Conclusion
Returning to Missouri, we see that Carthage still sits at its commercial crossroads, although the economic landscape had changed. Trans World Airlines, which had transported the artifacts to and the commemorative plaque from Missouri, survives only as a single “heritage” plane in the livery of American Airlines, which acquired TWA soon after 9/11. Carthage Marble moved some limited operations to Kansas City, while the quarries in Jasper County have been converted into a cold storage facility. Smith Brothers garment manufacturing struggled through a series of bankruptcy reorganizations, after which they closed shop in Carthage, although their Big Smith trademark continues. Leggett & Platt, however, has maintained its position on the S&P 500 Index. The Bank of Carthage, following a series of acquisitions and mergers, became part of the Bank of America, yet the main branch endures as an annex of the Jasper County Sheriff’s Office, with its Punic coin medallions intact. Finally, the museum case can no longer be found in the Carthage Public Library, but the display now has pride of place in the foyer of the new Carthage City Hall.
After a fire had devastated one corner of the courthouse square in 1988, the city moved its administrative offices to this new, purpose-built “federal style” city hall on the site in 1992 (City of Carthage 2013: app. I). In addition to the redisplay of artifacts, the local Soroptomist International chapter commissioned three matched sets of monumental paintings by the nationally known local artist, Andy Thomas, which grace the new foyer. These large-scale paintings illustrate commonalities with ancient Carthage—their paired foundation, destruction (figures 46.1 and 46.2), and rebirth:
Both cities were destroyed by war, ancient Carthage was sacked by the Roman armies and Carthage, Missouri was burned during the Civil War. Both cities were rebuilt and exist today as modem municipalities. (City of Carthage 2013: app. I)
Figure 46.1 The Destruction of Carthage, Tunisia, by Andy Thomas, on display at the City Hall of Carthage (MO). At the end of the Third Punic War (146 bce), Romans soldiers under Scipio Aemilianus burn and raze the city.
Source: Andy Thomas, 1993.
Figure 46.2 The Destruction of Carthage, Missouri, by Andy Thomas, at the City Hall of Carthage (MO). Rebel governor C. F. Jackson defeated federal troops at the Battle of Carthage, early in the American Civil War (1861), after which rebel guerillas burned the city (1864) and displaced the population.
Source: Andy Thomas, 1993.
This contemporary reimagination of Carthage does not invoke sensational depravity, nor does it glorify economic imperialism (although displaced indigenes, Libyan and Osage, are conspicuously absent from the foundation images); instead, this paired visual narrative cycle emphasizes resilience and endurance.
Rather than accepting narratives of Phoenician infanticide, scholars have begun to challenge “Orientalizing” allegations of depravity. In the end, while they may never escape such charges, such allegations certainly should be tested. Similar incredulity should apply to assumptions of ritual prostitution, and similar challenges should be raised regarding essentialist disparagement of their literacy, their urbanity and their military prowess, as well as challenges to a presumed Semitic proclivity for economic gain. Instead of minimizing Phoenician culture in order to explain why the Greeks and Romans prevailed, our focus might shift to understanding Phoenician culture in its own right, its rituals and literacy, its economic networks and urban expansion, in order to recognize why Phoenician contributions to Mediterranean civilization endure.
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Chapter 47
Phoenician Identity in Modern Lebanon
Claude Doumet-Serhal
The central role of history in the formation of a state is a universal device used to strengthen the notion of a national identity. The idea that a nation has to have a proud and heroic history is a very common one. By virtue of its very raison d’être, archaeology has become a matter of national interest, revealing and tracing the traditions and achievements of a people through time. Through archaeological finds, nations have been able to locate themselves on the line of history and to bestow status on their communities, a phenomenon which in turn promotes those archaeological finds to an unusually high position of importance. A view of the past, however, is seldom autonomous; it’s very nature depends upon a contemporary context, which produces a narrative that serves the identity needs of contemporary audiences.
Legitimizing Identity Through Archaeology: The European and Ottoman Approach
It was already common in nineteenth-century Europe to use the sciences of archaeology and history to celebrate power and identity. In France, Haussman’s use of statues and monuments from colonial booty in
his new grand design for Paris inspired imperial town planning in London, so clearly illustrated today along London’s southern embankment and “Cleopatra’s needle” (Hanssen 1998: 17). The central location of the Egyptian Obelisk in the Place de la Concorde in Paris remains a constant reminder of France’s global power radiating outward from its capital (Hanssen 1998: 16). The Ottoman Empire followed suit and used the impressive archaeological discovery of Sidon’s Royal Necropolis to appoint itself the guardian of historical legacy in the Arab provinces vis-à-vis the European powers and Ottoman subjects in the region. The Imperial Archaeology Museum in Istanbul, built in 1887, was designed specifically to house Sidon’s monuments and was the single most important symbol of the Ottoman’s espousal of scientific and historicist ideas (Hanssen 1998: 20, 28). The Sidonian antiquities are still today the biggest attraction in Istanbul’s Museum of Archaeology.
Legitimizing Identity Through Archaeology: The Phoenician Approach
After World War I and the collapse of the Ottoman Empire, Lebanon’s territory was enlarged beyond the limits of the Mutesarrifate (an Ottoman administrative subdivision) and its governance was placed under a French mandate authorized by the League of Nations (Hourani 1946: 133). On September 1, 1920, the French High Commissioner in Beirut, General Henri Gouraud, proclaimed the state of Greater Lebanon, and on May 26, 1926, with the promulgation of the Lebanese constitution, this state became the Lebanese Republic (Salibi 1971: 79), although the struggle for total independence would continue until 1943.
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