![]() Thus, during Agathocles' expedition, which landed at Cape Bon in 310 BC, the town changed hands on various occasions. It was one of the first towns in the region to fall under Carthaginian control, and in the centuries that followed the settlement was mentioned in the military histories associated with Carthage. Situated on a hill, its location served as an excellent point from which the comings and goings of naval and caravan traffic to and from Carthage could be observed. The existence of settlements in and around the area of Tunis is attested by sources dating from the 4th century BC. The area was originally a Berber settlement. Not surprisingly, their accounts of Carthage are extremely hostile while there are a few Greek authors who took a favourable view, these works have been lost. Greek cities contended with Carthage over Sicily, and the Romans fought three wars against Carthage. These writers belonged to peoples in competition, and often in conflict, with Carthage. While there are a few ancient translations of Punic texts into Greek and Latin, as well as inscriptions on monuments and buildings discovered in Northwest Africa, the main sources are Greek and Roman historians, including Livy, Polybius, Appian, Cornelius Nepos, Silius Italicus, Plutarch, Dio Cassius, and Herodotus. Because its culture and records were destroyed by the Romans at the end of the Third Punic War, very few Carthaginian primary historical sources survive. The historical study of Carthage is problematic. Archaeological Site of Carthage UNESCO World Heritage Site Main articles: Carthage, Ancient Carthage, and History of Carthage Ruins of the Roman Baths of Antoninus in Carthage. As all of these Berber villages were situated on Roman roads, they undoubtedly served as rest-stations or stops. There are also some mentions in ancient Roman sources of such names of nearby towns as Tuniza (now El Kala), Thunusuda (now Sidi-Meskin), Thinissut (now Bir Bouregba), and Thunisa (now Ras Jebel). The term Tunis can possibly mean "camp at night", "camp", or "stop", or may have referred to as "the last stop before Carthage" by people who were journeying to Carthage by land. Īnother possibility is that it was derived from the Berber verbal root ens which means "to lie down" or "to pass the night". Some scholars claim that it originated from Tynes, which was mentioned by Diodorus Siculus and Polybius in the course of descriptions of a location resembling present-day Al-Kasbah, Tunis's old Berber village. Some scholars relate it to the Carthaginian goddess Tanith ('Tanit or Tanut), as many ancient cities were named after patron deities. All three variations were mentioned by the 12th-century Arab geographer Yaqut al-Hamawi in his Mu'jam al-Bûldan ( Dictionary of Countries).ĭifferent explanations exist for the origin of the name Tunis. Tunis is the transcription of the Arabic name تونس which can be pronounced as "Tūnus", "Tūnas", or "Tūnis". Further east by the sea lie the suburbs of Carthage, La Marsa, and Sidi Bou Said.Īs the capital of the country, Tunis is the focus of Tunisian political and administrative life and also the center of the country's commercial and cultural activities. East of the Medina, through the Sea Gate (also known as the Bab el Bhar and the Porte de France), begins the modern part of the city called "Ville Nouvelle", traversed by the grand Avenue Habib Bourguiba (often referred to by media and travel guides as "the Tunisian Champs-Élysées"), where the colonial-era buildings provide a clear contrast to smaller, older structures. At its core lies the Medina, a World Heritage Site. Situated on a large Mediterranean Sea gulf (the Gulf of Tunis), behind the Lake of Tunis and the port of La Goulette (Ḥalq il-Wād), the city extends along the coastal plain and the hills that surround it. As of 2020, it is the third-largest city in the Maghreb region (after Casablanca and Algiers) and the eleventh-largest in the Arab world. ![]() The greater metropolitan area of Tunis, often referred to as " Grand Tunis", has about 2,700,000 inhabitants. I'll leave you with quick glib quib about the year 1886 instead.Įx quib t, acceptum.Tunis ( Arabic: تونس Tūnis ⓘ) is the capital and largest city of Tunisia. I suppose the only remaining quib I have concerns the eternal nature of the coordinates. Public sector strikes - Wednesday 30 November 2011 David Cameron said the strike was a "damp quib".
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |