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| Visiting Nuras (Nora) near Pula, Sardìnnia |
Before Tonyi's arrival, The Grandma has studied a new lesson of her Elementary Language Practice manual (Grammar 5).
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Nuras in the mediaeval Sardinian language or Nora is an ancient Roman and pre-Roman town on a peninsula near Pula, near to Cagliari in Sardinia.
In his Description of Greece, Pausanias, a Greek-Roman geographer of the second century, narrates the mythological foundation of the city: After Aristaeus, the Iberians crossed to Sardinia, under Norax as leader of the expedition, and they founded the city of Nora. The tradition is that this was the first city in the island, and they say that Norax was a son of Erytheia, the daughter of Geryon, with Hermes for his father.
The area was previously occupied by a village of indigenous Sardinians, but soon became an emporium and then a Phoenician city. Especially after the conquest of Carthage, Nora flourished, as along with Bithia near Chia it was the first stage on the sea route from Carthage to Sardinia and its most important city, Cagliari.
The Nora Stone, a Phoenician inscription found at Nora in 1773, has been dated by palaeographic methods to between the late 9th century and early 8th century BCE, and has been interpreted as referring to a Phoenician military victory and conquest of the area.
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The Nora Stone, a Phoenician inscription found at Nora in 1773, has been dated by palaeographic methods to between the late 9th century and early 8th century BCE, and has been interpreted as referring to a Phoenician military victory and conquest of the area.
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| Tonyi Tamaki visits Nuras, Sardìnnia |
The island was taken by the Eastern Romans in 535 who ruled it for 300 years According to the Ravenna Cosmography, after the Arab conquest of Carthage in 698 the city lost its economic function and became a simple fort, Nora praesidium.
Nora appears to have been abandoned during the 8th century. Its toponym, however, remained in the name of a curadoria, main administrative division, of Judicatus of Caralis at the beginning of the second millennium. Nora was an important trading town in its time, with two protected harbours, one on each side of the peninsula. Several different building styles can be seen in the excavated buildings.
Because the southern part of Sardinia is sinking into the Mediterranean Sea, a substantial part of the former town is now under the sea. A similar fate has befallen nearby Bithia, which is now completely submerged. A significant part of the town of Nora situated on land belonging to the Italian Army has not been excavated. The ruins of Nora are an open-air museum, and the remains of the theatre are occasionally used for concerts in the summer.
More information: ActivSardinia
Phoenicia, from the Ancient Greek Φοινίκη, Phoiníkē, was a thalassocratic ancient Semitic speaking Mediterranean civilization that originated in the Levant in the west of the Fertile Crescent.
Scholars generally agree that it included the coastal areas of today's Lebanon, northern Israel and southern Syria reaching as far north as Arwad, but there is some dispute as to how far south it went, the furthest suggested area being Ashkelon. Its colonies later reached the Western Mediterranean, such as Cádiz and most notably Carthage in North Africa, and even the Atlantic Ocean. The civilization spread across the Mediterranean between 1500 BC and 300 BC.
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| The Grandma visits Nuras, Sardìnnia |
Phoenicia is an ancient Greek term used to refer to the major export of the region, cloth dyed Tyrian purple from the Murex mollusc, and referred to the major Canaanite port towns; not corresponding precisely to Phoenician culture as a whole as it would have been understood natively.
Their civilization was organized in city-states, similar to those of ancient Greece, perhaps the most notable of which were Tyre, Sidon, Arwad, Berytus, Byblos and Carthage. Each city-state was a politically independent unit, and it is uncertain to what extent the Phoenicians viewed themselves as a single nationality. In terms of archaeology, language, lifestyle, and religion there was little to set the Phoenicians apart as markedly different from other residents of the Levant, such as their close relatives and neighbors, the Israelites.
Their civilization was organized in city-states, similar to those of ancient Greece, perhaps the most notable of which were Tyre, Sidon, Arwad, Berytus, Byblos and Carthage. Each city-state was a politically independent unit, and it is uncertain to what extent the Phoenicians viewed themselves as a single nationality. In terms of archaeology, language, lifestyle, and religion there was little to set the Phoenicians apart as markedly different from other residents of the Levant, such as their close relatives and neighbors, the Israelites.
Around 1050 BC, a Phoenician alphabet was used for the writing of Phoenician. It became one of the most widely used writing systems, spread by Phoenician merchants across the Mediterranean world, where it evolved and was assimilated by many other cultures, including the Roman alphabet used by Western Civilization today.
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Carthage was the Phoenician state, including, during the 7th–3rd centuries BC, its wider sphere of influence, known as the Carthaginian Empire. The empire extended over much of the coast of Northwest Africa as well as encompassing substantial parts of coastal Iberia and the islands of the western Mediterranean Sea.
Phoenicians founded Carthage in 814 BC. Initially a dependency of the Phoenician state of Tyre, Carthage gained independence around 650 BC and established its political hegemony over other Phoenician settlements throughout the western Mediterranean, this lasting until the end of the 3rd century BC.
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| The Grandma & Claire in Nuras, Sardìnnia |
At the height of the city's prominence, it served as a major hub of trade, with trading stations extending throughout the region.
For much of its history, Carthage was on hostile terms with the Greeks in Sicily and with the Roman Republic; tensions led to a series of armed conflicts known as the Sicilian Wars (c. 600–265 BC) and the Punic Wars (264–146 BC) respectively. The city also had to deal with potentially hostile Berbers, the indigenous inhabitants of the area where Carthage was built.
In 146 BC, after the third and final Punic War, Roman forces destroyed Carthage then redesigned and occupied the site of the city. Nearly all of the other Phoenician city-states and former Carthaginian dependencies subsequently fell into Roman hands.
For much of its history, Carthage was on hostile terms with the Greeks in Sicily and with the Roman Republic; tensions led to a series of armed conflicts known as the Sicilian Wars (c. 600–265 BC) and the Punic Wars (264–146 BC) respectively. The city also had to deal with potentially hostile Berbers, the indigenous inhabitants of the area where Carthage was built.
In 146 BC, after the third and final Punic War, Roman forces destroyed Carthage then redesigned and occupied the site of the city. Nearly all of the other Phoenician city-states and former Carthaginian dependencies subsequently fell into Roman hands.
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The Roman Empire was the post-Roman Republic period of the ancient Roman civilization, with a government headed by emperors and large territorial holdings around the Mediterranean Sea in Europe, Africa and Asia.
The city of Rome was the largest city in the world c. 100 BC-c. AD 400, with Constantinople (New Rome) becoming the largest around AD 500, and the Empire's population grew to an estimated 50 to 90 million inhabitants, roughly 20% of the world's population at the time.
The 500-year-old republic which preceded it had been severely destabilized in a series of civil wars and political conflict, during which Julius Caesar was appointed as perpetual dictator and then assassinated in 44 BC.
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| Visiting the ancient ruins in Nuras, Sardìnnia |
Octavian's power was then unassailable and in 27 BC the Roman Senate formally granted him overarching power and the new title Augustus, effectively marking the end of the Roman Republic.
The Roman Empire was among the most powerful economic, cultural, political and military forces in the world of its time. It was one of the largest empires in world history. At its height under Trajan, it covered 5 million square kilometres. It held sway over an estimated 70 million people, at that time 21% of the world's entire population.
The longevity and vast extent of the empire ensured the lasting influence of Latin and Greek language, culture, religion, inventions, architecture, philosophy, law and forms of government over the empire's descendants.
Throughout the European medieval period, attempts were even made to establish successors to the Roman Empire, including the Empire of Romania, a Crusader state; and the Holy Roman Empire.
By means of European colonialism following the Renaissance, and their descendant states, Greco-Roman and Judaeo-Christian culture was exported on a worldwide scale, playing a crucial role in the development of the modern world.
More information: The Telegraph
The Phoenicians are entitled to be commemorated in history
by the side of the Hellenic and Latin nations; but their case affords a fresh proof, and perhaps the strongest proof of all,
that the development of national energies in antiquity was
of a one-sided character.
Theodor Mommsen
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