Editing History of Tunisia (section)

===Foundation===
The city of [[Carthage]] (site of its ruins near present-day Tunis) was founded by [[Phoenicia]]ns coming from the [[Levant|eastern Mediterranean coast]].  Its name, pronounced ''Qart Hadesht'' in the [[Phoenician language|Punic language]] that meant "new city" (It's cognate with [[Arabic]], "Qarya Ħadītha", lit: "Modern Village/City).<ref>{{cite book|author= Gilbert Charles-Picard|year=1968|title=The Life and Death of Carthage|publisher=Taplinger|pages=30|author-link=Gilbert Charles-Picard}}. Here ''qart'' meant "city" (cognate with Arabic "Qarya"), ''ħadesht'' "new" (cognate with Arabic "Ħadītha). Note that Qart-Ħadesht is pronounced ''Carchedon'' (Καρχήδόν) in ancient Greek.</ref> The Punic idiom is a [[Canaanite language]], in the group of [[Northwest Semitic languages]].<ref>''Cf.'' Lancel, Serge (1995) ''Carthage: A History''. Oxford: Blackwell. pp. 351–360. {{ISBN|9781557864680}}.</ref>

Timaeus of Taormina, a third century BC Greek historian from Sicily, gives the date of the founding of Carthage as thirty-eight years before the first [[Olympiad]] (776 BC), which in today's calendar would be the year 814 BC. Timaeus in Sicily was proximous to Cathaginians and their version of the city's foundation; his date is generally accepted as approximate.<ref>Warmington, ''Carthage'' (1960) p. 22, noting that the Greek city of [[Cumae]] was founded in Italy shortly thereafter.</ref> Ancient authors, such as [[Sallust]] and [[Pliny the Elder]], give founding dates several hundred years earlier for other Phoenician cities in the western Mediterranean, such as [[Utica, Tunisia|Utica]] and [[Cádiz|Gades]], but recent archeology has been unable to verify these earlier dates.<ref>Lancel, ''Carthage. A history'' (1995) pp. 2–3; 4, 16.</ref>

It was [[Tyre, Lebanon|Tyre]], a major maritime city-state of Phoenicia, which first settled Carthage, probably in order to enjoy a permanent station there for its ongoing trade. Legends alive in the African city for centuries assigned its foundation to a queen of Tyre, Elissa, also called [[Dido (Queen of Carthage)|Dido]].<ref>Queen Elissa (Dido) would be related to [[Jezebel]] of the Bible. David Soren, Aicha Ben Abed Ben Khader, Hedi Slim, ''Carthage. Uncovering the Mysteries and Splendors of Ancient Tunisia'' (New York: Simon & Schuster 1990) pp. 21, 24. Jezebel was the Phoenician wife of Ahab, King of Israel (c.875–854).</ref> The Roman historian [[Pompeius Trogus]], a near contemporary of Virgil, describes a sinister web of court intrigue which caused Queen Elissa (Dido) to flee the city of Tyre westward with a fleet of ships.<ref>Soren, Ben Khader, Slim, ''Carthage'' (1990) pp. 23–24. Trogus appears to follow the events as described by the historian Timaeus. The writings of Trogus exist only in a later epitome by [[Justin (historian)|Justin]].</ref> The Roman poet [[Virgil]] (70–19 BC) portrays Dido as the tragic, admirable heroine of his epic the ''[[Aeneid]]'', which contains many inventions loosely based on legendary history, and includes the story about how the Phoenician queen acquired the [[Byrsa]].<ref>{{cite book|last=Lancel|year=1995|title=Carthage: a history|pages=23–25}}</ref>