Small fort Henchir Temassine

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Small fort Henchir Temassine
Alternative name Ayn Temassine, Oued Temassine, Wadi Temassine, Henschir Temassine
limes Limes Tripolitanus
Type Quadriburgus
size 30 m × 25 m (= 0.08 ha)
Construction stone
State of preservation structural structures visible above ground
place Henchir Temassine
Geographical location Coordinates are missing! Help. Template: Infobox Limeskastell / Maintenance / Latitude missinghf
Previous Tebaga-Clausura
(rear Limes line) (southeast)
Small fort Benia Guedah Ceder
(rear Limes line) (southeast)
Subsequently Clausura Bir Oum Ali (northwest)
Upstream Small fort Henchir Mgarine
(rear Limes line) (west)

The small fort Henchir Temassine , also described under the names Ayn Temassine and Oued Temassine, is a Roman military camp of the Principate , whose crew was responsible for rear security and surveillance tasks on the Limes Tripolitanus in the Province of Tripolitania . The Limes here consisted of a deep system of forts and military posts. The small facility is located around 1500 meters south of the regional road P16 coming from Gabès between El Hamma and Kebili in Schott Fedjedj on the northern edge of the Djebel Tebaga in southern Tunisia , Gabès governorate .

Location and research history

The small fort (top left) in the Limes Tripolitanus network
Representation of the outer foundations of the small fort based on the photogrammetric record published in 1972

The plant was built in front of the northern edge of a large, west-east extended depression , which is dominated by a sedimentary basin with a salt lake . In the south rises the crescent-shaped anticline of the Djebel Tebaga , stretching from northeast to southwest . The Tebaga mountain ranges, which descend steeply to Schott Fedjedj, form a natural barrier. For the strategists entrusted with the Roman border security, the situation arose to set up suitable barrier systems to the south and north of the mountain formation in order to prevent enemy attacks on the economically important coastal imperial area. At the same time, effective controls should be given to legal and illegal trade. South of the Djebel Tebaga, the Tebaga-Clausura, an elaborate barrage made of walls, towers and ramparts, was built, from the end of which the entire bulkhead could be seen over the cliffs of the ridge. The small fort Henchir Temassine was built on the wadi of the same name almost exactly below the demolition edge with the clausura attached there. Signals could thus be sent from the fort location in the valley to the heights of the Tebaga and to the small fort Henchir Mgarine, which is also visible upstream . Henchir Temassine and Henchir Mgarine are located on the southern edge of the bulkhead on an important west-east running route that led from Turris Tamalleni (Telmine) via Aquae Tacapitanae (El Hamma) to the port of the trading center Colonia Tacapae (Gabès). Immediate securing of the salt lake was not seen as necessary, since all movements there could be seen from afar. Therefore only the roads leading to the south and north were secured with small forts and small barriers.

Due to the topographical and archaeological land development carried out by French colonial soldiers between 1903 and 1904, the fort site was first mentioned in a report by officer Paul Toussaint. The fort square became better known mainly due to a brief description by the French archaeologist Pol Trousset in 1974. Trousset had previously participated in a French-Algerian expedition to explore the Limes Tripolitanus .

Building history

The rectangular Quadriburgus with a side length of around 30 × 25 meters (0.08 hectares) was discovered around 1500 meters south of the road from Gabès to Telmine, according to Toussaint. At each of its four corners, the complex has a rectangular bastion protruding far from the wall structure. The only access is in the middle of the eastern flank. So far, no visible traces of interior work have been found inside. The spectrum of ceramics found directly at the garrison building is not very informative. However, indistinct ancient building structures could be observed on a hill around 200 meters northwest of the small fort, in the center of which there were many ceramic fragments on the surface. Here the fragments of two lamps from the 4th century and a large fragment of a bowl could be picked up. Traces of a small square structure can be found around 150 meters southwest of the fortification. The British archaeologist David J. Mattingly noted in 1994, looking at the previous findings, that this small fort has not yet been dated.

literature

  • Pol Trousset: Recherches sur le limes Tripolitanus, du Chott el-Djerid à la frontière tuniso-libyenne. (Etudes d'Antiquites africaines). Éditions du Center national de la recherche scientifique, Paris 1974, ISBN 2-222-01589-8 . P. 53.
  • David J. Mattingly : Tripolitania. University of Michigan Press, 1994, ISBN 0-472-10658-9 , p. 193.
  • PM Toussaint: Résumé des reconnaissances archéologiques exécutées par les officiers des brigades topographiques d'Algérie et de Tunisie pendant la campagne de 1903-1904 . In: Bulletin archéologique du comité des travaux historiques et scientifiques 1905, pp. 56–74; here: p. 69.

Remarks

  1. ↑ Michael Mackensen : forts and military posts of the late 2nd and 3rd centuries on the "Limes Tripolitanus" . In: Der Limes 2 (2010), pp. 20–24; here: p. 22.
  2. ^ Tebaga-Clausura, north-western end point at 33 ° 45 '10.7 "  N , 9 ° 32' 11.01"  E
  3. ^ Pol Trousset: Recherches sur le limes Tripolitanus, du Chott el-Djerid à la frontière tuniso-libyenne. (Etudes d'Antiquites africaines). Éditions du Center national de la recherche scientifique, Paris 1974, ISBN 2-222-01589-8 . P. 52.
  4. ^ Paul M. Toussaint: Résumé des reconnaissances archéologiques exécutées par les officiers des brigades topographiques d'Algérie et de Tunisie pendant la campagne de 1903-1904 . In: Bulletin archéologique du comité des travaux historiques et scientifiques 1905, pp. 56–74; here: p. 69.
  5. ^ A b Pol Trousset: Recherches sur le limes Tripolitanus, du Chott el-Djerid à la frontière tuniso-libyenne. (Etudes d'Antiquites africaines). Éditions du Center national de la recherche scientifique, Paris 1974, ISBN 2-222-01589-8 . P. 53.
  6. ^ David J. Mattingly : Tripolitania. University of Michigan Press, 1994, ISBN 0-472-10658-9 , p. 193.