Catalogue of Punic Stelae in the British Museum

Abstract

• This catalogue discusses some aspects of Carthaginian or 'Punic' culture as shown by the inscribed and carved stones, or stelae, in the British Museum's collections. The majority of the North African, mainly Tunisian, stelae have votive or dedicatory inscriptions in Punic and some of them are thought to come from tophets, burial precincts that are characteristic of Phoenician settlements in the west Mediterranean. The stelae provide a window into the religion and language of the Carthaginians, both of which are still imperfectly understood. They date from between the 4th century BC to the 4th century AD, and in the catalogue they are divided into Punic and Neo-Punic, according to whether they pre or post-date the Roman sack of Carthage in 146 BC. The beautifully photographed catalogue describes each stela, giving transcriptions and translations of the Punic and neo-Punic inscriptions, plus measurements and bibliographical references.