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GABES

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Originally appearing in Volume V11, Page 379 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.

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GABES , a See also:

TOWN

town of See also:

TUNISIA (Regency of Tunis)

Tunisia, at the See also:

head of the gulf of the same name, and 70 M. by See also:

sea S.W. of See also:

SFAX (Arabic Asfakis or Safakus, the cucumbers)

Sfax. It occupies the site of the Tacape of the See also:

Romans and consists of an open See also:

PORT

port and See also:

EUROPEAN

European See also:

QUARTER (through Fr. from Lat. quartarius, fourth part)

quarter and several small Arab towns built in an See also:

OASIS (Gr. &toss, the name given by Herodotus to the fertile spots in the Libyan desert: it probably represents an Egyptian word, cf. Coptic ouahe, ouih, to dwell, from which the Egyptian Arabic sod is derived)

oasis of date palms. This oasis is copiously watered by a stream called the See also:

Wad Gabes. The European quarter is situated on the right See also:

BANK

bank of the Wad near its mouth, and adjacent are the Arab towns of Jara and See also:

Menzel. The houses of the native towns are built largely of dressed stones and broken columns from the ruins of Tacape. Gabes is the military headquarters for See also:

SOUTHERN

southern Tunisia. The See also:

POPULATION (Lat. populus, people; populare, to populate)

population of the oasis is about 20,000, including some 1500 Europeans. There is a considerable export See also:

trade in See also:

DATES

dates. Gabes lies at the head of the shat See also:

COUNTRY (from the Mid. Eng. contre or contrie, and O. Fr. cuntree; Late Lat. contrata, showing the derivation from contra, opposite, over against, thus the tract of land which fronts the sight, cf. Ger. Gegend, neighbourhood)

country of Tunisia and is intimately connected with the See also:

SCHEME (Lat. schema, Gr. oxfjya, figure, form, from the root axe, seen in exeiv, to have, hold, to be of such shape, form, &c.)

scheme of Commandant Roudaire to create a Saharan sea by making a channel from the Mediterranean to these shats (large See also:

salt lakes below the level of the sea). Roudaire proposed to cut a See also:

canal through the See also:

belt of high ground between Gabes and the shats, and fixed on Wad Melah, a spot to m. N. of Gabes, for the sea end of the channel (see See also:

SAHARA

SAHARA). The See also:

COMPANY

company formed to execute his project became simply an agricultural concern and by the sinking of artesian See also:

wells created an oasis of See also:

OLIVE (Olea europaea)

olive and See also:

palm trees.

The Gulf of Gabes, the Syrtis See also:

Minor of the ancients, is a semi-circular shallow indentation of the Mediterranean, about 50 M. across from the Kerkenna Islands, opposite Sfax on its See also:

NORTHERN

northern See also:

SHORE

shore, to See also:

JERBA

Jerba See also:

ISLAND (O.E. ieg =isle, +land')

Island, which lies at its southern end. The See also:

WATERS, TERRITORIAL

waters of the gulf abound in See also:

fish and sponge.

End of Article: GABES

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