Dzemda is a locality in

Tunisia Tunisia, officially the Republic of Tunisia, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It is bordered by Algeria to the west and southwest, Libya to the southeast, and the Mediterranean Sea to the north and east. Tunisia also shares m ...

. The site is located near Jougan, Tunisia 20

kilometer The kilometre ( SI symbol: km; or ), spelt kilometer in American and Philippine English, is a unit of length in the International System of Units (SI), equal to one thousand metres (kilo- being the SI prefix for ). It is the preferred mea ...

s south west of

Zaghouan Zaghouan (or Zaghwan; , ) is a town in the northern half of Tunisia. Situated on a low ridge of the Dorsale Mountains, the town has a mild climate and presents a green aspect. Cold water from here was taken by the Zaghouan Aqueduct to Carth ...

. The site is notable for

ruins Ruins () are the remains of a civilization's architecture. The term refers to formerly intact structures that have fallen into a state of partial or total disrepair over time due to a variety of factors, such as lack of maintenance, deliberate ...

from the Roman era. The ruins are considered to be two separate

Roman Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of Roman civilization *Epistle to the Romans, shortened to Romans, a letter w ...

settlements, situated on opposites sides of a

wadi Wadi ( ; ) is a river valley or a wet (ephemerality, ephemeral) Stream bed, riverbed that contains water only when heavy rain occurs. Wadis are located on gently sloping, nearly flat parts of deserts; commonly they begin on the distal portion ...

: *Henchir Ksour Dzemda, a

vicus In Ancient Rome, the Latin term (plural ) designated a village within a rural area () or the neighbourhood of a larger settlement. During the Republican era, the four of the city of Rome were subdivided into . In the 1st century BC, Augustus ...

and possible imperial estate *Sempta (Africa), a Municipum (

city A city is a human settlement of a substantial size. The term "city" has different meanings around the world and in some places the settlement can be very small. Even where the term is limited to larger settlements, there is no universally agree ...

Henchir Ksour Dzemda

Henchir Ksour Dzemda is a set of

located at Dzemda in

, 20

s south-west of

noted for

from the Roman era, including a ''structure of Vaulted construction''. Alfred Merlin excavated the site and noted its occupation from 199 BC - 799 AD. These dates agree roughly with the Conquest of

Roman North Africa Africa was a Roman province on the northern coast of the continent of Africa. It was established in 146 BC, following the Roman Republic's conquest of Carthage in the Third Punic War. It roughly comprised the territory of present-day Tunisi ...

to the

Muslim conquest of the Maghreb The conquest of the Maghreb by the Rashidun and Umayyad Caliphates commenced in 647 and concluded in 709, when the Byzantine Empire lost its last remaining strongholds to Caliph Al-Walid I. The North African campaigns were part of the century ...

. The site is notable for the abundance of its inscription remains. Although being legally a

(

village A village is a human settlement or community, larger than a hamlet but smaller than a town with a population typically ranging from a few hundred to a few thousand. Although villages are often located in rural areas, the term urban v ...

) the settlement has considerable remains. Given its location, it is probable that the village was actually an

imperial estate An Imperial Estate (; , plural: ') was an entity or an individual of the Holy Roman Empire with representation and the right to vote in the Imperial Diet (Holy Roman Empire), Imperial Diet ('). Rulers of these Estates were able to exercise signi ...

, which were common in the area during this time. The town was also the seat of an ancient

Bishopric In church governance, a diocese or bishopric is the ecclesiastical district under the jurisdiction of a bishop. History In the later organization of the Roman Empire, the increasingly subdivided provinces were administratively associate ...

. This adds weight to the probability it was an imperial estate.

Semta

During

Roman times In modern historiography, ancient Rome is the Roman civilisation from the founding of the Italian city of Rome in the 8th century BC to the collapse of the Western Roman Empire in the 5th century AD. It encompasses the Roman Kingd ...

, Annaeus was near the Municipum of

Semta (Africa) Semta was a Roman Empire, Roman era Municipium also known as ''Augustum Semta'' in Africa Proconsularis that is tentatively identified with ruins at Henchir Zemba (Dzemda) Carthage, Tunisia near the Oued el Kebir southwest of Zaghouan at 36.2692 ...

which lay on the opposite side of the Faida-Dzemda

stream A stream is a continuous body of water, body of surface water Current (stream), flowing within the stream bed, bed and bank (geography), banks of a channel (geography), channel. Depending on its location or certain characteristics, a strea ...

. The two sets of

have been treated in modern times together Carte de l'Atlas archéolgique de la Tunisie: Feuille 42
footnote 9. though the presence of two different

bishop A bishop is an ordained member of the clergy who is entrusted with a position of Episcopal polity, authority and oversight in a religious institution. In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance and administration of di ...

s in the two settlements indicates separate entities during the Roman and

Byzantine The Byzantine Empire, also known as the Eastern Roman Empire, was the continuation of the Roman Empire centred on Constantinople during late antiquity and the Middle Ages. Having survived the events that caused the fall of the Western Roman E ...

era.

References

{{reflist, 2 Archaeological sites in Tunisia Ancient Berber cities Roman towns and cities in Tunisia Catholic titular sees in Africa