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ThePunic people, usually known as theCarthaginians[1] (and sometimes asWestern Phoenicians),[2] were aSemitic people whomigrated fromPhoenicia to theWestern Mediterranean[3] during theEarly Iron Age. In modern scholarship, the termPunic, theLatin equivalent of theGreek-derived termPhoenician, is exclusively used to refer to Phoenicians in the western Mediterranean, following the line of theGreek East and Latin West. The largest Punic settlement wasAncient Carthage, but there were 300 other settlements along theNorth African coast fromLeptis Magna in modernLibya toMogador in southernMorocco,[4] as well as westernSicily, southernSardinia, the southern and eastern coasts of theIberian Peninsula,Malta, andIbiza. Their language,Punic, was a variety ofPhoenician, one of theNorthwest Semitic languages originating in theLevant.[5]
Literary sources report two moments ofTyrian[citation needed] settlements in the west, the first in the 12th century BC (the citiesUtica,Lixus, andGadir) that hasn't been confirmed by archaeology, and a second at the end of the 9th century BC, documented in written references in both east and west, which culminated in the foundation of colonies in northwest Africa (the cities Auza,Carthage, andKition on the southern coast ofCyprus)[6] and formed part of trading networks linked toTyre,Arvad,Byblos,Berytus,Ekron, andSidon in thePhoenician homeland. Although links with Phoenicia were retained throughout their history, they also developed close trading relations with other peoples of the western Mediterranean, such as Sicilians, Sardinians,Berbers, Greeks, andIberians, and developed some cultural traits distinct from those of their Phoenician homeland. Some of these were shared by all western Phoenicians, while others were restricted to individual regions within the Punic sphere.
The western Phoenicians were arranged into a multitude of self-governing city-states.Carthage had grown to be the largest and most powerful of these city-states by the 5th century BC and gained increasingly close control over Punic Sicily and Sardinia in the 4th century BC, but communities in Iberia remained outside their control until the second half of the 3rd century BC. In the course of thePunic wars (264–146 BC), the Romans challenged Carthaginian hegemony in the western Mediterranean, culminating in the destruction of Carthage in 146 BC, but the Punic language and Punic culture endured under Roman rule, surviving in some places untillate antiquity.
The English adjective "Punic" is used in modern academic writing to refer to the western Phoenicians. Theproper nouns "Punics" and "Punes" were used in the 16th century, but are obsolete and there is no proper noun in current use. "Punic" derives from theLatinpoenus andpunicus, which were used mostly to refer to the Carthaginians and other western Phoenicians. These terms derived from theAncient Greek wordΦοῖνιξ ("Phoinix"), plural formΦοίνικες ("Phoinikes"), which was used indiscriminately to refer to both western and eastern Phoenicians. Latin later borrowed the Greek term a second time as"Phoenix", plural form"Phoenices", also used indiscriminately.[7]
Numismatic evidence from Sicily shows that some western Phoenicians made use of the term "Phoinix",[8] but it is not clear what term (if any) they used for themselves; they may have called themselves 𐤊𐤍𐤏𐤍𐤌 (knʿnm, "Canaanites").[9] A passage fromAugustine has often been interpreted as indicating that they called themselves Canaanites (Chanani inLatin),[10] Augustine writes:
When our rural peasants are asked what theyare, they reply, in Punic, "Chanani", which is only a corruption by one letter of the alphabet of what we would expect: What else should they reply except that they are "Chananei"?[11]
It has been argued byJ.C. Quinn that this is a misreading,[12] since although this term is "applied to Levantine people" in the Hebrew Bible, "there is no other evidence for self-identification as Canaanite, and so we might suspect him of learned optimism."[13] However, this opinion is not shared by all scholars.[14]
In modern academic writing, the termPunic exclusively refers to Phoenicians in the western Mediterranean. Specific Punic groups are often referred to with hyphenated names, likeSiculo-Punic orSardo-Punic. (This practice has ancient roots:Hellenistic Greek authors sometimes referred to the Punic inhabitants of central northern Africa (Libya) asLiby-Phoenicians.)
Like other Phoenician people, their urbanized culture and economy were strongly linked to the sea. They settled overNorthwest Africa in what is nowAlgeria, Morocco,Tunisia andLibya and established some colonies in Southern Iberia, Sardinia, Sicily,Ebusus, Malta and other small islands of the western Mediterranean. In Sardinia and Sicily, they had strong economic and political ties to the independent natives in the hinterland. Their naval presence and trade extended throughout the Mediterranean and beyond, to Atlantic Iberia, theBritish Isles, theCanaries.[15]
Technical achievements of the Punic people of Carthage include thedevelopment of uncolored glass and the use oflimestone from lakeside deposits to improve the purity ofsmelted iron.
The Punic religion was a direct continuation of thePhoenician variety of thepolytheisticancient Canaanite religion. At Carthage, the chief gods wereBaal Hammon (purportedly "Lord of theBrazier")[16] and his consortTanit, but other deities are attested, such asEshmun,Melqart,[17]Ashtart,Reshef, Sakon, andShamash.[18] The Carthaginians also adopted theGreek goddessesDemeter andKore in 396 BC,[19] as well as theEgyptian deitiesBes,Bastet,Isis,Osiris, andRa.[20][21][22] Different Punic centres had their own distinct pantheons; in Punic Sardinia, for example, Sid or Sid Babi (known to the Romans asSardus Pater and apparently an indigenous deity) received worship as the son of Melqart and was particularly associated with the island.[23]
The Carthaginians appear to have had both part-time and full-time priests, the latter calledkhnm (singularkhn, cognate with theHebrew termkohen), led by high priests calledrb khnm, as well as lower-ranking religious officials, called "servants" or "slaves" of the sanctuary (male:ˤbd, female:ˤbdt ormt), and functionaries like cooks, butchers, singers, and barbers.[24] Sanctuaries had associations, referred to asmrzḥ inPunic andNeo-Punic inscriptions, who held ritual banquets.[24] Some Phoenician communities practicedsacred prostitution; in the Punic sphere this is archeologically attested at Sicca Veneria (El Kef) in western Tunisia and the sanctuary ofVenus Erycina atEryx in western Sicily.[24] Punic sacred prostitution is mentioned by Latin authorValerius Maximus, who describes how Carthaginian women gained gifts by engaging in prostitution with visitors at Sicca Veneria.[25]
Various Greek and Roman sources describe and criticize the Carthaginian practice ofsacrificing children by burning. Many ancient Greek and Latin authors describe some version of child sacrifice to "Cronos" (Baal Hammon).[26][27] These descriptions were compared to those found in theHebrew Bible describing the sacrifice of children by burning toBaal andMoloch at a place calledTophet.[26] The ancient descriptions were seemingly confirmed by the discovering of the so-calledTophet ofSalammbô in Carthage in 1921, which contained the urns of cremated children.[28] However, modern historians and archaeologists debate the reality and extent of this practice.[29][30] Some scholars propose that all remains at thetophet were sacrificed, whereas others propose that only some were.[31]
Tunisia was among the areas settled during the first wave of Phoenician expansion into the west, with the foundation ofUtica andHippo Regius taking place around the end of the twelfth century.[32] Further Phoenician settlements, were established in the following centuries, includingHippo Diarrhytus[33] andHadrumetum.[34]
The foundation of Carthage on the site of modernTunis is dated to the late 9th century BC by Greek literary sources and archaeological evidence. The literary sources attribute the foundation to a group of Tyrian refugees led byDido and accompanied byCypriots. Archaeologically, the new foundation is characterised by the focus of religious cult on the godsTanit andBaal Hammon, by the development of a new religious structure, thetophet, and by a marked degree ofcosmopolitanism.[35]
Carthage gained direct control over theCap Bon peninsula, operating a sandstone quarry atEl Haouaria from the middle of the seventh city and establishing the city ofKerkouane in the early sixth century.[36] The region was very fertile and allowed Carthage to be economically self-sufficient.[37] The site of Kerkouane has been extensively excavated and provides the best-known example of a Punic city from North Africa.
Punic control also extended inland over theLibyans. Punic influence on inland regions is seen from the early 6th century, notably atAlthiburos, where Punic construction techniques and red-slip pottery appear at the time.[36] Armed conflicts with the Libyans are first attested in the early 5th century, with several revolts attested in the fourth century (398, 370s, 310-307 BC). In the late 4th century,Aristotle reports that the Carthaginians dealt with local discontent by resettling poor citizens in cities in Libya.[38][39] These settlements had to provide tribute and military manpower when required, but remained self-governing. There is some evidence for intermarriage between Punic people and Libyans.[40]
From the 8th century BC, Phoenicians founded several cities and strongholds on strategic points in the south and west ofSardinia, often peninsulas or islands near estuaries, easy to defend and natural harbours, such asTharros,Bithia,Sulci,Nora and Caralis (Cagliari). The north, the eastern coast and the interior of the island continued to be dominated by the indigenousNuragic civilization, whose relations with the Sardo-Punic cities were mixed, including both trade and military conflict. Intermarriage and cultural mixing took place on a large scale. The inhabitants of the Sardo-Punic cities were a mixture of Phoenician and Nuragic stock, with the latter forming the majority of the population.[41][42] Sardinia had a special position because it was central in the western Mediterranean between Carthage, Spain, the riverRhône, andEtruria.Iglesiente was an important mining area for the metalslead andzinc.
The island came under Carthaginian dominance around 510 BC, after that a first attempt at conquest in 540 BC that ended in failure.[43] They expanded their influence to the western and southern coast fromBosa to Caralis, consolidating the existing Phoenician settlements, administered by plenipotentiaries calledSuffetes, and founding new ones such asOlbia,Cornus, andNeapolis;[44]Tharros was probably the main centre.[44] Carthage encouraged the cultivation ofgrain andcereals and prohibitedfruit trees.[45] Tharros, Nora, Bithia,Monte Sirai etc. are now important archaeological sites where Punic architecture and city planning can be studied.
In 238 BC, following theFirst Punic War the Romans took over the whole island, incorporating it into the province ofCorsica et Sardinia, under apraetor. The existing power structures, infrastructure, and urbanized culture continued largely unchanged. In 216 BC, two Sardo-Punic notables fromCornus and Tharros,Hampsicora and Hanno, led a revolt against the Romans.[46] Punic culture remained strong during the first centuries of the Roman domination, but over time the civic elites adopted Roman cultural practices and Latin became first theprestige language, and later the speech of the majority of the inhabitants.[47]
The island ofIbiza derives its name fromPhoenician:𐤀𐤁𐤔𐤌,ʾBŠM,[48] "Dedicated toBes".[49][50] (LatinEbusus). A city, theSa Caleta Phoenician Settlement, which has been excavated, was established in the mid-seventh century.Diodorus dates this foundation to 654 BC and attributes it to the Carthaginians.[51][52]
From the11th century BC,Phoenicianmerchants,sailors, andartisans begin to settle in westernSicily, having already startedcolonies on the nearby parts ofNorth Africa. Within a century, they established major Phoenician settlements atSoloeis (Solunto), present dayPalermo andMotya (an island near present-dayMarsala). Others includedDrepana (Trapani) andMazara del Vallo.
AsCarthage later grew in power, these settlements sometimes came into conflict with them, such as Motya, andPhoeniciancity-states in western Sicily were eventually fully integrated intoCarthage by the6th century BC.
The Phoenicians integrated with the localElymian population as shown in archaeology as a distinctive "West Phoenician cultural identity".[53]
It is unclear when the Phoenicians began to seriously colonize North Africa. Writers in antiquity, such asPliny the Elder,[54] dated the beginning of the colonization efforts to the 12th and 11th centuries BC, as several legends describe interactions between Phoenician colonists and famous figures from theTrojan War, such asAeneas. Archaeological evidence, on the other hand, generally implies that the colonies began in the 8th century BC as, barring a few exceptional sites,[which?] any material evidence of Phoenician habitation before this time period is lacking.
The Phoenician colonial system was motivated by economic opportunity, not expansionist ideology, and as such, the Phoenicians lacked the numbers or even the desire to establish an "empire" overseas. The colonies were therefore independent city-states, though most were relatively small, probably having a population of less than 1,000. Some colonies, such asCarthage, were able to grow much larger.[55] Effectively establishing a monopoly on the continent's natural resources, the colonies' wealth exploded, which was compounded by an influx of Phoenician traders fleeing from increasing tributary obligations to foreign powers and trade interference.[56][57][58]
Within a century, the population of Carthage rose to 30,000, meanwhile, the "mother city" ofTyre, once the economic and political capital of Phoenicia, began to lose its status in the seventh century BC.[59] Phoenicia was eventually conquered by theNeo-Assyrian Empire,[60][61] by which point Carthage had become the wealthiest and most powerful of all the Phoenician colonies. Around this time, a distinct culture began to emerge from the admixture of local customs with Phoenician traditions, which also gave rise to a nascent sense of national identity. Tyre's status and power continued to diminish under Neo-Assyrian, and subsequentlyNeo-Babylonian, vassalage, and by the sixth century BC, its voluntary submission to theAchaemenid Empire had severely circumscribed what little power it retained. Its status as the pre-eminent Phoenician city was then usurped by its rival city-state,Sidon – but Sidon too was under Persian subjugation, leading the way for Carthage to fill the power vacuum as the leading Phoenician political power.
With Phoenicia's decline, Carthage had become effectively independent from Tyre by 650 BC. Carthaginians carried out significant sea explorations around Africa and elsewhere from their base in Carthage. In the 5th century BC,Hanno the Navigator played a significant role in exploring coastal areas of present-day Morocco and other parts of the African coast, specifically noting details of indigenous peoples, such as atEssaouira.[62][63] Carthaginians pushed westerly into the Atlantic and established important settlements inLixus,Volubilis,Chellah, and Mogador, among other locations.
Being trade rivals withMagna Graecia, the Carthaginians had several clashes with the Greeks over the island of Sicily in theSicilian Wars from 600 to 265 BC. The Carthaginians eventually also foughtRome in threePunic Wars between 265 and 146 BC but they were defeated in each one. In theFirst Punic War, they lost control of Sicily. In theSecond Punic War, an invasion of Italy byHannibal was unsuccessful in forcing the Romans to surrender and the Carthaginians were subsequently defeated byScipio Africanus in Spain and at theBattle of Zama in northern Africa in 202 BC, marking the end of Carthage's position as a major Mediterranean power. Finally, in theThird Punic War, Carthage was destroyed in 146 BC. Victory in the Punic Wars enabled Roman settlement of Africa and eventual domination of the entire Mediterranean Sea.
The destruction of Carthage did not mean the end of the Punic people. After the wars, the city of Carthage was completely razed and the land around it was turned into farmland for Roman citizens. There were, however, other Punic cities in northwest Africa, and Carthage itself was rebuilt and regained some importance, if a shadow of its ancient influence. Although the area was partially romanized and some of the population adopted theRoman religion, while fusing it with aspects of their beliefs and customs, the language and the ethnicity persisted for some time.[citation needed]
The cult to Baal Hammon, and the consequent sacrifice of children, though banned by Rome,[64] continued openly under the guise of worshippingSaturn until at least the proconsulate of Tiberius Iulius Secundus inAfrica (131–132). This is attested byTertullian in hisApologeticus, where he reports that Tiberius crucified the priests of "Saturn" on the same trees they consecrated to the god. Tertullian also mentions the goddessJuno Caelestis as a romanization of Tanit.[65][66]
Carthage was rebuilt about 46 BC byJulius Caesar, and settlements in the surrounding area were granted to soldiers who had retired from the Roman army. People of Punic origin prospered again as traders, merchants and even politicians of theRoman Empire. The emperorSeptimius Severus had Punic ancestry.[67]
As Christianity spread in the Roman Empire, it was especially successful innorthwest Africa, and Carthage became a Christian city even before Christianity was legal.Saint Augustine, born inThagaste (modern-dayAlgeria), considered himself Punic, and left some important reflections on Punic cultural history in his writing.[68][full citation needed] One of his more well known passages reads:
It is an excellent thing that the Punic Christians callbaptism itself nothing else but'salvation', and the sacrament of Christ's body nothing else but'life'.[69]
Augustine is the last ancient writer to indicate that the Punic language was widely spoken.[70] The last remains of a distinct Punic culture probably disappeared somewhere in the chaos during thefall of the Western Roman Empire. The demographic and cultural characteristics of the region were thoroughly transformed by turbulent events such as theVandals' wars with Byzantines and the population movements that followed, as well as theMuslim conquest of North Africa in the 7th century AD.[71] After theMuslim conquest of the Maghreb, the geographeral-Bakri described a people who spoke a language which was notBerber, Latin, orCoptic,[72] living inSirte, where spoken Punic survived well past written use.[73] Whether this refers to some remnant Punic population is uncertain; if it does, it represents the last known record of the people's existence.
In 1994, a Punic burial crypt was discovered on Byrsa Hill, near the entry to the National Museum of Carthage in Tunisia. Inside this crypt were the remains of a young man along with a range of burial goods, all dating to the late 6th century BCE. An osteological analysis of the young man from Byrsa, or Ariche, as he has become known, determined that he was approximately 1.7 m tall and aged between 19 and 24 years, and a craniometric analysis indicated likelyMediterranean/European ancestry as opposed to African or Asian. In 2016, it was revealed that the individual belonged to the rareU5b2c1 (found in Spain), which is the earliest evidence of this European lineage in North Africa.[74]
Mitochondrial analysis of 10 Punic samples from the necropolis of Tharros in Sardinia (5th – 3rd century BC) shows affinities with North African andIberian populations.[75]
A 2022 analysis of maternal haplogroups from ancient samples from Punic sites ofMotya andLilibeo in Sicily, indicates that the Sicilian Phoenicians shared genetic similarities with Bronze Age samples from the Iberian Peninsula, Sardinia and Italy, and are not particularly close to other Phoenicians from Sardinia and the Iberian islands. The Phoenicians in Motya shared lesser genetic similarities with samples from Bronze Age Levant.[76]
A recent genetic study has linked haplogroups E-M81, E-FGC18960 and E-V65 to the diffusion of the Phoenician language in the Western Mediterranean. According to Penninx (2019):
Recent genetic studies based onancient DNA have shown that the Punic populations of Sardinia, Ibiza, southern Iberia, Italy, and Tunisia had predominantly Southern European ancestry — notably linked to Aegean, Italic, and Sicilian regions — combined with a significant but minor North African component. In contrast, Levantine genetic ancestry, historically associated with the Phoenician founders of Carthage, appears marginal, suggesting that local assimilation and early Mediterranean admixture played a greater role than large-scale migration from the Levant.
Zalloua, P., Collins, C.J., Gosling, A.et al. in 2018 showed that Eastern Mediterranean and North African influence in the Punic population of Ibiza was primarily male dominated.[78]
According to Olaldeet al. (2018):[79]
According to Fernandeset al. (2020):[80]
Iran_Ganj_Dareh_Neolithic and 89.2 ± 2.7%Morocco_LN ancestry)."According to Marcuset al. (2020):[81]
Two other studies published in 2021 in the journalAnnals of Human Biology also show a strong genetic proximity with the populations of North Africa of several individuals from Sardinia and Italy. According to Sarno, Cillion, de Fanti,et al. (2021):
Accorging to de Angelis, Veltre, Romboni,et al. (2021):
In 2022,[84] 30 ancient individuals from Carthaginian and Etruscan port cities around the central Mediterranean, in Tunisia, Sardinia, and central Italy were sequenced. In Tunisia a highly heterogeneous population was observed inKerkouane, spanning from modernMozabite populations to modernSicilian populations, consisting of three primary genetic clusters. One of the genetic groups includes four individuals who have genetic continuity with preceding Maghrebi Neolithic farmers, suggesting that these individuals represent an autochthonous North African population. One individual can be modeled with 100% Morocco Late Neolithic farmer ancestry, while three individuals can be modeled predominantly with this component, along with the addition ofSteppe-related ancestry. A second cluster contains seven individuals who are genetically similar to Bronze Age Sicilian and central Italian populations, as well as some individuals from the Hellenistic IberianGreek colony ofEmpúries. A last individual, who projects near modern Mozabite and Moroccan populations in PCA space can be modelled with a combination Morocco Early Neolithic andAnatolia Neolithic ancestry. When compared to other ancient individuals, this individual forms a clade with ancientCanary Island inhabitants thought to be representative of the original founding population. Surprisingly, no individuals with large amounts ofLevantine ancestry were detected in this group of Tunisian Punics. One possible explanation is that the colonial expansion of Phoenician city-states at the start of the Iron Age did not involve large amounts of population mobility, and may have been based on trade relationships rather than occupation. According to the authors:
A genetic study published in April 2025 by an international team of researchers from theMax Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology andHarvard University has offered new insight into the origins of the Carthaginians. By analyzing ancient DNA from about 200 individuals across 14 archaeological sites around the Mediterranean (including North Africa, the Iberian Peninsula, Sicily, Sardinia, and the Levant), the researchers found that Punic populations were genetically diverse, with little to no direct ancestry from the Levant—traditionally considered the homeland of the Phoenicians.
Instead, according to the authors "these inheritors of Levantine Phoenician culture derived most of their ancestry from a genetic profile similar to that of populations in Sicily and the Aegean. Much of the remaining ancestry originated from North Africa, reflecting the growing regional influence of Carthage". In Carthage itself, "in 14 out of the 17 sampled individuals, we inferred less than 15% North African ancestry, and the remaining three individuals were inferred to have 20%–50% North African ancestry. As in Kerkouane, the primary source of ancestry is Sicilian-Aegean".
These findings suggest that Phoenician expansion occurred primarily through cultural exchange, maritime networks, and local assimilation, rather than through large-scale migration. Carthage likely developed as a cosmopolitan center within a dynamic Mediterranean world, shaped by continuous interactions between indigenous populations and eastern influences.[85][86][87]
5th century B. C
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