TAKSEBT

RUSIPPISIR???

 

 

 

 

This is probably Cape Tedles on the Algerian coast between Azeffoun and Dellys in Kabyle. The Phoenician name is partly known as R’š [špr]. Rus Sippir would mean “beautiful cape”.

Cape Rosemary is an other explanation, as E.Lipinski states in Itineraria Phoenicia (p.308).

Ptolemeus (IV 2.8) calls the place Ρουσουβιρσρ = Rousoubirsir. In Latin it becomes Rusuvisir or Rusippisir. The Peutinger table (3^rd-4^th century AD) draw the location as follows between Iomnium and Rusazus:

                            42 miles                                         23 miles

Iomnium -------------------------------- Rusippisir ------------------- Rusazus

 

The distance between Rusazus (Azeffoun) and Rusippisir (Cape Tedles) is pretty accurate, but between Iomnium and Rusippisir it is very problematic, because Iomnium must be an island. The Phoenician name of Iomnium starts with ’y…. and that means literally ‘island’. The only significant island along the Kabyle coast is situated in front of Tigzirt and that is only 2 miles away from Cape Tedles and not 42 miles as is shown on the Peutinger table.

If the allocation of Rusippisir at Cape Tedles is correct then the Peutinger table is wrong and the maker of this table must have made a mistake.

 

Th.Shaw was in 1743 the first European who noticed the many ruins at Taksebt on Cape Tedles (Voyage dans plusieurs provinces de la Barbarie et du Levant, Den Haag, 1743, p.110-111). Taksept/Taksebt means in the local dialect Kasbah “fortified place” and that is what it was. There are still relics from Roman times: Thermae (baths), a big church, a chapel and a circular mausoleum, which is called by the local people “the lighthouse”.

In 1886 Pallu de Lessert pays further attention to Taksebt and he thinks that this is the Colonia Rusuccuritana, which is also mentioned by Plinius (NH V,2), who claims that the emperor Claudius gives to the town the title: Rusuccurium civitate honoratum a Claudio. In the view of Pallu Lessert the Municipium Rusuccuru is the village of Tigzirt.

Also P.Gavault and Ch.Bourliez (Tigzirt et Taksebt, Rev.Afr.1893) emphasize the peculiar character of the two settlements: A harbour and Municipium at Tigzirt and a fortress and Colonia at Taksebt.  Mention is made of some legends: “The elder people of this land told us that there were two prices out of the same family and they governed the land with wisdom. Tigzirt and Taksebt were two quarters of the same town, where in between they were connected by a large bridge. The father ruled in the west and the son in the east.”

“In Roman times the tribe of the Anii lived at Taksebt and the tribe of the Gesii at Tigzirt.” An inscription (CIL VIII 20715) makes a statement of a marriage of Anna from Taksebt with Julius Felix of Tigzirt of the tribe Quirini, but they called themselves both Rusuccuritani

In 1914 J.Carcopino tries to explain the difference and cohesion between Taksebt and Tigzirt in his publication in Mélanges d’épigraphie algérienne III: Tigzirt et Taksebt, Rev.Afr.1914, p.342.

In the meantime the discovery of several Punic and Roman memory stones took place at Taksebt and Tigzirt. Those of Taksebt are Punic and two of them have also the so-called sign of Tanit. On the beaches of Taksebt urns has been found with animal relics. A sanctuary of Baal Hammon must have been there. Punic influence is demonstrated at Taksebt by at least five Neo-Punic steles from the 1^st century BC, as well as by later steles from the 2^nd-3^rd centuries AD, some of which still surmounted urns with cremated remains of animals. This circumstance shows that there was a tophet at the site, dedicted to Baal Hamon, later named Saturnus.

From the years 209-212 AD (during Septimus Severus) comes a broken inscription, that has been found at Taksebt in which the name Rusuccuru is stated as a colony. Pallu de Lessert writes about this in: “Lettre à M.Héron de Villefosse, sur la position de Rusuccurium » CRAI 1886, pp.270-276 :

MARCI…

LAECEL…

PYBLI…

TOAB…

EM…

NT…

VAVREN…

ITFLA…

VSIN…

TIVS…

LIBER…

CVRA…

RITA…

The last two fragments could mean Rusuccurarita.

In the inscription CIL VIII 20707, found in Taksebt, C.Domitius Donatus confirms that Taksebt is a colony. This inscription is dated from the 3^rd century AD.  This is as the time, that the Romans make a new harbour on the eastside of Cape Tedles at Sidi Khaled.

 

With the arrival of the Vandals the settlement is abandoned. If Taksebt = Rusippisir, then the occupation of the place lasted about a thousand years from the 6^th century BC with a Punic station to the end of 4^th century AD with the arrival of the Vandals.

 

The observant reader will have noticed that there are quite a few question marks in the allocation of Rusippisir to Taksebt. We see the name Rusuccuru come back several times in Taksebt itself, while the name Rusippisir is barely addressed. Were the 19th century and early 20th century scholars so wrong to place Rusuccuru at Tigzirt / Taksebt? There are, however, made more recent finds, which can also link Rusuccuru to Dellys. I will say something about that in one of the following contributions (in Dellys among others). Anyway, the Kabyle coastal towns remain a great puzzle.

 

Some Literature:

BCTH 1894 : GAVAULT (P.), Les fouilles de Tigzirt, p. 278.

HERON DE VILLEFOSSE (A.), Inscriptions trouvées à Tigzirt, près de Dellys; rapport sur une communica­tion de M. Gavault, p. 304.

G.HALLIER, Le mausolée de Taksebt (Algérie) in CRAI 1992, p.235-248.

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.

 

Relay-stations

The Relay-stations between Thabraca and Rusazus.

 

 

Until now we have treated seven important Phoenician/Punic settlements along the coast of mainly Algeria. They are not always separated from each-other by the assumed amount of kilometres for Phoenician ships for one-day sailing = c.50 km. It is true, when they were sailing night and day, they could cover c.100 km, but that was not always the case. There must have been relay-stations in between.

Capital letters: the nowadays names.

 

TABARKA Thabraca

|

| c.35 km

|

VIEUX EL KALA                                       Relay

|

|

| c.55 km

|

|

ANNABA Hippo Regius

|

| c.45 km

|

|

CHETAIBI                                                   Relay

|

|

| c.55 km

|

|

SKIKDA Rusicade

| c.5 km

STORA

|

| c.40 km

|

|

COLLO Chullu

|

| c.40 km

|

|

Oued ZHOUR

| c.15 km                                                        Relay

Oued el KEBIR Ampsaga

|

| c.30 km

|

JIJEL Igiligili

|

| c.40 km

|

|

ZIAMA/MANSOURIA Choba                    Relay

|

| c.20 km

AOKAS                                                        Relay?

|

| c.20 km

BEJAIA Saldae

|

| c.35 km

|

Oued DAAS                                                 Relay

|

| c.35 km

|

AZEFFOUN Rusazus

 

 

There could have been 5 or 6 relay-stations between the 7 mayor settlements. Only from ZIAMA (Choba) and the Oued el KEBIR (Ampsaga) are the names for the relay-stations from antiquity known. In the relay-stations hardly any Phoenician or Punic relict has been found. Maybe they sailed indeed regularly day and night.

Rusazus

 

RUSAZUS

 

 

 

This settlement is located on the coast of Algeria about 70 km west of Bejaia at Cape Corbelin. The Greeks called it Rousazous (Ρουσαξούς) by Ptolemeus (IV 2,9). In Latin it was named Rusazus Colonia Augusti (Plin.NH V 2.20), although the Itin.Ant. speaks of a Municipium. Rusazus was also mentioned in the inscriptions CIL VIII 8929, 8933, 8937 (=20681). Ps.Skylax skips this place and goes in his Itineraria more than 100 km west of Saldae, where he sees the next harbour.

A distance of 100 km is quite long for the Phoenicians to cross in one day (and even night) on this coast. Everywhere else along this coast it is between 30-70 km. That is why Rusazus is probable as a Phoenician settlement. Even an earlier relay-station at the Wadi Da‘as must be taken into consideration!

 

 

 

 

A direct tradition in Phoenician is not available, but on the basis of the Greek and Latin name we can reconstruct the name as: R’š-(h)’z(z), which could mean Cape of the Fort or Great Cape. Today the place is called Port Gueydon and the village El Ma Guechtoun, where also the name Azeffoun is used. Is the name A-zeffoun related in some way with the Phoenician word Ṣapon as is suggested in Itineraria Phoenicia (p.399)? Azeffoun could also be related to the Berber name uzzaf = hill in a conical form. The village of old Azeffoun was primarily built by the Phoenicians on a hill of 500 meters above the sea. On the central marketplace (Aznik N’tadarth) we still find niches/recesses, which the local population calls now: Leghwirane.

 

South of the Port Gueydon is situated the tower of Dawrak, which was restored under Septimus Severus by the Rusa[z]itani (CIL VIII 8991) = Rusaditani Restituerunt. From the Roman period there some traces found. The Romans built there a fort. In the vicinity of the castle there were the Baths. The local people call a district of the town with very narrow streets and houses: “les petites maisons romaines”. In reality this could deal much more better with the old Phoenician district. Rusazus played not an important role during the Roman times. There are hardly any messages, except the mention that there was a bishop Rusaditanus in 484 AD.

 

There are not much excavations undertaken in Azeffoun. A modest exception could be the survey of J.Cl + J.M Museo in 1950. They found common graves, black varnished pottery of Etrusco-Campanian origin. This points in the direction of the 7^th century BC. However, The Phoenicians (and perhaps Greeks or Etruscans) were not the first to inhabit this place. In fact it is a very old place. They have found megalithic structures (see: Gabriel Camps CNRS) from the period around 3000 BC.

 

SALDAE

 

SALDAE

 

 

Nowadays Bejaia is situated north of the mouth of the Oued Soummane on the coast of Algeria. In antiquity it was called by the Greeks Sâlda (Σάλδα). The Greek Ps.Skylax (111) called it Sida or Sild. In Latin it became Saldae. In Phoenician or Punic we have no name available. The Peutinger Table mentions the harbour as Syda. Is that on the map Bida and nowadays Gema‘ Saharig? Plinius mentions the town in HN 5.20. Strabo (XVII 3,12) mentions the importance of the harbour (Σίδα) and calls it “a large harbour”. Is it a Berber name? The presence of the d would support the hypothesis of a Libyco-Berber dialectal alternation of al and au. Thus Salda > Sauda > Suda? S.Gsell identifies however Saldae with Bejaia. E.Lipinski in Itineraria says, that the Phoenician-punic remains are slim and somewhat uncertain. Nevertheless there are important findings. Punic stelae with a figure with the arms lifted up in the pose of adoration. Stelae with pictures of the moon and the sun and with short inscriptions (RArch 8 [1851-2] p.574) and stelae with an indication of the so-called sign of Tanit in humanized form.

This looks very promising, but unfortunately all these stelae are now lost. Where did they go? There is more: A hoard of 2671 Punic coins were found in Bejaia from the final quarter in the 3^rd century BC.

 

 

The modest Punic settlement in Mauretania Caesariensis became later a Roman colony. This Roman colony was founded by Augustus in 27-26 BC for veterans. Vespasianus sent also veterans to Saldae. In the 2^nd and 3^rd century AD Gaius Cornelius Peregrinus , a Decurion from Saldae was a military commander (tribunus) of the auxiliary garrison at Alauna Carvetorium in northern Britain. A bishop from Saldae is known in the 5^th century AD. The Roman period has left abundant remains. Vestiges of the ramparts are still visible. Under the church we find the remains of a temple. The location of the forum is indicated by the bases of statues. The baths contains a large ornamental mosaic. Other public baths were on the site of the Civil Hospital with also mosaics; they depict the heads of Oceanus flanked by the Nereids. A third public bath was located near the high school. Cisterns and basins are still visible at several places in the upper town. They were fed by the Toudja aquaeduct. West of the middle town a rounded depression has been supposed to have been the site of a circus, a theatre and an amphitheatre. The remains of these buildings are gone. There is only a Roman inscription (CIL VIII 8938), that mentions “ludi circensis”. Many Roman sculptures, sarcophagi, capitals and votive stelae dedicated to Saturn were found.

 

Literature:

S.Gsell, Les monuments antiques de l’Algérie (1901) pl.249-52 ; Atlas archéologique de l’Algérie (1911) 7, no.12

M.Leglay, Saturne Africain, Monuments II, Paris 1966 p.297-298

Lepelley, Cités p.505-508

Ch.Texier, Antiquités de Bougie, Revue Archéologique 8 (1851-52) p.574-576

J.P.Laporte, Saldae (Bougie) : un trésor de monnaies puniques enfoui vers la fin de la seconde guerre punique. Bulletin de la societé Nationale des Antiquaires de France 1998, p.211-224

A.Soltani, A propos du trésor monétaire de Bougie (Algérie), L’Africa Romana XIII, Roma 2000, p.1779-1782

 

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.