The Kabyle coast

The Kabyle coast.

=============

 

 

 

 

This is an inhospitable coast for ships. The possibilities for anchorage are not favourable. Nevertheless we find four names of possible Phoenician/Punic settlements on a coastal strip of c.100 km. We even know the Phoenician names complete or partly:

 

Phoenician      Greek                   Latin

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

R’š [špr?]        Rousoubirsir         Rusuvisir, Rusippisir

’y [---]             Ioulios ?                Iomnium

R’šhqr             Rousoukkoron      Rusuccuru

Kš[y]                                             Cissi

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

 

The exact location of these settlements at nowadays towns is however not that sure. Eligible towns or places are Taksebt, Tigzirt, Dellys and Cape Djinet. In every town or place there are traces of the Phoenicians or Punic people available. Unfortunately the classical contributions about the location of the places are in contradiction with each-other. In the 19^th and in the beginning of the 20^th century most scholars thought that Rusuccuru had to be placed in Tigzirt and Taksebt. In the 2^nd half of the 20^th century the opinion became accepted, that the following allocation was the most probable of all the possibilities:

 

Taksebt = Rusippisir

Tigzirt   = Iomnium

Dellys    = Rusuccuru

Djinet     = Cissi

 

I still have my doubts, because the old views from the 19^th/20^th century have also much conviction. I will nevertheless yet follow nowadays opinion as is shown above. At every location I will point out the advantages and disadvantages of the allocation in this way.