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CC 378 2020
2 euro coin
BU Main coin Bank issue
2 Euro BU
Malta · Series: Prehistoric Sites, Skorba Temples
Mintage150,000
Issue date24 Jul 2020
Edge lettering2 ✠✠ × 6, alternately upright/inverted
Market price€19.91
Varieties
31.1 · BU · Coincard · Mintage 20,000
Münzzeichen Monnaie de Paris
Series: Prehistoric Sites Temple of Skorba · Coin set · Mintage 10,000
Münzzeichen "F" im 6-Uhr-Stern
Series: Prehistoric Sites Temple of Skorba · Circulation · Rolls · Mintage 150,000
ohne Münzzeichen
Issue occasion
The coin commemorates the prehistoric temples of Skorba, which are part of the UNESCO World Heritage Site. The design depicts the two temples built side by side near Zebbiegh in northwestern Malta, which were constructed on a much older settlement. Above them is the inscription “SKORBA TEMPLES 3600-2500 BC”, with “MALTA” and “2020” below. The archaeological site enabled archaeologists to establish Malta’s prehistoric cultural sequence and date the first settlement of the islands to around 5 000 BC.
The design
The coin design depicts Skorba, a prehistoric temple near the village of Zebbiegh in northwestern Malta. It consists of two temples built side by side. These were built on a much older settlement discovered outside the temple complex. Skorba does not have the monumentality of the other temples on the Maltese islands. Nevertheless, the site is of great importance, as archaeologists succeeded in establishing Malta’s prehistoric cultural sequence and determining that the islands were first inhabited around 5 000 BC. The inscription “SKORBA TEMPLES 3600-2500 BC” appears above the coin design. The name of the issuing country, “MALTA”, and the year of issue, “2020”, appear below.
The outer ring of the coin depicts the twelve stars of the European flag.
The outer ring of the coin depicts the twelve stars of the European flag.
Background on the topic
Skorba belongs in the context of the Maltese temple culture that developed during the Neolithic period. At that time, freestanding complexes with several semicircular chambers were built on Malta and Gozo from large blocks of limestone. Their exact function has not been conclusively established. Finds of altars, animal bones and small figurines suggest that they were used for communal rituals. At the same time, they were part of a society that practised agriculture and animal husbandry and maintained permanent settlements.
The comparatively low wall remains of Skorba convey less of the original appearance of such complexes than better-preserved temples do. For research, however, the settlement layers preserved beneath and beside the walls are particularly revealing. Excavations led by the British archaeologist David H. Trump in the early 1960s uncovered remains of huts, hearths, tools, bones and pottery from different periods. The sequence of these layers made it possible to trace changes in pottery forms and manufacturing techniques.
The cultural phases “Grey Skorba” and “Red Skorba” were named after the site. The designations refer to characteristic grey and red-coated pottery, respectively. They date to a period before the construction of the large temple complexes and fill a gap between the earliest farming communities and the later temple culture. Skorba therefore serves as an important reference point for the chronological classification of other prehistoric sites in Malta.
The complex is part of the serial UNESCO World Heritage Site “Megalithic Temples of Malta” (Megalithische Tempel von Malta). This initially comprised Ġgantija and was later expanded to include further temple sites on Malta. The 2020 coin issue also forms part of a Maltese series that successively presented prehistoric sites of the island state. Ġgantija, Ħaġar Qim, Mnajdra and Ta’ Ħaġrat, among others, had previously been commemorated. The selection of Skorba can thus be explained both by its status within the World Heritage Site and by its role in Malta’s archaeological chronology.
The comparatively low wall remains of Skorba convey less of the original appearance of such complexes than better-preserved temples do. For research, however, the settlement layers preserved beneath and beside the walls are particularly revealing. Excavations led by the British archaeologist David H. Trump in the early 1960s uncovered remains of huts, hearths, tools, bones and pottery from different periods. The sequence of these layers made it possible to trace changes in pottery forms and manufacturing techniques.
The cultural phases “Grey Skorba” and “Red Skorba” were named after the site. The designations refer to characteristic grey and red-coated pottery, respectively. They date to a period before the construction of the large temple complexes and fill a gap between the earliest farming communities and the later temple culture. Skorba therefore serves as an important reference point for the chronological classification of other prehistoric sites in Malta.
The complex is part of the serial UNESCO World Heritage Site “Megalithic Temples of Malta” (Megalithische Tempel von Malta). This initially comprised Ġgantija and was later expanded to include further temple sites on Malta. The 2020 coin issue also forms part of a Maltese series that successively presented prehistoric sites of the island state. Ġgantija, Ħaġar Qim, Mnajdra and Ta’ Ħaġrat, among others, had previously been commemorated. The selection of Skorba can thus be explained both by its status within the World Heritage Site and by its role in Malta’s archaeological chronology.
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