In which the tranquil night over Carthage reveals a moonlit city steeped in sacred rites, where the young and devout Salammbô ascends the terrace of her palace to offer prayers and hymns to the goddess Tanith, expressing both reverence and an aching spiritual yearning. Her discourse with the austere high priest Schahabarim unravels mysteries of their faith and the tension between sacred knowledge and forbidden desire, while beyond the city’s horizon the ominous advance of an army stirs the quiet dawn.