In the vicinity are some curious ruins, not at all Roman in appearance, but we could not decide whether they were anterior or posterior to the Latin epoch. Sir Grenville Temple also noticed them in these terms: ‘The most remarkable curiosities, however, are several very ancient constructions scattered about in the fields round the villages, formed of large unwrought stones or slabs, some measuring 17 ft. 10 in. in length by 6 ft. 2 in. in breadth, and 1 ft. 8 in. in thickness. With these a number of little chambers are formed, generally in two rows, divided by a passage resembling in their plan some of the tombs of the Pharaohs at Biban el-Melook, near Thebes; that is to say, those which have little chambers on each side of the entrance gallery. The whole edifice is also roofed with similar slabs laid flat. I should feel inclined to attribute their construction to the aboriginal inhabitants before the arrival of the Phœnicians; probably, they are not tombs but magalia or houses. Many of them are in such good preservation as still to be inhabited and used as stables.’[185]
After passing this place, and crossing the Oued Ez-Zerga, and the Oued Zanfour, we came to the Henchir, which now bears the latter name.
Bruce was the first of modern travellers to recognise that Zanfour, and not Kisser, as Shaw supposed, was the ancient Assuras; he read the name on the triumphal arch, the inscription of which he has recorded. Pliny mentions the Oppidum Azuritanum as inhabited by Roman citizens;[186] it is also cited by Ptolemy,[187] in the Itinerary of Antoninus,[188] and in the tables of Peutinger as Assuræ. Several bishops of this place are recorded, and one of the epistles of St. Cyprian was addressed ad episcopum et plebem Assuritanorum.[189]
The most important of the ruins is the triumphal arch above mentioned. Bruce has left two drawings of this monument, one a very elegant sketch in Indian ink, evidently his own work, showing its actual condition, and exhibiting in the background the accurate position of the temple on the left, and of the theatre on the right. The other is a highly-finished Indian-ink drawing of the same subject, in which the hand of Luigi Balugani is very apparent. The entablature and one of the columns have been restored, and a camp of Arab soldiers has been pitched among trees behind it; numerous figures in fanciful attitudes are scattered about, and a cart, which must have had some difficulty in crossing the stream, contains a family party in the foreground. This I have chosen for reproduction, as, in spite of these embellishments, the drawing is more accurate, and the Corinthian temple to the left is given in greater detail. ([Plate XXI.])
There are also five other sheets to illustrate this monument. One contains a slight pencil sketch, on which the dimensions are given; another is a finished Indian-ink drawing to scale of the plan and elevation: the other three are beautifully executed plates of architectural details of various parts of the monument.
This arch has but one opening, decorated with a Corinthian order, composed of single isolated fluted columns near each angle of the mass, with unfluted pilasters behind, corresponding to them. It is in a very ruinous condition, but enough remains to show, even had these drawings not existed, that the entablature was rich and complete, and crowned by an attic with cornice and basis. As is usual in such buildings, the impost turns all round the monument, without however interfering with the pilasters and columns, and, which is less common, the arch is decorated with an archivolt.
The dimensions given in the plan and elevation are as follows:—
| Ft. | in. | lines. | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Opening of arch | 17 | 5 | 6 |
| Width of piers (square) | 9 | 2 | 0 |
| Diameter of columns | 2 | 1 | 5 |
| Base of stylobates | 2 | 2 | 5 |
| Space between column and pilaster | 2 | 6 | 6 |
| Height of stylobate | 6 | 7 | 6 |
| „ base of column | 1 | 1 | 2 |
| „ shaft | 17 | 11 | 3 |
| „ capital | 2 | 4 | 5 |
| „ entablature | 5 | 8 | 3 |
| „ attic | 7 | 1 | 6 |
| Total height of ruin | 40 | 11 | 2 |
The columns have all fallen down, and lie in fragments around. Bruce’s sketches show that during his visit the right one on the north-east side was complete, as was half of the corresponding one on the opposite side of the opening, but the condition of the south-west side of the arch is not indicated.
On that portion of the attic above the north-east face was a long inscription, part of which still remains in situ. Some of the stones, however, on which it was engraved have been thrown down and broken; fragments of these still exist amongst the débris, but the most part have disappeared.