Part 52

ROOM VIII. In the centre, bronze armour of Campanian origin (end of 3rd cent. B.C.), found in a Punic tomb at Ksour-Essaf (p. 370): *E 3. A silver-gilt patera (sacrificial bowl) from Bizerta, weighing nearly 24 lbs., with reliefs (contest of Apollo and Marsyas, sacrifice to Dionysus, Bacchic scene).—In the side-cases are gold trinkets and cut gems, mostly from Carthage. In the window-cases are Mauretanian, Roman, and Byzantine coins. Along the walls are Roman mosaics from Dougga and from *Chebba (A 292. Neptune and the Four Seasons; A 293. Orpheus among the animals); C 1115. The Graces and the Four Seasons (front of a fine marble sarcophagus).

ROOM IX. In the centre, A 287. The Procession of Bacchus, a large mosaic from El-Djem. Along the walls are Roman mosaics from El-Djem (A 288. Hare-hunt; A 289. Nine Muses; etc.), from Thina (Thænæ), from Susa (A 6. Boat with quaint representation of the water), and from Djorf Bou-Grara (A 301, A 301 bis. Wrestlers). In the corners, C 1026. Torso of a draped woman, perhaps a Victoria, in black marble; C 72. Head of Augustus; C 1027. Head of Hercules (all from El-Djem). In the press on the left, three leaden urns and six admirably preserved glass cinerary urns from the burial-ground of the Officiales at Carthage (p. 348). In the press on the right, bronze utensils. In the wall-cases, leaden and bronze objects from Carthage and Hammam Darradji; also so-called ‘tabellæ defixionum’, rolls of lead with curses directed against enemies in the circus (found in tombs at Susa). Detached, C 16. Torso of a Bacchante from El-Djem.—We return to R. VI and thence, to the left, enter—

ROOM XI, formerly the concert-room, containing Roman mosaics. In the centre, A 166. Mosaic pavement from Medeïna, showing the different kinds of Roman trading vessels; also the heads of a river-god and of Oceanus. By the entrance-wall, A 171. Temple (containing statues of Apollo and Diana, and hunting scenes) from Carthage. By the wall opposite, A 162. A seriously damaged representation of a banquet (4th cent. A.D.) from Carthage.—The opposite—

ROOM XII was formerly the dining-room. The presses contain relics from Punic tombs (some of them imported, Egyptian, Greek, and Etruscan). In the two central cases, terracotta-masks (to avert evil spirits), which also were among the objects buried with the dead.—A door on the same (W.) side of R. VI as that to R. XII gives access to three rooms (XIV-XVI) containing objects discovered at the bottom of the sea near Mehdia (see p. 370) in 1907–10.

ROOM XIV. A bronze *Hermes of Dionysus, in an archaic style, by Boëthus of Chalcedon (according to the inscription; 2nd cent. B.C.). On a shelf are remains of a large bronze capital with two female heads. In the glass-cases are two bronze lamps with the figure of a runner; numerous bronze statuettes, among others an Eros playing a lyre, two female dancers, a buffoon, Satyr, and actors; bronze utensils.

ROOM XV. In the centre, a bronze *Statue of a winged Eros (4½ ft. high). Along the walls, a leaden anchor; terracotta amphoræ, bars of lead with stamps in Latin, flour-mills; in the glass-case, a terracotta lamp with its wick still preserved.

ROOM XVI (marble objects). Large mixing bowls (‘crateræ’), adorned with Bacchic subjects; candelabra in the neo-Attic style; capitals; Greek inscriptions; busts and heads, among which should be noted, in the middle, a well-preserved Aphrodite; torsos and statuettes.

We return to R. VI and descend five steps into—

ROOM XIII, an octagonal *Domed Chamber (formerly the bey’s bedroom), with four side-rooms richly adorned with stucco and tiles (once occupied by his four favourite wives). In the centre, A 10. Roman mosaic from Bir-Chana, with the gods of the seven days of the week and the signs of the zodiac. In the right wing, *A 266. Roman mosaic from Susa, Virgil writing the Æneid. In the wing opposite the entrance, C 4. Torso of a Satyr pouring out wine (after Praxiteles). In the left wing, *C 969. Ceres, from Carthage, with traces of painting; also C 970, C 971. Two draped female statues.—In the corner-room on the right, without number, Large alabaster vase from Carthage with haut-relief (head of Bacchus with vine-wreath).—In the corner-room on the left are terracotta figurines from Susa.

In the GALLERY of R. VI (p. 341) are a relief-map of Carthage, models of buildings in Carthage, Dougga, Le Kef, Oudna, Sbeïtla, and Djorf Bou-Grara; also photographs of Tunisian monuments.

From the staircase (p. 341) we enter the =Musée Arabe=. In ROOM I, tastefully decorated in stucco, are mural tiles from Tunis, Nabeul (p. 365), and Morocco, and knotted carpets from Kairwan. The side-rooms contain metal-work, enamelled vessels, wood-carving, weapons, etc.

In the COURT (patio) are mural tiles; in the small side-rooms on the left, costumed figures, national garbs, and models in stucco.

In ROOM II, furniture (incl. a sumptuous bed) and embroidery (incl. haïtis, velvet hangings with gold and silver embroidery). In the side-rooms are Tunisian (from Djerba and Moknine) and Algerian trinkets; also beautiful Kairwan carpets.

Behind the Bardo is =Kassar-Saïd=, a château of the bey (no admittance). Here, in 1881, was concluded the Bardo Treaty, which ended the independence of Tunisia.

The highroad goes on, past the _Hippodrome of Kassar-Saïd_ (races in spring), to (2½ M.) =La Manouba= (rail. station, see p. 329; tramway No. 5, see p. 330), a group of decayed Moorish country-houses with fine orange-gardens. The _Palais de la Manouba_ (now cavalry-barracks) was once the country-seat of Hamuda Bey (p. 336). The kubba of _Lalla Manouba_ attracts many pilgrims.

[Illustration: CARTHAGE]

From Tunis to _Dougga_, see R. 55; to _Zaghouan_, _Le Kef_, and _Kalaâ-Djerda_, see R. 56; to _Rades_, _Hammam Lif_, and _Susa_, see R. 57; to _Bizerta_, see R. 54; to _Malta_, see R. 63; to _Tripoli_ (_Syracuse_), see R. 64.

53. Carthage.

An ELECTRIC TRAMWAY starts from Tunis Terminus, Ave. Jules-Ferry (Pl. E, 4), near the Casino, for Carthage and (¾ hr.) Marsa-Plage. The chief stations on this line are _La Goulette_, for the little town of Goletta; _Carthage_, for the castle-hill (St. Louis de Carthage), for the plateau of the Odéon, and for the cisterns at the Bordj el-Djedid; _Ste. Monique_, for Damous el-Karita; and _Sidi Bou-Saïd_, for the lighthouse. The terminus, _Marsa-Plage_, close to the shore, is connected by a branch-line (½ M.) with _Marsa-Ville_, which is the terminus of another electric tramway running from the Ave. de Paris (Pl. E, 3) at Tunis viâ El-Aouina.—Uniform fares from Tunis to Goletta, Carthage, Marsa-Plage, or Marsa-Ville single 1 fr. 20 or 65 c., return 1 fr. 75 c. or 1 fr.

A DRIVE (carr. 15 fr.) from Tunis to Sidi-Daoud, La Malga (amphitheatre and cisterns), La Marsa, Sidi Bou-Saïd, Carthage (cisterns at Bordj el-Djedid, theatre, and museum), Goletta, Maxula-Rades (p. 363), and back to Tunis is recommended. Luncheon (brought from Tunis) may be taken beside the lighthouse at Sidi Bou-Saïd or at Carthage. Good carriages are to be had also at Goletta and the stations of Carthage and Marsa-Ville (2 fr. per hr.; but the fare should be fixed beforehand).—In cool weather, especially in the forenoon, the WALK from La Marsa viâ Sidi Bou-Saïd to Carthage is very enjoyable.

HOTELS at Carthage: _Hôt. St. Louis de Carthage_, on the castle-hill, tolerable, déj. or D. 3–3½ fr., wine dear; _Pavillon Beau-Séjour_, R. 3, B. 1¼, déj. 2½, D. 3 fr.; _Hôt. des Citernes Romaines_, near the cisterns of Bordj el-Djedid (p. 350), plain but good.

For a short visit to the ruins the following description will suffice. For further study the traveller is referred to the Carte archéologique et topographique des Ruines de Carthage (Paris, 1907; three sheets, scale 1 : 5000) and to ‘Carthage autrefois, Carthage aujourd’hui’ (2½ fr.; to be had at the Musée Lavigerie), a full description, but partly out of date. Comp. also the chapters on Carthage in _Cagnat’s_ book mentioned at p. 289.—The guides and beggars are very importunate. Native vendors offer spurious antiquities (cameos, coins, etc.), ‘just dug up’. It should be noted that the ruins abound in awkward cavities and fissures, and that, in summer especially, scorpions lurk under the loose stones.

The ELECTRIC TRAMWAY (see above) to Carthage and Marsa-Plage runs to the _Harbour_ (p. 333), crosses its N. entrance by an embankment, and follows the N. bank of the ship-canal across Lake Bahira (comp. p. 129), skirting the passing-place of the steamers. On the left is the islet of _Chikly_ (p. 129).

6¼ M. _Arrêt du Bac_, station for the Goletta steam-ferry mentioned at p. 363.—7 M. _La Goulette_, on the W. side of the little town of—

=Goletta=, or _La Goulette_ (Hôt. de la Gare, unpretending; pop. 5000, chiefly Sicilian and Maltese fisher-folk), the former little harbour of Tunis, deserted since the opening of the ship-canal. It was strongly fortified by Kheireddin (p. 221) in 1534 and transformed into a great naval station, but was soon captured by the Spaniards and formed the base whence they kept Tunis in check (1535–74).

On the island between the ship-canal and the two narrow inlets to the harbour are the _Dâr el-Bey_, an old palace of the beys, and the disused _Marine Arsenal_ founded by Ahmed Bey (1837–55). On the shore, beyond the old harbour-mouth, which is only 6½ ft. deep, rises the _Kasba_, now barracks.

From Goletta to Maxula-Rades, see p. 363.

Between old Goletta and the ancient harbour of Carthage stretches a tongue of land, the ancient _Taenia_ or _Ligula_, between Lake Bahira and the open sea, where bathing-places abound: 7¼ M. _La Goulette Neuve_, with a long row of humble lodging-houses, chiefly patronized by the poorer Jewish families from Tunis; 8 M. _Khéreddine_, where the old palace of Khéreddine, once the all-powerful minister of Bey Mohammed es-Saddok (1859–82), is now a casino; 9 M. _Le Kram_, another favourite Jewish resort, on the small _Baie du Kram_.

The next station is (9¾ M.) _Salambo_, a new colony of villas named after Flaubert’s novel; near it is the ‘_Lazaret_‘, an old palace of the beys’ harem, on the shore, between the two ancient harbours of Carthage (p. 345), used as a cholera hospital in 1884 (now barracks). 10 M. _Douar ech-Chott_, on the E. side of this picturesque native village (comp. p. 345).

10¼ M. _Dermèche_, station for _El-Kheraïb_ (‘the ruins’), supposed to have been once the market-place of Carthage (p. 345), on the S. side of the Kothon, and also for the _Palais de Dermèche_, once the palace of the minister Mustapha ben-Ismaïl, and now the property of the bey.

10½ M. =Carthage= (hotels, see p. 343), station for the road to the castle-hill and abbey-hill of Carthage (pp. 346, 349). 11¼ M. _Ste. Monique_, between the convent of that name on the right and Damous el-Karita (p. 349) on the left.

Passing _Briqueterie_, we ascend to (13 M.) _Sidi Bou-Saïd_ (p. 351).

13¾ M. _Arrêt de l’Archevêché_, for the archiepiscopal palace; _Arrêt de la Corniche_, the last halt. We then descend to the N.W. to (14½ M.) _La Marsa-Plage_ (p. 351).

* * * * *

=Carthage=, once the proud queen of the seas, lay 10 M. to the E. of Tunis on a low range of hills culminating in _Cape Carthage_ (p. 351). The cape was originally an island, but was probably united with the mainland by the deposits of the Medjerda before the foundation of the city (comp. p. 129). The neck of land between Lake Bahira on the S. and the _Sebkha er-Riana_ on the N., where the army of Regulus was annihilated in 255 and where Scipio encamped in 146, was, according to Polybius, only 3000 paces (ca. 1½ M.) wide, but is now 3 M. at the narrowest part. In the middle ages Douar ech-Chott (p. 344; ‘village on the salt-lake’) lay on Lake Bahira. Carthage possessed two harbours. The outer or commercial harbour lay between the Baie du Kram (p. 344) and Bordj el-Djedid (p. 350), where considerable remains of its quays are preserved for a distance of nearly a mile. The inner or naval harbour (Kothon) was an artificial inland basin, probably on the same site as the two modern lagoons, with a rectangular entrance-basin and a circular main harbour. On an islet in the latter lay the naval arsenal.

Between the two harbours ran the triple town-wall, which on one side extended from the Bordj el-Djedid to the plateau between the Odeon and Damous el-Karita (p. 349), and on the other side enclosed the castle-hill (see below) on the S. and W. sides. The market-place (p. 344), on the N. side of the naval harbour, was connected with the castle-hill by three narrow streets, the chief scene of contest during the storming by Scipio. To the N.W. of the city-wall, as early as the Punic period, lay the villa-suburb of _Megara_ or _Magalia_ (now La Malga).

HISTORY. Carthage was founded about 880 B. C. by Phœnicians from Tyre, under the leadership, according to tradition, of Dido, adjacent to _Kambe_, a colony from Sidon. Under the name of _Kart-hadasht_ (‘new town’) it extended gradually from the dale on the N.E. side of the Bordj el-Djedid up to the castle-hill. Thanks to its most advantageous site near the Sicilian straits and on the sea-route between Egypt and Spain, and to its proximity to the valleys of the Medjerda and the Oued Miliane (p. 363), the richest in the land, it soon surpassed Utica (p. 353) and the smaller Phœnician seaports in wealth and power. From the 6th cent. onwards Carthaginian fleets contended with the Greeks and with the Etruscans, from whom they wrested Corsica and Sardinia, for the mastery of the W. Mediterranean, and in 480 their army of mercenaries, in alliance with Xerxes, even attacked the Greeks of Sicily. After a great struggle of more than two centuries for the possession of Sicily, during which Agathocles (p. 163) carried the war into his enemies’ country (310–307), the intervention of Rome led to the three Punic wars (264–241, 218–201, and 149–146), to the occupation of Spain by the Carthaginians, and to the capture and destruction of Carthage, after a heroic resistance, by Scipio in 146 B. C. On its ruins, in 122, C. Gracchus attempted to found a Roman colony, but it was not till the year 44 that the far-seeing policy of Cæsar led to the firm establishment of the _Colonia Julia Carthago_. The despatch by Augustus of a colony of veterans and the erection of the city into the capital of the province in place of Utica (29 B. C.) paved the way for the renewed glory of Carthage, which soon became the greatest Mediterranean seaport next to Alexandria and the third-greatest city in the Roman empire. Far and wide its schools of rhetoric and philosophy were famous. Passionate champions of Christianity, like Tertullian (160 to about 245), founder of the sect called after him, and Cyprian (d. 258), who protested against the claim of Rome to precedence in the church, were residents in Carthage, the chief bishopric in N. Africa. In numerous councils (from 393 onwards) the dogmas of the Catholic church were here discussed and settled, and at the synod of the Gargilian Thermæ in 411 St. Augustine with fiery eloquence combated the doctrines of the Donatists (p. 322) and the Tertullianists.

Genseric (p. 322) converted the old palace of the proconsuls into his royal residence and made Carthage the capital of the Vandal empire, and a little later the city became the residence of the Byzantine governors. After Hassan ibn en-Nôman (p. 322) had destroyed the city in 698, almost as completely as Scipio had done, and after he had even caused the harbours to be filled up, the ruins were used for centuries as a quarry for the building of Kairwan (p. 372), Tunis, Goletta, and the small towns around, while many of the Roman and Byzantine columns were carried off by the Moors to Cordova and by the Italians to Palermo, Amalfi, Pisa, and Genoa. The attempts of the Hafsides (p. 323) to resuscitate Carthage met with little success. To that dynasty belonged El-Mostanser-Billah, against whom Louis IX., the Saint, directed his last crusade. It was on the castle-hill of Carthage that Louis died of the plague in 1270, and it was from Carthage that Emp. Charles V. led his expedition against Tunis in 1535. Modern builders have again been busy, at the cost of the ancient ruins, since the time of Card. Lavigerie (1825–92), who made the Missions d’Afrique (see below) the centre of the catholic missions in N. Africa and succeeded in 1884 in obtaining the restoration of the old archbishopric.

After all this endless havoc, and owing to constant alterations in the earth’s surface, it is now very difficult to trace the plan either of the Punic or of the Roman Carthage, which seems to have been laid out in chessboard fashion. Yet the beauty of the scenery and the wealth of historical memories amply compensates for the deplorable state of the ruins. The valuable yield of recent excavations is now preserved in the Musée Lavigerie (see below), in the Bardo Museum (p. 340), and in the Louvre.

The =Byrsa= (194 ft.), the ancient castle-hill of Carthage, 660 yds. from the sea, was the site in the Punic period of a temple of Eshmun, and in the Roman period of a temple of Æsculapius and of the palace of the proconsul. It is now called the _Colline de St. Louis de Carthage_ and is occupied by the chapel of St. Louis, the seminary, and the archiepiscopal cathedral. The terrace on the side next the sea, adjoining the Hôtel St. Louis de Carthage (p. 343), commands a delightful *View of the gulf of Tunis and the site of ancient Carthage.

The _Grand Séminaire de Carthage_, founded in 1875 by Card. Lavigerie as a mission-house and seminary for the Pères Missionnaires d’Afrique (commonly called Pères Blancs from their white semi-Arab garb), contains the *=Musée Lavigerie=, dating from 1875, where the yield of the excavations made by Père Delattre, the learned principal of the seminary, is preserved. Adm. on Mon., Thurs., Frid., and Sat., 2 to 5.30; on Sun. and holidays 2–3 and 4 to 5.30; probably also before 11, and on other afternoons, on application (closed in Holy Week after Wed.). Visitors make a donation to the offertory-box. No catalogue.

In the SEMINARY GARDEN, below the small _Chapelle de St. Louis_, built in 1845 to the memory of King Louis the Saint (see above), are preserved eight barrel-vaults, with semicircular niches, relics of some ancient edifice of unknown character. On the terrace in front of the chapel is a large Roman sarcophagus in marble. Around it are placed numerous Punic cinerary urns. In the grounds lie fragments of ancient buildings. Along the garden-walls are ranged Roman mosaics, inscriptions, and fragments of sculpture.

The COLONNADE of the seminary is adorned with three colossal figures of Victory in high-relief, of the time of the proconsul Q. Aurelius Symmachus (373–5), one of the last champions of expiring paganism.—The VESTIBULE contains two sadly mutilated early-Christian reliefs, the Annunciation to the Shepherds and the Adoration of the Magi, from Damous el-Karita (p. 349).—To the left, in the SALLE DE LA CROISADE, are Punic, Roman, and early-Christian inscriptions.—On the right is the—

PUNIC ROOM, containing the most valuable collection, almost exclusively from Punic rock-tombs (8th–2nd cent. B.C.), unrivalled except in the museum of Iviza. In the 1st Case in the middle of the room are Egyptian scarabs and amulets, trinkets (some Egyptian), and weights. 2nd Case: lamps and vases in clay, gold trinkets, beautiful Greek ivory carving (swan bearing a goddess), an Etruscan inscription (the only one yet found in Africa), Egyptian signet-rings, etc. 3rd Case: necklaces composed of amulets, glass amulets with faces of iridescent glass, gold signet-rings with engraved figures, fragments of painted ostrich-eggs, toilet articles in lead, Cupid in terracotta resembling the Tanagra figurines, a Greek work. 4th Case: bronze mirrors and ‘little axes’ or razors, probably amulets.—In the wall-presses, on the left of the entrance, Punic vases and terracotta masks, iron and bronze weapons. By the left side-wall are statuettes in clay in the Egyptian and Cyprian style, Corinthian and Attic vases, an Etruscan vase (toilet scene), two bronze jugs with fine figures as handles. By the back-wall are terracottas.—At the end of the right side-wall, in the window-niche, cinerary urn of the priest Baalchelek, also that of another priest with a beautiful relief of the deceased. By the last window but one, on the right side, are five cinerary urns; in front of them stands a sarcophagus with two skeletons. Then, at the end of the room, are four anthropoid *Sarcophagi in the Greek style (end of 4th cent. B.C.); two bearded priests in the attitude of prayer (one of them a cast); a priestess, with remarkably well-preserved painting, holding a dove and a situla.

Lastly we enter the ROMAN-CHRISTIAN ROOM from the garden. By the end-wall on the left are early-Christian mosaics and lamps. By the back-wall, Roman mosaics (incl. Autumn and Winter); marble sculptures (Ceres, bust of Apollo, etc.). By the right end-wall are Roman terracottas, *Lamps with figure-compositions, and three reliefs in stucco from the tomb of a lady of rank. By the entrance-wall, Roman and Byzantine weights.—The 1st Case in the middle of the room contains early-Christian relics from the abbey-hill (p. 349), mostly of the Vandal period. 2nd Case: a bronze lamp and the clay statuette of an organ-player (upper part broken off). 3rd Case: Roman bronzes and glasses; rolls of lead inscribed with curses, from the burial-ground of the Officiales (p. 348); Byzantine and mediæval coins. 4th Case: coins of the Phœnician down to the Byzantine periods.

The =Cathedral= (_Primatiale de St. Cyprien et de St. Louis_), a basilica with nave and two aisles, built in 1884–90 by _Abbé Pougnet_, in the Byzantine-Moorish style, contains (in the choir) the archiepiscopal throne and the tomb of Card. Lavigerie (p. 346). Over the high-altar is the valuable reliquary of St. Louis, executed by Armand Caillat, a goldsmith of Lyons. Adm. from 5 to 11.15 and 12.30 to 5.30 (in summer 6.45).

The limestone blocks on the S.W. side of the cathedral, near the small eucalyptus grove, are remains of the stylobate of a _Roman Temple_. From the brow of the hill we obtain a good survey of the site of the ancient naval harbour (p. 345) and of the Roman circus (see below). The view of Lake Bahira is charming at sunset.

Between the brow of the hill and the road descending to Douar ech-Chott (p. 344) Père Delattre’s excavations have brought to light a number of buildings a thousand years apart in date. Above, on the margin of the hill, is an interesting _Punic Necropolis_ with rock-tombs; lower down are remains of the _Town Walls_, hastily restored under Theodosius II. (p. 541) in 424, and traces of the _Roman Road_ leading to the harbour; then Punic tombs again, and below them the foundations of a _Byzantine Dwelling House_ (a room here contains early-Moorish tombs).

Below the S. angle of the castle-hill we come upon ancient fortifications. Farther down is a wall or buttress composed of thousands of early-Roman earthenware amphoræ; also a rock-hewn _Chapel_ (key at the Seminary) with remains of wall-paintings (saint bestowing a blessing) in the style of the catacomb frescoes.