The Punic Goddess Tanit In Sicily

After the ancient southwestern Sicilian city of Selinunte was pillaged by Carthaginian (i.e., Punic) forces between 409 and 406 BCE, the Greek city became Punic for a time. The Carthaginians built a new town, recycling the materials and reclaiming temples from the magnificent Greek community that preceded it. Throughout today’s archaeological site, some ruins of…

Life is a Banquet

I’m getting ready to go to Sicily today … and this is what I’m thinking about: Banqueting! Stirring Sicily, our hands-on cooking experience starts in 12 hours! This late 6th century BC statuette of a banqueting figure on a bed is housed in Palermo’s Museo Archeologico Salinas. It was found in a Punic (AKA Carthaginian)…

Tanit, Ancient Goddess

This image represents the ancient goddess Tanit who was revered by Punic peoples throughout the Mediterranean and north coast of Africa. She was a heavenly goddess of war, a virginal mother, and a nurse. At Solunto, an ancient Phoenician site established between the 8th and 7th centuries BC near present-day Bagheria and Santa Flavia, there…

“Pip” Whitaker

On the island of Mozia, off of Marsala, is the G. Whitaker Museum, named for Giuseppe, or Joseph Whitaker (1850-1936), who was affectionately known as “Pip.” Pip was the son of Joseph Whitaker, Senior, an entrepreneur from West Yorkshire, England. The Whitakers, like their industrious counterparts the Woodhouses, Hopps, Inghams, and Pynes, came to Sicily…