TEBESSA

Latin Theveste town, northeastern Algeria. It is located 146 miles (235 km) by road south of Annaba and 12 miles (19 km) west of the Tunisian frontier. Tbessa was an outpost of Carthage in the 7th century BC and a Roman garrison town in 146 BC. It declined in the 5th and 6th centuries AD and disappeared from history after the Arab invasion of the 7th century. The Turks stationed a small military garrison there, and, after French rule began in Algeria in 1830, Tbessa was developed as the easternmost of the Algerian gateways to the south. Dominating the town is a walled Byzantine citadel, comprising a square with 12 towers and 4 gateways. To the north is a Roman quadrifrontal arch erected during the reign of the emperor Caracalla (AD 214). An outstanding Christian basilica stands 1 mile (1.6 km) north of the town centre. There are also ruins of a Roman amphitheatre, thermal baths, and a temple of Minerva. In addition to working the phosphate mines of el-Kouif (northeast of the town), the town's present-day inhabitants engage in trade, especially in sheep, esparto grass, and grain, and also weave carpets. Pop. (1987 prelim.) mun., 107,559.