More Caverns - Malta - Home of the Knights of Malta

[zorgon]

More Caverns - Malta - Home of the Knights of Malta


More stories of underground caverns, disappearing people and children and worship of subterranean Gods



The Subterranean Express - Inner Earth
Malta and the Cavern World

In the year 1902, workmen who were digging a well literally fell into the earth. What they discovered (or rather re-discovered) was a series of ancient caves, mostly excavated out of solid rock, which descended into the earth and into three lower levels below. These multi-leveled catacombs became known as the "Hypogeum of Hal Saflienti", named after the street beneath which they were discovered.

"Many subterranean passageways, including ancient catacombs, now are a part of the island's fortifications and defense system. Supplies are kept in many tunnels; others are bomb shelters. Beneath Valletta some of the underground areas served as homes for the poor.

Prehistoric men built temples and chambers in these vaults. In a pit beside one sacrificial altar lie thousands of human skeletons. Years ago one could walk underground from one end of Malta to the other. The Government closed the entrances to these tunnels after school children and their teachers became lost in the labyrinth while on a study tour and never returned."

The story goes much "deeper" however, than the NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC article indicates.

Other sources say that ABOUT 30 CHILDREN vanished in these catacombs on the study tour, and that when the "Hypogeum" was first discovered nearly 30,000 human skeletons of men, women and children (victims of ancient sacrifice to the "underworld gods", performed by an old neolithic race) were discovered as well.

One article written by a Miss Lois Jessup, at the time an employee of the British embassy and later 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 (B.S.R.F.) and was later reprinted in full in Dr. Allen's book ENIGMA FANTASTIQUE.

Miss Jessup claimed that she 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 didn't, but finally consented and told her that she could enter at "her own risk".

As she did so, candle in hand and her loosed sash being used as a guide rope for her friends who followed behind, she crawled through the small passage and eventually emerged into a large cavern, where she found herself on a ledge overlooking a very deep, seemingly bottomless chasm.

Below and on the other side of the chasm was another ledge which appeared to lead to a doorway or tunnel in the far wall. We realize that what happened next might sound unbelievable to many who read this, but we would ask them to make their own determination of it's validity. Miss Jessup swears that what follows really happened.

Out of this lower tunnel on the far side of the chasm, she claims, emerged in single file several very large creatures of humanoid form but completely covered with hair from head to foot. Noticing her, they raised their arms in her direction, palms out, at which point a violent "wind" began to blow through the cavern, snuffing out her candle. Then, some "thing" wet and slippery (apparently a creature of a different sort) brushed past her.

This all happened just as the person behind her was beginning to emerge from the passage and into the cavern. They could not understand her panicked attempts to get back to the "Hypogeum" room, but they consented after she insisted.

When they found themselves back in the Hypogeum chamber, the guide saw her expression and gave her a "knowing" look. About a week afterwards the disappearance of the children and their teacher(s) took place, and on her second visit she saw an entirely new guide who denied that the other guide had ever worked there, although she knew that this new guide was hiding something.

She learned from more cooperative sources however, that THIS was the tunnel that the children and their teacher(s) and possibly the old guide, had entered. She also learned that after the last child had made it through, the walls of the small tunnel just "happened" to collapse or cave-in.

Although the official version stated that the walls caved-in on the students, search parties were never able to locate any trace of the teacher(s) or the children, although the rope that they had used to fasten themselves to the lower Hypogeum chamber was found to have been CLEAN CUT as if by something sharp (not falling rock).

It was asserted that for weeks afterwards the wailing and screaming of children was heard underground in different parts of the island, but no one could locate the sources of the cries.

As for the Catacombs beneath Malta itself, there are some ancient accounts which say that deep caverns beneath the island continue underground BEYOND the shores, and according to one source [i.e. the ever elusive "Commander-X"], part of this labyrinth stretches hundreds of miles northwards and intersects with catacombs beneath Rome (the hill Vaticanus?) or at least did so in ancient times...

[zorgon]

Hypogeum of Hal-Saflieni

The Hypogeum of Paola, Malta, (Ipo?ew in Maltese) literally meaning "underground" in Greek, is a subterranean structure dating to the Saflieni phase (3000-2500 BC) in Maltese prehistory. Thought to have been originally a sanctuary, it became a necropolis in prehistoric times and the remains of more than 7,000 individuals have been found. It is the only known prehistoric underground temple in the world. The Hypogeum was depicted on a 2 cents 5 mils stamp issued in the Maltese Islands in 1980 to commemorate the acceptance by UNESCO of this unique structure in the World Heritage Site list. It was closed to visitors between 1992 and 1996 for restoration works; since it reopened only 60 people per day are allowed entry.

It was discovered by accident in 1902 when workers cutting cisterns for a new housing development broke through its roof. The workers tried to hide the temple at first, but eventually it was found. The study of the structure was first entrusted to Father Manuel Magri of the Society of Jesus, who directed the excavations on behalf of the Museums Committee. Magri died in 1907, before the publication of the report. Following Magri's sudden death, excavation resumed under Sir Temi Zammit.


Photo de l'hypogée réalisée avant 1910

First Level

The first level is very similar to tombs found in Xemxija in Malta. Some rooms are natural caves which were later artificially extended. The second level was only opened when the original builders found that this level was no longer adequate. This level is only ten metres below the surface.

Second Level

This level features several apparently important rooms, such as the Main Room, the Holy of Holies, and the Oracle Room.


Hypogeum ?al Saflieni (Malta), the sanctuary chamber Holy of Holies

The Main Chamber

This chamber is roughly circular and carved out from rock. A number of trilithon entrances are represented, some blind, and others leading to another chamber. Most of the wall surface has received a red wash of ochre. It was from this room that the statuettes of the sleeping lady were recovered. Nowadays these figurines are held in the Museum of Archaeology, in Valletta, Malta.

The Oracle Room

The Oracle Room is roughly rectangular and one of the smallest side chambers. It has the peculiarity of producing a powerful acoustic resonance from any vocalization made inside it. This room has an elaborately painted ceiling, consisting of spirals in red ochre with circular blobs.



The Decorated Room

Out of the Oracle's Room, through the hammer dressed chamber, on the right is another spacious hall, circular, with inward slanting smooth walls, richly decorated in a geometrical pattern. On the right side wall the entrance is a petrosomatoglyph of a human hand carved into the rock (Agius).

The Snake Pit

The second level contains a 2 metres deep pit which could have been used for either keeping snakes or collecting alms.

Holy of Holies

The focal point of this room is a porthole within a trilithon, which is in turn framed within a larger trilithon and yet another large trilithon.

Third Level

The lower storey contained no bones or offerings, only water. It strongly suggests storage, maybe of grain.


This clay figure of a reclining lady was found in one of the pits of the Hypogeum in Hal Saflieni in Malta. It has traces of red ochre paint and is thought to represent a "mother goddess", even though she may equally be a representation of death or eternal sleep. Temple Period, 4000 - 2500 BC.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hypogeum_of_%C4%A6al-Saflieni

[Somamech]

Third Level

The lower storey contained no bones or offerings, only water. It strongly suggests storage, maybe of grain.

That rings true indeed.  I grew up on a sheep and oat producing farm and we always chose to store our Oats in a Lake.  There were other options of storing our oat's in a purpose built shed that didn't allow moisture in, but we found that a cavern we built with moisture was the way to go forward.   

 

[zorgon]

This entrance is located on the island of Malta, near the small village of "Casal Paula." (This village is built on the "Corradino" plateau, and overlooks the capitol town of Malta, "Valletta," as well as Grand Harbour.) In 1902, workmen digging a well in Casal Paula fell into a subterranean cavern. The well was being dug for a house on "Hal Saflienti," the main street in Casal Paula. The cavern workers had fallen into a space connected with an entire complex of caves and tunnels. This entrance is known as the "Hypogeum of Hal Saflienti." (In Latin, "Hypogeum" is the name for an underground structure.) "The tunnels under the Hypogeum have been sealed off even since a school took 30 students into the caves and disappeared, guide and all. Search parties were never able to locate any trace of the people and children.

[zorgon]

[Pimander]

I had a look into the story about missing school children and they link back to http://www.bibliotecapleyades.net/.  I haven't checked newspaper archives to see whether the children really went missing.


A picture of The Greys in a cave beneath Malta?

That source of the story about the missing children I found above appears to derive from section of this article entitled "The World Below Us: A Study of the Ancient Subterranean World" by Ryan Dube posted on www.realityuncovered.net.  A section I did notice, which intrigued me, is quoted below.

In this archeological paper on the site, one of the carvings is described as follows. Compare the similarities of this drawing to the descriptions discussed in the first part of this article {Pimander edit: the author is referring to a traditional description of "The Greys"}:

"The wall at its back contained a shallow segmental-headed recess which occupied almost all the available space and served as a backdrop to a bust length relief carving of a humanoid figure with a tall neck and an elongated, pear-shaped head (fig. 3). It has large almond-shaped eyes, a prominent nose, a heavily lipped mouth and an accentuated chin. Both arms are represented. One hangs limply by the side of the body while the other is folded at the breast."[5]

http://www.realityuncovered.net/ufology/articles/world_below.php

So here we have Ryan Dube suggesting that there is a link between the ancient picture beneath Malta and The Greys.  Perhaps....

[Pimander]

The alleged picture of a Grey beneath Malta

Obviously, being diligent researchers we can't leave that stone unturned.  I immediately set about hunting down the original paper quoted in Dube's article.  In fact he didn't reference the original paper but a web address  (http://home.earthlink.net/~mottimorph/EEE.html) that is now a dead link (a common problem for researching internet material).  A search using the passage itself took me to a copy of the real paper so all is not lost.

Mario Buhagiar. The Iconography of the Maltese Rock-Tombs Punico-Hellenistic, Paleochristian and Byzantine. Melita Historica New Series. 12(1998)3(221-238)

I looked for the Figure 3 which the quote in my previous post referred to.  The figure which Dube suggested have "similarities" to a Grey alien was a, "humanoid figure with a tall neck and an elongated, pear-shaped head (fig. 3). It has large almond-shaped eyes, a prominent nose, a heavily lipped mouth and an accentuated chin. Both arms are represented. One hangs limply by the side of the body while the other is folded at the breast".


Figure 3 (right)

Does that look like a Grey to you?   


I just thought I should include this to help show why we need to try to track down sources when researching.  Ryan Dube is either a poor researcher or deliberately misled his readers.  I'll let you decide which is the case. 

ETA:  Dube did not include a copy of the Figure in his article.