DOCSLIB.ORG

Mosaici Africani a Soggetto Dionisiaco: Una Riflessione*

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
Mosaici Africani a Soggetto Dionisiaco: Una Riflessione* MOSAICI AFRICANI A SOGGETTO DIONISIACO: UNA RIFLESSIONE* Emanuela Murgia Dipartimento di Studi Umanistici, Università degli Studi di Trieste. Molti elementi di riflessione metodologica emergono dallo studio delle immagini di divinità, di miti o di riti, soprattutto in ambito domestico1. È certo che questi documenti, non relegabili ad una mera sfera decorativa, sono spesso significativi non solo per l’individuazione di preferenze estetiche, ma anche dell’identità culturale della committenza2. Altrettanto vero, tuttavia, è che solo (e peraltro non sempre) un approccio globale all’insieme dei dati relativi al contesto3 può permettere di chiarire lo ‘statuto’ di quelle immagini efficacemente definite «aux limites du religieux»4. Tra queste, un posto particolarissimo occupano le rappresentazioni che attingono alla sfera dionisiaca5, sull’interpretazione delle quali il dibattito metodologico è lungi dal considerarsi concluso6. Le allusioni ad un valore per così dire ‘religioso’, se non ‘spirituale’, delle raffigura- zioni musive e pittoriche di Dioniso o delle sue vicende mitiche (ma anche, per metonimia, di tirsi, tamburelli, rytha, maschere, personaggi del tiaso, pantere, etc.) non sono rare7, come pure * Ringrazio Marco Fernandelli per i suggerimenti bibliografici. 1. Image et Religion 2008 e i contributi presentati in occasione del convegno Image et religion dans l’espace domestique organizzato il 6-7 giugno 2003 ad Atene dall’École Française d’Athènes, in collaborazione con l’École Française de Rome e la Scuola Archeologica Italiana di Atene e pubblicati in MÉFRA, 113, 1, 2001 e, 116, 2, 2004. Al tema della rappresentazione del ‘divino’ sono, inoltre, dedicati i colloqui organizzati dal gruppo di ricerca Figura. La représen- tation du divin dans les mondes grec et romain. 2. Mugione, Pouzadoux 2008, p. 303; Robert 2008, p. 414-415. 3. Schmitt-Pantel 2008, p. 307; Robert 2008, p. 412-413. Si veda, invece, l’invito di Grassigli 1995, p. 230, 235 a proposito delle rappresentazioni del mito di Licurgo, ad avviare «un diverso itinerario di studio» per evitare che il tema iconografico in questione, «invece di stabilire un rapporto dialettico con il contesto», finisca «per subirne la determinazione, ricevendo un senso solo da esso». In altri termini sarebbe l’iconografia stessa a giustificare la presenza della scena di Licurgo in un determinato contesto e non viceversa. 4. La definizione è adottata in Image et Religion 2008. 5. Per esempio Grassigli 1995, p. 229-248; Parrish 1995, p. 307-332; Darmon 1999, p. 198-199; Parrish 2004, p. 75-84; Guimier-Sorbets 2011, p. 437-446 per il repertorio musivo, Griesi 2011, p. 243-264, per quello pittorico ercolanese. 6. Wyler 2004, p. 933-951, 2008, p. 449-459; Darmon 2008, p. 485-500; Dunbabin 2008, p. 193. 7. Grimal 1981, p. 323: «les échos dans l’âme», «sentiment du divin, de la présence, des objets naturels, de ‘demones’»; Grassigli 1997, p. 706: «È più difficile, invece, valutare appieno la portata degli altri soggetti dionisiaci. In ogni caso è ovvio ritenere possibile l’esistenza di vari gradi di intensità o di specificità religiosa per un medesimo soggetto»; Darmon 2008, p. 499: «On est tenté de supposer qu’au bout du compte, pour qui savait les lire, leurs représentations profanes restaient imprégnées de quelque valeur spirituelle. Et, même vécues dans la maison, au quotidien, elles Karthago 30 (2016-2017) 133-144. doi: 10.2143/KAR.30.0.3278596 © by Peeters. All rights reserved. 134 EMANUELA MURGIA frequenti sono i riferimenti alla possibile adesione della committenza al dionisismo8 o le letture in chiave iniziatica9. L’accettazione di tali categorie interpretative può indurre a considerare mosaici e pitture a tema dionisiaco tra le fonti attendibili per la ricostruzione della cultura religiosa di un determinato contesto. Un caso esemplare, in tal senso, è quello delle province romane d’Africa che, forse più di altre regioni dell’Impero, hanno restituito pavimenti a soggetto dionisiaco e “tappeti di vite” entro i quali variamente si inseriscono figure di repertorio (satiri, sileni, baccanti, eroti, etc.), se non veri e propri episodi del mito (trionfo di Dioniso, Dioniso e Icario, Arianna dormiente, etc.)10. C’è chi, come Roger Hanoune, ha ritenuto improbabile che suddetti pavimenti possano essere considerati fonti attendibili per delineare i caratteri del dionisismo africano: «ils ne nous apprennent rien ou presque sur les convictions des commanditaires de ces revêtements de sol et ne transforment évidemment pas leurs maisons en sanctuaires ou en sièges de confréries dévotes, que ce soit à Cuicul pour la Maison de Bacchus ou à Thysdrus pour la Maison de la procession dionysique»11. Diversamente altri hanno suggerito per i cosiddetti ‘carpet-vine’, una specifica «connota- zione mistico rituale»12. Francesca Ghedini, in particolare, ha chiarito come «la straordinaria fioritura di raffigurazioni dionisiache nella produzione musiva delle province africane» vada spiegata «nell’ottica dell’esaltazione di una divinità che da un lato si pone come ponte fra terra e cielo, soddisfacendo quella forte esigenza di misticismo propria delle popolazioni locali, dall’altro si qualifica come dio della vegetazione e della fecondità»13. I mosaici a tema dionisiaco (datati dalla seconda metà del II secolo d.C. al IV secolo d.C.)14 confermerebbero, dunque, in ambito privato, una tradizione cultuale di lunga durata che, dalle più antiche attestazioni puniche15 giungerebbe fino alle soglie della tarda antichità16. Come ha specificato Stéphanie Wyler, «le premier écueil à éviter est de confondre les diffé- rentes manifestations du dionysisme à travers les âges et les aires géographiques»17 e che «à partir d’un langage commun, religieux ou iconographique, les images du dionysisme sont libres de continuaient à véhiculer quelque effluve de leur nature divine». Sull’ambiguità di queste considerazioni, Wyler 2008, p. 450-451. 8. Sull’uso talvolta improprio del termine, Wyler 2008, p. 449. 9. Per esempio Grassigli 1995, p. 229-248. 10. Dunbabin 1978, p. 173-187; Boucher 1987, p. 921-922; Kondoleon 1995, p. 236; Slim 1995, p. 87-119; Ghedini 1997, p. 215-247; Balmelle, Brun 2005, p. 899-921 (con specifico riferimento al repertorio inerente i lavori agricoli); Novello 2007, p. 67-80. 11. Hanoune 1986, p. 152-153. Sui mosaici della Maison de Bacchus (Djemila-Cuicul) e della Maison de la procession dionysiaque (El Jem–Thysdrus), si veda il recente Turcan 2003, p. 125-127. Sull’individuazione dei luoghi di culto a Dioniso, Jaccottet 2010, p. 249-267, in particolare p. 254-264. 12. Ghedini 1997, p. 215 e 241. In questo senso, e non solo per i ‘tappeti di vite’, già Foucher 1974-1975, p. 8; Boussaada Ahlem 1992, p. 1060. Così anche Novello 2007, p. 75-80. 13. Ghedini 1997, p. 241. 14. Ibid., p. 232-233. 15. Su tali testimonianze Picard 1979, p. 83-113. 16. Ghedini 1997, p. 240-241. La studiosa suggerisce, inoltre, che la raffigurazione delle vigne poteva alludere al diasparagmos, p. 241. Così anche Novello 2007, p. 77. 17. Wyler 2008, p. 449. MOSAICI AFRICANI A SOGGETTO DIONISIACO: UNA RIFLESSIONE 135 manipulations et d’interprétations, dans la mesure précisément où le contexte dans lequel elles ont été conçues et reçues n’est pas cultuel»18. In quest’ottica, dunque, un ritorno al contesto appare quanto mai necessario19. Del ricco corpus musivo a tema dionisiaco, vorrei soffermarmi sull’analisi del pavimento che ornava l’oecus della ‘Casa del Sileno’ di El Jem-Thysdrus (figg. 1-2)20 e che presenta, secondo alcuni, raffigurazioni «connotate in senso religioso» (il Sileno ebbro con Eroti e Ninfa, lo svela- mento del phallus, la menade con il serpente, il sileno che ammansisce un leone)21. La frequenza con la quale la tematica dionisiaca appare nei mosaici dell’antica Thysdrus, rispetto al resto dell’Africa Proconsularis, è tale22 da chiedersene la ragione, sia essa da ricercare in una sorta di ‘moda’, in una esibizione di cultura classica o, piuttosto, nell’adesione dei proprietari delle varie dimore «à l’idéologie impériale fondée sur un syncretisme où le bachisme avait sa large part»23. Quest’ultima ipotesi parrebbe la più accreditata tra gli studiosi: nel commit- tente della ‘Casa dei mesi’24, per esempio, si è proposto di individuare un iniziato ai misteri di Dionysos-Bacchus-Osiris25. Anche nella ‘Casa di Bacco’26, per proporre un altro caso, il soggetto di uno dei mosaici (datato alla seconda metà del IV secolo d.C.) sembrerebbe «rievocare, in un momento in cui il paganesimo morente lasciava spazio alla nuova religione cristiana e al sotter- raneo dilagare di culti salvazionistici, l’antica figura delShadrapa punico»27. È possibile, dunque, affermare che il repertorio musivo tisdritano fosse connotato da un forte valore semantico, e che Dioniso vi apparisse nei suoi diversi aspetti e possibili rapporti con altre divinità (Bacchus, Liber Pater, Osiris, Shadrapa) o figure del mito (Orfeo)? È chiaro che una risposta a tale quesito non può che essere ottenuta interrogando una pluralità di fonti (epigrafiche, letterarie, archeologiche) condividendo, in questo senso, la stessa strada intrapresa dagli storici delle religioni28. 18. Ibid., p. 450. Si veda, per esempio, l’evoluzione dei programmi figurativi dionisiaci a Pompei, tra età repubblicana e principato, Wyler 2006, p. 155-163. Cfr. anche Zanker 2009, p. 91-92 a proposito dell’uso del repertorio dioni- siaco come sinonimo di adesione ad uno stile di vita ellenizzante. Considerazioni analoghe valgono, mutatis mutandis, per le pitture egittizzanti, Bragantini 2012, p. 21-33. 19. Si veda, a questo proposito, l’invito di Jaccottet 2003, p. 184-189, 193 a considerare con estrema prudenza le immagini ‘dionisiache’ estrapolate dal loro contesto. 20. Foucher 1961, p. 27-29, 1964, p. 252-253; Dunbabin 1978, p. 117, n. 28; Parrish 1984, n. 33, Ghedini 1997, p. 242-243, n. 5-6; Bullo, Ghedini 2003, Thysdrus 8; Novello 2007, p. 256, Thys. 6. 21. Ghedini 1997, p.
Load more

Recommended publications
  • EUROPE in the Year 300
    The Euratlas Map of EUROPE in the Year 300 This map shows the countries of Europe, North Africa and Middle East, in the year 300. For consistency reasons, the boundaries and positions of the entities have been drawn as they were on the beginning of the year 300, so far as our knowledge goes. Each entity has a unique colour, but the shade differences are not always perceptible. Map in Latin with English transla- tion. About 500 km 100 km = about 1.3 cm A euratlas Euratlas-Nüssli 2011 English Modern Names of the Cities if Different from the Old Ones Abdera Avdira Lindus Lindos Abydos Nagra Burnu, Çanakkale Lingones Langres Acragas Agrigento Lixus Larache Aduatuca Tongeren Londinium London Aegyssus Tulcea Luca Lucca Aeminium Coimbra Lucentum Alicante Aenus Enez Lucus Augusti Lugo Agathae Agde Lugdunum Lyon Alalia Aléria Lugdm. Convenarum St.-Bertrand-Comminges Albintiglium Ventimiglia Luguvalium Carlisle Altava Ouled Mimoun Lutetia Paris Amasia Amasya Malaca Málaga Amastris Amasra Manazacerta Malazgirt Amathus Ayios Tykhonas Mariana Bastia Airport Amida Diyarbakır Massilia Marseille Ancyra Ankara Mediolanum Milan Anemurion Anamur Mediol. Santonum Saintes Antakira Antequera Melitene Malatya Antiocheia Antakya, Antioch Melitta Mdina, Malta Apamea Kalat el-Mudik Melos Milos Apollonia Pojani Mesembria Nesebar Aquae Sulis Bath Meschista Mtskheta .euratlas.com Aquincum Óbuda, Budapest Miletus Balat Ara Rottweil Mina Relizane Arausio Orange Mogontiacum Mainz Arbela Arbil Mursa Osijek Archelaïs Aksaray Myra Demre Arco Arcos de la Frontera Naïssus Niš http://www Arelate Arelate Narbona Narbonne Argentaria Srebrenik Narona Vid-Metković Argentorate Strasbourg Neapolis Naples Arminium Rimini Nemauso Nîmes Arsinoe Faiyum Nicephorium Ar-Raqqah Artavil Ardabil Nicopolis Preveza-Nicopolis Artaxata Artashat Nicaea İznik Asculum Ascoli Piceno Nicomedia İzmit EMO 1 Aternum Pescara Nineve Mosul Athenae Athens Nisibis Nusaybin Attalia Antalya Numantia Soria, Garray .
    [Show full text]
  • Perspektiven Der Spolienforschung 2. Zentren Und Konjunkturen Der
    Perspektiven der Spolienforschung Stefan Altekamp Carmen Marcks-Jacobs Peter Seiler (eds.) BERLIN STUDIES OF THE ANCIENT WORLD antiker Bauten, Bauteile und Skulpturen ist ein weitverbreite- tes Phänomen der Nachantike. Rom und der Maghreb liefern zahlreiche und vielfältige Beispiele für diese An- eignung materieller Hinterlassenscha en der Antike. Während sich die beiden Regionen seit dem Ausgang der Antike politisch und kulturell sehr unterschiedlich entwickeln, zeigen sie in der praktischen Umsetzung der Wiederverwendung, die zwischenzeitlich quasi- indus trielle Ausmaße annimmt, strukturell ähnliche orga nisatorische, logistische und rechtlich-lenkende Praktiken. An beiden Schauplätzen kann die Antike alternativ als eigene oder fremde Vergangenheit kon- struiert und die Praxis der Wiederverwendung utili- taristischen oder ostentativen Charakter besitzen. 40 · 40 Perspektiven der Spolien- forschung Stefan Altekamp Carmen Marcks-Jacobs Peter Seiler Bibliographische Information der Deutschen Nationalbibliothek Die Deutsche Nationalbibliothek verzeichnet diese Publikation in der Deutschen Nationalbibliographie; detaillierte bibliographische Daten sind im Internet über http://dnb.d-nb.de abrufbar. © Edition Topoi / Exzellenzcluster Topoi der Freien Universität Berlin und der Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin Abbildung Umschlag: Straßenkreuzung in Tripolis, Photo: Stefan Altekamp Typographisches Konzept und Einbandgestaltung: Stephan Fiedler Printed and distributed by PRO BUSINESS digital printing Deutschland GmbH, Berlin ISBN ---- URN urn:nbn:de:kobv:- First published Published under Creative Commons Licence CC BY-NC . DE. For the terms of use of the illustrations, please see the reference lists. www.edition-topoi.org INHALT , -, Einleitung — 7 Commerce de Marbre et Remploi dans les Monuments de L’Ifriqiya Médiévale — 15 Reuse and Redistribution of Latin Inscriptions on Stone in Post-Roman North-Africa — 43 Pulcherrima Spolia in the Architecture and Urban Space at Tripoli — 67 Adding a Layer.
    [Show full text]
  • Atlas of the Ornamental and Building Stones of Volubilis Ancient Site (Morocco) Final Report
    Atlas of the ornamental and building stones of Volubilis ancient site (Morocco) Final report BRGM/RP-55539-FR July, 2008 Atlas of the ornamental and building stones of Volubilis ancient site (Morocco) Final report BRGM/RP-55539-FR July, 2008 Study carried out in the framework of MEDISTONE project (European Commission supported research program FP6-2003- INCO-MPC-2 / Contract n°15245) D. Dessandier With the collaboration (in alphabetical order) of F. Antonelli, R. Bouzidi, M. El Rhoddani, S. Kamel, L. Lazzarini, L. Leroux and M. Varti-Matarangas Checked by: Approved by: Name: Jean FERAUD Name: Marc AUDIBERT Date: 03 September 2008 Date: 19 September 2008 If the present report has not been signed in its digital form, a signed original of this document will be available at the information and documentation Unit (STI). BRGM’s quality management system is certified ISO 9001:2000 by AFAQ. IM 003 ANG – April 05 Keywords: Morocco, Volubilis, ancient site, ornamental stones, building stones, identification, provenance, quarries. In bibliography, this report should be cited as follows: D. Dessandier with the collaboration (in alphabetical order) of F. Antonelli, R. Bouzidi, M. El Rhoddani, S. Kamel, L. Lazzarini, L. Leroux and M. Varti-Matarangas (2008) – Atlas of the ornamental and building stones of Volubilis ancient site (Morocco). BRGM/RP-55539-FR, 166 p., 135 fig., 28 tab., 3 app. © BRGM, 2008. No part of this document may be reproduced without the prior permission of BRGM. Atlas of the ornamental and building stones of Volubilis Synopsis The present study titled “Atlas of the ornamental and building stones of Volubilis” was performed in the framework of the project MEDISTONE (“Preservation of ancient MEDIterranean sites in terms of their ornamental and building STONE: from determining stone provenance to proposing conservation/restoration techniques”) supported by the European Commission (research program FP6-2003-INCO-MPC-2 / Contract n° 015245).
    [Show full text]
  • Durham Research Online
    Durham Research Online Deposited in DRO: 05 June 2020 Version of attached le: Accepted Version Peer-review status of attached le: Peer-reviewed Citation for published item: Hellstrom, Monica (2020) 'Epigraphy and ambitions : building inscriptions in the hinterland of Carthage.', Journal of Roman studies., 110 . pp. 57-90. Further information on publisher's website: https://doi.org/10.1017/S0075435820001380 Publisher's copyright statement: This article has been published in a revised form in The Journal of Roman Studies. This version is published under a Creative Commons CC-BY-NC-ND. No commercial re-distribution or re-use allowed. Derivative works cannot be distributed. c The Author(s). Use policy The full-text may be used and/or reproduced, and given to third parties in any format or medium, without prior permission or charge, for personal research or study, educational, or not-for-prot purposes provided that: • a full bibliographic reference is made to the original source • a link is made to the metadata record in DRO • the full-text is not changed in any way The full-text must not be sold in any format or medium without the formal permission of the copyright holders. Please consult the full DRO policy for further details. Durham University Library, Stockton Road, Durham DH1 3LY, United Kingdom Tel : +44 (0)191 334 3042 | Fax : +44 (0)191 334 2971 https://dro.dur.ac.uk 1 Epigraphy and Ambitions: Building Inscriptions in the Hinterland of Carthage MONICA HELLSTRÖM* Building inscriptions are not a good proxy for building activity or, by extension, prosperity. In the part of Roman North Africa where they are the most common, the majority of the surviving building inscriptions document the construction of religious buildings by holders of local priesthoods, usually of the imperial cult.
    [Show full text]
  • On the Roman Frontier1
    Rome and the Worlds Beyond Its Frontiers Impact of Empire Roman Empire, c. 200 B.C.–A.D. 476 Edited by Olivier Hekster (Radboud University, Nijmegen, The Netherlands) Editorial Board Lukas de Blois Angelos Chaniotis Ségolène Demougin Olivier Hekster Gerda de Kleijn Luuk de Ligt Elio Lo Cascio Michael Peachin John Rich Christian Witschel VOLUME 21 The titles published in this series are listed at brill.com/imem Rome and the Worlds Beyond Its Frontiers Edited by Daniëlle Slootjes and Michael Peachin LEIDEN | BOSTON This is an open access title distributed under the terms of the CC-BY-NC 4.0 License, which permits any non-commercial use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author(s) and source are credited. The Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data is available online at http://catalog.loc.gov LC record available at http://lccn.loc.gov/2016036673 Typeface for the Latin, Greek, and Cyrillic scripts: “Brill”. See and download: brill.com/brill-typeface. issn 1572-0500 isbn 978-90-04-32561-6 (hardback) isbn 978-90-04-32675-0 (e-book) Copyright 2016 by Koninklijke Brill NV, Leiden, The Netherlands. Koninklijke Brill NV incorporates the imprints Brill, Brill Hes & De Graaf, Brill Nijhoff, Brill Rodopi and Hotei Publishing. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, translated, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without prior written permission from the publisher. Authorization to photocopy items for internal or personal use is granted by Koninklijke Brill NV provided that the appropriate fees are paid directly to The Copyright Clearance Center, 222 Rosewood Drive, Suite 910, Danvers, MA 01923, USA.
    [Show full text]
  • Roman North Africa North Roman
    EASTERNSOCIAL WORLDS EUROPEAN OF LATE SCREEN ANTIQUITY CULTURES AND THE EARLY MIDDLE AGES Cilliers Roman North Africa Louise Cilliers Roman North Africa Environment, Society and Medical Contribution Roman North Africa Social Worlds of Late Antiquity and the Early Middle Ages The Late Antiquity experienced profound cultural and social change: the political disintegration of the Roman Empire in the West, contrasted by its continuation and transformation in the East; the arrival of ‘barbarian’ newcomers and the establishment of new polities; a renewed militarization and Christianization of society; as well as crucial changes in Judaism and Christianity, together with the emergence of Islam and the end of classical paganism. This series focuses on the resulting diversity within Late Antique society, emphasizing cultural connections and exchanges; questions of unity and inclusion, alienation and conflict; and the processes of syncretism and change. By drawing upon a number of disciplines and approaches, this series sheds light on the cultural and social history of Late Antiquity and the greater Mediterranean world. Series Editor Carlos Machado, University of St. Andrews Editorial Board Lisa Bailey, University of Auckland Maijastina Kahlos, University of Helsinki Volker Menze, Central European University Ellen Swift, University of Kent Enrico Zanini, University of Siena Roman North Africa Environment, Society and Medical Contribution Louise Cilliers Amsterdam University Press Cover illustration: Ruins of the Antonine Baths in Carthage © Dreamstime Stockphoto’s Cover design: Coördesign, Leiden Typesetting: Crius Group, Hulshout isbn 978 94 6298 990 0 e-isbn 978 90 4854 268 0 doi 10.5117/9789462989900 nur 684 © Louise Cilliers / Amsterdam University Press B.V., Amsterdam 2019 All rights reserved.
    [Show full text]
  • Tunis, Kairouan & Carthage
    <Sc5tJ^Oft . jti&Sf «P> sgr: wmm—mm f TUMM SKW TSI jEapl^r——* B ,->. a m S&iJ i §■ ;tearr~-^ mmm A y -Ays+A. Digitized by the Internet Archive in 2018 with funding from Getty Research Institute https://archive.org/details/tuniskairouancarOOpetr . A MINOR MOSQUE, KAIROUAN TUNIS KAIROUAN & CARTHAGE DESCRIBED AND ILLUSTRATED WITH FORTY-EIGHT PAINTINGS BY GRAHAM PETRIE, R.I. oe <£ LONDON WILLIAM HEINEMANN 1908 Copyright, London, 1908, by William Heineniann SHE GETTY CEfv'TEP. LIBRARY AUTHOR’S NOTE Among the many books concerning the history of Tunisia which I have consulted, those included in the following list have proved the more interest¬ ing and profitable. To their authors I gratefully acknowledge my indebtedness, and tender my cordial thanks, confidently recommending their pages to readers who would supplement my modest essays with more substantial fare, and bridge the gaps between some scattered fragments from the grim chronicles of Time. “ The Roman History of Appian of Alexandria ” (translated from the Greek by Horace White); “Figures et Recits de Carthage Chretienne ” (Abel Alcais) ; “ Histoire Generate de la Tunisie ” (Abel Clarin de la Rive); “ Carthage and the Carthaginians ” (R. Bos- worth Smith) ; “ L’Afrique Romaine ” (Gaston Boissier); “ Carthage ” (Ernest Babelon) ; “ Carthage of the Phoenicians ” (Mabel Moore). G. P. Arts Club, London. CONTENTS INTRODUCTION _ PAGES Tunis of to-day—Bazaars—Cafes—Biblical types—Exten¬ sive historical interest—The Punic Wars—The Christian Church, its saints and martyrs—French care of classical ruins—Modern ideas and their effect . i—io CHAPTER I A Tale of Two Continents Marseilles—The song of the ship—Sighting Corsica—The first impressions of Monsieur Babelon—Tunis receives our greetings in her night-dress—Arrival .
    [Show full text]
  • Tunisie Tunisia
    TUNISIETUNISIA ROUTEUMAYYAD DES OMEYYADES ROUTE Umayyad Route TUNISIA UMAYYAD ROUTE Umayyad Route Tunisia. Umayyad Route 1st Edition, 2016 Copyright …… Index Edition Andalusian Public Foundation El legado andalusí Introduction Texts Mohamed Lamine Chaabani (secrétaire général de l’Association Liaisons Méditerranéennes); Mustapha Ben Soyah; Office National du Tourisme Tunisien (ONTT) Umayyad Project (ENPI) 5 Photographs Office National du Tourisme Tunisien; Fundación Pública Andaluza El legado andalusí; Tunisia. History and heritage 7 Association Environnement et Patrimoine d’El Jem; Inmaculada Cortés; Carmen Pozuelo; Shutterstock Umayyad and Modern Arab Food. Graphic Design, layout and maps José Manuel Vargas Diosayuda. Diseño Editorial Gastronomy in Tunis 25 Printing XXXXXX Itinerary Free distribution ISBN Kairouan 34 978-84-96395-84-8 El Jem 50 Legal Deposit Number XXXXX-2016 Monastir 60 All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, nor transmitted or recorded by any information Sousse 74 retrieval system in any form or by any means, either mechanical, photochemical, electronic, photocopying or otherwise without written permission of the editors. Zaghouan 88 © of the edition: Andalusian Public Foundation El legado andalusí. Tunis 102 © of texts: their authors © of pictures: their authors Bibliography 138 The Umayyad Route is a project funded by the European Neighbourhood and Partnership Instrument (ENPI) and led by the Andalusian Public Foundation El legado andalusí. It gathers a network of partners in seven countries
    [Show full text]
  • Paper Sample Riga
    International Cartographic Association Commission on Cartographic Heritage into the Digital 14th ICA Conference Digital Approaches to Cartographic Heritage Conference Proceedings ISSN XXXX-XXXX - Thessaloniki, Greece, 8-10 May 2019 _____________________________________________________________________________________ Lyudmila Filatova1, Dmitri Gusev2, Sergey Stafeyev3 Iterative Reconstruction of Ptolemy’s West Africa Using Modern GIS Analysis Keywords: Claudius Ptolemy, ancient geography, GIS analysis, historical cartography, georeferencing Summary: The multifaceted and challenging problem of reconstructing Claudius Ptolemy’s map of ancient West Africa from the numeric coordinate data and other information found in his seminal ‘Geography’ and visualizing the results in modern projections using popular and powerful GIS tools, such as ArcGIS and Google Earth, is addressed by the authors iteratively. We apply a combination of several old and new techniques ranging from tradi- tional toponymic analysis to novel modifications of cluster analysis. Our hybrid human- machine method demonstrates that Ptolemy’s information on West Africa is a compilation of data from three or more sources, including at least one version or derivative of The Periplus of Hanno. The newest iteration adds data for three more provinces of Ptolemy’s Libya — Mauretania Caesariensis, Africa and Aethiopia Interior— to Mauretania Tingitana and Libya Interior investigated in an earlier, unpublished version of the work that the late Lyudmila Filatova had contributed to as the founder of our multi-year project. The surviv- ing co-authors used their newest digital analysis methods (triangulation and flocking with Bayesian correction) and took into account their recent finds on Ptolemy’s Sinae (Guinea/Senegal, where Ptolemy had placed fish-eating Aethiopians). We discuss some of the weaknesses and fallacies of the earlier approaches to the problem.
    [Show full text]
  • IFRIQAYA Notes for a Tour of Northern Africa in September-October 2011
    IFRIQAYA notes for a tour of northern Africa in September-October 2011 Miles Lewis Cover illustration: the Castellum of Kaoua. Gsell, Monuments Antiques, I, p 105. CONTENTS Preamble 5 History 6 Modern Algeria 45 Modern Tunisia 58 Modern Libya 65 Timeline 65 Pre-Roman Architecture 72 Greek & Roman Architecture 75 Christian Architecture 87 Islamic Architecture 98 Islamic and Vernacular Building Types 100 Pisé and Concrete 102 The Entablature and Dosseret Block 104 Reconstruction of the Classical Language 107 LIBYA day 1: Benghazi 109 day 2: the Pentapolis 110 day 3: Sabratha 118 day 4: Lepcis Magna & the Villa Sileen 123 day 5: Ghadames 141 day 6: Nalut, Kabaw, Qasr-el-Haj 142 day 7: Tripoli 144 TUNISIA day 8: Tunis & Carthage 150 day 9: the Matmata Plateau 160 day 10: Sbeitla; Kairouan 167 day 11: El Jem 181 day 12: Cap Bon; Kerkouane 184 day 13: rest day – options 187 day 14: Thuburbo Majus; Dougga 190 day 15: Chemtou; Bulla Regia; Tabarka 199 ALGERIA day 16: Ain Drahram; cross to Algeria; Hippo 201 day 17: Hippo; Tiddis; Constantine 207 day 18: Tébessa 209 day 19: Timgad; Lambaesis 214 day 20: Djémila 229 day 21: Algiers 240 day 22: Tipasa & Cherchell 243 day 23: Tlemcen 252 Ifriqaya 5 PREAMBLE This trip is structured about but by no means confined to Roman sites in North Africa, specifically today’s Libya, Tunisia and Algeria. But we look also at the vernacular, the Carthaginian, the Byzantine and the early Islamic in the same region. In the event the war in Libya has forced us to omit that country from the current excursion, though the notes remain here.
    [Show full text]
  • Map 33 Theveste-Hadrumetum Compiled by R.B
    Map 33 Theveste-Hadrumetum Compiled by R.B. Hitchner, 1997 Introduction (See Map 32) Directory All place names are in Tunisia unless otherwise noted Abbreviations AAA S. Gsell, Atlas archéologique de l’Algérie, Algiers and Paris, 1911 AAT I E. Babelon, R. Cagnat and S. Reinach, Atlas archéologique de la Tunisie (1:50,000), Paris, 1892-1913 AAT II R. Cagnat and A. Merlin, Atlas archéologique de la Tunisie (1:100,000), Paris, 1914-32 Names Grid Name Period Modern Name / Location Reference D1 A(...) RL Ksar Mdoudja AAT II, 30.133 H2 Acholla HRL Ras Botria Desanges 1980, 306 A2 Ad Aquas Caesaris RL Youks ALG AAA 28.253 B1 Ad Arvalla? RL near Koudiat-es-Snouber AAA 19.159 ALG F4 (Ad) Oleastrum? RL Henchir-Ferchatt-Zabouza Trousset 1992 F2 Aeliae? RL Henchir-Mraba ItAnt 55.4; AAT I, 73.19-20 G1 Aggar? HR? Henchir-Maklouba AAT I, 74.41; EncBerb 2 E1 Agger HRL Henchir-Sidi-Amara or AAT II, 30.262; Sebaï 1988; EncBerb 2 Henchir-el-Khima Aggar B2 Ain-Bou-Driès RL ALG AAA 40.62; Pringle 1981, 178-79 C1 Ain-el-Hamedna R? AAT II, 35.113 E1 Ain-es-Sif RL AAT I, 48.31-32 H1 Alipota?/ H/ Salakta Tissot 1888, 176; AAT I, 74.49 Gummi RL? C1 Althiburos HRL Medeina / Mdeina AAT II, 29.97 B1 Ammaedara RL Haidra AAT II, 40.5; Lepelley 1981, 64-68; EncBerb 4 H2 Ammonos Balithonos HR/ Ras Kapoudia EncBerb 12 Caput Vada Akra/ Caput Vada L § Brachodes Akra Ptol. 4.3.2 E1 Aquae Regiae RL AAT I, 63.43-44 (near); Lancel 1991, 1311-12 B1 Ardalius fl.
    [Show full text]
  • Identification of Stone Blocks Used for the Building of the Thysdrus and Thapsus Amphitheatres in Tunisia*
    Archaeometry 54, 2 (2012) 213–229 doi: 10.1111/j.1475-4754.2011.00623.x IDENTIFICATION OF STONE BLOCKS USED FOR THE BUILDING OF THE THYSDRUS AND THAPSUS AMPHITHEATRES IN TUNISIA* A. YOUNES† Faculté des sciences humaines et sociales de Tunis, 97 Boulevard 9 Avril, 1007 Tunis, Tunisia M. E. GAIED Institut supérieur des Beaux Arts de Sousse, Place de la gare Sousse, Tunisia and W. GALLALA Faculté des sciences de Gabès, cité Riadh, Zirig, 6072, Gabès, Tunisia In Tunisia, the largest amphitheatre (known as the Coliseum) at Thysdrus (El Djem), with some parts of the second amphitheatre, and the Thapsus amphitheatre have been built with squared stone blocks (opus quadratum). The petrographic and geotechnical analyses of the samples taken from the amphitheatre blocks show that these blocks belong to the Tyrrhenian and to the Mio-Pliocene age. Ancient quarries have been found on the Tyrrhenian dune line between Hiboun and Al Alya, at a distance of 30 km from Thysdrus, from which the Tyrrhenian blocks have been extracted. Concerning the Mio-Pliocene blocks, they have most likely been cut from just one ancient quarry found in the hill of Ksour Essaf. The height of almost all of the measured blocks from the Thysdrus Coliseum is equal to the Punic cubit used at Carthage (50 cm), and the height of the measured blocks from the Thapsus amphitheatre is also equal to the Punic cubit (50 cm), or very close to the Roman cubit (45 cm). KEYWORDS: MIO-PLIOCENE, TYRRHENIAN, QUARRIES, AMPHITHEATRE, TUNISIA, THAPSUS, THYSDRUS, PETROGRAPHIC CHARACTERISTICS, GEOTECHNICAL FEATURES, ANCIENT CUBIT INTRODUCTION The Roman cities of Thysdrus and Thapsus are situated in the ancient region of the Byzacium, nowadays the Sahil region of Tunisia (Fig.
    [Show full text]