Chapter XXI: Sbeitla

The modern name of Sbeitla, like so many others in Tunis, is simply an Arab corruption of the ancient one, Sufetula. That, again, is probably a diminutive of Sufes, the modern Sbiba. Though originally smaller than Sufes, it soon became a place of very much greater importance. No city in Africa possessed finer specimens of architecture, and even as late as the Arab invasion it continued to be one of the most considerable cities in Byzacene, and the centre whence all the roads leading through the country radiated. Bruce is of opinion that the name is derived from the Suffetes, a magistrature in all countries dependent on Carthage. Sbeitla is the scene of the romantic account given by several Arab writers, amongst others En-Nowairi, of the first great and disastrous encounter between Christianity and Mohammedanism in North Africa. The story is certainly apocryphal in some of its details, though the main facts are probably accurate.[146]

In the twenty-seventh year of the Hedgira (A.D. 647) the Khalifa Othman determined to effect the conquest of Africa, and on the arrival of the Arab army in Egypt a detachment was sent on to Tripoli.

The Patrician Gregorius, as Theophanes calls him, was at this time Exarch or governor of Africa. He had been originally appointed by Heraclius, Emperor of the East, whose father had held the same office, and who himself had started from Africa on the expedition which resulted in the overthrow of the Emperor Phocas and his own elevation to the purple. Gregorius subsequently revolted from the Byzantine empire, and by the aid of the native Africans made himself Tyrannus, or independent sovereign of the province. Ibn Khaldoun says that his authority extended from Tripoli to Tangiers, and that he made Sbeitla his capital.[147]

The command of the expedition was given to the brother of the Khalifa, Abdulla ibn Saad, under whose orders were placed the _élite_ of the Arab troops, to whom were added 20,000 Egyptians. The number of the whole force did not certainly exceed 40,000 men. On entering the country occupied by the Romans the Arab general sent on a detachment to Tripoli commanded by Ez-Zohri. On their arrival before the city they found it too strong to be carried by assault, and they continued their march to Gabes.

A message was sent to Gregorius offering him the usual conditions—to embrace Islamism or to accept the payment of tribute, both of which he indignantly refused. The invaders continued their march till they met the Byzantine army on the plain of _Acouba_, situated about a day and a night’s march from Sbeitla.

The army of Gregorius is said to have numbered 120,000 men, but this immense multitude was probably composed of naked and disorderly Moors or Africans, amongst whom the regular bands of the Empire must have been nearly lost.

For several days the two armies were engaged from dawn of day till the hour of noon, when fatigue and the excessive heat obliged them to seek shelter in their respective camps.

The daughter of Gregorius, a maiden of incomparable beauty, fought by her father’s side; and her hand, with 100,000 dinars, was offered to whomsoever should slay Abdulla ibn Saad. The latter retaliated by offering the daughter of Gregorius and 100,000 dinars to anyone who would slay the Christian prince, her father. The combatants had been in the habit of discontinuing the battle every day at noon, but on one occasion, the Mohammedan leader, having kept a considerable portion of his troops concealed and in reserve, recommenced the action with these at midday, and utterly defeated the Christian force. Gregorius and a vast number of his followers were killed, the camp was pillaged, and the beautiful daughter of the prince was captured and allotted to Ibn ez-Zobeir, who had slain her father. Ibn Saad next lay siege to Sbeitla, which was speedily taken and destroyed. The booty found here was so great that every horseman got 3,000 dinars and every foot-soldier 1,000!

Even before this time Christianity had begun to decline; henceforth it almost immediately ceased to exist. Gibbon remarks, ‘The northern coast of Africa is the only land, in which the light of the Gospel after a long and perfect establishment has been totally extinguished. The arts, which had been taught by Carthage and Rome, were involved in the cloud of ignorance, and the doctrines of Cyprian and Augustine ceased to be studied. Five hundred episcopal churches were overturned by the hostile fury of the Donatists, the Vandals and the Moors. The zeal and number of the clergy declined, and the people, without discipline or knowledge or hope, submissively sank under the yoke of the Arabian prophet. Within fifty years from the expulsion of the Greeks, Abdoul Rahman, Governor of Africa, wrote to the Caliph Abdoul Abbas, the first of the Abbassides, that the tribute of the infidels was abolished by their conversion. In the next age, A.D. 837, an extraordinary mission of five bishops was sent from Alexandria to Cairoan by the Jacobite patriarch to revive the dying embers of Christianity; but the interposition of a foreign prelate, an enemy to the Catholics and a stranger to the Latins, supposes the decay and dissolution of the African hierarchy. In the eleventh century, A.D. 1053-1076, the unfortunate priest, who was seated on the ruins of Carthage, implored the protection of the Vatican; and he bitterly complains that his naked body had been scourged by the Saracens. Two epistles of Gregory VII. are destined to soothe the distress of the Catholics and the pride of a Moorish prince; but the complaint, that three bishops could not be found to consecrate a brother, announces the speedy and inevitable ruin of the episcopal order. About the middle of the twelfth century, the worship of Christ and the succession of pastors was abolished along the whole coast of Barbary.’[148]

Shaw observes that Sbeitla is situated on a rising ground, shaded all over with juniper-trees.[149] Bruce says that it is surrounded above by a wood of _white firs_, by which he means the _Pinus haleppensis_, from which the inhabitants made pitch; and he remarks that Dr. Shaw has called them juniper-trees by mistake. Desfontaines, the well-known botanist, visited the place in 1783 and noticed both the Aleppo pine and the _Juniperus macrocarpa_.[150] At present not a tree or a bush is to be seen on the wide plain as far as the eye can range; the inhabitants have disappeared almost as completely as the pitch they once made; and the traveller may sleep in peace amongst the ruins, without any dread of the Oulad Amran—who twice attempted to surprise Bruce’s camp at night, and whom he described as ‘the greatest robbers and assassins in the kingdom of Tunis’—or of the lions, who ‘greatly incommoded’ him, and ‘who came to the door of the tent, and afterwards fell upon the neighbouring dowar.’

One of the most remarkable features of this part of the country, and which evidently led to its selection as the site of the ancient city, is its excellent water-supply. To the north of Sbeitla two ranges of hills diverge to the north-east and the north-west. Several streams flowing in a south-easterly direction drain this district and eventually become the Oued Djilma. One of these is the Oued Sbeitla, which in the first part of its course flows through a deep and narrow ravine, but as it emerges into the plain, the soil of which is extremely absorbent, the water becomes lost in the sand.

In the neighbourhood of Sbeitla the bed of the river is of compact limestone; on either side of it numerous tepid springs are seen bubbling up from the earth, accompanied by free carbonic acid gas. These unite into one stream of volume sufficient to supply an immense city, quite as large as the famous fountain of Zaghouan, and for more than a mile it thus flows in a clear and beautiful stream, never dry even in the hottest part of summer.

We observed numbers of small fish, probably barbel, and a large water-snake of a pale brown colour spotted with yellow; it was probably not venomous, but, even if it had been, its presence would not have deterred us from revelling in the delicious coolness of the stream after our long and arduous journey from Djebel Trozza. The temperature of this stream is just high enough to make it slightly warm in winter, but quite sufficiently cool in summer.

Roughly-built aqueducts brought the upper waters of this river along either bank into the city; that on the left bank crossed by a bridge of three arches, evidently of comparatively modern construction. It is of rubble masonry with conical buttresses to the right and left of the central arch, through which alone the stream flows, and on both façades of it. The piers of the arch are strengthened with three upright courses or bonds of cut stone on each side, evidently from older buildings; in one is a cippus of white marble containing the following inscription:—

M . AELIO AV

RELLIO[151] VERO

CAES. COS. II

IMP. CAES. T. AE

L. HADRIANI

ANTONINI AVG

PII. PP. T. DD. PP.

The bridge apparently served both as an aqueduct and a viaduct.

The existence of this river induced the late Sidi Mustafa ben Azooz, of Nefta, to endeavour to found a city here about ten years ago. He sent his son-in-law, Sidi Ahmed bin Abd-el-Melek of Siliana, to commence the necessary buildings. One very large house was commenced and even part of it roofed in, but the experiment proved a failure, no one could be induced to live here; so the building and the restoration of the aqueduct was abandoned, and now, save by a few wandering Arabs who come to pasture their flocks amongst the ruins, and wash their wool at the stream, the country is uninhabited.

Since the last Algerian insurrection a douar of Nememchas, who were then compromised and fear to return to their homes, have fixed their abode in the vicinity.

Had nothing but failure resulted from the experiment of Sidi Ahmed, it would have been a matter of small regret, but he drew his building materials, stone, and lime, in the most wanton manner, from amongst the ruins.

Squared stones all ready to his hand, and smaller ones to burn into lime, exist in abundance in every direction, but he seems to have had a decided preference for all the most exquisite morsels of sculpture that he could find. The court of the temples is full of fragments of capitals, cornices, and architraves, every one a gem, which he has thus ruthlessly broken up, and some of those yet unbroken have mineholes drilled in them ready for explosion. The fine paved road leading from the upper triumphal arch, which was tolerably complete when Guérin visited Sbeitla, is now almost annihilated; enough only remains to show its original size and direction. The fragments of slabs, broken up and ready to be calcined, still remain in heaps on the spot. In one of the walls of his house is an inscription placed upside-down, in the peculiar character which marks the Byzantine period. It has been chiselled over again, so that the first line is hardly legible, and it is almost impossible, in some cases, to distinguish between the L, I, and T. It is as follows:—

CRVITOMMVN. . . A . EPC . T

ALFEQVE POMPEIAEIOCAT

LF . AMEN HOC DOLORIBVS

LACRIMIS QIAVEAMCRID{HD}H

ATNVNCVIDENDOIVCITER .

EIFLEIVMEIGEMIIVS INTECRAI

Bruce has illustrated the three temples, with the monumental entrance to the inclosure, in ten sheets.

1. An admirable Indian-ink perspective drawing of the triumphal arch forming the entrance to the inclosure, exhibiting part of the façades of the composite and left-hand Corinthian temples (Plate XIV.)

2. A similar view of the back of the three temples (Plate XV.)

3. An enlarged finished Indian-ink drawing of back of composite temple.

4. A similar view of back of left Corinthian temple (_i.e._ that on the left hand of spectator, looking through the arch).

5. A front view of right Corinthian temple, in the same style. All these are happily without accessories of any kind.

6. A very slight pencil sketch, showing plan and a few dimensions of the temple area.

7. Drawing in pencil of plan, and details of entrance gateway.

8, 9, 10. Pencil details of the composite order. Bruce, in allusion to these, says:—

[There is] a beautiful and perfect capital of the composite order, the only entire one which now exists. It is designed in all its parts, and, with the detail of the rest of the ruin, is a precious monument of what that order was, now in the collection of the King. . . . I recommend the study of the composite capital, as of the Corinthian capital at Dougga, to those who really wish to know the taste, with which these orders were executed in the time of the Antonines.

The form and disposition of the ancient city are still perfectly apparent, and many of the streets can be traced from one side to the other. There do not appear to have been any defensive works, properly so-called, although the temple area has been used as a fortress at a late period of its history, probably at the time of the Arab conquest.

To the south of the town is a triumphal arch, which Shaw and several succeeding writers have confounded with that of the temple area. It appears to have been erected during the reign, or in memory, of Constantine, A.D. 305-306, as it bears not only his name but that of Maximian, by whom he was adopted.

Although it has but one opening, and is of smaller dimensions than that of the hieron of the three temples, it is in some respects of a richer composition.

The four columns of the Corinthian order, that decorate its principal façade, are not fluted, and instead of being half-engaged were entirely isolated from the walls. All these columns have now fallen down, and lie in fragments at the base of the monument. There is a square niche on either side of the gateway between the pairs of columns. The entablature was surmounted by an attic, the cornice and base of which are still perfectly recognisable. As is generally the case in African monuments of a late date, the arch is without archivolt. The impost turns all round the building and under the arch, except on the faces of the jambs occupied by the square niches, which are situated equally above and below the level of the impost.

On the frieze of that side of the gate which looks towards the country is the following inscription copied by Bruce:—

DDD . . . N . ER . . VIS . IMP . PE . . . . . . . . . . . . .

INVICTIS . AVG . ITEMQVE . CONSTANTIO . MAXIMIANO . . .

LISSIMIS . CAESARIBVS . DN . . . AVGVSTO . . . . . . . . .

ISTIC . IN . PROVINCIA . SVA . M . TVTOS . . . . . . . . .

The total length of the monument, according to M. Guérin, is 10·35 mètres, the opening of the arch 5·70 mètres, and the height to the keystone about 7 mètres.[152] We did not ourselves verify these measurements. Bruce has made no drawing of this building.

The most important of the ruins of Sbeitla is the hieron enclosing three semi-attached temples, the central one being of the composite order, and that on either side Corinthian; the whole, however, forms one composition or design. Shaw has given figures of these temples, which are described by Bruce as ‘in a style much like what one would expect from an ordinary carpenter or mason,’ and adds the remark that he hopes he has done them more justice.

This no one will dispute. The two illustrations selected are done with a conscientiousness and ability, which could not be surpassed, and they are accompanied by none of the accessories which disfigure some of his highly finished drawings. It is to be regretted, however, that he has shown the three temples as an isolated block of buildings, instead of indicating the manner in which they were joined to the general enclosure of the sacred ground. The back wall of the hieron was formed by the rear of the temples themselves, and a prolongation on each side of the line thus formed; on this the two side walls abut, while the front side is opened by a splendid triumphal arch dedicated to Antoninus Pius, and bearing, as is usual in similar inscriptions, the name of his adoptive father Hadrian, as well as that of Nerva.

This monument has not in the slightest degree deteriorated since it was drawn by Bruce. A careful examination of it with the photograph taken by my companion does not enable me to detect the slightest difference, except that the broken column to the right of the arch has now disappeared; even the four stones which remain in the second course of the attic are now exactly as they were.

It is composed of a large central arch and a small one on either side. Four unfluted Corinthian columns, with a complete entablature, envelop these three arches. The impost of the principal arch goes round the building, but stops short of the columns, which project beyond it. The heads of the lateral arches are below this line, and between it and the entablature are square-headed niches, slightly recessed. The entablature is complete in three parts, architrave, frieze, and cornice, and was surmounted by an attic, two courses of which remain, but the crowning moulding has disappeared.

On the frieze above the principal gate is the following inscription:—

. . . . IVI . HADRIANI ANTONINI

. . . DIVI . NERVAE . PRONEP . . . . R

. . . INO . . . . PONT.MAX.T . . . . II.P.P.[152]

Above one of the lateral arches is the following:—

IMP . . . . .

. . . . . . .

NI . ANTONI

NI . AVG. PII

P.P. F.D.D. P.P.[153]

Above the corresponding arch on the other side was a third inscription, now quite illegible. This is probably the one recorded by Shaw,[154] bearing the ancient name of the city, and which, he says, existed on the architrave of the building. There is every reason, however, to believe that Shaw never visited Sbeitla at all, but appropriated the information he received from Peyssonnel, who gives the same inscription, which he found ‘à côté _d’une des portes_ de la ville.’

It ran thus:—

IMP. CAESAR AVG

. . . . . . . . . . . . .

. . . . . . . . . . . . .

SVFFETVLENTIVM

HANC EDIFICAVERVNT

ET DD. PP.[155]

In Shaw’s copy the letters ONIN occur in the second line, which do not exist in Peyssonnel’s, owing no doubt to a typographical error on the part of his editor.

Dr. Louis Frank, who copied the same inscription, gives the word ANTONIN at greater length.[156]

In addition to the principal gate there were large arched openings on the west and east sides, not placed symmetrically; the west one being further from the temples themselves than that on the east. Within the inclosure, and exactly opposite the gate, are the three temples, which have been very accurately described by Sir Grenville Temple, and as he was the first to publish anything like a detailed description of them, I feel that I ought to quote his own words:—

‘The three temples occupy, or rather form, the north-western façade (or side) of an enclosed square, or court, measuring two hundred and forty feet, by two hundred and twenty-nine. The centre one of these temples is of the composite order, and in length, including the portico, sixty-one feet nine inches; that of the _cella_ itself is forty-four feet, leaving seventeen feet nine inches for the pronaos, which, like those of the others, has been destroyed; the breadth of this temple is thirty-three feet nine inches. The _cellæ_ of the two flank temples measure forty feet eight inches by thirty; but as the sites of the porticos are much encumbered with their ruins, I could not well ascertain to what extent they projected. These outward or flanking temples are both of the Corinthian order. The roofs have all fallen in, as have also the porticos and façades. The lateral temples had four columns in front, and six pilasters along the sides; those of the centre one being round attached columns, and of the others square; the shafts of the columns of the centre temple are twenty-three feet three inches long, by nine feet six inches in circumference, and the height of the capital is three feet three inches.

‘One of these temples, judging from its ornaments, seems to have been dedicated to Bacchus. The ornaments of all of them are very rich and of excellent execution. Whatever inscriptions these temples may have borne are now buried under the ruins of the porticos, and the columns and stones were much too large to be removed, at least with the means at my disposal.’[157]

J. LEITCH &. Co. Sc.

ENTRANCE TO HIERON OF TEMPLES AT SUFFETULA (SBEITLA)

FAC SIMILE OF INDIAN INK DRAWING BY BRUCE.

HENRY S. KING Co. LONDON.]

J. LEITCH &. Co. Sc.

BACK OF TEMPLES AT SUFFETULA (SBEITLA)

FAC-SIMILE OF INDIAN INK DRAWING BY BRUCE.

HENRY S. KING Co. LONDON.]

It may be added that the porticos are raised upon a lofty stylobate, which runs all round the three temples. The front walls that connect the central temple to those on either side, and which rise no higher than the base of the columns, are arched, the voussoirs being flat at the top; this may possibly indicate the existence of vaults, which are hid in the débris lying around.

A peculiarity of the central temple is worthy of notice, as showing the Roman origin of a very common feature in sacred mediæval architecture. A stone lintel traverses the opening of the arch, the ends of it forming the first voussoir on either side.

The hieron was paved with magnificent blocks of stone, some of which are seven feet six inches long by thirty-one-and-a-half inches broad; below was a foundation, six feet deep, of concrete, formed of lime, stones and broken pottery.

In its original condition it appears to have had a colonnade or small apartments round the inside, as is attested not only by the projecting stones in the masonry, but by the foundations of the rooms themselves. These had windows or doors leading to the exterior as well as the interior, square apertures with _flat arches_, of which seven can still be traced on the west side, filled up with masonry.

The dimensions given by Bruce are as follows:—

Ft. in. lines.

Length of hieron 238 0 0

Breadth of ditto 195 1 6

Total breadth of entrance gateway 33 0 0

Width of central arch 10 3 6

„ lateral arches 5 0 0

Diameter of columns 1 8 0

Depth of gateway 3 3 0

Total height of columns 16 9 0

Within the inclosure, and to the left of the temples, looking towards them, were two buildings evidently of a later period. One has a round-headed window opening towards the north, and the other a semicircular apse; this was probably a Christian basilica. A number of columns are still standing upright within the inclosure; these probably belonged to the original structure, but were put in their present position at some subsequent period. There are two other buildings outside the enclosure, one on either hand, which appear also to have been Christian churches. That to the south is in a very ruinous condition; near it are several fragments of entablature and inscription of rather a rude character. I could only make out the words CIVIBVS and . . . LESIVS, and again . . . . . ENDORS and IVAEIVALIM . . . . IVM. The building to the east of the inclosure is perfect in ground plan; it consists of a nave twenty-seven paces long by eleven broad, and a semi-circular apse, the diameter of which is sixteen feet.

The amphitheatre is at the north of the city, bearing nearly due north from the triumphal arch; it is almost circular in form, but it is entirely destroyed, and only a depression exists to mark its site. It probably never was a building of any architectural merit.

Other important ruins exist, but they sink into insignificance when compared to those which I have attempted to describe. One is the cella of a temple of admirable construction, against which has been built a vaulted apartment, probably the residence of the Marabout Sidi Ibrahim mentioned by Guérin. We pitched our tent close to these, which afforded an excellent shelter for our attendants. Suddenly, about two o’clock P.M., a very violent storm came on, the sky got completely darkened, as though a total eclipse of the sun were taking place; beautiful dark violet-coloured clouds came up from the west, which seemed to be struggling for the mastery with clouds of fine sand from the east. We saw that heavy rain would soon follow, so we made haste to strike our tent and remove all our property to the Marabout’s house. We had no sooner done this than the rain began to fall in torrents, and continued without intermission till an early hour next morning. Fortunately, it cooled the air, which had been oppressively hot for some days past, and for a short time at least it hardened the soil and made it more pleasant for riding.

This was the only place in Tunis where we received no hospitality or even assistance from the people of the country. One of our spahis had gone on before us to request the Kaid of the district to arrange for the usual supply of forage and food. But he absolutely refused to do so, and but for our good fortune in finding some Algerian refugees near the spot—who sold us a few chickens and a little barley, taking good care to be paid in advance—we should have fared badly; as it was, we were obliged to hasten our departure. Under other circumstances we would gladly have lingered a little longer amongst these remarkable ruins. I feel convinced that excavations judiciously carried out, especially in the hieron of the temples, would bring to light many objects of archæological interest; but the stones, which encumber it, are of immense size, and could hardly be moved without mechanical appliances, and labour would be difficult to obtain.

FOOTNOTES:

[Footnote 146: Ibn Khaldoun, _Hist. des Berbers_, trad. de Slane, vol. i. p. 316. Cordonne, _Hist. d’Afrique sous la domination des Arabes_, vol. i.]

[Footnote 147: Ibn Khaldoun, i. p. 209.]

[Footnote 148: Gibbon, _Decline and Fall of Roman Empire_, vol. ix. p. 495.]

[Footnote 149: Shaw, p. 202.]

[Footnote 150: Desfontaines, ap. Dureau de la Malle, ii. p. 76.]

[Footnote 151: _Sic._]

[Footnote 152: Guérin, i. p. 380.]

[Footnote 153: Guérin, i. p. 380.]

[Footnote 154: Shaw, p. 201.]

[Footnote 155: Peyssonnel, ap. Dureau de la Malle, i. p. 119.]

[Footnote 156: Frank, _L’Univers_, ‘Tunis,’ p. 41.]

[Footnote 157: Sir Gren. Temple, _Excurs. in Med._ ii. p. 235.]