Carthage BMUN LXVII

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