Tal-Mintna Catacombs

The Tal-Mintna Catacombs are a hypogea complex in Mqabba, Malta [1]. The site comprises three aligned hypogea dug side-by-side, originally accessed via separate stepped shafts but subsequently joined with narrow passages [1]. The wall of one small hypogeum features an altar flanked by large pillars carved in relief [1]. Although unfinished, the central hypogeum offers one of the best-preserved examples of a triclinium agape table to be found in the late-Roman burials of Malta [1]. Although the agape table, a common feature of early Christian burials, and altar indicate that the place may have at some point been used for Christian burials, no clear Christian iconography survives in any of the three hypogea [1]. Although the site was certainly in use sometime around the 4th century AD, the lack of surviving finds makes any clear dating impossible [1]. The catacombs were discovered in 1860 by Dr Antonio Annetto Caruana and Captain Walter Strickland [1].