Zaraï was a

Berber Berber or Berbers may refer to: Ethnic group * Berbers, an ethnic group native to Northern Africa * Berber languages, a family of Afro-Asiatic languages Places * Berber, Sudan, a town on the Nile People with the surname * Ady Berber (1913–196 ...

Carthaginian The term Carthaginian ( ) usually refers to the civilisation of ancient Carthage. It may also refer to: * Punic people, the Semitic-speaking people of Carthage * Punic language The Punic language, also called Phoenicio-Punic or Carthaginian, i ...

, and

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 ...

town at the site of present-day Aïn Oulmene,

Algeria Algeria, officially the People's Democratic Republic of Algeria, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It is bordered to Algeria–Tunisia border, the northeast by Tunisia; to Algeria–Libya border, the east by Libya; to Alger ...

. Under the Romans, it formed part of the

province A province is an administrative division within a country or sovereign state, state. The term derives from the ancient Roman , which was the major territorial and administrative unit of the Roman Empire, Roman Empire's territorial possessions ou ...

Numidia Numidia was the ancient kingdom of the Numidians in northwest Africa, initially comprising the territory that now makes up Algeria, but later expanding across what is today known as Tunisia and Libya. The polity was originally divided between ...

Name

The

Punic The Punic people, usually known as the Carthaginians (and sometimes as Western Phoenicians), were a Semitic people who migrated from Phoenicia to the Western Mediterranean during the Early Iron Age. In modern scholarship, the term ''Punic'' ...

name for the town was (). Zarai is mentioned in the ''

Antonine Itinerary The Antonine Itinerary (, "Itinerary of the Emperor Antoninus") is an , a register of the stations and distances along various roads. Seemingly based on official documents, possibly in part from a survey carried out under Augustus, it describes t ...

'' and in the ''

Tabula Peutingeriana ' (Latin Language, Latin for 'The Peutinger Map'), also known as Peutinger's Tabula, Peutinger tablesJames Strong (theologian) , James Strong and John McClintock (theologian) , John McClintock (1880)"Eleutheropolis" In: ''The Cyclopedia of Bibli ...

''.

Ptolemy Claudius Ptolemy (; , ; ; – 160s/170s AD) was a Greco-Roman mathematician, astronomer, astrologer, geographer, and music theorist who wrote about a dozen scientific treatises, three of which were important to later Byzantine science, Byzant ...

calls it Zaratha and wrongly places it in

Mauretania Caesariensis Mauretania Caesariensis (Latin for "Caesarea, Numidia, Caesarean Mauretania") was a Roman province located in present-day Algeria. The full name refers to its capital Caesarea, Numidia, Caesarea Mauretaniae (modern Cherchell). The province had ...

. It is probably the

Apuleius Apuleius ( ), also called Lucius Apuleius Madaurensis (c. 124 – after 170), was a Numidians, Numidian Latin-language prose writer, Platonist philosopher and rhetorician. He was born in the Roman Empire, Roman Numidia (Roman province), province ...

's Zaratha. These two forms and the term "Zaraitani" found in an inscription seem to indicate that the name Zaraï which appears on another inscriptionCorp. Inscript. 2532. must have lost a final letter.

Geography

The ruins of Zaraï are called "Henshir Zraïa" and are found inside the municipality of Ain Oulmene. They lie to the south-east of Setif in Algeria, crowning an eminence which overlooks all the country on the left bank of the Oued Taourlatent, known to the medieval Arabs as Oued Zaraoua.Zarai
at Catholic encyclopedia.org.

History

Zarai was protected after emperor

Hadrian Hadrian ( ; ; 24 January 76 – 10 July 138) was Roman emperor from 117 to 138. Hadrian was born in Italica, close to modern Seville in Spain, an Italic peoples, Italic settlement in Hispania Baetica; his branch of the Aelia gens, Aelia '' ...

started the construction of a wall similar to the one with his name in Roman Britannia, by one of the sections of the

Fossatum Africae ''Fossatum Africae'' ("African ditch") is one or more linear defensive structures (sometimes called Limes (Roman Empire), ''limes'') claimed to extend over or more in North Africa, northern Africa constructed during the Roman Empire to defend an ...

: the Hodna or Bou Taleb section. This section begins near the north-east slopes of the Hodna Mountains, heads south following the foothills then east towards Zaraï, and doubles back westward to enclose the eastern end of the Hodna mountains, standing between them and the Roman settlements of Cellas and Macri. The length of this segment is about 100 km. It probably criss-crossed the ancient border between Numidia and Mauretania Sitifensis. The Byzantines fortified the city as the western border town of their possessions in Africa. The small city of Zarai disappeared.

Ruins

Remains of a Byzantine citadel and of two Christian basilicas are still visible.

Religion

Zarai was the

seat A seat is a place to sit. The term may encompass additional features, such as back, armrest, head restraint but may also refer to concentrations of power in a wider sense (i.e " seat (legal entity)"). See disambiguation. Types of seat The ...

of a

Christian A Christian () is a person who follows or adheres to Christianity, a Monotheism, monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus in Christianity, Jesus Christ. Christians form the largest religious community in the wo ...

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 ...

. It was one of the key cities of the

Donatist Donatism was a schism from the Catholic Church in the Archdiocese of Carthage from the fourth to the sixth centuries. Donatists argued that Christian clergy must be faultless for their ministry to be effective and their prayers and sacraments to ...

controversy. The remains of a

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 ...

citadel and of two

basilica In Ancient Roman architecture, a basilica (Greek Basiliké) was a large public building with multiple functions that was typically built alongside the town's forum. The basilica was in the Latin West equivalent to a stoa in the Greek Eas ...

s are still visible. Three bishops of Zaraï are known from antiquity. The see fell into abeyance after the Islamic conquest of the Maghreb but was later revived by the

Roman Catholic Church The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

as a

titular see A titular see in various churches is an episcopal see of a former diocese that no longer functions, sometimes called a "dead diocese". The ordinary or hierarch of such a see may be styled a "titular metropolitan" (highest rank), "titular archbi ...

List of bishops

* Cresconius, present at the

Conference of Carthage (411) The Councils of Carthage were church synods held during the 3rd, 4th, and 5th centuries in the city of Carthage in Africa. The most important of these are described below. Synod of 251 In May 251 a synod, assembled under the presidency of Cypr ...

, where he had as a rival the

Rogatus; * Adeodatus, one of the Catholic bishops whom

Huneric Huneric, Hunneric or Honeric (died December 23, 484) was King of the (North African) Vandal Kingdom (477–484) and the oldest son of Gaiseric. He abandoned the imperial politics of his father and concentrated mainly on internal affairs. He was ma ...

summoned to a conference in Carthage in February 484 and then exiled. * Edmond Alfred Dardel (23 Aug 1889 Appointed – 21 Mar 1890) * Esteban Sánchez de las Heras (15 Jan 1895 Appointed – 21 Jun 1896) * Jerome-Josse Van Aertselaer (7 May 1898 Appointed – 12 Jan 1924) * Félix Bilbao y Ugarriza (23 Apr 1924 Appointed – 14 Dec 1925) * Enrique María Dubuc Moreno (10 May 1926 Appointed – 26 Sep 1926) *

Jan Stavel Jan, JaN or JAN may refer to: Acronyms * Jackson, Mississippi (Amtrak station), US, Amtrak station code JAN * Jackson-Evers International Airport, Mississippi, US, IATA code * Jabhat al-Nusra (JaN), a Syrian militant group * Japanese Article Numb ...

(29 Apr 1927 Appointed – 6 Nov 1938) *

Vince Kovács Vince is a given name, it is the anglicisation and shortened form of the name Vincent, as well as a surname. It may refer to: Given name People * Vince Agnew (born 1987), American football player * Vince Cable (born 1943), British politicia ...

(20 Jul 1940 Appointed – 15 Mar 1974) * Benito Cocchi (12 Dec 1974 Appointed – 22 May 1982) *

José Sebastián Laboa Gallego José Sebastián Laboa Gallego (20 January 1923 – 24 October 2002) was a Spanish-Basque prelate of the Catholic Church who worked in the diplomatic service of the Holy See. Early in his career he held posts in the Roman Curia. He was also involv ...

(18 Dec 1982 Appointed – 24 Oct 2002) * Assis Lopes (22 Jan 2003 Appointed – )

References

Citations

Bibliography

* * . * Reid, James. ''The Municipalities of the Roman Empire.'' University of London. London, 1913 (reprint. ) * P. Trousset (2002). ' v. 10, p. 143–150. *

Caesarea Caesarea, a city name derived from the Roman title " Caesar", was the name of numerous cities and locations in the Roman Empire: Places In the Levant * Caesarea Maritima, also known as "Caesarea Palaestinae", an ancient Roman city near the modern ...

* Mesarfelta * Thamugadi *

Lambaesis Lambaesis (Lambæsis), Lambaisis or Lambaesa (''Lambèse'' in colonial French), is a Roman archaeological site in Algeria, southeast of Batna and west of Timgad, located next to the modern village of Tazoult. The former bishopric is also ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Zarai Archaeological sites in Algeria Roman towns and cities in Algeria Ancient Berber cities Catholic titular sees in Africa Buildings and structures in Sétif Province