Tanit | |
---|---|
Goddess of civilized life | |
![]() Carthagenian coin depicting the face of Tanit on the front and her symbols, the horse and the date palm tree in the back | |
Other names | Thinnith, Tannit, Tinnit, Tinnith |
Abode | In the heavens with Baal Hammon |
Animals | horse, Lion, Dove |
Symbol | Aegis, spear, armor, chariot |
Tree | Olive tree, Dates tree |
Gender | female |
Region | North Africa: Carthage, Numidia, Libya |
Genealogy | |
Avatar birth | Lake Tritonis |
Parents | Atlas, Triton |
Siblings | Pallas |
Consort | Baal Hammon |
Equivalents | |
Roman equivalent | Minerva |
Canaanite equivalent | Anat[1] |
Egyptian equivalent | Neith |
Greek equivalent | Athena[2] |
Tanit or Tinnit (Punic: 𐤕𐤍𐤕 Tīnnīt[3]) was a chief deity of Ancient Carthage; she derives from a local Berber deity and the consort of Baal Hammon.[a][5][6] As Ammon is a local Libyan deity,[7] so is Tannit, which she represents the matriarchal aspect of Numidian society,[8] whom the Egyptians identify as Neith and the Greeks identify as Athena[9][b][c][10]. She was the goddess of Wisdom, civilization and the crafts; she is the defender of towns and homes where she is worshipped. Ancient North Africans used to put her sign on tombstones and homes to ask for protection,[11][12] her main temples in Thinissut (Bir Bouregba, Tunisia), Cirta (Constantine, Algeria), Lambaesis (Batna, Algeria) and Theveste (Tebessa, Algeria).[13][14][15]. She had a yearly festival in Antiquity [d] which persists to this day in many parts of North Africa that was banned by Muammar Gaddafi in Libya ruling it as a pagan festival.
The names themselves, Baal Hammon and Tanit, have Berber linguistic structure. Many Feminine and Masculine names end with "t" and "n" and in the Berber languages. The variation of the name "Tanit" appears to may have originated in Carthage (modern-day Tunisia), though it does not appear in local theophorous names.[16] Before 1955, the only attestations of the goddess's name were in Punic, which is written without vowels as "TNT" Tanit or "TNNT" as Tannit, it was arbitrarily vocalized as "Tanit". In 1955, Punic inscriptions transliterated in Greek characters found at El-Hofra (near Constantine, Algeria) transliterated the name as Greek: Θινιθ (Thinith) and Greek: Θεννειθ (Thenneith). The inscriptions indicate that the name was likely pronounced as Tinnīt.[3] Still, many scholars and writings continue to use Tanit. Tanit was later worshipped in Roman Carthage in her Romanized form as Dea Caelestis, Juno Caelestis, or simply Caelestis.
In modern-day Tunisian Arabic, it is customary to invoke Omek Tannou or Oumouk Tangou ('Mother Tannou' or 'Mother Tangou', depending on the region), in years of drought to bring rain.[17] Similarly, Algerian, Tunisian and many other spoken forms of Arabic refer to "Baali farming" to refer to non-irrigated agriculture.[18]
Durant la période d'indépendance de la monarchie numide, Cirta a abrité un sanctuaire très important consacré au culte de Ba'al Hammon et de sa parèdre Tanit
At Carthage the great goddess is called Tinnit (formerly read Tanit).... It would seem that Tinnit is the specific Carthaginian form of Astarte, but strangely enough there are no theophorous names containing the element Tinnit, while there are a few with Astarte. The name seems to have originated in Carthage....
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