New finds at the Punic Tophet of Carthage

Full of history, Tunisia has not yet revealed all its secrets. A recent discovery in the remains of ancient Carthage is proof of this. Archaeologists have discovered new urns and objects that have been carefully buried for centuries while digging under a piece of land on Jugurtha Street, which borders the current Carthaginian Tophet.

Credit: Tunisie.co

This new discovery which unveils a new piece of the ancient history of the country was conducted by a team 100% Tunisian, says the head of the excavation project and research officer at the National Heritage Institute of Tunis, Imed Ben Jerbania.

Credit: Tunisie.co

"It's a great achievement," he said, pointing out that many foreigners have gotten their hands on this area, but never Tunisians. He pointed out that the last excavation was conducted by Americans back in the 1970s.

According to Jerbania, this monument is of great importance. It traces the history of Carthage, from its birth to its fall. "In the Tophet, one finds everything, from ceramics, bones, inscriptions with the identities of the dedicators, their offerings... in short, an insight into the way of life of the Carthaginians and a precise idea of their religious beliefs."

Credit: Tunisie.co

The Carthage tophet, also called Salammbô tophet, is an ancient sacred area dedicated to the Phoenician deities Tanit and Baal located in the Carthaginian district of Salammbô, in Tunisia, near the Punic ports.

Credit: Tunisie.co

This tophet, "hybrid of sanctuary and necropolis", contains a large number of graves of children who, according to some interpretations, were sacrificed or buried in this place after their untimely death.

Credit: Tunisie.co

This "painstaking work" was started in 2014 by a large research team from the National Heritage Institute of Tunisia (Utica Archeological Team) when a house owner in the Carthage area wanted to do some work in his garden and uncovered urns and jars more than 2,500 years old.

Source: HuffPost [August 03, 2018]