#phoenician

[tridentandtales]

Etruscan necklace with a Phoenician pendant in the form of a bearded head

550 - 450 BCE

British Museum 1872,0604.644

[bulljumpingfresco]

1975 photograph of the Phoenician trading port Sabratha

[illustratus]

Europa by Gustav Johan Fenger

[uncleclaudius]

I wouldn't want to come across these in the middle of the night, they would scare my pants off. Phoenicians/Carthaginians apparently thought so too because they placed these menacingly grinning masks inside their tombs to scare off evil spirits and guard against evil. These particular exemplars come from Tunisia, Spain, and Sardinia respectively.

[along-the-silkroad]

Marble anthropoid sarcophagus, Graeco-Phoenician, last quarter of the 5th century BCE. MET (ID: 74.51.2454) The sarcophagus consists of a hollowed lower box covered by a lid that slightly conveys the contours of the upper body and the legs. Earlier anthropoid sarcophagi represent the volumes of a body wrapped in a shroud. The only explicit human features here are the head of a woman, framed with curls, and the long locks disposed on her chest. This sarcophagus and the one nearby are among only four of this type found in Cyprus. It was introduced to the island by Phoenicians, who favored it between the fifth and third centuries BCE in Phoenicia and the many regions that they colonized. Over two hundred are known today, most of them from Sidon. (MET)

[rynquestionmark]

—- trying to nail down my Troile designs

Mixing Phoenician attire with Greek and Egyptian, mostly due to how hard it is to nail down Phoenician references. Similarly, balancing historical accuracy with vampire cuntiness (very academic term). Troile fluctuates a lot between these three, but generally keeps the same face and body structure (ie, as a man, he doesn’t get super super buff, and as a woman doesn’t get super super slim).

The Sumerian/akkadian titles are still debated, as some are thought to mean broadly nonbinary, however I used them there with the interpretation of Kurgara being equated to transfemme, Gala being enby, and Pili being transmasc. Troile isn’t Sumerian, so none of them are accurate regardless, but they are what Sumur (an OC hi if this reaches beyond my followers) calls them as that would be his understanding of transness. Moloch, imo, doesn’t call them specific things depending on form, as Moloch probably views it more fluidity (Fem Troile isn’t Fem Troile she’s Just Troile, you see?), not to say either treatment is worse/better.

Due to how rich Carthage is (was :c), Troile mostly wears flowing fabric and gold, as it’s more comfortable and they don’t need to be active enough to merit more fitted/working clothes. The male version does not have the fitted shirt style most Phoenicians wear because of this AND because I simply find the T-shirt cut in ancient clothing ugly (sorry Romans).

This is a rough sketch so I don’t have many details to go into, but the snake diadem for enby Troile is intentionally referring to snakes as transformative figures/spirits, which feels fitting for a trans character :)

(I’m aware some people view Troile as just male or just female, due to the lore being inconsistent, and that’s totally fine, I just view them as genderfluid, hence the designs.)

Ok yap over

[writing-system]

Inscription in Phoenician abjad. Basalt stele of King Kilamuwa of Sam’al, c. 825 BC.

Source