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Thugga
Dougga or Thugga or TBGG was a Berber, Punic and Roman settlement near present-day Téboursouk in northern Tunisia. The current archaeological site covers . UNESCO qualified Dougga as a World Heritage Site in 1997, believing that it represents "the best-preserved Roman small town in North Africa". The site, which lies in the middle of the countryside, has been protected from the encroachment of modern urbanization, in contrast, for example, to Carthage, which has been pillaged and rebuilt on numerous occasions. Dougga's size, its well-preserved monuments and its rich Numidian-Berber, Punic, ancient Roman and Byzantine history make it exceptional. Amongst the most famous monuments at the site are a Libyco-Punic Mausoleum, the Capitol, the Roman theatre, and the temples of Saturn and of Juno Caelestis. Names The Numidian name of the settlement was recorded in the Libyco-Berber alphabet as TBGG. The Punic name of the settlement is recorded as () and (). The Root B GG in Phoenici ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Numidian Language
Numidian was a language spoken in ancient Numidia, a territory covering much of northern Africa. The script in which it was written, the Libyco-Berber alphabet (from which Tifinagh descended), has been almost fully deciphered and most characters (apart from a few exceptions restricted to specific areas) have known values. Despite this, the language has barely been deciphered and only a few words are known. Libyco-Berber inscriptions are attested from the 3rd century BC to the 3rd century AD. The language is scarcely attested and can be confidently identified only as belonging to the Afroasiatic languages, Afroasiatic family, although it was most likely part of the Berber languages, spoken at the start of the breakup of the Proto-Berber language. Dialects and relation to other ancient languages Dialects and foreign influences It is known that there was an orthographical difference between the western and eastern Numidian language. Starting at Kabylia, which was a kind of mixed ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Numidia
Numidia ( Berber: ''Inumiden''; 202–40 BC) was the ancient kingdom of the Numidians located in northwest Africa, initially comprising the territory that now makes up modern-day Algeria, but later expanding across what is today known as Tunisia, Libya, and some parts of Morocco. The polity was originally divided between the Massylii in the east and the Masaesyli in the west. During the Second Punic War (218–201 BC), Masinissa, king of the Massylii, defeated Syphax of the Masaesyli to unify Numidia into one kingdom. The kingdom began as a sovereign state and later alternated between being a Roman province and a Roman client state. Numidia, at its largest extent, was bordered by Mauretania to the west, at the Moulouya River, Africa Proconsularis to the east, the Mediterranean Sea to the north, and the Sahara to the south. It was one of the first major states in the history of Algeria and the Berbers. History Independence The Greek historians referred to these peoples as ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Carthage
Carthage was the capital city of Ancient Carthage, on the eastern side of the Lake of Tunis in what is now Tunisia. Carthage was one of the most important trading hubs of the Ancient Mediterranean and one of the most affluent cities of the classical world. The city developed from a Canaanite Phoenician colony into the capital of a Punic empire which dominated large parts of the Southwest Mediterranean during the first millennium BC. The legendary Queen Alyssa or Dido, originally from Tyre, is regarded as the founder of the city, though her historicity has been questioned. According to accounts by Timaeus of Tauromenium, she purchased from a local tribe the amount of land that could be covered by an oxhide. As Carthage prospered at home, the polity sent colonists abroad as well as magistrates to rule the colonies. The ancient city was destroyed in the nearly-three year siege of Carthage by the Roman Republic during the Third Punic War in 146 BC and then re-developed as Roman Car ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Roman Theatre Of Dougga
The Roman theatre of Dougga is an ancient theatre located in Teboursouk in the north-west of Tunisia. History Like all the other Roman cities of North Africa from the reign of Augustus, Dougga had its own theatre. According to historians, the monument was built between 168 and 169. It is located in the eastern part of the archeological site Dougga, and can host over 3500 spectators. The theatre got classified as a monument on 8 June 1891. It is considered as one of the best preserved examples of theatres in Roman Africa Nowadays, it hosts every year the activities of the Dougga's international festival. Architecture A dedication engraved into the pediment of the stage and on the portico the dominates the city, recalls the building's commissioner, P. Marcius Quadratus, who "built tfor his homeland with his own denarii The denarius (, dēnāriī ) was the standard Roman silver coin from its introduction in the Second Punic War to the reign of Gordian III (AD 238 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Libyco-Berber Alphabet
The Libyco-Berber alphabet or the Libyc alphabet (modern Berber name: ''Agemmay Alibu-Maziɣ'') is an abjad writing system that was used during the first millennium BC by various Berber peoples of North Africa and the Canary Islands, to write ancient varieties of the Berber language like the Numidian language in ancient North Africa. The Libyco-Berber script is found in thousands of stone inscriptions and engravings throughout Morocco, northern Algeria, Tunisia, northern Libya and the Canary Islands. Apart from thousands of small inscriptions, some of the best known and significant Libyco-Berber inscriptions are in the Massinissa Temple (discovered in 1904) and the Prince Ateban Mausoleum in Dougga / Thugga (TBGG), northern Tunisia. Other significant Libyco-Berber inscription are the Azib N'Ikkis and the Oukaimeden, both found in the High-Atlas Mountains of Morocco. The use of the Libyco-Berber alphabet died out in northern areas during or after the reign of the Roman and B ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Libyco-Punic Mausoleum Of Dougga
The Libyco-Punic Mausoleum of Dougga (Mausoleum of Atban) is an ancient mausoleum located in Dougga, Tunisia. It is one of three examples of the royal architecture of Numidia, which is in a good state of preservation and dates to the 2nd century BC. It was restored by the government of French Tunisia between 1908-10. As part of the site of Dougga, the mausoleum is listed by UNESCO as a World Heritage Site. On 17 January 2012, the Tunisian government proposed it be included in a future classification of the royal mausoleums of Numidia and Mauretania and other pre-Islamic funerary monuments. History The first westerners to visit the site of Dougga arrived in the 17th century, becoming more frequent throughout the nineteenth century. The mausoleum was described by several of these tourists and was the object of early architectural studies at the end of the period. In 1842, the British consul in Tunis Thomas Reade seriously damaged the monument in the process of removing the roya ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Punic Language
The Punic language, also called Phoenicio-Punic or Carthaginian, is an extinct variety of the Phoenician language, a Canaanite language of the Northwest Semitic branch of the Semitic languages. An offshoot of the Phoenician language of coastal West Asia (modern Lebanon and western Syria), it was principally spoken on the Mediterranean coast of Northwest Africa, and the Iberian peninsula and several Mediterranean islands such as Malta, Sicily and Sardinia by the Punic people, or western Phoenicians, throughout classical antiquity, from the 8th century BC to the 6th century AD. Punic is considered to have separated from its Phoenician parent around the time that Carthage became the leading Phoenician city under Mago I, but scholarly attempts to delineate the dialects lack precision and generally disagree on the classification. History The Punics stayed in contact with the homeland of Phoenicia until the destruction of Carthage by the Roman Republic in 146 BC. At first, there was ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Saturn (mythology)
Saturn ( la, Sāturnus ) was a god in ancient Roman religion, and a character in Roman mythology. He was described as a god of time, generation, dissolution, abundance, wealth, agriculture, periodic renewal and liberation. Saturn's mythological reign was depicted as a Golden Age of abundance and peace. After the Roman conquest of Greece, he was conflated with the Greek Titan Cronus. Saturn's consort was his sister Ops, with whom he fathered Jupiter, Neptune, Pluto, Juno, Ceres and Vesta. Saturn was especially celebrated during the festival of Saturnalia each December, perhaps the most famous of the Roman festivals, a time of feasting, role reversals, free speech, gift-giving and revelry. The Temple of Saturn in the Forum Romanum, Roman Forum housed the state treasury and archives (''aerarium'') of the Roman Republic and the early Roman Empire. The planet Saturn and the day of the week Saturday are both named after and were associated with him. Mythology The Roman land preserv ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Juno (mythology)
Juno ( ; Latin ) was an ancient Roman goddess, the protector and special counsellor of the state. She was equated to Hera, queen of the gods in Greek mythology. A daughter of Saturn, she was the sister and wife of Jupiter and the mother of Mars, Vulcan, Bellona and Juventas. Like Hera, her sacred animal was the peacock.''Larousse Desk Reference Encyclopedia'', The Book People, Haydock, 1995, p. 215. Her Etruscan counterpart was Uni, and she was said to also watch over the women of Rome. As the patron goddess of Rome and the Roman Empire, Juno was called ("Queen") and was a member of the Capitoline Triad (''Juno Capitolina''), centered on the Capitoline Hill in Rome, and also including Jupiter, and Minerva, goddess of wisdom. Juno's own warlike aspect among the Romans is apparent in her attire. She was often shown armed and wearing a goatskin cloak. The traditional depiction of this warlike aspect was assimilated from the Greek goddess Athena, who bore a goatskin, or a goatsk ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Béja Governorate
Béja Governorate ( ' ) is one of the twenty-four governorates of Tunisia. It is in northern Tunisia and has a brief coastline relative to its size. It covers an area of 3,740 km² and had a population of 303,032 as at the 2014 census. The capital is and it spans the moderately high hills and part of the plain between the Tell Atlas and the Dorsal Atlas further south. Geography The governorate is from the capital and surrounded by the governorates of |
Gabriel Camps
Gabriel Camps (May 20, 1927 – September 7, 2002) was a French archaeologist and social anthropologist, the founder of the ''Encyclopédie berbère'' and is considered a prestigious scholar on the history of the Berber people. Biography Gabriel Camps was born in Misserghin, French Algeria. He attended secondary school in Oran, and studied later in Algiers. In 1961, he graduated from Algiers University with a PhD thesis about the protohistorical monuments and burial rites of Berber people, called ''Aux origines de la Berbérie''. ''Monuments et rites funéraires protohistoriques'', as well as with a second thesis on the Numidian king Masinissa. In 1959, Gabriel Camps entered the French National Centre for Scientific Research (CNRS). After the independence of Algeria, he worked from 1962 to 1969 as director of the Centre de recherches anthropologiques, préhistoriques et ethnologiques (CRAPE) and of the National Ethnographic and Prehistoric Museum of Bardo at Algiers. He also di ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Plateau
In geology and physical geography, a plateau (; ; ), also called a high plain or a tableland, is an area of a highland consisting of flat terrain that is raised sharply above the surrounding area on at least one side. Often one or more sides have deep hills or escarpments. Plateaus can be formed by a number of processes, including upwelling of volcanic magma, extrusion of lava, and erosion by water and glaciers. Plateaus are classified according to their surrounding environment as intermontane, piedmont, or continental. A few plateaus may have a small flat top while others have wide ones. Formation Plateaus can be formed by a number of processes, including upwelling of volcanic magma, extrusion of lava, Plate tectonics movements and erosion by water and glaciers. Volcanic Volcanic plateaus are produced by volcanic activity. The Columbia Plateau in the north-western United States is an example. They may be formed by upwelling of volcanic magma or extrusion of lava. The un ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
