Phoenicians/Tunisians
“Who were these brave seamen and shipbuilders in the year of approximately 600 BC. The Phoenicians were among the greatest seafarers of the ancient world, and their connection to the territory of modern Tunisia (ancient Carthage) is central to that story…
In 600 BC, the Phoenicians and their Carthaginian cousins in Tunisia were arguably the premier seafaring civilization in the world — more commercially dominant at sea than even the Greeks at that time. Their influence shaped Mediterranean trade, culture, and navigation for centuries.” Claude AI June 9, 2026
Erij Ben Sassi
Erij is the Founder and President of Association Didon de Carthage (Tunisia). This is a cultural and historical organization based in Tunisia dedicated to promoting the heritage of Carthage and the Phoenicians. The president and founder is Ery’j B. Sassi Trimech, who works to highlight the greatness of the Carthaginian Empire and the Phoenicians, and has connections with government officials in Tunisia.
The association works in cooperation with international research groups, including the Heartland Research Group, and Erij has been involved in organizing diplomatic events such as a reception at the Tunisian Embassy in Washington, D.C. The Phoenician
Dido, also known as Elissa, is the legendary Phoenician princess and founder of Carthage.
Around 814–813 BC is the most cited date for when Dido fled Tyre and founded Carthage. This comes from the Greek historian Timaeus of Taormina (c. 350–260 BC), whose accounts were referenced by later writers.
She belongs to the early Iron Age Phoenician world, roughly:
9th century BC (800s BC)
Contemporary with the height of Phoenician expansion across the Mediterranean
Dido was the daughter of the king of Tyre, in present-day Lebanon, and sister of Pygmalion. After the murder of her husband Sychaeus by her brother, she fled Tyre with a group of loyal followers to escape the conflicts and the threat of her brother, embarking on a long journey that took her first to Cyprus, then to the coasts of North Africa, in present-day Tunisia.
Carthage Foundation
Upon arriving in Africa, Dido negotiated with the local chief Iarbas to obtain a piece of land “as big as an ox hide”.Encyclopedia Britannica. She then cut the skin into thin strips, which allowed her to demarcate a much larger area on which to found the city. The citadel took the name Byrsa, and the city quickly became a prosperous center, preserving the Phoenician heritage and influencing Mediterranean trade.Wikipedia
A Legendary and Tragic Life
In Greek and Roman mythology, Dido is famous for her encounter with Aeneas, the Trojan hero. According to Virgil in the Aeneid, she falls in love with Aeneas, but he, obeying the gods, leaves Carthage, which leads Dido to commit suicide on a funeral pyre to escape a forced marriage to Iarbas and out of loyalty to her deceased husband.Encyclopedia Britannica His curse on the Trojans is considered the mythical origin of the Punic Wars between Rome and Carthage.Encyclopedia Britannica.
Dido has become a symbol of courage and female heroism, inspiring numerous artistic, literary, and musical works throughout the centuries. Her story illustrates both the founding of a great Mediterranean city and the universal themes of loyalty, sacrifice, and tragic love.Wikipedia Thus Dido remains an emblematic figure in Carthaginian history and legend, blending historical facts and founding myths.
The Phoenicia Ship: A Memory from Carthage by Erij Ben Sassi
My relationship with Phoenicia began less than two months before her arrival at the port of Gammarth, in Carthage.We received an email from Captain Philip Beale. He announced his new adventure and his desire to start it from the ancient port of Carthage – the Punic Port.The board and members of my organization were thrilled. We were eager to be part of this extraordinary adventure, which reminded us of our ancestors and their remarkable skills.For us, the project “Phoenicians before Columbus” was not just a random cultural event.
We knew she would go far – not only geographically, but also historically. We knew she would sail back across seas and oceans.
Captain Beale’s mission was to prove that the ancient Phoenicians and Carthaginians, the greatest navigators of antiquity, were capable of reaching the Americas.
For us Tunisians, oral memory has always passed down the belief that our ancient people, especially our sailors, may have discovered the Americas.
Himilcon reached Cornwall. Hanno went to Cameroon, and perhaps further. If you ask me: do you have proof?
I will answer: no, we don’t have any historical document that proves this. But if we did, you would not be sitting here today, listening to the story of the Phoenicia journey.
Carthage Before the Ship
Carthage has more than three thousand years of history. Utica was the first city founded by the Phoenicians on the North African coast, around 1100 BC. Historians have never agreed on the exact date. Utica was older than Carthage.
Around 600 BC, Carthage was not only a city as it is known today, it was an empire that defied Rome. A big part of the ancient history of Carthage was destroyed by the Romans during the Punic Wars.
It began in 264 BC and was a series of three conflicts between Rome and Carthage for dominance over the western Mediterranean. The wars lasted 118 years and saw Hannibal’s famous crossing of the Alps and ended with the complete destruction of Carthage in 146 BC the destruction had engulfed everything. Not only walls and temples – but documents, scrolls, books.
The great Library of Carthage was burned, most likely in 146 BC, when the Roman general Scipio Aemilianus razed the city.
But one thing is certain: we lost more than a library. We lost part of our civilization – but not the memory. Memory does not burn. It sleeps in stones. It hides in stories told from mother to daughter. It sails across oceans on ships like the Phoenicia.
The Phoenicia ship has a very powerful meaning for us. She is a part of our identity. She is a 600 BC replica, the date is important for Carthage. By 600 BC, Carthage was approximately 214 years old (founded in 814 BC).
It had evolved from a small Phoenician trading post into a thriving, independent city-state and started becoming the dominant power in the western Mediterranean. Carthage gained its political independence from Tyre and started its own hegemony over other Phoenicians’ cities and trading posts. Around 600 BC, Carthage transitioned from a peace-loving mercantile community to a militaristic state. It adopts more expansionist policy. It was already projecting naval power.
Carthage was a sphere of influence focused on controlling trade, rather than vast territorial conquest. The city-state was the richest and most important trading hub in the western Mediterranean. Carthage had a key strategic position in north Africa that allowed controlling the 90 miles stretch of sea between Cap Bon-Tunisia and Sicily. This bottleneck was vital for east-west Mediterranean trade.
And Carthage’s legendary wealth was built on a sophisticated, multi-faceted economy. For example, Carthage engaged in barter (silent trade) with peoples in West Africa. Carthaginian merchants would leave goods on a beach, signal with smoke, and then retreat. The natives would deposit what they considered a fair amount of gold and withdraw. If the Carthaginians were satisfied, they took the gold; if not, they returned to their ships, and the natives would add more. This was a highly efficient and peaceful system for trading with inaccessible tribes. The period around 600 BC was a great age of maritime exploration for the Phoenicians and their Carthaginian descendants. They shared the same maritime traditions and shipbuilding skills. This expertise explains the Phoenicia ship journey was possible.
Summer 2019: The Preparation
Let me go back to the summer of 2019. Hot days. The sun beat down hard. Most Tunisians were enjoying swimming and sunbathing on the country’s many beaches. Meanwhile, my association and our partners were running from one administration to another, chasing authorizations for the Phoenicia ship. It was not easy to get all the authorizations in August, it was summertime and most of the decision makers were on vacation. But we didn’t give up. Fortunately, we have good connections, we had meetings with high level governmental directors, all to prepare a proper welcome. Ministers, ambassadors, and the media were all aware of the ship’s arrival and her international crew It was an important event – one that needed media coverage for both tourism and cultural benefits.
We prepared various tours for the crew to discover Tunisia’s ancient history. The crew came from different countries. Different languages. Different beliefs. But on the ship, they became Phoenicians. We also gathered supplies for six months.
Many companies and national organizations supported us and supported the Phoenicia voyage. We contacted the press, radio, and television to announce the welcoming ceremony. They understood the importance of the journey and were excited to witness her voyage across the Mediterranean Sea and the Atlantic Ocean. It was a real challenge for us. And we handled it.
The Day: Thursday, September 19, 2019
Then came the day. Thursday, September 19, 2019.
I cannot describe the emotions we felt that day: a mixture of excitement, blended with the pressure of the challenge, and our fatigue. But when we saw the Phoenicia appear on the horizon –when she entered the
port of Gammarth, the same waters where Carthaginian sailors once watched for distant shores, we knew: this was history, sailing back to us.
Around 20 media covered the event and more than 500 persons visited the Phoenicia ship during the period of her docking at the port of Gammarth. It was a beautiful celebration that we still remember.
My personal experience with Phoenicia doesn’t stop in Tunisia. In Morocco, I contacted the leaders of Association Essaouira Mogador to announce the arrival of the Phoenicia, they were already aware about the voyage but they didn’t have any confirmation. They were excited to hear the news. So they organized a celebration and discovery tour program of the ancient village of Essaouira. They also invited us to assist at their famous Atlantic music festival.
In 2024, thanks to some good connections I have in Tunisia, we contacted the Tunisian embassy in Washington DC and made them aware about the journey of the Phoenicia, her actual location and owners. Her excellency Hanene Tajouri Bessassi was so excited about what is going on here in the US. And invited us to a diplomatic celebration of the remarkable journey of Phoenicia. She knew the importance of the project.
The Phoenicia Ship is more than a replica!
Phoenicia is a bridge between two shores, Between Africa and America, between a story forgotten and a memory reborn. Columbus came with swords and crosses and kings who wanted gold, silver, copper and all kinds of metals. If the Phoenicians reached America before him, they came differently. They came as merchants. As explorers. As people who wanted to trade, not to conquer. They brought peace. That is a different kind of discovery.
The 600 BC replica Ship, The Phoenicia is more than a sailing vessel, it’s a philosophy, a history, an identity of two people, the people of the old world coming from north Africa and the south shore of the Mediterranean and the people of America.
Captain Philip Beale is this genius man who woke up the legend of The Phoenicia from the bottom of the Mediterranean sea and now she will be at the top of the mountain here in America. Actually, her journey is proof of the ancient relation between our two peoples and honestly, we cannot hide it anymore. Her journey needs to be told everywhere, and she is a real academic research engine, a tool of discovery to
study this ancient connection.
Our Promise
The Phoenicia ship is now here in Utah, one of the best places in America, in her last home, sleeping in pieces inside a container or two and this is really sad. She is waiting to be rebuilt, not to sail again but to tell her story, the story of a promise made by ancient sailors who may have reached this land long before
Columbus.
Our gathering here today (May 30, 2026 at Rod Meldrum’s home in Fairview, Ut. video above) is to put all our efforts and support to build a home for her and to make her wish come true. So let us build. Not just a museum. But a home for a memory that refused to drown. Some of you have money. Some of you have time. Some of you have a door that can open for this project. Whatever you have, it’s enough. We need you to bring it. The Phoenicia Ship needs your support. Believe in her because now, she belongs to you!
Erij Ben Sassi
Supporter of The Phoenicia Ship.
President and Founder of The Association Didon of Carthage- Tunisia-North
Greetings From John Lefgren President of Heartland Research,
“Ms. Eryj Ben Sassi, Founder and President of Didon de Carthage, was in Morocco at the annual event that is organized by the Association Essaouira Mogador. While there Ms. Eryi Ben Sassi had the opportunity to talk with many important people including the Senior Advisor to His Majesty Mohammed VI, the King of Morocco.
Millions are certainly aware of Captain Philip Beale’s PHOENICIA ship and the international crew that crossed the Atlantic on a square-rigged sailing ship from Carthage, Tunisia, to Miami, America.
Five years ago Heartland Research bought from Captain Beale 1,000 cut pieces of his ship in the mud of a canal in Fort Lauderdale. The ship was affected by the confusion of COVID and ended up at the bottom of a canal.
These efforts have involved over 200 volunteers donating 6,000 hours to clean and place 1,000’s of Phoenician joints in their proper places. We now have in Utah the oldest ship replica that sailed 30,000 miles and crossed two oceans.
This work is the work of freely donated hours and money. We are a non-profit, tax-exempt organization. We have managed to bring our efforts to the attention of hundreds of thousands of Americans. We were fortunate to work with the Embassy of the Republic of Tunisia in Washington, D.C. Ms. Ben Sassi was critical in organizing a reception at the Tunisia House when more than one hundred leading people came together to consider and celebrate the audacious expeditions of the PHOENICIA.
This ship is the clearest artifact that connects the Old and New Worlds at a time of Hanno the Navigator in the 6th century before Christ. It testifies to the fact that the Carthaginians sailed to America 2,000 years before Columbus. This knowledge is very important to the ancient history of America.
Ms. Eryj Ben Sassi is traveling from Carthage, Tunisia, to Salt Lake City, Utah, to promote Phoenicia in the Intermountain West. Her involvement with the ship dates back more than seven years to when Captain Beale and his international crew were in Tunisia and Morocco. We are sure that many people will benefit from meeting her in Utah as they become better acquainted with how the Old and New Worlds connected thousands of years before Columbus.
There are many reasons to meet Eryj Ben Sassi including the history of the world and the restoration of Carthage’s proper place as the world’s most important place of wealth and trade before the Punic Wars. So much of this important history was lost in the Roman fires that destroyed the libraries and documents of ancient Carthage.
We ask that you give Ms. Ben Sassi your kind and careful attention when she is in Utah. We are sure that there is much more to learn and that with the resources of the world you will greatly benefit from Eryj’s knowledge of the ancient world and PHOENICIA.
Ms. Ben Sassi is ready to answer any questions in an open meeting that is being organized in Utah. Come and see for yourself what is being done in Utah to bring the Old World to the West.
For information about the Phoenicia Ship or to volunteer or donate visit
Phoenicia.rocks
I asked Claude AI May 31, 2026:
Q: How are Tunisians and Phoenician’s related?
The Phoenicians founded Carthage in Tunisia
Around 814 BCE, Phoenician settlers from the city of Tyre (in modern-day Lebanon) founded Carthage near present-day Tunis. According to legend, it was established by Queen Dido (also called Elissa). Carthage grew into one of the ancient world’s most powerful cities, dominating trade across the western Mediterranean.
The Punic people — a Phoenician offshoot
The Carthaginians and their descendants are often called Punics (from the Latin Punicus, derived from “Phoenician”). Over centuries, this Phoenician colonial population blended with the indigenous Berber (Amazigh) peoples of North Africa, creating a distinct Punic-African civilization. They shared the Phoenician language (Punic), religion, and culture, while developing their own regional identity.
Genetic and cultural legacy
Modern Tunisians carry traces of this heritage in several ways:
- Genetic studies have found Phoenician/Levantine DNA markers in populations across coastal North Africa, including Tunisia, consistent with ancient colonial mixing.
- The Berber substrate — the indigenous population that intermarried with Phoenicians — forms the deeper ancestral layer of many Tunisians today.
- Place names and language — some Tunisian place names have Punic roots, and some Punic words survived into later North African Latin and Berber dialects.
What happened after Carthage?
After Rome destroyed Carthage in 146 BCE, the region was Romanized, then later Arabized following the Islamic conquests of the 7th century CE. This means modern Tunisian identity is a layered blend of Phoenician/Punic, Berber, Roman, Arab, Ottoman, and other influences — with the Phoenician layer being among the oldest and most foundational.
So in short: Tunisians are partly descended from the Phoenician colonists who built Carthage, mixed over millennia with Berber, Roman, Arab, and other peoples. The Phoenician connection is real but ancient and diluted through centuries of subsequent migrations and conquests.
Q: When were the first Tunisians and Phoenicians Christians? Who were some of the first converts?
Great question — North Africa was actually one of the earliest and most vibrant centers of Christianity in the entire world.
Phoenician Christians
The Phoenician homeland (modern Lebanon/coastal Syria) was evangelized very early. According to the Acts of the Apostles, followers scattered from Jerusalem after the stoning of Stephen (c. 34–36 CE) and traveled to Phoenicia, planting some of the first Christian communities outside Judea. Paul and his companions also passed through Phoenicia multiple times on his missionary journeys.
Notable early Phoenician/Lebanese Christians:
- The Christians of Tyre and Sidon are mentioned in the New Testament itself (Acts 21:3–4)
- Origen later taught in Caesarea, influencing the broader region
North African (Proto-Tunisian) Christians
Christianity reached Roman North Africa (the region including modern Tunisia, then called Africa Proconsularis) likely by the late 1st or early 2nd century CE, probably through trade routes from Rome and the eastern Mediterranean. By the late 2nd century, it had a remarkably sophisticated Christian community.
Some of the earliest and most important converts and figures:
Tertullian (c. 155–220 CE)
- Born in Carthage (modern Tunis area)
- One of the first major Christian theologians to write in Latin
- Essentially invented much of Western Christian theological vocabulary
- Famous for asking “What has Athens to do with Jerusalem?”
Perpetua and Felicity (martyred 203 CE)
- Among the most celebrated early Christian martyrs
- Vibia Perpetua was a young Carthaginian noblewoman; Felicity was her enslaved companion
- They were executed in the amphitheater in Carthage under Emperor Septimius Severus
- Perpetua left one of the oldest surviving writings by a Christian woman
St. Cyprian (c. 210–258 CE)
- Bishop of Carthage, a towering figure in early Church organization
- Martyred under Emperor Valerian
- Hugely influential on questions of Church unity and the role of bishops
St. Augustine of Hippo (354–430 CE)
- Born in Thagaste (modern Souk Ahras, Algeria, near the Tunisian border)
- His mother, St. Monica, was almost certainly of Berber origin
- Became the most influential theologian in Western Christianity
- His works (Confessions, City of God) shaped Catholic and Protestant thought for centuries
Why Was North Africa So Central?
- Carthage was one of the largest cities in the Roman Empire, a natural hub for new ideas
- The region produced more early Christian writers and Church councils than almost anywhere else
- It was the birthplace of Latin Christian theology — much of how Western Christianity thinks and speaks was forged in Tunisia and Algeria
The irony of history is that this region, once the heartland of Christianity, was later transformed by the Islamic conquests of the 7th century, and today Tunisia is a predominantly Muslim country — though that ancient Christian heritage runs deep in its soil.” Claude AI May 31, 2026
Eryj Ben Sassi Bio
Founder and President of Didon de Carthage, was in Morocco at the annual event that is organized by the Association Essaouira Mogador. While there Ms. Eryi Ben Sassi had the opportunity to talk with many important people including the Senior Advisor to His Majesty Mohammed VI, the King of Morocco.
Millions are certainly aware of Captain Philip Beale’s PHOENICIA ship and the international crew that crossed the Atlantic on a square-rigged sailing ship from Carthage, Tunisia, to Miami, America.
Five years ago Heartland Research bought from Captain Beale 1,000 cut pieces of his ship in the mud of a canal in Fort Lauderdale. The ship was affected by the confusion of COVID and ended up at the bottom of a canal.
These efforts have involved over 200 volunteers donating 6,000 hours to clean and place thousands of Phoenician joints in their proper places. We now have in Utah the oldest ship replica that sailed 30,000 miles and crossed two oceans.
This work is the work of freely donated hours and money. We are a non-profit, tax-exempt organization. We have managed to bring our efforts to the attention of hundreds of thousands of Americans. We were fortunate to work with the Embassy of the Republic of Tunisia in Washington, D.C. Ms. Ben Sassi was critical in organizing a reception at the Tunisia House when more than one hundred leading people came together to consider and celebrate the audacious expeditions of the PHOENICIA.
This ship is the clearest artifact that connects the Old and New Worlds at a time of Hanno the Navigator in the 6th century before Christ. It testifies to the fact that the Carthaginians sailed to America 2,000 years before Columbus. This knowledge is very important to the ancient history of America.
Ms. Eryj Ben Sassi is traveling from Carthage, Tunisia, to Salt Lake City, Utah, to promote Phoenicia in the Intermountain West. Her involvement with the ship dates back more than seven years to when Captain Beale and his international crew were in Tunisia and Morocco. We are sure that many people will benefit from meeting her in Utah as they become better acquainted with how the Old and New Worlds connected thousands of years before Columbus.
There are many reasons to meet Eryj Ben Sassi including the history of the world and the restoration of Carthage’s proper place as the world’s most important place of wealth and trade before the Punic Wars. So much of this important history was lost in the Roman fires that destroyed the libraries and documents of ancient Carthage.
We ask that you give Ms. Ben Sassi your kind and careful attention when she is in Utah. We are sure that there is much more to learn and that with the resources of the world you will greatly benefit from Eryj’s knowledge of the ancient world and PHOENICIA.
Ms. Ben Sassi is ready to answer any questions in an open meeting that is being organized in Utah. Come and see for yourself what is being done in Utah to bring the Old World to the West.
Habib Osta Bio
Hundreds of thousands of people recognize the significance of Phoenicia to the history of the Old World. For every one person in America who loves Phoenicia, there are a hundred more in the Old World who love her even more. Phoenicia is now in Utah, and Habib Osta wants to learn more about the ship’s future legacy as she moves westward. Habib is a key leader within the Southern Federation of Syrian Lebanese American Clubs. He has served as the Chairman of the Board for the SFSLAC. He has been associated with the Cedar Club of Atlanta and has attended many annual SFSLAC Conferences. Habib Osta is active in visiting local clubs, supporting club events, and engaging with tens of thousands of members worldwide.
Habib Osta discusses Lebanese culture and how he and his family continue to preserve and apply it in their daily lives. He also offers a closer look at what their lives are like in the States. He explains what his organization/club does, what it teaches, and how it has helped people in Lebanon. His organization is among the best immigrant groups in America. He loves the story of how Phoenicia represents the history of his people and his belief in the goodness of God. Habib has received instructions from his Board of Directors to go to Utah and meet Mike and Betty Red Ant once again. Habib wants to promote Phoenicia as she moves into a new venue where she can become part of the lives of millions of people. He is coming to Salt Lake City for the first time, and he will return to his association convention in Orlando, Florida, during the first days of July. Thousands will want to hear his firsthand report from Utah. We expect many influential people in Salt Lake City will want to meet Habib as they seek to better understand how Phoenicia connects the ancient histories of the Old and New Worlds.
We welcome Habib Osta to Utah, and we are sure he will be well-received as we honor his rich Lebanese traditions. When the Lebanese come, times are always better.
For information about the Phoenicia Ship or to volunteer or donate visit
Phoenicia.rocks