A Phoenician colony founded in the eighth century B.C.
A place of child sacrifice. Children were burned alive as sacrifice to Molech and other gods, even though human sacrifice was banned in the law. (Leviticus 18:21;20:2-5). It was known from Canaanite/Phoenician contexts. The offering of children, esp. firstborn, was seen as a means of manipulating deities to grant fertility to the offerer. Archaeological excavations at Carthage include the charred remains of thousands of children. When Babylon conquers Jerusalem, the dead will be heaped so high that Topheth will be called the Valley of Slaughter.
(The ESV Study BibleTM, English Standard Version (ESV) by Crossway Bibles. Page 1388)