#tophet of carthage

Ancient Worlds - BBC Two 

Episode 5 “The Republic of Virtue”

TheTophet of Carthage (also Tophet of Salammbó) is an ancient sacred area dedicated to the PhoeniciangodsTanit and Baal located in the CarthageneighborhoodSalammbô. In the Hebrew Bible Tophet was a place outside Jerusalem, in the Valley of Hinnom, where children were sacrifided to the gods Moloch and Baal.

The Tophet of Carthage contains a large number of graves of children; about 20.000 urns were deposited. The urns, often topped by carved stone markers (stelae), contained the charred bones of newborns, very young children and in some cases, of fetuses. Animal remains, mostly sheep and goats, have also been found inside some of the urns. The cemetery was used for over 600 years, between 730 and 146 BC -year of the destruction of Carthage by the Roman Republic.

The tophet is the subject of historical controversy because both ancient texts and archaeological evidence point to the possibility that the children buried in the tophet were sacrificed. Child sacrifice may also have been overemphasized for effect; after the Romans finally defeated Carthage, they engaged in post-war propaganda to make their arch-enemies seem cruel, uncivilised baby killers. Some modern scholars have argued that the Tophet in Carthage may have been a cemetery for stillborn infants and those who died shortly after birth, regardless of the cause. But most archaeologists accept that infant sacrifices did occur. Evidence supporting the tophet burials representing sacrifices include the stela inscriptions which imply that the burials are gifts to the gods and animal remains, who were sacrificed to the gods, presumably in place of children.

Numerous tophets have been identified in the eastern Mediterranean region. The Tophet at Carthage is by far the largest.

Tunis, Tunisia