon entrances. In this room, the statue of a sleeping lady was found (as shown in the picture). Other rooms include the ‘Decorated Room’, the ‘Snake Pit’ and the ‘Holy of Holies’ and the ‘Oracle Room’, a rectangular room with very distinctive acoustic features.

The acoustic properties of the ‘Oracle room’ have been extensively studied by researchers. Anything spoken in that room is heard all over the Hypogeum. Furthermore, some research has shown that the acoustic properties of the reverberating sound affect human emotions. Research done by Paolo Debertolis and Niccolo Bisconti of the Universities of Trieste and Siena respectively has shown that the construction of the chamber was made in a way that would affect the psyche of people, perhaps to enhance mystical experiences during rituals. The use of fractal non-linear resonances, which appear in the acoustics of the Hypogeum, is something that modern science has just started to investigate and the results show that these types of frequencies have the ability to alter matter.

The ‘Sleeping Lady’ found in the Main Chamber, along with other figurines found within the Hypogeum all display ‘abundant forms’. In other words, the figures appear to be extremely obese, and there is no agreement as to why this may be.

Malta hypogeum giants

The government closed the entrances to these tunnels after school children and their teachers were lost in the labyrinth while on a study tour and never returned. Before and after this event, an employee of the British Embassy visited the site and later wrote about it: One article written by Miss Lois Jessup, at the time an employee of the British Embassy and later a secretary for the New York Saucer Information Bureau (better known as NYSIB), appeared in an old issue of Riley Crabb’s BORDERLAND SCIENCE magazine, published by The Borderland Sciences Research Foundation (BSRF) was later reprinted in full in Dr. Allen’s book ENIGMA FANTASTIQUE.

Miss Jessup claimed she had visited Malta and the Hypogeum also, once before the tragic disappearance of the children, and shortly thereafter. She described how on her first visit to the catacombs she finally convinced the guide to allow her to investigate one of the so-called “burial chambers” near the floor of the last chamber in the third sub-basement, the supposed “end” of the Hypogeum tour. He seemed to know something she did not, but finally, she consented and told her that she could enter at her own risk.

As she wrote:

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