The bottom of Carthage was founded in the 9th century BC on the coast of Northwest Africa, in what is now Tunisia, as one of a number of Phoenician settlements in the western Mediterranean created to facilitate trade from the city of Tyre on the coast of what is now Lebanon. The name of both the city and the wider republic that grew out of it, Carthage developed into a significant trading empire throughout the Mediterranean. The date from which Carthage can be counted as an independent power cannot exactly be determined, and probably nothing distinguished Carthage from the other Phoenician colonies in Northwest Africa and the Mediterranean during 800–700 BC. By the end of the 7th century BC, Carthage was becoming one of the leading commercial centres of the West Mediterranean region. After a long conflict with the emerging Roman Republic, known as the Punic Wars (264–146 BC), Rome finally destroyed Carthage in 146 BC. A Roman Carthage was established on the ruins of the first. Roman Carthage was eventually destroyed—its walls torn down, its water supply cut off, and its harbours made unusable—following its conquest by Arab invaders at the close of the 7th century. It was replaced by Tunis as the major regional centre, which has spread to include the ancient site of Carthage in a modern suburb. Carthage was founded by Phoenicians coming from the Levant. The city's name in Phoenician language means "New City".Gilbert and Colette Picard, Vie et Mort de Carthage (Paris: Hachett 1968), translated as The Life and Death of Carthage (New York: Taplinger 1969), at 30. There is a tradition in some ancient sources, such as Philistos of Syracuse, for an "early" foundation date of around 1215 BC – that is before the fall of Troy in 1180 BC; however, Timaeus of Taormina, a Greek historian from Sicily c. 300 BC, gives the foundation date of Carthage as thirty-eight years before the first Olympiad; this "late" foundation date of 814 BC is the one generally accepted by modern historians.Picard, Life and Death of Carthage (1968, 1969) at 28–35. As such, Utica predates Carthage. The name Utica is derived from a Punic stem 'dtāq, meaning "to be old",Philip K. Hitti, History of Syria. Including Lebanon and Palestine (New York: Macmillan 1951) at 102 n.4. which lends some support to this chronology, for Carthage signifies "new city" (as stated above). The fleets of the King Hiram of Tyre, as recounted in the Bible, perhaps joined at times by ships assigned to Solomon, would date to the 10th century. "For the king had a fleet of ships of Tarshish at sea with the fleet of Hiram."I Kings 10:22.Picard, Life and Death of Carthage (1969) at 16–17, where Tarshish might refer to a cargo, a ship, or a place. Tarshish ships sailed over the Red Sea to Ophir, as well as across the Mediterranean to Tartessus in Hispania.Raphael Patai, The Children of Noah. Jewish Seafaring in Ancient Times (Princeton Univ. 1998) at 12–13, 40, 134. At 133 Patai notes the Jewish reliance on Phoenician shipwrights and craft in building and managing the ships, citing I Kings 22:49, as well as the biblical moral critique in II Chronicles 20:35–37.More on the Punic Tarshish trade as found in the Bible: here at end of this section, i.e., Ezekiel 27. The Punic port city of Utica was originally situated at the mouth of the fertile Wadi Majardah (Medjerda River),The Wadi Majardah was also known to the ancient classical world as the river Bagradas. E.g., Appian, The Civil Wars, II, 44, as translated (Penguin Books 1996) at 92. at a point along the coast about 30 kilometres north of Carthage.Lancel, Carthage (1992, 1995) at 17–19. The ruins of Utica, within the modern Republic of Tunisia and now situated 10 km inland, have been excavated to some extent, especially regarding a cemetery dating to the 8th century B.C.E. No conclusive earlier finds have been identified, but the ruins were very disturbed before its trained excavation and much work remains to be done. "Utica is named besides Carthage in the second treaty with Rome (348), and... appears again as nominally equal with Carthage in the treaty between Hannibal and Philip of Macedon (215). Utica does not appear in the first treaty with Rome (508), which perhaps means the city was fully independent and not even bound in the Carthage-Rome alliance."Warmington, Carthage (1960, 1964) at 69. Of course, eventually Utica was surpassed by Carthage.
The city of Carthage was founded in the 9th century BC on the coast of Northwest Africa, in what is now Tunisia, as one of a number of Phoenician settlements in the western Mediterranean created to facilitate trade from the city of Tyre on the coast of what is now Lebanon. The name of both the city and the wider republic that grew out of it, Carthage developed into a significant trading empire throughout the Mediterranean. The date from which Carthage can be counted as an independent power cannot exactly be determined, and probably nothing distinguished Carthage from the other Phoenician colonies in Northwest Africa and the Mediterranean during 800–700 BC. By the end of the 7th century BC, Carthage was becoming one of the leading commercial centres of the West Mediterranean region. After a long conflict with the emerging Roman Republic, known as the Punic Wars (264–146 BC), Rome finally destroyed Carthage in 146 BC. A Roman Carthage was established on the ruins of the first. Roman Carthage was eventually destroyed—its walls torn down, its water supply cut off, and its harbours made unusable—following its conquest by Arab invaders at the close of the 7th century. It was replaced by Tunis as the major regional centre, which has spread to include the ancient site of Carthage in a modern suburb. Carthage was founded by Phoenicians coming from the Levant. The city's name in Phoenician language means "New City".Gilbert and Colette Picard, Vie et Mort de Carthage (Paris: Hachett 1968), translated as The Life and Death of Carthage (New York: Taplinger 1969), at 30. There is a tradition in some ancient sources, such as Philistos of Syracuse, for an "early" foundation date of around 1215 BC – that is before the fall of Troy in 1180 BC; however, Timaeus of Taormina, a Greek historian from Sicily c. 300 BC, gives the foundation date of Carthage as thirty-eight years before the first Olympiad; this "late" foundation date of 814 BC is the one generally accepted by modern historians.Picard, Life and Death of Carthage (1968, 1969) at 28–35. As such, Utica predates Carthage. The name Utica is derived from a Punic stem 'dtāq, meaning "to be old",Philip K. Hitti, History of Syria. Including Lebanon and Palestine (New York: Macmillan 1951) at 102 n.4. which lends some support to this chronology, for Carthage signifies "new city" (as stated above). The fleets of the King Hiram of Tyre, as recounted in the Bible, perhaps joined at times by ships assigned to Solomon, would date to the 10th century. "For the king had a fleet of ships of Tarshish at sea with the fleet of Hiram."I Kings 10:22.Picard, Life and Death of Carthage (1969) at 16–17, where Tarshish might refer to a cargo, a ship, or a place. Tarshish ships sailed over the Red Sea to Ophir, as well as across the Mediterranean to Tartessus in Hispania.Raphael Patai, The Children of Noah. Jewish Seafaring in Ancient Times (Princeton Univ. 1998) at 12–13, 40, 134. At 133 Patai notes the Jewish reliance on Phoenician shipwrights and craft in building and managing the ships, citing I Kings 22:49, as well as the biblical moral critique in II Chronicles 20:35–37.More on the Punic Tarshish trade as found in the Bible: here at end of this section, i.e., Ezekiel 27. The Punic port city of Utica was originally situated at the mouth of the fertile Wadi Majardah (Medjerda River),The Wadi Majardah was also known to the ancient classical world as the river Bagradas. E.g., Appian, The Civil Wars, II, 44, as translated (Penguin Books 1996) at 92. at a point along the coast about 30 kilometres north of Carthage.Lancel, Carthage (1992, 1995) at 17–19. The ruins of Utica, within the modern Republic of Tunisia and now situated 10 km inland, have been excavated to some extent, especially regarding a cemetery dating to the 8th century B.C.E. No conclusive earlier finds have been identified, but the ruins were very disturbed before its trained excavation and much work remains to be done. "Utica is named besides Carthage in the second treaty with Rome (348), and... appears again as nominally equal with Carthage in the treaty between Hannibal and Philip of Macedon (215). She does not appear in the first treaty with Rome (508), which perhaps means she was fully independent and not even bound in the Carthage-Rome alliance."Warmington, Carthage (1960, 1964) at 69. Of course, eventually Utica was surpassed by Carthage.
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Utica
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the city
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