Malta





**__Essential Question: __** 

What are the arts, similarities and differences from the Maltese culture and the other cultures?

**__Essential Understandings: __**  1. Describe the influence of arts, crafts, music, and language on various cultures. 2. Understand similarities and differences in the ways groups and cultures meet human needs and concerns. 3. Identify what makes a culture, and how that differs from one country to another.

What are the arts, similarities and differences from the Maltese culture and the other cultures?

Did you know that Malta has 7,000 years of history? Throughout history, Malta's location has given it great strategic significance and a sequence of powers including the Phoenicians, Greeks, Romans, Fatimid’s, Sicilians, Knights of St John, French and British have all ruled the three friendly islands: Malta, Gozo and Comino. Malta is known for its world custom sites, most prominently the Megalithic Temples which are the oldest free-standing structures in Europe. The culture of Malta reflects the various cultures that have come into contact with the Maltese Islands throughout the centuries, including neighboring Mediterranean cultures, and the cultures of the nations that ruled Malta for long periods of time prior to its liberty in 1964.


 * Did you know that "Ghana" is the traditional folk music of Malta?**

While Maltese music today is largely western, traditional Maltese music includes what is known as Ghana. This consists of background folk guitar music, while a few people, generally men, take it in turns to argue a point in a singsong voice. The aim of the lyrics, which are improvised, are to create a friendly yet challenging atmosphere, and it takes a number of years of practice to be able to combine the required artistic qualities with the ability to argue effectively. Another example of what is considered art in Malta is Malta’s buses.

Buses (xarabank or karozza tal-linja) are the primary method of public transport for the islands, which offer a relatively cheap and frequent service to many parts of Malta and Gozo. The vast majority of buses on Malta depart from a large circular terminus in Valletta. The island has had buses since 1905. Due to their appearance, Malta's classic buses have become tourist attractions in their own right and appear on many Maltese advertisements to promote tourism, as well as on gifts and merchandise for tourists. However, these old buses are slowly being replaced by a more modern fleet, although still customized in the tradition of the older buses. The buses used to be color coded, according to their routes, before being painted green. Now the buses in Malta are all dark yellow, with a band of orange, while those on the sister island of Gozo are grey, with a red band.

The Mosta Dome church is the third largest unsupported dome in Europe. Also known as the Rotunda of Santa Marija Assunta, it is dedicated to the Assumption. It was built between 1830’s and 1860’s around Mosta’s previous parish church. When the Mosta Dome was completed, the old church, which was now inside the new church, was demolished. This ingenious method was established so that the pious villagers would never be bereft of a church to attend. The diameter of the dome measures 37 metres across and the structure was designed by the Maltese architect Giorgio Grongnet. The church escaped destruction in the Second World War when an afternoon air-raid on the 9th of April 1942 saw a 200kg bomb piercing the dome and landing squarely in the middle of the church where 300 people were gathered in prayer. The bomb failed to explode and everyone escaped harm. A replica of the bomb is now on display in the church.

The church also has the largest mechanical organ ever installed in Malta. It was built in Italy by the famous organ builder Pacifico Inzoli. It was installed in 1885 and contains around 2000 pipes.





How would you like to visit the only known prehistoric underground temple in the world? The Ħal Saflieni Hypogeum (which literary means underground cavity) consists of 500 square metres of halls, chambers, and passages dating back to around 3600 BCE. This unique monument was accidentally discovered by a stone mason in 1902.

It is a treasure trove of pottery, personal ornaments, small carved animals as well as larger figurines, and the entombed corpses of over 7000 people, sounds like the props list of an Indiana Jones movie. But that was exactly what a Jesuit priest, Father Magri S.J, discovered after assuming responsibility for the excavations. This surreal archaeologist’s fantasy uncovered a subterranean complex consisting of three levels of rock-cut chambers of diverse shapes and sizes.

Maltese is a Semitic language descended from Siculo-Arabic (from southern Italy). The Maltese alphabet consists of 30 letters based on the Latin alphabet, including the diacritically altered letters //ż//, //ċ// and //ġ//, as well as the letters //għ//, //ħ//, and //ie//. Maltese has substantial borrowing from Sicilian, Italian, a little French, and more recently, and increasingly, English. The language includes different dialects that can vary strongly from one town to another or from one island to the other. The Euro barometer states that 100% of the population speaks Maltese. Also, 88% of the population speaks English, 66% speaks Italian, and 17% speaks French. This widespread knowledge of second languages makes Malta one of the most multi-lingual countries in the European Union. A study collecting public opinion on what language was "preferred" discovered that 86% of the population express a preference for Maltese, 12% for English, and 2% for Italian. Still, Italian television channels from Italy-based broadcasters, such as Media set and RAI, reach Malta and remain popular. The Maltese language (Maltese: //Malti//) is the constitutional national language of Malta. The Constitution also enshrines it as the country's official language, alongside English. Italian was the official language of Malta until 1934, when English and Maltese replaced it. The national anthem of Malta is very short in some people’s opinion. As you can see, the anthem is not written in

Maltese, it is written in English. //Guard her, O Lord, as ever Thou hast guarded! This Motherland so dear whose name as bear! Keep her in mind, whom Thou hast made so fair!//

//May he who rules, for wisdom be regarded! In master mercy, strength in man increase! Confirm us all, in unity and peace!//

Malta, in addition to all of //Her// history, has many interesting places like Popeye Village, Playmobil Factory, Calypso’s Cave and The Classic Car Museum.

Popeye village has grown from its days as the Film Set of the 1980 Musical Production ‘Popeye’ into one of the major tourist attractions in Malta. When you mention Popeye most people will only recall the cartoons that kept them entertained on Saturday mornings. Few will remember that there was once a film made about the super-strengthened sailor. Starring Robin Williams and Shelly Duval, it was a musical that, to put it politely, bombed at the box office.



In Malta you can also visit the famous playmobil factory that has a fun park open to visitors. This is the 2nd largest factory worldwide producing this loveable toy brand. It is situated in a little village southeast of Valletta (the capital of Malta). 



Calypso’s Cave is a cave found on the island of Gozo and it is assumed to be the cave referred to by Homer in ‘The Odysssey’ where the beautiful nymph Calypso kept Odysseus as a ‘prisoner of love’ for seven years.

The burning question: Does Malta really need a museum for classic cars when so many of the cars still on the roads could easily fit into that very bracket? It is a most valid question when you consider the fact that many Maltese still believe they buy a car for a lifetime.

Some of the cars, trucks and buses one sees on the road are like long-lost memories on wheels. It is not infrequent to watch open-mouthed visitors eagerly taking pictures and smoothly running their fingers across the ample bodies of these sturdy models from the past. But there is another reason – Maltese mechanics can do miracles and cars that elsewhere would have given up their ghosts decades ago. 



Malta has plenty of arts, similarities and differences between the Maltese culture and other cultures; too many to fit on these papers. Almost all of the differences and similarities can be found true in many other cultures. Keep hopes up that those old cars don’t collapse!

<span style="font-family: 'Arial Black','sans-serif'; font-size: 10pt;">Pictures of Popeye Village ( in Malta ), Malta and me when I was 6:



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<span style="font-family: 'Arial Black','sans-serif';"> Resources:

1. Malta, Sean Sheehan, New York, 2010 2. <span style="color: blue; font-family: 'Arial Black','sans-serif'; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 115%;">[] <span style="font-family: 'Arial Black','sans-serif';">3. <span style="color: blue; font-family: 'Arial Black','sans-serif'; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 115%;">[] <span style="font-family: 'Arial Black','sans-serif';">4. <span style="color: blue; font-family: 'Arial Black','sans-serif'; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 115%;">[]

<span style="background-color: #ffd500; color: #000000; font-family: 'Arial Black',Gadget,sans-serif;">Maltese Recipe:

<span style="color: black; font-family: 'Arial Black','sans-serif';">10 oz. Kosksu 1 onion 5 oz. peeled broad beans 3 oz. peeled tomatoes 2 oz. tomato paste garlic mixed herbs 2 pt. water Preperation: Chop the onion and garlic. Fry in a little olive oil till golden brown. Add the chopped tomatoes and tomato paste. Add some mixed herbs, and the water. Bring to the boil, add the kosksu, and simmer till cooked. Add the broad beans 10 mins before removing from the cooker Kosksu is small pasta that looks like shotgun pellets. It is manufactured in Malta.
 * <span style="color: black; font-family: 'Arial Black','sans-serif';">Kosksu Bil-Ful (Kosksu with Broad Beans) **

__<span style="background-color: #ff0000; color: #000000; font-family: 'Arial Black','sans-serif'; font-size: 9pt; line-height: 115%;">Geography Essential Question: __

<span style="color: black; font-family: 'Arial Black','sans-serif'; font-size: 9pt; line-height: 115%;">How do water, wind and ice change the three layers of Earth?

__<span style="background-color: #ff0000; color: #000000; font-family: 'Arial Black','sans-serif'; font-size: 9pt; line-height: 115%;">Geography Essential Understandings: __

<span style="color: black; font-family: 'Arial Black','sans-serif'; font-size: 9pt; line-height: 115%;">1. Describe how water, wind, and ice change landforms and shape the Earth’s surface. 2. Describe the three layers of Earth. __<span style="background-color: #ff0000; color: #000000; font-family: 'Arial Black','sans-serif'; font-size: 9pt; line-height: 115%;">Geography Thesis Statement: __

<span style="color: black; font-family: 'Arial Black','sans-serif'; font-size: 9pt; line-height: 115%;">There are many theories of why volcanoes and plate tectonics are made or caused.

<span style="font-family: 'Arial Black','sans-serif'; font-size: 9.5pt; line-height: 115%;">In the Maltese Museum, I learned about the three layers of the Earth. Here are some of the facts that I learned about: The inner core-Scientists presume that the inner core of the planet is a solid ball of iron and nickel that measures about 1,500 miles across. The outer core-1,200 miles thick, is made up of very, very hot iron and nickel. The Earth’s Mantle- the top of the Earth’s Mantle is made of solid rock. Deeper down, it is so hot that the rock melts and becomes molten. The Earth’s Mantle is about 1,800 miles thick. The rock in the mantle layer is mainly made of iron and magnesium. The Earth’s Crust-Very thin layered, is constantly being altered by weather and land movement.
 * //<span style="font-family: 'Arial Black','sans-serif'; font-size: 9.5pt; line-height: 115%;">10:00 am, Maltese Museum //**

<span style="font-family: 'Arial Black','sans-serif'; font-size: 9.5pt; line-height: 115%;">Our tourist group had to change our tourist guide for the museum because the other tourist guide had to run some important errands. This tourist guide seemed to know much more about the museum! He showed us almost everything in the museum that had to do with how water, wind and ice changed the earth’s surface; here are most of the notes that I took: The Water Cycle-When the sun heats up the world’s oceans and rivers, it makes water evaporate and rise upward. As the water vapor gets higher and higher, it get colder and the vapor changes into tiny droplets of water, which then gather around little specks of salt and dust in the air. Billions and millions of these droplets together form a cloud. The droplets grow bigger until they are so, so heavy that they fall as rain, back into the oceans and rivers. When water freezes, the water expands. When it rains on the ice, that water also expands. The result: More water than if the water wasn’t frozen. Water can exist in three main forms. Depending on temperature and air pressure, water can exist as liquid, solid and gas. <span style="font-family: 'Arial Black','sans-serif'; font-size: 9.5pt; line-height: 115%;">Wow! I really learned a lot in only 30 minutes! I’m pretty hungry; I wonder where our tourist guide will take us for lunch… Our tourist guide explained more about the three layers of the earth. Again, here are some notes that I took: Scientists believe that the temperature in the middle of the earth is about 8,000 Fahrenheit which is 45 times hotter than the temperature of boiling water!
 * //<span style="font-family: 'Arial Black','sans-serif'; font-size: 9.5pt; line-height: 115%;">11:00 am, still in Maltese Museum //**
 * //<span style="font-family: 'Arial Black','sans-serif'; font-size: 9.5pt; line-height: 115%;">11:30 am, still in Maltese Museum //**

<span style="font-family: 'Arial Black','sans-serif'; font-size: 9.5pt; line-height: 115%;">Of course, our tourist guide took us to a great traditional Maltese restaurant… Even in the restaurant, he taught us about rocks and even more about the earth’s layers. Did you know that metamorphic rocks are formed deep, deep beneath the Earth’s crust, where igneous or sedimentary rocks are changed by heat and pressure? Riches from the earth: Did you know that oil is made from the bodies of dead sea creatures? Natural gas is made when animal and plant bodies decompose. It's usually found in the same place as the oil. Coal is made from trees that died millions of years ago. Do you know how? Layers and layers of the dead plant material were squeezed down until they just turned into carbon! I think learning and eating are a good combination; you can’t get hungry while your brain works.
 * //<span style="font-family: 'Arial Black','sans-serif'; font-size: 9.5pt; line-height: 115%;">12:00 pm, Maltese Restaurant //**