Paolo Xella
University of Pisa, Dipartimento "Civiltà e Forme del Sapere", Faculty Member
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Phoenician and Carthaginian infant cremation sanctuaries (tophet), attested throughout the central Mediterranean (north Africa, Sardinia and Sicily, and perhaps Malta), up to this point lack convincing archaeological evidence in the... more
Phoenician and Carthaginian infant cremation sanctuaries (tophet), attested throughout the central Mediterranean (north Africa, Sardinia and Sicily, and perhaps Malta), up to this point lack convincing archaeological evidence in the Phoenician motherland and the far western Mediterranean. This study collects and re-examines the evidence of its Levantine origin of historical order, (the chronology of the settlements and the almost contemporary installation of tophet precincts in them), epigraphic (the inscription of Nebi Yunis) and literary (biblical testimonies and some Greek and Latin writers). Taken as a whole, this documentation strongly leads us to exclude an explanation of the tophet as a novelty introduced by the migrants, but an ancient traditional institution that derived in all probability from the city of Tyre.
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This general introduction serves as a preface to each author’s contribution, outlining certain common standards and methods. These include the range of meanings we use for specific terms and the answers to basic yet often contested... more
This general introduction serves as a preface to each author’s contribution, outlining certain common standards and methods. These include the range of meanings we use for specific terms and the answers to basic yet often contested interrogatives relating to the precinct (the who, what, when, and where) and the history of polemical debates within the discipline (the why and how). By providing this background context here, oft repeated at the beginning of any study of tophet precincts, each author can instead focus on specific data and on analysis within their specialization.
Phoenician and Carthaginian infant cremation sanctuaries (tophet), attested throughout the central Mediterranean (north Africa, Sardinia and Sicily, and perhaps Malta), up to this point lack convincing archaeological evidence in the... more
Phoenician and Carthaginian infant cremation sanctuaries (tophet), attested throughout the central Mediterranean (north Africa, Sardinia and Sicily, and perhaps Malta), up to this point lack convincing archaeological evidence in the Phoenician motherland and the far western Mediterranean. This study collects and reexamines the evidence of its Levantine origin of historical order, (the chronology of the settlements and the almost contemporary installation of tophet precincts in them), epigraphic (the inscription of Nebi Yunis) and literary (biblical testimonies and some Greek and Latin writers). Taken as a whole, this documentation strongly leads us to exclude an explanation of the tophet as a novelty introduced by the migrants, but an ancient traditional institution that derived in all probability from the city of Tyre.
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Il presente contributo si propone di riesaminare la questione dell’identita fenicia come si e andata delineando negli studi, in sintetico parallelo con il problema delle « origini » etrusche. Dopo una premessa di carattere metodologico,... more
Il presente contributo si propone di riesaminare la questione dell’identita fenicia come si e andata delineando negli studi, in sintetico parallelo con il problema delle « origini » etrusche. Dopo una premessa di carattere metodologico, incentrata sull’approccio che riceve la questione identitaria in campo socio-antropologico, si delinea brevemente la storia degli studi fenici, dalla fondazione a opera di Sabatino Moscati, alla situazione presente. Una rapida valutazione delle evidenze, interne e esterne, suggerisce sicuramente di non abbandonare i termini Fenicio e fenici, ma di limitarne l’uso alla loro funzionalita euristica, considerando che, dal punto di vista storico, l’orizzonte e molto piu ampio e articolato di quanto non si tenda generalmente a ritenere. Piuttosto che di « identita fenicia », si deve parlare di « identita cittadine », per i vari centri, che non hanno mai dato manifestazioni di coscienza nazionale unitaria.
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Traduction italienne, Rome, 1995International audienc
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Book also available in Italian language at https://www.electa.it/en/product/carthago-il-mito-immortale-2/This volume is published on the occasion of the exhibition of the same name presented in Rome, at the Parco Archeologico del Colosseo... more
Book also available in Italian language at https://www.electa.it/en/product/carthago-il-mito-immortale-2/This volume is published on the occasion of the exhibition of the same name presented in Rome, at the Parco Archeologico del Colosseo from 27 September 2019 to 29 March 2020. The curatorial project, as a whole, arises from the scant attention paid so far to the famous North African metropolis: while the Phoenicians have already been the subject of some exhibitions (the most famous being that at Palazzo Grassi in 1987), until now Carthage has not been the subject of equal interest, despite the progress of studies. The work of excavation and research in recent decades therefore gives the volume an objective and elevated scholarly interest, offering the opportunity to provide an up-to-date picture of our knowledge and also to report some outstanding new insights and discoveries. Apart from archaeology, it is characterised by a plunge into modernity, with the role of Carthage in the collective imagination through an extraordinary collection of contemporary illustrations that includes literature, comics, music, videogames and, of course, cinema. We have therefore sought to approach a subject familiar to most people with a distinctive approach: Carthage cannot fail to immediately evoke Rome, since the events of the two great Mediterranean metropolises were historically entwined.Together with this volume, the exhibition catalogue is also being published, covering the event section by section and presenting the whole series of over 400 exhibits from major Italian and international collections.Peer reviewe
Research Interests: Ancient History, Archaeology, Classical Archaeology, Mythology, Phoenicians, and 15 moreMediterranean Studies, Mediterranean, History of the Mediterranean, Carthage (Archaeology), Underwater Archaeology, Mediterranean archaeology, Mediterranean and North Africa, Phoenician Punic Archaeology, Carthage (History), Punic Wars, Second Punic War, Phoenician and Punic Studies, Phoenician Punic Religion, Roman Archaeology, and Electa
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Xella Paolo. La figure du « Prince prédestiné » au Proche-Orient ancien : destin des puissants et volonté des dieux. In: Pouvoir, divination et prédestination dans le monde antique. Besançon : Institut des Sciences et Techniques de... more
Xella Paolo. La figure du « Prince prédestiné » au Proche-Orient ancien : destin des puissants et volonté des dieux. In: Pouvoir, divination et prédestination dans le monde antique. Besançon : Institut des Sciences et Techniques de l'Antiquité, 1999. pp. 159-173. (Collection « ISTA », 717
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Cette etude propose des remarques generales concernant l’interpretation du phenomene tophet a la lumiere des debats recents. L’on insiste sur la necessite d’interpretations fondees sur la connaissance et l’exploitation de toutes les... more
Cette etude propose des remarques generales concernant l’interpretation du phenomene tophet a la lumiere des debats recents. L’on insiste sur la necessite d’interpretations fondees sur la connaissance et l’exploitation de toutes les sources, ainsi que des theories qui abordent tous les volets du probleme, sans se limiter a des aspects particuliers. L’on reconsidere la question des rapports entre urnes et steles, en concluant que la deposition des urnes et l’erection des marqueurs votifs sont les actes conclusifs d’une ceremonie unitaire. L’on aborde enfin la question de la presence de sepultures infantiles dans les necropoles proches d’un tophet, a la lumieres des resultats recents issus des fouilles menees a Motye (Sicile), une donnee qui ne peut pas etre expliquee de maniere adequate par la theorie du tophet comme necropole infantile. Par contre, l’interpretation du tophet comme lieu de culte ou les nouveau-nes ou les bebes (et des animaux) etaient sacrifies aux dieux suite a un vœu est compatible avec toutes les sources et fournit des reponses convaincantes a des questions qui resteraient autrement sans explication.
Research Interests: Philosophy, Humanities, Art, Phoenicians, Inscriptions, and 10 moreNecropolis, Historical Studies, Stelae, Tophet, Nécropole, Phéniciens, Urnes, Stèles, Pallas, and Urns
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KTU 1.48, malgre son mauvais etat (verso illisible, recto lacunaire), est d'un interet certain pour la connaissance des pratiques culturelles d'Ugarit, en ce que les victimes sacrificielles y sont quasi exclusivement des oiseaux.... more
KTU 1.48, malgre son mauvais etat (verso illisible, recto lacunaire), est d'un interet certain pour la connaissance des pratiques culturelles d'Ugarit, en ce que les victimes sacrificielles y sont quasi exclusivement des oiseaux. Il semble que ce texte rapporte les modestes offrandes d'un petit groupe de fideles (corporation des oiseleurs?) et reflete une pratique de religion populaire. L'A. compare le vocabulaire de KTU 1.48 a celui du Tarif de Marseille, le document phenicien eclairant le texte ugaritique.
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Résumé/Abstract Ce texte ne parle pas en toutes lettres d'un premier-né humain à sacrifier| il peut aussi bien s' interpréter comme désignant un jeune animal, et c'est le sens le plus probable, vu l'absence de... more
Résumé/Abstract Ce texte ne parle pas en toutes lettres d'un premier-né humain à sacrifier| il peut aussi bien s' interpréter comme désignant un jeune animal, et c'est le sens le plus probable, vu l'absence de témoignages contemporains pour les sacrifices d'enfants.
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... Esso è seguito da un secondo segno, costituito da un tratto verticale più lungo che, come tale, po-5 Ho discusso di questo testo con Maria Giulia Amadasi, a cui sono riconoscente per suggerimenti e proficui scambi di idee. ...
Research Interests: Ancient History, Digital Humanities, Art, Semitic languages, Phoenicians, and 15 moreMediterranean Studies, Corpus Linguistics, Syro-Palestinian archaeology, History of the Mediterranean, Phoenician, Northwest Semitic Epigraphy, Hebrew Bible and Ancient Near East, Mediterranean archaeology, Phoenician Punic Archaeology, Northwest Semitics, North-West Semitic Epigraphy, Epigraphy, Phoenician and Punic Studies, Semitic Philology, and Data Bases
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L'A. propose une reflexion sur les origines historiques du rite du bouc emissaire. Si il s'interesse au livre biblique du Levitique, ce n'est pas pour en faire une exegese religieuse : il cherche plutot a exprimer un point de... more
L'A. propose une reflexion sur les origines historiques du rite du bouc emissaire. Si il s'interesse au livre biblique du Levitique, ce n'est pas pour en faire une exegese religieuse : il cherche plutot a exprimer un point de vue d'historien des religions. L'Ancien Testament n'est ici que le temoin documentaire d'une pratique vraisemblablement generalisee a l'ensemble du Bassin mediterraneen, comme le recours aux religions comparees semble le suggerer. Le rite d'Ebla n'est qu'un exemple parmi d'autres : les rites ougaritiques en Syrie en sont la preuve
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Cette etude examine l’etymologie et la portee semantique du terme phenico-punique tʿlyh, atteste a Carthage et vraisemblablement aussi a Guelma. Le mot se rapporte a un objet de production artisanale et le probleme se pose de verifier... more
Cette etude examine l’etymologie et la portee semantique du terme phenico-punique tʿlyh, atteste a Carthage et vraisemblablement aussi a Guelma. Le mot se rapporte a un objet de production artisanale et le probleme se pose de verifier s’il se rencontre aussi a Cos, dans une celebre inscription bilingue greco-phenicienne. Il s’agit d’essayer de montrer que, a Cos, l’on a affaire a un terme different, c’est-a-dire tʿl, qui se refere a une structure du port local, bâtie par le prince sidonien ʿAbdalonim / Abdalonymos, “pour le salut de tous les marins”.
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L'examen de la photographie de KTU 2.23 impose la restitution du nom divin b'l spn, comme l'ont propose M. Liverani, O. Eissfeldt et C. H. Gordon. Ce dieu apparait ainsi comme le protecteur de la dynastie d'Ougarit, en... more
L'examen de la photographie de KTU 2.23 impose la restitution du nom divin b'l spn, comme l'ont propose M. Liverani, O. Eissfeldt et C. H. Gordon. Ce dieu apparait ainsi comme le protecteur de la dynastie d'Ougarit, en face d'Amon protecteur du pharaon auquel la lettre est adressee
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Dans le monde phénico-punique est attesté un certain nombre de noms divins" doubles" associant deux authentiques théonymes. Le répertoire des noms divins" doubles" semble aujourd'hui considérablement réduit et... more
Dans le monde phénico-punique est attesté un certain nombre de noms divins" doubles" associant deux authentiques théonymes. Le répertoire des noms divins" doubles" semble aujourd'hui considérablement réduit et c'est en particulier le dieu Réshep qui paraît devoir ...
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Website of SEL Studi Epigrafici e Linguistici sul Vicino Oriente antico - Nuova serie (Ricerche storiche e filologiche sulle clture del Vicino Oriente e del Mediterraneo antico). Consulted on 24/10/2019.
Corpus Inscriptionum Phoenicarum necnon Poenicarum (CIP), is the website of the homonimus project. Consulted on 23/10/2019.
BAAL8,200d Bas-reliefs de dieux momifiés au Liban Zeina Fani Une nouvelle inscription de Bodashtart, roi de Sidon, sur la rive du Nahr al-Awwali près de Bustan es-Sefc Paolo Xella et José-Angel Zamora Inscriptions grecques et Antiquités... more
BAAL8,200d Bas-reliefs de dieux momifiés au Liban Zeina Fani Une nouvelle inscription de Bodashtart, roi de Sidon, sur la rive du Nahr al-Awwali près de Bustan es-Sefc Paolo Xella et José-Angel Zamora Inscriptions grecques et Antiquités de Haloua Julien Aliquot Un ordre ...
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Ayuda. Buscador. Ver el registro completo y el enlace al documento. Registro completo. Recurso de origen, Digital.CSIC. Identificador, BAAL 9, (2005) pp. 269-290. Identificador, 1683-0083. Identificador, http://hdl.handle.net/10261/9228.... more
Ayuda. Buscador. Ver el registro completo y el enlace al documento. Registro completo. Recurso de origen, Digital.CSIC. Identificador, BAAL 9, (2005) pp. 269-290. Identificador, 1683-0083. Identificador, http://hdl.handle.net/10261/9228. ...
Research Interests: Phoenicians, Lebanon, Phoenician, Water Resources engineering, Northwest Semitic Epigraphy, and 10 morePhoenician Punic Archaeology, Northwest Semitics, Achaemenian Empire, North-West Semitic Epigraphy, Phoenician sanctuary, Phoenician & Punic Epigraphy, Phoenician and Punic Studies, Archaeology of the Levant, Phoenician Culture, and Phoenician Punic Religion
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Research Interests: History, Ancient History, Archaeology, Phoenicians, Mediterranean Studies, and 13 moreHistory of Religions, Writing, Phoenician, Carthage (Archaeology), Etruscan Archaeology, Phoenician Punic Archaeology, Carthage (History), Etruscology, North-West Semitic Epigraphy, Epigraphy, Phoenician & Punic Epigraphy, Phoenician and Punic Studies, and Phoenician Punic Religion
and Keywords Phoenician polytheism-its structure and rites-is not completely unknown to us. There were mythological traditions common to the area, as well as a structure common to the pantheons of the Phoenician cities. At the top there... more
and Keywords Phoenician polytheism-its structure and rites-is not completely unknown to us. There were mythological traditions common to the area, as well as a structure common to the pantheons of the Phoenician cities. At the top there is a divine couple consisting of a male god and a goddess, his spouse, and a divine assembly. The same basic structure is detectable in the Punic world, Carthage and elsewhere, although with differences and innovations. In turn, every Phoenician city had its own tutelary deities: the diversification of gods and cults was a powerful means of cultural identity and identification. As for Phoenician mythology, a theme emerges from available sources, which ultimately dates back to the Late Bronze Age, as exemplified by Ugaritic Baal: Among the ceremonies, particularly important was a solemn feast, called egersis ("awakening") in Greek sources, which commemorated annually Milqart's death and return to life. The chapter also discusses the tophet and its rites, both bloody and not, related to the fulfilment of vows concerning severe individual or collective crises, which in some cases involved the sacrifice of children to the gods. OWING TO THE type of sources, an overview of Phoenician religion (e.g., Xella 2008: 50ff.; Bonnet 2010) encounters the same difficulties as any general study of this civilization. As other ancient Mediterranean peoples, the Phoenicians had their own worldview, which did not distinguish between religious and other spheres of culture in the way we do. In particular, concepts such as exclusive faith in the gods are inapplicable to this type of society. Instead of a codified and detectable "religion," they possessed complex traditions shaped by their own conceptual categories and a cosmological vision, in which what we see as religious, political, and economical spheres were differently articulated. This has an immediate consequence for our approach: there are no sources that are particularly "religious," but almost all evidence must be taken into consideration in order to reconstruct their "religion" according to our parameters. Of course, sources such as dedicatory inscriptions, cultic prescriptions, or mythological tales are closer to our concept of religion, but iconographic evidence, onomastic material, and administrative documents can also make a useful contribution to our research (Bonnet and Xella 1995). Like every polytheistic system, Phoenician religion is based on the belief in a multiplicity of superhuman agents, each with specific functions, organized in a particular hierarchy and a network of mutual relationships (Xella 1986). This symbolic system manifests itself at two different levels: ideological and practical. The first level is that of differently codified traditions, which
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Abstract: The corpus of Phoenician-Punic inscriptions comprises about 12,000 documents, spread over a very wide area and span of time (all the countries of the Mediterranean region, from the end of the 2nd millennium BCE to the first... more
Abstract:
The corpus of Phoenician-Punic inscriptions comprises about 12,000 documents, spread over a very wide area and span of time (all the countries of the Mediterranean region, from the end of the 2nd millennium BCE to the first centuries of the 1st millennium CE). The quantity and nature of the documents have caused considerable difficulties in the knowledge and scientific use of these sources. The project CIP (Corpus Inscriptionum Phoenicarum necnon Poenicarum, also known as the PhDB or Phoenician Data Base) came into being to tackle these problems by producing a collection and a critical edition of all the epigraphic documents in the form of a data bank.
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Epigraphy, North-West Semitics, Phoenician & Punic, corpus, data bank.
The corpus of Phoenician-Punic inscriptions comprises about 12,000 documents, spread over a very wide area and span of time (all the countries of the Mediterranean region, from the end of the 2nd millennium BCE to the first centuries of the 1st millennium CE). The quantity and nature of the documents have caused considerable difficulties in the knowledge and scientific use of these sources. The project CIP (Corpus Inscriptionum Phoenicarum necnon Poenicarum, also known as the PhDB or Phoenician Data Base) came into being to tackle these problems by producing a collection and a critical edition of all the epigraphic documents in the form of a data bank.
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Epigraphy, North-West Semitics, Phoenician & Punic, corpus, data bank.
Research Interests: Ancient History, Digital Humanities, Semitic languages, Phoenicians, Mediterranean Studies, and 15 moreCorpus Linguistics, Syro-Palestinian archaeology, History of the Mediterranean, Phoenician, Northwest Semitic Epigraphy, Hebrew Bible and Ancient Near East, Mediterranean archaeology, Phoenician Punic Archaeology, Northwest Semitics, North-West Semitic Epigraphy, Epigraphy, Phoenician & Punic Epigraphy, Phoenician and Punic Studies, Semitic Philology, and Data Bases
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La documentation épigraphique phénico-punique au Maroc est ici examinée afin d'en tirer toutes les données présentant un intérêt historico-religieux. Dans un panorama où les sources classiques ne nous fournissent que très peu de... more
La documentation épigraphique phénico-punique au Maroc est ici examinée afin d'en tirer toutes les données présentant un intérêt historico-religieux. Dans un panorama où les sources classiques ne nous fournissent que très peu de renseignements sur ce sujet, l'analyse de inscriptions offre la possibilité concrète d'une toute première approche de ce thème. Parmi les 130 inscriptions environ du corpus marocain-dont la plupart sont laconiques ou franchement fragmentaires-celles de Lixus, de Volubilis et de Mogador se distinguent particulièrement. Les ostraca de Mogador, surtout, attestent entre autres la plus ancienne mention connue du dieu Eshmum qui figure dans quelques noms propres de la fin du VIIe siècle av. J.-C.
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Research Interests: Mediterranean Studies, Northwest Semitic Epigraphy, Carthage (Archaeology), Mediterranean archaeology, History of Religions (History), and 6 moreCarthage (History), Phoenician and Punic Studies, Ancient Carthage, Phoenician and Punic Archaeology, Phoenician Punic Religion, and Northwest Semitic Philology
... aussi van Soldt 1989). ... Si, en 1843, Benjamin Winchester pouvait encore se permettre d'écrire un livre intitulé A history of the priesthood from the beginning of the world to the present time et, il ya à peine 30 ans,... more
... aussi van Soldt 1989). ... Si, en 1843, Benjamin Winchester pouvait encore se permettre d'écrire un livre intitulé A history of the priesthood from the beginning of the world to the present time et, il ya à peine 30 ans, James A. Mohler se mettait encore à rechercher The origin and ...
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This study aims at examining several key terms in the Phoenician inscription from Pyrgi, as well as providing a summary of the information deducible from this document. The analysis is carried out exclusively within the Phoenician text,... more
This study aims at examining several key terms in the Phoenician inscription from Pyrgi, as well as
providing a summary of the information deducible from this document. The analysis is carried out
exclusively within the Phoenician text, i.e., without seeking comparisons with the Etruscan texts, in order
to avoid constraints and circular arguments. Among the mains results are: a thorough review of the terms
designating cult-places, the translation of ʾrš as “to ask” or “to request”, the translation of mʾš as “statue”
and not “gift”, each with fundamental implications for a general evaluation of the text and also the
archaeological context. An interpretation only based on the Phoenician text indicates that the gift (mtn)
made to Ashtart by Thefarie was a cult-place (ʾšr qdš) smaller than the whole sanctuary (bt); this ʾšr qdš
was characterized by (or perhaps consisted of) a cella (tw) containing a divine statue (mʾš ʾlm). These and
other results may seem to mark a step backwards but, on the contrary, they clear the ground of false
interpretive tracks to be abandoned. To be sure, they are to be compared and harmonized with the
information provided by the texts in Etruscan and, of course, the Pyrgi archaeological evidence.
providing a summary of the information deducible from this document. The analysis is carried out
exclusively within the Phoenician text, i.e., without seeking comparisons with the Etruscan texts, in order
to avoid constraints and circular arguments. Among the mains results are: a thorough review of the terms
designating cult-places, the translation of ʾrš as “to ask” or “to request”, the translation of mʾš as “statue”
and not “gift”, each with fundamental implications for a general evaluation of the text and also the
archaeological context. An interpretation only based on the Phoenician text indicates that the gift (mtn)
made to Ashtart by Thefarie was a cult-place (ʾšr qdš) smaller than the whole sanctuary (bt); this ʾšr qdš
was characterized by (or perhaps consisted of) a cella (tw) containing a divine statue (mʾš ʾlm). These and
other results may seem to mark a step backwards but, on the contrary, they clear the ground of false
interpretive tracks to be abandoned. To be sure, they are to be compared and harmonized with the
information provided by the texts in Etruscan and, of course, the Pyrgi archaeological evidence.
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Research Interests: Phoenician Punic Archaeology, Phoenician & Punic Epigraphy, Phoenician and Punic Studies, western Phoenician archaeology, Carthage, Punic Pottery, Mediterranean archaeology, Phoenician Punic Archaeology, Punic world and Punic Archaeology, Phoenician and Punic Studies, archaeology of Sardinia in phoenician age, and Neopunic
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This study aims at re-examining the main aspects of the Phoenician identity issue in the light of current evaluations of the matter, in parallel with the problem of the Etruscan « origins »in order to show differences and similarities. A... more
This study aims at re-examining the main aspects of the Phoenician identity issue in the light of current evaluations of the matter, in parallel with the problem of the Etruscan « origins »in order to show differences and similarities. A general premise provides some basic socioanthropological
parameters used in approaching the « identity » topic. A synthesis of the history of research follows, from the foundation of this field by Sabatino Moscati until contemporary status quaestionis. An evaluation of both direct and indirect evidence suggests that the term « Phoenician » is still useful, but only as a conventional definition and according to its heuristic value. In fact, from a chronological, geographic and cultural point of view,
the current concept of Phoenician is too narrow and, instead of a national consciousness ofidentity, one must speak of urban identities, both in the Levant and in the Mediterranean
diaspora, and not only for the Iron Age.
parameters used in approaching the « identity » topic. A synthesis of the history of research follows, from the foundation of this field by Sabatino Moscati until contemporary status quaestionis. An evaluation of both direct and indirect evidence suggests that the term « Phoenician » is still useful, but only as a conventional definition and according to its heuristic value. In fact, from a chronological, geographic and cultural point of view,
the current concept of Phoenician is too narrow and, instead of a national consciousness ofidentity, one must speak of urban identities, both in the Levant and in the Mediterranean
diaspora, and not only for the Iron Age.
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In the first of these two papers, Patricia Smith and her co-authors argue that infant sacrifice is still (in their view) the most likely interpretation of the data, based on the age distribution of the deceased. In the second, Paolo Xella... more
In the first of these two papers, Patricia Smith and her
co-authors argue that infant sacrifice is still (in their view) the most likely interpretation of the data, based on the age distribution of the deceased. In the second, Paolo Xella and colleagues, too, are convinced that infant sacrifice took place. They step aside from the details of the cremated remains, however, to emphasise a range of other social and archaeological aspects of the Tophets in Carthage and elsewhere that are critical for understanding these sanctuaries and their rituals.
co-authors argue that infant sacrifice is still (in their view) the most likely interpretation of the data, based on the age distribution of the deceased. In the second, Paolo Xella and colleagues, too, are convinced that infant sacrifice took place. They step aside from the details of the cremated remains, however, to emphasise a range of other social and archaeological aspects of the Tophets in Carthage and elsewhere that are critical for understanding these sanctuaries and their rituals.
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This study aims at offering a general interpretation of the tophet-phenomenon in the light of present knowledge. Direct as well as indirect sources are reexamined, and the hypothesis of the tophet as child-necropolis is excluded. On the... more
This study aims at offering a general interpretation of the tophet-phenomenon in the light of present knowledge. Direct as well as indirect sources are reexamined, and the hypothesis of the tophet as child-necropolis is excluded. On the contrary, it is analysed as a cult-place where newborn or very young children (and lambs and kids) were sacrificed to the gods as a consequence of a vow, made by a single, a family or a collectivity. To be sure, ritual infant killings were not the only ceremonies carried there, but archaeological evidence testifies that the very core of the rites was the child-sacrifice. As a consequence, an interpretive model is proposed, based on the vowing-dynamics: if a vow (ndr) was made, and the prayer was fulfilled by the gods, the promise must be kept at all costs. This interpretation matches with all our sources and can explain both the votive character of the inscriptions and the eventual (even if rare) presence of foetuses in the urns, i.e. children vowed to the gods already before the birth, and dead during the pregnancy, but carried to the tophet, sacrificed and burnt to the gods all the same.
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P. XELLA, “Per un ‘modello interpretativo’ del tofet. Il tofet come necropoli infantile?”: G. BARTOLONI – P. MATTHIAE – L. NIGRO – L. ROMANO (ed.), Tiro, Cartagine, Lixus: nuove acquisizioni. Atti Conv. Intern. in onore di Maria Giulia Amadasi Guzzo (Quad. Vicino Oriente, IV), Roma 2010: 259-279.more
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Cette recherche a pour but d'identifier l'emplacement d'une inscription de Bodashtart, roi de Sidon, mentionnée par l'Emir Maurice Chéhab mais jamais publiée. Cette inscription parle d'aménagements faits sur le fleuve Awwali pour amener... more
Cette recherche a pour but d'identifier l'emplacement d'une inscription de Bodashtart, roi de Sidon, mentionnée par l'Emir Maurice Chéhab mais jamais publiée. Cette inscription parle d'aménagements faits sur le fleuve Awwali pour amener l'eau au temple d'Eshmoun. Afin de mener à bien cette recherche, la documentation photographique de la DGA ainsi que les sources écrites et orales furent exploitées. Une prospection sur le terrain permit de confronter les informations ainsi recueillies avec l'état actuel de la région, Ces divers axes de recherche conduisirent à l'identification quasi certaine du lieu où se trouvait l'inscription. Cette dernière ne fut pas retrouvée; elle fut probablement détruite par la centrale électrique construite à proximité ou par les aménagements modernes sur la rive droite du fleuve.
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Dans le cadre d'un accord entre la Direction Générale des Antiquités du Liban et le Consiglio Nazionale celle Ricerche (Roma) une équipe internationale composée de spécialistes italiens, libanais et espagnoles travaille à la réalisation... more
Dans le cadre d'un accord entre la Direction Générale des Antiquités du Liban et le Consiglio Nazionale celle Ricerche (Roma) une équipe internationale composée de spécialistes italiens, libanais et espagnoles travaille à la réalisation d'un projet dont le but est l'étude des inscriptions nord-ouest sémitiques conservées à la DGA. En plus des recherches près du Musée National, l'équipe a entrepris des études particulières dans différents endroits du territoire, à caractère archéologique et épigraphique, parmi lesquels l'aire du sanctuaire phénicien de Bustan eš-Šeḫ (Sidon) consacré au dieu guérisseur Eshmoun. Grâce à une série de photos des années '60 retrouvées dans les archives de la DGA, il a été possible de localiser une nouvelle et extraordinaire inscription royale phénicienne qui date du règne de Bodashtart, roi de Sidon (fin du 6ème s. av. J.-C.). Elle avait été gravée sur un rocher de la rive du Nahr el-Awwali, à 3 km environ de l'embouchure du fleuve. Même si l'inscription n'a pas été repérée, les photos ont permis de localiser l'endroit où le rocher inscrit devait se trouver et, en même temps, de rédiger une étude préliminaire du texte. L'inscription fournit toute une série de données très importantes du point de vue historique, archéologique et linguistique; elle commémorait la réalisation de travaux hydrauliques sur le fleuve qui comprenaient, entre autres, une canalisation des eaux du Awwali jusqu'au sanctuaire d'Eshmoun, célèbre pour les cultes thérapeutiques qu'on y pratiquait.
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... analoga la topografia dei luoghi di culto35, in parte coincidenti i rituali sacrificali (dal ... vicende di lotte, alleanze, complotti, uccisioni, accoppiamenti più o meno voluti, uccisioni, generazioni che ... un atto di grande... more
... analoga la topografia dei luoghi di culto35, in parte coincidenti i rituali sacrificali (dal ... vicende di lotte, alleanze, complotti, uccisioni, accoppiamenti più o meno voluti, uccisioni, generazioni che ... un atto di grande valore simbolico fondando la prima città della Fenicia, Bibloè il ...
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KTU 1.17 [= CTA 17] v 13-20 13)...... apnk. dnil 14) mt. rpi. aphn. gr. mt 15) hrnmy. gm.. 1 atth. kysh 16) Jim'. mtt. dnty.'db 17) imr. b phd. I npS. ktr 18) w hss. I brlt. hn d 19) hrWyd. l. hm. Jqy 20) ilm sad. kdb.... more
KTU 1.17 [= CTA 17] v 13-20 13)...... apnk. dnil 14) mt. rpi. aphn. gr. mt 15) hrnmy. gm.. 1 atth. kysh 16) Jim'. mtt. dnty.'db 17) imr. b phd. I npS. ktr 18) w hss. I brlt. hn d 19) hrWyd. l. hm. Jqy 20) ilm sad. kdb. hnt... 13)... Alors Dnil, 14) l'homme de Rpu 6), immediatement le ...
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L'historien des religions qui s' occupe des cultures du Proche-Orient ancien, avant meme d'affronter les problemes specifiquesa ses enquetes, doit faire face a toute une serie de difficultes preliminaires, dont... more
L'historien des religions qui s' occupe des cultures du Proche-Orient ancien, avant meme d'affronter les problemes specifiquesa ses enquetes, doit faire face a toute une serie de difficultes preliminaires, dont la pre miere est la necessite de pouvoir evoluer a travers des ...
This paper aims to reexamine the dossiers of some mythical figures in the Phoenician-Punic traditions, traditionally evaluated as « dying gods », particularly Melquart and Eshmun. With regard to the former, special attention deserves the... more
This paper aims to reexamine the dossiers of some mythical figures in the Phoenician-Punic traditions, traditionally evaluated as « dying gods », particularly Melquart and Eshmun. With regard to the former, special attention deserves the problem of his egersis, the very nature ...
Información del libro La questione delle influenze vicino-orientali sulla religione greca: Monografie sicentifique. Serie scienze umane e sociali.
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Localización: Vivir en tierra extraña: emigración e integración cultural en el mundo antiguo: actas de la reunión realizada en Zaragoza los días 2 y 3 de junio de 2003/coord. por José Remesal Rodríguez, Francisco Marco Simón, Francisco... more
Localización: Vivir en tierra extraña: emigración e integración cultural en el mundo antiguo: actas de la reunión realizada en Zaragoza los días 2 y 3 de junio de 2003/coord. por José Remesal Rodríguez, Francisco Marco Simón, Francisco Pina Polo, 2004, ISBN 84-475-...
... La religione fenicia e punica: studi recenti e prospettive di ricerca. Autores: Paolo Xella; Localización: Nuevas perspectivas I : la investigación fenicia y púnica / coord. por Juan Pablo Vita Barra, José Angel Zamora López, 2006,... more
... La religione fenicia e punica: studi recenti e prospettive di ricerca. Autores: Paolo Xella; Localización: Nuevas perspectivas I : la investigación fenicia y púnica / coord. por Juan Pablo Vita Barra, José Angel Zamora López, 2006, ISBN 84-7290-318-4 , págs. 51-60. ...