IL-BRONJA
Large conch shells have been used to generate sound in many areas of the globe. In the Mediterranean the shell has been associated with seamen, fishermen, pastoral and agricultural settings, seasonal celebrations and with various rituals. Triton shells, attributed with strong magical and protective powers, were held with special reverence by man in prehistory and antiquity.
On the Maltese Islands the shell, known as bronja, is end-blown and has been associated mostly with the grinding of grain. For at least 300 years the shell was used by millers to transmit a very specific message: it announced that the wind was right for grain to be brought to the mill for grinding. The bronja is also known to have been used as a signal instrument during daytime watch in the 16th century, as a noise producer during carnival and as a call to homing pigeons.
For more details see Anna Borg Cardona 'The Marine Shell in and around the Maltese Islands' The Galpin Society Journal LXVI (2013), pp.185-200.
Il-bebbuxu kbir li ahna nsejhulu 'bronja' kien maghruf madwar il-Mediterranan sa mill-Preistorja. Hawn Malta instabu biss fdalijiet tal-bebbuxu minn dak iz-zmien bikri u mhux bronji shah. Ghaldaqstant ma nistghux nghidu fic-cert kenux qed jntuzaw bhala tromba akoustika. L-isem li nuzaw ahna huwa l-istess bhal dak ta' Sqallija, tal-kosta tal-Italja, ta' Sardenja u ta' Lampedusa. Dan juri li konna qed nuzaw dan l-istrument sa minn bikri meta l-kulturi taghna thalltu. Madwar il-Mediterran kollu tittajjar il-ponta tal-bronja biex tkun tista' tintnefah bhala tromba. Hawn Malta il-bronja niftakruha assocjata mal-imtiehen sas-sittinijiet tas-seklu ghoxrin. it-tahhan kien jonfoh il-bronja biex jigu il-bdiewa bil-qamh taghhom ghat-thin. Izda kienet ukoll tintuza fis-seklu sittax mill-ghassiesa f'Ghawdex. Insibuha tintuza fil-karnival bhala strument ta' briju, u izjed tard sahansitra bhala sejha (L-Imsida) ghal-hamiem biex jigu lura ghand sidhom.
