The Jugurtha Tableland is a large

mesa A mesa is an isolated, flat-topped elevation, ridge or hill, which is bounded from all sides by steep escarpments and stands distinctly above a surrounding plain. Mesas characteristically consist of flat-lying soft sedimentary rocks capped by a ...

near the town of Kalaat es Senam,

Tunisia ) , image_map = Tunisia location (orthographic projection).svg , map_caption = Location of Tunisia in northern Africa , image_map2 = , capital = Tunis , largest_city = capital , ...

, which stands almost above the Ez-Zghalma plain. long and wide, it covers a total area of nearly 80

hectare The hectare (; SI symbol: ha) is a non-SI metric unit of area equal to a square with 100- metre sides (1 hm2), or 10,000 m2, and is primarily used in the measurement of land. There are 100 hectares in one square kilometre. An acre is ...

s. The Tableland is a geologic feature known as an

inverted relief Inverted relief, inverted topography, or topographic inversion refers to landscape features that have reversed their elevation relative to other features. It most often occurs when low areas of a landscape become filled with lava or sediment th ...

. Millions of years ago, the hard

limestone Limestone ( calcium carbonate ) is a type of carbonate sedimentary rock which is the main source of the material lime. It is composed mostly of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different crystal forms of . Limestone forms wh ...

top of the mesa was actually the bottom of a valley. Over the years, the softer surrounding hills were worn away by

erosion Erosion is the action of surface processes (such as water flow or wind) that removes soil, rock, or dissolved material from one location on the Earth's crust, and then transports it to another location where it is deposited. Erosion is di ...

, leaving the Tableland – and former low point – as the highest point on a plain. Local drinking water comes from the

Ain Senan Ain (, ; frp, En) is a department in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region in Eastern France. Named after the Ain river, it is bordered by the Saône and Rhône rivers. Ain is located on the country's eastern edge, on the Swiss border, where it ...

spring at the edge of the Jugurtha Tableland.

History

The mesa has been used as a fortified site several times in history, as its height provides a clear vantage point for defenders, and the sheer rock walls make ascent difficult for attackers. Legend holds that

Masinissa Masinissa ( nxm, , ''MSNSN''; ''c.'' 238 BC – 148 BC), also spelled Massinissa, Massena and Massan, was an ancient Numidian king best known for leading a federation of Massylii Berber tribes during the Second Punic War (218–201 BC), ulti ...

, the first king of Numidia, built the first fortress there around 200 B.C. Around 112 to 105 B.C., King

Jugurtha Jugurtha or Jugurthen ( Libyco-Berber ''Yugurten'' or '' Yugarten'', c. 160 – 104 BC) was a king of Numidia. When the Numidian king Micipsa, who had adopted Jugurtha, died in 118 BC, Jugurtha and his two adoptive brothers, Hiempsal and ...

of Numidia used the mesa to hold off the

Roman legion The Roman legion ( la, legiō, ) was the largest military unit of the Roman army, composed of 5,200 infantry and 300 equites (cavalry) in the period of the Roman Republic (509 BC–27 BC) and of 5,600 infantry and 200 auxilia in the period of t ...

s in his long war with them. The highest cliffs of the mesa still show signs of the steps his soldiers chiseled into the sheer rock to reach the top. In the 18th century, the fortress was reconstructed by a local leader

Senan The National Aeronaval Service of Panama, also called SENAN (abbreviation for es, Servicio Nacional Aeronaval), is a branch of the Panamanian Public Forces which is responsible for carrying out naval and air operations. Its role is to perform pro ...

, a rebel whose long resistance to the troops of the

Bey of Tunis Bey ( ota, بك, beğ, script=Arab, tr, bey, az, bəy, tk, beg, uz, бек, kz, би/бек, tt-Cyrl, бәк, translit=bäk, cjs, пий/пек, sq, beu/bej, sh, beg, fa, بیگ, beyg/, tg, бек, ar, بك, bak, gr, μπέης) is ...

gave the town and area its name.

Gallery

File:The Jugurtha Tableland 01.JPG, Jugurtha Tableland from side File:Table de Jugurtha 01.JPG, View of the mesa from nearby

El Kef El Kef ( ar, الكاف '), also known as ''Le Kef'', is a city in northwestern Tunisia. It serves as the capital of the Kef Governorate. El Kef is situated to the west of Tunis and some east of the border between Algeria and Tunisia. It has ...

File:Jugurtha.jpg, Some of the ruins at the mesa File:Escalier d'accès à la Table de Jugurtha.jpg, Stairs accessing the mesa top

References

{{coord missing, Tunisia Mesas Landforms of Tunisia 2nd century BC Kingdom of Numidia Roman sites in Tunisia