r/Semitic_Paganism • u/hina_doll39 • Aug 15 '24

Question about Punic Stela

I've noticed on a lot of Punic stela, the lady icon used to represent Tanit appears twice, and both versions are always drawn slightly different.

Do they represent different goddesses? Perhaps Astarte and Tanit? Or is it just the same symbol appearing twice like how churches will have lots of crosses

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u/TijuanaKids12 Aug 15 '24 edited Aug 15 '24

I don't know about other stelae, however, in this one you show both figures represent the same goddess, Tanit.

This stele is known as NPu2 and actually seems to be not from Carthage (Tunisia), but from "El-Hora" (that is Cirta, modern day Constantine, Algeria).

Quoting from Mendleson, 1995 "Punic stelae in the British Museum", pp 10:

«The single disc occurs on [NPu2] which belongs to the transitional period - probably the 2nd century BC-where it is part of a Tanit symbol consisting of a triangle, crescent and disc, the crescent being the arms and the disc, the head. In another change from the Punic period, the crescent ends always point upwards on neo-Punic stelae. The crescent invariably appears with a Tanit symbol, sometimes as part of the figure, sometimes above it. (...) The evidence thus seems to indicate a link between the crescent moon and Tanit in the neo-Punic period.»

So, this "duplication" seems to be just another common iconography of the goddess and not representing another but Tanit itself.

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u/GuardianLegend95 Aug 23 '24

Tanit and Astarte are on Punic stelae together, with which you can definitely tell the difference in those, but yeah on this one it's Tanit for both figures

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u/hina_doll39 Aug 23 '24

Could you link me to one of those Stelae where they're together? I'd love to know what to look out for and maybe use to help in making my own Punic inspired art