Stele with Tanit's symbol in Carthage's Tophet, including a crescent moon over the figure

Tanit^[1] was a Phoenician lunar goddess, worshiped as the patron goddess at Carthage. ^[2]

Worship[link]

Tanit was worshiped in Punic contexts in the Western Mediterranean, from Malta to Gades into Hellenistic times. From the fifth century BCE onwards Tanit is associated with that of Ba`al Hammon. She is given the epithet pene baal ("face of Baal") and the title rabat, the female form of rab (chief).^[3] In North Africa, where the inscriptions and material remains are more plentiful, she was, as well as a consort of Baal Hammon, a heavenly goddess of war, a virginal (not married) mother goddess and nurse, and, less specifically, a symbol of fertility, as are most female forms. Several of the major Greek goddesses were identified with Tanit by the syncretic interpretatio graeca, which recognized as Greek deities in foreign guise the gods of most of the surrounding non-Hellene cultures.

Tanit with a lion's head

Her shrine excavated at Sarepta in southern Phoenicia revealed an inscription that identified her for the first time in her homeland and related her securely to the Phoenician goddess Astarte (Ishtar).^[4] One site where Tanit is uncovered is at Kerkouane, in the Cap Bon peninsula in Tunisia.

The origins of Tanit are to be found in the pantheon of Ugarit, especially in the Ugaritic goddess Anat (Hvidberg-Hansen 1982), a consumer of blood and flesh. There is significant, albeit disputed, evidence, both archaeological and within ancient written sources, pointing towards child sacrifice forming part of the worship of Tanit and Baal Hammon.^[5]

Tanit is also a goddess among the ancient Berber people.

Her symbol, found on many ancient stone carvings, appears as a trapezoid/trapezium closed by a horizontal line at the top and surmounted in the middle by a circle: the horizontal arm is often terminated either by two short upright lines at right angles to it or by hooks. Later, the trapezoid/trapezium is frequently replaced by an isosceles triangle. The symbol is interpreted by Hvidberg-Hansen as a woman raising her hands.

In Egyptian, her name means Land of Neith, Neith being a war goddess.

Long after the fall of Carthage, Tanit is still venerated in North Africa under the Latin name of Juno Caelestis, for her identification with the Roman goddess Juno.^[6]

Hvidberg-Hansen (Danish professor of Semitic philology), notes that Tanit is sometimes depicted with a lion's head, showing her warrior quality.^[7]

In modern times the name, with the spelling "Tanith", has been used as a female given name, both for real people and, more frequently, in occult fiction.

See also[link]

	Mythology portal
	Ancient Near East portal

Notes[link]

References[link]

• Markoe, Glenn E. (2000). Phoenicians. Peoples of the Past. Berkeley, Calif.: University of California Press. ISBN 9780520226142. OCLC 45096924. http://books.google.com/books?id=smPZ-ou74EwC. 

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Tanit

• Limestone stela with images of the goddess Tanit

Luke Damon Goss (born 29 September 1968) is an English singer and actor. He has appeared in numerous films including Blade II (2002) as Jared Nomak, One Night With The King (2006) as King Xerxes, Hellboy II: The Golden Army (2008) as Prince Nuada and Tekken (2010) as Steve Fox.

Career[link]

Luke Goss along with twin brother Matt Goss, started his career with the hugely successful 1980s boy band Bros. In total he has charted with thirteen hit singles in the UK.

Luke Goss pictured in 1993

When Bros broke up in the early 1990s, Goss worked with the Band of Thieves. His autobiography, "I Owe You Nothing", was a top 10 best seller book and went on to have three subsequent printings. He also began to appear in stage musicals including Grease and What a Feeling, and has turned to acting in films full-time, with his first most notable role being the villain Jared Nomak in Blade II. He also appeared as The Creature in the Hallmark Channel's Frankenstein. Goss can be seen in the 2004 crime drama, Charlie in which he plays real-life gangster Charlie Richardson. Again, in the 2005 comedy, The Man he stars as another villain, Joey / Kane.

He has since had roles in One Night with the King, as King Xerxes. He appeared in Bone Dry, as Eddie and in the thriller Unearthed, as Kale. Goss received a CAMIE (Character and Morality in Entertainment) Award for his work in One Night with the King on May 12, 2007 at the Beverly Hills Hotel in Los Angeles. Both One Night with the King and Bone Dry were viewed at the 2007 Cannes Film Festival. Bone Dry premiered in Los Angeles on January 9, 2008.

In the autumn of 2008, Goss returned from filming Hellboy II: The Golden Army in Budapest, Hungary, in which he plays Prince Nuada.^[1] The sequel was released in North America on July 11, 2008. In February, 2008, he signed to play the role of Steve Fox in Tekken, which was filmed in Shreveport, Louisiana. He was seen in a commercial for the new Cadillac Escalade Hybrid. In January 2010, Goss won the role as Frankenstein in Death Race 2^[2] under the direction from Roel Reiné, which began shooting on location in Eastern Europe in February, 2010.^[3] Goss also played the lead role in Syfy's dark tale television film Witchville.^[4] In May 2010, he won the Ultimate Badass Award at the PollyGrind Film Festival for his role in the zombie-vampire film The Dead Undead.

Personal life[link]

Since 1994, he has been married to backing singer Shirley Lewis, (who has worked with singers Elton John, George Michael, Luther Vandross, and many others), and has one stepdaughter, Carli. In January 2007, he and wife Shirley moved permanently to Los Angeles, but still maintain a residence in London.

Filmography[link]

References[link]

• http://www.perfectpeople.net/celebrity-star/7706/luke-goss.htm
• Telegraph.co.uk Interview with Luke Goss

External links[link]

• http://www.lukegossforum.com - Official website
• http://www.lukegossforum.com - Official Facebook
• http://www.myspace.com/lukegosssite - Official MySpace page
• Luke Goss at the Internet Movie Database