Byrsa

District of Punic Byrsa

Byrsa was a walled citadel above the Phoenician harbour in ancient Carthage, Tunisia, as well as the name of the hill it rested on.

Legend[]

In Virgil's account of Dido's founding of Carthage, when Dido and her party were encamped at Byrsa, the local Berber chieftain offered them as much land as could be covered with a single oxhide. Therefore, Dido cut an oxhide into tiny strips and set them on the ground end to end until she had completely encircled the hilltop of Byrsa (Greek: βύρσα, "oxhide").

History[]

The citadel dominated the city below and formed the principal military installation of Carthage. Its name appeared on Carthaginian currency under the form BʾRṢT (Punic: