DOI Seite / Zitierlink:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.18096#0379
sentations of deities became recognised in the country, it was
Grasco-Roman art which supplied the ideas. But the Cronos
of Greece and the Saturn of Italy had few attributes in common
with the Phoenician Baal. The first two were symbolised by
the scythe and the serpent, and the last by the crescent and the
disc. Instead of conceiving a new type, such as Alexandrian
art had produced in its representations of Zeus-Ammon, of
Serapis and Isis, African art was content with adding to the
bust of Saturn figures of Helios and Selene, personifying the
Sun and Moon. In their language the deity was spoken of as
one, though in their art it was triune.' The reason for this
absence of artistic proclivities is not far to seek. The race
which preceded the Roman was anything but artistic. The fine
arts never flourished at Carthage, and certainly every exploration,
either on the site of the city itself or of the numerous emporia on
the coast, favours this statement. As a tributary of Egypt for a
long period the Carthaginians, in spite of their wealth and power,
were satisfied with borrowing from their master the skilled pro-
ducts of a neighbouring country. And in later years, when
Carthage had to contend with Greeks in the fair island of Sicily,
resplendent with temples and palaces, embellished with sculp-
ture of the best period of Greek art, and rich in works of jewellery
and specimens of the plastic art, Hellenism exercised an irresist-
ible attraction, testified in a measure by Carthaginian coins
which have been transmitted to us almost as perfect as on the
day when they were minted. These two consecutive influences,
Egyptian and Greek, have left their mark on the numerous re-
mains which may still be studied in the galleries of the Louvre
or in the museum on Carthage hill, where decorative forms asso-
ciated with Egyptian and Hellenic art may be seen side by side
It is reasonable to assume that Punic Carthage, at the time
of the second Punic war, presented to the Romans an aspect
somewhat similar to that of other towns bordering on the Medi-
terranean colonised by Greeks, and that the temples and public
buildings which adorned the streets of the great metropolis were
the works of Greek artists encouraged to settle in this prosperous
corner of North Africa. The appearance of other towns on the
coast, peopled by Carthaginians and Greeks and the descendants
of old Phoenician trading families, is also a matter of pleasant
conjecture. Nor can any reliable opinion be formed of the
Grasco-Roman art which supplied the ideas. But the Cronos
of Greece and the Saturn of Italy had few attributes in common
with the Phoenician Baal. The first two were symbolised by
the scythe and the serpent, and the last by the crescent and the
disc. Instead of conceiving a new type, such as Alexandrian
art had produced in its representations of Zeus-Ammon, of
Serapis and Isis, African art was content with adding to the
bust of Saturn figures of Helios and Selene, personifying the
Sun and Moon. In their language the deity was spoken of as
one, though in their art it was triune.' The reason for this
absence of artistic proclivities is not far to seek. The race
which preceded the Roman was anything but artistic. The fine
arts never flourished at Carthage, and certainly every exploration,
either on the site of the city itself or of the numerous emporia on
the coast, favours this statement. As a tributary of Egypt for a
long period the Carthaginians, in spite of their wealth and power,
were satisfied with borrowing from their master the skilled pro-
ducts of a neighbouring country. And in later years, when
Carthage had to contend with Greeks in the fair island of Sicily,
resplendent with temples and palaces, embellished with sculp-
ture of the best period of Greek art, and rich in works of jewellery
and specimens of the plastic art, Hellenism exercised an irresist-
ible attraction, testified in a measure by Carthaginian coins
which have been transmitted to us almost as perfect as on the
day when they were minted. These two consecutive influences,
Egyptian and Greek, have left their mark on the numerous re-
mains which may still be studied in the galleries of the Louvre
or in the museum on Carthage hill, where decorative forms asso-
ciated with Egyptian and Hellenic art may be seen side by side
It is reasonable to assume that Punic Carthage, at the time
of the second Punic war, presented to the Romans an aspect
somewhat similar to that of other towns bordering on the Medi-
terranean colonised by Greeks, and that the temples and public
buildings which adorned the streets of the great metropolis were
the works of Greek artists encouraged to settle in this prosperous
corner of North Africa. The appearance of other towns on the
coast, peopled by Carthaginians and Greeks and the descendants
of old Phoenician trading families, is also a matter of pleasant
conjecture. Nor can any reliable opinion be formed of the