The Extent of Punic Literature
Over and above the thousands of inscriptions from Carthage itself and the areas in contact with Punic culture which are the only known records actually written in the Punic language, we have a certain number of Punic texts transcribed into Greek or Latin script. The most important of these are the passages inserted in the Poenulus of Plautus and several versions of Punic texts translated into Greek and Latin, particularly the Periplus of Hanno, the Oath of Hannibal and a few fragments of Mago's treatise on agriculture.
The rest of Punic literature -- that is to say nearly all of it -- is lost, but I cannot accept that it is beyond recovery. The example of Ras Shamra Ugarit reminds us, that the miracle of a great discovery is never impossible. Who indeed would have dared to believe before 1929 (the date of the discovery) that the soil of Phoenicia, where, as regards Phoenician documents, only inscriptions had hitherto been found, less numerous indeed than those of Carthage, would suddenly reveal a whole library containing among other things great poems worthy of comparison with the Biblical texts or even with Homer?
When one is conscious of the value of the Cartahaginian civilisation and its flowering (in Numidia, Libya, Spain, Sicily and Sardinia, etc.), it is impossible to doubt the existence of a rich literature. This claim rests not only on deduction and comparison with other oriental Semitic civilisations, but also pre-eminently on a body of precise evidence. First of all, the little of it which survives -- comprising on the one hand the bulk of the somewhat repetitive Punic inscriptions and on the other the fragments of Greek Latin translations -- and still attests the existence of several different branches of Punic literature on subjects such as religion, history, law, politics and travels, etc. Moreover, the clues, which can be gleaned from the various ancient authorities, leave no doubt as to the extent and importance of this literature.
It is definitely known that Carthage established vast libraries. Most of these must have been lost during the destruction of the city by the Romans in 146 B.C. Not all, however, since the Elder Pliny tells us that "after the capture of Carthage the Senate presented the libraries of the town to the region's princes" (1). One always wonders, as does Stephen Gsell for example, whether these libraries had been established only at the time of the Punic wars, on the model of that of Alexandria, or whether, much earlier, the Carthaginians had copied the example of the Assyrian King Assurbanipal in the seventh century B.C. The relevant point is, however, that the formation of a library postulates the existence of a vast body of Punic literature which had been accumulating for centuries, some of it going back as far as the foundation of Carthage. Indeed, it is highly unlikely that the Tyrian colonists setting out to found Phoenician establishments on the distant shores of Western Mediterranean under the patronage of the gods of the mother city would not have brought with them their sacred books, their mythological tales and their epic poetry. We can form of which an idea from the Ugaritic texts from Ras Shamra, their rituals and laws. It moreover, equally unlikely that they would not rapidly elaborate on their own epics, narrating the fabulous feature of Queen Dido-Elissa, the legend, founder of Carthage. In the first place several ancient authors refer to Punic chronicles setting down the history the city's foundation. These facts, in conjunction with everything we can discover about Punic religion, thanks in large part to the inscriptions, confirm that there actually existed in Carthage a body of religious literature probably very extensive. They were forming, in other Phoenician cities, the most important part of all Punic literature. Moreover, in a work of Plutarch there is a reference to sacred writing kept in the temples and accessible only to priests and initiates, which were secretly buried at the time of the sack of Carthage. Although he was referring to an action attributed to an imaginary person, unlike Gsell, I do not believe that his evidence should be completely rejected. It is certainly an echo, even if somewhat distorted of an historical fact.
Alongside the rich and extensive religious literature we know that true historical literature existed at Carthage. The existence of Punic chronicles is mentioned not only by Pseudo-Aristotle (3) and the Greek historian Timacus of Tauromenion (third century B.C.), but also, in the fourth century A.D., by Servius Honoratus, the Latin scholiast on Vergil, speaking of "historia Poenorum" and of "Punica historia" (4). All this leads us to the conclusion that there were actual historiographers at Carthage whose task it was to record in writing the most notable events in the life and history of the city. Further, over the course of the centuries, they must have elaborated a whole series of chronicles and historical writings, probably in the form of annals. We know, moreover, that the Carthaginians were in the habit of recording their outstanding deeds in long commemorative inscriptions, usually placed in the temples. Livy tells us, too, that during the Punic War "Hannibal spent the summer near the Temple of Juno Lacinia. He had an altar erected with a long carved inscription detailling his exploits in Punic and Greek characters" (5). This inscription in the Temple of Hera Lacinia at Croton was painstakingly studied by Polybius (6). It contained in particular an account of the troops exchanged between Spain and Africa and of those left in Spain by Hasdrubal at the start of the war in 219 B.C. Another example of this custom is the Periplus of Hanno, which we shall discuss later. On his return from his expedition on the ocean, Hanno had his records carved "on plaques hung up in the Temple of Chronos".
The existence of historical and commemorative inscriptions is attested not only in territories under the direct control of Carthage; it was equally common in the whole Punic sphere of influence, particularly Numidia. In one of his speeches for the prosecution, Cicero describes a misfortune, which befell King Massinissa of Numidia in Malta. "Tradition has it that a fleet of Massinissa landed at this spot, that the King's prefect took from the temple some ivory tusks of unbelievable size, and carried them off to give to the king. At first the king was delighted with the gift, but later, when he found out where they came from, he sent trustworthy men in a quinquireme to put them back in the temple. That is why it is recorded there in Punic lettering that Massinissa accepted them in ignorance of their provenance" (7). This story is confirmed by a comment of Valerius Maximus in the first century A.D. in his Memorable Deeds and Sayings. It is known, moreover, that the Numidian kings made use of Punic geographies and histories. The Roman writers Solinus and Ammianus, who may both have drawn on the same source for their material, refer to Punic books (libri Punici) consulted Juba II of Numidia. Solinus says "The Nile rises in a mountain of lower Mauretania on the sea coast. This is stated, in the Punic books, and confirmed by King Juba, as we know. Ammianus says: "King Juba II, said that. according to the Punic books the source of the Nile is in a mountain in Mauretania overlooking the Ocean. Moreover, Sallust states that Hiempsal of Numidia wrote one or more works in Punic:" I will summarize briefly my information on the Punic books attributed to King Hiempsal (10).
When Hellenism began to influence Carthage and the Greeks settled there (in the fourth century B.C. there was still an important Greek colony there, according to Diodorus Siculus), a bilingual literature seems to have developed, with books in both Greek and Punic. We know of the existence of a History of the First Punic War by Philinus of Agrigentum, and the records of the campaigns of Hannibal compiled by his friends and teachers the Spartan Sosylus and Silenus, a fragment of which, the famous Hannibal's Dream, has been preserved in the works of Cicero and Livy. Hannibal himself, it is said, wrote several works in Greek and Punic. In his Lexicon Suidas mentions a certain Charon of Carthage who wrote a whole series of Lives of famous men and women as well as a history of the tyrants of Europe and Asia.
All that we know so far about the history of Carthage at home and abroad and everything we learn from the Punic inscriptions indicates the existence of a body of legal and political writings, doubtless very advanced. Statutes, codes, the decisions of the jurisprudents and some of the speeches made before the various assemblies must undoubtedly have been written down. It is unlikely, for instance, that the constitution of Carthage, which Aristotle held up as a model, was only known to him from hearsay. It is, moreover, reasonable to assume that Carthage too had actual didactic works of the type so common in the Semitic Orient, as well as a popular literature that would mostly be oral. However, parts of which must certainly have been taken down in writing in the form of collections of maxims, sayings, stories and proverbs after the manner of the Saying of Ahiqar. An original Punic proverb is preserved in a sermon of St. Augustine: "There is a well known Punic proverb which I will tell you in Latin because not all of you understand Punic. Here it is: 'if the plague asks you for a crown, give it two and may it go away' (11). St. Jerome too refers to the existence of what is known today as erotic poetry in Punic. He believed it to be pernicious and described it as "lewd" (Latin: procacia) (12).
One may wonder about the possibility of the existence of philosophical works in Punic, an idea that I do not for a moment exclude. Such works certainly would not be entirely Punic in inspiration, and were probably affected by Hellenic influence. But even if they only reflect various movements in Greek philosophy, they must, on being translated into Punic, have been influenced to some extent by Punic thought and religion. On this subject one can cite the example of the stelae of Ghorfa, where the Neo-Pythagorean themes are clearly Punicised. We know, moreover, that long before the fall of Carthage there were several schools of Greek philosophy in the city, notably the Pythagorean, or Neo-Pythagorean, as well as the Neo-Academician. An outstanding name among the latter school was Hasdrubal, who was born in Carthage in the second century B.C. and went to Athens, where he became a celebrated philosopher under the name of Clitomachus. Diogenes Laertius refers to him in his Lives of the Philosophers: "Clitomachus of Carthage was named Hasdrubal, and it was under his real name that he practiced at home. When he came to Athens at the age of forty he went to hear Carneades. The latter, seeing his great enthusiasm, made him a man of letters and educated him. His pupil worked so hard that he produced more than forty books. He took Carneades' place and annotated his best theories in his books. He contributed extensively to three different schools of thought -- the Academic, the Peripatetic and the Stoic" (13). It could also be added that it is only through Hasdrubal-Clitomachus that we know something of the philosophy of Carneades, whom he succeeded in 129 B.C. As a specialist on Diogenes Laertius remarks, "Hasdrubal seems to have added to the probabilism of Arcesilas a critical interpretation of certitude, and this makes him a forerunner of modem thought".
Punic Inscriptions
By far the largest part of the main body of known Punic inscriptions (several thousand, as we mentioned before) can be classed as religious literature. The longest and usually the most interesting of them are those dealing with the customary sacrifices in the Punic sanctuaries. These are the sacrificial tariffs promulgated by the magistrates in charge of the administration of the cult, who laid down the share due to the priests, according to the animal and the nature of the offering. Every sanctuary had its own particular tariff. Fragments of these lists have been found at Carthage, but the most complete text is that found at Marseilles in 1844 in the old port district (now in the Musée Borély), which originally came from Carthage. It read as follows:
1. "Temple of Baal [tsaphon. Tariff of du] es which [the thirty men in charge of the du] es have fixed, in the time [of the magistracy of Khilletz] baal the Suffete, son of Bodtanit, son of Bod [eshmun and Khilletzbaal]
2. the Suffete, son of Bodeshmun, son of Khilletzbaal and their col [leagues]."
3. "For an ox, in expiatory sacrifice or in communion sacrifice or in holocaust: for the priests, ten (shekels) of silver each. And in expiatory sacrifice, they shall have, in addition to these dues, [a weight of 300 (shekels) of flesh
4. and in communion sacrifice, the breast and the (right) thigh. The skin, the ribs (?), the feet and the rest of the flesh shall belong to the master of the sacrifice."
5. "For an uncastrated calf not yet horned, or for a deer, in expiator: sacrifice or in communion sacrifice or in holocaust: for the priests, five (shekels) of silver [each. In expiatory sacrifice, they shall have,
6. in] addition to these dues, a weight of 150 (shekels) of flesh and, in communion sacrifice, the breast, and the thigh The skin, the ribs (?), the feet and the rest of the flesh shall belong to the master of the sacrifice]."
7. "For a ram or a he-goat, in expiatory sacrifice or in communion sacrifice or in holocaust: for the priests, one shekel two zar of silver each. In communion sacrifice, they shall have, [in addition to these dues, the breast]
8. and the (right) thigh. The skin, the ribs (?), the feet and the rest of the flesh shall belong to the master of the sacrifice."
9. "For a lamb or a kid or a fawn, in expiatory sacrifice or in communion sacrifice or in holocaust: for the priests, three-quarters (of a shekel) of silver and [two] zar [each. In communion sacrifice, they shall have, in addition]
10. to these dues, the breast and the (right) thigh. The skin, the ribs (?), the feet and the rest of the flesh shall belong to the master [of the sacrifice]."
11. "For a farmyard bird or a wild fowl, in holocaust or in exorcism sacrifice or in sacrifice for an augury: for the priests, three-quarters (of a shekel) of silver each. And the flesh shall belong to the master of the sacrifice]."
12. "For an (other) bird or holy first fruits or for an offering of flour or an offering of oil: for the priests, ten ag[urot] of silver each..."
13. "For each communion sacrifice which is offered before the god, the breast and the thigh shall belong to the priests. In communion sacrifice..."
14. "For cake, for milk, for fat and for all sacrifices offered by a man in minkhat..."
15. "For each sacrifice which is offered with cattle or with fowl, the pri[ests] shall have nothing."
16. "Every guild MZRH, every clan and every thiasos of the divinity and all men who shall offer sacrifice..."
17. "These men (shall pay) the dues on one sacrifice only, according to what has been fixed in the writing ..."
18. "All dues which are not set out on this table shall be given according to the writing [made by the thirty men in charge of the dues, in the time of the magistracy of Khilletzbaal, son of Bodtani]t and
19. and of Khilletzbaal, son of Bodeshmun, and their colleagues."
20. "Every priest who shall collect dues other (?) than those fixed on this table, will be smitten with a fine..."
21. "Every master of the sacrifice who shall not give [the money ? ac]cording to the dues..."
