2023 Collections Fellowship Report: Exploring Punic Religious and Social Life in Coastal Tunisia
Helen Dixon, Assistant Professor of History at East Carolina University
In the early centuries of the first millennium BCE, some Phoenicians left their homes along the Levantine coast, selected sites on nearly every Mediterranean island and coastline, and made a new life for themselves. They learned from local populations, adapting their religious and cultural practices to new environments. Carthage would become the most famous Phoenician diaspora community, but it was one of many Punic settlement sites in modern Tunisia. Thanks to the ASOR Collections Fellowship, I conducted research in archaeological collections from Utica, Carthage, Kerkouane, and Sousse that tells the stories of Levantine Phoenicians (and Sidonians in particular) as they joined existing regional networks and made their mark on coastal Tunisia.
The author at the Sousse Archaeological Museum, featuring votive stelae and ceramic urns from the “Baal Hammon sanctuary” at Sousse (photo by H. Dixon).
The mosaic sign at the base of the driveway to the Carthage National Museum (photo by H. Dixon).
Votive stelae removed from excavations at the “Precinct of Tanit” in Carthage, currently on view at the archaeological site (photo by H. Dixon).
I had planned to explore two research projects during my ten days in residence in Tunis: first, to investigate ca. 70 Carthaginian votive stelae featuring images of ships known from the infant cremation site often referred to as a “tophet.” I was also on the lookout for contemporaneous maritime images from other religious or funerary contexts to better understand these votive images. The second project was for my current book manuscript, Death in Sidon: a study of nine Carthaginian funerary stelae commissioned by men and women “of Sidon” – settlers who still identified with their Levantine city of origin. Many (but not all!) of the stelae from both projects were published in Latin in the Corpus Inscriptionum Semiticarum (1881-1962), but the tiny thumbnail images were not sufficient to clearly make out the details of the iconography, and I was excited to see what traces of paint might remain.
Previewing proposed plans for the reinstalled, renovated Carthage National Museum to be completed in 2026 (photo by H. Dixon).
Votive stelae and a miniature stone throne from the “Precinct of Tanit” at Carthage, covered over by a Roman aqueduct channel (photo by H. Dixon).
When I arrived at the Institut National du Patrimoine (INP) offices in Tunis, I learned that the Carthage National Museum had just undertaken a new collections inventory, which would lead to improved photographs and perhaps a searchable catalogue in the future. Unfortunately for me, this meant specific research requests like the one I had made could not be accommodated, as the museum was mostly closed and staff time redirected. With the guidance and generosity of Dr. Imed Ben Jerbania, I was able to rethink my research plans. I focused on understanding 7th-4th c. BCE life in the Punic settlements along the Tunisian coast, visiting ongoing excavations at Utica and Carthage, archaeological parks throughout Carthage, Sousse, and Kerkouane (including both the Punic town and the necropolis), and archaeological collections in the Utica, Sousse, and Kerkouane Museums. This will allow me to offer a nuanced picture of these communities’ values, self-representation, and maritime orientation in future publications, while awaiting the reinstallation of the Carthage National Museum in 2026. I am grateful to the INP for the hospitality and assistance I received and to ASOR and East Carolina University for making these connections possible.
A visit to the mosaic “Sign of Tanit” in the floor of a private home (ca. 250 BCE), preserved at the incredible Kerkouane archaeological site (photo by H. Dixon).
