We cross the Oued Siliana, not far from its influx into the Medjerda, and then ascend in long windings above the valley of the Oued Khalled, a tributary of the Medjerda.
18 M. Aïn-Tounga (821 ft.; no inn), on the N. slope of Jebel Tounga (1575 ft.), the site of the small Roman town of Thignica, has the ruins of two triumphal arches, a temple of Mercury (170 A.D.), and a Byzantine fortress.
We descend, in sight of Teboursouk and the distant capitol of Dougga, into the valley of the Oued Khalled. We pass through many side-valleys, cross the river, and then ascend a branch of the road to the right, soon joining the Gaffour road (p. [360]).
28 M. Teboursouk (1378 ft.; Hôt. International, R. 3½) B. ½, déj. 3, D. 3½, pens. 10 fr., quite good, but charges should be agreed upon beforehand; Hôt. de la Poste, humble; pop. 3000, (incl. 300 Europeans) has a fine open site on the olive-clad slope of Kef Teboursouk, high above the valley of the Oued Zebbès. Into the walls of the narrow and picturesque streets are built many fragments from the ruins of the once considerable town of Thubursicum Bure. We note also the Byzantine Fortress (with remains of a Roman triumphal arch in its N. wall) and the Neo-Punic Burial Ground, to the S.W. of the town. A superb distant view is obtained at the ruined tower at the upper end of the town.
The rough, hilly road from Pont-de-Trajan (p. [327]) to Teboursouk leads through the rugged hill-region to the S. of the Medjerda, and passes (12½ M.) Henchir Maâtria, the ruins of the small Roman town of Numluli or Numiulis (foundations of the capitol of 170 A.D., early-Christian chapel in quatrefoil form with four apses, and Byzantine fort). It ends at the N. gate of (17½ M.) Teboursouk.
The Road to Dougga, 3¾ M. from Teboursouk, leaves the Le Kef road (p. [357]) after ½ M. and ascends to the S.W. over a plateau thinly overgrown with scrub.
Dougga (about 1970 ft.), a poor Berber village on the S. margin of Kef Dougga, is the ancient Thugga, one of the oldest and most important places in the heart of Tunisia. The site of the ruins, which vie with those of Gightis (p. [392]), is the most beautiful in the whole country. The name is of Berber origin (thukka, pasture). It appears to have been the seat of a Berber dynasty allied with Carthage. It then belonged successively to the Carthaginian dominions and to those of Masinissa (p. [321]), and attained its prime about the end of the 2nd cent. A.D. The grand late-Roman ruins, partly excavated since 1891, the venerable olive-woods on Kef Dougga, and the view of the Oued Khalled valley and of the N. Tunisian hills, stretching far away to Jebel Zaghouan and Jebel Bou-Kornin (p. [363]), combine to form a fascinating picture. On the N.W. horizon is Jebel Gorra (3160 ft.), famed ever since ancient times for its lead and zinc mines.
Comp. ‘Thugga’, by Dr. Carton (Tunis; 2½ fr.).
The old Porte de l’Est, where a branch of the Tebessa road ended, and the Thermae near it are entirely ruined.
From that gate we walk along the S. slope of the hill to the *Mausoleum of a Berber prince (5th or 4th cent. B.C.), probably the oldest existing Punic-Libyan monument of the kind.