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{{Short description|Goddess of Carthage}}
{{Infobox deity
| type = Canaanite
| name = Tanit
| image = Carthago - 350-250 BC - silver tetradrachm - head of Tanit - head of horse and date palm - München SMS.jpg
| alt = 
| caption = Carthaginian coin depicting the face of Tanit on the front, and her symbols the horse and the date palm tree in the opposite side.
| god_of = Goddess of wisdom, warfare (Protector), and handicraft
| abode = In the heavens with [[Baal Hammon]]
| tree = [[Olive tree]], [[date palm]]
| animals = [[Horse]], [[lion]], [[dove]]
| symbol = [[Aegis]], [[spear]], [[armor]], [[chariot]]
| parents = [[Atlas (mythology)|Atlas]], [[Triton (mythology)|Triton]]
| siblings = [[Pallas (daughter of Triton)|Pallas]]
| Roman_equivalent = [[Minerva]]
| equivalent1_type = Egyptian
| equivalent1 = [[Neith]]
| Canaanite_equivalent = [[Anat]]<ref>{{cite journal|author=Richard J. Clifford|page=62|doi=10.2307/1357208|journal=Bulletin of the American Schools of Oriental Research|title=Phoenician Religion|date=August 1990|number=279|jstor=1357208 }}</ref>
| equivalent3_type = Greek
| equivalent3 = [[Athena]]<ref name=":022"/>
| deity_of = Goddess of civilized life
| avatar_birth = [[Lake Tritonis]]
| other_names = Thinnith, Tannit, Tinnit, Tinnith
| consort = [[Baal Hammon]]
| region = North Africa: [[Ancient Carthage|Carthage]], [[Numidia]], [[Ancient Libya|Libya]]
| gender = female
}}[[File:Carthago - 330-300 BC - silver tetradrachm - head of horse and date palm - head of Tanit - Berlin MK AM 18206038.jpg|thumb|A Punic coin featuring Tanit, minted in Carthage between 330 and 300 BCE.|240x240px]]{{Tamazight (Berber) Deities}}
'''Tanit''' or '''Tinnit''' ([[Punic language|Punic]]: 𐤕𐤍𐤕 ''Tīnnīt''<ref name="pronunciation">{{cite journal |last1=Friedrich |first1=Johannes |date=1957 |title=Punische Studien |journal=Zeitschrift der Deutschen Morgenländischen Gesellschaft |volume=107 (n.F. 32) |issue=2 |pages=282-298: p. 283, 285-286 |jstor=43369103 }} (JStor)</ref>) was a chief deity of [[Ancient Carthage]]. She is the consort of [[Baal Hammon]].{{Efn|Baal Hammon is the combination of the Libyan god Ammon and the Phoenician god Baal, this combination forms a stronger deity. The combination of the two deities was courtesy from the Carthagenian refugees when the King of the Massyles allowed them to settle in North Africa, so they adopted local custom of worship of Ammon and Tannit the local deities as a sign of appreciation to the locals.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Camps |first=G. |date=1986-09-01 |title=Ammon |url=https://journals.openedition.org/encyclopedieberbere/2477?lang=en#:~:text=L'Ammon%20libyen%20de%20Siouah,ador%C3%A9%20sous%20sa%20forme%20animale. |journal=Encyclopédie berbère |language=fr |issue=4 |pages=596–599 |doi=10.4000/encyclopedieberbere.2477 |issn=1015-7344}}</ref>}}<ref>{{cite book |first=Richard |last=Miles |title=Carthage Must Be Destroyed: The Rise and Fall of an Ancient Civilization |publisher=Penguin |date=2011 |page=68}}</ref><ref>The standard survey is: {{cite book |first=F. O. |last=Hvidberg-Hansen |title=La déesse TNT: Une Etude sur la réligion canaanéo-punique |language=fr |location=Copenhagen |publisher=Gad |date=1982}}. An extensive critical review by G. W. Ahlström appeared in ''Journal of Near Eastern Studies'' '''45'''(4), October 1986, pp. 311&ndash;314.</ref> As Ammon is a local Libyan deity,<ref>{{Cite web |last=Livius |title=Ammon (Deity) |url=https://www.worldhistory.org/Ammon_(Deity)/ |access-date=2024-07-26 |website=World History Encyclopedia |language=en}}</ref> so is Tanit, who represents the [[Matriarchy|matriarchal]] aspect of [[Numidians|Numidian]] society,<ref name=":022">{{Cite journal |last=Camps |first=G. |date=1989-01-01 |title=Athéna |url=https://journals.openedition.org/encyclopedieberbere/1211 |journal=Encyclopédie berbère |language=fr |issue=7 |pages=1011–1013 |doi=10.4000/encyclopedieberbere.1211 |issn=1015-7344}}</ref> and whom the Egyptians identify as [[Neith]] and the [[Ancient Greece|Greeks]] identify as [[Athena]].<ref name="Cambridge University Press">{{Citation |title=Pausanias and His Description of Greece |date=2012-06-28 |work=Pausanias and Other Greek Sketches |pages=1–159 |publisher=Cambridge University Press|doi=10.1017/cbo9781139207669.002 |isbn=978-1-108-04751-7 }}</ref>{{Efn|Herodotus. 4.189: "It would seem that the robe and aegis of the images of Athena were copied by the Greeks from the Libyan women; for except that Libyan women dress in leather, and that the tassels of their goatskin cloaks are not snakes but thongs of hide, in everything else their equipment is the same. And in fact, the very name betrays that the attire of the statues of Pallas has come from Libya; for Libyan women wear the hairless tasselled "aegea" over their dress, colored with madder, and the Greeks have changed the name of these aegeae into their "aegides." Furthermore, in my opinion the ceremonial chant2 first originated in Libya: for the women of that country chant very tunefully. And it is from the Libyans that the Greeks have learned to drive four-horse chariots."}}{{Efn|Herodotus.IV.180:"They celebrate a yearly festival of Athena, where their maidens are separated into two bands and fight each other with stones and sticks, thus (they say) honoring in the way of their ancestors that native goddess whom we call Athena. Maidens who die of their wounds are called false virgins. Before the girls are set fighting, the whole people choose the fairest maid, and arm her with a Corinthian helmet and Greek panoply, to be then mounted on a chariot and drawn all along the lake shore."}}<ref name=":022"/> 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.<ref name=":1">{{Cite journal |last1=Camps |first1=G. |last2=Longerstay |first2=M. |date=2000-01-01 |title=Haouanet |url=https://journals.openedition.org/encyclopedieberbere/1697 |journal=Encyclopédie berbère |language=fr |issue=22 |pages=3361–3387 |doi=10.4000/encyclopedieberbere.1697 |issn=1015-7344}}</ref><ref name=":2">{{Cite journal |last=Le Glay |first=M. |date=1992-09-01 |title=Caelistis |url=https://journals.openedition.org/encyclopedieberbere/1896 |journal=Encyclopédie berbère |language=fr |issue=11 |pages=1696–1698 |doi=10.4000/encyclopedieberbere.1896 |issn=1015-7344}}</ref> Her main temples were in [[Sanctuary of Thinissut|Thinissut]] (Bir Bouregba, [[Tunisia]]), [[Cirta]] ([[Constantine, Algeria]]), [[Lambaesis]] ([[Batna (city)|Batna, Algeria]]) and [[Theveste]] ([[Tébessa|Tebessa, Algeria]]).<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Bertrandy |first=S. |date=1994-02-01 |title=Cirta |url=https://journals.openedition.org/encyclopedieberbere/2289 |journal=Encyclopédie berbère |language=fr |issue=13 |pages=1964–1977 |doi=10.4000/encyclopedieberbere.2289 |issn=1015-7344 |quote="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"}}</ref><ref name=":1"/><ref name=":2"/> She had a yearly festival in Antiquity{{Efn|Herodotus.IV.180:"They celebrate a yearly festival of Athena, where their maidens are separated into two bands and fight each other with stones and sticks, thus (they say) honoring in the way of their ancestors that native goddess whom we call Athena. Maidens who die of their wounds are called false virgins. Before the girls are set fighting, the whole people choose the fairest maid, and arm her with a Corinthian helmet and Greek panoply, to be then mounted on a chariot and drawn all along the lake shore."}} which persists to this day in many parts of [[North Africa]] but was banned by [[Muammar Gaddafi]] in [[Libya]], who called it a pagan festival.

Tannit was also a goddess of [[rain]], in modern-day [[Tunisia]], it is customary to invoke {{lang|aeb-Latn|[[Omek Tannou]]}} or {{lang|aeb-Latn|Oumouk Tangou}} ('Mother Tannou' or 'Mother Tangou', depending on the region), in years of drought to bring rain.<ref name=":0">{{cite book |last=Rezgui |first=Sadok |title=Les chants tunisiens |date=1989 |publisher=Maison tunisienne de l'édition |location=Tunis |language=fr}}</ref> Similarly, Algerians and Tunisians refer to "{{lang|aeb-Latn|Baali}} farming" to mean non-irrigated agriculture.<ref>Ottavo contributo alla storia degli studi classici e del mondo antico Arnaldo Momigliano - 1987 p240.</ref>

== Etymology ==
The names themselves, Baal Hammon and Tanit, have Berber ([[Berber languages|Tamazight]]) linguistic structure. Many feminine names begin and end with "t" and "n" in the [[Berber languages]];<ref>{{Cite book |last=Takruri |first=Akan |url=https://www.google.dz/books/edition/100_African_religions_before_slavery_col/ZmmUDgAAQBAJ?hl=fr&gbpv=1&dq=tanit+berber&pg=PA99&printsec=frontcover |title=100 African religions before slavery & colonization |date=2017-02-12 |publisher= |isbn=978-1-365-75245-2 |page=99 |language=en}}</ref> in Berber "Tanit" means spring or stream,<ref>{{Cite book |last=Benoît |first=Pierre |url=https://www.google.dz/books/edition/Atlantida/9rvMEAAAQBAJ?hl=fr&gbpv=1&dq=tanit+berber&pg=PA159&printsec=frontcover |title=Atlantida |date=2023-07-20 |publisher=Wildside Press LLC |isbn=978-1-6676-6107-0 |page=159 |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Beno't |first=Pierre |url=https://www.google.dz/books/edition/Queen_of_Atlantis/fwZXWcPEmeoC?hl=fr&gbpv=1&dq=tanit+berber&pg=PA168&printsec=frontcover |title=Queen of Atlantis |date=2005-01-01 |publisher=U of Nebraska Press |isbn=978-0-8032-6916-3 |page=168 |language=en}}</ref> though it does not appear in local [[theophorous name]]s.<ref name="BleekerWidengren1988">{{cite book |first1=Claas Jouco |last1=Bleeker |first2=Geo |last2=Widengren |title=Historia Religionum, Volume 1: Religions of the Past |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=rR9sLae9dEoC&pg=PA209 |date=1988 |publisher=Brill |isbn=90-04-08928-4 |pages=209 ''ff.'' |quote=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....}}</ref> Before 1955, the only attestations of the goddess's name were in [[Punic language|Punic]], which is written without vowels as "TNT" Tanit or "TNNT" as Tannit and was arbitrarily vocalized as "Tanit". In 1955, Punic inscriptions transliterated in [[Greek alphabet|Greek characters]] found at El-Hofra (near [[Constantine, Algeria]]) transliterated the name as {{langx|grc|Θινιθ}} (Thinith) and {{langx|grc|Θεννειθ}} (Thenneith). The inscriptions indicate that the name was likely pronounced as Tinnīt.<ref name="pronunciation" /> Still, many scholars and writers continue to use "Tanit". She was later worshipped in Roman Carthage in her [[Romanization (cultural)|Romanized]] form as '''Dea Caelestis''', [[Juno Caelestis]], or simply [[List of Roman deities#Caelestis|Caelestis]].

== Worship ==
Tanit was worshiped in Punic contexts in the Western Mediterranean, in [[North Africa]], [[Sicily]], [[Malta]], [[Cádiz|Gades]] and many other places into Hellenistic times when Rome expanded into North Africa. Long after the [[fall of Carthage]], Tanit was still venerated in North Africa under the {{langx|la|Juno Caelestis|label=[[Latin]] name of}}, for her identification with Juno by the [[Roman people|Romans]].<ref name=":3" />[[File:Bardo National Museum tanit.jpg|thumb|upright=1|Tanit with a lion's head, from the Bardo Museum in Tunisia]]Tanit's worship had a massive local cult of origin in North Africa,<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Clermont-Ganneau |first=Charles Simon |date=1895 |title=Tanit et Démeter |url=https://www.persee.fr/doc/crai_0065-0536_1895_num_39_4_70598 |journal=Comptes rendus des séances de l'Académie des Inscriptions et Belles-Lettres |volume=39 |issue=4 |pages=291–292 |doi=10.3406/crai.1895.70598 |quote="l'origine historique d'une déesse qualifiée de déesse mère (Amma ou Emm), est africaine qui, comme nous le montre l'épigraphie"}}</ref> since in ancient Carthage, Tanit soon eclipsed the more established cult of [[Baal Hammon]] and, in the Carthaginian area at least, was frequently listed before him on the monuments.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Tanit {{!}} Phoenician Goddess, Carthage, Moon Goddess {{!}} Britannica |url=https://www.britannica.com/topic/Tanit |access-date=2024-07-31 |website=www.britannica.com |language=en}}</ref> From the fifth century [[Common era|BCE]] onwards, Tanit's worship is associated with that of [[Baal Hammon]]. She is given the [[epithet]] {{lang|phn-Latn|pene baal}} ('face of Baal') and the title {{lang|phn-Latn|rabat}}, the female form of {{lang|phn-Latn|rab}} ('chief' or 'lord').<ref>Markoe 2000:130.</ref> In [[North Africa]], where the inscriptions and material remains are more plentiful, she was, as well as a consort of Baal Hammon, a heavenly [[War goddess|goddess of war]], a "virginal" (unmarried) [[mother goddess]] and nurse, and, less specifically, a [[Fertility goddess|symbol of fertility]], as are most female forms.<ref>{{Cite book |url=https://www.britannica.com/topic/Tanit |title=Encyclopaedia Britannica |edition=online |chapter=Tanit {{!}} ancient deity |access-date=8 August 2017}}</ref> Tanit's worship became popular in Carthage, especially after the separation between Carthage and Tyre in the [[Siege of Tyre (586–573 BC)#:~:text=The siege of Tyre is,by Nebuchadnezzar II of Babylon.|6th century BCE]], when the traditional Phoenician cults of [[Astarte]] and [[Melqart]] were replaced by the worship of local North African deities Tanit and [[Baal Hammon]].<ref name="Alca" />

Several of the major Greek goddesses were identified with Tanit by the syncretic ''[[interpretatio graeca]]'', which recognized as Greek deities in foreign guise the gods of most of the surrounding non-Hellene cultures as the Greek historians such as [[Herodotus]], [[Apollodorus of Athens|Apollodorus]], [[Pausanias (geographer)|Pausanias]]  mention that Athena has ancient [[Ancient Libya|Libyan]] origins in North Africa to Tanit herself as a goddess of strikingly similar aspects to [[Athena]] (Wisdom, War, Weaving..etc).<ref name="Cambridge University Press"/>{{Efn|Herodotus. 4.189: "It would seem that the robe and aegis of the images of Athena were copied by the Greeks from the Libyan women; for except that Libyan women dress in leather, and that the tassels of their goatskin cloaks are not snakes but thongs of hide, in everything else their equipment is the same. And in fact, the very name betrays that the attire of the statues of Pallas has come from Libya; for Libyan women wear the hairless tasselled "aegea" over their dress, colored with madder, and the Greeks have changed the name of these aegeae into their "aegides." Furthermore, in my opinion the ceremonial chant2 first originated in Libya: for the women of that country chant very tunefully. And it is from the Libyans that the Greeks have learned to drive four-horse chariots."}}{{Efn|Herodotus.IV.180:"They celebrate a yearly festival of Athena, where their maidens are separated into two bands and fight each other with stones and sticks, thus (they say) honoring in the way of their ancestors that native goddess whom we call Athena. Maidens who die of their wounds are called false virgins. Before the girls are set fighting, the whole people choose the fairest maid, and arm her with a Corinthian helmet and Greek panoply, to be then mounted on a chariot and drawn all along the lake shore."}}<ref name=":022"/> [[Herodotus]] one of the most well known Greek historians who traveled throughout the region wrote about her the following:

{{Blockquote|text="It would seem that the robe and aegis of the images of Athena were copied by the Greeks from the Libyan women; for except that Libyan women dress in leather, and that the tassels of their goatskin cloaks are not snakes but thongs of hide, in everything else their equipment is the same. And in fact, the very name betrays that the attire of the statues of Pallas has come from Libya; for Libyan women wear the hairless tasselled "aegea" over their dress, colored with madder, and the Greeks have changed the name of these aegeae into their "aegides." Furthermore, in my opinion the ceremonial chant first originated in Libya: for the women of that country chant very tunefully. And it is from the Libyans that the Greeks have learned to drive four-horse chariots."|author=Herodotus|title=The histories|source=IV.189}}

Archeologists have recently also uncovered temples of Tannit dating back to the 4th century BC in the [[Azores|Azores islands]] dedicated to Tanit, archaeologists uncovered more than five [[Hypogeum|hypogea]] type monuments (tombs excavated in rocks) and at least three 'sanctuaries' [[Protohistory|proto-historic]], carved into the rock.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2011-07-09 |title={{!}} Carthaginian temples found – AzoresPortuguese American Journal |url=https://portuguese-american-journal.com/carthaginian-temples-found-azores/ |access-date=2025-01-10 |website=Portuguese American Journal |language=en}}</ref>

A shrine excavated at [[Sarepta]] in southern Phoenicia revealed an inscription that has been speculated to have connection between the goddesses Tanit and [[Astarte]] ([[Ishtar]]).<ref>{{cite book |first=James B. |last=Pritchard |author-link=James B. Pritchard |title=Recovering Sarepta, a Phoenician City |publisher=Princeton University Press |date=1978}}. The inscription reads {{lang|phn-Latn|TNT TTRT}}, and could identify Tanit as an [[epithet]] of [[Astarte]] at Sarepta, for the {{lang|phn-Latn|TNT}} element does not appear in [[theophoric name]]s in Punic contexts (Ahlström 1986 review, p 314).</ref> Iconographic portrayals of both deities later become similar thanks to the influence of Carthage's trade empire across the mediterranean West to East.{{Efn|Perhaps here archeologists note since the deities have similar aspects when it comes to War, it was only natural of ancient people in the Eastern mediterranean after Carthagenian ships started to disembark back into their ancient homelands for trade, canaanites to adopt the same symbol of Tanit used in North Africa.}}<ref name="Oros">Manuel Salinas de Frías, ''El Afrodísion Óros de Viriato'', Acta Palaeohispanica XI. Palaeohispanica 13 (2013), pp. 257-271 I.S.S.N.: 1578-5386.</ref><ref name="Euro" /> The relation between both deities has been proposed to be [[Hypostasis (philosophy and religion)|hypostatic]] in nature, representing similar aspects of the goddesses.<ref name="Alca">Julio González Alcalde, ''Simbología de la diosa Tanit en representaciones cerámicas ibéricas'', Quad. Preh. Arq. Cast. 18, 1997</ref><ref name="Euro">Guadalupe López Monteagudo, María Pilar San Nicolás Pedraz, ''Astarté-Europa en la península ibérica - Un ejemplo de interpretatio romana'', Complurum Extra, 6(I), 1996: 451-470</ref> In Carthage, Astarte another war goddess was worshipped alongside the goddess Tanit, the two deities are clearly not equal and one does not originate from the other. Although Tanit did not appear at Carthage before the 5th century BC, this shows her clear origins locally from North Africa. However it is well known that the Phoenician Astarte is a deity of wars of aggression, in direct contrast to Libyan Tanit which only goes to war in the defense of the civilization or the homeland where she is worshipped, called '<nowiki/>'''defender of homes and families'''', giving direction and help to those who seek wisdom.<ref name=":022" /><ref name=":1" /><ref name=":2" /> [[File:Tanit ibiza.jpg|thumb|Bust of a female figure that has been sometimes hypothesized to represent Tanit, or probably [[Demeter]]<ref>https://www.diariodeibiza.es/ibiza/2015/11/13/imagen-impostora-tanit-ibiza-30365878.html ''El más famoso icono de la diosa púnica representa, probablemente, a la diosa griega Deméter'' - ''the most famous iconic representation of the punic goddess probably represents the Greek goddess Demeter''</ref> found in the Carthaginian [[necropolis of Puig des Molins]], dated 4th century BC, housed in the Museum of Puig des Molins in Ibiza, Spain]]Carthagenians spread the cult of Tanit-Astarte to the [[Iberian Peninsula]] with the foundation of [[Gadir]] (modern day [[Cádiz]]) and other colonies, where the goddess might have been also assimilated to native deities. Her worship was still active after the Roman conquest, when she was integrated with the Roman goddess [[Juno (mythology)|Juno]] (along with elements from [[Diana (mythology)|Diana]] and [[Minerva]]) in a goddess named ''Dea Caelestis'', the same way Baal Hammon was assimilated to [[Saturn (mythology)|Saturn]]. Dea Caelestis retained Punic traits until the end of [[classical antiquity]] in the fourth century CE.<ref name=Alca/><ref name=Euro/> Similarly, long after the [[fall of Carthage]], Tanit was still venerated in North Africa under the {{langx|la|Juno Caelestis|label=[[Latin]] name of}}, for her identification with Juno.<ref name=":3">{{cite book |last=Tate |first=Karen |date=2008 |title=Sacred Places of Goddess |url=https://archive.org/details/sacredplacesgodd00tate |url-access=limited |publisher=CCC Publishing |page=[https://archive.org/details/sacredplacesgodd00tate/page/n137 137] |isbn=978-1-888729-11-5}}</ref>

The [[Temple of Juno Caelestis, Carthage|temple of Juno Caelestis]], dedicated to the City Protector Goddess Juno Caelestis, which was the Roman name for Tanit, was one of the biggest building monuments of Roman Carthage, and became a holy site for pilgrims from all North Africa and Spain.<ref name=jsmh>McHugh, J. S. (2015). The Emperor Commodus: God and Gladiator. (n.p.): Pen & Sword Books.</ref>

==Iconography==
[[File:Tophet Carthage.2.jpg|thumb|[[Stele]] with [[Sign of Tanit|Tanit's symbol]] in [[Carthage]]'s Tophet, including a crescent moon over the figure]]
Her symbol (the [[sign of Tanit]]), found on many ancient stone carvings, the symbol of Tannit, is a triangle representing the human body, surmounted by a circle representing the head, and separated by a horizontal line which represents the hands. Later, the trapezium was frequently replaced by an [[Triangle|isosceles triangle]]. The symbol is interpreted by Danish professor of Semitic [[philology]] F. O. Hvidberg-Hansen as a woman raising her hands.<ref name=Hvid>{{Cite book |title=The Phoenician Solar Theology |first=Joseph |last=Azize |page=177}}</ref> She is also represented by the [[crescent]] [[moon]] and the [[Venus]] symbol.<ref name=Alca/><ref>{{Cite book |last=Sadiqi |first=F. |url=https://www.google.co.uk/books/edition/Moroccan_Feminist_Discourses/LImoBAAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=fatima+sadiqi+moroccan+feminist&printsec=frontcover |title=Moroccan Feminist Discourses |date=2014-09-17 |publisher=Springer |isbn=978-1-137-45509-3 |pages=57-59 |language=en}}</ref>

Tanit is often depicted while riding a [[lion]] or having a lion's head herself, showing her warrior quality,<ref name=Euro/><ref name=Hvid/> and is often [[naked]] or [[Toplessness|bare-breasted]], as a symbol of sexuality.<ref>Marín Ceballos, M. (1987) ''¿Tanit en España?'' Lucentum Núm. 6 pg. 43-80</ref> She is also depicted winged, possibly under the influence of [[Egyptian art]]work of [[Isis]]. Her associated animal and plants are the lion, the [[dove]], the [[palm tree]] and the [[rose]].<ref name=Alca/> Another motif assimilates her to [[Europa (consort of Zeus)|Europa]], portraying Tanit as a woman riding a [[bull]] that would represent another deity, possibly [[El (deity)|El]].<ref name=Euro/>

== Rituals ==
[[File:Stele with palm and Tanit sign-MBA Lyon 1969-86-IMG 0548.jpg|thumb|Stele with a [[Phoenician votive inscriptions|Phoenician]] [[Votive offering|votive inscription]], palm motif, and [[sign of Tanit]], from the [[Carthage tophet]], now in the [[Museum of Fine Arts of Lyon|Museum of Fine Arts]], [[Lyon]]]]
Berber women's ritual in North Africa ([[Tunisia]], [[Algeria]] and [[Morocco]]) evolved around healing fertility worship lamentation and life cycles, for Berber women these rituals are supposed to bring personal and communal satisfaction regarding: religious enactment, spirituality, emotional needs, reinforcement of family and social bonds, and achievement of pedagogical goals. These rituals may be public or private. An example of a public ritual is the right of {{Lang|ber|Taghunja}} or {{Lang|ber|tislit n unzar}} (bride of the rain). This is one of the oldest rites which seeks [[rain]] from the sky when the [[soil]] and [[agriculture]] are threatened by [[Drought|droughts]] and scarcity of water. The origin of this rite goes back to an ancient tradition of gathering and singing in front of the Goddess ''Tanit'' to implore her to bring rain when water is scarce, the performance of this rite changes from region to region but the difference is in this respect are small. A procession goes from village to village and from one saint's sanctuary to another carrying an [[effigy]] of a female,  on the way the bride is splashed with water from terraces and windows of houses, people give money gifts to the leader of the procession, the gathered money and food are used to prepare a big meal near a [[Spring (hydrology)|water spring]] or in a saint's sanctuary, usually on top of the hill.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Webber |first=Sabra J. |url=https://www.google.dz/books/edition/Romancing_the_Real/P04rEAAAQBAJ?hl=fr&gbpv=1&dq=tanit+berber&pg=PA35&printsec=frontcover |title=Romancing the Real: Folklore and Ethnographic Representation in North Africa |date=2016-11-11 |publisher=University of Pennsylvania Press |isbn=978-1-5128-0825-4 |page=35 |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Ennaji |first=Moha |url=https://www.google.dz/books/edition/Managing_Cultural_Diversity_in_the_Medit/sLXkDwAAQBAJ?hl=fr&gbpv=1&dq=tanit+berber&pg=PA32&printsec=frontcover |title=Managing Cultural Diversity in the Mediterranean Region |date=2020-05-01 |publisher=Cambridge Scholars Publishing |isbn=978-1-5275-4997-5 |page=32 |language=en}}</ref><ref name=":0" />

=== Child sacrifice ===
{{main|Tophet#Carthage and the western Mediterranean}}
The origins of Tanit are to be found in the pantheon of [[Ugarit]], especially in the Ugaritic goddess [[Anat]] (Hvidberg-Hansen 1982). There is significant, albeit disputed, evidence, both archaeological and within ancient written sources, pointing towards [[child sacrifice]] forming part of the worship of Tanit and Baal Hammon.<ref>Markoe, p. 136</ref>

Some archaeologists theorised that infant sacrifices have occurred. [[Lawrence E. Stager]], who directed the excavations of the [[Carthage tophet|Carthage Tophet]] in the 1970s, believes that infant sacrifice was practiced there. Paolo Xella of the National Research Council in Rome summarised the textual, epigraphical, and archaeological evidence for Carthaginian infant sacrifice.<ref>{{cite journal |first1=Paolo |last1=Xella |first2=Josephine |last2=Quin |first3=Valentina |last3=Melchiorri |first4=Peter |last4=van Dommelen |author-link4=Peter van Dommelen |title=Phoenician bones of contention |journal=[[Antiquity (journal)|Antiquity]] |volume=87 |issue=338 |pages=1199–1207 |url=http://antiquity.ac.uk/ant/087/ant0871199.htm |access-date=17 February 2014 |doi=10.1017/s0003598x00049966 |s2cid=166266000 |url-access=subscription }}{{Dead link|date=January 2025 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref>

===Archaeological evidence===
[[File:Tunisise Carthage Tophet Salambo 02.JPG|thumb|Stelae in the Tophet of Salammbó covered by a vault built in the Roman period]]

{{lang|he-Latn|[[Tophet]]}} is a [[Hebrew]] term from the [[Bible]], used to refer to a site near Jerusalem at which [[Canaanites]] and [[Israelites]] who rejected king [[Josiah]]'s reforms in [[Yahwism]] by practicing Canaanite [[idolatry]] were said to sacrifice children. It is now used as a general term for all such sites with cremated human and animal remains. The [[Hebrew Bible]] does not specify that the Israelite victims were buried, only burned, although the "place of burning" was probably adjacent to the place of burial. We have no idea how the Phoenicians themselves referred to the places of burning or burial, or to the practice itself.
[[File:Representació guarnida de la deessa Tànit.JPG|thumb|Adorned statue of the Punic goddess Tanit, 5th–3rd centuries BC, from the necropolis of [[:fr:Nécropole punique de Puig des Molins|Puig des Molins]], [[Ibiza]] (Spain), now housed in the [[Archaeology Museum of Catalonia]] (Barcelona)]]
Several apparent tophets have been identified, chiefly a large one in [[Carthage]], dubbed the Tophet of Salammbó, after the neighbourhood where it was unearthed in 1921.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Briand-Ponsart |first1=Claude |last2=Crogiez |first2=Sylvie |date=2002 |title=L'Afrique du nord antique et médievale: Mémoire, identité et imaginaire |publisher=Publications de l'Université de Rouen et du Havre |page=13 |isbn=2-87775-325-5 |language=fr}}</ref> Soil in the Tophet of Salammbó was found to be full of olive wood charcoal, probably from the sacrificial pyres. It was the location of the temple of the goddess Tanit and the [[necropolis]]. Animal remains, mostly sheep and goats, found inside some of the Tophet urns, strongly suggest that this was not a burial ground for children who died prematurely. The animals were sacrificed to the gods, presumably in place of children (one surviving inscription refers to the animal as "a substitute"). It is conjectured that the children unlucky enough not to have substitutes were also sacrificed and then buried in the Tophet. The remains include the bodies of both very young children and small animals, and those who argue in favor of child sacrifice have argued that if the animals were sacrificed then so too were the children.<ref name="plosone.org">{{cite journal |title=Skeletal Remains from Punic Carthage Do Not Support Systematic Sacrifice of Infants |first1=Jeffrey H. |last1=Schwartz |first2=Frank |last2=Houghton |first3=Roberto |last3=Macchiarelli |first4=Luca |last4=Bondioli |date=17 February 2010 |publisher=Public Library of Science |journal=PLOS ONE |volume=5 |issue=2 |article-number=e9177 |doi=10.1371/journal.pone.0009177 |bibcode=2010PLoSO...5.9177S |pmid=20174667 |pmc=2822869|doi-access=free }}</ref> The area covered by the Tophet in Carthage was probably over an acre and a half by the fourth century BCE,{{sfn|Stager|1980|p=3}} with nine different levels of burials. About 20,000 urns were deposited between 400 BCE and 200 BCE,{{sfn|Stager|1980|p=3}} with the practice continuing until the early years of the [[Christian era]]. The urns contained the charred bones of newborns and in some cases the bones of fetuses and two-year-olds. These double remains have been interpreted to mean that in the cases of stillborn babies, the parents would sacrifice their youngest child.{{sfn|Stager|1980|p=6}} This could be in line with an account from [[Cleitarchus]], an early third-century BCE historian of [[Alexander the Great]], of sacrifices being made to compensate perceived [[divine intervention]] having already occurred for the worshippers.{{sfn|Quinn|2019|p=677}}

A detailed breakdown of the age of the buried children includes pre-natal individuals – that is, still births. It is also argued that the age distribution of remains at this site is consistent with the burial of children who died of natural causes, shortly before or after birth.<ref name="plosone.org" /> Modern historians and archaeologists debate the reality and extent of this practice.{{sfn|Schwartz|Houghton|2017|p=452}}{{sfn|Holm|2005|p=1734}} Some scholars propose that all remains at the Tophet were sacrificed, whereas others propose that only some were.{{sfn|Schwartz|Houghton|2017|pp=443-444}} Outliers, such as Sergio Ribichini, have argued that the Tophet was "a child necropolis designed to receive the remains of infants who had died prematurely of sickness or other natural causes, and who for this reason were "offered" to specific deities and buried in a place different from the one reserved for the ordinary dead". He adds that this was probably part of "an effort to ensure the benevolent protection of the same deities for the survivors."{{sfn|Ribichini|1988|p=141}} However, this analysis is disputed; Patricia Smith and colleagues from the [[Hebrew University]] and [[Harvard University]] show from the teeth and skeletal analysis at the Carthage Tophet that infant ages at death (about two months) do not correlate with the expected ages of natural mortality (perinatal).<ref>{{cite journal |url=http://antiquity.ac.uk/ant/087/ant0871191.htm |first1=Patricia |last1=Smith |first2=Lawrence E. |last2=Stager |first3=Joseph A. |last3=Greene |first4=Gal |last4=Avishai |journal=Antiquity |volume=87 |issue=338 |pages=1191–1199 |title=Age estimations attest to infant sacrifice at the Carthage Tophet |access-date=23 January 2014 |doi=10.1017/s0003598x00049954 |s2cid=161040311 |url-access=subscription }}{{Dead link|date=July 2025 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref>

==Cultural references==
In [[Gustave Flaubert]]'s historical novel ''[[Salammbô]]'' (1862), the title character is a priestess of Tanit. Mâtho, the chief male protagonist, a Libyan mercenary rebel at war with Carthage, breaks into the goddess's temple and steals her veil.<ref>{{cite book |first=Laurence M. |last=Porter |title=Gustave Flaubert's "Madame Bovary": A Reference Guide |publisher=Greenwood |date=2002 |page=xxxi}}</ref>

In [[Kate Elliott (writer)|Kate Elliott]]'s ''Spiritwalker'' trilogy, a romanticised version of Tanit is one of many deities commonly worshiped in a polytheistic Europa. The narrator, Catherine, frequently appeals to "Blessed Tanit, Protector of Women", and the goddess occasionally appears to her.

[[G. K. Chesterton]] refers to Tanit in his account of the [[Punic Wars]], "War of the Gods and Demons" (a chapter of his book ''[[The Everlasting Man]]''). Describing the [[cultural shock]] of foreign armies invading Italy when [[Hannibal's crossing of the Alps|Hannibal crossed the Alps]], Chesterton wrote:
{{blockquote|It was [[Moloch]] upon the mountain of the Latins, looking with his appalling face across the plain; it was [[Baal]] who trampled the vineyards with his feet of stone; it was the voice of Tanit the invisible, behind her trailing veils, whispering of the love that is more horrible than hate.}}

In [[Margaret Atwood]]'s ''[[The Blind Assassin]]'' there is an [[Epigraphy|epigraph]] on a Carthaginian funerary urn that reads: "I swam, the sea was boundless, I saw no shore.&nbsp;/ Tanit was merciless, my prayers were answered.&nbsp;/ O you who drown in love, remember me."

In [[John Maddox Roberts]]'s [[alternate history]] novel ''[[Hannibal's Children]]'', in which the Carthaginians won the [[Second Punic War]], one of the characters is Princess Zarabel, leader of the cult of Tanit.

[[Isaac Asimov]]'s 1956 [[science fiction]] [[short story]] "[[The Dead Past]]" tells of Arnold Potterley, a professor of ancient history, who is obsessed with exonerating the Carthaginians of child sacrifice and tries to gain access to the [[Time viewer|chronoscope]], a device which allows direct observation of past events. Eventually, Potterley's obsession with the Carthaginian past has far-reaching effects on the society of the present.

==Given name==
{{Main|Tanith (disambiguation){{!}}Tanith}}
In modern times the name, often with the spelling '''Tanith''', has been used as a female [[given name]], both for real people and in fiction.

==Notes==
{{Notelist}}

{{Clear}}

==References==
<references />
*{{cite book |last1=Quinn |first1=Josephine Crawley |editor1-last=Lopez-Ruiz |editor1-first=Carolina |editor2-last=Doak |editor2-first=Brian R. |title=The Oxford Handbook of the Phoenician and Punic Mediterranean |date=2019 |publisher=Oxford University Press |pages=671–685 |chapter=Phoenicians and Carthaginians in Greco-Roman Literature |doi=10.1093/oxfordhb/9780190499341.013.44 |isbn=978-0-19-049934-1}}
*{{cite journal|last1=Schwartz |first1=J.H. |last2=Houghton |first2=F.D. |display-authors=1 |year=2017 |title=Two tales of one city: data, inference and Carthaginian infant sacrifice |journal=Antiquity |volume=91 |issue=356 |pages=442–454 |doi=10.15184/aqy.2016.270 |url=https://d1wqtxts1xzle7.cloudfront.net/52560379/Schwartz_et_al_Two_Tales_Carthage_Antiquity.pdf?1491767105=&response-content-disposition=inline%3B+filename%3DTwo_tales_of_one_city_data_inference_and.pdf&Expires=1609799151&Signature=erFewR0~6V~aCMtVo1I~rES3z~kIaxhgfAwSM6RG9KxBRCuVWum2wMPA4jkmwpt8~AXH20sV891EsHS3PebnVmhXw6ojbY7LpN4vyPGBItWrQCzcwv~gcVnqeLGJWiGP9queHa1NuQRsN3ow8tdyUgLCBofuvJZHwKZFM1gWcleBF7Flubn4SpfgQuwxxK61vgb6xhocdJ0J7P3C2bnORGP0DxlAPetstc04Y5-T-SbYClOra6ow7YX7bZOgZKqa7upkh~4Okg6uSuu1fCWedz0LuLronD4FP02S~M8CsR64Kh5Ha7NQCXlzpP3Shvp6zU02vraP2vys3o-mWZEP2w__&Key-Pair-Id=APKAJLOHF5GGSLRBV4ZA |doi-access=free }}{{dead link|date=January 2025|bot=medic}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}}
*{{cite encyclopedia |last=Holm |first=Tawny L. |title= Phoenician Religion [Further Considerations] |encyclopedia=Encyclopedia of Religion |edition=2 |editor-last=Jones |editor-first=Lindsay |volume=10 |year=2005 |pages= 7134–7135|publisher=Macmillan Reference }}
* {{cite book |title=Phoenicians |date=2000 |last=Markoe |first=Glenn E. |publisher=University of California Press |location=Berkeley |isbn=978-0-520-22614-2 |oclc=45096924 |series="Peoples of the Past" series |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=smPZ-ou74EwC |ref=none}}
* {{cite book |last=Ribichini |first=Sergio |chapter=Beliefs and Religious Life |pages= |editor=S. Moscati |title=The Phoenicians |publisher=Mailand |date=1988}}
* {{cite book |last=Stager |first=Lawrence E. |date=1980 |chapter=The Rite of Child Sacrifice at Carthage |pages=1–11 |editor=John Griffiths Pedley |title=New Light on Ancient Carthage: Papers of a Symposium |publisher=University of Michigan Press |isbn=978-0-472-10003-3}}

== See also ==
{{Portal|Mythology|Asia
}}
*[[Aicha Kandicha]]
*[[Ankh]]
*[[Ishtar]]
*[[Isis]]
{{Clear}}

==External links==
{{Commons category-inline}}
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20151018150541/http://www.britishmuseum.org/explore/highlights/highlight_objects/me/l/stela_with_images_of_tanit.aspx Limestone stela with images of the goddess Tanit]
{{Middle Eastern mythology}}{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Tanit| ]]
[[Category:Carthaginian mythology]]
[[Category:Lunar goddesses]]
[[Category:War goddesses]]
[[Category:Fertility goddesses]]
[[Category:West Semitic goddesses]]
[[Category:Phoenician mythology]]
[[Category:Berber goddesses]]
[[Category:Astarte]]
[[Category:Lion goddesses]]
[[Category:Juno (mythology)]]
[[Category:Virgin goddesses]]
[[Category:Mother goddesses]]
[[Category:Avian humanoids]]
[[Category:Cattle deities]]
[[Category:Venusian deities]]
[[Category:Planetary goddesses]]
[[Category:Child sacrifice]]