Tanit
Phoenician · deity · mythic · Recorded classification
Great goddess and patroness of Carthage, 'Face of Baal'; lunar mother-goddess and consort of Baal Hammon, marked by the 'sign of Tanit'.
Domains
- motherhood
- moon
Powers
- Shield Carthage as its mother and patroness
- Grant fertility, offspring, and abundant increase
Epithets
- 𐤕𐤍𐤕 𐤐𐤍 𐤁𐤏𐤋 'Tanit Face of Baal' — her Carthaginian cult-titleCarthage tophet votive stelae (KAI 78-79) (primary)
Relations
- spouse: Baal HammonTanit 'Face of Baal' and Baal Hammon preside as the paired chief deities of the Carthaginian tophet.Lancel, Carthage: A History (1995) (secondary)
- syncretism: IunoTanit was romanized as Dea Caelestis and assimilated to Iuno (Iuno Caelestis), patroness of Roman Carthage. Preserves the city-queen and celestial sign; Iuno's marriage-portfolio is foreign to Tanit.Tertullian, Apologeticum 24.7 (Caelestis of Carthage) (primary); S. Lancel, Carthage: A History (1995) (secondary)
Sources
- existence: Carthaginian votive inscriptions to 'rbt tnt pn bʿl' (primary); Britannica, Tanit (secondary)