76 i Flora Unveiled
standing; some without primary sexual characteristics, but all obese— or, at least, very
heav y.”^20 The monumental proportions of these statues and their contexts within “temple”
complexes suggests that they had religious significance.
Of particular interest from the point of view of agriculture are images carved into the base
of one of the huge seated females at the Tarxien West Temple, dating to ca. 3000 bce (Figure
4.6). If the statue were complete, it would be nearly 3 meters tall. At the base there is a frieze
consisting of a row of symbols that have been interpreted as cereal grains separated by what
could be sheaves of wheat.^21 If this interpretation is correct, the combination of the seated
female— surely a supernatural or mythic figure— on a platform decorated with wheat or bar-
ley seeds is evidence for a strong connection between the large seated female and agriculture.
Located a short distance northwest of Tarxien, encompassing an area of about 600
square meters, is an underground catacomb- like structure, the Hypogeum of Ħal- Saflieni,
that may have served both as a sanctuary and necropolis or a collective tomb. Descending
from the Main Hall, one reaches the rectangular Oracle Room, the ceiling of which is deco-
rated with four stylized trees painted with red ochre. Each of the curlicued branches bears a
large circular fruit resembling a pomegranate (Figure 4.7A). The pomegranate fruit was an
important symbol of fertility and abundance in Crete, and the association was later trans-
mitted to classical Greece. Given the temporal overlap of the Minoan palace period and
the megalithic period of Malta, the common use of this symbol is not unexpected. The fact
that the tree painting is located underground in a tomb complex strongly evokes the myth
Figure 4.4 Female figurine with “cereal
grain” eyes. A. Sesklo Neolithic culture located in
Thessaly, Greece, 5800– 5600 bce.
From Gimbutas, M. (1982), The Goddesses and Gods
of Old Europe: Myths and Cult Images. University of
California Press, p. 41.