Roman fine ceramics known as ‘terra sigillata’ are among the best known and highest quality ceramics from the ancient world. Between the third and fifth centuries in particular, what is now Tunisia was an important production site for such clay vessels. The Archaeological Museum has an exciting and diverse collection of these ceramics, which Cornelius Breulmann will present in September's ‘Theme of the Month’. He will speak on 7, 14 and 21 September at 2.15 p.m. in room F033 of the Fürstenberghaus.

Although the Phoenicians and Greek city-states were constantly at war with each other, the Greek demigod Heracles became a common motif on Phoenician coins. This was because the son of Zeus, the father of the gods, was equated with Melqart, the supreme deity of some Phoenician colonies, due to certain similar characteristics.

The coin of the month for August, a tetradrachm from around 300 BC, shows the young Heracles with a lion's scalp, and on the reverse side a horse's head in front of a date palm, a typical motif from Carthage. At that time, the Punic city was at war with Syracuse, the most powerful city in Sicily. The fact that the Phoenician coins, which were used to pay mercenaries, were minted on the island is shown by the two spurs on the sides, which are characteristic of Sicilian coins.

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