trace marked by large blocks, which at certain points reach the level of the sea. The two harbours of Utica were not more spacious: one was only 328 ft. by 108 ft., the other 780 ft. by 327 ft. [Illustration: Fig. 194.--Jetty of Thapsus. (Restoration by Daux, _Emporia phéniciens_.)] Of all the Phœnician towns, that which has preserved the most remarkable remains of its ancient jetty is Thapsus (Dimas), on the eastern coast of Tunis. The mole which, though dilapidated, still rises 8 ft. above the waves, is 850 ft. long, and its breadth is 35 ft. The peculiarity of its construction is that it is pierced by a series of small passages, arranged in three rows: their object was to deaden the violence of the shock of the waves, by allowing them to pass through the openings. Here again it is uncertain whether we are looking at a work exclusively Phœnician, Roman, or Byzantine. § III. TOMBS. [Illustration: Fig. 195.--Tomb at Amrith. Plan (after Renan).] [Illustration: Fig. 196.--Tomb at Amrith. Section (after Renan).] The most important of the monuments discovered in Phœnicia are the tombs. Nearly all are hewn in the rock, and are, as in Judæa and Arabia, great caves in which the sarcophagi of an entire family were deposited. The necropolis of Marath (Amrith), explored by M. Renan, furnished specimens of tombs which seem to be the most ancient, the most spacious, and hewn with the greatest skill. The descent into them is by a shaft, as in Egypt, and notches are cut in the wall of the rock into which the hands and feet must be inserted; but in the more recent tombs a flight of steps is substituted for the shaft. At the bottom a low door is found on two sides, leading into a larger or smaller number of rectangular chambers. These rooms communicate with one another by means of passages in which a few steps are generally found, so that the most distant chambers are at a lower level than the others. Sometimes there are even two stories of chambers; in the partition of rock which forms the intermediate ceiling a shaft is pierced by which they are entered from above. The sarcophagi are ranged round the walls, or placed in niches or cavities for coffins, hollowed out on the sides: once filled, these niches were closed by a large slab, on which an inscription might be written in honour of the dead. The necropoles of Tyre and Adlun present the same types of sepulchral caves. [Illustration: Fig. 197.--Sepulchral chamber at Amrith (after Renan).] [Illustration: Fig. 198.--Mighzal at Amrith (Restoration by M. Renan).]