Global InformationKsour Essef cuirass information
| Ksour Essef cuirass | |
|---|---|
 Cuirass breastplate | |
| Material | Bronze |
| Discovered | 20 February 1909 Ksour Essef |
| Present location | Bardo National Museum |
| Culture | Italiote |
The Ksour Essef cuirass is an ancient triple-disc cuirass found in a Punic tomb in 1909 not far from Ksour Essef, Tunisia.
This piece of armour, generally dated to the 3rd century BC, is of Italiote origin and comes from Southern Italy. Its discovery in Tunisia led researchers to link it to the expeditions of the Second Punic War led in Italy by the Carthaginian general Hannibal between 211 and 203 BC. This hypothesis, although tempting, is now widely questioned following in-depth examination, at the turn of the 20th and 21st centuries, of the various objects found in the tomb.
The cuirass is nowadays kept in the Bardo National Museum in Tunis, as is the archaeological material found in the same tomb. It is still, a century after its discovery, one of the emblematic pieces of its ancient department.