dChan - Q Origins Project Archive

https://www.asor.org/anetoday/2018/02/Understanding-Tophets-Short

"Biblical texts (e.g. 2 Kgs 23:10; Jer 7:31-32, 19:6-13; Isa 30:33) refer to “the high place of Tophet”, in the Valley of Ben Hinnom outside Jerusalem, where people passed their sons and daughters through the fire. In addition, various Greek and Latin authors such as Diodorus Siculus and Tertullian also mention human – and child – sacrifices among the Phoenicians and Carthaginians, mainly in honor of the god Kronos/Saturn and in moments of crisis.

So far Tophets are only attested from the 8th century BCE in Phoenician/Punic-speaking settlements of the central Mediterranean. Before the 2nd century BCE, their number is limited to North Africa (Carthage and Sousse/Hadrumetum), Sicily (Motya, possibly Lilybaeum and Solunto), possibly Malta (Rabat), and Sardinia (Sant’Antioco/Sulky, Tharros, Bitia, Nora, Cagliari and Monte Sirai)."

https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/tophet-of-motya

"One of the most important areas of Motya was the tophet, an ancient Phoenician sanctuary located near the northern coast of the island. The function of tophets in Phoenician and Carthaginian society is not completely known, but many scholars agree that they were sites where ritualistic sacrifices were performed.

The cremated remains of children and urns have been found in the Tophet of Motya. A well, an altar, and a temple also belonged to the complex that was used as a cemetery."

https://arcalog.com/papers/the-tophet-child-sacrifice/

Child Sacrifice at the Tophet

"That being said, there is a significant body of evidence that leads us to believe that child sacrifice was prevalent among certain cultures and at certain times in the ANE. This evidence comes in the form of dedicatory inscriptions to Baal Hammon and Tanit placed above the cremated remains of infants in the Carthaginian ‘tophets’. It comes by way of the Phoenician myths that have the god Elos offering his son to his father Uranus. The overwhelming testimony of Greek, Roman, Jewish, and Christian writers point to the prevalence of child sacrifice among the the Carthaginians. And perhaps most convincingly, we have the words of the prophet Jeremiah who condemned the practice of child sacrifice in his day. It is fair to assume – although perhaps an oversimplification – that the worship of Baal at the Tophet condemned by Jeremiah was in some way related to the worship of Baal Hammon by the Phoenicians and the worship of Molech mentioned elsewhere in the Bible. The practice of child sacrifice seems to have been adopted by the Judeans during the reign of Ahaz and to have become prevalent during the reign of Manasseh."