Cothon

Common card · No. 486302

A cothon (Greek: κώθων, lit. 'drinking vessel') is an artificial, protected inner harbor such as that in Carthage during the Punic Wars c. 200 BC. Cothons were generally found in the Phoenician world. Other examples include Motya in Sicily from the 6th century BC, which performed an uncertain purpose, (measuring 35 meters x 51 meters), although it has been suggested this cothon might even have been closable and drainable to form a dry dock, Mahdia in Tunisia from the 7th century BC, (which measured 72 meters x 56 meters) and one from Kition in Cyprus. In ancient times the word "cothon" was only used to describe the harbor at Carthage. In modern times, however, archaeologists use the term to refer to similar ancient harbors constructed of a man-made basin connected to the sea by a channel. The name comes from an island in Carthage's harbor.

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