Kerkouane or Kerkuane (, Karkwān) is the site of an ancient Punic city in north-eastern Tunisia, near Cape Bon. Kerkouane was one of the most important Punic cities, with Carthage, Hadrumetum (modern Sousse), and Utica. This Phoenician city was probably abandoned during the First Punic War ( BC) and was not rebuilt by the Romans. It had existed for almost 400 years.

UNESCO declared the Punic town of Kerkouane and its necropolis a World Heritage Site in 1985, citing among other things that the remains constitute the only example of a Phoenicio-Punic city to have survived.

The name Kerkouane was given to the town by archaeologists. Its name in antiquity has not been preserved in any known historical documents.

Etymology

The name Kerkouane is a Libyco-Berber toponym deriving from Berber kkerker "to wall up", it is also found in Algeria and the Sahel region.

Excavations

Kerkouane is a small town and was probably never home to more than 1,200 people, mostly fishermen and craftsmen. Based on the presence of many murex shells, it would appear that the town produced purple dye, in addition to salt and garum (a food product).

There is an area for ritual banquets and a sacrificial altar. While archaeologists are unsure precisely which deities the temple was dedicated to, they speculate based on artifacts found at the site that it may have been Melqart, Sid and Tanit. Terracotta heads showing two males wearing conical hats resemble Sid and Melqart iconography known from the Temple of Antas in Sardinia. and is no longer considered very likely. The other, more plausible scenarios result in lower warming levels and consequently lower sea level rise: yet, sea levels would continue to increase for about 10,000 years under all of them. Even if the warming is limited to 1.5°C, global sea level rise is still expected to exceed after 2000 years (and higher warming levels will see larger increases by then), consequently exceeding 2100 levels of sea level rise under RCP 8.5 (~ with a range of ) well before the year 4000. Thus, it is a matter of time before Kerkouane is threatened by rising water levels, unless it can be protected by adaptation efforts such as sea walls.

See also

  • Sanctuary of Thinissut

References

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Kerkouane .jpg|Floor of Kerkouane

Kerkouane baignoire.jpg|A bath

Kerkouane salle eau.jpg|A toilet

Kerkouane maisons 2.jpg|Remains of houses

Hauptabwasserleitung in Kerkouane, Tunesien Januar 2015 02.JPG|View of the archeological site

Buvette a musee kerkwan.jpg|Outside Kerkouane museum

Kerkouane Plan du site 2.jpg|Plan of the site

Kerkouane-Tamezrat photo12 كركوان- تامزراط.jpg|Remains of Tamezrat

Kerkouane-Tamezrat photo2 كركوان- تامزراط.jpg|Remains of walls

Kerkouane1.JPG|Remains of columns

Plaque du site archéologique de Kerkouane photo2 الموقع الأثري كركوان.jpg|Sign of the site

Site Archeologique de Kerkouene (13).jpg|General view of the site

</gallery>

  • Lexicorient
  • Kerkounane Guide