The following morning, we were taken to another Roman ruins in Sbeitla, a small town 264 km north-central of Tunis, quite close to the Roman ruins of Sufetula,with the best preserved Forum temples in Tunisia. It was the entry point of the Muslim conquest of North Africa and southern Europe. There are still some Punic megaliths and funeral stela there.Sbeitla was first occupied by the nomadic Berber tribes until the Roman Emperor Legio III Augusta established a camp at Ammaedara but it only came under complete Roman control between 67 to 69 CE during the reign of Emperor Vespasian. During the 2nd century, it grew quite prosperous from its olive oil production facilities. Some olive presses could still be seen in the ruins there. However its suffered serious setbacks from the Vandal invasios during the late Roman Empire period, as evidenced by temples dedicated to Germanic gods. But with the arrival of the Byzantines, recovered its prosperity. In 647, it came under Muslim control when Rashidun Caliphate governor of Egypt Abdullah ibn Saad defeated Gregory the Patrician.
Another one
Yet another one
It was palm country
The Gafsa Palace Hotel where we had our lunch on the way to Sbeitla
part of the hotel
its lobby
Oranges for the picking at its parking lot
Minarets everywhere we went: with its typical Tunisian square tower
This is the site of the ruins we would be visiting, forming part of the "Parc archaeologique de Sbeitla"
The entrance to the ticketing office of "Le Capitole" for buying photographic tickets to the archeological park.
Very little is left biw: the entire site seems overgrown with grass and weeds
We were told that there used to be Roman churches, olive oil presses, public baths and an amphitheatre there.
The site of the a former Christian church.
Another view of the same
Water was brought there from the nearby hills by aqueducts. But such acqueducts are all gone now. But one sees still the local conduits for such water.
This is the Roman amphitheatre: here one can well imagine how once upon a time the rich young cowardly love-struck young adulescens in a dark wig and crimson toga bemoaned his fate at the brothel run by the bald leno, scurrying about between his girls and his clients, a moneybag under his arm and how the adulesscens' miserly father, who loved too many and too much, walking around in his long white double sleeves being dragged away from his latest love by his irate wife from the same woman beloved by his son whose favors are sought too by the self-important miles gloriosus with his curly hair and long-sleeve tunic, seeing himself as both handsome and brave and handsome but in reality stupid, cowardly and gullible, talking from time to time to parasitus in his long, black garment lying to get a meal or other favors from miles gloriosus and the clever and talkative servus callidus (clever slave) in his tunic doing his monologues there or talking to the gossiping ancilla (a maid or nurse) or the shrewd but temperamental matrona (mother), mulier (woman), or uxor (wife) who adored children and also the attractive meretrix (prostitute) with her complex hairdo and yellow dresses falling in love with the adulescens and vying for his attention with the beautiful and virtuous virgo (young maiden) in one of the comedies written by the Roman dramatist Plautus.
Another view of the amphitheatre
These buildings used to be the Roman bath once frequented by the Roman soldiers, the sailors, olive oil or palm date or pottery, metal ware or garment merchants or the local residents, whether young or old.
beautiful mosaic tiles on the floor are what's left.
The patterns of mosaics on the floor
A closer view of the different patterns on the floor
This would probably house the "palestre" for training the minds of the youths there.
The site of the former gynasium for training the body of the young usually built around the public baths
The patterns of mosaics on the floor
A closer view of the different patterns on the floor
This would probably house the "palestre" for training the minds of the youths there.
The site of the former gynasium for training the body of the young usually built around the public baths
The site of a former olive oil workshop. We see the basin on the left of the photo.
More of the buildings around the public baths
The buildings in the background far off are the temples built by the Romans
This used to be where the olive oil was processed
Another grindstone
This is the site of a Byzantium church dedicated to St. Gervais Protais and St. Tryphon
A storage tank or a bath?
This is the heart of the former Roman town with its heated public baths, theatre, fountains, the city adminstration building, churches, residence of the bishop and ordinary citizen and their shops.
A former residence once stood here
Part of the former Roman town
A closer view of the same
This is the reservoir which served this town, formerly covered over by a vault.
Along this path, you find rows and rows of houses
Some of the houses were connected to each other by bridges
The former town hall?
The site of another church
All that remains of the walls
This used to be a baptismal font
Its rim is decorated with very elaborate mosaics
The sign of the cross can be seen quite clearly even after so many centuries. The church in those days was the Eastern Orthodox Church centred on Constantinople
The pedestal to the former columns of the church
One can see that some of the houses are larger and more imposing than the others
Another view of the rows of houses and shops close to the church
This used to be chapel of Bishop Bollatar and Septitere
What's left of the former Byzantine Church
A view of the three temples for Athena, Zeus and Hera from the entrance gate
The same three temples from another angle
The arches joining the temple of Athena and that of Zeus
Similar arches between the temple of Zeus and that of Hera
The capital at the foot of the temple of Hera
More capitals
Latin inscription at the foot of the temples
The temple of Athena, the
goddess of purity, learning, knowledge, wisdom, courage, inspiration, civilization, law and justice,
just warfare, mathematics, strength, strategy, the arts, crafts, and
skill , her Roman counterpart being Minerva. Plato identified her with
with the Egyptian deity Neith,worshiped at the delta city of Sais as the founder of that city. She was also thought to represents
intelligence, eloquence and power, of humility, consciousness, cosmic knowledge, creativity,
education, enlightenment and of the the arts.
The temple of Zeus: the "Father of Gods and men" who
rules over all the Olympians gods, the god of the sky and of thunder and
was the equivalent of the Roman god Jupiter. He married his sister Hera
although at the oracle of Dodona, his consort is Dione. His symbols are
the thunderbolt, eagle, bull, and oak.
The temple to Hera, one of three sisters of Zeus in the
Olympian pantheon of Greek mythology and religion, the protector of
women, marriage and fertility and her counterpart in religion of ancient
Rome was Juno with the cow, the lion and the peacock as her symbols. Traditionally, the right hand is the position of honour. But of the three temples, this one is now in the poorest condition, everything practically gone.
The entrance gate to the temples, built at 139 CE. The temple of Zeus can be seen below the central arch
The three temples from a farther perspective
The temple of Athena and that of Zeus and the entrance from a distance
The pillars have now become nothing but a receptacle for dead leaves and branches.
There are many entrances to the 3 temples
Looking out from the courtyard of the 3 temples
The broken down columns are placed on the foot of the remaining walls
Buildings surrounding the temples
a stele with a a logo found there
At the lower left of the building, one can see another mill stone for olive oil
Judging from what could still be seen, the houses of the ordinary folks in those days were not too big
The houses and shops are all arranged in straight lines
Some of the pillars are still standing
some of the pillars were built with stone blocks piled one on top of another whilst others were marble columns
The site of another public building?
This is the site of a 4th century Roman fountain
This is a fortified house in Roman times in the 4th century, destroyed in the 9th century by the Ottoman Turks
The present state of some of the former residences
nothing but broken and weathered rocks
The only things which continue to thrive are the palms and bushes
Our path back to the entrance
The closer to the entrance the better it looked
By the time we got back to the hotel, it was already dusk, more beautiful than whatever can be fashioned by the hands of man: its variety, its delicacy, its intricacy and its ability to take on different appearances, in short the miracle of things which got life in them. .
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