Land! After two long weeks trapped in a storm aboard a rocking ship, it must have felt great to finally be back on the ground. The Apostle Paul and the others traveling with him had endured a very rough voyage. In the end, their ship ran aground and was torn apart but everyone made it ashore. But where were they? They had made it to the island of Malta.
This is where my latest journey began. Flying in to Malta’s airport, we felt some sympathy for Paul and his companions as we endured some rough turbulence on our way in. Once safely on the ground and with our bags in hand, I was ready to pick up Paul’s trail. What did he see while he was here? What was it like?
Malta is situated at the center of the Mediterranean Sea. It served as the watery crossroads of ancient shipping lanes. The Romans Paul encountered there were not its first inhabitants. Nor were they the last.
To examine the history of Malta, we need to go back a long way to the 4th millennium BC. On the island’s south side are the Ħaġar Qim and Mnajdra temples dating to around 3600-3200 BC. These megalithic (meaning “big stones”) temples have been restored for touring pleasure. This was one of many UNESCO World Heritage Sites we would visit over our two weeks of travel.
