IGILGILI

 

IGILGILI

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Nowadays Gigel or Jijel is situated on the beginning of the Corniche Kabyle on the Algerian coast. In antiquity it is called Igilgili by the Romans (CIL VIII, 8369). Polybius (III,33,12) mentions it implicitly as one of the Metagonite towns where Hannibal conscripted in 219/218 BC a army of 4000 foot-soldiers to enforce the defence of Carthage, but it is not sure, that he meant this region. It could have been more to the west around the Rif mountains.

 

Igilgili is situated on a low peninsula, which could have been an island in antiquity and that could be the name for the place in Phoenician: ’y-glgl(t). ’y = island. The second part of the name could mean “skull”, derived from Hebrew gulgolet or from gulgull(at)u (akkadisch). The last derivation stands for “circle of dressed stones”. Another explanation from the name comes directly out of the Phoenician language. The letters glgl mean “wheel” in Phoenician and galgal in hebrew. We have some inscriptions:

RES 907A: bdmlqrt bn ‘nn <p‘l> glgl: Bomilcar, son of ‘nn the wheel(maker).

EH 48.1/2: ḥmlkt <p‘l> hglgl: Himilco the wheel(maker).

So finally ‘y-glgl(t) means : island of the wheelmaker?

The last explanation can be a Berber solution: Ighil-Gili = hill of exile.

Could it have been the “Kaukakis’ who Ps.Scylax has used on his journey along this coast? The occasional Greek rendering of g by k gives possibilities as Gunugu or Gilgil?

Explanations of the name:

Island from the skull

Island of the wheel-maker

Island with the circle of dressed stones

Hill of exile

 

Findings:

In the 19^th century many graves were robbed from the five necropolis that there were around Igilgili. Finally P.Alguier undertook some structural research-work: “Tombes phéniciennes à Djidjelli (Algérie), Revue Archéologique, Paris, no.31 (1930) p.1-17. » He studied the graves I – XII.  He was followed by M.Astruc who published « Nouvelles fouilles de Djidjelli” , Revue Africaine no.80 (1937) p.199-253 and a sequel in Revue Africaine, Alger  no.92 (1948) p.273-274. She studied the graves XIII – XXIX.She dates the graves from the 6^th-4^th century BC. These are simple burial pits and some of them are hewn in the rocks, where they found Punic ceramics.

P.Cintas made a comment on these excavations (Revue Africaine no.92 (1948)) and comes to another conclusion: “The uncovered material rather dates from the 3^rd and 2^nd centuries BC since even the shape of the black glazed chalice, found in one the tombs, and the rose impressed on its bottom are identical with those of the chalices dating to the 3^rd century BC.” Another group of graves are found in cellars, where shafts are used as an entry to the rectangle chambers. The entries are shut by slabs. The grave goods are amphorae, jewelry and pottery. Here were also many incinerations. They can be dated to the 3^rd  and 2^nd century BC.

      The Punic necropolis of Rabta on the Pointe Noire and on the beach Bou Saâdoune until 2 km

      west of the peninsula is now a looting paradise. There is nowhere any protection and

      everywhere we can see a complete pollution. Nobody cares about the importance of this so

       important site, except for Karim Hadji, who made a beautiful contribution for Archeo-Jijel.

       You can read that in the French language on: www.jijel-archeo.123.fr

Many tombs are gone especially between Mers Chara (Picouleau) and the cemetery Musulman and those of Hdjiret Ghoula. The necropolis Mundet Afria is situated in the midst of public buildings. Here they want to make an archeological parc near the village Mustapha. The necropolis Point Noire (Rabta) is threatened by urbanisation and by the sea. From the originally found 100 cellars are now only 10 left. The necropolis Marsa Charaâ is situated between the Arab cemetery and the sea on a slope. From the originally 200 graves there are a tenth now left. This was a peculiar necropolis, because it was reserved for dual graves (man+woman) and for families. We see a diversity of forms. There were 3 antropomorphe graves. The graves were constructed in the direction ZW -> NO. The graves of Hdjiret Ghoula and near fort Dusquesnes are flattened. It is so sad to watch how the five necropolis were are still demolish. It was one of the most important grave-yards in Algeria. Igilgili must have been a important Punic settlement.

In the 2^nd and 1^st century BC Igilgili belonged to divers Numidian and Mauretan kingdoms. Many Carthaginians has fled to this area and contributed to culture and welfare.

Plinius (V 21) posts: Igilgili becomes a Roman colony by Augustus. The Romans left an aquaduct and baths with Dionysiac and ornamental mosaics and sculptures (satyr head), statuettes (f.i.Statue of bronze of a standing man with cane), lamps and votive stelae. The Roman walls are now disappeared by either te sea or by several invaders, who reused the stones. The Romans left also several inscriptions, such as Baebius (beginning Roman colony), tribe Zimizes (128 AD), Gordiano (1 mile stone from Igiligili), boudery mark with the name of Igilgili (235-238 AD). Furthermore: a coin of the emperor Philippus (244-249 AD) with a picture of holy games on the other side.

There are hardly any traces of the Vandals and some of the Byzantines.

CHULLU

 

CHULLU

 

 

 

This is the actual place Collo on the coast of Algeria near the cape Bougarouni, which was called by Pomp.Mela (I,33) the Promontorium Metagonium. Others say it is the Promotorium Tretum. There is no certainty about the Phoenician name for Chullu. When we are looking at the Latin name Chullu, it could be ḥ w l = corridor, gallery, circumference, but that is not certain, because of the double LL in the name of Chullu.

The town is mentioned by some classical authors:

Pseudo-Skylax (par.110-111) : “Thapsa is followed by Kaukakis, a city and harbour.” This should mean, that Chullu = Kaukakis. We will find out, this is not the case.

Itinerario Antoninus p.3

Tabulae Peutingeriana

Ptolemeus (IV,3,2) : Κολλο ψ Μέγαϛ ηχούλλον as a double name. In IV 2,2: Κανομκιϛ. This last name we see also in Chios in the Aegean area as Καύκασα en Καύκασν.

Chullu was probably a Punic settlement in a rather late period, because they have unearthed mostly Punic caves, where burials took place. There were cremations as well as burials. One of these caves of the Punic period was constructed according to a plan of a row of chambers after each-other. The same we encounter at Leptis-minus in Byzacium. In the graves they have found Punic ceramics, which could be associated with importations in the Hellenistic period: vases with black varnish, lamps of Greek character, ewers with trefoil mouth, hemispheric cups with moulded vegetal ornaments).

Furthermore they have found Carthaginian and Numidian coins. All this can be dated to the 3^rd century BC to the beginning of the 1^st century BC. Under Caesar and Augustus it was port colony that depended on what Plinius (V 22) calls “Cirta Sittianorum”, together with Rusicade, Milevum and Cuicul in what was an autonomous territory of the new province Africa Nova. In this period it seems that it was also a working place for purple painting, as Solinus tells us (in: Collectanea rerum memorabilium XXVI, 1: Chulli purpurario fuco Tyriis velleribus comparata). In Antonius Pius times (c.138 AD) Chullu was famous for leathers, timber and of course for its dyeing and purple fabrics. Then it was called by Ptolemy “Kollops Magnus”.

 

Before the 3^rd century BC however Chullu was not an empty spot. We must take in account, that the Algerian coast was visited for centuries by Phoenician ships. Iberia was however the main target for the Phoenicians in the 9^th-7^th century BC. The North African coast was only important as relay-station on the long journey between Iberia and Phoenicia and mostly on the way back home! So they made some provisionally stations, just enough for victualling crew and repair ships. That is why there are hardly any findings out of these early centuries.

This view came into the picture during the 1^st colloquium of the CEFYP (1998) in the proceedings: Intercambio y commercio preclassico en el Mediterraneo. La citta fenicie del Nord-Africa: problemi di integrazione etnica e risorse. L.I.Manfredi made the following distinction in the occupation of North-Africa by the Phoenicians:

I.c.750-c.650 BC only some bigger towns as Carthage, Utica, Rusaddir (Mellila).

II.c.650-c.600 BC some colonial expansion.

III.c.600-c.500 BC integration into the Carthaginian economy (Mercantilism)

In the last period a Liby-Phoenician class is formed.

 

Chullu may have been taken over by a Numidian ruler, trying to develop the economy of his country by calling Carthage and her culture for the advancement of his kingdom. After the fall of Carthage in 146 BC many Carthaginians fled to the west and the interior and also Chullu gets a boost in welfare. In the Roman period Chullu took part in the confederation of Cirta in the time of Sittius, who was an ally of Caesar and who got a symbolic independent territory in 46 BC for a short period in Numidia. Under Trajanus (98-117 AD) Chullu became a Roman colony. It became COLONAE MINERVIAE CHULLU.  Only some Roman quay walls are left out of the Roman period.

During the Donatist schism Chullu has even two bishops: Quillitanus and Fidentius.

In the Vandal period the city was partially razed by them and by an earthquake and when the Arabs came all glory came to an end, but in all the following centuries it kept her name: COLLO.

 

Chullu should not be confused with the Municipium Chul, which was near Menzel Bou Zelfa on Cape Bon (CRAI 1975, p.112-118) and also not with the municipium Chlulitanum or Chullitanum in Byzacium (CIL VI,1684). It is not identical with the town Acholla on the eastcoast of Tunesia.  Nevertheless these name similarities gives food for thought, that there could have been a migration from Byzacium to Chullu in Numidia. This is just a thought.

 

Some literature:

F.Decret – M.Fantar. L’Afrique du Nord dans l’antiquité, Paris, 1981 p.154-158

E.Lipinski. Itineraria Phoenicia, OLA 127. St.Phoenicia XVIII, Leuven, 2004 blz.395.

Capitain Hélo, Notice sur la nécropole liby-phénicienne de Collo, BAC 1895, p.343-368.

 

Rusicade

RUSICADE

 

Name:

-------

Rousikada (Ptol.IV 3,1)

Rusic(c)ade (Lat) and others like: Rusicadis, Rusicadem. Rusicadensis.

(See: Paulys Real-Encyclopädie der Classischen Altertumswissenschaft).

Philippeville (during French protectorate).

Skikda (nowadays).

 

It looks like it is the same name as we encounters in the Libanon: Raškida and Raškiddi. This could mean there “Cape of the stone bottle, jar, pitcher”. Is this a reference to a place where there is water? A reconstruction of the Punic name could therefore be: R(’)š-(h)kd, although the Punic name as such has never been attested.

Pomp.Mela I 33: “The area from Cape Metagonium to the altars of the Philaenae is called Africa. Here are located the towns of Hippo Regius, Rusiccade and Thabraca.”

Livius (XXIX 30,5) refers however to Thapsus in the context of the 2^nd Punic War.

Much later Vibius Sequester mentions Thapsus and Rusiccade together (‘Thapsus, iuxta Russicade.”). The Peutinger map calls the place again as “colonia Veneria Rusicade”.

The name Thapsus is preserved in the name of the wadi Safsaf. Its meaning is: “white people living next to this river.” Thapsa was certainly a Libyco-Berber toponym. If Rusicade is a punic name then it could probably mean: “Cape of the Fire”, because r’š = cape, ikada (yqd) = burning, fire. Is there even a connection with the Punic word q d ḥ = light a lamp? à Cape of the signal fire?

But there is a third possibility, which is brought to us by Albert Apréa in his writing “Les origins de Rusicade” (2004). About Rus there can’t be any doubt. That stands for “Cape”, but the rest of the name could be different. In Philippeville there is a hill that is called, the Skikda, near the “Lycée Luciani”. The hill is covered with pines and in the high season it is populated with myriads of (house)-crickets. In Arab the name for this cricket is “boubziz, which is an onomatopoeia. In Arabic literature the word for cricket is “skik” (another onomatopoeia). So, the hill Skikda can be called the hill of the crickets (Sicada). And in Latin the word Cicada means also cricket. Around 700 AD the Arabs took over the town and called, as the natives still said Rusicade as Ras Skikda, but they had no idea, what the name really meant. Perhaps they kept the old name by accident.

This third possibility is not that unlikely, because The Phoenicians loved to put quit ordinary names to geographical points. So Cape of the Crickets could well fit in this picture.

 

We have three solutions:

Cape of the stone bottle

Cape of the signal fire

Cape of the Crickets

 

What seems certain is, that we have to deal with at least two settlements and maybe three, because we find another name close to Skikda: Stora. That could refer to Aštoret, Aštarte!

Stora is located to the west of Skikda and it was the only reasonable harbour in antiquity on this bay.

Location.

-----------

Nowadays Skikda is situated at the bottom of a vast gulf open to the north in the eastern part of Algeria. It is marked by the capes Çap de Fer’ in the northeast and ‘Cap Bougaroun’ in the northwest. The cape Skikda is situated in between.

The name could apply first of all to the cape Skikda and some what later to the Punic settlement east of the Oued Safsaf was named after that. The Latin inscriptions CIL VIII 7960+7969 refer to this location. Earlier than that could have been the Libyco-Berber town of Thapsa on almost the same spot. The harbour for Thapsa and Rusicade was Stora to the westflank of the great bay.

 

Simplified map:

 

---------

            |

             \

               \

                  \

                   / Cape Skikda

                  |

                  |

                  \

                   O Stora

                   |

                   \

                     \

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

                                O Thapsa      | |

                                 O Rusicade  | |

                                                      | |

                                           Oued Saf Saf

History.

---------

Phoenician/Punic commercial port.

Carthaginian sailors certainly knew Cape Rusicade and most likely have used the bay as an anchorage or port of call, but the city and harbour of Thapsa, mentioned by Ps.Scylax does not seem to have been a Carthaginian colony. L.Bertrand has found however a Phoenician cemetery at Stora, where the harbour possibilities are much better.

See: Louis Bertrand, La nécropole phénicienne de Stora, BCTH, 1901, p.75-80.

It was certain, that Stora was a Phoenician stronghold. At some time in the 6^th or 5^th century BC the Carthaginians must have taken over this position.

 

Numidian town.

The harbour of Thapsa/Rusicade was connected with the Numidian inland centre of Cirta (Constantine) situated 87 km south of Skikda. Cirta was one of Syphax’ residences at the end of the 3^rd century BC. The ‘tripolis’ Stora/Thapsa/Rusicade was the natural seaport and outlet to the sea of Cirta. More natural would be the mouth of the river Amsaga, but there is no harbour.

 

Roman colony.

The Roman colony was founded probably in 45 BC by Sittius. In the beginning the town is governed by a prefect, Iure Dicundo, ancient triumvir, delegated by Cirtha in 45 BC

Vibius Sequester speaks of the town with the name “Thapsus, iuxta Rusicade”.

Out of the year 187 AD comes an inscription with amongst others a list of gladiators (CL.VIII 7969):

Pro salute

Imperatoris caecaris marci aureli

Commodi antonini augusti pii sarmatici germanici

Brittannici felicia patris patriae pontificis maximi tribunicia potestate XII imperatoris VII

Consulis V munus gladiatorium et venatorium vani generis

Dentatarum ferarum et mansuetarum item herbaticarum

Marcus cosinus marci filius quirina centerinus

In colonia veneria rusicade de sua pecunia

Promisit edidit

The Peutinger map gives the place also the name: ‘colonia Veneria Rusicade” by the end of the 3^rd century AD. The town is now governed by an imperial delegate: the Curator. The town is now part of a confederation of four colonies of Cirta: Rusicade, Chullu, Cirta and Milieu.

The colony Rusicade is dedicated to Venus and that refers again to Astarte (Stora). It was an import harbour for grain, oil, wood and precious stones to Ostia and Pouzzoles in Italy. Many seals for customs were found on the beach. The Romans connected Rusicade with Stora and in Stora they made divers cisterns.

The inscription CIL VI 2384 mentions a soldier Num.Rusicas.

Along the road to Cirta rise splendid villas and majestic graves.

In 303 AD the town has his own bishop and curator.

The town has now been enriched with temples, theatre, amphitheatre, baths.

In the meantime there is a message saying that the town is threatened by a rebel Firmus.

In 415 AD the town is mentioned as a centre, where there are levies on toll.

In the 5^th century AD the town was destroyed by the Vandals.

 

Findings.

-----------

- Phoenician necropolis at Stora.

- two stelae without an inscription, but the signs of so-called Tinnit, a caduceus and a palm-tree.

- a cellar for burials.

- a sandstone sculpture (marble head of Sarapis).

- a Ionian capital, dating from the time of the Numidian Kingdom.

- custom-stamp seals (tessera frumenteria).

Most of the findings are coming from the Roman period, but the Punic influence stays visible until the end of the 1^st century AD with many stelae dedicated to Baal Hamon (the African Saturn). There were no buildings found from before the Numidian period with the exception of possibly a wall near the sea at Rusicade.

In the Roman times many buildings rise: temples, theatre, amphitheatre, baths, an office Portorium, stockyards, villas. The Theatre is the biggest of North Africa. The amphitheatre was still visible in the time, that S.Gsell visited the place, but is now vanished. It was demolished in 1945.

 

Literature.

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

Enige vroege LITERATUUR :

BCTH 1899 : HERON DE VILLEFOSSE (A.), Note sur un buste en marbre blanc découvert à Philippeville (Algérie), fig., p. 166.

Tribalet (cne), Gauckler et Berger (Philippe), Recherches archéologiques aux environs du poste de Tatatouine (Tunisie), BCTH, 1901, p. 284-298, fig. et pl.

Cagnat, Inscriptions romaines du musée de Philippeville, BCTH, 1902, p. CXXXIII.

Bertrand (Louis), Fouilles dans la propriété Lesueur, près de Philippeville, BCTH, 1903, p. 524-537, fig.

Bertrand (Louis), Inscriptions et antiquités romaines découvertes à Philippeville, BCTH, 1904, p. CXC et CXCIII.

Bertrand, Inscriptions et antiquités romaines découvertes dans les environs de Philippeville, BCTH, 1905, p. CLXXVI.

Bertrand (Louis), Un tronçon de voie romaine découvert près de Philippeville, BCTH, 1905, p. 366-367, fig.

Bertrand, Inscriptions romaines entrées au Musée de Philippeville, BCTH, 1906, p. CCXIII, CCXLIV, CCLIX.

Bertrand (L.), Inscriptions découvertes à Philippeville, BCTH, 1907, p. CCIX.

Bertrand (Louis), Ruines au bord de la voie romaine de Philippeville à Stora, BCTH, 1907, p. 459.

Bertrand, Antiquités découvertes à Philippeville, BCTH, 1908, p. CCXIV.

Bertrand, Objets entrés au Musée de Philippeville, BCTH, 1909, p. CLV, CLXXXIII.

Bertrand, Antiquités entrées au musée de Philippeville, BCTH, 1910, p.CLXVIII.

   Bertrand,  Épitaphes romaines trouvées à Philippeville, BCTH, 1911, p. ccxvii-ccxviii.

   Bertrand,  Entrée au musée de Philippeville de divers objets, BCTH, 1912, p. CCLII-CCLVIII.

   Bertrand,  Inscription romaine sur stèle de grès pointue, trouvée à Philippeville, BCTH, 1913, fig., p. CLXXIV-CLXXV.

  Bertrand,  Inscriptions romaines entrées au Musé de Philippeville, BCTH, 1913, p. CXCVI-CXCVII.

  Bertrand,  Objets entrés au musée de Philip­peville, BCTH, 1913, p. CCXXVI-CCXXVII.

  Babelon,  Miroir étrusque de bronze, prove­nant de Philippeville (Algérie), BCTH, 1915, fig., p. CXVI-CXVIII.

  Toutain,  Stèles romaines du musée de Philippeville, BCTH, 1915, p. ccxxxix-ccxL.

Héron de  Villefosse,  Fragment de mosaïque provenant de Philippeville, BCTH, 1917, p. CCI.

Albertini,  Mosaïque romaine de Philip­peville; épitaphe trouvée à Duperré (Oppidum novum), BCTH, 1927, p. 74-76.

  Zeiller (Jacques), Note sur une inscription de Philippeville, BCTH, 1941-2, p. 57-61.

LE BLANT (Edmond), Découverte d'une in­scription chrétienne à Philippeville (Algérie). Rapport sur une communication de M. Gouilly, fig., p. 370.

L.Vars, Rusicade et Stora ou Philippeville dans l’antiquité, Constantine, 1896.

S.Gsell, Histoire ancienne de l’Afrique du Nord, Paris, 1913-1928.

M.Leglay, Saturne Africain, Monuments II, Paris, 1966, p.13-18.

J.Désanges, Pline l’ancien, Histoire Naturelle, Paris, 1980, p.192.

Cl.Lepeley, les Cités de l’Afrique romaine II, Paris 1979-1981.

A.Apréa, Les origines de Rusicade, 2004.

‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑

L'Afrique du nord    F.Decret/M.Fantar Payot Paris 1981

     dans L'Antiquité                       Bibliothèque Historique

     Histoire et Civilisation               

     des origines au Ve siècle             

ITINERARIA PHOENICIA.

Edward Lipinski. Orientalia Lovaniensia Analecta nr 127. Studia Phoenicia XVIII. Uitgeverij Peeters en Departement Oosterse Studies. Leuven – Paris – Dudley, MA 2004.

 

Als STORA:

Héron de Villefosse (A.) (A.), Les recherches archéologiques de M. L. Bertrand aux environs de Stora, BCTH, 1901, p. CXCIX-CC.

Bertrand (Louis), La nécropole phénicienne de Stora, BCTH, 1901, p. 75-80, pl.

Saladin (H.), Note sur un chapiteau d'ordre composite trouvé à  Stora, BCTH, 1904, p. 336-338, fig.

Bertrand (Louis), Ruines au bord de la voie romaine de Philippeville à Stora, BCTH, 1907, p. 459.

Het is vooral Louis Bertrand, die hier in het museum vele zaken heeft verzameld heeft.

Hippone16+17

16.Conclusion:

 

Was Hippo Regius a Phoenician colony? Finding the answer to this question is not easy. We miss information. We have to deal with inconsistency of the classical sources. Beyond that we have to find a solution for the contradictions with other Phoenician settlements on the coast of North-Africa.

 

Holmes van Mater Dennis III is convinced that Hippo Region was a Phoenician, then at least a Carthaginian settlement. We put his reasons next to our findings in this writing.

Its name is Semitic	It could also be Libyco-Berber
It was situated in the Phoenician sphere	true
A typically Phoenician wall has been found	Doubtful. May be only the foundations
Punic was spoken for many centuries	true
It was known, that there was a Phoenician Hippo in North-Africa	It could also be Bizerte

 

Based on these first conclusions the outcome has become weaker. But there are new findings made, such as the finding of the old sanctuary, Punic stelae and coins from Sardinia (300-241 BC). So, at least towards the end of the 4^th century BC was Hippo a Punic town. Before that the Euboeans could have played a role in the 6^th century BC and before that the town was either a Libyan and/or a Phoenician settlement in the 7^th century BC, but that is not fully proven.

For some time there could have been some kind of symbiosis between the Phoenician and Euboeans in the 7^th/6^th century BC, in which those Greeks were tolerated in Hippo and Thabraca(?). Both people could have made use of those harbours and/or the Phoenicians skipped those harbours, because they could sail the high seas. Not always was coastal navigation needed.

In the Roman times Hippo Regius gets more important. It becomes the seat of a bishop in Christian times. With the arrival of the Vandals the decay begins. The town is several times rebuilt, but in Medieval times the town becomes only a ruin.

 

17.Some Literature:

 

AAAlg f 9 Bône no.59. S.Gsell, Atlas archéologique de l’Algérie, Alger-Paris 1911.

PECS. R.Stillwel – W.L.MacDonald – M.H.MacAllister, The Princeton Encyclopedia of Classical Sites, Princeton 1976 (p.394-396).

E.Marec, Hippone la Royale, Alger 1954.

M.Leglay, Saturne africain, Monuments I, Paris 1961 (p.431-451).

J-P.Morel, Recherches stratigraphiques à Hippone, BAA 3, 1968 (p.35-84).

                        [Bulletin d’Archéologie Algérienne, Paris-Alger]

S.Dahmani, Hippo Regius, Alger 1973.

Desanges, Pline p.201-203.

 

 

Hippone15

15.The hinterland:

 

The influence of Hippo Regius reached ultimately until Gwalma (Guelma) and Souk Ahras.

What we encounter there must have been for a long time a reflection of what happened in Hippo Regius.

 

Guelma (Calama in latin) is 75 km east of Cirta on the road to Hippo Regius. It has a strong Punic influence in onomastics, funeral rites, municipal organizations and the cult. There are many Neo-Punic inscriptions and J.-B.Chabot assembled c.40 of them. Guelma preserves his Punic character till the end of the Roman period (begin 5^th century BC). See: Augustinus Ep. 91,10. A memory stone with Tanit and Baal Hamon comes from Guelma (Saturne Africain, M LeGlay, Monuments I, nr.284, Paris 1961).

 

Some 15 km north of Guelma is the village ‘Ain Nešma. In Punic: Tbršy and in Latin: Thabarbusis. It is the finding place of Libian en Neo-Punic stelae. In the Numid and Roman period the made images on the stelae of naked men and women with big noses (!) with a palm-tree and a bunch of grapes as symbols of fertility. In Carthage an inscription (CIS I 309) has been found with ‘a man from Tbršy. It belongs to the 3^rd century BC.

See: Populus Thabarbusitanus et les Gymnasia de Quintus Flavius Luppianus, Libyca 6 (1958) p.143-151.

 

Guelat bou Sba is situated c.10 km north of Guelma.

It is the finding plae of a bilingue (latin and neopunic). CIL VIII 17467 = KAI 165.

One of these inscriptions is of particular interest: it appears on a stelae marking a tomb and the name of the deceased. Using a little imagination, the late J.G.Février deciphered the following appeal to the passer-by: “O you who pass – pause here and read!” It testifies to the fact that in the 1^st century AD a considerable part of the population still knew how to read and write in Punic.

 

Souk Ahras (Thagaste) is the birthplace of Aurelius Augustinus. His son was called Adeodatus (given by God = Baalyaton).