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So far, we have explained
how the d-unit and the e-unit have determined the
dimensions of the doorway in plan. However, the builders
also needed to determine the height of the megaliths
forming the doorway. It has to be kept in mind that,
unlike present-day buildings, where seven or eight courses
of standard stones are needed to compose the doorway, the
full height of the temple doorways is compsed of a single
upright megalith, the height of which had to be calculated
in advance. How was this height calculated?
The answer was found
in the doorway itself. While the outside width including
the thickness of the uprights (the d-unit) was to be equal
the length of the entrance, so the width at the inner end
including the thickness of the uprights corresponds to its
height. Here this measure is known as the h-unit (Fig. 3).
All the temples that have their main doorway restored
follow this rule (Table 1). Thus we have the d-unit that
was responsible for the horizontal plane, while the h-unit
was transferred from the horizontal to the vertical plane.
In other words, having the d-unit and the h-unit on the
plan, the master temple-builder would have established the
length, thickness and height of the megaliths that were to
form the doorway.
This hypothesis was
put to the test at Skorba temple. Its façade is totally
missing except for the stumps of the megaliths composing
the doorway. By taking the height of the doorway as the
h-unit, it was mathematically predicted that the behaviour
of the sunbeam at winter solstice should be similar to the
other three-apse temples, as explained earlier. This was
tested last December when, with the help of some
polystyrene blocks to stand for the doorway, it was noted
that with the sun positioned directly in front of the main
axis, the light entering the doorway could only reach the
beginning of the central apse, as predicted (photo 7).
Eventually, the d-,
e- and h-units were measured in centimetres in those
temples whose doorways are mostly restored. The
measurements are given in Table 2. Comparing these results
to Table 1, we find that there are only minor differences
in the units predicted by the principles mentioned above.
The units which do not fit the
principles are shaded in grey. Moreover, Ggantija
South believed to be constructed in two parts gave an
abnormally large difference in the units. This may be another indication that the original doorway consisted of
three pairs of megaliths and not just the two pairs we see
today.
One may wonder what
height our temples reached when the construction was
completed. One may never know. But making an observation
on the various structural or engraved models one may get
some idea. It seems, from the models, that there was some
constant development regarding the height of the temples.
Starting from the
model found at Ta’ Hagrat, it was roofed just above the
doorway. The same can be said about the engraved façade
fragment found at Skorba. But some improvement, regarding
height, can be seen on the engraving from Mnajdra Central.
It shows a temple roofed on three courses above the
doorway. But the most stunning example showing the extent
of height reached by a temple can be seen from the
fragmented model found at Tarxien. It seems to have been
roofed on top of seven courses above the doorway.
Comparing it to the h-unit in the doorway, the roof must
have been 4 h-units in height.
Having
constructed the main doorway, the next step was to plan
the rest of the temple. Once again detailed observations
of the temples indicate that a particular standard unit of
measurement was used. This measurement was used to
determine the internal length and width of the temple,
consisting mainly of the main passage, the central apse or
niche, and the lateral apses.
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