Carthage BMUN LXVII

Hi everyone, All the position papers we received have been graded! You should be able to login to Huxley to see feedback on your paper, which should show up as comments on both PDFs and Word docs. Please make sure to download your graded paper before conference; we did leave lots of suggestions for further research or refining your plans before committee. As always, feel free to reach out with any questions. Get pumped for conference this weekend! Also side note: It is supposed to rain on Saturday, so please be prepared. The weather doesn't know it's almost Spring :(

Don't let the rain dampen your mood! This weekend is going to be so much fun, and we are all incredibly excited to meet you. By now, you should be wrapping up your research, finalizing crisis arcs, choosing committee outfits, and getting ready before the best BMUN yet. As a final blog post, I would like to give you guys some a few more tidbits of interesting facts about Carthage. Remember, this is by no means an exhaustive list of things to know, but it is just a short list of things you might find useful to draw on for committee.  Carthage was the center of the massive Phoenician trading empire.  Carthage was home to about 500,000 people at its peak.  The city was a picture of wealth and extravagance with mosaics, gardens, and rich farmlands.  Carthage was best known for its trade and commercial success.  African elephants were a large part of Carthigian culture for work, ivory, and warfare.  There are writings that have stated that, in times of crisis, Carthigians woul

Hey everybody! How excited are you for this weekend?? I'm really really excited. I get to meet all of you and spend three days exploring such a cool topic! Crisis is so much fun, ya'll. Like I've reiterated in previous blog posts, crisis is super fast paced, which will make for a weekend that will fly by! Historic crisis is super fun because it is all about learning from past mistakes and reshaping the future! Below, I'm going to give you some tips on how to navigate this really interesting topic and committee.   Cooperation: Cooperation in this committee is going to be key. If the committee becomes too divided, it becomes ineffective. Thus, it is going to be really important to "reach across the aisle" so to speak and work with characters you wouldn't necessarily thing would be your #1 allies. Make sure in the process though you aren't comprimising the positions your character is known to take. And also-remember that your chairs are grading

Hi everyone, I just wanted to give a quick explanation of this committee's (and BMUN's) technology policy. Our committee will be a non tech committee, meaning you shouldn't be on your laptops or phones throughout committee. You're of course welcome to print out any research you think is relevant, and bring any written materials to conference. But because we are mostly expecting directives, we don't think there's any need for computers to type up long-winded resolutions. So please do bring plenty of paper and some pens/pencils. In general, BMUN committees follow one of three technology policies: non tech, unmod tech, and full tech. Non tech committees like ours encourage delegates not to bring laptops and don't allow them in committee. Unmod tech committees allow laptops and phones in unmoderated caucuses, but only to type up solutions. Full tech committees (which are very rare at BMUN) allow the use of laptops throughout the conference, but also only

Hey ya'll,  I'm gonna elaborate on the religion of Carthage mainly because its so dang interesting and unique. The religion in Cartage was polytheistic, meaning it worshiped multiple gods. The religion is derived from the religion of Phoenicia, another Mediterranean ancient civilization. The most important divine gods were a couple named Tanit, a goddess of war and fertility, and Baal Hammon, a god of fertility of vegetation and weather. A lot of really cool artifacts of these gods, among others, have been found, and take the form of pillars, pedestals, stone slabs, and urns.   A myth to dispel: even though there have been rumors that Carthaginians have sacrificed infants as part of their worship, that claim has been unfounded. It is likely a rumor that their enemies, the Romans, presented to demonize them. Carthaginians have been recorded, however, to sacrifice animals.  Priests were also really unique in Carthaginian religion. Most priests were men (there were a

Let's talk money. The base of Carthaginian currency, otherwise called Punic currency, was the shekel. These coins often illustrated pictures of gods, goddesses, generals, and animals. The example below shows the Punic god Melquart and a war elephant on the back. However, the most popular coin was bronze featuring the goddess Tanit and a horse on the back. Carthage was also the first known state to use promissory notes, which are documents promising to pay someone a fixed amount of money by a set date. In regards to the shekel, Carthage produced and circulated 1/2 shekel, shekel, 1 2/3 shekel, double shekel, and tripled shekel coins. They used gold, silver, electrum, bronze, and billon to make these coins, but after the First Punic War, Carthage began to only issue bronze coins in North Africa. 

Hey Delegates! Whether you are a historic crisis veteran or this type of committee is new for you, have no fear, we will all be doing some learning something new during BMUN! Crisis is different than your average committee-it is fast paced, discussion rather than speech based, there are no formal resolutions, and you need to be prepared for anything. And I mean anything. Here are some terms you should be familiar with. If you are still unclear, no worries; we will be going over them again during conference :) ! Crises : Crises can be about anything and can happen to anyone. The chairs will be articulating crises to you at random times. We like to keep you on your toes!  Some examples from past years include:  natural disasters, defections, invasions,   assassinations, espionage, outbreak of disease, outbreak of war etc. The possibilities are endless. Directives : A decree that sets into motion some direct contact with another cabinet or the outside world. If it would cost money in

Hey everyone, Now that conference is less than 3 weeks away, I just wanted to go over some tips. The first is to do lots of research! As tedious as it can be, research is especially important in a historical committee. You should definitely try to get to know as much about your character as you can. That's definitely going to be hard for some of the Carthaginian delegates, but focus on researching figures similar to your figure or your allies' actions. The point is to be able to react as your character would to new, unkown situations, and think on your feet given what you know. On a slightly different note, please try to keep an open mind when doing research. Carthage is barely covered in most history classes, while Rome is often covered intensively, meaning it's easy to start with a skewed opinion. The image Rome conjured in my head in high school, for instance, was one of white marble, large pillars, and imperial glory. That perception proved incorrect, especially

Carthage was run by an aristocratic elite that held positions in society from politics to the military. As expected from an ancient civilization, participation in government was limited to indigenous and free Carthigians males (big surprise!). The basic idea for their representative structure was a system of two elected officials (the suffetes ) who were checked by a popular assembly (the Senate). The suffetes , which can be translated as "judges," were elected annually and held the most powerful position in the Carthaginian government. Based on historical records, it can be concluded that wealth and family background were crucial factors in choosing who were eligible for this prestigious office. The Senate, on the other hand, consisted of numerous influential Carthigians who held their position for life. These members were collectively known as drm  or "great ones," hence how they came to received the name "Council of Elders." The Senate was responsib

Hi everyone, I just wanted to quickly reiterate what these blogs are for so that you can use them effectively before conference. We'll be posting at least weekly with information related to Carthage or the topic in general, so this is a great place to get facts and some quick research. Just like the topic synopsis, however, this blog is intended as a stating point for your research; if you see anything particularly interesting or something that relates to your plans for committee, make sure to research further. Just as importantly, this blog is another platform for you to engage with the topic and the dais. If you read something that pertains to you, or you're confused about something, please make sure to comment. Chances are someone else in the committee had a similar question or thought, and this way you can help each other out too :) Good luck with research, and remember that the final deadline for position papers is coming up (Feb 10th). See you all in just a few we

Located on the north coast of Africa, the location of Carthage was crucial to how the civilization developed and functioned.  If you Google maps Carthage, you will see that is now a residential suburb of modern day Tunisia, but back in the day, this city was a land of vast wealth and riches. Positioned in the center of the Gulf of Tunis, Carthage was in the perfect position to dominate trade in the Mediterranean. It had sufficient protection from the low hills covering the peninsula and the Lake of Tunis behind it. This location also facilitated their thriving fishing industry and shielded them from violent storms that often affected other ports.  Without Carthage's defensible location and positioning in the center of the bustling trade of the Mediterranean, their status as a notable and powerful civilization of merchants would likely have failed to exist.  

Hey Delegates,  In this committee, delegates will only be representing men, thus unfortunately sidelining the stories and narratives of some many important female participants and witnesses of this period. In honor of that, heres some women's history to get your day started.  Basically, during this age (post-first Punic war) women had no rights. Are we surprised? No, not really. But seriously, women were not even considered citizens, which meant they couldn't vote or have a say in political decision making. They also couldn't own property. In fact, as history was recorded during this time, it seemed that the only female names the scribes felt were worth recording were those of religious importance. In social interactions, women were viewed as an extension to their fathers or husbands, as men were the clear heads of the household. Women were socialized and seen as the less capable sex. In fact, in ancient Roman law, infirmitas consilii , or "womanly weakness,&quo