Ancient Carthaginian Ceramics: History, Pottery Styles, and Cultural Influence

Carthaginian Ceramics and Ancient Crafts

Carthaginian art blended styles from all over the ancient world. You’ll see Egyptian symbols, Greek fashion, Phoenician gods, and Etruscan designs all wrapped into one. They worked with metal, ivory, terracotta, stone, and glass. Some pieces were everyday tools. Others were made only to decorate. Like their trade networks, their art pulled from every corner of the Mediterranean. Over time, though, they developed their own look. That unique Carthaginian style stands out in their sculpture, masks, jewelry, and carved stelae.

Phoenician Roots and Foreign Influence

Carthage started in the 9th century BCE. It was founded by Phoenicians from Tyre. So naturally, early Carthaginian art followed Phoenician styles. And since Phoenicia was already a mix of cultures tied together by sea trade, Carthage picked up the same diverse energy. Their city attracted merchants, visitors, and artists from all over the Mediterranean.

Egyptian art had a strong impact. You’ll notice things like goats looking backward under sacred trees, or stiff female figures that look frozen in place. Near Eastern art also left its mark, especially with religious figures like the god Melqart, also known as Baal. Etruscan art made its way in too, mostly through pottery designs seen from the 4th century BCE.

Greek Style and Local Talent

Greek influence took over starting in the 5th century BCE. Carthage didn’t just admire Greek art. They took it during wars, especially from Sicily. And they didn’t stop there. They made their own Greek-style pieces. Many Greeks lived in Carthage, and some worked in local workshops. They passed their skills to Carthaginian artists. Over time, those local craftsmen built up their own identity.

One known artist had a Greek father but signed his pieces as "Boethus the Carthaginian." His work gained so much respect that it was once displayed at Olympia. That tells you the quality of art coming out of Carthage.

Surviving Artifacts and Their Meaning

There aren’t many Carthaginian pieces left today. Most of what we have comes from tombs. That means the objects are usually small and tied to religion. It’s rare to find something made purely for decoration or display. Still, the examples we do have show real skill. There’s enough jewelry, pottery, statues, and carvings to prove that Carthaginian art had depth.

Earlier historians were too quick to dismiss their creativity. But the surviving works suggest otherwise. Even if their art was influenced by others, the Carthaginians made it their own. Their craftsmanship deserves more credit than it usually gets.

The Challenge of Tracing Carthaginian Art Origins

Pinpointing where Carthaginian artwork came from isn’t easy. That’s because Punic artists had a habit of copying styles from other cultures. For a long time, scholars believed that the most refined pieces had to be imports, while anything simple or rough-looking was assumed to be local. But that idea is losing ground. New finds show large craft areas in Carthage itself, which points to an active export business. As more evidence turns up, it’s clear that the city produced fine art too. The old claim that Carthaginians only made basic stuff while importing anything elegant doesn’t hold up anymore.

Materials and Craft Methods in Carthaginian Art

Carthaginian artists worked with all kinds of materials. Colored glass and glass paste were shaped into beads and tiny perfume jars. Ivory was carved into decorative wall plaques and furniture inlays. Sometimes they added small gems, glass, or faience for extra shine. Ivory was also used for everyday items like knife handles, mirror grips, combs, storage boxes, and engraved stones called intaglios.

Terracotta was common. Artists used it to shape gods and goddesses, incense burners, drinking cups, bowls, jugs, and round plaques meant for decoration. Gold was turned into jewelry through techniques like casting, hammering, and granulation. Some gold pieces were made to look like fruit, insects, or tiny faces. Artists also applied gold as thin leaf when needed.

They used stone, and sometimes even marble, to carve grave markers, bone boxes, and mini shrines for tombs. Bronze was another key material. Artists used it mostly for small statues and razors, especially a type with hatchet-shaped blades. These were usually placed in tombs for the afterlife. Many had handles shaped like swans or birds with long necks. Their surfaces were often carved with images of gods from Phoenician, Greek, or Egyptian belief systems.

Religious Figurines and Female Deities

One of the most common finds in early graves is a simple female figure. She was probably seen as a guardian or healing goddess. People buried them as offerings or as thanks for recovery. These figures had plain shapes: a flat top on the head, and a straight, cylinder-like body. Another repeated figure is the god Melqart, shown seated on a throne with one hand raised in a blessing. He wears a tall cone-shaped hat, which was made in large numbers.

Starting in the 4th century BCE, Greek fashion began to show up more often in these figurines. Robes like the chiton, peplos, and himation became common. Even though they used Greek styles, Carthaginians avoided one major Greek art trait: nudity. Their figures always had clothes on.

Some female figures were shown playing tambourines. These have turned up at several dig sites. They often mix Greek dress with Egyptian symbolism, especially with the wings of Isis and the wide necklace often seen in Egyptian art. Like Greek statues, these were once painted in bright colors, though the paint has usually worn off.

Cavalry Riders and Animal-Shaped Vessels

Images of horsemen pop up across different materials. One key example is a terracotta plaque from the 6th century BCE, found at Douimes. It shows a mounted warrior with a helmet, round shield, and a dog running alongside the horse. Carthaginian artists also made animal-shaped containers from terracotta, especially ducks and cow heads.

Terracotta Masks and Their Protective Use

Carthaginian masks were made to scare off evil. These weren’t worn on the face but left in tombs or hung on house walls. Most were terracotta, painted or stamped, and featured wide grins or twisted grimaces. Deep lines and empty eyes made them look eerie. Though many were produced, no two were exactly the same. Another type showed calm, smiling female faces known as protomai. These weren’t grotesque and looked gentle by comparison. Both kinds of masks were made using molds, but each still had a unique finish.

Stone Stelae in Punic Carthage

Most of what survives from Carthaginian art today are carved stelae made from sandstone and limestone. These stone slabs often stood above tombs, especially in the tophet, the sacred burial area used for cremated remains. They could be as tall as 1.5 meters. Many were shaped with decorative tops that looked like lozenges, hexagons, or bottles. Some showed the symbol of Tanit, a key goddess in Carthaginian religion.

The oldest types, from the 7th and 6th centuries BCE, were carved to look like small temples or thrones. These were called cippi. They copied the front of Egyptian temples and usually showed a solar disc or a crescent moon at the top. Later versions, starting in the 5th century BCE, added Greek-style details. These stelae often had triangular tops, Ionic columns, and winged sphinxes.

One of the best examples of this mix of styles is the stele from Hadrumetum, made around 250 BCE. It stood in the tophet and featured a single Ionic column with a sphinx on top, along with palm fronds that looked straight out of Egyptian art.

By the 3rd century BCE, some stelae started to include simple portraits. Many had figures of animals, a raised hand, or a man sitting on one bent leg. Scholars still argue about what those symbols meant. Most stelae had paint or a stucco coating, and people kept making them even after Rome destroyed Carthage in the mid-2nd century BCE.

Carthaginian Pottery and Glasswork

Carthage was a major hub for craft production, especially in ceramics and glass. Their artisans made glassware that was both artistic and functional. They knew how to make colored glass, which they used for jewelry, ornaments, and even window panes. This wasn’t common in most places at the time, and it made Carthaginian glass highly valued.

Their pottery was just as advanced. Carthaginian potters produced high-quality ceramics that were sold across the Mediterranean. Their work showed up in Greece, Egypt, and many other trade centers. The quality and design set it apart. People wanted Carthaginian ceramics not just for use, but because they looked good.

The techniques used in Carthaginian workshops helped shape the craft in later cultures. Their work didn’t just stay local. It spread and left a lasting influence on Mediterranean art.

Recent archaeology backs this up. In the last 30 years, digs have proven that pottery was being made in Carthage from as early as the late 8th century BCE. Excavations at Bir Messaouda found different kinds of local ceramics, like Handmade Ware, Plain Ware, Red Slip Ware, Bichrome Ware, and amphorae. These early layers show just how established local production already was.

A full pottery quarter has been found on the southern edge of ancient Carthage, near the old shoreline. This area sat beneath what would later be Roman streets. Active kilns from the Late Punic period have been dug up in places like Carthage Dermech and Carthage Douimès. All of this confirms that Carthage had a strong and organized ceramic industry from its earliest days.

Local Pottery Production in Punic Carthage

The massive amount of pottery found throughout Punic Carthage wasn’t imported. It was made right there in local workshops. Across every layer of the settlement, from the late 8th century to the middle of the 2nd century BCE, most ceramic types were locally produced. This includes almost every class of pottery used during the Punic period.

In the Early to Middle Punic phases, from about 760 to 480 BCE, the most common tableware was Red Slip Ware, Bichrome Ware, and Smoothened Ware. These were followed by Painted Ware from around 480 to 300 BCE. Later, from 300 to 146 BCE, Black Glaze Ware became more widespread. These styles reflected both evolving tastes and steady production over centuries.

Plain Wares were also made throughout the entire Punic era. So were the large Transport Amphorae used for shipping goods. Handmade pottery continued as well. All signs point to a local, highly active ceramic industry that ran uninterrupted for generations.

While full scientific analysis exists for only some of these types, mostly from the Early Punic period, the data still backs up the idea of local production. Tests on amphorae and Red Slip and Bichrome Ware confirm that most of these items were made in Carthage.

One study by A. Peserico looked at 1,750 fragments of Red Slip and Bichrome pottery. Around 90 percent of them matched a specific local clay type labeled "Fabric K." The remaining pieces came from five other, less common fabrics. Fabric K stands out because of its reddish-yellow clay, full of rounded quartz grains, white inclusions, bits of fired clay, and well-sorted round air pockets. This same fabric type was also found in earlier Hamburg excavations and was labeled "KTS," short for Karthago Ton Struktur, or "Carthage Clay Structure."

What’s most telling is that the clay and mix used in Early Punic pottery are almost the same as those used later. This shows there was a strong continuity in how Carthaginian pottery was made over time.

Another analysis done in 1998 by Amadori and Fabbri focused on Red Slip Ware and confirmed that local production involved at least two types of clay. They identified two variants, called L1 and L2, based on the size of the inclusions in the clay. L2 was finer and dated from the late 8th to mid-7th century BCE. L1, with coarser grains, started showing up from around 650 BCE. This change likely points to a change in raw material sources around that time.

All of this research confirms one thing clearly: Carthage had a strong, skilled, and long-lasting tradition of ceramic production, rooted in its own soil and refined over centuries.