Forgotten epigraphs, revealed histories: reshaping the narrative of Phoenician and Punic Women

Abstract

The analysis of specific epigraphic evidence, distributed across a wide territory from Upper Mesopotamia (Nimrud) to the central Mediterranean (Carthage, Sardinia) and extending to Egypt (Saqqara, Daphnae), reveals the role played by certain women in broader contexts of social, economic, and political mobility characterizing the Levant and the area of Phoenician and Punic culture diffusion between the 9th and 3rd centuries BC. By integrating a critical examination of available data with methodological reflections underlying the research, the potential of a renewed multidisciplinary approach in studying Phoenician and Punic women becomes evident