In approximately 800 BCE, a highly sophisticated culture of navigators and traders from what is now Lebanon landed on the northeastern tip of Sicily. They built a trading colony on a small island in the middle of a shallow lagoon. For the next 400 years, Motya (Mozia in Italian) would be one of the most important Mediterranean outposts of these remarkable people, the Phoenicians.

So who exactly were the Phoenicians? The Phoenicians are a civilization that grew along the Mediterranean coast of what is now Lebanon and northern Israel starting around 2500 BCE. Like the Greeks, they organized into city-states, with those of Byblos, Tyre, and Sidon being the largest and most important. Relatively little is known about the Phoenicians, since few indigenous contemporary records survive, despite the civilization being known for having the first (mainly) phonetic alphabet. I say mainly because, like some of its successors such as Hebrew, it is a consonantal alphabet, not having specific vowel sounds.

Here is what we do know. The Phoenicians were excellent sailors, navigators, and traders, and they established a system of colonies around the Mediterranean basin. The most famous of these is Carthage (now Tunis, Tunisia), which was founded in 814 BCE. We don’t know what the Phoenicians called themselves, as the name is from the Greek, but it is thought that they are the direct descendants of the Biblical Canaanites. But we do know that roughly at the time of their 9th and 8th century BCE zenith, the civilization in its “home” in the Eastern Mediterranean collapsed due to outside conquest, from Babylon, Persia, and Greece. Carthage would be destroyed by the Romans in 146 BCE in the Punic Wars, and Phoenicia finally conquered (as part of the Seleucid Kingdom that was one of the successor states of Alexander the Great’s empire) by Rome in 64 BCE, putting an official end to the culture.

Little that is directly Phoenician survives in the world. Most of the area controlled by these remarkable people would be either fully destroyed in war, or converted by those who conquered it. So Motya is relatively unique, as its destruction in 396 BCE at the hands of the Greek city-state of Syracuse on the other side of Sicily did not lead to the island being taken over by Greece. When Carthage recovered the area shortly after the sacking of Motya, they simply moved their rebuild to the mainland, on the peninsula of Lilybaeum in what is now the city of Marsala. So Motya was left pretty much abandoned. That is bad for Motya, but great for traveling lovers of history who want to get to know a civilization that is – at least in my case – new to them.

This being my first introduction in person to the Phoenicians, I am pretty eager on the short, ten-ish minute ferry ride from a small dock near some salt ponds just north of Marsala. The lagoon is very shallow, and it appears that I could walk across without getting my head wet, although I’m guessing that isn’t looked highly upon. (My guide tells me that at one point there was a road that even during high tide was passable for horses and carriages, or perhaps travelers with good boots.) However, upon landing at a similarly small dock, rather than meeting the ancient Phoenicians, I instead make the acquaintance of an Anglo-Sicilian noble, Joseph (Guissepe) Whitaker.

Whitaker was an ornithologist who, upon discovering Motya and its nascent archaeological studies in the late nineteenth century, purchased the island and began full excavations. His home is now a museum that displays much of what has been found, mainly Phoenician but also some Greek, presumably from the conquest.

That personage now taken care of, I wander in search of the Phoenicians. The small island, less than half a mile in diameter in either direction, holds a surprising richness of sites, although much of it is covered with privately owned vineyards. (I am assured that nothing of value to antiquity lies under those.) These range from simple ruins of what is thought to be residential areas to much more complex and important places.

Perhaps the most important part of Motya is the Kothon. This artificial lake, about half the size of a football field, baffled archaeologists, and still sort of does. It was built on top of one of the island’s few natural springs, and while it is connected to the lagoon by a narrow channel, that was added much later. At the time of Motya’s building, sea level was a few feet lower, so such a channel wouldn’t have been possible.

The Kothon is also connected, via an underground canal, to the next door Temple of Baal. Baal, the Phoenician god of rain (and therefore water), was one of the most important gods of the ancient Canaanites, with worship continuing throughout their colonies in the Mediterranean basin. (Two other smaller temples also surround the Kothon, making it fairly certain that this area was the religious and ceremonial center of Motyan life.) It is therefore believed that the Kothon was a ritual pool used for worship, although it isn’t certain.

Motya is entirely surrounded by the remainder of city walls, thought to be the oldest in the central Mediterranean. These were built in response to the destruction of the city by Carthage in the mid-sixth century BCE (well before its final demolition by the Greeks). Built in phases, some walls are only about five feet high, while others – along with some defensive towers – reached heights of nearly twenty feet. Combined with the natural defense of the lagoon itself, Motya must have been fairly formidable in its heyday. Of course, only ruins remain at this point, along with some buildings connected to the walls thought to be garrisons.

Two gates, one at the north end of the city and one at the south, would have allowed access. The northern gate has some impressive buildings just inside, though it is unclear whether those would have housed troops for defensive purposes, or market stalls for commercial reasons.

Some of the best artifacts on display at the museum come from Motya’s two cemeteries. One, the tofet, is thought to be a burial place for children, including the remnants of miscarriages and stillbirths. Images on ornamental headstones show women clutching their chests, as though showing grief. (To be honest, I don’t see that in the images, but I’ll defer to archaeologists.)

The other cemetery is completely different, as it doesn’t have headstones at all. The Phoenicians cremated adults who died, putting urns into ornamental stone boxes for protection, which were either buried or left exposed to the elements.

Walking the island is easy, with dirt roads guiding visitors both along the perimeter and across at fairly regular intervals. In just an hour or two, one can see most everything, eventually leading to a return to the Whitaker House, and the nearby House of Mosaics. This large ruin is thought to be a single dwelling – obviously of a wealthy person – but that is pure speculation. The name comes from two well-preserved mosaics. The special thing about these mosaics is that they don’t use tile. Rather, they utilize stones in different shades of gray. (Zoom in on the photo to see better.) Similar mosaics have been found in Greece, but these are the only ones to have been discovered so far in Sicily.

It isn’t every day that one gets to make contact with a new (to me) ancient civilization. And it just goes to show how rich the history of Sicily is, that here we have one of only a few preserved Phoenician settlements in the world, in addition to the countless other cultures to have made their way on, around, and through this island. Though not all that convenient to either Palermo or Catania, if you have a car and a day, you can head to Motya and hang out with the Phoenicians of Sicily.

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