FOOTNOTES:
[18]Murray’s Hand-book, p. 193.
[19]Peyssonnel, ap. D. de la Malle, i. p. 285.
[20]Histoire du Djebel Thaya; Paris, 1870.
[21]Shaw, p. 123.
[22]L. Renier, Nos. 2,565 to 2,574.
[23]Ravoisier, Expl. Sc. de l’Algérie, Beaux Arts, i. pl. 65-66, and De la Marre, l.c. Archéologie, pl. 161.
[24]Ann. Arch. Const. vol. v. p. 143.
[25]Ann. Arch. Const. vol. vi. p. 68.
[26]Ravoisier, Expl. Scien. de l’Alg., Beaux Arts, vol. i. p. 75, pl. 61-64.
CONSTANTINE.
The remarkable situation of the city of Constantine has pointed it out from the earliest times as an important fortress, and as one of the natural capitals of a country which has been the scene of perpetual wars and revolutions.
It formerly bore the name of Cirta or Kirta, a word which in the Numidian dialect signified an isolated rock.
It was the capital of Syphax, who according to Livy possessed a splendid palace here; of Masinissa and Micipsa, the last of whom, as stated by Strabo, adorned it with many fine buildings, and it was the scene of some of the most stirring events of the second and third Punic wars. Here the fair Sophonisba, wife of Syphax, was taken by Masinissa, who himself married her, and on her being claimed by Scipio, as the prisoner of the State, he sent her a cup of poison, which she instantly drank, merely remarking that she would have died with more honour had she not wedded at her funeral.
It was erected into a colony by Julius Cæsar, under the government of Sallust, to recompense the partisans of Publius Sittius Nucerinus, who had rendered him important services, and was called Cirta Sittianorum or Cirta Julia till the fourth century, when it received the name of Constantina, which it ever afterwards retained.
Owing partly to its natural strength, and partly to the fact of its bishop being a Donatist, it escaped destruction when Genseric and his Vandals overran the country; and Belisarius, when he drove out the barbarians, found the Roman buildings still intact.
After the Arab invasion, in the 7th century, it fell into decay, and during the successive sieges which it had to withstand, and the centuries of Arab and Turkish misrule which succeeded, its ancient monuments were destroyed; but it was not till after the French occupation that these entirely disappeared, to make room for inevitable ‘municipal improvements.’
Constantine occupies the summit of a plateau of rock, nearly quadrilateral in shape, the faces corresponding to the cardinal points, and its surface sloping from north to south. Its sides rise perpendicularly nearly 1,000 feet from the bed of the river Roumel, the ancient Ampsaga, which surrounds it on the north and east, and it is connected on the west side only, by an isthmus, with the mainland.
The deep ravine through which the river flows varies in breadth from about 200 feet on the south-east side to nearly double that distance opposite the Kasbah, and it is spanned on the north-east side by four natural arches of rock, about 200 feet above the stream, one of which served as the foundation for the bridge of El-Kantara. Four other bridges spanned it in the time of the Romans, of which the traces are still visible, but the most important, and the only one remaining in modern times, was that just mentioned.
An excellent description of this arch has been left by El-Bekri, the Arab geographer of the eleventh century, who says:—
‘This bridge is of a remarkable structure, its height above the level of the water being about 100 cubits; it is one of the remains of Roman architecture; it is composed of five upper and lower arches, which span the valley. Three of these, namely those to the west, have two storeys, as we have said; they are intended for the passage of water, while the upper ones form a communication between the two sides of the ravine. Regarding the others, they abut against the mountain. These arches are supported by piers, which break the violence of the torrent, and are pierced at their summit by small openings. When there are extraordinary floods, which sometimes take place, the water which rises above the top of the piers escapes by means of these orifices. This is, we repeat, one of the most remarkable buildings ever seen.’[27]
Peyssonnel, who visited it in 1724, describes it as ‘a very fine structure, with three rows of arcades, and a height of about 250 feet, but rather narrow, having fallen.’
Shaw thus describes the bridge in 1728:—‘The gate towards the S.E. is in the same fashion and design, though much smaller, and lyeth open to the bridge that I have mentioned to have been built over this part of the valley. The bridge was a masterpiece of its kind, having had the gallery and the columns of the arches adorned with cornishes and festoons, axe-heads and garlands; the key-stones likewise of the arches are charged with caducei and other figures. Betwixt the two principal arches we see, in strong relief, well executed, the figure of a lady treading upon two elephants, with a large escallop shell for her canopy. The elephants, turned towards each other, twist their trunks together; and the lady, who appears dressed in her hair, with a close-bodied garment like the riding-habit of our times, raiseth up her petticoats with her right hand, and looks scornfully upon the city.’[28]
Plate IV.
J. LEITCH &. Co. Sc.
EL-KANTARA OF CONSTANTINE IN 1765
BEFORE ITS RECONSTRUCTION BY SALAH BEY, IN 1792
FAC-SIMILE OF INDIAN INK DRAWING BY BRUCE.
HENRY S. KING Co. LONDON.
This curious piece of sculpture is still visible in the foundations of the old bridge, though time has worn out the look of scorn in the good lady’s face.
Bruce was the next traveller who describes it, and his is the most interesting of all, because it is pictorial. He has left two drawings—one (Pl. IV.), a beautiful and artistic sketch in Indian ink, which I have chosen for reproduction, and the other, a highly-finished drawing with figures by Balugani, intended, no doubt, for presentation to the King. He says:—
The view of it is in the King’s collection; a band of robbers, the figures which adorn it, is a composition from imagination, all the rest is perfectly real.
There can be no doubt whatever of the extreme accuracy of Bruce’s drawings when unadorned by Balugani. This one, therefore, has an exceptional interest, as it shows the condition of the bridge before its restoration by Salah Bey; it is the only sketch extant of the ancient structure.
In 1792, Salah Bey caused it to be restored by Don Bartolomeo, an architect from Port Mahon, in the Balearic Islands, who rebuilt the upper part, the two lower arches and the three piers which sustained them being in a perfectly sound condition.
He commenced to obtain his stone from Mahon, but that proving too costly, he made use of such as he found on the plateau of Mansourah, and especially of the triumphal arch, which the Arabs called Kasr el-Ghoula, the fortress of the Ogress, a name familiar to every reader of ‘The Thousand and One Nights.’
Admirably executed illustrations of the bridge thus restored, as it existed after the conquest of Constantine, are given by MM. Ravoisier and De la Marre.[29]
A curious document was found by Monsieur Feraud amongst the papers of the family of Kadi Si Moustafa ben Djelloul, one of whose ancestors was secretary to Salah Bey, relative to the restoration of the bridge by Don Bartolomeo.[30] The translation is as follows:—
‘The Christian who came to Constantine, with workmen of his nation, to construct the bridge formerly called El-Mechebka, and situated at the gate of El-Kantara, told His Highness Salah Bey, who repeated it to us, that the date of the construction of the ancient bridge, carved on the stone in ancient characters, was the 335th year of the era of Our Lord Jesus, on whom be prayer and peace! From the time of Our Lord Jesus to the present date, the end of Djemad eth-Thani, 1206 (February, A.D. 1792), 1792 years have passed, according to the calculation which has been made to us.
‘Written this Friday, the 20th of Djemad eth-Thani, 1206, the very day on which we have heard this statement.’
If this be correct, it must have been Constantine the Great who caused this bridge to be built, two years before his death, and one before his partition of the Empire.
On the 18th of March, 1857, only 65 years after it was rebuilt, at half-past seven A.M., one of the upper piers of the bridge, that nearest the town, gave way, carrying with it the two arches which it supported, also 24 yards of the aqueduct which supplied the city. After this accident it was found necessary to destroy the bridge altogether, which was done by means of artillery, on March 30 following. It was replaced by an iron structure in 1863, under the direction of the Department of Ponts et Chaussées. It is higher than the old one, and its axis, instead of passing by the natural vault where the remains of the Roman bridge are still visible, passes higher up the ravine.[31]
Bruce arrived at Constantine, from Tebessa, on November 30, 1765. The following is the only record he has left of his visit:—
I arrived just as the Bey went out to the camp. He had left orders to have everything ready for my reception. We were lodged in his own palace, and treated with the utmost magnificence, as well as the greatest attention, and six chosen Moorish horsemen, well acquainted with the language and the country, for the language is in many places difficult, appointed to accompany me wherever I intended to go.
It is situated on a rock, everywhere surrounded by a dreadful precipice, except on the south, where is the principal gate. The river Rummel runs below, in a very rocky channel, and near the bridge passes under an arch of natural rock, as it afterwards does through two others, the highest of which is about 120 feet high. A little to the westward of this the Rummel falls in a large cascade of above 100 feet, under the precipice on which stands the citadel, which is on the north side of the town, from whence they precipitate criminals, and is in height 434½ feet.
Dr. Shaw is much mistaken in the description of Cirta. The ports of the town are in a very bad state, so is Cassir Goulah, all of the time of Constantine. The aqueduct is very inconsiderable, and of no height, and was never otherwise, the water from Physgeah being chiefly carried along the mountains.
I made a drawing of the precipice on which the town stands, and whence a torrent falls.
This, unfortunately, is not extant.
The Kasr el-Ghoula here alluded to was thus described by Shaw:—
‘Among the ruins to the S.W. of the bridge, upon the narrow strip of land just now described, is the Cassir Goulah, or Castle (as they interpret it) of the Giant, consisting of three arches, the middlemost whereof is the most spacious. All the mouldings and friezes are curiously embellished with the figures of flowers, battle-axes, and other ornaments. The Corinthian pilasters erected on each side of the grand arch, are pannelled like the side-posts of the gates of the city, in a gusto, as far as I have observed, peculiar to Cirta; but the pillars of the stone order, which supported the pediment, are broken down and defaced.’[32]
This was also described by Peyssonnel, who says: ‘On the other side of the ravine is a small plain on a level with the town, where is a triumphal arch in a very good state of preservation. It is formed of three large gates; that in the middle is 25 feet wide; the others are proportionally smaller. After this arch a great wall is seen, which sustained some considerable building.’[33]
When Constantine was taken by the French, the remains of this building were discovered on the plateau of Mansourah, overlooking the ravine. They consisted of several foundations in cut stone, and two fragments of cornice of an elegant and severe design,[34] but these have all disappeared. The French have done great things for Algeria, and the world owes them a deep debt of gratitude for having converted a nest of pirates and robbers into one of the most charming countries in the Mediterranean: but it is devoutly to be wished that they would do a little more for archæology, or rather establish a strict conservancy of all their venerable ruins, which otherwise will soon disappear everywhere as completely and as unnecessarily as they have done at Cherchel and Constantine.
FOOTNOTES:
[27]Ravoisier, Expl. Sc. de l’Alg., Beaux Arts, i. p. 10.
[28]Shaw, p. 127.
[29]Expl. Scien. de l’Alg., Beaux Arts, vol. i. plates 4 and 5; Archeol., plates 114-118.
[30]Fer. Rev. Afr., vol. xii. p. 131.
[31]Vaysettes, Ann. Arch. Const. vol. xii. p. 368.
[32]Shaw, p. 128.
[33]Peyssonnel, ap. D. de la Malle, i. p. 303.
[34]Ravoisier, Exp. Sc. de l’Alg., Beaux Arts, i. p. 10.
BRUCE’S ROUTE TO LAMBESSA — ZANA OR DIANA VETERANORUM — THE MEDRASSEN — BRUCE ARRIVES AT THE AURES — CURIOUS MEETING WITH A CHIEF OF THOSE MOUNTAINS.
We proceeded towards Batna by the diligence. I will therefore follow Bruce’s route in preference to my own.
On December 2, 1765, left Constantina late, and travelled only about 5 miles. The 3rd, arrived at Physgeah, a fountain whence issues a large stream, and where there are still a few slight traces of former works.
The Ain Fesgiah here mentioned is 60 kilometres, or 37½ miles, on the road to Batna, and its waters have lately been re-conducted to Constantine for the supply of that city.
All this day passed along the ruins of a Roman causeway, which was probably the road to Lambessa.
The journey to-day was between hills all cultivated; and, near Physgeah, passed through the plain, bounded on each side by the high rocky mountains Niffen Sur and Geryon.
This is the territory of the ancient Makhzin tribe of Zemoul, situated between Djebel Gerioun on the east and another mountain to the south-west, the highest point of which is, from its peculiar shape, called by the natives Enf-en-neser, or the Eagle’s Beak.
The 4th, arrived at Tattubt, 5 miles; where there remains nothing but the ruins of a modern building.
Tattubt is also in the tribe of Zemoul, not far from the lakes. From the Roman remains here were obtained the columns used to build the Mosque of Souk el-Ghazel, now the Cathedral of Constantine.[35]
The 5th, encamped at the Smellie (Smala) of the Bey, 9 miles.
The 6th, arrived at Taggou Zainah, 16 miles from Tattubt, due west. It is situated at the foot of Jebbel Mustowah, whose Gellah or fortress lies immediately south of it. The inhabitants of Taggou Zainah and the mountain Mustowah are the Haract, a clan that pays no tribute or obedience to the Bey, and not the Welled Abdenore, as Dr. Shaw says, these last lying to the westward.
A small river runs immediately below Zainah on the northwards, over which are the large plains of Tattubt, bounded on the south by Jebbel Auress, and on the north by the high mountain Niffen Sur (Enf-en-neser), Geryoun, and Ziganeah.
The 7th, designed one triumphal arch and left the other, it being in a bad state; no other buildings on foot, or any remains of the amphitheatre mentioned by Shaw. Zainah is the Diana of the Itinerary, and Taggou is but the continuation of it to the eastward, along the riverside, which does not divide Taggou from Zainah, as Dr. Shaw says, but runs parallel to them from east to west.
The mountain Mustowah above mentioned is a very well known hill near Batna, which has the form of a table or martello tower, whence its name of Geläa, or fortress. It was here that the insurgents, who attacked Batna in 1871, established their head-quarters.
The Haract or Haracta, is a powerful tribe of Berber origin, still speaking the Chawi language and inhabiting the great plains around Ain Beida; they are beginning to abandon nomad life and to settle down to the cultivation of the soil. Like most of the Chawi branch of the Berber race, they are lax Mohammedans, but fanatically attached to their religious confraternities, or Khouans, particularly to that of Sidi Mohammed ben Abd-er-Rahman bou Koberain. The Abdenore, as Bruce calls them, or the Oulad Abd-en-Noor, is one of the largest tribes in the province of Constantine. They now occupy the high plateau between Constantine and Setif. Under the Turkish Government they extended much further south, and at one time actually occupied the plain of Zana, as mentioned by Shaw.
Taggou-Zainah is, as Bruce shows, only the combination of two names, Taggou and Zana. The latter is the ordinary modern name of the district, and is evidently a corruption of the word Diana. The Itinerary of Antonine simply calls this city Diana. In the tables of Peutinger it is called Diana Veteranorum, and beside the name is the figure of a temple dedicated to Diana, the remains of which are still visible.[36]
The site of this city was found by Peyssonnel, in 1725, who thus described it:[37]—
‘The 14th, we arrived at the camp of the Bey, situated near to Izana. Izana is the ancient Diana. It was situated at the foot of a great mountain, now called Arquet,[38] near a beautiful spring . . . the situation is fine, and the city must have been considerable. Two triumphal arches still remain; one faces the east, and has a single gate with four small Corinthian columns. The other is at a little distance, and has also a single gate, but grander and more superb, with two great columns of the Corinthian order. The gate is about 25 feet wide and 38 high, and with the cornice and a great inscription above it, about 50 feet, all in good taste.
‘The inscription is:—
‘These gates are detached works, four feet thick, and well preserved. Beside them is a large building quite destroyed; it was square, and at the four corners was a pavilion or square bastion. This must have been a very fine palace.
‘There are other ruins which do not deserve much notice.’
Of this inscription a very small fragment now remains, so that the above rendering of Peysonnel cannot be verified. M. Léon Renier states that it is very incorrect, and suggests the following re-construction, based on his own researches:—
‘Imperatori Caesari Marco Opellio Severo Macrino Pio Felici Augusto, pontifici maximo, tribuniciae potestatis, consuli designato, patri patriae, proconsuli, providentissimo et sanctissimo principi, et Marco Opellio Antonino Diadumiano, nobilissimo Caesari Principi Juventutis, Respublica Dianensium ex decreto decurionum.’[39]
This, if correct, would show that the building was erected in the reign of Macrinus, A.D. 217-218.
Two other inscriptions were copied by Bruce, but he does not record the exact spots where he observed them:—
Of this last inscription M. Renier supplies two additional lines, and gives the following rendering. It was found on an altar, the lower part of which was probably buried when Bruce saw it.
‘Mercurio Augusto sacrum. Marcus Aurelius, Quinti filius, Papiria tribu, Aemilianus quaestor, aedilis, duumvirum, statuam, quam, ob honorem duumviratus, ex sestertium quinque milibus nummum pollicitus est, posuit, inlatis rei publicae legitimis honorum suorum summis et at fori straturam cubis decem, idemque dedicavit.’[40]
As appears from its name, Diana was inhabited, and probably founded, by a colony of veterans of the Third Legion. This remark, that the town is situated at the foot of Djebel Mestowa, which has always served as a centre of resistance under the Berbers, Turks, and French, favours the impression that it was the same under the Romans. This, no doubt, also induced the Byzantines to build a fortress there, 230 feet square, the walls of which are still standing.
Diana existed in A.D. 160, as is proved by a dedication to Antoninus Pius in the last year of his reign. It had the title of Municipium, and, according to Morcelli,[41] was several times favoured by the munificence of the Emperor.
Fidentius, a Donatist bishop of Diana, assisted at the Council of Carthage in 411.
It appears not to have been destroyed, like Lambessa and Timegad, for at the period of the Arab conquest it was the capital of the region. Moula Ahmed[42] thus mentions it:—
‘When Sidi Okba had conquered the people of Lambessa, he asked which was the strongest city in the country. They replied that it was Diana, where there was a king, chief of the Christians of Zab, a country containing 360 bourgades, having each an Emir. El-Yakoubi says that Adanaa was the largest city in the Western Zab. Okba there encountered the people of the country, and a great battle ensued. The Mohammedans triumphed over the Christians, of whom the greatest part were destroyed, and their power ceased in the province.’
Diana disappeared as a city in the tenth century. El-Bekri,[43] who places it at two days’ journey from Tobna, states that it was ruined in 935, by Ali ben Hamdoun El-Andalousi, governor of Zab, and the faithful servant of the Fatemites. The inhabitants had probably taken part in the great religious and political insurrection which began in the Aures, and of which Abou-Yezid was the promoter.
El-Bekri also states that the Haoura, who dwelt near Magra, having carried off the women of Diana, the inhabitants pursued the ravishers and killed a great number and delivered their women. The battle took place on the banks of a river, which took the name of Oued-en-Nissa (the river of women).
The principal Roman ruins at Diana are the two triumphal arches—of which the finer was drawn by Bruce, though unhappily his sketch is no longer extant in the Kinnaird Collection—the remains of a temple of Diana and a Christian basilica. The ruins of an aqueduct which brought the waters of Ain Sultan to the city are still visible for about nine miles.
From this point Bruce directed his course towards the Medrassen, spending the night of December 7 only eight miles distant from Diana. We descended from the diligence at Ain Yakoob at four A.M. on April 24, and hired mules to convey us thither. There is a road-side inn at Ain Yakoob, kept by a Maltese, and there is usually very little difficulty in obtaining beasts, though the Arabs, seeing travellers entirely at their mercy, without any French authorities to control them, know how to charge accordingly. The distance is less than six miles.
Shaw, in describing this building, says: ‘Five leagues to the east of Tagou-Zainah, upon the northern skirts of Jibbel Auress, we have a very remarkable sepulchral monument, situated between two eminences. It goes by the name of Medrashem, or Mail Cashem (‘the treasure of Cashem’), being nearly of the same fashion with the Kubber Romeah, but differeth in being larger and in having the cornish of the base supported with Tuscan-like pilasters. The Arabs imagine, as they do with regard to other large piles, that an immense treasure lieth buried beneath it, and have therefore made the like attempts as at the Kubber Romeah to lay it open.’[44]
Bruce dismisses the subject of the Medrassen with very few remarks, although he has left a drawing and a plan of it, the former of which is here given (Plate V.)
The 8th, arrived at Medaghashem, or Mad Cashem, at two o’clock, 12 miles, and finished the design that night. The entrance is to the east; it is situated in a plain about two miles square, between two mountains, Azim and Boaref, and has to the east a view of an extensive lake, and by the south-east side passes the remains of a public road, which is probably that from Cirta to Lambese, of which we found traces between Constantina and Physgeah.
This remarkable monument, very similar to the Tombeau de la Chrétienne near Algiers, was situated on the high road between Theveste and Diana Veteranorum. The form is that of a truncated cone, placed on a cylindrical base 193 feet in diameter; the total height is 60 feet. The lower portion, which forms a vertical encircling zone or ring, is ornamented by 60 engaged columns, of which not one half are now perfect. The upper part, or roof, gradually diminishes, by a series of steps, each 22 inches in height, and 38 in breadth. The columns are stunted, much broader at the base than at the top, the height being about four times the lower diameter. They rest on three steps, which serve as base both to the monument and to the columns. The capitals are Doric, and above them is an entablature with a large, bold cavetto, as if of Egyptian origin. Commandant Foy,[45] probably following the description of Shaw, calls them of the Tuscan order; Colonel Brunon,[46] criticising the former, remarks that the capitals belong rather to the genre Egyptien than to the Tuscan order, the truth being that they are neither one nor the other, but purely Greek. Greece and Egypt seem to have inspired the ornamentation, while the tumulus suggested the monument itself, as it did the Tombeau de la Chrétienne, Etruscan tombs and the Pyramids of Egypt. The actual conical part has lost its apex, if it ever had one. The exterior masonry is remarkably fine, the stones being of great size, well cut, the joints not more in some places than the thickness of a knife and each stone joined to its neighbour by a massive clamp, probably of iron set in lead, the search for which has greatly contributed to the destruction of the building. Unfortunately the interior masonry was of a much inferior kind, and an extensive subsidence of it has caused a dislocation of the outer coating.
Plate V.
J. LEITCH &. Co. Sc.
THE MEDRASSEN OR TOMB OF THE NUMIDIAN KINGS
FAC-SIMILE OF FINISHED INDIAN INK DRAWING BY BRUCE (AND BALUGANI?)
HENRY S. KING Co. LONDON.
Various attempts have been made to penetrate it, but till quite recently without success. Salah Bey endeavoured to force an entrance by means of artillery. General Carbuccia commenced to explore it in 1849, and discovered the passage leading to the sepulchral chamber; but, owing to the roof having fallen in, he was unable to penetrate further. Commandant Foy resumed its exploration with no better success; Monsieur le Garde du Génie Bauchetet failed likewise in 1866; but being again sent in 1873, with more ample means, he succeeded in clearing away the débris and penetrating to the central chamber, which he ascertained to be 10 feet 3 inches long by 4 feet 7 inches broad. Nothing of any interest was found inside, but clear evidence was obtained that it had been opened at some former period, and that an attempt had been made to destroy the building by means of fire; great quantities of charcoal and lime (the latter the calcined stone of which it is built) were discovered, and the fire having communicated to the woodwork which supported the roof of the passage, the superincumbent masonry had fallen in and obstructed the entrance. The masonry in the passage and chamber is very inferior to that of the Tombeau de la Chrétienne, and it differs from the latter by the passage going straight to the centre instead of in a spiral direction.
Numerous tumuli, also of a circular form, were discovered around, together with the traces of a bastioned enclosure, proving the place to have been an immense necropolis, subsequently used as a fortress, of which the Medrassen was simply the principal tomb.
There have been many speculations as to the meaning of the word and the destination of the building, which is not mentioned by any classical author. There can, however, be little doubt that the word Medrassen, as it is usually written, or Madghassen,[47] which is the more correct orthography, is the plural of the Berber word Madghes, the patronymic designation of an ancient family from which Masinissa was descended. Ibn Khaldoun says that Madghes was the son of Berr Ibn Kais; he bore the name of El-Abter, and was the father of the Berbers-Botr.[48] The name still exists in that of the tribe inhabiting the vicinity, the Haracta-Mader, and in that of a stream, the Oued Mader.
It is much more probable that this was the tomb of the Numidian kings—perhaps of Masinissa—than that of Syphax, to whom it has been referred, whose capital was at Siga, near the Tafna, and who only occupied Cirta for a short period. This would lead us to assign the date of B.C. 150 as about that of its construction, a supposition amply supported by the style of the architecture.
Here it may be well, before proceeding with my own route, to continue Bruce’s narrative of his.
Alluding to the Aures, he says:—
This mountain is of a very considerable height but inferior to Atlas, beautifully covered to the top with thick woods of cedar; on the top are fine plains and plentiful pastures; about 14 miles from Meda Cashem we encamped at the Shek of Auress’s dowar. His name is Mahomed, and Beni Momnein[49] are his people on the plain and Lashash[50]; formerly he commanded all Auress till his father was slain by Morad Beni Manesseh,[51] who now has taken the greatest part; Lashash, Welled Abdi, Boozenah and Marfah are dependants of Mahomed, and were at war with the Amamrah, Haract, Welled Sheela and several other clans, so that it was with great danger we passed on towards Tezzoute.
Here I met, to my great astonishment, a tribe, who, if I cannot say they were fair like English, were of a shade lighter than that of the inhabitants of any country to the southward of Britain. Their hair also was red and their eyes blue. They are a strong and independent people, and it required address to approach them with safety.
Each of the tribe, in the middle between the eyes, has a Greek cross marked with antimony. They are Kabyles. Though living in tribes, they have among the mountains huts built with mud and straw, which they call Dashkras, whereas the Arabs live in tents on the plains.
I imagine these to be a remnant of the Vandals. Procopius mentions a defeat of an army of this nation here after a desperate resistance, a remnant of which may be supposed to have maintained themselves in these mountains. They with great pleasure confessed their ancestors had been Christians, and seemed to rejoice much more in that relation than in any connection with the Moors, with whom they live in perpetual war. They pay no taxes to the Bey, but live in constant defiance of him.
It happened that one of these tribes had its dwelling upon a pointed rock (probably the Tamar of Procopius) just over the ruins of Lambessa. As we approached then these ruins, the nine soldiers of the Bey began to murmur for fear of the Neardie[52] (so they call this sturdy tribe, who had often beat the Bey); and matters had come the length of an absolute refusal to follow, when we alighted at an encampment of Arabs three hours’ journey from Lambessa. I was fatigued with hunting and the heat of the day, and having pitched my tent, lay down to sleep, when I heard a dispute between my servants and an Arab who was wanting to come into the tent to speak to me. As everything is of consequence to be attended to in these countries, I got up and brought the Arab into my tent. He was an old man of a mean appearance. He asked me what countryman I was, and if I spoke Italian. I answered that I was an Englishman, had been all over Italy and spoke Italian perfectly; and I was very much surprised to hear him ask me in very good Italian if I had ever been to Nice, or knew General Paterson. Having satisfied him that I knew the General, and what near neighbours and intimate friends our families were, he leaped up and embraced me with great joy and sincerity, calling General Paterson his father. He told me that he had been taken by the Sardinian galleys and at first ill used, but that by the interposition of General Paterson he had been exempted from all hardships and confinement, and treated with great humanity, tenderness and confidence; that he had also assisted him in his redemption. There was no end of his thanks and gratitude. He brought his wives and daughters into my tent, the greatest of all marks of veneration amongst the Arabs. He feasted us magnificently and seemed only at a loss he could do no more. The Arabs, who from the door of the tent had heard their chief speak an unknown language, and show such marks of respect to a stranger and a Christian, the object of their aversion, came all into the tent; and after a very adroit explanation given by the old man, all of them made me the most fervent offers of service as the friend of the deliverer of their chief. It was now time to enter into a discourse about the Neardie, the fears of my companions and my resolution to see Lambessa at all hazards. They laughed heartily at the fears of the Bey’s horsemen, which however they confessed to be well founded, and seemed to think little of the journey itself. ‘You shall do,’ said the old man, ‘in this case, what no wise man will do in general; you shall leave your old friends for your new; you shall leave the Bey’s soldiers to eat and drink here, and I will conduct you to Lambessa. If any harm falls on you in my company, let the soldiers witness against me to their master.’
I made no scruple to follow his directions, and on the next morning we entered the dark, rocky, wooded defiles which lead to Lambessa, full of lions, tigers[53] and men more savage than these animals.
We stayed three days at Lambessa without molestation and returned to the tents of our Arab conductor. To this accident is owing my having made one of the most accurate drawings ever seen on paper[54] as well as the knowledge of many historical circumstances. He attended us two days’ journey on our return, and embracing me at parting, said to me in Arabic, ‘God is a free Agent in judgment. He saves whom He pleases, and condemns whom He pleases; if so we may, though of different religions, meet in Paradise. To me it seems impossible that God the Great and Merciful should make men like General Paterson and you for damnation.’
FOOTNOTES:
[35]Shaw, p. 110.
[36]See Ragot, Ann. Arch. Const. xvi. p. 224.
[37]Peyssonnel, ap. D. de la Malle, i. p. 334.
[38]This is Djebel Harkat, the root of which word is identical with that of the Harackta tribe in the neighbourhood.
[39]L. Renier, Inscr. 1,731.
[40]L. Renier, Inscr. 1,744.
[41]Morcelli, Afr. Chr. t. i. p. 150.
[42]Voyage dans le sud de l’Algérie, trad. Berbrugger, p. 223.
[43]Description de l’Afrique Septentrionale, pp. 320-321.
[44]Shaw, p. 110.
[45]Ann. Arch. Const. iii. p. 58.
[46]Ibid. xvi. p. 303.
[47]The letter غ in Arabic is frequently rendered by r instead of gh.
[48]Ibn Khaldoun, trad. de Slane, i. p. 181.
[49]The section of Beni Moumen or Moumeneen still exists in the Aures.
[50]The tribe of El-Ashash still exists, its chief is the well-known Bou-Dhiaf.
[51]The family of Beni Merad long governed in the Aures; they were subsequently expelled and now inhabit Guerfa between Ain Beida and Guelma.
[52]I cannot at all identify this tribe; the name is unknown in the country at the present day, and I should be inclined to think that Bruce meant the Oulad Abdi, who occupy the principal part of the Aures, but for the fact that he subsequently mentions them as the Welled Abdi.
[53]Perhaps panthers are here meant, there being no tigers in Africa.
[54]This is not extant in the Kinnaird collection.
OUR ARRIVAL AT BATNA — HISTORY AND DESCRIPTION OF THE AURES MOUNTAINS.
After having spent some hours at the Medrassen, we continued our way to Batna. The first part of the route was across country for about five miles, after which we rejoined the high road at the Hôtel du Tournant, about six and a quarter miles from Batna. The Governor-General had been good enough to send special recommendations in our favour to the Commandant of that station, General Dastugue, and as chance would have it, General Chanzy was himself on a tour of inspection, and expected to arrive at Batna about the same time as ourselves. We were in a sorry plight, having spent the previous night in the diligence; we were mounted on Arab mules and pack-saddles, and altogether presented a miserably travel-stained appearance. Judge of our horror at having thus to run the gauntlet of all the officials who had come out to meet the Governor-General: the Commandant himself with a brilliant staff, all the judicial authorities in their robes, the Maire and Municipal Council, streets of little boys and girls bearing flowers and banners, and ready to sing a pæan of praise to His Excellency. And, worst of all, we were stopped by General Dastugue in the midst of all this glory; he had recognised us even in our rags and dirt, and wished us to understand that as soon as his official duties were over, he would do all in his power to facilitate our journey, a promise which he far more than fulfilled.
We remained at Batna till the 27th April, and were most hospitably entertained by the General. He sent letters of recommendation in advance to all the chiefs of the Aures, caused good mules to be brought in for ourselves, and supplied us with tents and mules from the train for our baggage. No one could have taken more pains to ensure the success of our journey, and it was with the deepest regret that we heard shortly after our return to Algiers, that his health had broken down, and that he had returned to France with but little hope of being able to resume active service in Africa. Before, however, commencing a narrative of our journey, the reader will be glad to know something of this country, which, as far as I am aware, has never been explored by an English traveller, and is comparatively little known even to the French. Bruce never actually penetrated into these mountains: he merely skirted their northern slopes.
English tourists, who flock every season to Biskra, cannot fail to see and to admire their distant outline; everyone goes to Lambessa; a few may visit Timegad and Tebessa, all on Bruce’s route; but with these exceptions the country is as little known as it was a century ago.
The geographical term Aures comprises at the present day that mass of mountains stretching between the route from Batna to Biskra on the west and the Oued el-Arab on the east. It does not extend further north than Batna, or so far south as Biskra. The greatest length from east to west is 75 miles, and from north to south 44; Ptolemy places here his Audon; Procopius and other geographers speak of it as Aurasion, or Mons Aurasius, but it does not appear that they included under these names the entire range, but rather isolated peaks, like the Djebel Aures, which actually exists as a single peak near Khenchla. To the south of Audon Ptolemy traces a long chain of mountains, which he calls Thambes, and which, with Mampsurus (the modern Dj. Mahmel), would about include the district known as the Aures Mountains at the present day.
Procopius describes it in the following terms: ‘This mountain, the greatest that we know, is situated at thirteen days’ journey from Carthage. Its circuit is three long days’ journey. One can only ascend by steep paths and wild solitudes, but on the summit is an immense plain, watered by springs, giving rise to rivers, and covered with a prodigious quantity of orchards; the grain and fruit are double the size of those in other parts of Africa.’
The general configuration of the Aures is a series of mountain ranges, running with more or less continuity from N.E. to S.W. They are roughly parallel to each other, and in the valleys between them flow considerable rivers.
On the north side, they have only moderate slopes, which convey its waters into the Chotts of the neighbouring plateau. These streams are few in number and of no great volume; the great body of the drainage is from the southern side, where the rivers, after a long and fertilising course, pour their waters into the great marshy basin of Melghigh. The most important of these watercourses are the Oued el-Kantara just outside the range, and the Oueds Abdi and el-Abiad, which flow through it. To the east of these, the rivers assume a more directly southern course.
The inhabitants of this country are called Chawi (plural, Chawia), from the Semitic root cha, a sheep. They are emphatically shepherds, as well as agriculturists, having few or no cattle, but immense flocks of sheep and goats.
They form a branch of the great Berber nation, which has occupied the north of Africa, from Egypt to the Atlantic, since pre-historic times. The Kabyles form another branch. Both speak slightly different dialects of the same language, but the former, shut up in their mountain fastnesses, hardly yet known to the world beyond and rarely leaving their native country, have remained less mixed with foreign elements, at least since the period of the Arab conquest.
These remarks apply particularly to the Chawia of the Aures: the race itself has a much wider geographical distribution, and in the same manner that there are tribes of Kabyles out of Kabylia, so there are tribes of Chawia in the plains and high plateaux all round the Aures, which, from contact with the nomad Arabs settled in their vicinity, have lost much of their distinctive character.
Comparatively little is known of the history of the Berbers before the Roman occupation of North Africa, which followed the long and bloody wars in the second century before Christ. For some time after that, the government of the country still remained in the hands of the native races, and it was not till A.D. 40 that Numidia became finally reduced to the condition of a Roman province.
The accuracy of the description given of them by Ibn Khaldoun, in the fourteenth century, may be verified in a thousand particulars at the present day.
‘From the most ancient times,’ he says, ‘the west country was peopled by this race. They construct their houses either with stone and mud, with reeds and brushwood, or with cloths made of horse-hair or camel’s wool. Those who possess a certain degree of power and govern the others, adopt a nomad life, and wander about with their flocks in search of pasturage. But they never quit the Tell to enter into the vast plains of the desert.
‘They gain their living by rearing sheep and cattle, and reserve their horses for riding and for the propagation of the species. A part of the nomad Berbers breed camels also, thus following an occupation which is ordinarily that of the Arab. The poorer Berbers live off the produce of their fields and flocks; but the higher classes, those who live as nomads, wander over the country with their camels, and lance in hand are as much engaged in robbing strangers as in tending their flocks.
‘Their raiment and almost all their effects are of wool, and they clothe themselves in striped garments, one end of which is thrown over the left shoulder.’[55]
The origin of the Berber name, according to the same author, is as follows:—
‘When Ifrikos, son of Kais, son of Saifi, one of the Himyarite kings or Tobbas of Yemen, invaded North Africa, to which country he gave his name, he was astonished at the strange idioms spoken by the inhabitants, and exclaimed, “What a berbera yours is!” The word berbera signifies a mixture of unintelligible cries, and the name of Berber was ever afterwards applied to designate them.’[56] He further adds that the Berbers of the Aures had previous to this embraced Judaism;[57] certainly, during the domination of the Romans they resigned themselves to the profession of the Christian faith, and submitted to their conquerors, paying without much resistance the heavy taxes imposed upon them. The enormous amount and the magnificent character of the Roman ruins still existing in and around the Aures show how extensive their occupation of the country was. All the fertile plains and valleys must have been appropriated by them, and their hands being as prompt to suppress insurrection as to uphold military discipline, the native races were, no doubt, either entirely assimilated to their conquerors, or driven to mountains and deserts, where even the Roman power was unfelt.
The Vandal invasion, which swept all this away, never penetrated into the Aures, and for a brief period the Berber princes were again permitted to rule their country in peace and quietness. The last Vandal king was Gilimer, and it was in his reign (A.D. 533) that Justinian sent a powerful army under Belisarius to invade Africa. The secretary of that general was Procopius, who has left us a most valuable account of the wars of the Byzantines against the Vandals. In less than six months Belisarius conquered the whole country from Carthage to the Atlantic, and either drove the Vandals out, or forced them to retreat to the mountains, especially the Aures, where their conquerors did not at first dare to follow them.
Belisarius then returned to Constantinople with the captive king in his train, leaving his wisest and most valiant general, the eunuch Solomon, to supply his place. The Berbers soon raised the standard of revolt, and the most formidable chief he had to contend against was Iabdas,[58] who occupied the Aures Mountains. Thither Solomon followed and signally defeated him, compelling him to flee into Mauritania. The conquerors ravaged the country all round the Aures, but they carefully restored the strong places, such as Thamugas, Baghaia, and Theveste. Risings amongst the native races however still continued; and, after a short and brilliant career, Solomon was utterly defeated, and lost his life under the walls of Theveste (the modern Tebessa).
From this moment the power of the Latin race began rapidly to decay. The remnants of the Roman and Byzantine colonies either concentrated themselves in the neighbourhood of a few strongly fortified positions, or retreated to the almost inaccessible mountains now known as Kabylia and the Aures.
At this conjuncture a new conquering power appeared on the scene. Mohammedanism began to extend its conquests beyond Arabia, and when those wonderful expeditions under Abdulla ibn Saad, Moawia ibn el-Hodeidj and Okba ibn Nafa overran the whole of North Africa, they met with but little resistance from the Berbers, who had suffered so cruelly from one set of foreign invaders after another; they regarded the Arabs rather as liberators than conquerors, and willingly embraced the religion of El-Islam and recognised the authority of the Khalifa. These new masters, however, proved even more tyrannical than the old ones, and soon the flames of revolt spread all over the country.
The government of the Berbers was at this time exercised by Koceila, son of Lemezm, who had originally been a Christian, but who had become a Mohammedan during the first Arab invasion, and had returned to his ancient faith under the government of Abou el-Mohadjer. He rallied all the disaffected Berbers to his standard, but he was completely defeated by Abou el-Mohadjer, taken prisoner at Tlemçen and only escaped death by again making a profession of Islamism.
Okba ibn Nafa, who had returned to Africa to replace Abou el-Mohadjer, undertook the conquest of the Moghreb. He penetrated as far as the Atlantic, and received the submission of Count Julian, who governed Tingitana for the Goths of Spain. He retained Koceila in close captivity in his camp and treated him with the utmost indignity. He repossessed himself of the strong places, such as Baghai and Lambessa, and deposed all the Berber princes from their governments. On one occasion however, having sent the greater part of his army to Kerouan, and kept but a small detachment with himself, the tribe of Koceila, with whom their chief had always been in secret communication, profiting by his temporary weakness, fell upon him at Tahouda near Biskra, and killed both him and all his followers.[59]
Koceila fixed his residence at Kerouan, and governed the Berbers and Arabs with great justice and moderation during five years; but in the 67th year of the Hejira (A.D. 686-7) he was defeated by Zoheir ibn Keis el-Belowi, who had been sent by the Khalifa Abd-el-Melek to avenge the death of Okba, and was slain with a vast number of his followers. The remainder of the Berbers fled for security to their strong places and to the mountains.[60]
The Aures was at this time governed by a princess whose name was Dihya, daughter of Tabita, but who is more generally known by the appellation of El-Kahina, the sorceress; according to Ibn Khaldoun,[61] she professed the religion of the Jews, and her ordinary place of residence was at El-Baghai. By this time Zoheir had been killed and Hassan bin Näaman was sent against her. He was signally defeated and pursued by the victorious Kahina as far as the borders of Tripoli. During five years she continued to reign, with as much justice and clemency as her predecessor; but she was subsequently overcome, and she together with her principal nobles fell gloriously in battle, overwhelmed by the superior power of her Arab conquerors.
The very means which she took to arrest the progress of her enemies predisposed the minds of her people against her, and contributed to her downfall. She destroyed all the towns and farms in which the Arabs could obtain shelter, and burnt those magnificent forests, which made the whole country between Tripoli and Tangier one continuous garden. This would naturally have been put down as an exaggeration or mere tradition, but for the chain of Roman ruins still existing to prove how richly cultivated and how densely peopled the country once was, much of which is now all but desert.
The story of El-Kahina is just such a one as the Arabs love to build their romances on. A local tradition is recorded by Commandant de Bosredon.[62] This part of the country was formerly under the rule of a great chief called Aures, whose wife’s name was Khenchla. This powerful family had several castles, the ruins of which are still existing at Daharet-Foua, Bahiret-Sebkha and Khenchla, his usual place of residence. The daughter of Aures, known generally by her pseudonym of El-Kahina, was a person of great beauty and high intelligence. She had received a brilliant education under the direction of her father, and one corresponding to the distinguished rank she occupied. When of age to be married, her father left her free to select her own husband. Amongst the numerous aspirants for her hand, El-Kahina chose Berzegan, whose name is perpetuated in the great ruins situated to the south of the Ma el-Abiad. The marriage act was drawn out, but Aures died before the ceremony could be accomplished.
The successor of Aures was one of those whose addresses El-Kahina had rejected, and who on this account meditated a project of vengeance. Being a man of an evil nature, he abused his power to commit the most infamous actions. Amongst other customs, he introduced one formerly claimed by feudal lords in Europe, and as El-Kahina refused to submit to this indignity, she delayed for some time her marriage. At last, heartsore at seeing the whole nation victims of this unworthy prince, she determined to effect the liberation of her country. She invited some of the bravest youths of her family and acquaintance to a banquet, at the termination of which she made known to them her projects, which met with universal approbation. She then made the necessary preparations for her marriage, and according to the recently established custom, she proceeded with her companions to the residence of the sovereign. She penetrated alone into his apartments, and having in vain endeavoured to divert him from his evil way, she plunged a poignard in his heart, and was hailed as his successor.
Thus we have seen one invasion after another sweep over the country, and always with the same effect—the conquerors, after a short lapse of time, became in their turn the conquered, and were driven for safety to the mountains.
Ibn Khaldoun remarked of the Berbers, that they held the first place amongst nations for bravery and promptness to defend their guests, for fidelity to their engagements, patience in adversity, hospitality and many other great qualities.[63]
This reputation, no doubt, induced the persecuted Latins, and even the Vandals, to seek the shelter of these peaceful retreats, where they soon became assimilated to the aboriginal Berber race. The result is, that these northern nations have left on the Chawia the imprint of their physical and moral character in a way that fourteen centuries have not been able to obliterate.
The features, language, and customs of these people bear unmistakable testimony to their classic origin. All the old writers who visited the outskirts of the country, describe in glowing terms the beauty of its women. Morgan, in his interesting history of Algeria, dated 1728, remarks: ‘What numbers have I seen, particularly females, who, for well-featured countenances, fair curling locks, and wholesome ruddy looks, might not vie with, or even be envied by, the proudest European dames.’ Shaw, who wrote a few years later, observes that they have quite a different mien and aspect from their neighbours, ‘for their complexions are so far from being swarthy that they are fair and ruddy, and their hair, which amongst other Kabyles is of a dark colour, is with them of a deep yellow.’
Bruce, as we have seen, bears testimony to the same fact, and it was unanimously our opinion that in no country within our knowledge is the average of female beauty so high as in the Aures Mountains. It is true that, owing to hard labour from earliest childhood, and constant exposure to the sun, they become old before their time, and even in infancy their skin becomes of a dark brown colour; but the classic regularity of features, which nothing can mar, occasionally combined with light hair and blue eyes, marks in an unmistakable manner their European origin. Their language is full of Latin words, and in their daily life they retain customs undoubtedly derived from their Christian ancestry.
They observe the 25th of December as a feast, under the name of Moolid (the birth), and keep three days’ festival at spring time and harvest; a garden they call orto (hortus), an elm olm (ulmus), and the ordinary New Year’s salutation is Bouiné (bonus annus). They use the solar instead of the Mohammedan lunar year, and the names of their months are the same as our own.
| Yenar | Maio | Istenbar |
| Fourar | Yunia | Aktobar |
| Mars | Yuliez | Ounbar |
| Yebrer | Ghusht | Jenbar |
For years after Algeria had become a French colony the tribes of the Aures refused to enter into any relations with the conquerors; their country was a safe refuge for all the malcontents of other districts, and amongst others, the ex-Bey of Constantine and the Khalifa of the Emir Abd-el-Kader retreated to these fastnesses, and kept up a constant agitation, which threatened the security of the great military road between Constantine and the desert. This became quite insupportable, and as soon as the insurrectionary movements in Algiers, which terminated in the defeat of Bou Mäaza at Ain Kebira, had been somewhat appeased, General Bedeau, who had been appointed Military Commander on the departure of the Duc d’Aumale, resolved to penetrate these difficult mountains, and force the tribes to acknowledge French authority.
The expedition left Batna on May 1, 1845, and proceeded eastward. The Chawia opposed it in great numbers, but they were quite unable to resist European arms and discipline. In three days the troops had reached Medina, a central position in the country, where a depôt of provisions was established. They then penetrated the country of the Oulad Abdi, defeated them in a smart combat at Aidoussa, and forced them to come to terms. The other tribes, dismayed at the rapidity and success of this attack, abandoned all resistance, agreed to accept chiefs appointed by the French, and consented to pay the war contribution imposed upon them. The column then traversed the Aures Mountains in every direction, and expelled the foreign recalcitrants who had fled there for safety, and since that time the tranquillity of the country has never been disturbed.
One can hardly ride a mile in the Aures Mountains without meeting Roman remains of considerable importance, such as the foundations of forts, agricultural establishments, tombs, &c., built in the most substantial manner of huge blocks of well-cut stone, all testifying to the high state of civilisation which existed wherever this great people founded colonies.
But it is not so much within the massif of the Aures itself as on its northern slopes, and on the plains at their base, that those splendid cities existed, the ruins of which now excite the wonder and admiration of modern travellers.
Commencing from Lambessa, a complete chain of these cities extended as far as Tebessa, their order from west to east being as follows: Lambæsis, Verecunda, Thamugas, Mascula, Baghaia, and Theveste. Thence, turning towards the south, the chain of military establishments, and towns of a less important character, continue to encircle the mountains, reaching as far as the desert and remounting to the original starting point.