Rare Arabic inscription unearthed during Fgura housing project works

Works on a social housing project in Fgura close to Buleben industrial estate have uncovered a stone slab with an Arabic inscription dating back to medieval times.

The discovery is being considered a major find, which throws light on a relatively unknown period of Maltese history when a significant part of the population was Muslim.

The Arabic inscription was found in a naturally carved well in fields fronting  Triq id-Dejma, Triq il-Karmnu and Triq tax-Xemx u l-Qamar, where the Planning Authority recently approved a social housing project.

The stone slab was found along pottery dating back to before the 13th century. The archaeological evaluation of the site also led to the discovery of several silo pits and agricultural trenches.

An official of the Superintendence for Cultural Heritage described the historical artefact as “a limestone prismatic stele, truncated at each end, bearing Arabic script.”

The script is probably written in Kufic, an alphabet used by early Muslims to record the Qurʾān. This angular, slow-moving script was often used on tombstones and coins as well as inscriptions on buildings.

But the calligraphic style found in Fgura still needs to be confirmed. The slab also includes other markings “which may represent symbols rather than writing”.

This artefact is typologically very similar to several stelae which were discovered in the early 20th century when Sir Temi Zammit was excavating the Roman Domus outside Mdina, and found an Arab cemetery which had been built on top of the remains of the Domus.

Apart from another example found at Savina Square in Victoria in 1901, this is the only other example known to have been found outside Rabat, “making this discovery very significant and rare, both archaeologically as well as historically” according to the SCH.

The Superintendence is being assisted by an expert in the Arabic language from the University of Malta to aid in deciphering the inscription, something considered essential to determine its original use and provide accurate dating.

The inscription was found within a vertical natural fissure which was partially fashioned to be used as a well, which has a depth of around 8.5 metres.

Investigations by the SCH suggest that the material found in this well, including the inscription, was “dumped there” at a later stage. It is an indication that the inscription was found in a different place from where it was originally located. But since the site does not contain any modern material, it is still considered as providing a secure archaeological context.

Moreover, pottery found within the same site does not date to later than the 13th century AD, thus placing the site within the Medieval period.

The major archaeological find led to a change in the development’s plans at basement and ground floor level so that the more significant features will be retained and made permanently visible. The social housing project consists of a reservoir, basement on two levels with 66 garages and 117 overlying housing units set on five levels.

All artefacts have been retrieved and are stored at the Superintendence’s repository and laboratory for the necessary conservation and analysis.

The Superintendence has also recently referred to the archaeological potential of a neighbouring 23,468sq.m site earmarked for residential development by developer Anton Camilleri, which is just 108 metres away. According to the SCH any development that may be approved on this site should be subject to “archaeological monitoring.”

Echoes of Muslim Malta

Although the Arab domination of Malta lasted between 870 AD and the Norman conquest in 1091, a significant part of the population remained Muslim coexisting with Jewish and Christian communities. Most of the archaeological evidence proving a Muslim presence in Malta including the Muslim cemetery in Rabat date back to the Norman period. The Maimuna stone presently held in the Gozo Archaeology Museum also dates to 1174.

The stone includes a memorial prayer carved in Kufic script dedicated to a young Muslim woman named Maimūnah. It also includes Qur’anic verses about death. But the exact location where the stone was found is not known although it is traditionally held that the stone was found in an area known as Ta’ Majmuna, between the Gozitan villages of Xewkija and Sannat.

A report made by Giliberto Abate in 1240 refers to the presence of 836 Muslim households in Malta and Gozo along with 250 Christian households and 33 Jewish households.

The document refers to only 47 Christian households in Malta and 203 in Gozo. Although it is possible that the figures only apply to a specific portion of the island’s population or that an ‘M’ standing for a ‘thousand’ was inadvertently dropped in front of the Christian population of Malta; the figures prove the survival of a large Muslim community even as late as 1240.

In 1249, according to Ibn Haldun, the emperor Frederick II sent the Maltese Muslims into exile together with those’ of Sicily, who are known from other evidence to have been exiled to Lucera in Sicily. But probably all that the Muslims had to do to escape expulsion was to accept formal baptism.

According to the late Godfrey Wettinger this explains the survival of the Maltese language “largely in the form it had taken during the centuries of Muslim hegemony”, despite the steady entry into the islands of settlers from Europe including churchmen and merchants. This included the survival of words linked to Muslim religious practices. For example, the Maltese word Randan (Lent) comes from Ramadan – the holy month of fasting and sacrifice in Islam. Similarly, Għid (Easter) has its roots in Eid al-Fitr, the joyous Islamic feast that marks the end of Ramadan.

Also, the Maltese word for ‘Friday’ (Il-Ġimgħa) is called so because it was the day in which Muslims on the island used to attend their weekly congregational ‘Jumu’ah’ prayers.  Moreover, like both Muslim and Christian Arabs, the Maltese refer to their God as Alla, which derives from Allah.