Carthaginian tombstones

Punic inscriptions in Tunisia

A typical Carthaginian tombstone. KAI 85 (Delattre 30, CIS I 184, KI 74), discovered in 1831,[1] described as "the type of dedicatory inscriptions which is represented by many thousands of copies and, due to the formulaic nature of the text, only provides material for name research."[2]

Carthaginian tombstones are Punic language-inscribed tombstones excavated from the city of Carthage over the last 200 years.

The first such discoveries were published by Jean Emile Humbert in 1817, Hendrik Arent Hamaker in 1828, Christian Tuxen Falbe in 1833 and Thomas Reade in 1837.[3][4] Between 1817 and 1856, 17 inscriptions were published in total; in 1861  Nathan Davis discovered 73 tablets, marking the first large scale discovery.[5]

The steles were first published together in the Corpus Inscriptionum Semiticarum; the first focused collection was published by Jean Ferron in 1976. Ferron identified four types of funerary steles:[6]

* Type I: Statues (type I Α, Β or C depending on whether it is a "quasi ronde-bosse", a "half-relief" or a "Herma-type" )
* Type II: Bas-reliefs (Type II 1, where the figure stands out in an arc of a circle, and II 2, where it protrudes in a flattened relief)
* Type III: niche monuments or naiskos (type III 1, with a rectangular or trapezoidal niche, and III 2, niche with triangular top)
* Type IV: Engraved steles (extremely rare).

The oldest funerary stelae belong to Type III and date back to the 5th century BCE, becoming widespread at the end of the 4th century BCE. Bas-reliefs and statues appeared later.[6]

## Gallery

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* The Humbert Carthage inscriptions; the first published sketch of artefacts from Carthage. This was published in Jean Emile Humbert's Notice sur quatre cippes sépulcraux et deux fragments, découverts en 1817, sur le sol de l'ancienne Carthage. Today these are held in the Rijksmuseum van Oudheden

* Further Carthaginian inscriptions found by Humbert and published by Hendrik Arent Hamaker in 1828, in his Miscellanea Phoenicia. The large inscription is held in the Rijksmuseum van Oudheden (CAb1)

* The Falbe Punic inscriptions; 1833 finds published in Christian Tuxen Falbe's Recherches sur l'emplacement de Carthage[4]

* The Reade Punic inscriptions

## Bibliography

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### Primary sources

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* Jean Emile Humbert, Notice sur quatre cippes sépulcraux et deux fragments, découverts en 1817, sur le sol de l'ancienne Carthage.
* Hendrik Arent Hamaker (1828), Miscellanea Phoenicia
* Christian Tuxen Falbe, Recherches sur l'emplacement de Carthage
* Augustus Wollaston Franks (1860). On Recent Excavations at Carthage, and the Antiquities discovered there by the Rev. Nathan Davis. Archaeologia, 38(1), 202–236. doi:10.1017/S0261340900001387
* Davis, Nathan (1861). Carthage and Her Remains : Being an Account of the Excavations and Researches on the Site of the Phoenician Metropolis in Africa, and Other Adjacent Places. Bentley.
* Charles Ernest Beulé (1861), Fouilles à Carthage aux frais et sous la direction de M. Beulé
* von Maltzan, Heinrich (1870). "Anhang: Ueber die neuentdeckten phönicischen Inschriften von Karthago". Reise in den Regentschaften Tunis und Tripolis. Reise in den Regentschaften Tunis und Tripolis (in German). Dyk.
* Euting, Julius (1871). Punische Steine. Mémoires de l'Académie Impériale des Sciences de St.-Pétersbourg (in German). Académie impériale des sciences de St.-Pétersbourg.
* Euting, J. (1883). Sammlung der carthagischen inschriften. Sammlung der carthagischen inschriften (in German). K. J. Trübner. Retrieved 2024-08-19.
* "TABULA TITULORUM VOTIVORUM; TANITIDI ET BAALI HAMMONI DICATORUM (180-3251.)". Corpus inscriptionum semiticarum (in Latin). Académie des Inscriptions et Belles-Lettres. 1890.
* Delattre, Alfred Louis (1890). Les tombeaux puniques de Carthage. Imprimerie Mougin-Rusand.
* Alfred Louis Delattre (1902). Une épitaphe punique de Carthage. In: Comptes rendus des séances de l'Académie des Inscriptions et Belles-Lettres, 46e année, N. 5, 1902. pp. 522–523. DOI : https://doi.org/10.3406/crai.1902.17295
* Alfred Louis Delattre, Philippe Berger (1904) Épitaphes puniques et sarcophage de marbre. In: Comptes rendus des séances de l'Académie des Inscriptions et Belles-Lettres, 48e année, N. 5, pp. 505–512. DOI : https://doi.org/10.3406/crai.1904.19929

### Secondary sources

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* Mendleson, Carole, Images & symbols: On Punic stelae from the tophet at Carthage, Archaeology & history in Lebanon. 2001, Num 13, pp 45–50
* Bénichou-Safar Hélène (1982), Chapitre III. LES INSCRIPTIONS FUNÉRAIRES, Les tombes puniques de Carthage. Topographie, structures, inscriptions et rites funéraires. Paris : Éditions du Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, 452 p. (Études d'antiquités africaines)
* Ferron, Jean (1976). Mort-dieu de Carthage: ou, Les stèles funéraires de Carthage. P. Geuthner.
* Cintas, Pierre (1970). Manuel d'archéologie punique: Histoire et archéologie comparées. A. et J. Picard. ISBN 9782708400030.
* Stéphane Gsell, 1920–30, Histoire ancienne de l'Afrique du Nord, Tome 4, Chapitre IV, Les Pratiques Funéraires
* Lopez and Amadasi, The Epigraphy of the Tophet, 2013, In book: The Tophet in the Phoenician Mediterranean (= Studi Epigrafici e Linguistici sul Vicino Oriente antico 29–30, 2012–13) (pp.pp. 159–192)Chapter: The Epigraphy of the TophetPublisher: Essedue Edizioni, VeronaEditors: Paolo Xella

## References

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1. ^ According to KAI
2. ^ KAI 85: "Diese Inschrift zeigt wie die folgenden Nummern den Typ der Weih-inschriften, der durch viele Tausende von Exemplaren vertreten ist und infolge der Formelhaftigkeit des Textes nur noch für Namenforschungen Material liefert."
3. ^ Tang, Birgit (2005). Delos, Carthage, Ampurias: The Housing of Three Mediterranean Trading Centres. L'ERMA di BRETSCHNEIDER. pp. 69–. ISBN 978-88-8265-305-7.
4. ^ a b Gurney, Hudson (1844). "Letter from Hudson GURNEY, Esq. V.P., to Sir Henry Ellis, K.H., F.R.S., Secretary, accompanying Casts of Eight Punic Inscriptions found on the site of Carthage (June 2, 1842)". Archaeologia: Or, Miscellaneous Tracts Relating to Antiquity. The Society: 111.
5. ^ Franks, Augustus Wollaston” (1860). On Recent Excavations and Discoveries on the Site of Ancient Carthage. Nichols. p. 8-9. Retrieved 2025-05-25. "Stone tablets with Phoenician inscriptions have at various times been brought to light among the ruins of Carthage. In 1817 Major J. E. Humbert found near Malkah, the village built amidst the remains of the great cisterns, four ornamented stelæ with inscriptions, which he looked upon as sepulchral, and which passed from his hands into the Museum at Leyden. Another was discovered near the same spot in 1831 or 1832, and was sent by Chev. Scheel, Secretary to the Danish consulate at Tunis, to the Museum at Copenhagen. It is the most highly ornamented tablet that has been found... A portion of another is preserved in the Museum at Leyden, and was first published by Hamaker. A small fragment of one more, obtained by Humbert from near Malkah, was lost on its way to Denmark. Another was found in 1823, also near Malkah, and is at Leyden. Another was discovered at the same place by M. Falbe, from whose hands it is said by Gesenius to have passed into the collection of Count Turpin. Three more were found at Carthage by Sir Thomas Reade, and copies of the inscriptions were communicated by him to our Society in 1836, but the present resting-place of the originals is not known. Another inscription we owe to M. Falbe, which is published by Judas in his Etude de la Langue Phénicienne. One more was found in 1841 when digging for the foundations of the Chapel of St. Louis, and is now in the Louvre. Another was discovered during the excavations made by the Society for exploring Carthage, and fell to the share of M. Dureau de la Malle. Two more were brought to light by the Abbé Bourgade while making researches in the island of the Cothon, and accounts of them were published by him, and by the Abbé Bargès. It thus appears that, previously to Mr. Davis's researches, about seventeen tablets had been discovered at Carthage, which are now scattered among the museums of Europe. His excavations have disinterred no less than seventy-three tablets with Phoenician inscriptions, adding thereby very largely to the scanty stores of Phœnician epigraphy."
6. ^ a b Debergh Jacques. Ferron (Jean), Mort-Dieu de Carthage, ou les stèles funéraires de Carthage. In: Revue belge de philologie et d'histoire, tome 56, fasc. 3, 1978. Langues et littératures modernes — Moderne taal- en letterkunde. pp. 712-715: "Typologiquement, Jean Ferron distingue les statues (type Ι Α, Β ou C selon qu'il s'agit d'une «quasi ronde-bosse», d'un «demi-relief» ou d'un «genre d'hermès»), les bas-reliefs (type II 1, où la figure humaine ressort en arc de cercle, et II 2, où elle saillit en un relief aplati), les monuments à niche (type III 1, à niche rectangulaire ou trapézoïdale, et III 2, à niche avec sommet triangulaire) et les pierres gravées (type IV, rarissime en fait). La chronologie de ces monuments reste, vu les conditions des découvertes, fort approximative. A Carthage, les premières stèles funéraires, qui relèvent du type III, remontent au Ve S., à la fin du siècle sans doute (cf. p. 259), à la première moitié au plus tôt (cf. p. 248) ; leur usage se généralise à la fin du IVe S. Bas-reliefs et statues apparaissent par la suite, aux me-ne s. surtout. Après la destruction de Carthage, et une interruption d'une vingtaine d'années, la production reprend jusqu'à la fin du 1er S. av. n.è."