Les suidés dans les pratiques alimentaires et rituelles du monde phénico-punique

Abstract

This paper aims at elucidating the role played by pigs in Phoenicians and Punics ritual practices and dietary habits. The archaeological, zooarchaeological, epigraphic, iconographic and literary evidence is used for this purpose. Special attention is paid to the issue of a possible Phoenician food and ritual avoidance of pigs comparable to the Jewish prohibition. Although some scholarly contributions have recently denied this “taboo” within the Phoenician and Punic world, this issue is still controversial. As will be shown, pigs play a secondary role in the ritual practices and dietary habits of the Phoenician and Punic people, especially among the “Eastern” Phoenicians (Cyprus and Levant). However, a food and ritual avoidance of pigs does not seem to have been established. The consumption and ritual use of pigs, especially domestic pigs, increased gradually over the centuries in the Phoenicians-Punics communities in the West Mediterranean.

Keywords

• Animal Studies
• archaeology of ritual
• food and ritual avoidance
• Phoenicians-Punics
• pigs
• religion