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Medina Of Sousse
The Medina of Sousse is a Medina quarter in Sousse, Governorate of Sousse, Tunisia. Designated by the UNESCO a World Heritage Site in 1988, it is a typical example of the architecture of the early centuries of Islam in Maghreb. It encompasses a Kasbah, fortifications and the Great Mosque of Sousse. The Medina today houses the Archaeological Museum of Sousse. A number of Punic steles were discovered in the Medina, between the Ribat and the Great Mosque, in the 19th and 20th centuries. History The Medina of Sousse is located in the Tunisian Sahel and forms an outstanding archeological site. This was primarily because of the time it was built at the dawn of Islamic civilization, making it one of the earliest constructions after the Islamic conquests in the Maghreb The Maghreb (; ar, الْمَغْرِب, al-Maghrib, lit=the west), also known as the Arab Maghreb ( ar, المغرب العربي) and Northwest Africa, is the western part of North Africa and the Arab wo ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sousse
Sousse or Soussa ( ar, سوسة, ; Berber:''Susa'') is a city in Tunisia, capital of the Sousse Governorate. Located south of the capital Tunis, the city has 271,428 inhabitants (2014). Sousse is in the central-east of the country, on the Gulf of Hammamet, which is a part of the Mediterranean Sea. Its economy is based on transport equipment, processed food, olive oil, textiles, and tourism. It is home to the Université de Sousse. Toponymy ''Sousse'' and ''Soussa'' are both French spellings of the Arabic name ''Sūsa'', which may derive from Berber (cf., e.g., Morocco's Sous River and Region). The present city has also grown to include the ruins of Hadrumetum, which had many names in several languages during antiquity.Barrington Atlas of the Greek and Roman World, Gazeteer, page 511, Map 33 Theveste-Hadrumetum, Compiled by R.B. Hitchner, 1997, in file BATL033_.PDF iB_ATLAS.ZIP froPrinceton University Press , Subjects, Barrington Atlas of the Greek and Roman World. R.J.A. ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Kasbah
A kasbah (, also ; ar, قَـصَـبَـة, qaṣaba, lit=fortress, , Maghrebi Arabic: ), also spelled qasba, qasaba, or casbah, is a fortress, most commonly the citadel or fortified quarter of a city. It is also equivalent to the term ''alcazaba'' in Spanish (), which derives from the same Arabic word. By extension, the term can also refer to a medina quarter, particularly in Algeria. In various languages, the Arabic word, or local words borrowed from the Arabic word, can also refer to a settlement, a fort, a watchtower, or a blockhouse. Citadel or fortress The term ''qasaba'' was historically flexible but it essentially denotes a fortress, commonly a citadel that protects a city or settlement area, or that serves as the administrative center. A kasbah citadel typically housed the military garrison and other privileged buildings such as a palace, along with other amenities such as a mosque and a hammam (bathhouse). Some kasbahs are built in a strategic elevated positio ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Archaeological Sites In Tunisia
Archaeology or archeology is the scientific study of human activity through the recovery and analysis of material culture. The archaeological record consists of artifacts, architecture, biofacts or ecofacts, sites, and cultural landscapes. Archaeology can be considered both a social science and a branch of the humanities. It is usually considered an independent academic discipline, but may also be classified as part of anthropology (in North America – the four-field approach), history or geography. Archaeologists study human prehistory and history, from the development of the first stone tools at Lomekwi in East Africa 3.3 million years ago up until recent decades. Archaeology is distinct from palaeontology, which is the study of fossil remains. Archaeology is particularly important for learning about prehistoric societies, for which, by definition, there are no written records. Prehistory includes over 99% of the human past, from the Paleolithic until the advent ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Early Muslim Conquests
The early Muslim conquests or early Islamic conquests ( ar, الْفُتُوحَاتُ الإسْلَامِيَّة, ), also referred to as the Arab conquests, were initiated in the 7th century by Muhammad, the main Islamic prophet. He established a new unified polity in Arabia that expanded rapidly under the Rashidun Caliphate and the Umayyad Caliphate, culminating in Islamic rule being established across three continents. According to Scottish historian James Buchan: "In speed and extent, the first Arab conquests were matched only by those of Alexander the Great, and they were more lasting." At their height, the territory that was conquered stretched from Iberia (at the Pyrenees) in the west to India (at Sind) in the east; Muslim rule spanned Sicily, most of North Africa and the Middle East, and the Caucasus and Central Asia. English historian Edward Gibbon writes in '' The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire'': Among other drastic changes, the early ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sahel, Tunisia
The Tunisian Sahel ( ar, الساحل) or more precisely the Central East Tunisia Region is an area of central eastern Tunisia and one of the six Tunisian regions. It stretches along the eastern shore, from Hammamet in the north to Mahdia in the south, including the governorates of Monastir, Mahdia and Sousse. Its name derives from the Arabic word ''sāḥil'' (ساحل), meaning "shore" or "coast". The region's economy is based especially on tourism and it contains the second-biggest airport in Tunisia: Monastir Habib Bourguiba International Airport. Geography The Sahel extends inland to the hills which protect the low plains of the coast and are covered in olive plantations; the region's low rainfall is compensated for by the atmospheric humidity. Since antiquity, it has formed a clear geographic unity with its own unique demographic and economic characteristics. Today it consists of the governorates of Sousse, Monastir and Mahdia. Its geographic area is quit ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Hadrumetum Punic Inscriptions
The Hadrumetum Punic inscriptions are Punic inscriptions found in the Old City of Sousse (ancient Hadrumetum). They were discovered between the Great Mosque of Sousse and the Ribat of Sousse, where the French authorities had chosen to build Sousse's first church, the Église Notre-Dame-de-l'Immaculée-Conception de Sousse, built between 1865 and 1867. After WWII war damage was repaired, the church was later demolished by the local authorities as part of a renovation of the Old City. The first nine inscriptions were published by Julius Euting in 1872. Further inscriptions were found in 1946 after World War II bomb damage exposed more of the area around the church. The inscriptions are held between the Sousse Archaeological Museum, the Louvre and the Maison méditerranéenne des Sciences de l'homme. Euting inscriptions Euting bought the steles from Maltese masons at La Goulette (Tunis), who discovered them in 1867 during foundation work for a church in Sousse Sousse or Soussa ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sousse Archaeological Museum
The Sousse Archaeological Museum (Tunisian Arabic: المتحف الأثري بسوسة) is an archaeological museum located in Sousse, Sousse Governorate, Tunisia. The Museum The museum is housed in the Kasbah of Sousse's Medina, which was founded in the 11th century AD. It was established in 1951. The museum reopened its doors to the public in 2012, after the collections were rearranged and the edifice was renovated. It contains the second largest collection of mosaics in the world after that of the Bardo National Museum in the capital Tunis. The Collections Some votive stelae and urns displayed in the punic room date from as early as the 7th century BC. Artefacts dating from the antiquity up to the 2nd century BC were discovered by French archeologist Pierre Cintas in the Tophet of Sousse and in the Sanctuary of Baal Hammon. In addition, the museum contains some gorgeous mosaics depicting mythological figures, such as the "Head of Medusa", Face of Oceanus, Neptune ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Great Mosque Of Sousse
The Great Mosque of Sousse ( ar, الجامع الكبير بسوسة) is a historical mosque in the coastal city of Sousse, Tunisia. The construction dates back to 851 during the rule of Aghlabid Dynasty, a vassal of the Abbasid Caliphate, and it was commissioned by amir Abu al-‘Abbas Muhammad al-Aghlabi. The mosque was renovated and improved several times during the 10th and 17th centuries. It is adjacent to the ribat, which influenced the mosque's fortified appearance with a wall with balconies and barges overlooking the beach where it could attack raiders from behind. It is a part of UNESCO World Heritage Site Medina of Sousse. Architecture The mosque consists of a prayer hall and a sahn. The prayer hall is quadrilateral shaped and adorns two domes in the middle and a mihrab in the center wall. Dome of the mosque is one of the few domes to be built in front of the mihrab during the Umayyad and Abbasid periods, the others being Al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem (705) and the Umayy ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Fortification
A fortification is a military construction or building designed for the defense of territories in warfare, and is also used to establish rule in a region during peacetime. The term is derived from Latin ''fortis'' ("strong") and ''facere'' ("to make"). From very early history to modern times, defensive walls have often been necessary for cities to survive in an ever-changing world of invasion and conquest. Some settlements in the Indus Valley civilization were the first small cities to be fortified. In ancient Greece, large stone walls had been built in Mycenaean Greece, such as the ancient site of Mycenae (famous for the huge stone blocks of its ' cyclopean' walls). A Greek '' phrourion'' was a fortified collection of buildings used as a military garrison, and is the equivalent of the Roman castellum or English fortress. These constructions mainly served the purpose of a watch tower, to guard certain roads, passes, and borders. Though smaller than a real fortress, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Maghreb
The Maghreb (; ar, الْمَغْرِب, al-Maghrib, lit=the west), also known as the Arab Maghreb ( ar, المغرب العربي) and Northwest Africa, is the western part of North Africa and the Arab world. The region includes Algeria, Libya, Mauritania (also considered part of West Africa), Morocco, and Tunisia. The Maghreb also includes the disputed territory of Western Sahara (controlled mostly by Morocco and partly by the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic) and the Spanish cities Ceuta and Melilla.Article 143. As of 2018, the region had a population of over 100 million people. Through the 18th and 19th centuries, English sources often referred to the region as the Barbary Coast or the Barbary States, a term derived from the demonym of the Berbers. Sometimes, the region is referred to as the Land of the Atlas, referring to the Atlas Mountains, which are located within it. The Maghreb is usually defined as encompassing much of the northern part of Africa, inclu ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sousse Governorate
Sousse Governorate ( ' ) is one of the twenty-four governorates (provinces) of Tunisia. It is beside the eastern coast of Tunisia in the north-east of the country and covers an area of 2,621 km2 and has a population of 674,971 (2014 census). The capital is Sousse. Geography The area compasses most of the broad eastern coastal plain (which has a hot Mediterranean climate) featuring salt and fresh water lakes, fed by winter rains. A narrow strip of forest, the Foret Nationale de Tunisie, adjoins part of the beach swathe between Sousse and Hammamet to the far north, the beach forming most of the coastline. These cities are on the Gulf of Hammamet which is a gently-curved bay. The largest lake is the Sebkhet de Sidi El Hani which is shared with two other areas but is mostly in the Sousse Governorate. Elevations are pronounced in the second national park in the area, which is mainly in Nabeul Governorate, is on all of the seaward sides of Hammam Bent Djadidi adjoining the no ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
World Heritage Site
A World Heritage Site is a landmark or area with legal protection by an international convention administered by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). World Heritage Sites are designated by UNESCO for having cultural, historical, scientific or other form of significance. The sites are judged to contain " cultural and natural heritage around the world considered to be of outstanding value to humanity". To be selected, a World Heritage Site must be a somehow unique landmark which is geographically and historically identifiable and has special cultural or physical significance. For example, World Heritage Sites might be ancient ruins or historical structures, buildings, cities, deserts, forests, islands, lakes, monuments, mountains, or wilderness areas. A World Heritage Site may signify a remarkable accomplishment of humanity, and serve as evidence of our intellectual history on the planet, or it might be a place of great natural beauty. ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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