Online Encyclopedia

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

SBEITLA (anc. Sufetula)

Online Encyclopedia
Originally appearing in Volume V24, Page 278 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!

See also:

SBEITLA (anc. Sufetula) , a ruined See also:city of See also:Tunisia, 66 m. S.W. of See also:Kairawan. See also:Long buried beneath the See also:sand, this is the most beautiful and extensive of the See also:Roman cities in the regency. It stands at the See also:foot of a See also:hill by a See also:river, here perennial, but at a See also:short distance beyond lost in the sands. The See also:chief ruin is a rectangular walled enclosure, 238 ft. by 198 ft., known as the Hieron, having three small and one large entrance. The See also:great gateway is a See also:fine monumental See also:arch in See also:fair preservation, with an inscription to See also:Antoninus See also:Pius. Facing the arch, within the Hieron, their See also:rear walls forming one See also:side of the enclosure, are three temples, connected with one another by See also:arches, and forming one See also:design. The length of the entire See also:facade is 118 ft. The See also:principal chamber of the central See also:temple, which is of the Composite See also:order, is 44 ft. long; those of the side temples, in the Corinthian See also:style, are smaller. The walls of the See also:middle temple are ornamented with engaged columns; those of the other buildings with pilasters. The porticos have fallen, and their broken monolithic columns, with fragments of cornices and other See also:masonry, See also:lie piled within the enclosure, which is still partly paved.

(In 1901 a violent See also:

storm further damaged the temples and forced the gateway out of the perpendicular.) The other ruins include a triumphal arch of See also:Constantine, a still serviceable See also:bridge and a square keep or See also:tower of See also:late date. The See also:early See also:history of Sufetula is preserved only in certain See also:inscriptions. Under Antoninus and See also:Marcus Aurelius it appears to have been a flourishing city, the See also:district, now desolate, being then very fertile and covered with forests of See also:olives. It was partly rebuilt during the See also:Byzantine occupation and became a centre of See also:Christianity. At the See also:time of the Arab invasion it was the See also:capital of the See also:exarch Gregorius, and outside its walls the See also:battle was fought in which he was slain; his daughter, who is said by the Arab historians to have fought by the side of her See also:father, became the wife of one of the Arab leaders. The invaders besieged, captured and sacked Sufetula, and it is not afterwards mentioned in history. It was not until the See also:close of the 19th See also:century that the ruins were thoroughly examined by See also:French savants. See A. See also:Graham, Roman See also:Africa (See also:London, 1902) ; See also:Sir R. L. See also:Playfair, Travels in the Footsteps of See also:Bruce (London, 1877).

End of Article: SBEITLA (anc. Sufetula)

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]
SAYYID AHMAD KHAN, SIR (1817–1898) 		[next]
SCABBARD

Site © 2006 - Net Industries