Online Encyclopedia

Search over 40,000 articles from the original, classic Encyclopedia Britannica, 11th Edition.

JERBA

Online Encyclopedia
Originally appearing in Volume V15, Page 322 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.
» Make a correction to this article.
» Add information or comments to this article.
Spread the word: del.icio.us del.icio.us it!

JERBA , an See also:

island off the See also:coast of See also:North See also:Africa in the Gulf of See also:Gabes, forming See also:part of the regency of See also:Tunisia. It is separated from the mainland by two narrow straits, and See also:save for these channels blocks the entrance to a large See also:bight identified with the See also:Lake See also:Triton of the See also:Romans. The western strait, opening into the Gulf of Gabes, is a mile and a See also:half broad; the eastern strait is wider, but at See also:low See also:water it is possible to See also:cross to the mainland by the Tarik-el-Jemil (road of the See also:camel). The island is irregular in outline, its greatest length and breadth being some 20 m., and its See also:area 425 sq. m. It contains neither See also:rivers nor springs, but is supplied with water by See also:wells and cisterns. It is See also:flat and well wooded with date palms and See also:olive trees. Pop. 35,000 to 40,000, the bulk of the inhabitants being See also:Berbers. Though many of them have adopted Arabic a See also:Berber See also:idiom is commonly spoken. An See also:affinity exists between the Berbers of Jerba and the Beni Mzab. About 3000 See also:Jews live apart in villages of their own, and some 400 Europeans, chiefly Maltese and Greeks, are settled in the island. Jerba has a considerable reputation for the manufacture of the woollen tissues interwoven with See also:silk which are known as See also:burnous stuffs; a See also:market for the See also:sale of See also:sponges is held from See also:November till See also:March; and there is a considerable export See also:trade in See also:olives, See also:dates, See also:figs and other fruits.

The See also:

capital, trading centre and usual landing-See also:place are at Haumt-es-Suk (market See also:quarter) on the north See also:side of the island (pop. 2500). Here are a See also:medieval fort, built by the Spaniards in 1284, and a See also:modern fort, garrisoned by the See also:French. Gallala, to the See also:south; is noted for the manufacture of a See also:kind of See also:white pottery, much prized. At El Kantara (the See also:bridge) on the eastern strait, and formerly connected with the mainland by, a See also:causeway, are extensive ruins of a See also:Roman See also:city—probably those of Meninx, once a flourishing seaport. Jerba is the Lotophagitis or See also:Lotus-eaters' Island of the See also:Greek and Roman geographers, and is also identified with the Brachion of Scylax. The modern name appears as See also:early as the 4th See also:century in Sextus Aurelius See also:Victor. In the See also:middle ages the See also:possession of Jerba was contested by the See also:Normans of See also:Sicily, the Spaniards and the See also:Turks, the Turks proving victorious. In i 56o after the destruction of the See also:Spanish 'See also:fleet off the coast of the island by Piali See also:Pasha and the See also:corsair Dragut the Spanish See also:garrison at Haumt-es-Suk was exterminated, and a See also:pyramid, 10 ft. broad at the See also:base and 20 ft. high, was built of their skulls and other bones. In 1848 this pyramid was pulled down at the instance of the See also:Christian community, and the bones were buried in the See also:Catholic See also:cemetery. In See also:general, from the Arab invasion in the 7th century Jerba shared the fortunes of Tunisia. See H.

See also:

Barth, Wanderungen durch See also:die Kiistenl. See also:des Mittelmeeres (See also:Berlin, 1849) ; and H. von See also:Maltzan, Reise in See also:Tunis and Tripolis (See also:Leipzig, 1870).

End of Article: JERBA

Additional information and Comments

There are no comments yet for this article.
» Add information or comments to this article.
Please link directly to this article:
Highlight the code below, right click, and select "copy." Then paste it into your website, email, or other HTML.
Site content, images, and layout Copyright © 2006 - Net Industries, worldwide.
Do not copy, download, transfer, or otherwise replicate the site content in whole or in part.

Links to articles and home page are always encouraged.

[back]
JERAHMEEL, (Heb. " May God pity ") 		[next]
JERBOA

Site © 2006 - Net Industries