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I have read that to explain the absence of the Girgashites in a list of the 7 nations, amora R. Samuel bar Nahman says the Girgashites left Israel and God rewarded them by giving them "Afrike"

"Afrike" sounds a bit like "Africa", a term the Romans used to describe the tops of Tunisia and Libya. The top tip of Tunisia is where Carthage was and is not that hard to see that CarTHage and GirGash look sort of similar.

Is there any Jewish source that more explicitly connects Carthage with the Girgashites? (I am aware that Josephus says Dido, founder of Carthage, was a descendant of Hiram but he could just be telling a made up story and I am also aware that Carthage is otherwise far more historically verifiable than the flight of the Girgashites )

Clint Eastwood
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  • Related: https://judaism.stackexchange.com/questions/82683/did-rabbi-akiva-go-to-africa https://judaism.stackexchange.com/questions/82769/why-would-people-assume-that-afriki-is-africa – ezra Jun 06 '17 at 04:13
  • carthage comes from qarta hadash meaning new city in aramaic – MoriDowidhYa3aqov Jun 06 '17 at 04:40
  • Related: https://judaism.stackexchange.com/questions/47480/source-for-africans-being-caananites?noredirect=1&lq=1 – Scimonster Jun 06 '17 at 07:45
  • If memory serves, I believe this is touched on in Yosiphun of Yosef ben Gurion and also in the Antiquities of Josephus Flavius. – Yaacov Deane Jun 06 '17 at 14:09
  • Wasn't there evidence that Carthage is "Tarshish"? – Nic Jun 06 '17 at 14:11
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    Why is this off-topic? It's asking about a city based on a Midrash and asks for Jewish sources on the topic. – DonielF Jun 06 '17 at 15:32
  • Clint, Girgashites (a tribe) cannot be synonyms with Carthage (a city)! You have to modify the way this question is asked. – Bach Jun 07 '17 at 14:10
  • @Bach how big of a tribe was it, and how many people made it out? – ertert3terte Jun 25 '17 at 04:26
  • @ShmuelBrin how should i know? my point was that he's really trying to ask: if the Girgashites ever settled in carthage. Not: if the Girgashites are carthage? that doesn't make any sense. its like asking: "are the Jews New York?" which is nonsensical! I tried editing it a long time ago, but he rejected it (i don't know why). – Bach Jun 25 '17 at 14:21

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Vayikra Rabbah 17:6 mentions this teaching in passing, that the Girgashites fled to "Afriki:"

אמר ר׳ ישמעאל בַּר נחמן: ג׳ פרוזדוגמאות שלח יהושע אצלם, הרוצה לפנות יפנה, להשלים ישלם, לעשות מלחמה יעשה. גרגשי עמד מאיליו, לפיכך נתנה לו ארץ יפה כארצו....זו אפריקי....

R' Yishmael bar Nachman said: Joshua sent three letters to [the Canaanites.] One letter stated: Whoever wishes to leave the land should leave. The second letter stated: Whoever wishes to make peace with Israel should make peace. The third letter stated: Whoever wishes to make war with Israel should make war. The Girgashite nation stood up and left the land on its own, and therefore they were given instead a land that was as nice as their former land....referring to the land of Africa. (Translation from Artscroll Vayikra Rabbah, Vol. 1 17:6 pg. 73.)

Eitz Yosef (printed in above edition) comments:

זו אפריקי: אפשר היא קרטגינא שבאפריקא שהסכימו החכמים שנבנית מבני כנען.

Referring to Africa: It is possible that this is Carthage which is in Africa, for the Chachamim acknowledged that it was built by Canaanites.

Eitz Yosef does not support his assertion that the Chachamim say that Canaanites built Carthage. Translation of קרטגינא as Carthage follows Artscroll Devarim Rabbah 5:14 (which brings the same teaching, unsourced), end of note 212.

DonielF
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