- Carthage, view of the harbor and the island of Cothon
Carthaginians — the people of Carthage — a Phoenician state with its capital in the eponymous city, which existed in antiquity in North Africa, on the territory of modern Tunisia. The name Qart-ḥadašt (in Punic writing without vowels Qrtḥdšt) is translated from the Phoenician language as "new city." The Latin name for the Phoenician-Carthaginians is Poeni or Puni. Carthage was founded in 814 BC by colonists from the Phoenician city of Tyre. According to tradition, Carthage was founded by Queen Elissa (Dido), who fled from Tyre after her brother Pygmalion, king of Tyre, killed her husband Sychaeus to seize his wealth. Throughout the history of Carthage, its inhabitants were renowned for their business acumen. According to the legend of the city's founding, Dido, who was permitted to take as much land as a bull's hide could cover, acquired a large area by cutting the hide into narrow strips. Hence the citadel built on that site was called Byrsa (which means "hide"). After the decline of Phoenician influence in the Western Mediterranean, Carthage subjugated the former Phoenician colonies. By the 3rd century BC, it became the largest state in the western Mediterranean, subjugating southern Spain, North Africa, Sicily, Sardinia, and Corsica. After a series of wars against Rome, it lost its conquests and was destroyed in 146 BC, its territory being turned into the province of Africa.
The haplogroups of the Carthaginians, like those of the Phoenicians, can be easily determined from their isolated colonies (modern Ibiza, Sardinia, Malta): E-V22, J1, J2, J2a1b, J2a1b1, G2a, R1a, and R1b1a. E-V22 and R1b1a are still frequently found in the Levant (Syrians, Lebanese, Druze, Jews, Palestinians).
VARIANT NAMES: Phoenician. Qart-ḥada(št), Latin. Carthago, Greek. Καρχηδόνα.
Sources:
Ethnogenesis of the Abkhazians. D.A. Arshba, 2015