Sunday 5 August 2012

The Wilaya of Souk Ahras







Souk Ahras
بلدية سوق أهراس
—  Municipality  —
Commune of Souk Ahras
The Golden Lion of Souk Ahras
Symbole of the town

Coat of arms
Souk Ahras is located in Algeria
Souk Ahras
Location of Souk Ahras within Algeria
Coordinates: 36°17′11″N 7°57′4″ECoordinates36°17′11″N 7°57′4″E
Country Algeria
ProvinceSouk Ahras (seat)
DistrictSouk Ahras (coextensive)
Government
 • PMA Seats23
Elevation699 m (2,293 ft)
Population (2011)
 • Total156,745
Time zoneCET (UTC+01)
Postal code41000
Area code(s)+213 (37)
ONS code4101
Websitewww.soukahrastourisme.c

Souk Ahras (Arabicسوق أهراس‎;ChaouiSouk Ahras in Tifinagh.svg) is amunicipality in Algeria. It is the capital of Souk Ahras Province. The Numidiancity of Thagaste (or Tagaste), on whose ruins Souk Ahras was built, was the birthplace of Augustine of Hippoand a center of Berber culture. It was a city of great culture, described as the very hub of civilization
The name derives from the Arabic word "souk" which means market, and the Chaoui Berber word ahra (pluralahras) which means lion, in reference to the Barbary lions which existed in the neighboring forests until their extinction in 1930
The old name of the Numidian city of Thagaste, derives from the Berber Thagoust, which means the bag, given that the site of the town is located at the foot of a mountain surrounded by three peaks in the form of a bag containing the city. Subsequently, when theArabic language entered in the region it was called Soukara. In other sources it is cited as the Palace of the African, according to Al-Masudi.

History

The town of Souk Ahras, as its region, experienced Aterian culture from the end of theMiddle Palaeolithic to the early upper Palaeolithic. After the aterian, Souk Ahras entered the Caspian culture. Many stone tools, dating back to this period, were discovered. Stemmed arrows were found on the site of present day Souk Ahras, but also in Tiffech andTaoura, not far from it. Hometown of saint Augustin (born 13 November 354), Bishop of Hippo,[4] Souk Ahras has played an important role in the political and cultural history of the region because of its strategic position. In the crossroads of Numide, then Roman and finally Berber civilizations, it was the location of military fortifications (MadaureTiffech,Khemissa...) and urban centers.
The Numidian city of Thagaste (or Tagaste), on whose ruins Souk Ahras was built, was situated in the north-eastern highlands of Numidia, shortly afterwards, it became a Romanmunicipium.[5] The city was mentioned by Pliny the Elder. As a municipium, Thagaste was not settled by Italian immigrants and was inhabited by Romanized Berbers.[6] It was about sixty miles from Hippo Regius, now called Annaba, and about 150 miles from Carthage (on the coast of present day Tunisia).
In the nineteenth century it was a French colonial settlement. In the twentieth century miningand the railway brought some signicance and prosperity to the town. During the revolution, it housed in the Ouled Bechiah mounts an autonomous Military base of the army of national liberation (ALN), called "Basis of the East".

People related

Representation of Augustin's Olive tree, a two thousands years old tree, still there


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