#carthaginian goddess
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About Tanit
I recently posted about how people should be looking more into other gods outside of the Greco-Roman pantheons. If you follow me for quite some times, you will also have noted I posted a bunch of loose translation from the French Dictionary of literary myths (which is truly a great reference). Well, I wanted to share with you today a loose translation – well, more of an info-mining at this point – of an article about a goddess that people often ignore the existence of, despite being located right next to Ancient Greece and Rome, and being involved in the history of the Roman Empire. And this goddess is Tanit.
Written by Ildiko Lorinszky, the article is organized in two – at first it takes a look and analysis at the mythological Tanit, at who and what she likely was, how her cult was organized all that. The second part, since it is a Dictionary of LITERARY myths, takes a look at the most prominent and famous depiction of Tanit in French literature – that is to say Flaubert’s famous Salammbô. (If you recalled, a long time ago I posted about how a journalist theorized in an article how Flaubert’s Salammbô was basically an “epic fantasy” novel a la Moorcock or Tolkien long before “fantasy” was even a genre)
Part 1: Tanit in mythology and archeology
Tanit was the patron-goddess of the city of Carthage. Considered to be one of the avatars o the Phoenician goddess Astarte, Tanit’s title, as found on several Punic engravings, was “The Face of Baal” – a qualification very close to how Astarte was called in Sidon and Ugarit “The Name of Baal”. These titles seem to indicate that these two goddesses acted as mediators or intermediaries between humanity and Baal.
Tanit is as such associated with Baal, the vegetation god, but sometimes she is his wife, other times she is simply his paredra (companion/female counterpart). She seems to be the female power accompanying the personification of masculinity that is Baal, and as such their relationship can evoke the one between Isis and Osiris: the youthful sap of the lunar goddess regularly regenerates the power of the god. This “nursing” or “nourishing” function of Tanit seems to have been highlighted by the title she received during the Roman era: the Ops, or the Nutrix, the “Nurse of Saturn”. Goddess of the strengthened earth, Tanit is deeply tied to agrarian rituals: her hierogamy with Baal reproduces in heaven the birth of seeds on earth. Within the sanctuaries of Tanit, men and women devoted to the goddess practiced a sacred prostitution in order to favorize the fecundity of nature. The women tied to the temple were called “nubile girls”, while the men working there were called “dogs” to highlight how completely enslaved they were to the goddess. We know that the prostitutes of both sexes brought important incomes to the temple/
The etymology of Tanit (whose name can also be called Tannit or Tinnit) is obscure. The most probable hypothesis is that the Phoenico-Punic theonym “Tnt” is tied to the verb “tny”, which was used in the Bible to mean “lamenting”, “wailing”, “crying”. According to this interpretation, the “tannît” is originally a “crier”, a “wailer”, and the full name of Tanit means “She who cries before Baal”. As such, the Carthaginian goddess might come from a same tradition as the “Venus lugens”.
According to some mythographers, Tanit (or Astarte) was the supreme goddess of Carthage, and might have been identical to the figures of Dido and Elissa. As in, Dido was in truth the celestial goddess, considered as the founder of the city and its first queen. According to this hypothesis, the suicide of Dido on a pyre was a pure invention of Virgil, who took this motif from various celebrations hosted at Carthage. During these feasts-days, images and depictions of the goddess were burned The word Anna would simply mean “clement”, “mild”, “merciful” – the famous Anna, sister of Dido, is thought to have been another Punic goddess, whose cult was brought from Carthage to Rome, and who there was confused with the roman Anna Perenna, a goddess similar to Venus. Varro claimed that it was not Dido that burned on the pyre, but Anna, and according to this angle, Anna appears as a double of Dido – and like her, she would be another manifestation of the goddess Tanit. Anna’s very name reminds of the name “Nanaia”/”Aine”, which was a title given to Mylitta, yet another manifestation of Tanit.
The sign known as the “sign” or “symbol of Tanit” seems to be a simplified depiction of the goddess with her arms open: it is a triangle (reduced to a trapezoid as the top of the triangle is cut) with an horizontal line at its top, an a disc above the horizontal line. This symbol appears throughout the Punic world on monuments, steles, ceramics and clay figurines.
Part 2: The literary Tanit of Flaubert
Gustave Flaubert’s novel Salammbô is probably where the goddess reappears with the most splendor in literature. While her essence is shown being omnipresent throughout the Punic world, Tanit, as the soul of the city, truly dwells within the town’s sanctuary, which keeps her sacred cloak. The veil of the goddess, desired by many, stolen then regained throughout the plot, plays a key role within the structure of this very enigmatic text, which presents itself as a “veiled narrative”.
The town and its lands are filled with the soul of the “Carthaginian Venus”. The countryside, for example, is filled with an erotic subtext, sometimes seducing, sometimes frightening – reflecting the ambiguity of the goddess. The landscape is all curves, softness, roundness, evoking the shapes of a female body – and the architecture of both the city-buildings and countryside-buildings are described in carnal ways. Within Salammbô, Flaubert describes a world where the spirit and the flesh are intertwined – the female world of Carthage is oppressed by an aura mixing lust with mysticism; and through the erotic nature creeps both a frightening sacred and an attractive morbidity. For death and destruction is coming upon Carthage.
The contradictory nature of the goddess appears as early as the very first scene of the novel, when the gardens of Hamilcar are described. The novel opens on a life-filled landscape: the gardens of the palace are a true Land of Eden, with an abundant vegetation filled with fertility symbols. The plants that are listed are not mere exotic ornaments: they all bear symbolic and mythological connotations. The fig-tree, symbol of abundance and fecundity ; the sycamore, “living body of Hathor”, the tree of the Egyptian moon-goddess ; the grenade, symbol of fertility due to its multiple seeds ; the pine tree, linked to Attis the lover of Cybele ; the cypress, Artemis’ tree ; the lily, which whose perfume was said to be an aphrodisiac ; the vine-grapes and the rose… All those plants are linked to the moon, that the Carthaginian religion associated with Tanit. Most of these symbols, however, have a macabre touch reflecting the dark side of the goddess. The cypress, the “tree of life”, is also a funeral tree linked to the underworld ; the coral is said to be the same red as blood, and was supposedly born from the blood-drops of Medusa ; the lily symbolizes temptation and the unavoidable attraction of the world of the dead ; the fig-tree just like the grenade have a negative side tied to sterility… The flora of this passage, mixing benevolent and malevolent attributes, already depict a world of coexisting and yet opposed principles: fertility cannot exist without sterility, and death is always followed by a renewal. The garden’s description introduces in the text the very cycles of nature, while also bringing up the first signs of the ambivalence that dominates the story.
The same union of opposites is found within the mysterious persona of Tanit. The prayer of Salammbô (which was designed to evoke Lucius’ lamentations to Isis within Apuleius’ Metamorphosis) first describes a benevolent goddess of the moon, who fecundates the world : “How you turn, slowly, supported by the impalpable ether! It polishes itself around you, and it is the movement of your agitation that distributes the winds and the fecund dews. It is as you grow and decrease that the eyes of the cats and the spots of the panthers lengthen or shrink. The wives scream your name in the pains of labor! You inflate the sea-shells! You make the wines boil! […] And all seeds, o goddess, ferment within the dark depths of your humidity.” As a goddess presiding to the process of fermentation, Tanit is also tied to the principle of death – because it is her that makes corpses rot.
The Carthaginian Venus appears sometimes as an hermaphrodite divinity, but with a prevalence and dominance of her feminine aspect. Other times, she appears as just one of two distinct divinity, the female manifestation in couple with a male principle. Tanit synthetizes within her the main aspects of all the great moon-goddesses: Hathor, Ishtar, Isis, Astarte, Anaitis... All are supposed to have an omnipotence when it comes to the vegetal life. Mistress of the elements, Tanit can be linked to the Mother-Earth : for the character of Salammbô, the cloak of the goddess will appear as the veil of nature. The daughter of Hamilcar is linked in a quite mysterious way to Tanit – for she is both a frightened follower of the goddess, and the deity’s incarnation. Described as “pale” and “light” as the moon, she is said to be influenced by the celestial body: in the third chapter, it is explained that Salammbô weakened every time the moon waned, and that while she was languishing during the day, she strengthened herself by nightfall – with an additional mention that she almost died during an eclipse. Flaubert ties together his heroine’s traits with the very name “Salammbô”, which is a reminiscence of the funeral love of Astarte: “Astarte cries for Adonis, an immense grief weighs upon her. She searches. Salmmbô has a vague and mournful love”. According to Michelet’s explanations, “Salambo”, the “love name” of Astarte, is meant to evoke a “mad, dismal and furious flute, which was played during burials”.
As a character embodying Tanit, Salammbô is associated with the two animals that were sacred to the goddess: the holy fishes, and the python snake, also called “the house-spirit”. Upon the “day of the vengeance”, when Mâtho, the scape-goat, is charged with all the crimes of the mercenaries, she appears under the identity of Dercéto, the “fish-woman”. The very detailed costumes of Salammbô contain motifs borrowed to other goddesses that are avatars of Tanit. By using other goddesses, Flaubert widens the range of shapes the lunar goddess can appear with, while also bringing several mythical tales, whose scattered fragments infiltrate themselves within the novel. When she welcomes her father, Salammbô wears around her neck “two small quadrangular plates of gold depicting a woman between two lions ; and her costume reproduced fully the outfit of the goddess”. The goddess depicted here is Cybele, the passionate lover of Attis, the young Phrygian shepherd. This love story that ends in mutilations bears several analogies with the fatal love between Salammbô and the Lybian leader. And the motif of the mutilation is one of the key-images of the novel.
A fish-woman, like Dercéto, Salmmbô is also a dove-woman, reminding of Semiramis ; but more so, she is a snake-woman, linked mysteriously to the python. Before uniting herself with Mâtho (who is identified to Moloch), Salammbô unites herself with the snake that incarnates the lunar goddess in her hermaphroditic shape. It is the python that initiates Salammbô to the mysteries, revealing to Hamilcar’s daughter the unbreakable bond between eroticism and holiness. In the first drafts of the novel, Salammbô was a priestess of Tanit, but in the final story, Flaubert chose to have her father denying her access to the priesthood. So, she rather becomes a priestess under Mathô’s tent: using the zaïmph, she practices a sacred prostitution. The union of Hamilcar’s daughter and of the leader of the mercenaries reproduces the hierogamy of Tanit and Moloch.
Salammbô, confused with Tanit, is also victim of the jealous Rabbet. Obsessed with discovering the face of the goddess hidden under the veil, she joins the ranks of all those female characters who curiosity leads to the transgression of a divine rule (Eve, Pandora, Psyche, Semele). And, in a way, the story of Mathô and Salammbô reproduces this same story: the desire to see, the desire for knowledge, always leads to an ineluctable death.
#tanit#astarte#punic goddess#carthaginian goddess#carthage#baal#flaubert#salammbô#salammbo#french literature#punic mythology#carthaginian mythology
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Asherah/Athirat/Elat = Mother goddess, queen of heaven, goddess of fertility, lady of wisdom, goddess of the seas, the creator of the gods together with the god El, queen of the gods, the one who walks on the sea, patron saint of sailors and fishermen
Athirat is a powerful Goddess, and the other Gods often ask Her to help them, or to try to influence her husband El for their good. As guardian of Wisdom, She is the one who chooses the successor of Aleyin (an aspect of Ba'al as the God of dying vegetation) and, after his death, She instructs Anat in the proper ritual necessary to ensure the fertility of the vines.
Like Ashtart, Athirat is associated with the lion. She is usually shown as a nude Goddess with curly hair covering her breasts with her hands. She is also associated with the snake, and an alternative name for Her is Chawat, which in Hebrew translates as "Hawah", or in English "Eve"; so She may well be the root of the biblical Eve. Like the Carthaginian goddess Tanit, whose name means "Serpent Lady", Athirat was represented as a palm tree or pillar with a snake coiled around her, and the name Athirat derives from a root meaning "straight".
Athirat is associated with the Tree of Life, and a famous ivory box lid of Mycenaean finish found at Ugarit, dated 1300 BC, shows it symbolically representing the Tree. She wears an elaborate skirt and jewelry, and although she is topless, her hair is delicately styled; She is smiling and in her hands holds sheaves of wheat, which she offers to a pair of goats.
#history#Asherah#asherah goddess#asherah#Goddess#canaanite religion#canaanite mythology#Phoenician mythology#mythology#biblical#biblical mythology#athirat#Mother#Biblical goddess#pagan#God's wife#El'wife#Wife of god
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Paper Dolls: Carthaginian and Iberian, Part 1
Our first model presents a somewhat Hellenized Carthaginian outfit for upper-class women. She wears an Ionian chiton layered over an undertunic, both of which are embroidered in Tyrian purple; draped and tied overskirts were very common in Carthage. The lavender-pink color of her chiton is a particularly Carthaginian trend. Sandals were very similar throughout the Mediterranean, although some Carthaginian women wore closed-toed slippers.
Her hair is done in a Greek style, but the nose ring and earrings are more Carthaginian than Greek. Her layered necklace has the sign of Tanith, a Carthaginian goddess worshipped throughout the thalassocracy. The heavy makeup is deliberately somewhat artificial, although the colors of the eyeshadow are a bit more Egyptian.
On her wrists, she has multiple bracelets, both wire-wrapped metal and stone.
Our second model presents a Carthaginian-influenced Iberian outfit for upper-class women.
She wears a similar chiton to her Carthaginian counterpart, but hers is not draped to show off the tunic beneath. The color is very plain because I was unable to find something that didn’t overwhelm the camera when combined with the rodetes, turban, and other jewelry; vivid colors, such as deep red and blue, were worn based on pigments from Iberian statues.
The rodetes--the round drum-shaped headdress over her turban--are an Iberian fashion seen mainly in Carthaginian-influenced areas. Although I didn’t get a very good shot of it, hers are decorated with gems! She wears very long earrings underneath them, and multiple necklaces. The turban is also an Iberian fashion, although Carthaginian women may have worn something similar, distantly related to the Lebanese tantour. (The Carthaginians, after all, are descended from the Phoenicians.)
Like her Carthaginian counterpart, she also wears multiple bracelets; Iberian women also wore rings on every finger, although I forgot hers in this photoshoot.
Both of these styles would have been worn with a palla-style veil, suspended from the head and falling to the floor, but I omitted this so that you could see the clothing (and also need to find a suitable mesh).
Carthaginian Lady
Chiton top (in beta by me) | Chiton skirt (in beta by me) | Earrings and nose-ring by PlayersWonderland | Necklace by @murfeelee | Shoes by pixicat | Bracelets by Aikea Guinea | Patterns by @simlicious, All-About-Style, and Simalia | Makeup by @sehmulated and wundersims | Hair by Iggysaurus-Rex
Iberian Lady
Chiton skirt by All-About-Style | Earrings by Lorandia | Rodetes (in beta by me) | Turban by @aroundthesims | Necklaces by Bukovka and Newsea | Shoes by Pixicat | Bracelets by aroundthesims | Patterns by simlicious | Makeup by sehmulated and wundersims
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Can I have a fun fact on this here Fun Fact Friday?
Yes you can! Today You Learned about the Lady of Elche!
Discovered in Elche, Spain, this lady with wheels on her head is from ancient Iberia (where Spain and Portugal are now) in the 4th century BC, before it was controlled by the Romans. It is generally regarded as from a time when Phoenician/Carthaginian culture was the primary influence, and so there are many who think it's a depiction of the Carthaginian goddess Tanit!
[Every so often, someone suggests that this is a forgery, but that doesn't appear to be the mainstream scholarly opinion on the piece. To be clear though, other artifacts with similar depictions of a woman with wheels on her head have also been found in Spain, so I lean towards 'it's real.']
In the same way that there are British people who use Briton/Gaelic figures as symbols of British identity, or French people who use Frankish or Gauls for the same purpose, this has become a symbol of Iberian identity! For instance, in Old San Juan in Puerto Rico, there's a set of sculptures about Puerto Rican identity, and one of the statues is clearly modeled after the Lady of Elche.
Also she appears in Thor: Love & Thunder:
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Countries that are no more: Ancient Carthage (814BC-146BC)
The state discussed in this post is one of the most famous and important in antiquity. Yet, it remains one of the most elusive and mysterious civilizations in world history because its own written records have been virtually erased with all contemporary written records coming from foreign sources that both praised and reviled its existence. However, it was influential for its model of government, its expansion of Mediterranean trade, its influence on models of economic production, naval exploration and for its military leaders whose tactical and strategic prowess influence warfare to the modern day and for its rivalry with the other emerging Mediterranean superpower of antiquity: Rome. A rivalry that is characterized as the quintessential clash of civilizations. This is Carthage.
Name: In its native language, the Phoenician dialect known in Latin as Punic, it was 𐤒𐤓𐤕𐤟𐤇𐤃𐤔𐤕, or annunciated as qrt-ḥdšt or Qart-Hardasht. This translates into English as "New City". In Latin it was known as Carthago or Karthago, the modern English pronunciation of Carthage comes by way of French.
Language: Carthage as a city-state and its empire more broadly held a cosmopolitan mixture of peoples and languages. However, the founders of Carthage and its ruling elite spoke Punic, a dialect of Phoenician associated with the city of Carthage which was founded by Phoenician colonists from the Levant. Punic was Phoenician in origin and became a distinct local dialect of Phoenician speakers in Carthage and other cities. These settlers founded colonies throughout North Africa and the Western Mediterranean. The Phoenician language and its dialects were from the Semitic language family native to the Middle East. It originated as a distinct dialect of the Canaanite peoples from who the Phoenicians and subsequently the Carthaginians descend from. The Canaanites also gave rise to the other Semitic speaking peoples such as the Israelites, Moabites and Ammonites among others. Modern Hebrew is said to be the extant language most similar to ancient Punic. In Carthage's empire there were also local varieties of Berber (Amazigh) languages spoken by the native Berbers who settled in North Africa. There were also local languages in Iberia (Spain and Portugal) from the Iberian and Celtic tribes settled there and the languages of native Sardinian and Balearic peoples as well. Additionally, ancient Greek was spoken by Greek colonists, mercenaries and traders who also settled within Carthage's empire and sphere of influence.
Territory: The city of Carthage is located in the environs of modern Tunis, capital of the modern state of Tunisia in North Africa. It was from this centrally located city founded by Phoenician colonists that their subsequent empire grew. The established contact and control with other Phoenician colonies in the area such as nearby Utica and eventually grew to control all of coastal North Africa from modern Morocco to western Libya. The modern states of Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia and Libya were its core territory, with Tunisia being its heartland. It also included Malta, the western half of Sicily, Sardinia and Corsica's coastal regions, the Balearic Islands of Spain and the southeastern portions of Iberia, particularly the coastal areas with influence into parts of the interior and south of the Ebro River.
Symbols & Mottos: The symbols associated with the state of Carthage are often in reference to their pantheon of gods which were quite extensive but centered mostly around the Phoenician gods but also included Berber, Iberian and Greek influences within their pantheon as well. A military standard associated with Carthage includes a staff with a sun disc and topped with a crescent moon. Also, the sign of Tanit, a Phoenician goddess's whose symbol was found on Carthaginian ruins along with Phoenician ruins found back in the Phoenician colonists' homeland in the Levant (Lebanon, Israel and Syria). The sign of Tanit appears in many varieties but is usually found as a schematic like sketch of a person with a triangular base with a disc on top with horizontal lines then pointing upwards like raised arms.
Religion: With Phoenician settlers being the originators of Carthage its ruling elite, the primary state religion was their variety of the ancient Phoenician religion which was polytheistic and included many notable gods and goddesses from Tanit to Baal Hammon, Melqart and Astarte among others. Many of these gods found companions with the Greeks and indeed due to the interfacing with Greeks both through trade and war, some Greek gods would also be incorporated into the Carthaginian pantheon, though it remained distinctly Punic at its core. There also appears to be Berber (Libyan and Numidian) influences along with Sardinian and Iberian interfacing that both saw the spread of worship of the Punic/Phoenician deities with local influences likewise being adopted by the Carthaginians. Even some ancient Egyptian gods appear to be included in Carthaginian worship. This syncretism and tolerance reflect the cosmopolitan outlook and composition the Carthaginians had within their realm.
There were priests who maintained the temples and sanctuaries devoted to particular deities. Likewise, Carthaginians practiced everything from ritual banquets to funerary rites such as those in the Levant like disposing of the remains of the dead, feasts for the dead, ancestor worship and goods in the tombs of the dead, indicating belief in life after death. Cemeteries were often built outside the walls of Punic settlements and included stelae with inscriptions serving as grave markers. Carthaginians practiced both burial and cremation.
There does appear to be cases of animal sacrifice to appease the gods in Carthaginian society as well. This tended to follow very specific regulations and rules.
The most controversial topic of the Punic religion however appears to be the practice of child sacrifice. The sources for this we must bear in mind come from Greco-Roman writers that weren't known to actually witness the practice and from civilizations that had biases toward Carthage more broadly. Yet both Greek and Roman sources cite the Carthaginians as practicing child sacrifice in their religion. These sources sometimes do contradict one another in their specifics. Modern historians debate the extent of this practice and what are the contents found at the sites known as Tophet in urns with ashes that may come from human infants. The Greco-Roman sources state children were specifically killed for ritual purposes and killed in various manners and burned as offerings. Based on archaeological findings some historians take the position that the practice may have occurred but may have been relegated to the ritual cremation of infants who died of natural causes. Others uphold the Greco-Roman sources and other deny the practice at all, chalking it up as pure invention of biased sources from Greece and Rome. Because Carthage was destroyed by Rome in 146 BC and virtually all extant written sources on Carthage come from Roman and Greek sources, there doesn't appear to be any definitive answer to this practice's purported extent or even its existence. Modern archaeology can lend more nuance to the topic but a clear answer like much of what we know about Carthage and its society remains a mystery.
Currency: The basic coinage of Carthage was called the shekel which derived from its Phoenician antecedents. There were gold, silver and bronze coins found throughout Carthage's empire. Mints were found not only in North Africa but Sicily and Iberia. Coins depicted everything from date palm trees to famous soldiers and politicians both Carthaginian in origin like the Barcid family of Hannibal Barca and even Greek rulers such as Alexander the Great.
Population: At its peak the empire had probably 3.7-4.3 million people. The city of Carthage proper at its peak was anywhere 250,000-500,000 people.
Government: The basis of our understanding of Carthage's governance is limited and largely based on ancient Greek and Roman sources. Some of which write of it in disparaging terms and others praise it for its complexity and nuance.
The basic understand is that during the first few centuries of Carthage's existence it was probably a monarchy. However, the extent to which the kings ruled over Carthage is debated. The Phoenician city states from which Carthage descended, namely Tyre had nominal monarchs but who deferred to a council of advisors who helped craft policy and administer the law. It seems reasonable that Carthage followed this political model in its earliest stages with nominal monarchs who likewise consulted a council of advisors made up Carthaginian nobility to craft and administer policy. The degree to which kings of Carthage held power probably fluctuated.
Following the First Sicilian War against the Greek colonists on Sicily in 480 BC, the nature of Carthage's government changed gradually with a weakening of the monarchy. By the 300s BC Carthage was at its peak and best characterized as an oligarchic republic. It was noted to have numerous checks and balances on the branches of government, a vast and complex administrative state, high levels of public accountability and participation in civic duty. Aristotle the famed Greek philosopher wrote on Carthage in his treatise "Politics" as the only non-Greek polity to be represented in the work.
Carthage as a republic became ruled nominally by two simultaneously elected non-hereditary magistrates called sufetes or shophets. This position's title translates as "judges" and they are said to handle a mix of judicial and executive powers. How they were elected and who was eligible for this head of state position is not known. What is known is they were always from the oligarchic ruling class of Carthage and that they held annual terms. The Roman writer Livy states this was comparable to the Roman republican practice of electing two consuls for annual terms. They are said to have ruled jointly and likewise handled matters of state through the convening and presiding over the supreme consultative council known as Adirim (similar to the Roman Senate), submitting legislation to the popular assembly and adjudicating trials. The sufetes interestingly did not hold any military power as this was separated and reserved for military commanders with the generals reporting to the Carthaginian assembly in the Adirim.
The Adirim held about 30 members on the council and like senators in Rome were elected from the wealthy elite merchant families of Carthage. They administered the treasury, conducted foreign affairs and providing some control over military affairs. It is said matters of state required unanimous decision making to go into effect.
Carthage also had judicial assembly called the One-Hundred and Four. These judges provided oversight of the military and other politicians and bureaucrats within Carthage. As an example of Carthage's political checks and balances, the One-Hundred and Four had the power administer monetary fines or even the death penalty, sometimes by crucifixion on military or government officials found to have engaged in unbecoming behavior that went against the interest of the public. It also formed small committees to provide oversight on political matters.
Separate from these bodies also came numerous junior bureaucratic positions to held administer everything from tax collection, public works and the state treasury.
Carthage also contained at local levels trade unions, a popular assembly and town meetings. In matters where the sufetes and Adirim could not decide law in a unanimous manner a popular assembly was consulted to make a final determination. Whether this was a formal institution or ad hoc solution has never been determined.
Aristotle singled out the Carthaginian government as more meritocratic than its contemporary Greek counterparts. He also praised its complex balance of monarchical, aristocratic and democratic elements. Some other Greek writers went so far as to say it was the best form of government in existence at that time only equaled in the Greek world by Sparta. Meanwhile, Aristotle himself stated that Carthage had some form of constitution and found it superior to Sparta's.
The Greek historian Polybius writing for a Greco-Roman audience in his commentary on the Punic Wars between Rome and Carthage stated that Carthage had more democratic elements than Rome did and that the common people were on average given more say than Romans at the time. However, Polybius saw this as a detriment to Carthage during the Punic Wars, in his estimate too much bickering and infighting to gain a unanimous decision led to paralysis and indecision. Whereas he favored the Roman Senate's rules which were less democratic overall and therefore more decisive in determining important decisions at crucial moments such as in war.
Carthage's republican government appears to have been replicated in the colonies and territories throughout its empire with sufetes found at local colonial levels. There appears to be cooperation between Punic colonial officials and the local population under Carthaginian rule.
Carthage was primarily mercantile in its outlook. The control of trade commodities and goods throughout the Mediterranean was the basis for its economic development and always of primary concern. Hence the merchant class-oligarchy's vested interest in maintaining power.
Military: Carthage was a classic example of a maritime power. Its navy was its most important military branch in many ways. The navy was used to ensure control over the network of trade routes between the various parts of the Western and Central Mediterranean. It would win naval victories over its Greek and Roman rivals though it would ultimately face defeat by the Romans.
The navy was large in size for antiquity and benefitted from the Phoenician advent of serial production, the ancient equivalent of assembly line production which produced ships of good quality but in an efficient manner. They could maintain hundreds of ships at one time, even after their power dimmed with the rise of Rome.
The ethnic composition of the navy's sailors, oarsman, navigators and marine force was almost exclusively Phoenician. Given the Phoenicians long association with seafaring trade and navigation, the Carthaginians merely upheld this tradition including in warfare.
The army of Carthage, its land based military branch was also crucial in achieving its geopolitical goals. From the subjugation of rebellious tribes in North Africa and Iberia to battling the Greeks and Romans in foreign wars. In conjunction with the navy the ultimate goal was maintaining Carthage's control of trade routes and upholding its sphere of influence to maintain favorable conditions for said trade.
Due to the limited population of Phoenician colonists spread throughout the Carthaginian empire and given their traditional naval prowess, much of the army was not of ethnic Phoenician/Punic background. Instead, they relied on a multinational mix of auxiliaries and mercenaries to fill the armies ranks. There might be Phoenician officers and generals such as the famed Hannibal Barca and his relatives including his father Hamilcar and brothers Mago and Hasdrubal, but many other officers could be Greeks among others. The rank and file including Greek mercenaries fighting in the hoplite style, many Greek colonists from Sicily and Southern Italy, Berber infantry and cavalry, particular the light cavalry of Numidia famed for its fast-moving skirmishers armed with javelins and the Libyan infantry. Iberian infantry and cavalry of mixed Celtic and Iberian backgrounds. The famed light skirmisher infantry from the Balearic Islands who slung stones at their enemies were likewise part of the army. Also included in the army were Gallic (Celtic) infantry and cavalry from France and Italy, Sardinians (Nuragic) and Italic peoples such as Samnites, Lucanians, Etruscans and even some Latin peoples including Roman defectors could be found among Carthage's land army. The Phoenician rank and file in the army were usually colonists from other Punic settlements and not Carthage proper. The exception being the famed 3,000 strong Sacred Band of Carthage which were derived from the strongest and healthiest of Carthage's wealthiest families to fight as an elite special unit of the army. Armed and trained int the Greek hoplite style and phalanx formation.
The army also utilized African Forest elephants as a mobile force similar to a wrecking ball. These elephants provided a fearsome complement to the army and was famously used by Hannibal Barca in his crossing of the Alps to invade Roman Italy during the Second Punic War.
The major conflicts Carthage fought in its history were its colonial wars in North Africa against Berber tribes and kingdoms, Iberia and in Sicily first against the Greeks and later against its archrival Rome. The three Punic Wars fought between Carthage and Rome have been characterized by some historians as the ultimate and perhaps most important clash of civilizations in the ancient world and perhaps of all time. Ultimately, they would all end in Rome's favor and eventual destruction and razing of Carthage by Rome, ending Rome's biggest rival and leading to Roman supremacy over the Mediterranean basin for the next several centuries.
Economy: Economic concerns were of chief importance to the Carthaginians. Their empire was essentially a commercial one or rather an expansive and complex trade network with the state trying to aggressively uphold and expand its scope. Its origins lie with the Carthage's Phoenician roots. The Phoenicians based in the Levantine coast (mainly modern Lebanon, Israel and Syria) weren't one united people but rather a series of city states, with the most powerful being based on the coast. These included the cities of Byblos, Sidon and Tyre among the leading polities and all with an outward maritime trade orientation. The Phoenicians produced many goods and economic models that would be both enriching and influential on trade throughout the ancient world. This included purple dye for fabric, uncolored glass, wine production and Lebanese cedar for timber production and the serial production economic model.
Carthage was founded in modern Tunisia by Phoenician colonists from the city of Tyre (Lebanon) in the 9th century BC. They were not the first Phoenician colony in North Africa but they eventually rose to become the most aggressive and successful. In part this was due to its secure and strategic location. It soon became the leading trade center on the Western and Central Mediterranean. They controlled trade routes at sea and rose to prominence and domination among all the other Phoenician colonies setup in North Africa, Sicily, Malta, Sardinia and Iberia.
Mining for metals silver, lead, copper and tin were of crucial importance for the wealth of Carthage, in particular this motivated their expansion into Iberia. Additionally, the temperate and fertile climate of the Western Mediterranean lead to much wine production. They also traded in amber, timber, grains an food preservatives.
While mostly a maritime trade power, Carthage also had overland caravans to secure goods from the African interior and even the Middle East. Continual exploration for new and expanding trade routes and goods was also important for Carthage. Famed Carthaginian explorers of Punic origin included Himilco the Explorer who lived in the 6th and 5th centuries BC. He is said to have been the first Mediterranean sailor to have explored the Atlantic routes to Northwest Europe, visiting Portugal, France and the British Isles. Britain in particular was important to the ancient tin trade which was necessary in bronze production. Britain was known in the ancient world to the Carthaginians and Greeks as the Tin Isles.
Hanno the Navigator was said to have explore trade routes to western Africa. Reaching as far as modern Senegal and Cameroon,
Lifespan: Carthage was said to have been founded by Phoenician colonists from the city of Tyre circa the 9th century BC. A foundation legend raised from its founding. Namely the legend of Princess Dido from Tyre leading her fellow Phoenicians not as colonists looking for commercial benefits but political refuge from her dictator brother. According to legend Dido and her retinue arrived at Tunisia and tricked the local Berber king into grating them a sizable tract of land from which the core of what became the city of Carthage was founded.
The city was given the name by its settlers of Qart-Hadasht, which in the Phoenician language meant "New City". The year 814 BC is often cited as the approximate date of its founding.
Quickly Carthage made an association with and eventual domination of fellow Phoenician colonies in the area including Utica. Its favorable climate, arable land and strategic location were all crucial to Carthage's rapid growth and dominance of over other Phoenician colonies. It would expand to conquer lands ranging from the whole of North Africa from Morocco to Libya, the islands of Malta, Sicily, Sardinia, Corsica and the Balearics and parts of the Iberian Peninsula over the coming centuries found themselves either under direct Carthaginian rule or favorable treaties incorporating the lands into its sphere of influence hence creating a trade network and empire, a classic example of a thalassocracy.
Initially, the Carthaginians paid a tribute and maintained contact to its mother city of Tyre back in Lebanon. However, this became an irregular occurrence due to Carthage's increasing independence due to its great distance from the Levant and the assertive character to its own local citizenry. Carthage began to see a mix of Phoenicians and local Berbers creating a unique Punic culture that synthesized the two cultures and ethnicities over time with the Phoenician dialect and culture remaining dominant but adaptable for its ability to incorporate other cultures. This was true as its sphere of influences expanded in the Mediterranean.
Carthage's independence was not only due to its relative distance from Tyre but due to the events back in Phoenicia. Various sieges from Babylonia and eventually later the Persian Achaemenid Empire conquered Phoenicia including Tyre circa 530-522BC. The subjugation of these lands reduced contact between the Carthaginian settlers and their Tyrian origins which had until that date sent a steady flow of colonists. While some flow of other Phoenicians would continue, the population would be buttressed by local native populaces and other Phoenician colonies rather than direct Tyrian migration.
The city of Carthage itself expanded over the centuries and created several distinct districts and architecture. At its peak in the 4th century BC, it contained a population between a quarter and half a million people. making it one of the world's largest and most prosperous cities at the time. The city had a mix of wealthy villas, apartment blocks six stories high, had warehouse and commercial districts, goods markets, a Greek style agora or public space, elaborate gardens. temples to various gods, various government buildings and a unique double harbor known as the cothon, which became the physical feature along with the Byrsa hill most associated with Carthage. The cothon featured an outer commercial harbor and military inner harbor with ship warehouses on a man-made island from which ship repairs, construction and maintenance could be addressed through its serial production. The Byrsa hill was the central district of Carthage which contained important temples, it had stair way avenues which were relatively wide for traffic, whereas most of the city's routes had narrow winding paths to navigate. The city was said to have triple walls for defenses, a shorter outer wall made of either stone or wood, followed by a ditch, a second taller stone wall 5 meters thick, a second ditch and a third stone wall 10 meters thick and with armed towers able to hold a force of over 20,000 troops.
In 509 BC it signed its first treaty with Rome, its eventual rival which at the time was the inferior power still clamoring for power on the Italian peninsula. The treaty was meant to demarcate their respective spheres of influence. From 580-265 BC, the Carthaginians found themselves in a series of wars with the Greek colonies of Sicily and Southern Italy. Namely, the city state of Syracuse which was the principal Greek settlement on Sicily.
These wars were back and forth in nature, marked by victory and defeat on land and sea for both sides. Eventually Carthage would retain control over the western half of Sicily until its loss of control in the Punic Wars with Rome. The Sicilian Wars also saw the gradual weakening of the kings of Carthage and its transition to an oligarchic republic (see government section).
The Punic Wars (264-146 BC) began almost by accident with neither Rome nor Carthage initially planning a direct confrontation with the other. The city of Messana (Messina) in Sicily found itself in the 260s BC under the control of a group of Italian mercenaries who had previously served the tyrant (king) of Syracuse who had died in 280 BC. These independent mercenaries were a threat to both Carthage and Syracuse's interests on Sicily. These mercenaries named the Mamertimes (Sons of Mars) divided into two factions, over the issue of the new Syracuse tyrant Hiero II's planned retaking of Messana. One faction advocating a Carthaginian intervention to take charge of the city's security and the other advocating for Roman intervention from the Italian peninsula. Carthage arrived first with a land garrison and naval fleet in the harbor. The Roman Senate was reluctant to assist the mercenaries but recognized the potential threat a permanent presence of Carthaginians in Messana and its location on the narrow Straits of Messina between Sicily and Italian mainland could pose on Roman trade and security. It advocated sending an expeditionary force to retake Messana to eject the Carthaginians. The attack triggered the first Punic War between the two powers. It turned into a quarter century struggle that was marked by intense fighting mostly on Sicily.
The First Punic War was ultimately a Roman victory that ended Carthage's presence on Sicily. It also saw Roman advances in naval technology such as the corvus to help board Carthaginian ships. Hitherto the Romans had little naval strength relative to Carthage but its innovations in naval warfare proved crucial in undermining Carthage's longstanding naval superiority. Meanwhile on land, despite the back-and-forth nature of the battles, the Roman army's tactical flexibility often proved superior to Carthage which after 23 exhausting years agreed to peace. It gave up control of Sicily to Rome (aside from Syracuse) and paid a tribute over the course of 10 years.
Rome also after the war used Carthage's distraction against a Libyan rebellion in the Truceless War to take control of Sardinia and Corsica in 238 BC.
To compensate for the loss of territory on Sicily, Sardinia and Corsica, the Carthaginians under Hamilcar Barca tried to expand its territory in Iberia against Celtic and Iberian tribes especially to profit from increased mining production. They also gained new manpower and agricultural production to boost their economy and military again. They also had a standing agreement with Rome to not intrude north or south of the Ebro River respectively. However, an Iberian city of Saguntum south of the Ebro had an agreement with the Romans. This upset the balance of power established with Carthage in Iberia. Hamilcar Barca's son Hannibal now in charge of the Carthaginian army in Iberia an avowed enemy of Rome, besieged Saguntum which he took in 8 months. This is turn led to Rome's declaration of war, starting the Second Punic War which lasted for the next 17 years.
In one of the most famous military campaigns of all time, Hannibal and his army complemented by Carthaginians, Numidians, Celts, Iberians crossed the Alps and invaded Italy, taking the war to Rome's home territory. Hannibal showing his tactical prowess would defeat Roman armies repeatedly on their own territory most notably at the Battle of Cannae in 216 BC. Many Italian cities that had been incorporated into Roman rule over the previous centuries rose up to join Hannibal against Rome. However, Hannibal never had sufficient strength to directly besiege Rome. Rome was constantly tested by Hannibal's victories over the next 13 years in Italy, but they refused to surrender and adopted an attritional strategy, and this wore down Hannibal by gradually retaking Italian cities allied to him if not able to defeat him directly. Likewise, they repelled Carthage's attempts to reinforce him in Italy. They also faced mixed success gradually conquering Iberia from the Carthaginians. Finally, an invasion of Tunisia forced Carthage to recall Hannibal back to North Africa to defend the capital from a Roman assault. He met the Romans in the Battle of Zama in 202 BC which resulted in a Roman victory over Hannibal himself at once.
Hannibal advocated for the government of Carthage to negotiate a treaty with Rome which it did. Its terms were harsh. A stripping of all overseas possessions of Carthage in Iberia and elsewhere including some African territories. A large punitive indemnity to paid to Rome over 50 years. A reduction of Carthage's navy ten warships, a ban on Carthage's use of war elephants. A prohibition on Carthage being able to fight war outside of Africa and any war it wages in Africa must require Rome's express permission.
Hannibal eventually became a sufete in Carthage and worked to reform the government of Carthage and stamp out corruption so as to ensure its ability to pay Rome its due from the treaty and rebuild its economy. Indeed, Hannibal was somewhat successful in his regards and Carthage's economy was somewhat rebounding but facing pressure from Rome and enemies in the local government, he went into voluntary exile in service to Greek states opposed to Roman expansion in the east. He died in exile under murky circumstances variously described as a suicide or murder.
The Third Punic War 149-146BC began will Carthage went to war in Africa with Berbers who were raiding its territory and without Rome's permission, this was used a pretext to attack Carthage itself by Rome for violating its treaty from the previous war. The third and final Punic War was characterized by a three-year siege of Carthage. Ultimately, the Romans after much pressure on both sides broke through its triple walls and assaulted Carthage in street-by-street fighting. The city was razed to the ground, much of its population killed by angered Roman troops. 50,000 Carthaginians were enslaved and sent elsewhere through the Roman Republic's empire. Carthage was no more as an independent political entity after 146 BC. A century later, Rome rebuilt the city on its ruins as part of its empire and it remained an important city within the Roman Empire until the fall of the Western half of the empire where it fell to the Germanic barbarians the Vandals who had their capital in Carthage, it was reclaimed by the Easter Roman Empire (Byzantine Empire) by the forces of Belisarius in service to Justinian I. Carthage would face a final destruction as a Roman city when the Arabs of the Umayyad Caliphate destroyed the city in the year 698 AD. It never rose as a city again, instead its ruins remain part of the suburbs or the modern city of Tunis, capital of Tunisia.
Carthage despite its being steeped in legend and mystery remains worthy of study as one of the undeniably great civilizations of antiquity. A fact recognized by its contemporaries whether they wrote of it a complimentary fashion or with contempt, its power, wealth and influence was immense enough to engender scholarly study and reflection at the time. It is for these contemporary recognitions whether positive or negative and absence of surviving self-records that many continue its study into the modern age. Particularly its opposition to Rome and the perception by Rome that it was a worthy rival that needed complete annihilation, especially given Carthage's ability to stand up to Rome in a way no other power really could at its peak.
The more Carthage is analyzed both by its contemporary foreign commentators with the surviving archaeological and fragmentary historical record, the more nuance can be shed on the complexity of the civilization and influence it had on world history. Its opposition to Rome might be its most noted aspect but it shouldn't overshadow how else Carthage influenced the world. From its complex style of government and network of commercial imperialism that presaged future thalassocracies such as the Italian republics of the Middle Ages like Venice and Genoa and how it produced economic production models which influenced Rome and Greece and subsequently other areas of the world, they carried that influence on to. Likewise, another legacy of Carthage was how it helped build an ancient iteration of a globalized economy, shrinking the gap between the long distances of the ancient Mediterranean world by linking disparate geographies and peoples under a common commercial interest. In this commercial pursuit it also revealed itself to have both a distinct dominant culture but one that was not intolerant or unable to accommodate and absorb other cultural influences. In many ways ancient Carthage by way of its influence on Greece and Rome and their own influences give us glimpses into how its existence served as a precursor to the modern world we inhabit.
#history#military history#ancient history#ancient world#ancient ruins#ancient carthage#carthage#ancient rome#ancient greece#tunisia#iberia#hannibal#scipio africanus#ancient phoenicia#phoenician#punic wars#sardinia#sicily#corsica#malta#balearic
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Carthaginian goddess Tanit
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Greek myths: POC in the Legends
It's typical to find some ethnocentric Hellenic pagans insistent on the general lack of colour in their religion. The stories take place across the Greek islands and Italy, so obviously there can only be white heroes and gods in the myths, right? Perhaps it's time for these folks to have a history lesson.
The vague boundaries of Ancient Greece stretched, at the very least, from Macedonia to Rhodes, and housed hundreds of states, towns, cities and villages. Many of these settlements were close to continents such as Africa, where the Egyptians and Carthaginians (a Punic nation) lived. Apart from them, the Greeks and Romans also knew of and traded with the "Ethiopians" (Αἰθίοπες), which was a general term referring to Black people (from Αἴθω + Ὤψ, "Dark Face"). This closeness of different ethnicities meant that there would be some diversity of religious figures by virtue of cultural exchange.
Memnon (Μέμνων) was the demigod son of Tithonus and the goddess Eos, and was the king of Ethiopia. There was also his brother Emathion (Ἠμαθίων) who fought Heracles. Eurybates (Εὐρυβάτης) was Odysseus' "dark-skinned" (μελανόχροος) companion, and was honoured by him above his other comrades (Odyssey 19, Lines 246-249).
And to use a more well-known example: Andromeda (Ἀνδρομέδα), wife of Perseus, was the daughter of Cepheus and Cassiopeia, king and queen of Ethiopia. The legendary woman more beautiful than Aphrodite was Black. She and Perseus may also be one of the earliest examples of an interracial union in the Greek stories.
And to those who would object and say these figures are represented as white in sculptures and wall paintings, the divergence from the original textual sources is a simple result of interpretatio graeca. People will often render foreign persons or deities through the appearance and mannerisms of their own nation (e.g. old paintings of Jesus in Ethiopia and China showing him to be Ethiopian or Chinese), and in this case Black characters were filtered through a Greek and Roman lens.
The ancient Greeks and Romans saw skin colour as a designation of one's national origin, but not as a racial identifier. If you approached a Roman and told him the vikings were of the same "race" as him, he would be deeply offended. "Race" was formulated by European pseudoscientists in the 15th to 16th centuries to justify the barbaric things that were done to enslaved Africans, Indigenous peoples in the Americas, and later South Asians.
I as a white person am wholly comfortable, and also appreciative, of the presence of people of colour in my religion. They serve as a reminder of the universality of attributes such as heroism, strength, kindness, courage and valour. Virtue is not bound to one skin colour, and we are all fundamentally one race: the Human Race.
So don't let these pseudadelphoi (false siblings) stir discord and disunity in our communities. All are welcome in the Faith and to the graces of the gods, regardless of colour, sexuality, or gender identity.
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~ “Carthaginian breastplate. It dates from the 3rd century BC, when Carthage was at war with Rome.A Punic gilded bronze cuirass from Ksour Essaf, 3rd-2nd century BC. {Punic officer's armor/Golden bronze; Dated between 300 and 200 BC - Punic Era (Carthaginese)/ - Campania (or Apulia)}. The faces of this piece have an embossed representation of the goddess Minerva with a helmet, decorated with three crests. A palm motif, is also present on each side of the head of the divinity. She wears a necklace of acorns. It was found in 1909, in a niche, on the side from the mortuary (a punic tomb), in the south of the village of Ksour Essef, precisely in the locality of Hammada-El-Mekata, twelve kilometres southwest of Mahdia, in the Sahel of Tunisia.” ~
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The Lady of Elche in Thor: Love & Thunder!!
The Lady of Elche in Thor: Love & Thunder!!
Thor: Love & Thunder featured the first appearance of a character known as the "Elche Goddess," also known as the "Lady of Elche" ("Dama de Elche"), played by actor Nicole Milinkovic!
An Iberian artifact from the 4th century BCE, the Lady of Elche is associated with Tanit, the Carthaginian goddess worshiped by the Punic-Iberians!
#marvel#marvel comics#comics#marvel cinematic universe#marvel movies#mcu#mcu phase 4#thor#thor love and thunder#thor odinson#españa#spain#iberia#iberian#the lady of elche#dama de elche#lady of elche#dama d'elx#lady of elx#goddess#mythology#Tanit
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[Cybele's] priests, known as the galli, excelled at ecstatic frenzies. Not only did they castrate themselves during their initiation, but subsequently they cross-dressed, wore makeup, frizzed their hair, drenched themselves in perfume, and acted like women. Romans were shocked. Although they were not offended by homosexuality, they found effeminacy disgusting. Yet they could not doubt the power of the goddess: she had ended the Carthaginian threat. They resolved the issue by isolating the religion before it could infect the populace, but permitting the ‘barbaric’ rites to continue on her behalf.
Once a year Cybele was honored by all Romans, and her “priests marched the streets in procession, dressed in motley costumes, loaded with heavy jewelry, and beating tambourines.” During the rest of the year the priests were “segregated and inaccessible to the Romans[;] their cultic activities were confined to the temple.” Moreover, Roman citizens were prohibited by law from becoming Cybelene priests.
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This priestess from ancient Carthage in North Africa is officiating a ritual to honor the goddess Tanit, represented by the crescent moon hovering overhead in the night sky. In Carthaginian mythology, Tanit was one of the most important deities, overseeing fertility. To this day, modern Tunisians may invoke a similar entity called “Omek Tannou” to summon rain during droughts.
#carthage#carthaginian#ancient#north african#african#black woman#woman of color#woc#dark skin#priestess#tanit#digital art#art
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happy wbw! i see that your wip has an italian-inspired fantasy world! is there anything specific that inspired your worldbuilding?
Hi! Thanks for the ask!
When I started writing it I was aiming for more of a Renaissance Italy feel, but a lot of my worldbuilding took inspiration from Ancient Rome.
The biggest one is the government structure. It's an absolute monarchy, but succession isn't done through bloodlines. The reigning monarch can pick anyone they want to be their heir.
(Gonna put my history major hat on for a sec): This is really similar to the system that the Roman Empire had, and I've always thought it was an underused government system in fiction. So much potential for drama! All the high stakes and power of a monarchy, with all the political maneuvering and social mobility of a democracy.
(Also, the other kingdoms surrounding Circi are based off of different places that were controlled by the Roman Empire. Vinoseta is the rich Greek cities, Bellamagna is Sparta/Persia, and Candemero is Roman Britain. There's a Carthaginian based civilization in the works.)
I also took a lot of character names from Italian history/mythology--
Livia--Livia Drusilla, first empress of Rome
Julia--Augustus' daughter
Rodrigo and Cesare--Borgia
Agrippina--Nero's mother
Niccolo--Machiavelli
Calpurnia--Caesar's wife
Ahenobarbi--notoriously cruel Ancient Roman house
Adrasteia--A version of the name of the goddess Nemesis
The biggest Italian inspiration on the setting is probably how often the characters take a boat places instead of a carriage. There is a lot of water.
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Western History
Ancient Greece was divided into city-states. Two notable city-states were Athens and Sparta. Athens was a society of intellectuals and philosophers while Sparta was a warrior culture.
Notable Greeks of ancient times include the military leader Themistocles, the mathematician Euclid, the scientist Archimedes, the legendary storyteller Aesop, the philosophers Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle, and King Leonidas, who commanded his army of three hundred Spartans to fight ten thousand of King Xerxes' Persian warriors.
The religion of ancient Greece was polytheistic.
Several key deities were named Zeus, Hera, Hades, Poseidon, Dionysus, Ares, Athena, Hestia, Hephaestus, Apollo, and Hermes. Zeus was king of the gods and lord of the sky. Hera was Zeus' wife. Hades was the lord of the underworld.
Poseidon was the god of the sea. Dionysus was the god of wine and ritual madness. Ares was the god of war. Athena was the goddess of wisdom. Hestia was the goddess of the hearth. Hephaestus was the god of fire. Apollo was the god of light.
Hermes was the messenger deity. The Roman counterparts of the aforementioned deities are Jupiter, Juno, Pluto, Neptune, Bacchus, Mars, Minerva, Vesta, Vulcan, Apollo, and Mercury, respectively.
Hannibal, a military leader from Carthage (in Northern Africa) led his army, who were mounted on war elephants, across the strait of Gibraltar to the Iberian peninsula and then to Italy, where he attacked the Romans. This marked the beginning of the Punic Wars. During the Third Punic War, the Romans enslaved fifty-five thousand Carthaginians.
Rome was first a kingdom, then a republic, and then an empire. Romulus was the first king of Rome. During the Roman Republic, society was classified as the patricians and the plebeians (the commoners and the elites).
Julius Caesar is known as the destroyer of the Roman Republic. He was assassinated on March 15, 44 BC (the Ides of March) by Marcus Junius Brutus the Younger, who was accompanied by a mob.
Caesar Augustus, also known as Octavian, was Julius Caesar's grand nephew.
Gaius Julius Caesar Augustus Germanicus, also known as Caligula, was an emperor of Rome and a member of the Julio-Claudian dynasty. He was a decent ruler during the first six months of his reign, but after a near death experience, he started forcing his people to commit suicide. Caligula believed he was a living god.
Nero, also known as Lucius Domitius Ahenobarbus, killed his mother, Agrippina the Younger. He also killed his pregnant wife by kicking her to death. Nero also burned Rome to the ground and blamed it on the Christians, who were a new religious cult at the time. When the Praetorian Guard was after him, Nero committed suicide by slitting his throat.
Galileo Galilei was an Italian astronomer and mathematician. He refined the invention of the telescope. He was put under house arrest by the Catholic Church for teaching the heliocentric theory (which asserts that the sun is at the center of our solar system). The church believed in the geocentric theory which postulated that the earth was at the center of the solar system. Galileo is considered to be the father of modern science. He died in the early 1640s.
Archduke Franz Ferdinand was assassinated in 1914 by Gavrilo Princip who was a member of the Serbian terrorist organization the Black Hand.
At the onset of World War I, Germany backed Austria and Russia backed Serbia.
Adolf Hitler, born April 20, 1889, was a decorated veteran of the First World War. Kaiser Wilhelm II was the leader of Germany during WWI.
After WWI, in 1919 (the war ended in 1918), the Versailles peace conference took place. US President Woodrow Wilson, Lloyd George of Great Britain, Clemenceau of France, and Orlando of Italy were in attendance. The decisions made at this conference humiliated the Germans and may have led to the subsequent rise of Nazism.
Germany was ordered to pay billions of dollars in reparations and their military was limited to one hundred thousand. Also, part of their land (the Rhineland) was given away.
The axis powers of World War II were Italy, Germany, and Japan (Rome, Berlin, and Tokyo). They were the enemies of the allies, which included England, France, the United States, and many other countries. Benito Mussolini was the leader of Italy, Adolf Hitler was the leader of Germany, and Emperor Hirohito was the leader of Japan, whose prime minister was Hideki Tojo. Joseph Stalin, also known as Iosif Vissarionovich Dzhugashvili, was the leader of Russia.
Germany's most significant WWII atrocity was the Holocaust, which claimed the lives of twelve million people, including five or six million Jews. Other groups targeted include homosexuals, Polish people, and the physically and mentally disabled.
During the Second World War, the Japanese buried Chinese soldiers alive, cannibalized, and performed vivisection (dissection without anesthetics or analgesics).
Benito Mussolini was hung upside down on a meat hook and a mob tore him to pieces. He was known as an evil Robin Hood. He took from the rich and gave to the poor.
Adolf Hitler committed suicide in fuhrerbunker on April 30, 1945. His wife, Eva Braun, committed suicide with him.
The allied victory in Europe is celebrated on V-E day and the allied victory in Japan is celebrated on V-J day. General Douglas MacArthur was the supreme commander of the allied forces in the pacific while General Dwight D. Eisenhower was the supreme commander of the allied forces in Europe.
The bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki killed around two hundred thousand people and resulted in deformities and diseases such as leukemia. The bomb dropped on Hiroshima, a uranium fission bomb, was called Little Boy and the bomb dropped on Nagasaki, a plutonium fission bomb was called Fat Man.
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Research | Amazigh Facial Tattooing : A Dying Tradition
via Morocco World News
The traditional Amazigh face tattoos are a social phenomenon that was an integral part of the their traditions. Customarily, women would tattoo their bodies for beauty, health and protection. The markings, tattooed on Amazigh girls beginning at a young age, acted as a rite of passage. After an Amazigh girl was tattooed, she became a woman with the potential of motherhood.
It punctuated the lives of individuals and commemorated the most important episodes in the lives of men and women and their community. The Berber face tattoo anchored beliefs and the pagan rites of the past in their customs. In North Africa, the tradition of tattooing dates to pre-Islamic times, and Amazigh populations across Morocco have practiced it consistently since then.
How the face tattoo was made differs from place to place. The most common was to cut the skin with a blade (healing tattoos usually used a knife) or a needle then rub with the kohl ash. In the spring, wheat shoots are picked, chewed and then crushed to extract a green juice. This juice is spread onto the tattoo to help it heal and that is how the tattoos become green in colour.
Tattoos followed Amazigh women throughout their lives. The first facial tattoo is called the “siyala” and is placed on the chin for fertility. At an early age, women also applied tattoos to protect from death and disease. Along with important milestones, such as with the onset of puberty or for fertility, women received more tattoos. Tattoos were also used to convey one’s social or marital status and portray beauty. Later in life, if a woman’s social status changed, her tattoos would evolve with them. If a woman was widowed, she may have a tattoo from one ear to the other, symbolizing the beard of her dead husband.
Many tattoo symbols have relationships with vegetation. The palm tree is a common facial tattoo, drawn as a straight line surrounded by dots that represent seeds. It is placed between the bottom lip and chin of a woman as a “siyala.” The tattoo correlates with the Carthaginian goddess Tanit, who is the fertility, war, and lunar goddess to the Amazigh people. The tattoo is regarded as one of the most beautiful symbols a woman could have on her face.
Tattoos relating to the animal world are correlated with female sexuality. Additionally, tattoos with diamond shapes, such as the eye or flower, were seen as a source of protection against evil spirits. One of the most important facets of the designs was the way they connected women as they were passed from mother to daughter and between generations.
However, when asked about the purpose of their tattoos in interviews, many tattooed women and their family members insist that the purpose was solely decoration and to make them beautiful.
Amazigh women with tattoos today were born in a time when tattoos were highly encouraged, celebrated, and an integral part of their lives. Within their lifetimes, the women witnessed an unexpected transformation within Morocco and North Africa, where their tattoos, which once made them sought after, became a source of shame. This could be for a few reasons; society post Arabo-Islamic culture, women tattooed at a young age felt that it was not their choice and lacked cultural understanding, and so did not pass it down to their daughters, and finally due to the taboos of modern Islam, women need to remove their tattoos before going to Mecca for pilgrimage and French colonial occupation are some factors.
The role of tattoos began to shift at the beginning of the 20th century with the French occupation of Morocco. For some Amazigh women, the occupation encouraged them to get tattoos, since they believed that the tattoos could protect them from rape. During the time of the French colonization, women used tattoos to show their independence and exert freedom. The tattoos were also used to inspire Moroccan men to work harder. The French established brothels around Morocco and abducted Amazigh women from rural regions to work as prostitutes in these brothels. Since many of the Amazigh women had tattoos, a relationship grew between prostitution and facial tattoos. Slowly, Moroccan society began to judge women with facial tattoos, associating them with prostitution.
Most Amazigh had adopted the Islamic religion for over a millennium, so the practice of tattooing was reduced a long time ago because it’s against the ethics and Muslim orthodoxy as Islam forbids tattooing, even though it’s not mentioned in the Quran. The interpretation and the prohibition of tattooing or any other modification of the body is passed on by the hadith, which are stories from the Prophet and are a major source of guidance for Muslims. As of writing this, the tattooed elderly Amazigh women of today are the last generation to have taken part in the tradition.
Despite the prohibitions, the practice of tattooing lasted commonly until the 60s, and still nowadays is practiced in some areas where the culture is still conserved, especially in the desert and Atlas Mountains. In most areas however, henna is used as a non permanent alternative. In regions where city standards are struggling to be adopted, the nomads, and the semi-nomad are living in harsh conditions and roaming the country according to the harvests, water and pasture. Here is where this Amazigh ancestral tradition of face tattoos continues.
I came across this rabbit hole while researching traditional Moroccan fashion, and found it fascinating. This is a perfect opportunity to add depth to my character and more insight into the backstory of my character without writing a thing about it in the book.
References
Brumfitt, L. (2022). Berber Face Tattoos - why they’ve been reduced to a memory? [online] Tiziri Camp. Available at: https://www.tiziricamp.com/berber-face-tattoos-why-theyve-been-reduced-to-a-memory/.
McCabe, C. (2019). The Disappearing Tradition of Amazigh Facial and Body Tattoos. [online] https://www.moroccoworldnews.com/. Available at: https://www.moroccoworldnews.com/2019/04/269903/tradition-amazigh-facial-tattoos.
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My alternate self has been in Lisbon for a week now, and my real self still knows nothing about Portugal. Sad.
Wikipedia is always a good place to start. I thought this section about how Portugal got its name was pretty interesting.
The word Portugal derives from the combined Roman-Celtic place name Portus Cale;[24][25] a settlement where present-day’s conurbation of Porto and Vila Nova de Gaia (or simply, Gaia) stand, along the banks of River Douro in the north of what is now Portugal. The name of Porto stems from the Latin word for port or harbour, portus, with the second element Cale’s meaning and precise origin being less clear. The mainstream explanation points to an ethnonym derived from the Callaeci also known as Gallaeci peoples, who occupied the north-west of the Iberian Peninsula.[26] The names Cale and Callaici are the origin of today's Gaia and Galicia.[27][28]
There are some Hungarian folk songs that refer to "Galicia" and I'm not sure why. I just remember wondering where the heck Galicia is. It's in present-day Portugal? Why would Hungarians be singing about that? Maybe there's more than one Galicia.
Another theory proposes that Cale or Calle is a derivation of the Celtic word for 'port', like the Irish caladh or Scottish Gaelic cala. These explanations, would require the pre-Roman language of the area to have been a branch of Q-Celtic, which is not generally accepted because the region's pre-Roman language was Gallaecian. However, scholars like Jean Markale and Tranoy propose that the Celtic branches all share the same origin, and placenames such as Cale, Gal, Gaia, Calais, Galatia, Galicia, Gaelic, Gael, Gaul (Latin: Gallia),[29] Wales, Cornwall, Wallonia and others all stem from one linguistic root.[27][30][31]
Whoa! That's cool! I love when you can see the connections between different languages and see the changes and divergence over time.
A further explanation proposes Gatelo as having been the origin of present-day Braga, Santiago de Compostela, and consequently the wider regions of Northern Portugal and Galicia.[32] A different theory has it that Cala was the name of a Celtic goddess (drawing a comparison with the Gaelic Cailleach, a supernatural hag). Further still, some French scholars believe the name may have come from Portus Gallus,[33] the port of the Gauls or Celts.
So basically, lots of great guesses.
Around 200 BC, the Romans took the Iberian Peninsula from the Carthaginians during the Second Punic War. In the process they conquered Cale, renaming it Portus Cale ('Port of Cale') and incorporating it in the province of Gaellicia with its capital in Bracara Augusta (modern day Braga, Portugal). During the Middle Ages, the region around Portus Cale became known by the Suebi and Visigoths as Portucale. The name Portucale evolved into Portugale during the 7th and 8th centuries, and by the 9th century, that term was used extensively to refer to the region between the rivers Douro and Minho. By the 11th and 12th centuries, Portugale, Portugallia, Portvgallo or Portvgalliae was already referred to as Portugal.
The Carthaginians. I remember learning about the Carthaginians during my university studies an eon ago. I don't remember who they were or what happened to them. Time to delve into some ancient history, perhaps?
The 14th-century Middle French name for the country, Portingal, which added an intrusive /n/ sound through the process of excrescence, spread to Middle English.[34] Middle English variant spellings included Portingall, Portingale,[note 5] Portyngale and Portingaill.[34][36] The spelling Portyngale is found in Chaucer's Epilogue to the Nun's Priest's Tale. These variants survive in the Torrent of Portyngale, a Middle English romance composed around 1400, and "Old Robin of Portingale", an English Child ballad. Portingal and variants were also used in Scots[34] and survive in the Cornish name for the country, Portyngal.
Excrescence! Gesundheit. Thank you.
Well that was an interesting little linguistic side trip. I'm always curious about how countries got their names.
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Tell Me Your Story: The Aeneid - Virgil
Year Published: 19 B.C.
Country: Roman Republic (Italy)
One of the great works of Latin literature, the ancient poet Virgil recounts the story of the mythic figure of Aeneas, a prince of the city of Troy who wandered around the Mediterranean after the fall of the city and helped found the city of Rome. While tales of Aeneas predate Virgil, the poet collated these stories into one sweeping epic and, more importantly, directly linked Aeneas to traditional Roman virtues, such duty to family and the state, frugality, courage and martial elan, and piety. This made The Aeneid required reading in both the Roman world and for centuries after its fall. In fact, if you take AP Latin in high school, the poem is still required reading for the course.
And poem it is. Virgil has a gift for imagery and a good eye for detail. The lines, even translated to English, have a distinct poetic rhythm that paces one’s reading. A good example is Virgil’s apologia for the lovesick Carthaginian queen Dido - “What good are prayers and shrines to a person mad with love? The flame keeps gnawing into her tender marrow hour by hour, and deep in her heart the silent wound lives on.” Virgil’s tone is empathetic and resigned because he’s let us know right from the start that Aeneas is destined to found Rome. Therefore, Aeneas’s relationship with Dido is a temporary one and we fele pity for her because this love was not of her choosing but that of a vengeful goddess.
The involvement of the gods is inevitable with ancient literature and it provides important context for the actions of the characters. Aeneas does not want to leave Dido but knows that if he shirks his destiny, tragedy will befall him. A modern audience screams for Aeneas to settle down and be happy with a powerful, smart, accomplished woman. That he sails off without her would be expected by an ancient audience. Thus, when Dido commits suicide out of heartbreak we feel a sense of indignation at the cruelty of the gods; an ancient audience might have only felt pity.
Episodes like this make the poem still readable today. Ancient literature can be a slog to read for a variety of reasons. Virgil in particular is fond of telling us who killed whom, who that person was and whose line they are related to, and telling us how they died in extremely graphic detail. But intermixed are undeniably badass lines and visceral images of war’s cost. The Latin villain Turnus, before killing Pallas, tells the prince to inform the deceased Trojan king Priam when he gets to hell that, “Achilles has been reborn as me.” The poem’s ending, cinematic in quality, is brutal and satisfying - and profoundly unsettling.
There are disagreements as the poem’s overall meaning and purpose. It can be frustrating from an authorial perspective to read this poem because character motivation is superseded by divine intervention. Coupled with Virgil’s constant reminders about Aeneas’s fate, it makes one Aeneas himself a rather predictable and boring character. This makes him an ideal character, however, for propaganda - which is how many scholars view this poem. Written at a time when Augustus was transforming Rome from a republic to an empire, Aeneas was someone Augustus could point to the public and say he was emulating.
Yet there’s a subversive streak to this poem. Each act of violence in the poem begets another gruesome act of violence. As the losses mount, each side begins to lose their humanity. The understandable grievance that Turnus begins the war with morphs into animalistic savagery. The levelheaded Aeneas, paragon on virtue, degrades under the strain of fury. In 19 B.C., the Roman world was recovering from almost a century of internal strife that brought down the Republic. In this way it’s not too dissimilar of the Greek poet Homer’s own accounts of the Trojan War and its aftermath. It’s a timeless lesson that, at the time of this writing, the world still hasn’t fully divined.
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