tour 10 of 11
Changing face: masks from the British Museum
Clay mask
This mask was found in a tomb and was designed
to frighten away evil spirits. The dark red clay from which it is
made is not local and the style suggests that it may have been
imported from Carthage, the most important Phoenician colony in the
western Mediterranean.
Over seventy tombs were
excavated in the cemetery at Tharros between 1853 and 1855. Burial
customs followed the fashions of Carthage. The body was provided
with amulets and laid on its back with feet towards the door, which
faced east. Written spells and gifts such as terracotta figures
invoked the god's
protection.
From around
1000 BC Canaanite territory was restricted to the northern Levant
coast. This area is known as Phoenicia, from the Greek word for
purple (phoinix), since
the extraction of purple dye from murex shells and the production
of purple-colured fabrics was one of the major industries of the
region. The Phoenicians naturally turned to the sea to provide the
basis of their economy, turning their small natural harbours into
major ports.
Phoenician
contacts with Sardinia can be traced back to around 1000 BC, but it
was not until the eighth century BC that permanent colonies were
established on the island. One of the most important was Tharros.
It remained a major trading centre through the Roman
period.