Kerkouane

Located on the tip of the peninsula Cap Bon, the remote Punic settlement of Kerkouane is one of Tunisia's most remarkable sites. It was abandoned during its prime in the 3rd century BC and never reoccupied. Unlike other Punic sites in Tunisia, this one did not become "tainted" with Roman or Byzantine settlement. Thus it offers a unique insight into the world of the Punic. In 1982 the site was added to the World Heritage List.

History

The site was discovered by accident in 1952. Excavations have revealed that Kerkouane was home to an urban elite of merchants and craftsmen. On our walk to through the side on a windy late spring day, we saw remains of numerous pottery workshops and kilns. Jewelry making, stone carving, and glass making also occurred here. Kerkouane was also a producer of the highly prized dye known as Tyrian purple, extracted from shellfish along the coast. In 310 BC, the town was plundered by the Agathocles, recovered somewhat, and then was finished in 256 BC by the Romans in the First Punic War.

The Site

When walking through the site, it was easy to imagine what a beautiful town this must have been. Imagine the stately homes with a view of the turquoise sea, with those breezes providing cooling in the hot summer! Some of the homes had courtyards - some of the earliest known examples of this in Tunisia. According to the guidebook, most homes were single-storey with steps leading to a rooftop terrace. On the floor of several houses, you could see an early form of mosaic known as opus signinum, in which fragments of white stone were inserted amongst the red paving. One of the houses, known as the House of Tanit, had a beautiful white Tanit (a god) symbol set into the floor. I had seen this same symbol on some of the child grave markers at the Punic Tophet in Carthage, the resting site for victims of child sacrifice. Another striking feature is the number of private bathtubs still present in the city. I wonder how many people have had their photo taken pretending to take a bath in one of those hip baths!

Museum

After a picnic lunch, we headed over to the museum. Entering into the museum, I saw a ceramic head of the god Baal, mentioned in the Bible. Inside were some delicate funerary statues, a wooden sarcophagus, and other items discovered around the site. I was especially interested in some of the necklaces. There in the display cases were beads just like what I had bought in Mali. Could mine be that old?

Ceramic head of the god Baal at the museum