Tanit
Tanit or Tinnit was a chief deity of Ancient Carthage and represents the matriarchal aspect of Numidian society. She was the goddess of wisdom, civilization and the crafts, and the defender of towns and homes where she is worshipped. Ancient North Africans used to put her sign on tombstones and homes to ask for protection.
↻ synthesized from 22 sources
When
- First attested
- 1000 BCE
- Attested period
- -1000 – 2020
- Historical notes
- Carthage founded c. 814 BCE; tradition persists to present day in North Africa.
Relationships
- co occurs with
- Omek Tannou, Mâtho, Chijoraji, Salammbô, Hand-of-Venus, Hand-of-Mary, Reshef, Melkart, Teššub, Ḥawwat, Shekhinah, Uni-Astre, Ba'al-Ḥammon, Tan, Baʿal Qarnaim, Ba'al-Ḥammon, El, Anat, Demeter, Chaxiraxi, Isis, Aphrodite, Osiris, Horus, Inanna, Atargatis, Adonis, Hadad, Asherah, Ḫepat, Tarḫunz, Dagan, Išḫara, Eshmun, Ištar, Šauška, Wōdan
- syncretized with
- Neith, Athena, Juno, Venus, Astarte, Tamfana, Dea Caelestis, Juno Caelestis, Caelestis
- manifests as
- virgo caelestis
- allied with
- Baal, Bes, Astarte, Ba'al-Ḥammon
- aspect of
- Baal
- consort of
- Ba'al-Ḥammon, Ba'al-Ḥammon, Ba'al-Ḥammon
Mentioned by
- El
- Anat
- Demeter
- Chaxiraxi
- Isis
- Aphrodite
- Osiris
- Horus
- Inanna
- Atargatis
- Adonis
- Hadad
- Asherah
- Ḫepat
- Tarḫunz
- Dagan
and 8 more
Sources
Source passages
“It was the location of the temple of the goddess Tanit and the necropolis. Animal remains, mostly sheep and goats, found inside some of the Tophet urns, strongly suggest that this was not a burial ground for children who died prematurely.”
#18983 · extracted by google/gemini-2.0-flash-001
“the sign of Tanit, long considered to be specific to the Phoenicians of the western Mediterranean basin, but examples of which have been discovered in excavations in present-day Lebanon”
#20307 · extracted by anthropic/claude-sonnet-4.5
“Marcus Caecilius Donatianus, is attested in the votive altar at Carvoran (3rd century) to a virgo caelestis ("celestial virgin"), probably Tanit, the guardian-goddess of Carthage, implying that Donatianus was perhaps from Africa proconsularis”
#20308 · extracted by google/gemini-2.0-flash-001
“Within a short time, and at the will of the gods, Tanit and Bes, she gave birth to Hannibal.”
#20309 · extracted by google/gemini-2.0-flash-001
“In Eivissa, archaeological findings include the famous bust of Demeter which has been confused with the Punic goddess Tanit for decades.”
#20312 · extracted by google/gemini-2.0-flash-001