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Edited by: MFTAH. A. HDDAD. School of Archaeology & Ancient History, University of Leicester, UK.
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Gasr Dehmesh (Tarhuna - Libya)
A prime attraction of studying the Tarhuna’s ancient landscape is that its prominent, well-preserved and extensive rural sites still stand out in the landscape, especially sites of oil presses .This semi-arid area south of the cultivated coastal plain of north-western Tripolitania presents the remarkable image of substantial well-built settlements with numerous farmsteads set in a landscape and they appear to have been abandoned for most of the last 1500 years. The process of rural exploitation, growth and decline occurred across more than five centuries of human period, this has left distinct traces in the archaeological record (Cowper 1897; Oates 1953; 1954; Goodchild 1951; Mattingly 1985; 1987; 1995).
There are many archaeological remains on the Tarhuna region. However, these remains are extremely dispersed over the most parts of the plateau, as is always in the case of hinterland of any significant ancient city. Another interesting point is that the Gebel Tarhuna was a boundary land between two important ancient coastal centres, Lepcis Magna and Oea .It is possible that this ancient reality may be reflected in settlement patterning. For Lepcis Magna, like many other cities in the Roman World, the city was an integral part with its surrounding territory and its hinterland. Not all resources and items needed at the city could be obtained locally and from an early date Lepcis Magna imported artefacts and other goods from through the Mediterranean . Certainly, these artefacts and goods must be spread in the countryside and were not only distributed at the urban centre.
The archaeological sites of the Tarhuna region were first reported in the nineteenth century by Heinerich Barth and Edwin Von Bary who visited them in 1849 and 1875 respectively (Barth 1857; Von Bary 1883). Both these pioneers gave a summary description of some ancient sites on the plateau, which attracted attention of the late nineteenth and early twentieth century’s travellers and scholars. During the years 1895-6 H. Swainson Cowper visited the Tarhuna plateau and examined in considerable detail more than eighty ancient sites (Cowper 1897). Although he interpreted these sites as prehistoric monuments of religious character (Senams ), his work constitutes a significant pioneer survey. It brought to light the archaeological importance of the Tarhuna region as a zone of intensive olive-cultivation during the classical period. Tarhuna Gebel was the area partly surveyed by Goodchild (1951), who had examined a number of ancient sites, specially his excavation in the sanctuary of Ammon at Ras El-Haddagia , and the villa and pottery-kilns at Ain Scersciara (Goodchild 1951: 43-77). At the same time (1949-51) Oates carried out much comprehensive archaeological survey in the area over some 300 square kilometres around Gas red-Daun at the eastern part of the Tarhuna Plateau. By three seasons of work, he revealed a distribution of more than 100 sites, which chronologically extended from the first century to the fifth century AD (Oates 1953). Noteworthy, I should state that at that time (middle of the nineteenth century) the first century BC pottery was poorly known. However, the Oates’ sites consist for the most part of varying size of farms associated with their water control and supply works, which represent the key to the regional specialization in oil production by 130 of ruined olive press.
http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1154/851766672_a042d6467e_b.jpg
Villa of wadi Guman
Ancient communications on the Tarhuna plateau
The plateau is traversed by a complex network of caravan tracks, many of which are interrupted by the modern roads. Most of these tracks radiate from Tarhuna town and belong to the post-classical period; but there are faint traces of an earlier lay-out radiating from Medina Doga, which was undoubtedly the nodal point of local communications during the Roman period. In all, five ancient tracks seem to have converged at Medina Doga, of which two were marked out by Roman milestones, but none were apparently paved. Two, possibly three, represent routes recorded in the Roman itineraries. These five tracks are as follows:
1- The Eastern Gebel road, the earliest of which we have dating evidence, was laid out in A.D. 15-17 by L. Aelius Lamia, proconsul of Africa, and linked the Tarhuna area are of the third century, there can be little reason to doubt that they follow that first-century line. At Mile XXX, in the Wadi el-Mee, David Oates found in 1951 two milestones (of Maximinus and Gordian III); two more (of Caracalla and an unidentified emperor) were found by Caputo in 1940 in situ near the Zavia el-Medeni, and bear the mileage figure XXXVIIII. The alignment of these two mile-stations points directly towards Medina Doga, which by measurement, must have stood at the 42nd mile from Lepcis Magna. The first-century terminal milestone, near the Arch of Septimius Severus at Lepcis Magna [IRT 930], gives the length of the road as 44 miles, and its destination as in Mediterranean. Bearing in mind that the road was probably not marked out at every mile until the reign of Caracalla, the discrepancy of two miles is insignificant; and in fact that no precise destination is named on Lepcis Magna milestone probably indicates that Medina Doga was not, in the reign of Tiberius, of sufficient importance to be specifically named.
2- Although the mileage figures preclude any possibility that Aelius Lamia’s road continued further westward from Medina Doga, that such a continuation was later established is shown by the Antonine Itinerary, and by recently-discovered milestones. The Itinerary describes a road-stations west of Lepcis via the interior, and gives the following as the road-stations west of Lepcis: Lepcis Magna-XL-Mesphe-XXX-Thenadassa. The identification of Medina Doga as Mesphe seems certain, even though the mileage figure should be 42; and Thenadassa has recently been identified at Ain Wif, 30 Roman miles from Medina Doga, where three are the remains of an important road-station with evidence of military occupation.
During 1950 the first Roman milestones came to light on the road from Mesphe to Thenadassa, at the 53rd and 57th miles from Lepcis. These columns, with inscriptions of Gordian III and Gallienus, show that the Roman road from Tarhuna to Ain Wif passed about 2 km. south of Sidi es-Said village centre, and did not follow the line of the modern motor track from Sidi es-Said to Ain Wif.
3- Running due north from Medina Doga a trackway of undoubted antiquity passes the mausoleum of Gasr Doga and the adjacent Roman cisterns, and continues along the bed of the Wadi Doga (the upper reach of the Wadi el-Msabha) to meet the Gefara plain at Sugh el-Giumaa. Thence it probably communicated with the Roman coast-road in the vicinity of Gasr Garabulli.
4- The direct route from Mesphe to Oea ran due west for 5 km. from Medina Doga to Ain Scersciara, and then followed the bed of the Wadi Ramle to the Gefara, which it crossed in direct line to Tripoli via Castel Benito. This may well be the inland route from Lepcis to Oea shown in Peutinger Map, where the road-stations and distances are given as follows: Lepti Magna-XXV-Subututtu-XV-Cercar-XX-Flacci Taberna-XVI-Oea. This hypothesis would involve placing Cercar either at, or near, Medina Doga; and it may be questioned weather that site would have had two alternative ancient names. On the other hand, the simpler hypothesis that the inland route marked on the Peutinger Map ran parallel, and close, to the coast road involves even greater topographical difficulties.
5- Finally, there are faint traces, visible on air-photographs, of a trackway running southwards from Medina Doga, passing the mausoleum of el-Khadra, and then apparently continuing towards the Orfella region. Although the exact route and destination of this trackway have still to be determined, it would be reasonable to suppose that Medina Doga was, during the later Roman period, at least, linked by a recognised route with the intensively occupied wadis of the Orfella.
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