Tébessa or Tebessa ( ''Tibissa'', ''Tbessa'' or ''Tibesti''), the classical

Theveste Theveste was a Roman colony situated in what is now Tébessa, Algeria. History In 146 BC, the Romans conquered the region, where existed an old city called " Tbessa". Theveste was founded by the Romans in 75 AD near an old Berber village locat ...

, is the capital city of Tébessa Province in northeastern

Algeria Algeria, officially the People's Democratic Republic of Algeria, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It is bordered to Algeria–Tunisia border, the northeast by Tunisia; to Algeria–Libya border, the east by Libya; to Alger ...

, near the border with

Tunisia Tunisia, officially the Republic of Tunisia, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It is bordered by Algeria to the west and southwest, Libya to the southeast, and the Mediterranean Sea to the north and east. Tunisia also shares m ...

. It hosts several historical landmarks, the most important one being the wall that surrounds the city and its gates. The city is also known for its traditional Algerian carpets. Tébessa was home to over 190,000 people in 2007.

Name

Tebessa, written ' in French, was known to the

ancient Greeks Ancient Greece () was a northeastern Mediterranean civilization, existing from the Greek Dark Ages of the 12th–9th centuries BC to the end of classical antiquity (), that comprised a loose collection of culturally and linguistically re ...

as () or (, 'Hundred Gates'). This was Latinized as ''Theveste''.

History

In antiquity, Theveste formed part of the

Roman Republic The Roman Republic ( ) was the era of Ancient Rome, classical Roman civilisation beginning with Overthrow of the Roman monarchy, the overthrow of the Roman Kingdom (traditionally dated to 509 BC) and ending in 27 BC with the establis ...

. After the establishment of the

Roman Empire The Roman Empire ruled the Mediterranean and much of Europe, Western Asia and North Africa. The Roman people, Romans conquered most of this during the Roman Republic, Republic, and it was ruled by emperors following Octavian's assumption of ...

, the 3rd Augustan Legion was based in Theveste before being transferred to Lambaesis. Theveste later became a

Roman colony A Roman (: ) was originally a settlement of Roman citizens, establishing a Roman outpost in federated or conquered territory, for the purpose of securing it. Eventually, however, the term came to denote the highest status of a Roman city. It ...

, probably under

Trajan Trajan ( ; born Marcus Ulpius Traianus, 18 September 53) was a Roman emperor from AD 98 to 117, remembered as the second of the Five Good Emperors of the Nerva–Antonine dynasty. He was a philanthropic ruler and a successful soldier ...

in the early 2nd century. At the time of Trajan it was a flourishing city with around 30,000 inhabitants. The ruins surviving in present-day Tebessa are very rich in ancient monuments, among them being the Arch of Caracalla, Roman

triumphal arch A triumphal arch is a free-standing monumental structure in the shape of an archway with one or more arched passageways, often designed to span a road, and usually standing alone, unconnected to other buildings. In its simplest form, a triumphal ...

, a Roman temple, and a Christian

basilica In Ancient Roman architecture, a basilica (Greek Basiliké) was a large public building with multiple functions that was typically built alongside the town's forum. The basilica was in the Latin West equivalent to a stoa in the Greek Eas ...

of the 4th century. There is mention of a council held there by the

Donatist Donatism was a schism from the Catholic Church in the Archdiocese of Carthage from the fourth to the sixth centuries. Donatists argued that Christian clergy must be faultless for their ministry to be effective and their prayers and sacraments to ...

s. Among its saints were its bishop Lucius, who assisted at the 256 Council of Carthage and died as a martyr two years later; Maximilianus, martyred on 12 March 295; and Crispina, martyred on 5 December 304. Some of its other bishops are known:

Romulus Romulus (, ) was the legendary founder and first king of Rome. Various traditions attribute the establishment of many of Rome's oldest legal, political, religious, and social institutions to Romulus and his contemporaries. Although many of th ...

in 349; Urbicus in 411; Felix exiled by the

Vandals The Vandals were a Germanic people who were first reported in the written records as inhabitants of what is now Poland, during the period of the Roman Empire. Much later, in the fifth century, a group of Vandals led by kings established Vand ...

in 484; Palladius mentioned in an inscription. During the 4th and 5th centuries, Theveste was a hotbed of

Manichaeism Manichaeism (; in ; ) is an endangered former major world religion currently only practiced in China around Cao'an,R. van den Broek, Wouter J. Hanegraaff ''Gnosis and Hermeticism from Antiquity to Modern Times''. SUNY Press, 1998 p. 37 found ...

as well. In June 1918, a

Latin Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...

codex of 26 leaves written by the Manichaeans was discovered in a cave near the city. A month later, Henri Omont found its other 13 initial leaves. The whole book is now known as the Tebessa codex and is kept in

Cologne Cologne ( ; ; ) is the largest city of the States of Germany, German state of North Rhine-Westphalia and the List of cities in Germany by population, fourth-most populous city of Germany with nearly 1.1 million inhabitants in the city pr ...

. It has been edited by Markus Stein. Theveste was rebuilt and incorporated into

Byzantine North Africa Byzantine rule in North Africa spanned around 175 years. It began in the years 533/534 with the reconquest of territory formerly belonging to the Western Roman Empire by the Byzantine Empire, Eastern Roman (Byzantine) Empire under Justinian I and ...

by the patrician

Solomon Solomon (), also called Jedidiah, was the fourth monarch of the Kingdom of Israel (united monarchy), Kingdom of Israel and Judah, according to the Hebrew Bible. The successor of his father David, he is described as having been the penultimate ...

at the beginning of the reign of Justinian I. Solomon built his own tomb in Theveste, which still exists. In the 7th century, the

Muslim conquest The Muslim conquests, Muslim invasions, Islamic conquests, including Arab conquests, Arab Islamic conquests, also Iranian Muslim conquests, Turkic Muslim conquests etc. *Early Muslim conquests **Ridda Wars **Muslim conquest of Persia ***Muslim conq ...

reduced Theveste in importance but did not completely destroy it. In the 11th century,

Banu Hilal The Banu Hilal () was a confederation of Arab tribes from the Najd region of the central Arabian Peninsula that emigrated to the Maghreb region of North Africa in the 11th century. They ruled the Najd, and campaigned in the borderlands between I ...

, an

Arab Arabs (, , ; , , ) are an ethnic group mainly inhabiting the Arab world in West Asia and North Africa. A significant Arab diaspora is present in various parts of the world. Arabs have been in the Fertile Crescent for thousands of years ...

tribe originally living between the

Nile The Nile (also known as the Nile River or River Nile) is a major north-flowing river in northeastern Africa. It flows into the Mediterranean Sea. The Nile is the longest river in Africa. It has historically been considered the List of river sy ...

and

Red Sea The Red Sea is a sea inlet of the Indian Ocean, lying between Africa and Asia. Its connection to the ocean is in the south, through the Bab-el-Mandeb Strait and the Gulf of Aden. To its north lie the Sinai Peninsula, the Gulf of Aqaba, and th ...

, settled in

Tripolitania Tripolitania (), historically known as the Tripoli region, is a historic region and former province of Libya. The region had been settled since antiquity, first coming to prominence as part of the Carthaginian empire. Following the defeat ...

, and Constantinois (the area around Constantine and Tebessa). During the 16th century, the

Ottoman Empire The Ottoman Empire (), also called the Turkish Empire, was an empire, imperial realm that controlled much of Southeast Europe, West Asia, and North Africa from the 14th to early 20th centuries; it also controlled parts of southeastern Centr ...

established a small garrison of

Janissaries A janissary (, , ) was a member of the elite infantry units that formed the Ottoman sultan's household troops. They were the first modern standing army, and perhaps the first infantry force in the world to be equipped with firearms, adopted du ...

in Tebessa. In 1851, the town was occupied by the French. It became the capital of its canton, then an

arrondissement An arrondissement (, , ) is any of various administrative divisions of France, Belgium, Haiti, and certain other Francophone countries, as well as the Netherlands. Europe France The 101 French departments are divided into 342 ''arrondissem ...

of the department of Constantine in

. Later, its arrondissement was moved to the department of Bône. After Algerian independence, it became the capital of its own eponymous province.

Main sights

* Arch of Caracalla, a Roman

(AD 214). *Roman theater *Temple of Minerva (early 3rd century AD), with walls decorated by mosaics. *Amphitheatre (4th century AD) *Remains of the basilica of St. Crispina (4th century AD), one of the biggest in Africa. It was partially destroyed by

Berbers Berbers, or the Berber peoples, also known as Amazigh or Imazighen, are a diverse grouping of distinct ethnic groups indigenous to North Africa who predate the arrival of Arab migrations to the Maghreb, Arabs in the Maghreb. Their main connec ...

, and rebuilt in 535 by the

Byzantine The Byzantine Empire, also known as the Eastern Roman Empire, was the continuation of the Roman Empire centred on Constantinople during late antiquity and the Middle Ages. Having survived the events that caused the fall of the Western Roman E ...

general

. It has chapels, baptism urns, catacombs, and gardens, and a tessellated pavement. *Byzantine walls (6th century), popularly known as "Solomon's Walls" and flanked by thirteen square towers. *Archaeological museum.

Geography

Climate

Tébessa has a

humid subtropical climate A humid subtropical climate is a subtropical -temperate climate type, characterized by long and hot summers, and cool to mild winters. These climates normally lie on the southeast side of all continents (except Antarctica), generally between ...

(

Köppen climate classification The Köppen climate classification divides Earth climates into five main climate groups, with each group being divided based on patterns of seasonal precipitation and temperature. The five main groups are ''A'' (tropical), ''B'' (arid), ''C'' (te ...

''Cfa''), with hot, fairly dry summers and mild, somewhat wetter winters.

Economy

The city commands the entire southeastern region of eastern Algeria and is a key point on the Annaba - El Oued border axis. Tébessa Province has many phosphate mines, including the Djebel Onk mine. It also has several industrial units.

Transportation

Tébessa is connected by road and rail with the other parts of both Algeria and Tunisia. It is served by Tébessa Airport for air transport.

References

Citations

Bibliography

*Stein (M.) (ed.) ''Manichaica Latina 3.1. Codex Thevestinus'' (Papyrologica Coloniensia volume 27/3.1.) Paderborn, Munich, Vienna and Zurich: Ferdinand Schöningh, 2004, Pp. xx + 328. *Stein (M.) (ed.) ''Manichaica Latina 3.2. Codex Thevestinus'' (Papyrologica Coloniensia volume 27/3.2.) Paderborn, Munich, Vienna and Zurich: Ferdinand Schöningh, 2006, Pp. vi + 81, ills.

External links

*
Official site of Tebessa
* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Tebessa Roman sites in Algeria Communes of Tébessa Province Province seats of Algeria Roman amphitheaters in North Africa Roman legionary fortresses in Algeria Roman fortifications in Mauretania Caesariensis Cities in Algeria