Then there was the stranger and the special cargo, the cedar box and its mysterious contents. He'd watched the stranger carefully as the ship's cargo had been loaded, and curiosity piqued, had followed him through the dark streets of Qart Hadasht to the luxurious home of one of the city's elite. Now that kind of wealth and power, he, Baalhanno, a metalworker's son, would like to enjoy. The house from the outside was impressive; he could only guess at the riches within. There would be a courtyard, of course, perhaps lined with columns and paved with tiny white marble tesserae, the sign of Tanit in the entranceway to guard the home. There'd be marble everywhere, he was certain, and many rooms, with a bathroom just for the family.
The power, he knew, would never be his. That rested with the great families, ruthless in their protection of their position, though quarrelsome amongst themselves. But wealth, perhaps that was within his grasp, if he played this situation right. Hadn't he always profited from being observant? There were always those prepared to pay for his silence.
Mago and the stranger were plotting together. He knew that from the way each one looked about carefully before signaling the other to a meeting place. And wasn't it the stranger who'd brought Mago to the captain to sign on as crew? Mago would not be the first choice for the captain, as he wasn't for others. Mago's reputation as a conniving rascal was well known about the port. So the stranger had a great deal of influence over Hasdrubal's decisions, which made this voyage all the more intriguing.
He'd watched Mago go down into the hold, had watched what he'd done, silently from above. It was strange behavior, to be sure. He'd have to think about what it meant. There were conclusions to be drawn from Mago's activities, interesting conclusions at that.
The question was, what to do with what he'd learned, where the most advantage lay. He could go to the captain and tell him what he'd seen, what he suspected. There'd be a coin or two or three for him in that. But surely there'd be more from the stranger. Someone with connections to the Council of the Hundred and Four would have more resources than the captain.
He'd wait awhile, see what more there was to see, build his case. And then, when the time was right, he'd make his move. He, Baalhanno, would be enjoying the fruits of his labor soon.
"W E ARE STANDING in a sacred and solemn place," Briars said, and the group became still. "We call this place the tophet, although that is not what it was called back then, and it is here we believe that Carthaginians may well have sacrificed hundreds, if not thousands, of their children, from babies up to about five years of age, to the fires of Baal Hammon in a practice we refer to as molk sacrifice." There was a kind of collective gasp.
"Now before we rush to condemn them," he said, looking right at Jimmy, who had already opened his mouth to say something derogatory, "there are a few things I would like to tell you about them. First, it may well be that the children were already dead--infant mortality was high--and this was a sacred cremation. Two thousand years later, it is impossible for us to say with any conviction, either way. Furthermore, many of the historical references were written centuries after the fact by Romans, enemies of the Carthaginians, who reveled in lurid stories of moonlit ceremonies in which children's throats were slit before they were placed in the arms of a statue of Baal Hammon, then tipped into the flames.
"Second, the Carthaginians were the descendants of the Phoenicians. According to legend, they came from the great Phoenician city of Tyre, which is in present-day Lebanon, and they brought with them many of the customs, traditions, and beliefs of that part of the world. The term tophet appears several times in the Bible, for example, and refers to a place where the practice of sacrificing a first-born occurred. Think of the story of Abraham and Isaac.
"Rituals involving fire were also important in this context. If you recall, I told you earlier about the legend surrounding the founding of the city of Carthage, or Qart Hadasht, when Elissa, sister of Pygmalion, the King of Tyre, fled the city after her husband was killed by her brother, and after wandering the Mediterranean, came to the shores of North Africa. Sometime after the city was founded, according to the story in 814 B.C.E., Hiarbas, a Libyan chieftain, demanded that Elissa, by then known as Elissa Dido, Dido meaning the wandering one, marry him or he would kill all her people. Rather than betray her dead husband, she threw herself into a fire. Several centuries later, in 146 B.C.E., the wife of the last leader of Carthage threw herself and her children into the flames rather than submit to Rome. All this is by way of saying that death by fire was an important ritual concept to the Carthaginians.
"Thirdly, molk sacrifice seems to have been practiced, in the later period at least, only in exceedingly difficult times; that is, it was not a regular part of their ritual observances. For example, one of the most dangerous times for Carthage was the period between 310 and 307 B.C.E., when they were locked in a bitter struggle with the Sicilian Agathocles, a ruler who was called the Tyrant of Syracuse, because of his ruthless treatment of the rulers he had deposed, and anyone who opposed him. Carthage had set up a blockade of Syracuse, but the wily Agathocles broke through it, and sailed straight for Carthage, landing on what is referred to as the Beautiful Promontory, what is probably Cap Bon, just across the Bay of Tunis from where we are standing. He arrived with sixty ships and fourteen thousand men. Because he did not have enough men to guard his ships, he burned them, and then started his march overland toward Carthage.
"The Carthaginians were stunned by this. They immediately sent an offering to the Temple of Melqart in their mother city, Tyre. But still Agathocles advanced, pillaging the rich farmlands outside the city, and taking town after town. He also persuaded a lot of Carthage's allies to desert them. A battle was fought not far from Carthage, and Agathocles was the victor.
"The result, however, was not definitive. While Agathocles had won the battle, he was not strong enough to storm the city walls. Inside, the Carthaginians tried to regroup. Being the merchant nation they were, they bought and sold everything, including armies. While they sailed their own ships, including their navy, on land they relied almost entirely on mercenary troops, and they needed time to raise a new army.
"Picture this situation: two implacable enemies staring at each other across the city walls. It is then that the Carthaginians turned again to the molk sacrifice. The leaders, generals, and many of the elite sacrificed their children, probably their firstborn. We're told it was considered a badge of honor that the mothers and fathers would stand there, dry-eyed, as their child was taken from them, and offered to the burning god.
"The Romans regarded the Carthaginians with disgust for a practice they considered barbaric, which it was. But for the Carthaginians this was a sacred ritual. They did not do this for entertainment or sport, nor is there any indication that the elite bought children to substitute for their own. Look at the rows of votive stones here, commemorating their little ones," he said, gesturing toward them. "Some show children with their mothers, others show priests taking the child for the sacred offering, still others depict the goddess Tanit, consort of Baal Hammon, and protectress of many Carthaginian homes. Giving up your firstborn to the fires of Baal Hammon was something you did to save your city from a terrible curse. I think we need to consider it in that context."
"But what happened to the city?" Susie asked.
"The Carthaginians were able to raise an army and send Agathocles packing back to Sicily," Briars said. "But it was only a temporary respite. Just a few decades later, they were locked in a doomed struggle with the mighty power of Rome. Now let's have a look around, and I'll point out more."