Medeina Attractions
38km/24mi south of Le Kef, between the Oued Ain Oum el Abid and the Oued Medeina, is the site of ancient Althiburos, only a small part of which has been excavated.
Access
Leave Le Kef on the Tunis road (GP 5) and in 3km/2mi turn into MC 71, which leads southeast to Dahmani (formerly Ebba Ksour). From Dahmani take MC 72, going west. 7km/4.5mi along this road, at a small hamlet, follow a narrow track which runs south and in 500m/550yds crosses a small ford. Just beyond this a track on the right leads to the site; the road to the left leads back to Dahmani.
History
There was probably a Numidian settlement on the site, which, like Le Kef, lay outside the Roman province and received an influx of refugees from Carthage after the Third Punic War. Romanisation proceeded very slowly here, and it was not until the reign of Hadrian (A.D.117-138) that the town achieved the status of a municipium. Thereafter, thanks to its strategic situation on the road from Carthage to Theveste (Tébessa in Algeria), the fertile surrounding country and the nearby quarries, the town prospered. In the fourth century it was the see of a bishop. It was ruined by the Vandal raids and the Arab invasion.
Access
Leave Le Kef on the Tunis road (GP 5) and in 3km/2mi turn into MC 71, which leads southeast to Dahmani (formerly Ebba Ksour). From Dahmani take MC 72, going west. 7km/4.5mi along this road, at a small hamlet, follow a narrow track which runs south and in 500m/550yds crosses a small ford. Just beyond this a track on the right leads to the site; the road to the left leads back to Dahmani.
History
There was probably a Numidian settlement on the site, which, like Le Kef, lay outside the Roman province and received an influx of refugees from Carthage after the Third Punic War. Romanisation proceeded very slowly here, and it was not until the reign of Hadrian (A.D.117-138) that the town achieved the status of a municipium. Thereafter, thanks to its strategic situation on the road from Carthage to Theveste (Tébessa in Algeria), the fertile surrounding country and the nearby quarries, the town prospered. In the fourth century it was the see of a bishop. It was ruined by the Vandal raids and the Arab invasion.
Read More
