Online Encyclopedia

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

KEF

Online Encyclopedia
Originally appearing in Volume V15, Page 714 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!

KEF , more correctly El-Kef (the See also:

Rock), a See also:town of See also:Tunisia, 125 M. by See also:rail S.S.W. of the See also:capital, and 75 M. S.E. of See also:Bona in See also:Algeria. It occupies the site of the See also:Roman See also:colony of Sicca Veneria, and is built on the steep slope of a rock in a mountainous region through which flows the Mellegue, an affluent of the Mejerda. Situated at the intersection of See also:main routes from the See also:west and See also:south, Kef occupies a position of strategic importance. Though distant some 22 M. from the Algerian frontier it was practically a border See also:post, and its walls and citadel were kept in a See also:state of See also:defence by the Tunisians. The town with its See also:half-dozen mosques and tortuous, dirty streets, is still partly walled. The See also:southern See also:part of the See also:wall has however been destroyed by the See also:French, and the See also:remainder is being See also:left to decay. Beyond the part of the wall destroyed is the French See also:quarter. The kasbah, or citadel, occupies a rocky See also:eminence on the west See also:side of the town. It was built, or rebuilt, by the See also:Turks, the material being Roman. It has been restored by the French, who maintain a See also:garrison, here. The Roman remains include fragments of a large See also:temple dedicated to See also:Hercules, and of the See also:baths.

The See also:

ancient cisternsremain, but are empty, being used as part of the See also:barracks. The town is however supplied by See also:water from the same See also:spring which filled the cisterns. The See also:Christian See also:cemetery is on the site of a See also:basilica. There are ruins of another Christian basilica, excavated by the French, the See also:apse being intact and the See also:narthex serving as a See also:church. Many stones with Roman See also:inscriptions are built into the walls of Arab houses. The See also:modern town is much smaller than the Roman colony. Pop. about 6000, including about 100 Europeans (chiefly Maltese). The Roman colony of Sicca Veneria appears from the See also:character of its See also:worship of See also:Venus (Val. Max. ii. 6, § 15)to have been a Phoenician See also:settlement. It was afterwards a Numidian stronghold, and under the Caesars became a fashionable residential See also:city and one of the See also:chief centres of See also:Christianity in See also:North See also:Africa. The Christian apologist See also:Arnobius the See also:Elder lived here.

See H. See also:

Barth, See also:Die Kiistenlander See also:des Mittelmeeres (1849); Corpus Inscript. See also:Lat., vol. viii. ; Sombrun in See also:Bull. de la See also:soc. de geog. de See also:Bordeaux (1878). Also See also:Cardinal See also:Newman's Callista: a See also:Sketch of the Third See also:Century (1856), for a " reconstruction " of the manner of See also:life of the See also:early Christians and their oppressors.

End of Article: KEF

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]
KEEWATIN 		[next]
KEHL

Site © 2006 - Net Industries