Part 54

=Dougga= (about 1970 ft.), a poor Berber village on the S. margin of _Kef Dougga_, is the ancient _Thugga_, one of the oldest and most important places in the heart of Tunisia. The site of the ruins, which vie with those of Gightis (p. 392), is the most beautiful in the whole country. The name is of Berber origin (_thukka_, pasture). It appears to have been the seat of a Berber dynasty allied with Carthage. It then belonged successively to the Carthaginian dominions and to those of Masinissa (p. 321), and attained its prime about the end of the 2nd cent. A.D. The grand late-Roman ruins, partly excavated since 1891, the venerable olive-woods on Kef Dougga, and the view of the Oued Khalled valley and of the N. Tunisian hills, stretching far away to Jebel Zaghouan and Jebel Bou-Kornin (p. 363), combine to form a fascinating picture. On the N.W. horizon is _Jebel Gorra_ (3160 ft.), famed ever since ancient times for its lead and zinc mines.

Comp. ‘Thugga’, by _Dr. Carton_ (Tunis; 2½ fr.).

The old _Porte de l’Est_, where a branch of the Tebessa road ended, and the _Thermae_ near it are entirely ruined.

From that gate we walk along the S. slope of the hill to the *=Mausoleum= of a Berber prince (5th or 4th cent. B.C.), probably the oldest existing Punic-Libyan monument of the kind.

Built in the style of the Egyptian and Syrian tombs of kings, the mausoleum, originally about 55 ft. high, consisted of a pile of huge limestone blocks. The substructure, resting on a foundation of six steps, is adorned with narrow corner-pillars and three blind windows. The middle part, which is square, rises above three steps and has two portals flanked with Ionic mural columns and an Egyptian concave moulding instead of a cornice. Three more steps, once embellished at the angles with figures on horseback, bore a small pyramid crowned with the figure of a lion. The upper part was unfortunately destroyed in 1842 by natives employed by Sir T. Reade, with the bey’s permission, to remove the inscription in the Phœnician and the Libyan language, which is now in the British Museum. The monument, however, has been recently completely restored The tomb-chamber is probably underneath the monument.

Passing through the village, to the W., we come to the ruins of other _Thermae_ and the so-called _Dâr el-Acheb_, a Roman building of some kind, of which the steps and façade alone remain. We ascend thence to the N.E., past the foundations of _Roman Houses_, to the hill of the Capitol.

The *=Capitol= (comp. p. 288), the conspicuous landmark of Dougga, is one of the finest ruined temples in Tunisia, vying with the three temples of Sbeïtla (p. 371). It is a Corinthian pseudo-peripteros, with a lofty flight of eleven steps and a portico of six columns, 43 ft. high and 24 ft. deep, the whole consisting of great limestone blocks. The square cella, 15 by 14 yds., has been destroyed, with the exception of the portal and the stone-panelled back-wall, with its semicircular niche in the centre and two square side-niches for images. The inscription on the frieze of the portico, of the time of Marcus Aurelius (166–9 A.D.), names two citizens of Thugga as the founders. In the Byzantine period the temple formed the nucleus of the citadel.

The **=Roman Theatre=, on the hill-side a little to the E. of the Capitol, is not only the best-preserved in N. Africa but is unique in the richness and beauty of its embellishment. The twenty-five tiers of seats in the Cavea, or auditorium, are almost intact, except that the upper colonnade has fallen into the orchestra. The stage (pulpitum) still has the old pavement, the front-wall, articulated like similar structures in Algeria, and the superb rear wall, with its three niches and remains of rich columnar decoration. The founder of the building, as recorded by the inscription now lying on the ground, was the flamen perpetuus L. Marcius Quadratus.

Of the _Forum_ and of the street connecting it with the Capitol fragments of the pavement only have been unearthed.

The *=Temple of Cælestis=, in the olive-wood to the N.W. of the Capitol, is the strangest ruin at Dougga. The crescent-shaped court represents the half-moon, the symbol of the Punic goddess Tanit, or Astarte, whose name was Latinized in the Roman period.

The ruin stands on the hill-side, supported by huge substructures. The court terminated in a rectangular antechamber, 46 by 20 yds. The two entrances, with dedicatory inscriptions, lay at the sides, preceded by square chambers (or towers). The semicircular wall of the court (57 yds. in diameter), in concrete, is partly preserved. A large hall here, with two corner-pillars and twenty-three Corinthian columns, formed along with the antechamber the meeting-place of the congregation. The temple itself, in the centre of the court, which was probably planted with trees, was a rectangle of 18½ by 10½ yds., but its foundations alone survive. The flight of steps and the two semicircular apses at the back of the cella date from a restoration in the Byzantine period. The inscription names a wealthy citizen of the time of Alex. Severus as the founder (222–35).

We next walk through olive-wood to the E. to the _Roman Cisterns_, once fed by the partly preserved aqueduct of Aïn el-Hammam (S.W. of Dougga), and then, past the ancient N. gate of the town, the _Arch of Alexander Severus_, called by the Arabs _Bâb er-Rûmia_ (‘gate of the Christian woman’), to the ruins of the _Numidic Citadel_ and the _Roman Hippodrome_. Near this is the ancient _Berber Burial Ground_, containing several dolmens.

On the steep slope of a bare hill to the N.N.E. of the Theatre, and once no less conspicuous than the Capitol, was enthroned the =Temple of Saturn=, founded by a rich citizen in 195 A.D. The ruin probably stands on the site of a Punic temple of Baal Hâman. The peculiar ground-plan is reminiscent of the Phœnician temples, whose open colonnaded courts contained altars for burnt offerings.

The pronaos or vestibule, resembling a corridor, to which there was an approach at the S. end only, had a portico of four Corinthian columns facing the E., high above the Oued Khalled; but of all this there are but scanty traces. From the pronaos a small gate admitted into a quadrangle, paved with limestone slabs, and enclosed on three sides by Corinthian colonnades. On the W. side these were divided by partitions into three sections, forming ante-rooms to the three cellæ. The raised central cella, once railed in, was the chief shrine, richly adorned with wall-paintings and reliefs in stucco.

* * * * *

THE HIGH ROAD (FROM MEDJEZ EL-BAB) TO LE KEF, which is joined by the road from Teboursouk 3 M. to the S. of the latter, runs high above the Oued Khalled, and soon passes (32 M. from Medjez el-Bab) _Aïn-Hedja_ (about 1300 ft.), below the ruins of _Agbia_ (Byzantine fortress, etc.). Farther on, leaving the zinc-mines of _Jebel Fedj el-Adoum_ on one side, we traverse the hill-country to the N.W. of the _Plaine du Krib_ (p. 360).

38 M. _Aïn-Rharsalla_ (about 1600 ft.), below the Byzantine castle of _Aunobaris_. 39 M. _Kubba Sidi Abd er-Rehou_, not far from _Henchir Mest_, the ruins of _Mustis_ (including two arches on the Tebessa road, one being a triumphal arch of Gordian III.).

46 M. _Bordj Messaoudi_, a large caravanserai, with Friday market for the peasants of the Krib, adjoins the ruins of the small town of _Thacia_, near which the Roman road to Le Kef diverged from the road to Tebessa. We descend into the valley of the _Oued Tessa_, a tributary of the Oued Mellègue (p. 327), and then, on the N. slope of _Jebel Kebouch_ (2723 ft.), pass a _Roman Bridge_ and the ruins of _Ucubis_.

The road now skirts the _Dyr el-Kef_ (3570 ft.; ‘rock-plateau’), with its Poste Optique, and in the plain of _Bled Zafran_ (p. 360) joins the road from Maktar (p. 360) and, a little farther on, that from Souk el-Arba (p. 326).

70 M. _Le Kef_, see p. 360.

56. From Tunis to Le Kef and Kalaâ-Djerda.

FROM TUNIS TO LE KEF, 125½ M., railway, two trains daily in 8¼–9 hrs. (fares 22 fr. 60, 17 fr. 15, 12 fr. 10 c.); also local trains from Tunis to Pont-du-Fahs and Gaffour.—FROM TUNIS TO KALAÂ-DJERDA, 146 M., two trains daily in 10–11 hrs. (fares 26 fr. 30 c., 20 fr., 14 fr. 10 c.); also a local train between Gaffour and Kalaâ-Djerda.—Railway Restaurants at Gaffour and Les Salines only.

_Tunis_, see p. 329. Our line diverges, to the S.E., near Bab Alleoua (p. 339), from the Algeria and Bizerta line (RR. 51, 54) and skirts Lake Bahira below the _Zaouïa Sidi Bel-Hassen_ (p. 339).

2½ M. _Djebel-Djelloud_, close to the _Jebel Djelloud_ (138 ft.) is the junction for Susa (R. 57) and has railway-works, large quarries, and lime-kilns.

The train now runs to the N.E. to (5 M.) _Bir-Kassa_.

BRANCH LINE TO LA LAVERIE (17½ M. from Tunis, in ca. 1¾ hr.; 2 fr. 80, 2 fr. 10, 1 fr. 40 c.; many stops). Beyond (6 M. from Tunis) _Bordj-Gourbel_ the _Oued Miliane_ (p. 363) is crossed. On the right bank is the fertile, olive-clad _Plaine du Mornag_. 13 M. _Haut-Mornag-Crétéville_, at the S. base of _Jebel Bou-Kornin_ (p. 363). Crétéville lies on the road from Tunis to Grombalia (p. 364), near the grand _Khanguet el-Hadjadj_ (‘pilgrim-pass’), a deep ravine between Jebel Bou-Kornin and Jebel Ressas (see below), through which formerly passed the traffic between the interior and the harbours on the E. seaboard. In this defile, now clothed with vineyards, lay the little town of _Neferis_, which was destroyed by the Romans at the same time as Carthage. 17½ M. (from Tunis) _La Laverie_ (377 ft.) is a village of Italian miners, at the W. foot of _Jebel Ressas_ (2608 ft.; ‘lead-mountain’), where lead-mines were already worked in Roman times.

Beyond (8 M.) _Nassen_ we cross the Miliane. 12½ M. _Khledia._

15 M. =Oudna.= In the hill-country, ½ hr. to the S.E., is the large Ferme Ducroquet, situated among the ruins of _Uthina_, one of the wealthiest towns of N. Tunisia in the Roman age. Of the public buildings nothing remains but the _Cisterns_ and scanty traces of the _Theatre_ and _Amphitheatre_. Among the ruins of private houses is the _Palace of the Laberii_ (end of 3rd cent. A.D.), a fine specimen of a sumptuous African-Roman dwelling, with a large peristyle as its centre (comp. p. 290) and numerous mosaics (now mostly in the Bardo Museum). The adjoining Balineum (baths) was long used, from the 5th cent. onwards, as a potter’s workshop. Fine view from the highest hill (407 ft.); on a lower hill is a _Byzantine Fortress_.

Beyond Oudna the line intersects the Roman *_Aqueduct of Carthage_ (p. 359), in a landscape bright with flowers in spring.

17½ M. _Bou er-Rébia_, on the Tunis and Zaghouan road (p. 359).

22½ M. _Djebel-Oust_ lies at the N. base of _Jebel Oust_ (1800 ft.), on which are noteworthy remains of two large piscinæ, Roman irrigation-works, and marble quarries, worked since ancient times.

30½ M. _Smindja_ or _Depienne_ (450 ft.), a village of ‘colonists’ in the _Plaine de Smindja_, a dale, containing numerous ruins, at the foot of the Zaghouan hills.

BRANCH LINE TO ZAGHOUAN (8 M., in ½ hr.; fares 1 fr. 45, 1 fr. 10 c., 75 c.; return-ticket from Tunis 9 fr. 75, 7 fr. 35, 5 fr. 20 c.). At _Moghrane_ (525 ft.), the only intermediate station, the two Roman aqueducts and the modern conduits (p. 339) from Jebel Zaghouan and Jebel Djouggar unite.

The ROAD FROM TUNIS TO ZAGHOUAN (34½ M.) leads past the _Abattoirs_ (beyond Pl. E, 7) and the _Sebkha es-Sedjoumi_ (p. 332) to (8 M.) _La Mohamédia_, a poor village, with the decayed residence of Ahmed Bey (p. 344). It crosses the Oued Miliane near the arches of the Roman aqueduct, here 66 ft. high, and beyond _Bou er-Rébia_ (p. 358) leads along the E. slope of Jebel Oust to (34½ M.) Zaghouan. A branch of the road from La Mohamédia, passing _Oudna_ (p. 358), also leads to Zaghouan.

=Zaghouan= (821 ft.; Hôt. de France, déj. 3 fr., plain but quite good, orders should be given in advance; pop. 1200, incl. 530 Europeans, mostly Ital.), Arab. _Zaghwân_, a charming place, specially in spring, lies amidst olives, oranges, and cypresses on a terrace at the foot of Jebel Zaghouan (see below), ¼ hr. above the station. The Roman _Triumphal Arch_, at the entrance to the village, is the sole relic of the small town of _Onellana_ (_?_); the columns of the nymphæum now adorn the _Chief Mosque_.

We may thence walk in ½ hr. to the _Prise d’Eau_ (902 ft.), the reservoir of the new conduit which supplies both Zaghouan and Tunis with water from the _Aïn Ayed_. The direct route leads from the station past the barracks of the tirailleurs; or we may follow a rough but romantic path from the little town, through a secluded valley, where numerous nightingales nest among the oleander-bushes by the bed of the stream. From the Prise d’Eau a rocky path leads to the S.W. to the (12 min.) *NYMPHÆUM (_Temple des Eaux_; Arabic _Henchir Aïn-Kasba_, ‘ruined castle of the fountain’), the well-house of the Carthage aqueduct (p. 348), shaded by groups of splendid old trees. Near the basin are two flights of steps leading to the semicircle of the fountain-shrine, with its colonnade, twenty-four empty niches for statues, and a domed central chamber, the ante-room of the cella.

*=Jebel Zaghouan= (4245 ft.), the ancient _Mons Ziquensis_, the finest mountain in Tunisia, offers from the summit, called _Râs el-Kasa_, a superb panorama of the greater part of N. Tunisia and of the E. coast as far as Susa. It is ascended from the Nymphæum path in 4 hrs., past the kubba of _Sidi Sala Bou-Ghobrin_ (2264 ft.) and the zinc-mines (with their humble canteen), and lastly by rough and toilsome paths. Less extensive, but also very grand, is the view near the _Poste Optique_ (3199 ft.), 2 hrs. above the Prise d’Eau (bridle-path; mule 2–3 fr.).

Our train, running to the S.W. with a fine view of Jebel Zaghouan on the left, now intersects the Smindja plain and reaches the _Fahs er-Riah_, the fertile upper basin of the valley of the Oued Miliane, which is here formed by the _Oued Jarabia_ and the _Oued el-Kébir_. Its inhabitants are of the Riah tribe, descendants of the Beni Hilal (p. 323).

40 M. _Pont-du-Fahs_ (574 ft.). The village (Hôt. Calega, poor), occupied by immigrants, lies ½ hr. to the N.E., on the left bank of the Miliane. Behind it, on the spurs of _Jebel Djaffar_ (1185 ft.), are the extensive ruins of _Henchir-Kasbat_ (702 ft.), the ancient _Thuburbo Majus_; in the forum are two ruined temples, one of them, dedicated to Mercury, dating from 211 A.D.; there are also triumphal arches, thermæ, and a Byzantine fortress.

On the right rises the curiously shaped _Jebel Klab_ (1204 ft.). We cross the Oued el-Kébir and run to the W. through the Jarabia valley to (48½ M.) _Tarf ech-Chena_, 3 M. to the N.W. of _Apisa Majus_. Farther on almost the only habitations visible are the tents and gourbis (twig-huts) of nomadic tribes.

Beyond (55½ M.) _Bou-Arada_ we cross the watershed between the Oued Miliane and the _Oued Siliana_ (p. 354).

65 M. _El-Aroussa_, station for _Ksar Hellal_, which has an early-Christian chapel of trefoil form. 70 M. _Sidi-Ayed_, on the Oued Siliana. We then ascend the winding valley to the S.W.

75 M. =Gaffour= (about 1080 ft.; Rail. Restaurant, with rooms), with its railway-works, is the station for the large estate of the Société Foncière de Tunisie, 72,500 acres in area, where extensive corn-fields are seen in spring. From Gaffour a road, tolerably fit for driving in dry weather, leads over _Jebel Sidi Abdalla Ben-Cheid_ (2070 ft.) to _Teboursouk_ (Dougga; comp. p. 354).

82 M. _El-Akhouat_, in the valley of the _Oued Soufi_, near the zinc-mines on _Jebel el-Akhouat_ (2061 ft.); 86½ M. _Le Krib_, on the S. edge of the fertile _Plaine du Krib_.

93 M. _Sidi Bou-Rouis_, on the _Oued Tessa_ (p. 357), which here forms a wide bend to the E. round _Jebel Maïza_ (2920 ft.). To the left rises the chain of _Jebel Massouge_ (3019 ft.). 103 M. _Le Sers_, on the N. margin of the broad dale of that name (Arabic _Bled es-Sers_), one of the most fertile inland districts in Tunisia.

106 M. =Les Salines= (Rail. Restaurant), junction for Kalaâ-Djerda (see p. 361), lies on the highroad from Le Kef to Souk et-Tléta and on a rough road to (19 M.) Maktar.

=Maktar= (3117 ft.; inn), the _Maktarium_ of the Libyans and the _Ælia Aurelia Augusta Mactaris_ of the Romans, to the W. of the richly wooded _Hammada Kessera_, is now a small village of ‘colonists’ with a fortified bordj (Contrôle Civil; containing an epigraphical collection), and is the administrative centre for the district of the Ouled Aoun and Ouled Ayar. Extensive orchards and Sunday market. Among the antiquities are numerous dolmens, Roman ruins (arch of Trajan of 116 A.D., mausolea, an aqueduct, etc.), and an early-Christian basilica.

The train next ascends to the N.W., between Jebel Maïza, on the right, and _Jebel Lorbeus_ (2641 ft.), on the left, and crosses the _Oued Lorbeus_, up whose valley once lay the Roman _Lares_, later _Lorbeus_, a small town destroyed in 1048 by the Hilalides (p. 323).—118 M. _Zafran_, on the spurs of _Jebel Zafran_. Traversing the bleak mountain plain of _Bled Zafran_ we soon have a fine view of Le Kef and the barren _Dyr el-Kef_ (p. 357).

125½ M. =Le Kef= (2477 ft.; Hôt. Dalban, Milano, etc., very plain; pop. 7000, incl. 1400 Europeans, 900 of them Italians), superbly situated near an abrupt rocky slope, the S.W. spur of Dyr el-Kef, was down to modern times the chief town in W. Tunisia. In its earliest period it was famed for its temple of Astarte. After the first Punic war the discontented mercenaries (p. 332) were banished hither. Under Augustus the town became a Roman colony named _Sicca_, with the cognomen of _Veneria_ derived from its temple of Venus. Under the later Roman empire it was of great strategic importance, lying at the junction of the roads to Thacia (p. 357), Theveste (Tebessa), Thagaste (p. 313), and Simitthu (p. 326); by the Arabs it was even regarded as the key of Algeria. During the Turkish period fierce battles were fought under its walls (in 1694, 1705, and 1807) between the beys of Tunisia and Algeria, and during the French advance in 1881 Le Kef was hardly a less important objective than Tunis itself. Since then the mosques have been open to visitors (tickets at the Contrôle Civil).

From the station (omnibus) we ascend through the new European quarter, with its red-tiled roofs, to (20 min.) the Boulevard de Tunis, once the rampart on the N.W. side of the town, where we have an extensive view. The only Roman ruins are the basin of _Aïn el-Kef_ and the _Thermae_ at the W. angle of the old town.

The old town, still enclosed on three sides by the mouldering Turkish wall, consists of narrow and irregular streets built partly out of Roman and Byzantine ruins. The old _Dâr el-Bey_ is now the Hôtel de Ville. The _Chief Mosque_ (Djamâa el-Kebîra) is built into the ruins of an early-Christian basilica (?).

The early-Christian *CHURCH OF ST. PETER (Arabic _Dâr el-Kuss_) was a small columnar basilica of the early 5th cent, with nave and aisles (23 by 10½ yds.); but the narthex (vestibule, now used as a church) and the fine choir-recess have alone been left standing. Many Roman sculptures, mostly from a temple, have been built into the walls of the aisles, which were originally vaulted. The nave, which once had a timber roof, retains relics of its old mosaic pavement.

The zaouïa of _Sidi Kaddour el-Mizouni_, one of the three largest Tunisian establishments of the widely diffused Mohammedan brotherhood of the Kadria (p. 183), enjoys a high reputation. The zaouïa of _Sidi Salah ben-Aïssa_, belonging to the Rahmania, contains a fine modern cenotaph of the saint.

Steep lanes and passages in steps connect the old town with the Turkish _Kasba_ (now barracks).

Outside the town is a third early-Christian church, the so-called _Kasr el-Ghûla_ (‘castle of ghosts’). The _Roman Cisterns_ to the N. of the Kasba are still used.

From Le Kef to _Souk el-Arba_, see p. 326; to _Tunis_, see R. 55.

* * * * *

The RAILWAY TO KALAÂ-DJERDA runs to the S.W. from Les Salines (p. 360) through the pass of _Khanguet Fras_ to (112 M. from Tunis) _Les Zouarines_, in the plain of the _Bled Zouarine_.

119 M. _Ebba-Ksour_ is the station for the ruins of _Ebba_, the _Obba_ of the Carthaginians and Romans, destroyed by the Hilalides (p. 323) in 1048, and for the village of _Ksour_ (2164 ft.), on the N. edge of the rocky upland plain of _Ouartane_, the site of a Libyan-Phœnician town.

We cross the _Oued Medeïna_ below the ruins of _Medeïna_, the Roman _Althiburus_ (with theatre, capitol, triumphal arch, etc.). 125 M. _Aïn-Mesria_; 128½ M. _Fedj el-Tameur_, junction for (19½ M.) the mines of _Slata_.

The train next passes over the saddle between the lofty plateau of _Khremensa_, rich in phosphates, on the right, and _Jebel Ayata_ (3480 ft.), on the left, and then descends past _Jebel Zrissa_, on the right, with its iron-mines, into the valley of the _Oued Sarrath_, the chief feeder of the Oued Mellègue (p. 327).

138½ M. _Oued-Sarrath_ (ca. 1900 ft.), on the right bank.

BRANCH LINE from Oued-Sarrath (18½ M., in 1¼–1¾ hr.) down the left bank of the Sarrath viâ _Majouba_ to =Kalaât es-Senam= (Hôt. de Jugurtha), the station for the great phosphate deposits of the Comp. des Phosphates du Dyr on the _Jebel Kalaât es-Senam_ (4111 ft.). The top of the huge mountain, conspicuous far and wide, consists of a tableland, occupied by a deserted Berber village and an old Byzantine fort, accessible only by steep paths with steps.

The train skirts the Sarrath and then ascends the side-valley of _Oued Haidra_. On the left, _Jebel Bou el-Hanèche_ (4040 ft.).

146 M. =Kalaâ-Djerda= (about 2130 ft.; hotel), near the rich phosphate mines of an Italian company on the hills of that name (2886 ft.).