The project is under the auspices of the Rome Section of the Deutsches Archäologisches Institut.

Location

On the Gulf of Tunis, a modern residential suburb of the capital overlies the area of the ancient Punic city and later Roman provincial capital.

Objectives

Since 1974, an international research project under the patronage of UNESCO has worked towards the preservation of the remaining open land at the site of the ancient settlement. Above all, the German excavation should clarify the still unresloved topographical problems of the city's history ranging from its Phoenician beginnings in the 8th century B.C. to the final Byzantine phase.

Recent Activities

The closing excavations are focused on a large Roman building, perhaps a courtyard sanctuary, located on the prestigious Roman axis of the Decumanus maximus and include fragments of polychrome furniture and a matyr's grave installed during Byzantine times.

Results

The installation of the Punic sea wall in the 5th century B.C., which allowed the previously undeveloped coastal plane to be urbanized along an orthogonal plan, documents the change of the Phoenician settlement into an international trading center. In the early 2nd century B.C., older dwellings were commingled with larger richly furnished houses. The Roman re-establishment, put into effect by the Punic setback, with its building measures and its organization after the over 100 year settlement ban, becomes evident through the excavation of the coastal area. After concluding the restoration work in this area and the construction of an Antiquarium for the display of didactic models, artifacts and diagrams, this 'Magon-Viertel' will be united with the archaeological park of Carthage. At a second German excavation site near the present-day Rue Ibn Chabâat, finds preserved 8 meters below the current ground surface date back to the 8th century B.C. and mark the beginning of the settlement sequence of the ancient metropolis. The discoveries include Archaic houses, the remains of a Punic sanctuary found below a large Roman building and the foundations of a monumental Byzantine rotunda. Finds from the Punic sanctuary, including Greek and Egyptian clay seals from the temple archives which burned in the Roman fires, are on display in the Carthage National Museum located nearby on the Byrsa Hill.

Cooperation / Cooperation partners

The work is being carried out in cooperation with the Conservation de Carthage/Institut National du Patrimoine/Tunis.

Further Contact

Prof. Dr.-Ing. Friedrich Rakob, via: Deutsche Archäologische Institut, Abteilung Rom, Via Sardegna, 79, I-00187 Roma, Tel: +39-6-48881442; Fax: +39-6-4884973.

Bibliography

F. Rakob (Hrsg), Die deutschen Ausgrabungen in Karthago I (Mainz 1991); II (Mainz 1997); III (im Druck) Bibliographie ebenda. - F. Rakob, u.a., Forschungen im Stadtzentrum von Karthago, in: Römische Mitteilungen 102, 1995, 413 ff. (mit Bibliographie der Forschungen bis 1995). - C. Flügel - H. Dolenz, Vom römischen Großbau zur christlichen Grabstätte. Neue Grabungen in Karthago, in: Antike Welt 27, 6, 1996, 453 ff.