The paper analyses the ritual practices recorded in the Tas-Silġ sanctuary, in the island of Malta,
focusing on what features can be retraced for the historical phases prior to the Late republican age,
between 8th and 2nd century BC. The first period (8th-5th century BC) refers to the Phoenician phase
of the site: the new structures do not seem to interfere with the prehistoric temple, which is kept
unaltered. The worshipped deity – known from the inscriptions – is Astarte: the complex personality
of the goddess, featuring traits belonging to the local tradition, has marked chthonian characters, as
testified by the existence of the recently explored hypogeum structures. The new elements added in
the sacrificial area over the timespan between 4th and 2nd century BC reveal a new openness towards
Mediterranean influences; the hypogeum is not used for rituals anymore, and the chthonian traits
of the cult clearly lose strenghth, probably under the influence of the new cultural context.
