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| The Sleeping Lady |
Malta is home to a number of well-preserved prehistoric sites, like the Gigantija temples in Gozo and the Hypogeum Hal Saflieni in Paola, as well as many others. And so it is no surprise that the Museum of Archaeology in Valletta is well stocked with artefacts from various of these locations.
It’s a nice little museum, although ‘little’ is certainly the operative word. When I visited the upper floor was closed for renovations, and the ground floor does not take too long to navigate. You can wander around and look at the things that long-ago people hacked out of the stone and which have been rediscovered millenia later, and also learn a little bit about some of those ancient sites.
Pride of place goes to ‘The Sleeping Lady’, pictured above. This was a (surprisingly small) sculpture discovered at the Hypogeum and it is regarded as being the most beautifully crafted object that has yet been uncovered. Perhaps there’s a better one lying under the earth below your apartment block, but for now this is the numero uno. I certainly don’t recall having seen any 5,000 year old stone sculptures to beat it. So would I recommend a visit? Yeah, why not. It only costs €5 (€3.50 for students) and if you want to escape from the weather for half an hour and see some of Malta’s ancient treasures close-up then this is a pleasant way to spend your time.
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