Utica, Tunisia

Utica

أُتِيكْ
The ruins of Utica
Shown within Tunisia
Location	Zana, Bizerte Governorate  Tunisia
Coordinates	37°3′25″N 10°3′43″E / 37.05694°N 10.06194°E / 37.05694; 10.06194Coordinates: 37°3′25″N 10°3′43″E / 37.05694°N 10.06194°E / 37.05694; 10.06194
Type	Settlement
History
Builder	Phoenician colonists
Founded	Approximately 8th century BC
Abandoned	Approximately 700 AD
Periods	Early Iron Age to Byzantine Empire

Utica /ˌjuːtɪkə/ is an ancient city located between Carthage in the south and Hippo Diarrhytus (now Bizerte) in the north, near the outflow of the Medjerda River into the Mediterranean Sea. It is traditionally considered to be the first colony to have been founded by the Phoenicians in North Africa. After the defeat of Carthage by Rome, Utica was an important Roman colony for seven centuries. Today, Utica no longer exists, and its remains are located in Bizerte Governorate in Tunisia - not on the coast where it once lay, but further inland because deforestation and agriculture upriver led to massive erosion and the Medjerda River silted over its original mouth.

Utica was founded as a port located on the trade route leading to the Straits of Gibraltar and the Atlantic Ocean, thus facilitating Phoenician trade in the Mediterranean. The name "Utica" is from the Phoenician ˁattiq (identical to modern Arabic ( أُتِيكْ, عُتَيقة) ˁuttayqah and Hebrew עתיק ˁatiq) meaning "old [town]", contrasting with the later colony "Carthage", meaning "new town".

The actual founding date of Utica is controversial. Several classical authors date its foundation to around 1100 BC. The archaeological evidence, however, suggests a foundation no earlier than the eighth century BC. Although Carthage was later founded about 40 km from Utica, records suggest "that until 540 BC Utica was still maintaining political and economic autonomy in relation to its powerful Carthaginian neighbor".