Foundation of Carthage by colonists from Tyre
- Date
- 814 BCE (traditional)
- Category
- Exploration & colonisation
- Region
- North Africa (Tunisia)
- Era
- Ancient Civilizations
- Significance
Phoenician settlers from Tyre founded Carthage (Phoenician 'Qart-hadasht', 'New City') on the coast of modern Tunisia, traditionally in 814 BCE under Queen Elissa (Dido).
Whatever the truth of the foundation legend, Carthage became the greatest of the western Phoenician colonies and grew into an independent maritime and commercial power dominating the western Mediterranean, eventually Rome's chief rival in the Punic Wars. Its founding exemplifies the wider Phoenician colonisation movement that planted trading posts and cities (Gadir/Cadiz, Utica, Motya, Nora and others) from Cyprus to Iberia, spreading Levantine goods, religion, urban forms and the alphabet across the sea. The 814 BCE date derives from the Greek historian Timaeus; archaeological finds at Carthage so far reach only to the later 8th century BCE, so the traditional date may be somewhat early.
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Empires active in 814 BCE (traditional)
- Neo-Assyrian Empire911 BCE – 609 BCE
- Zhou Dynasty1046 BCE – 256 BCE
- Kingdom of Kush1070 BCE – 350 CE
- Phoenician City-States1200 BCE – 539 BCE
- Elamite Kingdom2700 BCE – 539 BCE
- Kingdom of Urartu860 BCE – 590 BCE
Related exploration & colonisation events
- Lapita voyagers settle Tonga and Samoa: first peopling of Remote Oceaniac. 900 BCE
- First Settlement of the Mariana Islands and Entry into Remote Oceaniac. 1500 BCE
- Austronesian seaborne expansion out of Taiwanc. 3000 BCE
- Corinth founds Syracuse and the Greek colonisation of the Westc. 733 BCE
- Founding of Alexandria in Egypt331 BCE
- Zhang Qian's mission to the Western Regions opens the Silk Road138–c. 125 BCE
Further reading
The wider story
The Kingdom of Kush: The Napatan and Meroitic Empires
The accessible standard on Nubia's great Nile kingdom.
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