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

Tanit Phoenix
Born	Tanit Phoenix (1984-09-24) 24 September 1984 (age 27) Durban, KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa
Years active	2003–present
Height	1.74 m (5 ft 8 1⁄2 in)

Tanit Phoenix (born 24 September 1984)^[1][2] is a South African model^[3] and actress.

Early life[link]

Phoenix was born in Durban, KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa^[4] to a family of Irish and Dutch descent.^{[citation needed]} Her father, a Quantum Mechanics lecturer and former skydiver, is a descendant of 19th century immigrants from Tullylish, Ireland. Growing up, Phoenix excelled at a variety of activities, including dance, athletics, and music. At an early age, she was enrolled in a ballet class at the behest of her mother; it lasted for 10 years.

Modelling career[link]

Phoenix started her career at the age of 15 and has starred in (and is the face of) commercials for American Swiss Jewellery, Nivea, Alberto VO5, multi-billion dollar Aria (Casino) (Las Vegas), Transitions lenses, Volvic and Veet.^[5] She worked as an international fashion model for Munich Models, Why Not Model Agency - Milan, Model Management - Hamburg, Ice Model Management - Cape Town and Success Models - Paris.^[6] In September 2005, 2006 and in 2010, she was the cover girl of Cosmopolitan magazine.^[7] She has also known as a daredevil after she starred in the European TV ad for Fa showergel, skydiving topless from the heavens. She was then chosen to be the cover girl in the German men's magazine Maxim and then the cover girl for American Maxim the year after.^[8] Tanit has also been on the covers of men's magazine FHM ^[9] and frequently been shot for Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue, Marie Claire,^[10] Shape and GQ magazines.^[11]

Acting career[link]

Phoenix began her acting career with a brief appearance as one of Jared Leto's girlfriends in Lord of War, and had her second role the Canadian mystery series Charlie Jade as Malachi's associate in the episode "Things Unseen",^[12] then the following year starred opposite Wesley Snipes in the horror film Gallowwalker. In 2010, she starred in the horror film Lost Boys: The Thirst^[13] and the action film Death Race: Frankenstein Lives opposite Sean Bean, Ving Rhames and Danny Trejo.^[14] She also stars as lead actress in Death Race: Inferno due for release 2012. Tanit completed filming the comedy Spud opposite John Cleese in South Africa in 2010.^[15] Phoenix is currently in Los Angeles, filming a 13-part contemporary film noir series, season 1 and 2 of Femme Fatales,^[16] for Cinemax/HBO, where she has been cast as lead actress.^[17] In 2012, she had a minor role in Safe House, alongside Denzel Washington and Ryan Reynolds.^[18] Phoenix plays the sexy antagonist alongside Leon Schuster in the 2012 movie Mad Buddies.

Phoenix was a finalist for the title role in the TV series version of Wonder Woman,^[19] but lost the role to actress Adrianne Palicki.^[20]

Filmography[link]

Television[link]

References[link]

External links[link]

• Official site
• Tanit Phoenix at the Internet Movie Database

Bar Refaeli
Refaeli at the 2008 Cannes film festival
Born	(1985-06-04) 4 June 1985 (age 27) Hod HaSharon, Israel
Occupation	Model, actress
Height	1.74 m (5 ft 8.5 in)[1]
Eye color	Blue[1]
Measurements	89-60-89 (EU) (35C-24-35)[1]
Dress size	6 (US); 36 (EU)[2]
Shoe size	40 (EU);[1] 9 (US)
Manager	Storm Model Management (London) ONE Management (New York City) IMG Models (Paris)
Website
www.barrefaeli.co.il

Bar Refaeli (Hebrew: בר רפאלי‎; born 4 June 1985) is an Israeli model and occasional actress. She was the cover model of the 2009 Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue and was voted #1 on Maxim magazine's Hot 100 list of 2012.

Early life[link]

Bar Refaeli was born into an Israeli Jewish family in Hod HaSharon, Israel. Her parents, Rafael and Tzipi, own a horse ranch. Her mother was a successful Israeli model in the 1970s under her maiden name, Tzipi Levine.^[3][4] Refaeli has three brothers. She began a modeling career at the age of eight months, appearing in commercials.^[5] Refaeli had to wear braces in her early years, interrupting her modeling until age 15, when she returned to modeling with the representation of Irene Marie Models.

Career[link]

Modeling career[link]

Refaeli at 18 years old

Refaeli began her modeling career before the age of 8 months for a baby commercial.^[6] By age 15, she was featured in campaigns for the fashion brands Castro and Pilpel, also starring in a commercial for Milky. Refaeli won the title "Model of The Year" in an Israeli beauty contest in 2000.^[7]

Refaeli has appeared in ELLE (France), Maxim, and GQ (Italy). She debuted in the 2007 Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue, becoming the first Israeli model to appear in the magazine, posing with rock band Aerosmith.^[8][9] In 2009, Refaeli was the covermodel for the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue.^[10] A photo from the shoot, featuring a bikini-clad Refaeli, was painted on the side of a Boeing 737 in a promotional deal with Southwest Airlines,^[11][12] leading to criticism of Southwest from passengers for using an image they regarded as inappropriately sexual and "offensive to families".^[13] In October of the same year, Refaeli was again embroiled in controversy, when Haredi groups criticised a Tel Aviv billboard campaign in which she appeared semi-nude, alleging that it could "poison" the public.^[14][15] The billboards were subsequently removed.

She has modeled for Subaru, Accessorize,^[16] Brazilian clothing line Besni, Italian jewelry line Marco Bicego, and Rampage. In 2009, she modeled for Garnier International.^[17]

On 5 March 2009, Refaeli received the "World Style Award," presented by the Women's World Awards, for her "natural elegance, sense of style and compassion."^[18] In October of the same year, Refaeli co-hosted Fashionable Istanbul's press conference announcing their October 2009 fashion event, also appearing in its advertising.^[19] Refaeli was voted #42 in 2008, #57 in 2010, and #97 in 2011 in the FHM "100 Sexiest Women" list^[20] and came in first on Maxim's Hot 100 list of 2012.^[21]

Film and television career[link]

Refaeli co-starred in the Israeli TV series Pick Up in 2005. In October 2008, she co-hosted the Bravo special program Tommy Hilfiger Presents Ironic Iconic America,^[22] based on the book Ironic Iconic America written by George Lois. She returned as a program host in 2009, this time for MTV's brief revival of House of Style.^[23]

On 18 January 2011, Refaeli attended the premiere of the English-language movie Session in Israel^[24] in which she starred. Directed by Israeli Haim Bouzaglo, the film is a psychological thriller that tells the story of a manipulative psychologist who becomes obsessed with a new young patient.

She served as a guest judge on cycle four of Germany's Next Topmodel hosted by Heidi Klum.

Business venture[link]

In 2011, Refaeli and Dudi Balsar, an attorney and former model, set up an E-commerce company called Undeez that will sell designer underwear. The company is slated to go online in November 2011.^[25] By November 2011, the company had raised $1 million in venture capital funds.^[26]

Personal life[link]

Previously linked to Baywatch actor David Charvet and Uri El-Natan, Refaeli began a relationship with American actor Leonardo DiCaprio in November 2005 after meeting him at a Las Vegas party thrown for members of U2.^[27] In the course of their trip to Israel in March 2007, the couple met with Israeli president Shimon Peres and visited Refaeli's hometown of Hod HaSharon.^[28] The relationship ended in June 2009.^[29] Numerous reports, however, indicate that, as of early 2010, the romance may have been rekindled.^[30][31][32] In May 2011, it was reported that the couple had ended their romantic relationship, although still remaining friends.^[33]

Her relationship with DiCaprio caused one nationalist Israeli organization to send her a letter, later leaked to the press,^[34] in which she was asked, for the sake of "future generations of Jews", not to marry a "non-Jew", a request similar to the one made, a few years previously, to Israeli Miss World winner Linor Abargil.^[35]

Refaeli confided to L'Isha magazine that she prefers to keep a lower profile – though she is out with DiCaprio much of the time. "I am there for him and I am at all the events," she says. "I just don't walk in hand-in-hand with him. I don't see any reason. I don't need to strike poses with him in front of the cameras. No one needs to know how we kiss."^[36]

Philanthropy/personal causes[link]

Refaeli volunteers for Project Sunshine,^[37] a non-profit organization providing free services and programs for children facing life-threatening illnesses. She has also volunteered for organization Ahava, which has been caring for pets abandoned in Northern Israel during the 2006 Israel-Lebanon conflict.^[38]

Refaeli and film director Shahar Segal have agreed to do a free campaign under the slogan "One Bag Less" to reduce the use of plastic bags.^[39]

In August 2010, she decided to write a special report with the collaboration of Better Place^[40] on why she believes that people should drive electric cars.^[41]

Military enlistment[link]

In 2007, it was reported that Refaeli had married a family acquaintance and divorced him soon after to avoid military service in the Israel Defense Forces,^[42] which is generally mandatory for both men and women over the age of 18.^[43] The Israeli Forum for the Promotion of Equal Share in the Burden threatened to boycott the fashion chain Fox if they hired Refaeli, but the two sides reached a compromise in which Refaeli agreed to visit injured IDF soldiers on visits to Israel and encourage enlistment in the army.^[44] Refaeli later stated, "I don't regret not enlisting, because it paid off big time. That's just the way it is, celebrities have other needs. I hope my case has influenced the army."^[45] In 2009, fellow Israeli model Esti Ginzburg, while speaking in support of enlisting, criticized Refaeli for her avoidance of military service.^[46][47] In 2011, Refaeli was featured on the cover of Italian GQ's war-themed May 2011 issue.^[45]

References[link]

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Bar Refaeli

• Bar Refaeli at the Fashion Model Directory
• Bar Refaeli at the Internet Movie Database
• Bar Refaeli at AllRovi
• Bar Refaeli Photo Gallery 2009