Chapter XXV

MUKTHER TO ZANFOUR — BRUCE’S ROUTE FROM KEF TO ZANFOUR.

We left Mukther on the morning of the 19th, not without regret; we would gladly have devoted a little longer time to these interesting ruins, and we would fain have attempted to excavate near some of the principal monuments, but my time was very limited, and we had a certain amount of reluctance to remain more than one day in any place, as we could not but feel that our presence was a tax upon the people.

The first part of the road was very difficult for the mules, but exceedingly picturesque; the country was fertile and well watered, and olive plantations numerous.

About six and a half miles from Mukther we reached an elevated rocky pass, under a peak called Djebel Deir Subah. All along our route we had observed, as usual, the remains of Roman buildings even in places where nothing but _diss_ grass now grows. From this point there was a most extensive view. To the south Djebel Trozza bounds the horizon, and the ruins of Mukther are seen in the middle distance; to the north we could plainly see both the city of Kef and the ruins of Zanfour. Descending from this we passed Magherawa, the first stone village we had met since leaving Susa: it is composed of very poor hovels, built on the site of an ancient town, but its position is delightful. Above it is a fine spring, which soon widens out into a little stream; the ground is richly cultivated, and there are numerous fine groves of olive trees. Here it was that Sir Grenville Temple[184] found the Punic inscription, No. 142, which he has given in his work, and fragments of rudely-sculptured _bas reliefs_ of men and animals, but no Roman inscriptions. The mere fact of these people living in permanent stone villages is sufficient to prove them descendants rather of the original Berber races than of their Arab conquerors. Soon the valley widens out into the plain of Sers, by far the richest and most highly cultivated that we have hitherto seen; olive groves are numerous, and stone villages commence to replace the woollen tents of the nomad Arab.

We stopped to rest for a short time at El-Lahs, a small village near a magnificent wood of olive trees. A little before entering it we passed a fine spring of water, which issues from a cavity of the rock; a number of Arab girls were washing their clothes in it, and did not appear particularly averse from seeing or being seen by us; but as soon as our escort came in sight, veils were brought into use, and the youngest of them scampered away and hid their faces till we had gone out of sight. The appearance of Europeans must be rather a startling event, to be talked of for years afterwards, and to serve, no doubt, as an epoch in their simple chronology. I only trust that they did not jump at the conclusion that all Europeans resembled us; they might well style us, as the Chinese did, ‘red devils.’ Our faces and hands were scorched and excoriated by constant exposure to the sun; and our costume, though very convenient for travelling in Tunis, was rather travel-stained and would have been thought peculiar in more civilised lands. Modesty prevents me from making any allusion to my own personal appearance, but I am bound to admit, that my companion looked about as disreputable a character as it would be possible to meet even in the wilds of his native Ireland.

We did not enter the village, but sat down under the shade of the olive trees on a grassy mound outside, and regaled ourselves with a bowl of fresh warm milk. Generally it is difficult to obtain this, save early in the morning, or late in the evening; the milk is kept in vessels, which are never thoroughly cleansed and which turn it almost immediately; but the Arabs like it so, and even prefer it the second day when it has quite curdled.

In the vicinity are some curious ruins, not at all Roman in appearance, but we could not decide whether they were anterior or posterior to the Latin epoch. Sir Grenville Temple also noticed them in these terms: ‘The most remarkable curiosities, however, are several very ancient constructions scattered about in the fields round the villages, formed of large unwrought stones or slabs, some measuring 17 ft. 10 in. in length by 6 ft. 2 in. in breadth, and 1 ft. 8 in. in thickness. With these a number of little chambers are formed, generally in two rows, divided by a passage resembling in their plan some of the tombs of the Pharaohs at Biban el-Melook, near Thebes; that is to say, those which have little chambers on each side of the entrance gallery. The whole edifice is also roofed with similar slabs laid flat. I should feel inclined to attribute their construction to the aboriginal inhabitants before the arrival of the Phœnicians; probably, they are not tombs but _magalia_ or houses. Many of them are in such good preservation as still to be inhabited and used as stables.’[185]

After passing this place, and crossing the Oued Ez-Zerga, and the Oued Zanfour, we came to the Henchir, which now bears the latter name.

Bruce was the first of modern travellers to recognise that Zanfour, and not Kisser, as Shaw supposed, was the ancient Assuras; he read the name on the triumphal arch, the inscription of which he has recorded. Pliny mentions the Oppidum Azuritanum as inhabited by Roman citizens;[186] it is also cited by Ptolemy,[187] in the Itinerary of Antoninus,[188] and in the tables of Peutinger as Assuræ. Several bishops of this place are recorded, and one of the epistles of St. Cyprian was addressed _ad episcopum et plebem Assuritanorum_.[189]

The most important of the ruins is the triumphal arch above mentioned. Bruce has left two drawings of this monument, one a very elegant sketch in Indian ink, evidently his own work, showing its actual condition, and exhibiting in the background the accurate position of the temple on the left, and of the theatre on the right. The other is a highly-finished Indian-ink drawing of the same subject, in which the hand of Luigi Balugani is very apparent. The entablature and one of the columns have been restored, and a camp of Arab soldiers has been pitched among trees behind it; numerous figures in fanciful attitudes are scattered about, and a cart, which must have had some difficulty in crossing the stream, contains a family party in the foreground. This I have chosen for reproduction, as, in spite of these embellishments, the drawing is more accurate, and the Corinthian temple to the left is given in greater detail. (Plate XXI.)

There are also five other sheets to illustrate this monument. One contains a slight pencil sketch, on which the dimensions are given; another is a finished Indian-ink drawing to scale of the plan and elevation: the other three are beautifully executed plates of architectural details of various parts of the monument.

This arch has but one opening, decorated with a Corinthian order, composed of single isolated fluted columns near each angle of the mass, with unfluted pilasters behind, corresponding to them. It is in a very ruinous condition, but enough remains to show, even had these drawings not existed, that the entablature was rich and complete, and crowned by an attic with cornice and basis. As is usual in such buildings, the impost turns all round the monument, without however interfering with the pilasters and columns, and, which is less common, the arch is decorated with an archivolt.

The dimensions given in the plan and elevation are as follows:—

Ft. in. lines.

Opening of arch 17 5 6

Width of piers (square) 9 2 0

Diameter of columns 2 1 5

Base of stylobates 2 2 5

Space between column and pilaster 2 6 6

Height of stylobate 6 7 6

„ base of column 1 1 2

„ shaft 17 11 3

„ capital 2 4 5

„ entablature 5 8 3

„ attic 7 1 6

Total height of ruin 40 11 2

The columns have all fallen down, and lie in fragments around. Bruce’s sketches show that during his visit the right one on the north-east side was complete, as was half of the corresponding one on the opposite side of the opening, but the condition of the south-west side of the arch is not indicated.

On that portion of the attic above the north-east face was a long inscription, part of which still remains _in situ_. Some of the stones, however, on which it was engraved have been thrown down and broken; fragments of these still exist amongst the débris, but the most part have disappeared.

The following is the inscription, as recorded by Bruce:—

DIVO . L . . . . TIMIO . SEVERO . PIO . AVG. ARAB. ADIAB. PARTH.
MAXI . . . . IMPAR

ET . IMP. CAES. M. AVRELIO . ANTONINO . PIO . AVG. FELICI. PARTH. MAX.

BRIT. MAX. GERM. MAX. PONT. MAX. FIL. TRIB. POT. XVIII. IMP. III.

COS. I̅I̅I̅I̅ P.P. PROCOS . OPTIMO . MAXIMOQUE . PRINCIPI . ET

IVLIAE . DOMNAE . PIAE . FELICI . AVG. MATRI . AVG. ET . CASTRORVM .
ET . SENATVS.

ET . PATRIAE . VXORI . DIVI . SEVERI . AVG. PII. COL. IVL. ASSVRAS .
DEVOTA . NVMINI .

EORVM. D. D. P. P.

It was also copied by Sir Grenville Temple,[190] on whose authority, supplemented by his own observation, it has been produced by Guérin.[191]

The most important words of this inscription, COL. IVL. ASSVRAS, were rendered by Sir Grenville Temple as OLIVI . AVSVRA.[192] And Pelissier, accepting this rendering as accurate, imagined the letters OLIVI to be an abbreviation of _olivifera_.[193] M. Guérin has settled, beyond the possibility of doubt, that the words really are

COLONIA . JULIA . ASSURAS.[194]

The beginning, as given by Temple and Guérin, is DIVO OPTIMO . . . . . SEVERO. Bruce’s rendering, besides having been made at a much earlier date than the others, is also more probably correct,

DIVO . L . . . . TIMIO SEVERO.

Near this arch is another, but possessing no particular interest. The arch itself is entire, but no portion of the entablature remains in place. Its length, according to Guérin, is 10·90 mètres, breadth 2·75 mètres, opening of arch 5·45 mètres, and height about 10 mètres.[195] We were too busy with other important matters to have time to verify these measurements.

J. LEITCH &. Co. Sc.

TRIUMPHAL ARCH AND TEMPLE, ASSURAS (ZANFOUR)

FAC-SIMILE OF FINISHED INDIAN INK DRAWING BY BRUCE (AND BALUGANI?)

HENRY S. KING Co. LONDON.]

A third arch existed at the other side of the town facing the W.S.W. This is now almost entirely destroyed, but the dimensions are recorded by Sir Grenville Temple[196]—

Ft. in.

Length (of front ?) 36 4

Breadth (of depth?) 9 5

Width (of central archway?) 17 8

From this there may still be observed a paved street running through the town.

The theatre has been a very remarkable building, constructed of immense and beautifully cut stones. Its form is indicated by the arches round the circumference which still exist; two parallel galleries surrounded the orchestra, and a considerable concentric portion of the proscenium and postscenium is still entire. We picked up a small fragment of sculpture amongst the ruins, representing a serpent coiled up in an attitude of repose, rudely but boldly executed.

Next in importance to the larger triumphal arch, is the Corinthian temple shown in both of Bruce’s drawings of the former building. He has left an excellent sketch of this, and two plates giving finished Indian-ink drawings of the decorative bands.

On the sketch itself he has added—somewhat unjustly, as it seems to me—a pencil remark, _‘Bad taste: it will do for a distance to arch; ornaments bad.’_

The monument was more complete in his time than it is now; his drawing exhibits two entire sides of the cella, as far as the top of the pilasters, but no fragment either of the entablature or of the portico. At present the rear wall of the cella remains very much as it then was, but there is very little indeed existing of the other sides. On each side were four pilasters, the angular ones joining on each side; they were crowned with Corinthian capitals, very richly detailed, and having equally rich mouldings at their base; but the peculiar features of the building, which exist in no other one, as far as I am aware, in Africa, are the bands of sculpture occurring between the pilasters at about two-thirds of their height above the plinth. Bruce gives beautifully executed and highly finished drawings of the six which existed. They are all similar in composition, but differing in detail; they are bordered by a very elegant moulding, and contain the usual emblems of the sacerdotal office, such as the bucrane, or victim’s skull, from which garlands depend, supported in the centre by candelabra or vases; there are also introduced the knife, poleaxe, flagon for libations, the lituus, or augur’s wand, the flamen’s cap of office, the aspergillium for sprinkling lustral water, and several other emblems. Similar decoration is very frequent in the friezes of temples, but such sculptured bands on the walls are by no means common; the nearest approach to this feature, of which I am aware, is on the outside wall of the Pantheon at Rome, on each side of the principal entrance.

The other remains of Assuras are of less importance; they consist of several tombs and cisterns, private edifices and defensive works. Two bridges crossed the river, of which the upper was built of cut stone, that lower down the stream being of rubble masonry and brick, probably of a much later date.

The situation of this ancient city has been admirably chosen; it is built on a peninsula of land, surrounded on every side but the south by two water-courses, with deep and precipitous banks, which not only constitute a strong natural defence, but supply an abundance of fresh water.

In front of it stretches the plain of Es-Sers—no doubt, as Bruce remarks, a corruption of the ancient name Assuras. This basin, enclosed by hills on every side, contains about 50 square miles of rich, highly cultivated and irrigable land; but the plateau on which the city stood was cut off from the plain by the river, and was itself, or rather is now, perfectly barren.

The Khalifa of the district had sent his brother, Omar bin Amer el-Ayari, from a great distance to receive and entertain us. Without such hospitality it is extremely difficult for a traveller to encamp amongst ancient ruins in this country; they are usually shunned by the people, and no supplies are procurable within a radius of several miles. We also received a visit from Si Mohammed Esh-Shabi, Kaid of a fraction of the Drid tribe, who was encamped not far off; he was a really grand specimen of the Arab patriarch. He took quite an intelligent interest in the object of my journey, and was delighted with the extracts I translated to him from Bruce’s Diary. There is a considerable divergence between Bruce’s route and mine at this point; he came from Kef by Zouarin. I extract all that he says regarding his journey:—

From Dougga I continued the upper road to Keff, formerly called Sicca Venerea, or Venerea ad Siccam, through the pleasant plains inhabited by the Welled Yagoube. At Keff there were no antiquities but the inscriptions, and part of the frieze of the temple of Hercules carved upon white marble; it probably was situated on the very spot where we found this, as the columns standing were perpendicular and equidistant, and in just proportion from the gate.

A portion of this frieze is in the Kinnaird collection; the following is the inscription, as recorded by Bruce:—

HERCVLI . SACRVM

M . TVTICIVS . PROCVLVS . PROCVRATOR . AVGVSTI

SVA . PECVNIA . FECIT.

Several other inscriptions were copied by Bruce. Some have since been published by Guérin and others. The following appears to have escaped the observation of subsequent travellers:—

. . . . . . . . . . .

POT . . . . . . . . .

FILIO . DOMINI . NOSTRI

IMP . CAES . P . LICINI . VALE

RIANI . PII . FELICIS . AVG

COLONI . COL . IVL . VENE

RIAE . CIRTAE . NOVAE . SIC

CAE . DD. PP.

The frieze of the temple of Venus was found and broken to pieces a very short time before my arrival. It was apparently the history of her amour with Adonis, and was upon white marble, worked with the utmost elegance, but the fragments were too inconsiderable to be able to venture upon a design from them. The Moors between Keff and Constantina being in rebellion, I turned eastward on November 5.

I passed Lorbus,[197] where are no antiquities; the walls seem to be modern, built badly out of the ancient materials. Arrived at Zowarin, about twelve miles, a very large extensive plain, the seat of the Welled Yagoube, who pay no tribute, but receive payment from the Bey. At the head of this plain is Welled Toauoun,[198] descendants of Welled Yacoube, but these are tributary and few in number. Five miles from Zowarin, passing a mountain through a wood of firs, we came to Zamfoure on the 6th November; a city in ruins that seems to be about three miles in circumference. Here we made drawings of a Corinthian temple, and a triumphal arch, the inscription on which shows it to be the Assuras and not Kiser,[199] as Dr. Shaw imagines. It is surrounded on every side but the south by a small river, which has the marks of having been a very large stream, its banks very high and perpendicular, and below it is the plain of Surse, as it is still called, a corruption probably of the ancient Assuras. This plain is the abode of the Welled Ali. Passing the plain, twelve miles to the north-east, we come to Jebbel Messouche,[200] on the other side of which, upon an eminence, is a small mean town, built from the fragments of a larger and ancient one, whose name is still called Zama,[201] and is probably the ancient capital of Juba; the small river Siliana runs below it, and empties itself in the Bagradas. Below are the wide plains of the Welled Own, where probably was gained the victory, which decided the fate of the capital.

Our friend Si Mohammed esh-Shabi confirmed in many curious respects the narrative of Bruce; he was particularly struck with the mention of the fact that this district was occupied by the Oulad Ali. His own tribe, that of the Drid, is one of _makhsin_, or hereditary soldiery. They wander all over the country with their flocks and camels, and as a rule possess no fixed residence and own no land in fee simple; his section of it however, that of Esh-Sabiah, purchased the territory which they now inhabit in the plain of Es-Sers, from the Oulad Ali, not very many years after Bruce’s visit, and the latter tribe has totally disappeared, at least from this part of the country. Then the ‘wood of firs,’ through which Bruce passed, was in the mountain of Bou Seliah; he was well aware that it had been covered at one time with Aleppo pines; but he assured me that not a single tree now remained. The Oulad Aoun still remain in their own frontiers, and as formerly, are exempt from taxation, like the Sidi Bou Ghanim, the Khomair, and several others, who are not required to pay taxes, simply because there is every reason to believe, that they would not consent to do so, and Government is not strong enough to enforce obedience.

FOOTNOTES:

[Footnote 184: Temple, ii. p. 262.]

[Footnote 185: _Ib._ p. 263.]

[Footnote 186: Pliny, v. 4, § 4.]

[Footnote 187: Ptol. iv. 3, § 30.]

[Footnote 188: _Itin. Ant._ pp. 49, 51.]

[Footnote 189: Morcelli, _Afr. Chris._ i. p. 85.]

[Footnote 190: Temple, ii. p. 266.]

[Footnote 191: Guérin, ii. p. 90.]

[Footnote 192: Temple, ii. p. 266.]

[Footnote 193: Pelissier, p. 283.]

[Footnote 194: Guérin, ii. p. 89.]

[Footnote 195: Guérin, ii. p. 94.]

[Footnote 196: Temple, ii. p. 267.]

[Footnote 197: Olim _Lares_, abl. _Laribus_, whence _Lorbus_.]

[Footnote 198: Probably the Oulad Aoun, but their descent from the Oulad Yakoob is apocryphal.]

[Footnote 199: The modern _Kiser_ is the ancient Civitas Chusira.]

[Footnote 200: Djebel Mesaood.]

[Footnote 201: The modern name is Djama.]