This compilation collects case studies from Roman North Africa, especially the regions between modern Tunisia and Egypt, with updated research carried out by Tunisian and Spanish members of the IPAR Project. The volume provides a well-founded perspective on Roman Africa with contributions on prehistory, demonstrating the multidisciplinary characteristics of the project; it contains sixteen contributions and is divided into three main sections: the first part addresses the historical and theoretical frameworks; the second, the dynamics of North-African cultural landscapes, including their historical and architectural development; and the third part includes essays regarding religion, art, and iconography.
The volume complements the works of Robert B. Hitchner[1] and by Phillip C. Naylor[2] by offering key case studies that allow a better understanding of the role of North Africa in the ancient Mediterranean. The introductory chapters provide a theoretical framework to tackle the dynamics of North African history. The contents of the volume fit within the current reexamination of the problematics of ethnicity, religious identity, and acculturation processes in North Africa and how these are contextualized within the ancient Mediterranean. The case studies provided in the first three chapters of the book explore how native populations interacted with Rome and had different identities and cultures; these can be complemented with the work by David Mattingly[3]. Similarly, for a reexamination of the terminology applied in the first part of the volume, the book by Stefan Ardeleanu[4] addresses the theorical models and terms related to acculturation for the North African case. The second part of the volume, focused on cultural landscapes and their dynamics, examines such problematics by looking at archaeological data, territorial mutations, and architectonic heritage. To close the book, a third section provides accurate cases to exemplify cultural plurality, identity, and religious syncretic processes together with art and iconography in North Africa. These chapters can be complemented with the work of Matthew M. McCarty[5] on religion with a wide focus on its peoples and material worlds.
Josué Ramos presents Berber (Libyan) identity and its colonial influences; he discusses and analyzes the cultural contact, identity, and cultural frontiers that evolved via ‘punicization’ and ‘romanization’. He addresses how acculturation and syncretism were used as mechanisms to indicate the processes of fusion, assimilation, adaptation, and synthesis, from different religious systems. This contribution remarks on the significance of comparing the societies of the ancient Mediterranean to identify analogies and differences in the cultural negotiation processes.
Carlos Díaz addresses cultural processes in Corsica during the periods of Roman contact and subsequent conquest. The study offers an updated overview of the cultural processes that affected Corsica after the First Punic War (3rd century BCE–2nd century CE). It opens with a definition of ‘romanization’ and how it can be applied to the Corsican case to elucidate if such a process could be labelled as ‘acculturation’, ‘hybridization’ or ‘imposition’. The paper traces a detailed examination of both textual and archaeological data to study human landscapes, and cultural habits at Corsica.
Antonio Tejera raises questions related to Pliny the Elder’s text on the so-called “Fortunate Islands” by highlighting the significance of textual evidence for the discovery of the Canary Islands between the 3rd century BCE and the first quarter of the 1st century CE. He argues that Pliny the Elder already mentions the Fortunatae Insulae in his Naturalis Historia (Pliny 6.202-205), discusses their etymology, and identifies Canaria with Gran Canaria by associating it with the Moroccan tribe of the canarii.
The second section of the volume seeks to clarify the dynamics of African cultural landscapes by analyzing textual and archaeological evidence that allow a better understanding of its historical development. Jorge de Torres analyzes the arrival of the camel in the Sahara by looking at archaeological material and concludes that such animals started to play a major role in central North Africa in the 3rd–4th centuries CE. He uses correspondence analysis to detect patterns and similarities within the provided dataset of depictions and artifacts and analyzes those data by looking at variables such as weapons, camel saddles, and harnesses. He concludes by suggesting different stages of the evolution of camel depictions with geographical implications in their distribution.
Mounir Fantar and Fadwa Bouhjar provide a detailed study on Iulia Neapolis (Cap Bon, Tunisia) by looking at historiography, iconography, toponymy, production sites, orography and landscape, from a diachronic perspective. They supply case studies based on numismatics, mosaics, and paintings to highlight the sociocultural and economic dynamics of Neapolis. Their paper approaches the activities developed in the area, such as salting industries, and includes an overview of the economic activities in Roman times by supplying archaeological evidence from recent excavations.
Samira Sehili discusses the human occupation of the Zelfane plateau in ancient times in Tunisia by examining archaeological sites. Sehili pays attention to agricultural buildings, oil mills, hydraulic structures and necropoleis and compares them to other regions in northern and central-eastern Tunisia. The paper closes with the idea that the plateau was well-known for its oil production during the period between the 2nd and 7th centuries CE.
Ahmed Sayadi presents a diachronic development of the city of Ammaedara located in the western region of Tunisia. Sayadi introduces the main characteristics of the site, after which he analyzes its development since Antiquity through the Middle Ages until the modern period. He investigates the stories of travelers and explorers and the archives to confirm the location of the accumulation in the center of the town between the Byzantine town and the Arch of Septimius Severus. He includes tabular archival material and classifies it diachronically, providing bibliography and resources which could help prospective researchers.
The third and last part of the volume is dedicated to religion, art, and iconography. Samia Zeghal-Yazidi studies the falcons, doves, and cockerels depicted in the iconography of the Punic Carthage to discuss their symbolic function, religious syncretism, and meaning within the Carthaginian pantheon.
Lamia Ben Abid classifies stelae as votive furnishings and tomb markers from North Africa between the Punic period to the end of the Roman period. Ben Abid identifies stelae that have the judgment of Paris as their main theme. The paper closes with the insertion of African provinces into the Mediterranean koine. This was achieved by adopting classical mythological topics with a symbolic value depicted on religious and funerary reliefs and showing an awareness of classical mythology in North Africa in the 2nd and 3rd centuries CE.
Raquel Rubio debates the terminology used to address cultic spaces in Pompeii, Herculaneum, and the Iberian Peninsula, to compare them with those of Tunisian settlements. Rubio summarizes the state of the studies on domestic cults in Roman Africa. The contribution focuses on the private domestic settings of Bulla Regia between the 2nd century BCE and the 4th century CE, and the end of the article deals with the complexity of reconciling the terminology used for domestic cult spaces and African archaeological evidence. The inclusion of a section on comparisons with other contemporary sites in North Africa could help to propose distribution patterns and room functions.
Nesrine Nasr presents an in-depth study of the Gightis fresco found at Gightis in a non-identified monument and donated to the Musée National du Bardo. By analyzing the techniques and examining them alongside parallel examples, Nasr contrasts the motifs of the scene with similar examples that include analogies in their depicted components, such as the temple, the tree, the victimarius, and the cattle. Nasr does not suggest a possible date for the fresco despite mentioning parallel examples between the 2nd and 3rd centuries CE.
María Hinojosa explores the sarcophagus of the ‘Wise Child and the Seasons’ by interpreting the iconography and combining its analysis with research on Roman customs and rites in Africa Proconsularis. She discusses the imagery depicted in African sarcophagi from its chronology and manufacturing. The sarcophagus dates to the early 4th century CE, and the author suggests the possibility that it was used in three different moments between the 4th and 5th centuries CE, having been not only occupied with the corpse of a child. The paper closes with the use and reuse of the object, the gender of the corpse within the sarcophagus, and their significance in the North African context.
Helena Gozalbes analyzes the diffusion of the image of Livia in the coinage relative to other coins minted in North Africa. Her paper provides a reinterpretation of this bit of Augustan propaganda by reinforcing the connection between the politics and the sacred manifested in the use of Livia to consolidate the imperial cult in North Africa and establishing a link between her and other native goddesses.
P. Silvio Moreno provides new insights on Christian funerary mosaics with a section on Tunisian mosaics. It contains the definition and types of mosaics, exploring their emplacement and techniques. Moreno discusses the use of mosaics to decorate churches and how widespread the techniques utilized were in their designs and innovation. This contribution closes with some remarks on how funerary mosaics contribute to a better understanding of onomastics, professions, and ecclesiastic life.
Alejandra Díaz introduces the god Sobek and his worship which were associated with the Nile, the solar cycle, fertility, abundance, and protection in the Roman Fayum, as well as the syncretic processes at work with this crocodile god between the 1st and 4th centuries CE. Díaz presents archaeological evidence from the temples of Karanis, Soknopaiou Nesos, Narmouthis, and Dionysias, using Herodotus’ and Diodorus Siculus’ texts to describe the rituals and religious performance. Nonetheless, including the works by Boak and Peterson[6], Husselman[7], and Boozer[8] would help to contrast the official religion with the domestic one to confirm the significance of Sobek and his influence in the Fayum Oasis at that time.
Finally, Marta López-Mántaras analyzes the state of research of the religious syncretism of the Egyptian god Seth in the Dakhla Oasis as well as the development of his worship to Ptolemaic and Roman times. The paper introduces the myth and iconography of the god Seth by addressing his genealogy, mythology, and depictions. She lists associations between Seth and other gods from their origins to the Roman period by looking at sites such as Mut el-Kharab, Amheida, Ain Birbiya, Ismant el-Kharab, and Deir el-Haggar, as evidence of syncretism and local variation.
The volume shows how the concepts of ethnicity, identity, acculturation, and cross-cultural interactions relate to North African religion, iconography, art, and its connections with the ancient Mediterranean. It provides a wide range of case studies for different archaeological sites and combines material culture and textual evidence, as well as methodologies from different disciplines, such as archaeology, epigraphy, geography, and iconography. There are minor aspects that could be improved, such as including information that could help the researcher to locate materials in museums and archives.
Authors and titles
Preface (Fabiola Salcedo Garcés, Jorge García Sánchez, and Raquel Rubio González)
- Josué Ramos Martín, “Identidades y cambio cultural: una mirada postcolonial a la protohistoria norteafricana y a las religiones líbicas”.
- Carlos Díaz-Sánchez, “¿Aculturación, hibridación o imposición? Procesos culturales en Córcega tras la primera guerra púnica (ss. III–I a.C.)”.
- Antonio Tejera Gaspar, “El periplo de Juba II de Mauritania a las Islas Afortunadas-Canarias”.
- Jorge de Torres Rodríguez, “Sailors on Sandy Seas: A study of camels in north Africa through classical sources and rock art”.
- Mounir Fantar, Fadwa Bouhjar, “Aspects du paysage côtier du Promunturium Mercurii: Le cas de la colonia iulia Neapolis”.
- Samira Sehili, “L’occupation humaine dans le plateau de Zelfane (Tunisie du centre ouest) dans l’antiquite”.
- Ahmed Sayadi, “Ammaedara post-antiquité: Une synthese de l’occupation du site”.
- Samia Zeghal-Yazidi, “Oiseaux et volailles et leurs symboliques dans l’iconographie de la Carthage Punique”.
- Lamia Ben Abid, “Scènes de mythologie classique sur des reliefs de l’Afrique Romaine”.
- Raquel Rubio González, “El culto doméstico en el África Proconsularis: el caso de Bulla Regia”.
- Nesrine Nasr, “Note sur une fresque de Gightis: paysage bucolique ou un cadre à thème mystique?”.
- María Hinojosa Aguilera, “El sarcófago de ‘El niño sabio y las estaciones’ de Oued Rand. Una revisión”.
- Helena Gozalbes García, “Livia y el culto a la creación, la fertilidad y la abundancia en la moneda provincial del África Proconsular”.
- Silvio Moreno, “Les mosaïques chretiennes funéraire en Espagne et Tunisie. Contexte historique, archéologique et iconographique”.
- Alejandra Díaz Durán, “Souchos. La concepción del dios cocodrilo en el Fayum grecorromano”.
- Marta López-Mántaras García, “Sincretismo religioso en el Oasis de Dakhla: El caso de Seth”.
Notes
[1] Hitchner, R. B. 2022. A Companion to North Africa in Antiquity, New York, Wiley & Sons.
[2] Naylor, P. C. 2015. North Africa, Revised Edition: A History from Antiquity to the Present (REV-Revised, 2). University of Texas Press. DOI: https://doi.org/10.7560/761902.
[3] Mattingly, D. 2023. Between Sahara and Sea. Africa in the Roman Empire, Jerome Lectures Twenty-Sixth Series, Ann Arbor (Michigan), University of Michigan Press. DOI: https://doi.org/10.3998/mpub.12308685.
[4] Ardeleanu, S. 2024. Numidia Romana? Die Auswirkungen der römischen Präsenz in Numidien (2. Jh. v. Chr – 1. Jh. n. Chr.), Archäologische Forschungen 38, Wiesbaden, Deutsches Archäologisches Institut. DOI: https://doi.org/10.34780/52b5-c925.
[5] McCarty, M. M. 2024. Religion and the Making of Roman Africa: Votive Stelae, Traditions, and Empire. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
[6] Boak, E. and Peterson, A. 1931. Karanis: Topographical and Architectural Report of Excavations During the Seasons 1924–28, Ann Arbor (Michigan), University of Michigan Press.
[7] Husselman, E. 1979. Karanis Excavations of the University of Michigan in Egypt 1928–1935: Topography and Architecture. A Summary of the Reports of the Director Enoch E. Peterson. Ann Arbor (Michigan), University of Michigan Press.
[8] Boozer, A.L. 2022. At Home in Roman Egypt. A Social Archaeology, Cambridge, Cambridge University Press.