Carthaginian Tombstone for Gemellus (Illustration)

Illustration

by Osama Shukir Muhammed Amin
published on 16 June 2016

Send to Google Classroom:

Carthaginian Tombstone for Gemellus — This limestone monument was set up in a cemetery in Carthage, in memory of a man called Gemellus. The inscription towards the base is written in Phoenician, the native language of ancient Carthage, often known as Punic, and states "This tombstone has been set up for Gemellus, son of Selidius. He lived fifty years". Monuments like this were originally set up in tophets, open-air children's cemeteries. They showed where urns containing the cremated remains of new-born infants and children had been buried. Following the destruction and annexation of Carthage by the Romans in 146 BCE, the practice was more widely adopted and extended to mark adult burials which had not previously been commemorated in this way. From Carthage, modern-day Tunisia. Punic, 2nd to 3rd century CE. (The British Museum, London)

Remove Ads

About the Author

Osama Shukir Muhammed Amin

Associate Professor of Neurology and lover of the Cradle of Civilization, Mesopotamia. I'm very interested in Mesopotamian history and always try to take photos of archaeological sites and artifacts in museums, both in Iraq and around the world.

License

Uploaded by Osama Shukir Muhammed Amin, published on 16 June 2016 under the following license: Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike. This license lets others remix, tweak, and build upon this content non-commercially, as long as they credit the author and license their new creations under the identical terms. Please note that content linked from this page may have different licensing terms.

Related Images

Image

Cite This Work

APA Style

Amin, O. S. M. (2016, June 16). Carthaginian Tombstone for Gemellus. World History Encyclopedia. Retrieved from https://www.worldhistory.org/image/5213/carthaginian-tombstone-for-gemellus/

Chicago Style

Amin, Osama Shukir Muhammed. "Carthaginian Tombstone for Gemellus." World History Encyclopedia. Last modified June 16, 2016. https://www.worldhistory.org/image/5213/carthaginian-tombstone-for-gemellus/.

MLA Style

Amin, Osama Shukir Muhammed. "Carthaginian Tombstone for Gemellus." World History Encyclopedia. World History Encyclopedia, 16 Jun 2016. Web. 14 Apr 2021.

Remove Ads

Support Us

We are a non-profit organization.

Our mission is to engage people with cultural heritage and to improve history education worldwide. Please support World History Encyclopedia Foundation. Thank you!

Donate