| Jeremiah's Tophet |
| Jeremiah 7:31
And they have built the high places of Tophet, which
is
in the
valley of the son of Hinnom, to burn their sons and their
daughters in the fire; which I commanded them not,
neither came it into my heart. |
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| Limestone
stela to Baal. Refers
to a religious precint known as "The
Tophet" British
Museum. |
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Tanit
Stela which refers to "The Tophet" exactly as
described by Jeremiah in the Bible. British Museum.
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| Urn
from Carthage where bodies of children were sacrificed
to the goddess Tanit and her consort Baal Hammon.
British
Museum. |
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Limestone
Stela with a Dedication to Baal
This stela comes from a religious precinct
known as the tophet at
Carthage. In this enclosure such grave
markers were set up over burial urns containing
the cremated bodies of babies, small children
and animals, which had been sacrificed
to the goddess Tanit and her consort Baal Hammon.
The Punic (Carthaginian) script is almost identical
to that of Canaanite inscriptions from the Levant.
Despite the classical influence seen in the caduceii
(curled snakes), the symbolism
is Canaanite, with two representations
of the goddess Tanit. The upper one is composed
of a sun disc, a crescent moon and triangle.
Below is an anthropomorphized (human-shaped)
version of the goddess.
Psalm 106:38 And shed
innocent blood, even the blood of their sons
and of their daughters, whom they sacrificed
unto the idols of Canaan:
and the land was polluted with blood.
Limestone Stela with Images
of the Goddess Tanit
This stela comes from a religious
precinct in Carthage known
as the tophet. Here such stelae were
set up over burial urns containing the cremated
bodies of babies, small children and animals
which had been sacrificed to the goddess
Tanit and her consort Baal Hammon. It belongs
late in the series of such monuments and
has two images of the goddess, one in female
form, the other in the traditional form of
a triangle, crescent moon and sun disc. In
spite of the classical influence shown in
the two caducei, or snake-entwined staffs,
the stela retains essentially Canaanite
iconography. |
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Scriptures
Jeremiah 7:31 And
they have built the high places of Tophet,
which is in the valley of the son of Hinnom,
to burn their sons and their
daughters in the fire; which I commanded
them not, neither came it into my heart.
Jeremiah 19:13 And
the houses of Jerusalem, and the houses of
the kings of Judah, shall be defiled as
the place of Tophet, because of all
the houses upon whose roofs they have burned
incense unto all the host of heaven, and have
poured out drink offerings unto other gods.
Psalm 106:38 And shed
innocent blood, even the blood of their sons
and of their daughters, whom they sacrificed
unto the idols of Canaan:
and the land was polluted with blood. |
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