Carteia (Ancient Greek: Καρτηίᾳ) was a Phoenician and Roman town at the head of the Bay of Gibraltar in Spain. It was established at the most northerly point of the bay, next to the town of San Roque, about halfway between the modern cities of Algeciras and Gibraltar, overlooking the sea on elevated ground at the confluence of two rivers, nowadays called Guadarranque and Cachon.
According to Strabo, it was founded around 940 BC as the trading settlement of Kʿrt (meaning "city" in the Phoenician language; compare Carthage and Cartagena). The area had much to offer a trader; the hinterland behind Carteia, in the modern south of Andalusia, was rich in wood, cereals, oranges, lemons, lead, iron, copper and silver. Dyes were another much sought-after commodity, especially those from the murex shellfish, used to make the prized Tyrian purple. Strabo and Pomponius Mela, mention that some believe that Carteia used to be the Tartessos. Pliny the Elder writes that Carteia was called by the Greeks Tartessos.
The town's strategic location meant that it played a significant role in the wars between Carthage and the Roman Republic in the 2nd and 3rd centuries BC.
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