CONTEXTUAL

Task 4
By Jacob Gauci
And
Isaac Grech

IL HAJT TAS-SEJJIEH
Also known in England as dry stone walls.
The origins of the came from when the Islam s were in Malta.
They sue to call out for prayers from on top of a wall.
Getting the name sejjieh mining a person calling out

(Ltd, 2016)

THE STRUCTURE
The

structure of the wall is divided in to three sections:

The outer sections made out of large stones at the bottom which
keep the whole structure firm, up right and steady.
And there is the middle section small rocks and stones.

THE REASON WHY THEE MIDDLE SECTION IS MADE

UP OF SMALL ROCKS AND STONES INSTEAD OF
CONCRETE.
A few of these are :
keeping the traditional way of building it.
the small rocks and stones in the middle as well
those larger ones on the outside provide a natural
filtration system, the water passes through the wall
and the soil says on the other side in the field.
It also serves as a home and shelter for insects and
creatures in the area.
And it is a way that the farmer could reuse the
stones and rocks found in the soil.

 The farmer or the person making the wall doesnt need only the skill of how
to place and fit the stones and rocks in place but he needs to know the
important rules that the higher the wall gets the narrower the width of the
wall and the smaller the rocks and stones.
As if they are making a complex puzzle.
On the opposite side at the bottom the stones are larger, this is so that they
could serve as a good pediment.

WHY ARE THE WALLS SOME TIMES

CURVED?
If the wall gets to a cetin height, the builder of it would not continue building
it in a straight line but start giving it turns and curves in its shape
(preferably). This is a precaution, if a part of the wall falls over it wont
tumble down the rest as shown in figure two and figure three.

(original sources )

IL- GIRNA

il-girna also known in England as the Maltese stone

hut was a structure created for the farmers needs.
The majority of them have the circular shape the same
shape shown in fugure 1 . You could say the traditional
way is a circular shape.
But still others have the same appearance from the
outside but have a different interior structure.
Some even have steps built on the outer circumference
there for the owner (mostly of the time a farmer) could
use the top part of the girna for reasons such as placing
the pumpkin in the sun and to dry other things.

THE USE OF THE MALTESE STONE HUT

Its usually used:
For the farmer to take a brake and a quick nap, avoiding the mid-day sun
Storing working utensils or a common use is to keep his cattle.
Now a days you arent able to see these as often as you did when the majority
of the population lived in farms and the men of the house worked in the family
field. They are protected by law and to get one down you have to have a
permission.

THE CONSTRUCTION
The materials used to build this structure is the same material used to build
the dry stone wall using the same technique.
The big rocks and stones at the bottom and the small stones on the top
Consisting of three layers
The outer structure ,the middle structure and the inner structure.

DIFFERENCE BETWEEN THE DRY STONE WALL

AND THE MALTESE STONE HUT
The difference is that the Maltese stone hut is more water tight due to the
small rocks and stones in the middle are more compact and there for it keeps
more water out.
As in the shape it is very basic shape which isnt complex and two of them
have a unique feature of blending in to the space around it.

LUZZU
The Maltese Luzzu always played a big part of our
tradition and heritage especially for the Maltese
fisherman. This unique boat is thought to have originated
from a time when the Phoenicians had control over Malta
because of their boats similar design.

Eye of Osiris
One of the most interesting things about the Luzzu are the pair of eyes on
the front of the boat.
In the elder days these eyes believed that they represent and offered
protection against evil spirits and safe travels while at sea to the fisherman.
These eyes originated from the Egyptian beliefs called the Eye of Osiris or
the Eye of Horus.

 The Phoenicians depended a lot on travels overseas and therefore they had
some of the best structural designs of that time. Fisherman still use it
because of its stability and reliability.

 The traditional bright colours of the Luzzu are green, blue, red and white or
yellow, while the eyes are usually different from a boat to another followed
by the design of the eyes which give out each Luzzu a unique character.

 Today apart from fishing the Luzzu is being used as a tourist attraction where
people from all over the world are coming to see for them selfs and go
aboard on one of these boats. Alto the Luzzu is very old it is still very famous
till this day.

9 (Luzzu, 2016) Goose egg Luzzu design

(Ltd, 2016)
Luzzu design
on car

THE MALTESE CART (KARRETTUN)

The Maltese cartwas a very old method of transportation to carry large
objects, goods and large stones for building walls and old houses.

Model of a Maltese cart (Karrettun)

 A cartwas almost all handmade and it took time and good craftsmanship to
build one.
It was made from metal and strong hard wood such as beech (fagu) and ash
(fraxxnu) so the whole cart was very heavy.
It had two wooden wheels at the back, two long horizontal strips.
Between them depending on the size of the cart were connected vertical
strips and at the far end there were two more strips crossing each other
which were at a higher level than the vertical strips so the objects on them
would not roll over when they would be on a down wards position.

 The wheel was usually made from six too five strips that were connected to a
circular wooden frame from one side and a hub (buttun) in the center.

Hub

Hub and Strips of

a Wheel

 First they would bend a piece of metal.

Then they would heat up the metal and put it around the wooden circle and
because they always made the metal smaller than the frame, when the metal
cools down it would shrink back in size and tighten up with the frame and this
helped to make the whole wheel stronger.

The size of the cart depended on what it was

going to be used for.
Some of these small carts were painted blue,
green or orange and were decorated with warps
(tberfil) design as they were used to sell goods
back then in the streets.

Conclusion
Sadly after cars and other vehicles for
transporting things came to Malta by time
everybody stopped using these unique
Maltese carts and they soon disappeared.
Unlike the Luzzu which till this day this old
tradition and heritage is still here with us.

REFERENCING
Figure 1 :

Ltd, A., 2016. The dry-stone walls of Gozo. [online] Times of Malta. Available at: <

http://www.timesofmalta.com/articles/view/20090522/local/the-dry-stone-walls-of-gozo.257917> [Accessed 19 Jan. 2016].

Figure

: ROSS, D., 2016. Drystone Walls in England. [online] Britain Express. Available at:
<http://www.britainexpress.com/History/drystone.htm> [Accessed 18 Jan. 2016].

Information on how the wall is built :Eade, S. and profile, V., 2016. HOW TO BUILD A DRY STONE WALL |The Garden of Eaden.
[online] Gardenofeaden.blogspot.com.mt. Available at: <
http://gardenofeaden.blogspot.com.mt/2011/04/how-to-build-dry-stone-wall.html> [Accessed 18 Jan. 2016].

Part 2
Figure 1: Steno.webs.com, 2016. LAND AND PEOPLE. [online] Available at: <
http://steno.webs.com/traditions/girna/girna.htm> [Accessed 18 Jan. 2016].