So far, my observations have shown how the relation between significant days of spring, summer and autumn and the placing of some megaliths within Ħaġar Qim’s main building were related only to sunrise.

But continuous observation has also revealed how the planning of other areas and the placing of particular megaliths within were related to sunset occurring between the spring and autumn equinoxes.

One such area includes the rear doorway and parts of the main passage.

Coming to the spring equinox, sunlight from the setting sun (270 degrees) is perfectly planned to enter diagonally through the rear doorway, and to fall on the corner with the enclosure of Area 5 or the second right apse (red in Fig. 1, Equinox).

Having passed the equinox and continuing day by day its way northwards to the spring mid-angle position (285 degrees), light from sunset was set to fall on the wall of Area 5 just adjacent to the middle doorway (green in Fig. 1).

Passing this point and coming to the summer solstice (300 degrees), direct sunlight from the setting sun entering through the rear doorway, was perfectly planned to reach up to the right side of the middle doorway of the main passage, without any possibility of overshooting into the front apses.

Apart from the rear doorway, there is another space which may have been planned in relation to the position of sunset ­– Area 10. The orientation of its doorway is not only similar to that of the rear doorway but is also aligned to the summer solstice sunset.

Nowadays, Area 10 stands in the middle of the complex and the axis of its doorway is partly obstructed by the rest of the building, but as its floor was deliberately raised about 70 cm above the rest of the complex, it may originally have been planned to mark the significant days of the setting sun between the spring and autumn equinoxes as well.

Simultaneously with the rear doorway, light from the spring equinox setting sun was planned to enter diagonally through its doorway and falls on the south-east corner with the front left apse (red in Fig. 1).

Coming to the summer solstice, the sun sets just in front of Area 10’s doorway. Sunlight enters directly through the doorway and passes through the porthole of the central niche, to fall on its back wall (red in Fig. 1, S. S. Sunset 2).

Having passed the summer solstice, or the northernmost sunset position, sunset starts to shift southwards again, passing the quarter days and the summer mid-angle positions until reaching the autumn equinox.

This position marks the last chance for sunlight to enter through the rear doorway and that of Area 10, after which it cannot enter again until the following spring.

On the basis of these observations, it is suggested that the plan of the main building at Ħaġar Qim is divided in two parts; the front part consisting of the first two apses and the main passage which receives direct light from the winter rising sun only, and the other part consisting of the rear doorway and part of the main passage, Area 10 and Area 5, which receives sunlight from both the rising and the setting sun between the spring equinox and the autumn equinox.

Between these two parts, there is a period when the sun was not allowed to enter any part of the complex, that is from the autumn equinox to the autumn mid-angle position (90 to 105 degrees) and from the winter mid-angle position to the spring equinox (105 to 90 degrees).

This arrangement caused the separation of the winter solstice period from the rest of the year.

Was this separation caused by chance or was it intentionally designed by the Neolithic builders? In fact, the separation between sunrise and sunset was also found in other carefully planned spaces created within the Ħaġar Qim complex.

During the course of one year, the straight main passage of Ħaġar Qim receives sunlight on the left side from the winter sunrise, and on the right side from the summer sunset, and was perfectly planned to ensure that no part of it gets sunlight from both.

Being a complex of various spaces, Ħaġar Qim, apart from being an observatory for the yearly sun movement, may have also served to represent the movement of the main celestial bodies.

Area 11, situated at the back of the complex and aligned to the north, faces the fulcrum around which all the stars, the moon and the sun appear to revolve.

The turning of the stars around this imaginary fixed point can be followed throughout the year from this area.

Area 5, with the changing images of sunlight from a segment to a circle to a very thin segment, again may have easily represented the phases of the moon from first quarter to full moon to a new moon. Furthermore, the fact that this apse was built up by 18 megaliths as well as the enclosure within, which consists of 18 or 19 uprights, may have represented the 18.6-year cycle of the moon.

Ħaġar Qim must have been one of the leading Neolithic monuments of its time. Its multiple sun alignments were carefully planned to follow the yearly sun movements, especially on significant days, thus placing different types of sunlight on particular megaliths.

Although sunlight was planned to penetrate through various directions from different openings, great care was taken to separate them.

The cluster of spaces we have come to know as the main building at Ħaġar Qim recorded and represented the movement of the sun, the moon and the stars.

Concluded