Maritime Iconography at Punic Votive Sites at Carthage and Cirta: An Analysis of Watercraft Imagery from the 4th-1st c. BCE

Abstract

This thesis compiles and analyzes 72 Punic stelae featuring maritime iconography, dated to the 4th – 1st c. BCE, from the so called ‘tophet’ sites in Carthage, in modern-day Tunis, Tunisia, as well as in Cirta (or El Hofra, today Constantine), Algeria. The Punic ‘tophet’ sites (more than 100 of which have been found across North Africa, Malta, Sardinia, and Sicily) are debated as possible sites of child sacrifice or other mortuary rituals. I propose the term ‘Cinerary Votive Site’ to more accurately describe these archaeological sites and the evidence of ritual practice that are agreed upon (the burial of cremated human and animal remains and the inscriptions that confirm the votive nature of the deposits). The complied corpus of stelae for this study feature depictions of three categories of iconography: ships (or partial ships), rudders, and anchors. These iconographical elements vary across the corpus, for example, the first category includes images of bows, sterns, or full ships. This study analyzes the maritime symbols, but also examines the stelae according to what other prominent imagery is included, like the ‘Sign of Tanit’ or the raised hand. It lays out the maritime context of the Carthaginian cinerary votive site (very close to the circular military port and rectangular commercial ports of Carthage) and assembles evidence for other contemporaneous ports around the Mediterranean basin. To provide context for the maritime iconography on the stelae, ship graffiti, model boats, and other images of ships from the 4th – 1st c. BCE Mediterranean world are also discussed. Previous interpretations of the maritime iconography (though rare) have hypothesized that these symbols may indicate that the families who dedicated the stelae were seafarers, which is possible. This study will reexamine this hypothesis alongside other possible interpretations: that the symbols should be read as representations of Tanit (much like the ‘sign of Tanit’ has been); or that they may indicate the agency of ships and other maritime elements, or an understanding of these features as having their own personhood. Lastly, and most plausibly, I will propose that the symbols are connected to a Punic afterlife myth or set of beliefs that are now lost.