Bir El Hafey (Arabic: بئر الحفي) is a town and commune located at 34°55′48″N 9°12′00″E in the

Sidi Bouzid Governorate Sidi Bouzid Governorate ( aeb, ولاية سيدي بوزيد), sometimes spelt ''Sidi Bou Zid'', is one of the 24 governorates (provinces) of Tunisia. It is in central Tunisia and landlocked. It covers an area of 7405 km2 and has a populatio ...

, in

Tunisia ) , image_map = Tunisia location (orthographic projection).svg , map_caption = Location of Tunisia in northern Africa , image_map2 = , capital = Tunis , largest_city = capital , ...

(Maghreb, North Africa). As of 2004 it had a population of 6,405.Recensement de 2004 (Institut national de la statistique)
Bir El Hafey is located about thirty kilometers south of Sidi Bouzid, in the southern foothills of the Tunisian ridge. Attached to the governorate of Sidi Bouzid, it is a municipality with 6,475 inhabitants in 2014. It is also the capital of a delegation. It is in crossroads position on the Kairouan-Gafsa axis because crossed by the RN3 while being connected to Sidi Bouzid, the chief town of the governorate.

History

Bir El Hafey is the modern site of the Ancient, notably Roman, city of Nara. H.H. Abdul Wahab identified Bir El Hafey with the medieval city of Jamunis (aka ''Jamūnis al-Sābūn''), one of the main cities of the Qammuda region. Jamunis is first mentioned in the 10th century, when it became the capital of Qammuda under the Zirid dynasty, replacing the nearby city of Madhkur, which had been sacked by the forces of Abu Yazid. However, Jamunis was probably an important city before this. It was the site of a battle in 1030 between the Zirid ruler al-Mu'izz ibn Badis and the

Zenata The Zenata (Berber language: Iznaten) are a group of Amazigh (Berber) tribes, historically one of the largest Berber confederations along with the Sanhaja and Masmuda. Their lifestyle was either nomadic or semi-nomadic. Etymology ''Iznaten (ⵉ ...

Berbers, which al-Mu'izz won. Jamunis is no longer mentioned after the 11th century, having been sacked by the

Banu Hilal The Banu Hilal ( ar, بنو هلال, translit=Banū Hilāl) was a confederation of Arabian tribes from the Hejaz and Najd regions of the Arabian Peninsula that emigrated to North Africa in the 11th century. Masters of the vast plateaux of th ...

Al-Bakri Abū ʿUbayd ʿAbd Allāh ibn ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz ibn Muḥammad ibn Ayyūb ibn ʿAmr al-Bakrī ( ar, أبو عبيد عبد الله بن عبد العزيز بن محمد بن أيوب بن عمرو البكري), or simply al-Bakrī (c. 1040–1 ...

described the city of Jamunis as being surrounded by sand and

olive tree The olive, botanical name ''Olea europaea'', meaning 'European olive' in Latin, is a species of small tree or shrub in the family Oleaceae, found traditionally in the Mediterranean Basin. When in shrub form, it is known as ''Olea europaea'' 'M ...

s and having a strong fortress which served as an agadir (granary). He wrote that it was surrounded by many large and prosperous villages.

Al-Muqaddasi Shams al-Dīn Abū ʿAbd Allāh Muḥammad ibn Aḥmad ibn Abī Bakr al-Maqdisī ( ar, شَمْس ٱلدِّيْن أَبُو عَبْد ٱلله مُحَمَّد ابْن أَحْمَد ابْن أَبِي بَكْر ٱلْمَقْدِسِي), ...

mentioned the village of Khawr al-Kaf as being among those villages. Jamunis also had many

fig The fig is the edible fruit of ''Ficus carica'', a species of small tree in the flowering plant family Moraceae. Native to the Mediterranean and western Asia, it has been cultivated since ancient times and is now widely grown throughout the world ...

and

almond The almond (''Prunus amygdalus'', syn. ''Prunus dulcis'') is a species of tree native to Iran and surrounding countries, including the Levant. The almond is also the name of the edible and widely cultivated seed of this tree. Within the genus ...

orchards, as well as a

jami mosque A congregational mosque or Friday mosque (, ''masjid jāmi‘'', or simply: , ''jāmi‘''; ), or sometimes great mosque or grand mosque (, ''jāmi‘ kabir''; ), is a mosque for hosting the Friday noon prayers known as ''jumu'ah''.* * * * * * * ...

Ecclesiastical history

Nara was important enough in the

Roman province The Roman provinces (Latin: ''provincia'', pl. ''provinciae'') were the administrative regions of Ancient Rome outside Roman Italy that were controlled by the Romans under the Roman Republic and later the Roman Empire. Each province was rule ...

of Byzacena to become a

suffragan bishopric A suffragan bishop is a type of bishop in some Christian denominations. In the Anglican Communion, a suffragan bishop is a bishop who is subordinate to a metropolitan bishop or diocesan bishop (bishop ordinary) and so is not normally jurisdiction ...

of the Metropolitan Archbishop of

Hadrumetum Hadrumetum, also known by #Names, many variant spellings and names, was a Phoenician Phoenician colonies, colony that pre-dated Carthage. It subsequently became one of the most important cities in Roman Africa before Vandal Kingdom, Vandal and Uma ...

, but faded. There are three bishops documented from Nara. *Crescenziano participated in the

Council of Cabarsussi Cabarsussi, was an ancient civitas (municipality) and bishopric in the Roman province of Byzacena (Roman North Africa), that is tentatively identifiable with ruins at Drâa-Bellouan in modern Tunisia. The current bishop is Terence Robert Curtin, ...

, held in 393 by the Maximianists, a dissident sect of the

Donatists Donatism was a Christian sect leading to a schism in the Church, in the region of the Church of Carthage, from the fourth to the sixth centuries. Donatists argued that Christian clergy must be faultless for their ministry to be effective and th ...

, and he signed the council's acts. * The Donatist Gennaro intervened at the 411 Carthage conference, which saw the Catholic and donatists from all over

Roman North Africa Africa Proconsularis was a Roman province on the northern African coast that was established in 146 BC following the defeat of Carthage in the Third Punic War. It roughly comprised the territory of present-day Tunisia, the northeast of Algeria, ...

debate. On that occasion the town had no Catholic bishops. *Vittore was present at the synod assembled in Carthage in 484 by King Huneric of the Vandal Kingdom. After the council Vittore was exiled.

Titular see of Nara

The diocese was nominally in 1925 restored as a Latin titular bishopric. Nara
at www.gcatholic.org. It has had the following incumbents, all of the lowest (episcopal) rank : * Raffaele Angelo Palazzi (柏長青), O.F.M. (1928.06.15 – 1946.04.11) * Patrick Dunne (1946.08.08 – 1988.03.16) * Nino Marzoli, C.R. (1988.04.16 – 2000.05.24) * Jerome Edward Listecki (2000.11.07 – 2004.12.29), later Archbishop * Jerzy Maculewicz,

O.F.M. Conv. The Order of Friars Minor Conventual (OFM Conv) is a male religious fraternity in the Roman Catholic Church that is a branch of the Franciscans. The friars in OFM CONV are also known as Conventual Franciscans, or Minorites. Dating back to ...

Apostolic Administrator An Apostolic administration in the Catholic Church is administrated by a prelate appointed by the pope to serve as the ordinary for a specific area. Either the area is not yet a diocese (a stable 'pre-diocesan', usually missionary apostolic admi ...

Uzbekistan Uzbekistan (, ; uz, Ozbekiston, italic=yes / , ; russian: Узбекистан), officially the Republic of Uzbekistan ( uz, Ozbekiston Respublikasi, italic=yes / ; russian: Республика Узбекистан), is a doubly landlocked cou ...

(2005.04.01 – ...)

Population

In 2004 the population of the town was 5589, and in 2014 this had increased to 6475.

References

Sources and external links