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Tarhuna wa Msalata (
Tarhuna Tarhuna (; ar, ترهونة), also Tarhoona or Tarhunah, is a Libyan town to the southeast of Tripoli, in the Murqub District. The city derives its name from that of its pre- Roman-era inhabitants, a Berber tribe. The city was known as al-Bo ...
and
Msallata Msallata (also Al Qasabat, Cussabat and El-Gusbát) is a town in the northwestern part of Libya, in the Murqub District. It has a population of nearly 24,000, and was historically a center of Islamic studies. It is also known for olive tree farmin ...
) was a
district A district is a type of administrative division that, in some countries, is managed by the local government. Across the world, areas known as "districts" vary greatly in size, spanning regions or counties, several municipalities, subdivisions o ...
of
Libya Libya (; ar, ليبيا, Lībiyā), officially the State of Libya ( ar, دولة ليبيا, Dawlat Lībiyā), is a country in the Maghreb region in North Africa. It is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to the north, Egypt to Egypt–Libya bo ...
until 2007."شعبية ترهونة و مسلاتة" ("Districts of Libya:Tarhuna Wa Msalata")
Website of the General People's Committee of Libya, in Arabic, from
Web Archive The Web ARChive (WARC) archive format specifies a method for combining multiple digital resources into an aggregate archive file together with related information. The WARC format is a revision of the Internet Archive's ARC_IA File Format that ...
dated 15 October 2006
Between 1988 and 1995 there existed the Tarhuna District, which became Tarhuna wa Msalata between 2001 and 2007. It consisted of twenty-six Basic People's Congresses, similar to
township A township is a kind of human settlement or administrative subdivision, with its meaning varying in different countries. Although the term is occasionally associated with an urban area, that tends to be an exception to the rule. In Australia, Ca ...
s, and its capital was
Tarhuna Tarhuna (; ar, ترهونة), also Tarhoona or Tarhunah, is a Libyan town to the southeast of Tripoli, in the Murqub District. The city derives its name from that of its pre- Roman-era inhabitants, a Berber tribe. The city was known as al-Bo ...
. In the 2007 administrative reorganization the territory formerly in Tarhuna wa Msalata was transferred to
Murqub District Murqub ( ar, المرقب ''Al Murqub''), sometimes spelt ''Al Murgub'' or ''Al Marqab'' or ''al-Morqib'', is one of the districts of Libya. The main city and capital is Khoms. The widely visited UNESCO World Heritage Site of Leptis Magna is also ...
."شعبيات الجماهيرية العظمى""Sha'biyat of Great Jamahiriya"
, Website of the General People's Committee of Libya, accessed 5 September 2009, in Arabic
Tarhuna was one of the leading resistance centres (with Misrata) to the Italian occupation of 1911.


Borders

Prior to 2007, Tarhuna wa Msalata bordered the following districts: * Tajura wa Arba' - north * Murqub - northeast *
Misrata Misrata ( ; also spelled Misurata or Misratah; ar, مصراتة, Miṣrāta ) is a city in the Misrata District in northwestern Libya, situated to the east of Tripoli and west of Benghazi on the Mediterranean coast near Cape Misrata. With ...
- east * Bani Walid - south *
Mizda Mizda or Mesdah (Tamazight: ⵎⵉⵣⴷⴰ, ''Mizda'') is a town in the Nafusa Mountains in Libya. It was the capital of the former Mizda District. Just to the west of Mizda is the Mizda Army Base at See also * List of cities in Libya ...
- southwest, at a
quadripoint A quadripoint is a point on Earth where four distinct territories meet. The territories can be of different types, such as national and provincial. In North America, several such places are commonly known as Four Corners. Several examples exist ...
*
Gharyan Gharyan is a city in northwestern Libya, in Jabal al Gharbi District, located 80 km south of Tripoli. Prior to 2007, it was the administrative seat of Gharyan District. Gharyan is one of the largest towns in the Western Mountains. In 2005, ...
- southwest *
Jafara Jafara or Al Jfara ( ar, الجفارة ''Al Jifārah'') is one of the districts of Libya, in the historical region of Tripolitania. Its capital and largest city is 'Aziziya. Jafara borders Tripoli in northeast, Jabal al Gharbi in south and Za ...
- west *
Tripoli Tripoli or Tripolis may refer to: Cities and other geographic units Greece *Tripoli, Greece, the capital of Arcadia, Greece * Tripolis (region of Arcadia), a district in ancient Arcadia, Greece * Tripolis (Larisaia), an ancient Greek city in ...
- northwest


History


Early history

There are many archaeological remains in the Tarhuna region. However, these remains are extremely dispersed over most parts of the plateau, as is always in the case of hinterland of any significant ancient city. Another interesting point is that the Jebel Tarhuna was a boundary land between two important ancient coastal centres,
Leptis Magna Leptis or Lepcis Magna, also known by other names Other often refers to: * Other (philosophy), a concept in psychology and philosophy Other or The Other may also refer to: Film and television * ''The Other'' (1913 film), a German silent fil ...
and
Oea Oea () was an ancient city in present-day Tripoli, Libya. It was founded by the Phoenicians in the 7th century BC and later became a Roman– Berber colony. As part of the Roman Africa Nova province, Oea and surrounding Tripolitania were p ...
. It is possible that this ancient reality may be reflected in settlement patterning. For Leptis Magna, like many other cities in the Roman world, the city was an integral part with its surrounding territory and its hinterland. Not all resources and items needed at the city could be obtained locally and from an early date Leptis Magna imported artefacts and other goods from through the Mediterranean. Certainly, these artifacts and goods must be spread in the countryside and were not only distributed at the urban centre. The archaeological sites of the Tarhuna region were first reported in the nineteenth century by
Heinrich Barth Johann Heinrich Barth (; ; 16 February 1821 – 25 November 1865) was a German explorer of Africa and scholar. Barth is thought to be one of the greatest of the European explorers of Africa, as his scholarly preparation, ability to speak and wri ...
and Edwin Von Bary, who visited them in 1849 and 1875 respectively. Both these pioneers gave a summary description of some ancient sites on the plateau, which attracted attention of the late nineteenth and early twentieth century’s travellers and scholars. During the years 1895-6 H. Swainson Cowper visited the Tarhuna plateau and examined in considerable detail more than eighty ancient sites (Cowper 1897). Although he interpreted these sites as prehistoric monuments of religious character (Senams), his work constitutes a significant pioneer survey. It brought to light the archaeological importance of the Tarhuna region as a zone of intensive olive-cultivation during the classical period. Tarhuna Gebel was the area partly surveyed by Goodchild (1951), who had examined a number of ancient sites, specially his excavation in the sanctuary of Ammon at Ras El-Haddagia, and the villa and pottery-kilns at Ain Scersciara (Goodchild 1951: 43-77). At the same time (1949-51) Oates carried out much comprehensive archaeological survey in the area over some 300 square kilometres around Gas red-Daun at the eastern part of the Tarhuna Plateau. By three seasons of work, he revealed a distribution of more than 100 sites, which chronologically extended from the first century to the fifth century AD (Oates 1953). During the mid-nineteenth century, the first century BCE pottery was little-known. However, the Oates’ sites consist for the most part of varying size of farms associated with their water control and supply works, which represent the key to their regional specialization.


Islamic era

Arab migration: The Ottoman conquest started in 1530s and ruled until 1911. Maltese exile: In 1551, after the order of Suleiman I, Dragut, a prominent Turkish
corsair A corsair is a privateer or pirate, especially: * Barbary corsair, Ottoman and Berber pirates and privateers operating from North Africa * French corsairs, privateers operating on behalf of the French crown Corsair may also refer to: Arts and ...
, conquered
Gozo Gozo (, ), Maltese: ''Għawdex'' () and in antiquity known as Gaulos ( xpu, 𐤂𐤅𐤋, ; grc, Γαῦλος, Gaúlos), is an island in the Maltese archipelago in the Mediterranean Sea. The island is part of the Republic of Malta. After t ...
and enslaved all 5,000-6,000 of its inhabitants, bringing them to Tarhuna.


European colonialism

*Battle of El-Shqiqa: a memorial of the battle was erected on the site of the execution of its hero Ali Swidan Alhatmy in the city centre of Tarhuna, just opposite the Tarhuna mosque. *Battle of El-Akwam *Battle of El-Boirat


See also

* Tarhuna District *
Tarhuna Tarhuna (; ar, ترهونة), also Tarhoona or Tarhunah, is a Libyan town to the southeast of Tripoli, in the Murqub District. The city derives its name from that of its pre- Roman-era inhabitants, a Berber tribe. The city was known as al-Bo ...
*
Msallata Msallata (also Al Qasabat, Cussabat and El-Gusbát) is a town in the northwestern part of Libya, in the Murqub District. It has a population of nearly 24,000, and was historically a center of Islamic studies. It is also known for olive tree farmin ...


References

{{coord, 32.65, N, 13.5833, E, source:kolossus-dewiki, display=title Former districts of Libya