Kerkouane

The name Kerkouane is a Libyco-Berber toponym deriving from Berber kkerker "to wall up", it is also found in Algeria and the Sahel region.{{Cite book |last=Lipiński |first=Edward |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=SLSzNfdcqfoC&dq=Kerkouane+is+a+Lybico-Berber+toponym&pg=PA454 |title=Itineraria Phoenicia |date=2004 |publisher=Peeters Publishers |isbn=978-90-429-1344-8 |pages=454 |language=en}}

Kerkouane is a small town and was probably never home to more than 1,200 people, mostly fishermen and craftsmen. Based on the presence of many murex shells, it would appear that the town produced purple dye, in addition to salt and garum (a food product).

Excavations of the town have revealed ruins and coins from the 4th and 3rd centuries BC. Around the site where the layout is clearly visible, many houses still show their walls, and the coloured clay on the facades is often still visible. The town was built on a grid with wide streets and public squares. The houses were built to a standard plan, in accordance with a sophisticated notion of town planning.

Traces of red ochre found in excavated tombs are common also to native Libyan burial customs, but the religious and architectural traditions of the town are predominantly of Carthaginian style. A black-figure wine jug decorated with a scene from The Odyssey found with an Ionian cup, and Greek architectural elements like peristyle courtyards and stucco plaster decorations found among the remains of upscale private homes, show the town was influenced by the culture of the greater Mediterranean world.

A sanctuary has some columns preserved, and in a small atrium parts of mosaics are found. Curbstones, doorsteps, thresholds, and floors of simple mosaic layers are found all over the ruins.{{Cite web|title=Kerkouane|url=http://www.trekearth.com/gallery/Africa/Tunisia/North/Nabeul/Kerkouane/photo1427709.htm|website=www.trekearth.com|language=en|access-date=2020-05-28}}

There is an area for ritual banquets and a sacrificial altar. While archaeologists are unsure precisely which deities the temple was dedicated to, they speculate based on artifacts found at the site that it may have been Melqart, Sid and Tanit. Terracotta heads showing two males wearing conical hats resemble Sid and Melqart iconography known from the Temple of Antas in Sardinia.

{{Main|Sea level rise}}

Due to its coastal location, Kerkouane is vulnerable to sea level rise. In 2022, the IPCC Sixth Assessment Report included it in the list of African cultural sites which would be threatened by flooding and coastal erosion by the end of the century, but only if climate change followed RCP 8.5, which is the scenario of high and continually increasing greenhouse gas emissions associated with the warming of over 4{{Nbsp}}°C.,Trisos, C.H., I.O. Adelekan, E. Totin, A. Ayanlade, J. Efitre, A. Gemeda, K. Kalaba, C. Lennard, C. Masao, Y. Mgaya, G. Ngaruiya, D. Olago, N.P. Simpson, and S. Zakieldeen 2022: [https://www.ipcc.ch/report/ar6/wg2/downloads/report/IPCC_AR6_WGII_Chapter09.pdf Chapter 9: Africa]. In [https://www.ipcc.ch/report/ar6/wg2/ Climate Change 2022: Impacts, Adaptation and Vulnerability] [H.-O. Pörtner, D.C. Roberts, M. Tignor, E.S. Poloczanska, K. Mintenbeck, A. Alegría, M. Craig, S. Langsdorf, S. Löschke, V. Möller, A. Okem, B. Rama (eds.)]. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, United Kingdom and New York, NY, USA, pp. 2043–2121 and is no longer considered very likely.{{cite journal|last1=Hausfather|first1=Zeke|last2=Peters|first2=Glen|title=Emissions – the 'business as usual' story is misleading|journal=Nature|date=29 January 2020|volume=577|issue=7792|pages=618–20|doi=10.1038/d41586-020-00177-3|pmid=31996825|bibcode=2020Natur.577..618H|doi-access=free}}{{cite journal|last1=Hausfather|first1=Zeke|last2=Peters|first2=Glen|title=RCP8.5 is a problematic scenario for near-term emissions|journal=PNAS|date=20 October 2020|volume=117|issue=45|pages=27791–27792|doi=10.1073/pnas.2017124117 |pmid=33082220 |pmc=7668049 |bibcode=2020PNAS..11727791H |doi-access=free}} The other, more plausible scenarios result in lower warming levels and consequently lower sea level rise: yet, sea levels would continue to increase for about 10,000 years under all of them.{{cite book |url=https://www.ipcc.ch/report/ar6/wg1/downloads/report/IPCC_AR6_WGI_Full_Report.pdf |title=Technical Summary. In: Climate Change 2021: The Physical Science Basis. Contribution of Working Group I to the Sixth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change |date=August 2021 |publisher=IPCC |page=TS14 |access-date=12 November 2021}} Even if the warming is limited to 1.5{{Nbsp}}°C, global sea level rise is still expected to exceed {{convert|2-3|m|ft|0|abbr=on}} after 2000 years (and higher warming levels will see larger increases by then), consequently exceeding 2100 levels of sea level rise under RCP 8.5 (~{{convert|0.75|m|ft|0|abbr=on}} with a range of {{convert|0.5-1|m|ft|0|abbr=on}}) well before the year 4000. Thus, it is a matter of time before Kerkouane is threatened by rising water levels, unless it can be protected by adaptation efforts such as sea walls.IPCC, 2021: [https://www.ipcc.ch/report/ar6/wg1/downloads/report/IPCC_AR6_WGI_SPM.pdf Summary for Policymakers]. In: [https://www.ipcc.ch/report/ar6/wg1/ Climate Change 2021: The Physical Science Basis. Contribution of Working Group I to the Sixth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change] [Masson-Delmotte, V., P. Zhai, A. Pirani, S.L. Connors, C. Péan, S. Berger, N. Caud, Y. Chen, L. Goldfarb, M.I. Gomis, M. Huang, K. Leitzell, E. Lonnoy, J.B.R. Matthews, T.K. Maycock, T. Waterfield, O. Yelekçi, R. Yu, and B. Zhou (eds.)]. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, United Kingdom and New York, NY, USA, pp. 3−32, doi:10.1017/9781009157896.001.

• Sanctuary of Thinissut

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Kerkouane .jpg|Floor of Kerkouane

Kerkouane baignoire.jpg|A bath

Kerkouane salle eau.jpg|A toilet

Kerkouane maisons 2.jpg|Remains of houses

Hauptabwasserleitung in Kerkouane, Tunesien Januar 2015 02.JPG|View of the archeological site

Buvette a musee kerkwan.jpg|Outside Kerkouane museum

Kerkouane Plan du site 2.jpg|Plan of the site

Kerkouane-Tamezrat photo12 كركوان- تامزراط.jpg|Remains of Tamezrat

Kerkouane-Tamezrat photo2 كركوان- تامزراط.jpg|Remains of walls

Kerkouane1.JPG|Remains of columns

Plaque du site archéologique de Kerkouane photo2 الموقع الأثري كركوان.jpg|Sign of the site

Site Archeologique de Kerkouene (13).jpg|General view of the site

• {{Commons category-inline|Kerkouane}}
• [http://lexicorient.com/tunisia/kerkouane.htm Lexicorient] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111113174104/http://lexicorient.com/tunisia/kerkouane.htm |date=2011-11-13 }}
• [http://www.kerkouane.com/ Kerkounane Guide]

{{Coord|36|56|47|N|11|05|57|E|type:city|display=title}}

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Category:Archaeological sites in Tunisia

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Category:Berbers