[86]See a translation of Kitab el-Adouani, by M. Ch. Feraud, in Ann. Soc. Arch. Const. vol. xii. p. 1.
[87]Morcelli, Afr. Chris. i. p. 91.
CHAPTER XIII.
TEBESSA — RETURN TO CONSTANTINE.
The last of the Roman cities on the northern slopes of the Aures was Theveste, the modern Tebessa. Bruce has erroneously identified it as Tipasa, which is certainly the modern Tifesh, much further to the north. He visited it on two occasions, in going to and returning from Constantine. His remarks are very concise; they are as follows:—
November 21, 1765. Arrived at Tipasa, which is situated in a plain about eight miles broad from E. to W., surrounded on every side by bare mountains, except on the N., by which lies the road to Constantina. The plain is cultivated, and is the property of the Hanneisha.
Here is a most extensive scene of ruins. There is a large temple and a four-faced triumphal arch of the Corinthian order in the very best taste, the drawings of which are now in the collection of the King.
The Hanencha is a once powerful confederation, which governed an immense extent of country along the frontier of Tunis from La Calle to the desert. The name is derived from that of the first Arab chief Hanach ben Abdulla es-Sanani, a native of Sanäa in Arabia Felix. Their principal stronghold, Geläat-es-Senan, also bears the name of his birthplace. Since the French conquest this tribe has lost its former greatness, but a Kaid of the Hanencha still exists at Souk Ahras, and governs a fraction of the old tribal territory.
The subsequent entry is—