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History of Punic-era Tunisia: culture addresses various institutions and social organizations created by the people of the city-state of Carthage and surrounding regions. Very few Punic writings from that era survived. Most of existing written works that discuss civic and religious life in Punic-era Carthage come from Greek and Roman authors, whose own people were generally hostile to Carthage. Finding evidence of Punic-era Carthage is very difficult, due to the severe damage suffered by the city during the Third Punic War, followed by its wholesale reconstruction during Roman times. From ancient written descriptions and from meager on-site findings, certain features of the ancient city are known or surmised, as well as the rural life-style and culture of the people living on the nearby agricultural lands. Carthage was originally founded as a Phoenician base for Mediterranean-wide trade, and was renowned among contemporaries for its great prosperity. Cooperative commercial ventures organized the creation of this wealth. Urban industries produced many of the commodities sold or bartered. Key was the city's far-flung trading empire, backed by the maritime power of the state. Ships and crews were largely run by family-operated companies, functioning among wider merchant associations. The constitution of the city-state of Carthage drew admiring commentary by foreigners, including Aristotle, the Greek philosopher of the 4th century BCE. The city-state's government at the time had already undergone significant developments since the first state institutions of earliest Carthage. The city at its founding was probably based on Phoenician models. Aristotle describes the unique constitution of Carthage in terms of the political thinking of the ancient Greeks, yet ancient sources leave many questions unanswered, allowing room for differing interpretations of its history. The Punic religion also had its origins in Phoenicia, which shared several Semitic features in common with the religious history of its neighbor Ancient Israel, although with significant differences. As religion at Carthage developed in its new African environment, some mutual influences arose between the Punic and the native Berber views of worship and deity. Carthaginians understood themselves as a religious people. At the peak of the city's fame and prosperity, Tanit was recognized as the queen goddess of Carthage.〔References to sources are found in the notes to the text that follows.〕 ==Extant writings == Most ancient literature concerning Carthage comes from Greek and Roman sources. Considering the rivalry of the political-economies of Hellenic Sicily versus Carthage, and of Republican Rome versus Carthage, it is not surprising that both Greek and Roman authors generally viewed Carthage as an antagonist. Only in this light may many of the subtleties of the Punic city's history and culture be perceived, that is, as illuminated by various ancient Greek and Roman commentators.〔Picard, ''Life and Death of Carthage'' (1968, 1969) at 40–41 (Greeks), .〕〔Cf., Warmington, ''Carthage'' (1960; Penguin 1964) at 24–25 (Greeks), 259–260 (Romans).〕 Apart from inscriptions, hardly any Punic literature has survived, and none in its own language and script.〔B.H.Warmington, "The Carthiginian Period" at 246–260, 246 ("No Carthaginian literature has survived."), in ''General History of Africa, volume III. Ancient Civilizations of Africa'' (UNESCO 1990) Abridged Edition.〕 A brief catalogue would include:〔R. Bosworth Smith, ''Carthage and the Carthaginians'' (London: Longmans, Green 1878, 1902) at 12. Smith's catalogue has not been appreciably augmented since, but for newly found inscriptions.〕 *three short treaties with Rome (Latin translations);〔Picard, ''Life and Death of Carthage'' (1968, 1969) at 72-73: translation of Romano-Punic Treaty, 509 BC; at 72–78: discussion.〕〔Polybius (c. 200 – 118), ''Istorion'' at III, 22-25, selections translated as ''Rise of the Roman Empire'' (Penguin 1979) at 199–203. Nota bene: Polybius died well over 70 years before the start of the Roman Empire.〕〔Cf., Arnold J. Toynbee, ''Hannibal's Legacy'' (1965) at I: 526, Appendix on the treaties.〕 *several pages of Hanno the Navigator's log-book concerning his fifth century maritime exploration of the Atlantic coast of west Africa (Greek translation);〔Hanno's log translated in full by Warmington, ''Carthage'' (1960) at 74–76.〕 *fragments quoted from Mago's fourth/third century 28-volume treatise on agriculture (Latin translations);〔E.g., by Varro (116–27) in his ''De re rustica''; by Columella (fl. AD 50–60) in his ''On trees'' and ''On agriculture'', and by Pliny (23–79) in his ''Naturalis Historia''. See below, paragraph on Mago's work.〕〔Harden, ''The Phoenicians'' (New York: Praeger 1962, 2d ed. 1963) at 122–123 (28 books), 140 (quotation of paragraph).〕 *the Roman playwright Plautus (c. 250 – 184) in his ''Poenulus'' incorporates a few fictional speeches delivered in Punic, whose written lines are transcribed into Latin letters phonetically;〔Cf., H. J. Rose, ''A Handbook of Lanin Literature'' (London: Methuen 1930, 3d ed. 1954; reprint Dutton, New York 1960) at 51-52, where a plot summary of ''Poenulus'' (i.e., "The Man from Carthage") is given. Its main characters are Punic.〕〔Eighteen lines from Poenulus are spoken in Punic by the character Hanno in Act 5, scene 1, beginning "Hyth alonim vualonuth sicorathi si ma com sith... ." Plautus gives a Latin paraphrase in the next ten lines. The gist is a prayer seeking divine aid in his quest to find his lost kin. ''The Comedies of Plautus'' (London: G. Bell and Sons 1912), translated by Henry Thomas Riley. The scholar Bochart considered the first ten lines to be Punic, but the last eight to be 'Lybic'. Another scholar, Samuel Petit, translated the text as if it were Hebrew, a sister-language of Punic. This according to notes accompanying the above scene by H. T. Riley.〕 *the thousands of inscriptions made in ''Punic script'', thousands, but many extremely short, e.g., a dedication to a deity with the personal name(s) of the devotee(s).〔Soren, Ben Khader, Slim, ''Carthage'' (New York: Simon and Schuster, 1990) at 42 (over 6000 inscriptions found), at 139 (many very short, on religious ''stele'').〕〔An example of a longer inscription (of about 279 Punic characters) exists at Thugga, Tunisia. It concerns the dedication of a temple to the late king Masinissa. A translated text appears in Brett and Fentress, ''The Berbers'' (1997) at 39.〕 "()rom the Greek author Plutarch (46 – c. 120) ) we learn of the 'sacred books' in Punic safeguarded by the city's temples. Few Punic texts survive, however."〔Glenn E. Markoe, ''Carthage'' (2000) at 114.〕 Once "the City Archives, the Annals, and the scribal lists of ''suffets''" existed, but evidently these were destroyed in the horrific fires during the Roman capture of the city in 146 BC.〔Picard and Picard, ''Life and Death of Carthage'' (1968, 1969) at 30.〕 Yet some Punic books (Latin: ''libri punici'') from the libraries of Carthage reportedly did survive the fires.〔Cf., Victor Matthews, "The ''libri punici'' of King Hiempsal" in ''American Journal of Philology'' 93: 330–335 (1972); and, Véronique Krings, "Les ''libri Punici'' de Sallust" in ''L'Africa Romana'' 7: 109–117 (1989). Cited by Roller (2003) at 27,n110.〕 These works were apparently given by Roman authorities to the newly augmented Berber rulers.〔Pliny the Elder (23–79), ''Naturalis Historia'' at XVIII, 22–23.〕〔Serge Lancel, ''Carthage'' (Paris: Librairie Arthème Fayard 1992; Oxford: Blackwell 1995) at 358-360. Lancel here remarks that, following the fall of Carthage, there arose among the Romans there a popular reaction against the late Cato the Elder (234–149), the Roman censor who had notoriously lobbied for the destruction of the city. Lancel (1995) at 410.〕 Over a century after the fall of Carthage, the Roman politician-turned-author Gaius Sallustius Crispus or Sallust (86–34) reported his having seen volumes written in Punic, which books were said to be once possessed by the Berber king, Hiempsal II (r. 88–81).〔Ronald Syme, however, in his ''Sallust'' (University of California, 1964, 2002) at 152–153, discounts any unique value of the ''libri punici'' mentioned in his ''Bellum Iugurthinum''.〕〔Lancel, ''Carthage'' (1992, 1995) at 359, raises questions concerning the provenance of these books.〕〔Hiempsal II was the great-grandson of Masinissa (r. 202–148), through Mastanabal (r. 148–140) and Gauda (r. 105–88). D. W. Roller, ''The World of Juba II and Kleopatra Selene'' (2003) at 265.〕 By way of Berber informants and Punic translators, Sallust had used these surviving books to write his brief sketch of Berber affairs.〔Sallust, ''Bellum Iugurthinum'' (ca. 42) at ¶17, translated as ''The Jugurthine War'' (Penguin 1963) at 54.〕〔R. Bosworth Smith, in his ''Carthage and the Carthaginians'' (London: Longmans, Green 1878, 1908) at 38, laments that Sallust declined to directly address the history of the city of Carthage.〕 Probably some of Hiempsal II's ''libri punici'', that had escaped the fires that consumed Carthage in 146 BC, wound up later in the large royal library of his grandson Juba II (r.25 BC-AD 24).〔Duane W. Roller, ''The World of Juba II and Kleopatra Selene. Royal scholarship on Rome's African frontier'' (New York: Routledge 2003), at 183, 191, in his Chapter 8: "Libyka" (183–211) (179 ); also at 19, 27, 159 (Juba's library described), 177 (per his book on Hanno).〕 Juba II not only was a Berber king, and husband of Cleopatra's daughter, but also a scholar and author in Greek of no less than nine works.〔Juba II's literary works are reviewed by D. W. Roller in ''The World of Jube II and Kleopatra Selene'' (2003) at chapters 7, 8, and 10.〕 He wrote for the Mediterranean-wide audience then enjoying classical literature. The ''libri punici'' inherited from his grandfather surely became useful to him when composing his ''Libyka'', a work on North Africa written in Greek. Unfortunately, only fragments of ''Libyka'' survive, mostly from quotations made by other ancient authors.〔''Die Fragmente der griechischen Historiker'' (Leiden 1923-), ed. Felix Jacoby, re "Juba II" at no. 275 (per Roller (2003) at xiii, 313).〕 It may have been Juba II who 'discovered' the five-centuries-old 'log book' of Hanno the Navigator, called the ''Periplus'', among library documents saved from fallen Carthage.〔Duane W. Roller, ''The World of Juba II and Kleopatra Selene'' (2003) at 189,n22; cf., 177.〕〔Pliny the Elder (23–79), ''Naturalis Historia'' V, 8; II, 169.〕〔Cf., Picard and Picard, ''The Life and Death of Carthage'' (Paris: Hachette (); New York: Taplinger 1969) at 93–98, 115–119.〕 In the end, however, most Punic writings that survived the destruction of Carthage "did not escape the immense wreckage in which so many of Antiquity's literary works perished."〔Serge Lancel, ''Carthage. A History'' (Paris 1992; Oxford 1995) at 358–360.〕 Accordingly, the long and continuous interactions between Punic citizens of Carthage and the Berber communities that surrounded the city have no local historian. Their political arrangements and periodic crises, their economic and work life, the cultural ties and social relations established and nourished (infrequently as kin), are not known to us directly from ancient Punic authors in written accounts. Neither side has left us their stories about life in Punic-era Carthage.〔See section herein on Berber relations. See Early History of Tunisia for both indigenous and foreign reports concerning the Berbers, both in pre-Punic and Punic times.〕 Regarding ''Phoenician'' writings, few remain and these seldom refer to Carthage. The more ancient and most informative are cuneiform tablets, ca. 1600–1185, from ancient Ugarit, located to the north of Phoenicia on the Syrian coast; it was a Canaanite city politically affiliated with the Hittites. The clay tablets tell of myths, epics, rituals, medical and administrative matters, and also correspondence.〔Glenn E. Markoe, ''Phoenicians'' (London: British Museum, Berkely: University of California 2000) at 21–22 (affinity), 95–96 (economy), 115–119 (religion), 137 (funerals), 143 (art).〕〔David Diringer, ''Writing'' (London: Thames and Hudson 1962) at 115–116. The Ugarit tablet were discovered in 1929.〕〔Allen C. Myers, editor, ''The Eerdmans Bible Dictionary'' (Grand Rapids: 1987) at 1027–1028.〕 The highly valued works of Sanchuniathon, an ancient priest of Beirut, who reportedly wrote on Phoenician religion and the origins of civilization, are themselves completely lost, but some little content endures twice removed.〔Markoe, ''Phoenicians'' (2000) at 119. Eusebius of Caesarea (263–339), the Church Historian, quotes the Greek of Philo of Byblos whose source was the Phoenician writings of Sanchuniathon. Some doubt the existence of Sanchuniathon.〕〔Cf., Attridge & Oden, ''Philo of Byblos'' (1981); Baumgarten, ''Phoenician History of Philo of Byblos'' (1981). Cited by Markoe (2000).〕 Sanchuniathon was said to have lived in the 11th century, which is considered doubtful.〔Donald Harden, ''The Phoenicians'' (New York: Praeger 1962, 2d ed. 1963) at 83–84.〕〔Sabatino Moscati, ''Il Mondo dei Fenici'' (1966), translated as ''The World of the Phoenicians'' (London: Cardinal 1973) at 55. Prof. Moscati offers the tablets found at ancient Ugarit as independent substantiation for what we know about Sanchuniathon's writings.〕 Much later a ''Phoenician History'' by Philo of Byblos (64–141) reportedly existed, written in Greek, but only fragments of this work survive.〔Soren, Khader, Slim, ''Carthage'' (1990) at 128–129.〕〔The ancient Romanized Jewish historian Flavius Josephus (37–100s) also mentions a lost Phoenician work; he quotes from a ''Phoenician History'' of one "Dius". Josephus, ''Against Apion'' (c.100) at I:17; found in ''The Works of Josephus'' translated by Whiston (London 1736; reprinted by Hendrickson, Peabody, Massachusetts 1987) at 773–814, 780.〕 An explanation proffered for why so few Phoenician works endured: early on (11th century) archives and records began to be kept on papyrus, which does not long survive in a moist coastal climate.〔Glenn E. Markoe, ''Phoenicians'' (Univ.of California 2002) at 11, 110. Of course, this also applies to Carthage. Cf., Markoe (2000) at 114.〕 Also, both Phoenicians and Carthaginians were well known for their secrecy.〔Strabo (c. 63 B.C. – A.D. 20s), ''Geographia'' at III, 5.11.〕〔"He knows all lingos, but pretends he doesn't. He must be Punic; need we labor it?" From Poenulus at 112–113, by the Roman playwright Plautus (c. 250–184). Cited by Hardon, ''The Phoenicians'' (1963) at 228, n102.〕 Thus, of their ancient writings we have little of major interest left to us by Carthage, or by Phoenicia the country of origin of the city founders. "Of the various Phoenician and Punic compositions alluded to by the ancient classical authors, not a single work or even fragment has survived in its original idiom." "Indeed, not a single Phoenician manuscript has survived in the original () or in translation."〔Markoe, ''Phoenicians'' (2000) at 110, at 11. Inserted in second Markoe quote: ().〕 We cannot therefore access directly the line of thought or the contour of their worldview as expressed in their own words, in their own voice.〔Cf., Harden, ''The Phoenicians'' (1963) at 123. (Peoples and Places )〕 Ironically, it was the Phoenicians who "invented or at least perfected and transmitted a form of writing (alphabet ) that has influenced dozens of cultures including our own."〔Soren, Ben Khader, Slim, 'Carthage'' (New York: Simon and Schuster 1990) at 34–35 (script), at 42 (inserted in quote: (alphabet )).〕〔Steven Roger Fischer, ''A History of Writing'' (London: Reaktion 2001) at 82–93. Facsimiles of early alphabetical writing from ancient inscriptions are given for: Proto-Canaanite in the Levant of the 2nd millennium (at 88), Phoenician (Old Hebrew) in Moab of 842 (at 91), Phoenician (Punic) in Marseilles () circa 300 BC (at 92). Also given (at 92) is a bilingual (Punic and Numidian) inscription from Thugga () circa 218–201, which regards a temple being dedicated to king Masinissa.〕〔David Diringer, ''Writing'' (London: Thames and Hudson 1962) at 112–121.〕 As noted, the celebrated ancient books on agriculture written by Mago of Carthage survives only via quotations in Latin from several later Roman works. His books are discussed in the ''City and country'' section below. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「History of Punic-era Tunisia: culture」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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