4,000 Years of Maltese History Converge in Valletta Exhibition

An agate crescent inscribed in cuneiform, carried from Nippur in ancient Mesopotamia to a Maltese sanctuary sometime in the 13th or early 12th century BC, is now on public display in Valletta. It anchors a new exhibition, Tas-Silġ: A Place of Encounters and Worship for Millennia, at the National Museum of Archaeology, which runs until 31st May 2027.

The exhibition assembles, for the first time under one roof, artefacts from successive excavations at Tas-Silġ, the archaeological site overlooking Marsaxlokk Bay that holds the longest continuous period of use of any site in Malta. Admission is included in the regular museum ticket; the space is fully accessible.

What does the show cover?

The narrative spans more than 4,000 years. Tas-Silġ began as a Late Neolithic megalithic complex, passed through the Bronze and Iron Ages, and became a major religious centre during the Phoenician-Punic and Roman periods. A Byzantine church complex, complete with a baptismal font, later occupied the site before it was converted into an agricultural estate.

The organisers — Heritage Malta, the University of Malta, the Italian Archaeological Mission in Malta and the Superintendence of Cultural Heritage — present the objects as evidence of how changing civilisations, religions and traditions layered onto a single place.

Some exhibits point well beyond Maltese shores. Alongside the Nippur agate crescent, which researchers believe seafarers may have brought to the sanctuary centuries after its manufacture, the show includes a cup from northeastern Italy dated to the first half of the 1st century AD. The cup is associated with an entrepreneur named Sarius and one of his workers of eastern origin — a small, concrete record of movement across the Mediterranean.

The goddess Astarte and the 'NN coin

A central thread is the worship of Astarte, the goddess at the heart of the sanctuary's religious history. A life-sized ivory ear from the 6th century BC may once have belonged to a statue of the deity. A Roman Late Republican coin carries what could be a veiled representation of Astarte, together with the Phoenician inscription 'NN — "of Malta". The curators suggest such imagery may have helped shape the island's identity millennia ago, though the reading of the coin remains hedged in the language of possibility.

Digital reconstruction and a contested road

Newly created 3D digital reconstructions show how Tas-Silġ and its surrounding landscape may have looked across different periods. These reconstructions will feed into a digital platform now in development, intended to enrich visits to the archaeological complex itself.

The exhibition also makes a conservation argument: it backs proposals for better protection, unified management of the site, and the reconnection of sections of Tas-Silġ currently divided by a modern road. No timeline for that reunification is given in the announcement.

The show forms part of the 11th International Congress of Phoenician and Punic Studies, taking place in Valletta. A detailed accompanying catalogue is on sale at the museum and through Heritage Malta's online store.

Practical details: the museum is open daily, 9am to 5pm, until 3rd January 2027, with later hours to be announced by Heritage Malta. For a site that has spent four millennia absorbing civilisations, the next test is narrower — whether the exhibition's call to stitch Tas-Silġ back together survives beyond the closing date.