Utica, Tunisia
أُتِيكْ | |
 The ruins of Utica | |
  Shown within Tunisia | |
| Location | Zana, Bizerte Governorate Tunisia |
|---|---|
| Coordinates | 37°3′25″N 10°3′43″E / 37.05694°N 10.06194°ECoordinates: 37°3′25″N 10°3′43″E / 37.05694°N 10.06194°E |
| Type | Settlement |
| History | |
| Builder | Phoenician colonists |
| Founded | 1101 BC |
| Abandoned | Approximately 700 AD |
| Periods | Early Iron Age to Byzantine Empire |
Utica (/ˌjuːtɪkə/) was an ancient Phoenician and Carthaginian city located near the outflow of the Medjerda River into the Mediterranean, between Carthage in the south and Hippo Diarrhytus (present-day Bizerte) in the north. It is traditionally considered to be the first colony to have been founded by the Phoenicians in North Africa.[1] After Carthage's loss to Rome in the Punic Wars, Utica was an important Roman colony for seven centuries.
Today, Utica no longer exists, and its remains are located in Bizerte Governorate in Tunisia – not on the coast where it once lay, but further inland because deforestation and agriculture upriver led to massive erosion and the Medjerda River silted over its original mouth.[2]
Name[]
Utica (Classical Latin: [ˈʊ.t̪ɪ.ka]) is an unusual latinization of the Punic name ʿtq (