The Hadrumetum Punic inscriptions are Punic inscriptions found in the Old City of Sousse (ancient

Hadrumetum Hadrumetum, also known by many variant spellings and names, was a Phoenician colony that pre-dated Carthage. It subsequently became one of the most important cities in Roman Africa before Vandal and Umayyad conquerors left it ruined. In the ear ...

). They were discovered between the

Great Mosque of Sousse The Great Mosque of Sousse ( ar, الجامع الكبير بسوسة) is a historical mosque in the coastal city of Sousse, Tunisia. The construction dates back to 851 during the rule of Aghlabid Dynasty, a vassal of the Abbasid Caliphate, and ...

and the

Ribat of Sousse Ribat of Sousse () is a ribat in the city of Sousse, Tunisia. Although scholars differ on the chronology of its original construction, it was most likely founded in the 8th century and reconstructed or completed in its current form during the earl ...

, where the French authorities had chosen to build Sousse's first church, the Église Notre-Dame-de-l'Immaculée-Conception de Sousse, built between 1865 and 1867. After WWII war damage was repaired, the church was later demolished by the local authorities as part of a renovation of the Old City. The first nine inscriptions were published by

Julius Euting Julius Euting (11 July 1839 – 2 January 1913) was a German Orientalist. Life Director of the National and University Library of Strasbourg, he completed his first studies at the Eberhard-Ludwigs-Gymnasium in Stuttgart and at the local sem ...

in 1872. Further inscriptions were found in 1946 after World War II bomb damage exposed more of the area around the church. The inscriptions are held between the

Sousse Archaeological Museum The Sousse Archaeological Museum ( Tunisian Arabic: المتحف الأثري بسوسة) is an archaeological museum located in Sousse, Sousse Governorate, Tunisia. The Museum The museum is housed in the Kasbah of Sousse's Medina, which was ...

, the

Louvre The Louvre ( ), or the Louvre Museum ( ), is the world's most-visited museum, and an historic landmark in Paris, France. It is the home of some of the best-known works of art, including the ''Mona Lisa'' and the ''Venus de Milo''. A central l ...

and the Maison méditerranéenne des Sciences de l'homme.

Euting inscriptions

Euting bought the steles from Maltese masons at

La Goulette La Goulette (, it, La Goletta), in Arabic Halq al-Wadi ( '), is a municipality and the port of Tunis, Tunisia. La Goulette is located at around on a sandbar between Lake Tūnis and the Gulf of Tunis. The port, located 12km east of Tunis, is th ...

(

Tunis ''Tounsi'' french: Tunisois , population_note = , population_urban = , population_metro = 2658816 , population_density_km2 = , timezone1 = CET , utc_offset1 ...

), who discovered them in 1867 during foundation work for a church in

Sousse Sousse or Soussa ( ar, سوسة, ; Berber:''Susa'') is a city in Tunisia, capital of the Sousse Governorate. Located south of the capital Tunis, the city has 271,428 inhabitants (2014). Sousse is in the central-east of the country, on the Gu ...

7 meters underground. The church in was the Église Notre-Dame-de-l'Immaculée-Conception de Sousse, built between 1865 and 1867 by the French authorities as the first church in Sousse. After war damage was repaired, it was later demolished by the local authorities as part of a renovation of the Old City of Sousse.

Gallery

File:Julius Euting's Punische Steine Table XXIX.jpg, Hadrumet 1 and 2 File:Julius Euting's Punische Steine Table XXX.jpg, Hadrumet 3 and 4 File:Julius Euting's Punische Steine Table XXXI.jpg, Hadrumet 5 and 6 File:Julius Euting's Punische Steine Table XXXII.jpg, Hadrumet 7 ( KAI 97 and Lidz N
432,1
and 8 (Lidz N
432,2
File:Julius Euting's Punische Steine Table XXXIII.jpg, Hadrumetina 9 ( KAI 98 and Lidz N
432,3

Truillot inscriptions

In 1946, Alexis Truillot, curator of the

, took advantage of the excavations carried out at the church, following the destruction in the war, to attempt a survey of the site. Nine further Punic stelae were found, including three with inscriptions.Dussaud René
Précisions épigraphiques sur les sacrifices puniques d'enfants
In: Comptes rendus des séances de l'Académie des Inscriptions et Belles-Lettres, 90^e année, N. 3, 1946. pp. 371-387. DOI : https://doi.org/10.3406/crai.1946.78010

References

External link

{{Commonscatinline Punic inscriptions Archaeological discoveries in Tunisia 1867 archaeological discoveries KAI inscriptions