A written undertaking between the heritage authorities and the Jewish community to reinstate the human bones found in four catacombs in Rabat barely lasted 24 hours after Jewish representatives pulled out of the commitment.
The heritage authorities are still in the dark as to precisely why the Jewish representatives withdrew once the archaeological works had started as agreed with members of the Jewish community observing the operation.
On its part, the Jewish community asked the "political authorities" to intervene in the matter claiming that the archaeological investigations did not respect the agreement reached.
"The heritage authorities wanted to document each and every bone found in the catacombs, measure them, take pictures and then pass them on to us. This process goes against our beliefs and we always objected to it," Lawrence Attard Bezzina, a representative of the Jewish community, said.
Mr Attard Bezzina said the process would have taken ages and "perpetuated the sacrilege".
Controversy has surrounded the tranquil site in Rabat, which forms part of the St Paul's catacombs complex, after the Jewish community asked for the ancient human remains to be given a proper burial according to Jewish rites and traditions.
The site is also an important archaeological area and, even though the heritage authorities have agreed to be respectful to Jewish burial traditions, they are insisting that they be documented and studied.
"We remain committed to respect the Jewish burial traditions as agreed but for us the site is extremely important because it could shed light on the earliest recorded presence of the Jewish community in Malta," Nathaniel Cutajar, from the Superintendence of Cultural Heritage, said.
He confirmed that four of the catacombs forming part of the complex had the menorah symbol hewn in the rock, which could indicate the presence of a Jewish community.
"The investigations are ongoing according to accepted international archaeological best practice and with respect to the commitment entered into with the Jewish community," Mr Cutajar said.
After a lengthy meeting on February 23, Heritage Malta, the Superintendence of Cultural Heritage and representatives of the Jewish community entered into a written commitment that detailed the methods of how the bones were to be re-buried.
The understanding made it clear that all the scientific and archaeological work would be carried out by the Superintendence, which acts as the regulatory authority on heritage affairs.
It pointed out that all material collected from the passageway during the archaeological investigations would, after being fully documented by an osteologist, be reinstated in the burial area within the same catacomb in which it was discovered.
Jewish burial tradition stipulates that the area where human bones are found would have to be covered by a conservation textile and a layer of clean aggregate. The same would apply to tombs where no bones were found but which had a layer of soil or dust since it could contain the decomposed remains of humans.
This method means that important archaeological features in the tombs would be covered up for good.
Although the Superintendence had no problem acceding to the requests of the Jewish community, it insisted that the site be investigated thoroughly before the burial goes ahead. In fact, large sacks containing aggregate to be used in the burial process were transported to the site.
The law lays down that an archaeological site must be investigated before any intervention is allowed to go ahead.
The site in Rabat belongs to Heritage Malta and the agency had also secured EU funding to upgrade and restore all the catacombs that form part of the St Paul's complex.
The catacombs, spread over 2,000 square metres, are an oasis of calm in the middle of a built up area. They were discovered at the end of the 19th century and date back to the late Roman period some 1,500 years ago.
ksansone@timesofmalta.com