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maltatoday, SUNDAY, 8 FEBRUARY 2015 News 13 ST Paul's Shipwreck, annually com- memorated on February 10, is argu- ably the most powerful component of Malta's cultural mythology. An island that could be Malta be- ing mentioned in the Acts of the Apostles is no small feat, and being identified as the site of the key inci- dent in 60 AD – in which St Paul was left stranded on the island en route to Rome – is popularly considered to signal the blossoming of Christianity on the island. Folk legends don't get more power- ful than this. Many scholars have since disputed the simplistic – and too-neatly far- reaching – correlation between St Paul's fateful shipwreck on the island and Malta adopting Christianity in- stantly and wholesale. But there's no doubt that the story continues to cast a spell on the Mal- tese popular imagination to this day, and it's doubtful that its grip will loosen any time soon… no matter how many thorough and well-argued academic essays emerge from the hallowed halls of academe to demys- tify it. Perhaps diver Mark Gatt is better placed than most to argue for the shipwreck's tangible historical valid- ity. He certainly has an impressive prop ready to hand to stake a claim in the ongoing discussion. In April 2005, while out diving in the vicinity of Salina Bay, Gatt came across a startling discovery: an an- chor inscribed with ISIS-SARAPIS (pictured above): the names of an- cient Egyptian deities, which not only point to a correspondingly ancient historical source, but which could, Gatt argues, also link to St Paul's shipwreck to Malta – since Paul would have arrived on just such an Egyptian grain ship. 'Moving towards the tail fin as though it is calling me, motioning me towards it, I am now no longer swimming in a horizontal position. I am magically upright drifting to- wards an anchor. My God, this is a Roman anchor! A lead anchor stock! Time stops as I try to capture the mo- ment. I touch the anchor as though to make sure that it is really lead. "Of course it's lead, stupid", I think. If it were some other metal there would be the tell-tale brown rust residue surrounding the anchor. This is solid lead,' Gatt writes in his book about the experience, 'PAVLVS: The Ship- wreck 60 AD'. The finding also drew the attention of Pope Benedict, who inspected it upon his visit to Malta. News of the discovery reached the Pope through the German historian Michael He- semann, who met with Gatt after his discovery was publicized in the me- dia. "When I published my book, He- semann realised that the morning of my discovery was the exact same time that the newly elected Pope, His Ho- liness Benedict XVI was concelebrat- ing his inaugural Mass. Hesemann took a picture of the anchor, framed it and went to meet His Holiness to inform him of this discovery and the date it was found. The Pontiff was reported by l'Osservatore Romano to have said, 'This is a sign of Divine Providence'," Gatt said. Gatt then received another call from Hesemann a couple of years later, informing him that he should take the anchor out of the Maritime Museum, and take it up to the altar where Benedict would be celebrat- ing Holy Mass. Gatt insisted that this would be logistically impossible un- less the request came directly from the Vatican. "I wasn't sure what was happening behind the scenes, but three days be- fore the Pope was to arrive to Malta, I got a call from Mgr Gwann Azzo- pardi informing me that the Maltese Curia had received the request from the Vatican. I am a volunteer with the Department of Civil Protection and I was already assigned rescue duties for the Papal visit. It was now all systems go to get the necessary permits and move the one-ton anchor from the Maritime Museum to near St Paul's Church in Rabat," Gatt said. The operation went off without a hitch, and Gatt enthusiastically re- counts that fateful evening on 17 April, 2010, when Pope Benedict chose to inspect the anchor per- sonally in Rabat. "As soon as His Holiness walked out of the Popemobile, ignoring eve- ryone, he walked straight to the an- chor and touched it. I was introduced to him and was amazed by his perfect spoken English and his interest in the discovery. At one point he asked me if the anchor was coming from an Egyptian grain ship – a German would say 'corn' ship, but he said 'grain' ship. "He is intelligent enough not to ask if the anchor is from the ship Apostle Paul was on when shipwrecked on Malta – nobody can definitely prove any artefact pertaining to this ship. He by-passed this by asking if it is coming from an Egyptian grain ship as the Acts of the Apos- tles specify that Paulus was in fact on such a ship. "I still get goosebumps each time I remem- ber this part. I replied that the inscriptions on the anchor might sug- gest this, to which he grabbed my hand and said, 'Yes, Isis.' Now, where the Pope was standing he could not see or read the inscriptions. This proved that he was actually truly interested in this discovery, that he had read the re- ports, and that the request for him to see the anchor was in fact a personal request," Gatt said. Having already recounted the expe- riences of finding the historic anchor – now on display at the Maritime Museum in Birgu – in print, Gatt will now be detailing this journey in a documentary that shares a title with his book, put together with the help of director Jeannot Kuenzel and with the aid of the Malta Film Fund. "I hope that the documentary will communicate my discovery. Not the anchor; any diver could have discov- ered that. I hope that it will commu- nicate what I think is the mechanics as to why Apostle Paul's ship came to Malta… the sea anchor." Gatt is a realist: he knows that the anchor hardly constitutes definitive evidence of St Paul's sojourn to our island, he still believes that it's worth exploring within this context. The location of the finding is also key, as among the potential geograph- ical candidates for the shipwreck, Gatt places himself firmly within the 'Salini Bay' camp. "The quantity of large anchors and the many amphorae and bits of pottery found outside Salina Bay, all point to a very large ship not on its usual trade route. This would be equivalent to finding an oil super- tanker on the seabed off Malta when we do not have oil rigs or refineries. Tie this to the most important build- ing we have in Malta associated to the shipwreck – San Pawl Milqi – Primus (governor) Publius' estate in Burmarrad and the sea in Salina Bay in Roman times going in to where we now find the church in Burmarrad. Add to this the sandbank in the mid- dle of Salina Bay and I firmly believe that the 60 A.D. shipwreck occurred in the middle of Salina Bay," Gatt ar- gues. Training in the Regulation of Social Care The Department for Social Welfare Standards, within the Ministry of Family and Social Solidarity invites public service and sector employees to participate in training related to the regulation of social care under ESF 4.249 – Enhancing Human Capital in the Regulation of Social Care. Further information can be obtained by contacting Ms. Christine Borg by telephone on 22788243 or by email christine.c.borg@gov.mt Applications will be received by not later than close of business of Thursday, 13 th February, 2015 Operational Programme II – Cohesion Policy 2007-2013 Empowering People for More Jobs and a Better Quality of Life Project part-financed by the European Union European Social Fund (ESF) Co-financing rate: 85% EU Funds;15% National Funds Investing in your future MINISTRY FOR THE FAMILY AND SOCIAL SOLIDARITY The debate about whether St Paul was actually shipwrecked in Malta in 60 AD is being rekindled, as diver Mark Gatt sets about putting together a documentary about his landmark finding of the ISIS- SARAPIS anchor in 2005. He speaks to TEODOR RELJIC about the significance of this discovery, and the importance of keeping this debate alive Divers' documentary shines spotlight on St Paul Diver Mark Gatt presents the ISIS- SARAPIS anchor to Pope Benedict in 2010 St Paul Shipwrecked in Malta by Laurent de La Hyre (1630)