Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1907-06-08
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Carthage, the Mighty
ed and narrowed ana pElverized by cultiva-
ton to fertlize the crops of the present.
In The Theatsrs

ed ana narrowed ana pEfVorlZed by cultlVa-
ton to fertiize the crops of the present.
In the Theaters.
MY way to Carthage was over an excellent
road which runs around the bay. The
scenery is beautiful and the famingoes fly
over the water, showing their pink plumase
they probably did in the past. All along
the roads saw Arabs ploying their
farms Here and there was a little camp
of Reiouins watching their fiocks; and when
we left the road and drove across the plow-
ed fields we passed through a flock of fat
tailed sheep and black goats driven by ma
tives.
Nearly all our way was over the ruins of
Carthage. and we were now in what was
almost the heart Of the ancient city The
ground was covered with marble and
pottery that We felt like getting out and
looking for relics. and. indeed. during the
whole day my eyes have been moving about
among the stones with the hope to find
treasure. | have picked up many beautiful
pieces of marble, l have clawed out bits of
mosaic from the stone floors, and have had
opportunity to purchase all sorts of coins
and clay lamps, some of the time of the
Romans and some dating back to the days
OF the PhoenecianS.
We first visited the amphitheater where
the gladiatoral shows were held. 1t lies
near an Arab village and. l stood in 1t.
l heard the shrieking of spanked baby
filling the air which once resounded with
the cries of the Christian martyrs. The
amphitheater has been only partially ex-
cavated. The cages for the wild beasts
can be plainly and the great vaults
below in which the martyrs waited. The
arena was e!liptical in shape and it's area
is more than an acre: 1 paced IL from one
end to the other ard according to my es-
innate 1t is about 300 feet long and 200
feet wide. 1t contains marble columns
broken and battered. Some of the sea;y
and few of the arches are still 20 be seen
N thpn. or vii
historian who was here about 800 years
ago. He says that there were five galleries
and that the building was the most beau
tiful of its kind ever known. Today I
saw the sheep and goats feeding on the
edge of what must have been at one TN ,
the second gallery. and donkey braye I
while l paced the arena.
The Great Cisterns of Carthage.
The oldest ard best known of the
Carthagin.an ruins are the great ctsterns
which were built to supply tie city W til
water There were two sets of them. one
at each side OF the town. They were o.
vast dimensions. enormous arrel-shaped
caverns, 4l3 feet long and more than
So feet in diameter. They were sur
mounted by cupO.IS and We're corrected
with pipes for distributing the water. The
largest of these cisterns are near an Arab
village, and they are now used stables
and dwellings by the Arabs. They NUM-
went down into some of them. In one 1
found tiny gray donkey with a 1t lie
Arab girl standing beside it. and in an
other an old hen with a flock OF little
chickens feeding about her. part Of on :
cistern has been walled off as hay NOW:
another is now Arab house. and in a
third I saw Bedouln woman grinding
meal upon two stones which rested on the
floor.
The dust Of ages has half filled these great
caverns and they make an excellent pro-
lection from the weather. AS | made my
notes within them l heard the cry Of
prayer from q MGhanmeGan tomb nearby.
The cry was, There is no God but God
and Nohammed is his prophet" AS l Is
tened | could not but think of the people
who drank from these c:Sterns 800 wears
1,GGO years before Mohammed first SAW the
light of day in the deserts of Arabia.
Amongst the Tonbs.
l have spent considerable time wandering
through the Old Carthaginian cemeteries
Many tonbs have been eXcavated, and the
dead of a dozen generations have been
taken from their graves to be shown to u.s.
the heather tourists of the present. Some
of the tombs were far below ground and
others almost at the surface. From one
cemetery they have taken $50 epitaphs. and
from another 500, including the names of
librarians. schoolmasters. doctors, soldiers,
nurses, dancers and slaves. Some of the
Oldest tombs are triangular in shape; others
contained marble sarcophagi, and in some
were men and women loaded with Jewels.
The museum at Carthage is filled with
t easures which have been found in the
ruins. There are dice. razors spectacles,
surgical instruments and thousands of
clay lamps and casks of all kinds AS far
the Phoenicians are concerned. it is, l
doubt not, the greatest museum in the
world; and in it's relics of the Roman
period it compares favoraby with many
nj M :. / c innx y,,kov
ested in the exhibits of jewelry and other
things which once belonged to the gay
girls of the Carthage of $500 years ago.
There are a lock of hair which decorated
the head of a fair Punic maiden, box of
rouge with some of the paint still in the
bottom. alabaster cases holding perfume
and also pins. mirrors, trinkets and other
gewgaws
There are golden necklaces of beautiful
workmanship, and hundreds of gold rings
of all sizes, from one large enough for a
two-year-old baby to some which may have
been wedding rings for twelve-year old
brides. Many of these rings are set with
canoes and stones. There are gold ear
rings by the hundreds, and beautiful they
are. AS l looked at them l asked the
white father beside me about the maidens
who wore them $500 years ago, mentioning
the mortality of all things earthly. In reply
he pointed to the shelves under the cases.
l looked and saw skulls and bones in great
quantities; men. women and children were
all mixed together. He then took me to a
marble sArcophagus nearby. and showed
me the bones of a young Punic beau who
lived many centuries since. I measured
his skeleton and it was six feet two inches
In length. On the finger of one hand there
was beautiful ring. evidencing the vanity
of its owner. He may have been a friend of
Hanno or Hannibal perhaps only some
newly rich man of the timel Who knows?
FRANK G. CARPENTER.
Comparative tests Of electric and pneu
matte drills have resulted. overwhelmingly
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