Religion at Carthage 800 Bce-439 CE: From Baal-Hammon to Christ

by Jane Merdinger (Other), Jesse A Hoover (Other), Nancy Weatherwax (Other)

Overview

This volume investigates the rich spectrum of religious practices and beliefs at Carthage from its foundation until the end of Roman rule. Essays analyse the metropolis’s Phoenician, Punic, and Graeco-Roman cults (all exhibiting a remarkable degree of assimilation and amalgamation), mystery cults, Judaism, and Manichaeism. A majority of essays comprehensively examine Christianity’s development (including persecution, martyrdom, Montanism, and Donatism) within Carthage’s multi-cultural environment. Utilizing methodologies from popular culture studies, biblical exegesis, cultural studies, and archaeology, contributors cover such innovative topics as: polytheistic religiosity; Jewish identity and devotional life based on a recently discovered ancient synagogue near Carthage; and challenges experienced by St. Augustine as a guest-preacher to rambunctious congregations at Carthage.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9789004738584
Publisher:	Brill Academic Publishers, Inc.
Publication date:	09/25/2025
Series:	Vigiliae Christianae, Supplements , #191
Pages:	668
Product dimensions:	6.10(w) x 9.25(h) x 0.00(d)

About the Author

Jane E. Merdinger (PhD, Yale University) has been a professor at several American universities. Her book Rome and the African Church in the Time of Augustine and numerous articles analyse North African church councils, canons, and Augustine’s early sacramental theology.
Jesse A. Hoover (PhD, Baylor University) is a Lecturer in History at St. David’s School, North Carolina. His books are The Donatist Church in an Apocalyptic Age (Oxford, 2018) and The Donatist Compendium and Related Texts (Brepols, 2025).
Nancy Weatherwax (PhD, Vanderbilt University) teaches at Lansing Community College in Michigan. Her dissertation explored the Donatist controversy. She continues her research on Donatism and has done extensive editorial work for several academic presses in the United States.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments
List of Maps and Figures
Select Abbreviations
Notes on Contributors

Introduction
 Jane E. Merdinger, Jesse A. Hoover and Nancy Weatherwax

24 Foundational Perspectives on Carthage’s Indigenous, Phoenician, and Punic Heritage
 Jane E. Merdinger

25 Keeping a Secret: the Mystery Cults of Isis and Sarapis in Carthage and Its Territory
 Alexander Evers

26 “Don’t Tell …”—More Mystery Cults in Carthage and Its Territory: Magna Mater and Mithras
 Alexander Evers

27 Reconsidering the Religious Legacy of Punic Carthage
 David L. Riggs

28 Traditions of Divine Patronage in Roman Carthage
 David L. Riggs

29 Jews at Carthage: Real and Rhetorical
 Claudia Setzer

30 Jewish Devotional Life in Carthage in Light of New Archaeological Finds
 Karen B. Stern

31 Early Christianity at Carthage ca. 180–230 CE
 William Tabbernee

32 Montanism in Roman North Africa
 William Tabbernee

33 Baptism at Carthage in the Third Century: Beliefs and Practices
 Robin M. Jensen

34 Eucharistic Meals and Assemblies in Early Third-Century Carthage
 Andrew McGowan

35 Persecution and Martyrdom at Carthage
 Lucy Grig

36 Christianity and Sacred Texts in Carthage ca. 180 to 258 CE
 Jonathan Yates

37 Christianity in the Mid-third Century at Carthage: Conflicts and Schisms
 Geoffrey D. Dunn

38 Christianity and Sacred Texts in Carthage after 258 CE
 Jonathan Yates

39 Manichaeism in Carthage and Beyond
 J. Kevin Coyle

40 Donatism in Carthage until 411
 David E. Wilhite

41 Assessing the Role of Cyprian at the Conference of Carthage (411)
 Matthew Gaumer

42 Identity Formation in Donatist Pre-baptismal Catechesis
 Alden Bass

43 Philosophical Circles at Carthage
 Kenneth B. Steinhauser

44 Augustine’s Sermons on Religious Life in Carthage: Pagans, Christians, and Jews
 Hubertus R. Drobner

45 Asceticism in Carthaginian Religious Life: Pagan, Jewish, and Christian
 Carole Monica Burnett

46 Christianity and the Roman State: the View from Carthage
 Angelo Di Berardino

Conclusion
 Jane E. Merdinger, Jesse A. Hoover and Nancy Weatherwax

Index