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SOREN, DAVID & AICHA BEN ABED BEN KHADER, CARTHAGE: A Mosaic of Ancient Tunisia, American Museum of Natural History, New York, 1987
Today's Carthage is a peaceful residential suburb and popular resort with splendid beaches, luxurious hotels, and elegant restaurants- and a few outward signs of its long and often troubled and violent 3000-year history. This volume provides tantalizing glimpses of that story, from the arrival of legendary Princess Elyssa / Queen Dido in the land of the nomadic Berbers in the 9th or 8th century B.C. to found "Kart Hadasht" to Tunisia's independence this century. We become aware of Carthage as a rising sea power in the ancient world, its explorers / traders traversing the Mediterranean and venturing into the Atlantic, Carthage as the capital of the 6th century Phoenician empire and military superpower, and Carthage reduced to rubble in 146 B.C. by that other military giant of antiquity - Rome.
Having destroyed Carthage, Rome rebuilt it: gave land grants to veterans, established vast estates, built roads and aqueducts, made of it a commercial, trading, and administrative center, and a showplace with lavish villas, amphitheatres, and public baths. Illustrations of artifacts and objects, from the 7th century B.C. to the 7th century A.D. , help illuminate life in Carthage. They include such things as cinerary urns for children sacrificed in the Tophet before the Punic Wars; elegant jewelry, makeup boxes, and perfume containers that indicate both a high standard of living and of artistry; mosaics from villas that picture life as it was in Carthage's ancient heyday - wild beast hunts, arena matches, festive banquets, and the exploits of the gods; and artwork that reflects the pantheon of deities and the early history of Christianity. Text and illustrations bring the Carthage of antiquity to vivid life. Aicha Ben Abed Ben Khader is Charg'ee de recherche et Conservateur du Mus'ee de Bardo. David Soren is a professor and head of the Classics Department at the University in Arizona at Tucson and guest curator of "Carthage: A Mosaic of Ancient Tunisia". |
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