Home›Open Questions›When was Carthage actually founded: the legendary 814 BCE date, or a later archaeologically attested settlement?Open QuestionsWhen was Carthage actually founded: the legendary 814 BCE date, or a later archaeologically attested settlement?Citation FormatsGeneral ReferenceGeneral Reference Citation TextHistory Atlas. "When was Carthage actually founded: the legendary 814 BCE date, or a later archaeologically attested settlement?." Accessed August 30, 2026. https://history.interactiveatlas.org/open-questions-index/when-was-carthage-founded.Copy General ReferenceAPA StyleAPA Style Citation TextHistory Atlas. (n.d.). When was Carthage actually founded: the legendary 814 BCE date, or a later archaeologically attested settlement?. Retrieved August 30, 2026, from https://history.interactiveatlas.org/open-questions-index/when-was-carthage-foundedCopy APA StyleBibTeXBibTeX Citation Text@misc{historyatlas-when-was-carthage-actually-founded-the-l, author = {History Atlas}, title = {When was Carthage actually founded: the legendary 814 BCE date, or a later archaeologically attested settlement?}, year = {2026}, url = {https://history.interactiveatlas.org/open-questions-index/when-was-carthage-founded}, note = {Accessed August 30, 2026} }Copy BibTeXOpen QuestionCross-Tradition ConnectionsSourcesComments (0)Reader Challenges (0 open reader challenges)Open QuestionAncient historiography, via Timaeus and later Roman-era writers, dates Carthage's founding to 814 BCE and credits Queen Dido of Tyre, but no archaeological layer excavated at the site so far has been dated earlier than the eighth century BCE, and Dido's own historicity as an individual is doubted. The gap between the literary tradition and the material record has not been closed.What would resolve this Further stratigraphic excavation at Carthage precisely dating the earliest occupation layers, and any new textual evidence independently corroborating or undermining the Tyrian founding tradition.OpenClassical archaeology, Phoenician-Punic studiesWikipedia: CarthageCross-Tradition ConnectionsQuestion OnCarthage, Civilizations Well-attested Source Wikipedia: Carthagetier 2SourcesWikipedia: Carthagetier 2WikipediaHistory sectionView the SourceComments (0)No comments yet. Be the first to share a thought.Sign in to join the discussion.Reader Challenges (0 open reader challenges)No disputes yet. Spotted an error or a better source? Open the first one.Sign in to dispute this or suggest a correction.View At A Past YearThe atlas records no dated fact of its own for this entry, so there is no other year to choose.Show This Year