Limestone stela with
a dedication to Baal
This stela comes from a religious precinct
known as the tophet at Carthage. In this
enclosure such grave markers
were set up over burial urns containing
the cremated
bodies of babies, small children and animals,
which had been sacrificed to the goddess
Tanit and her consort Baal Hammon. The
Punic (Carthaginian) script is almost identical
to that of Canaanite inscriptions from
the Levant. Despite the classical influence
seen in the caduceii (curled snakes), the
symbolism is Canaanite, with two representations
of the goddess Tanit. The upper one is
composed of a sun disc, a crescent moon
and triangle. Below is an anthropomorphized
(human-shaped) version of the goddess.
Psalm 106:38 And shed
innocent blood, even the blood of their sons
and of their daughters, whom they sacrificed
unto the idols of Canaan:
and the land was polluted with blood.
Limestone stela with images
of the goddess Tanit
This stela comes from
a religious precinct in Carthage known as the tophet.
Here such stelae were set up
over burial urns containing
the cremated
bodies of babies, small children and animals
which had been sacrificed to the goddess
Tanit and her consort Baal
Hammon. It belongs late
in the series of such monuments and has two
images of the goddess, one
in female form, the other
in the traditional form of a triangle, crescent
moon and sun disc. In spite of the classical
influence shown in the two caducei, or snake-entwined
staffs, the stela retains essentially Canaanite
iconography.
Scriptures
Jeremiah 7:31 And
they have built the high places of Tophet,
which is in the valley of the son of Hinnom,
to burn
their sons and their daughters in the fire;
which I commanded them not, neither came
it into my heart.
Jeremiah 19:13 And
the houses of Jerusalem, and the houses of
the
kings of Judah, shall be
defiled as the place of Tophet,
because of all the houses upon whose roofs
they have burned
incense unto all the host of heaven, and have
poured out drink offerings unto other gods.
Psalm 106:38 And shed
innocent blood, even the blood of their sons
and of their daughters,
whom they sacrificed unto the idols
of Canaan:
and the land was polluted with blood.
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