sun observatory | temple builders | Gnejna Bay Malta

Sun observatory used by the Maltese temple builders located at Gnejna Bay, Malta? Was a rock outcrop adapted and used as a solar observatory to mark the progression of the sun through the skies?

When you drive or walk down the valley road from Mgarr to Gnejna Bay Malta you notice 2 things, first the very strange terraced hill beside the beach and as you get closer to Gnejna Bay beach you can see what looks like a needle of rock between a V on the headland slopes.

sun observatory | Gnejna Bay and Ras il-Pellegrin

Depending on the time of year the sun sets behind the rock outcrop on the slopes of Ras il-Pellegrin headland. From the side the outcrop has similarities to the possible solar observatory at Dingli and the 13 Towers of Peru. The needle or pointer of rock between the \_/ does literally stick out. The ancients did mark the progression of the sun and the planets and what better way than to use an outcrop of rock and the setting sun?

Archaeoastronomy | observation platforms and points

If the Maltese Temple Builders did use the outcrop as a natural sun observatory they would need fixed points and markers to confirm important dates. The main 4 dates are the summer/winter solstices and the autumn/spring equinox (vernal/autumnal). The possible sun observatory at Gnejna Bay Malta was visited around the spring solstice 2010.

The Solar Observatories at Peru and possibly Dingli appear to show that you need to be close to the outcrop or hill if you are not using massive features such as large mountain ranges. Up on the slopes of Ras il-Pellegrin there is a flat section of land with a rounded hill. At the edge of the flat land where it starts to slope downwards is a large collection of massive boulders. The rounded hill has a line of rocks coming down it. Are these Archaeoastronomy markers? Perhaps a sundial line? Or they may just have been used to mark out terroritory but it seems strange to move such large boulders to do that.

If these are sun observatories then you should be able to track the sun throughout the year. The perfect scenario would be from one spot but if the natural marker object is not massive you may perhaps need to use a couple of spots, one for winter/spring and the other for summer/autumn or a another combination.

Observing the sun at Gnejna Bay | equiluxes & solstices

The Analemma is the suns path as observed in the Earths sky throughout the year. The lopsided figure of 8 shows that for both days of the equinox (equiluxes) the sun is in the same position or follows the same path in the sky for that day. To capture the Suns Analemma you need to take a photograph at the same time from the same location throughout the year.

Why are the equinox days (equiluxes) so important? The equiluxes are the days of the equinox, when each part of the day is equal, night and day are the same length. The moment of the equinox is harder to measure by observing the sun but the equilux day is easier. The movement of the sun and the changes in either part of the day (light/dark) is at its quickest. The equinox is also practical more usefull as the sun is in the same location in the sky for both the spring and autumn day. So its double bubble for your effort of marking and observing it in the sky.

The summer and winter solstices mark the longest and shortest days of the year but the exact days are harder to measure. The sun appears to come to a standstill in its journey across the sky, so the changes are much smaller.

The autumanal and therefore vernal equinox can be observed from the massive boulders, depending on where you stand or can climb to. The other processional events need to be observed from the rock, does the sun set at the lowest point of the dip to the left around the Winter Solstice?

To the right of the marker rock needle the outcrop has very distinct ledges. If this arrangement of outcrop, boulders, flat fields and rounded hill is an Archaeoastronomy sun observatory this would likely have been used to mark the passage of the sun through the year.

What if any of the events can be seen from the hill and the flat land? Is the rounded hill used like a sundial?

so sickly tilted | the angle of the dangle

From this collection of massive angled boulders that are found on the slopes edge of the levelled ground you can view the sun setting between the \_/. In fact it does go behind the rock needle marker. What is strange about these scree boulders is that although on the edge of the slope they do not tilt down the slope but point at a reverse angle upwards. Why?

The edges of some of the massive boulders are quite straight, this could be natural and I may just be looking for something but it has to be considered with the rest of the stuff in the area. You also have a few smooth sides but then again this could also be natural. Evidence is in the eye and the mind of the beholder.

** EYE Photographs of sun observatory | Gnejna Bay Malta
** Solar observatory Dingli Cliffs | hill top observatories?
** Peru Solar Observatory Casma Chanquillo Thirteen Towers
** Forum DIScussion on Malta's possible Solar Observatories

** EIE - sitemap / index