Seressi (Henchir Oum el-Abouab)
Seressi · Saressi · Oum El Abouab
Roman (1st c. BCE–7th c. CE)·Roman (Africa Proconsularis)·🇹🇳 Zaghouan Governorate, Fahs plain, Henchir Oum el-Abouab, 36 km SW of Zaghouan, Tunisia
About
About Seressi (Henchir Oum el-Abouab)
Municipium of the Fahs wheat plain, Seressi centres on a porticoed forum (60×40 m), amphitheatre embankment (earthwork, 60 m), theatre cut in marl, and great aqueduct feeder to Zaghouan–Carthage line 800 m east. Capitoline temple with huge podium (24×15 m). INP mosaics: Oceanus and seasons. Byzantine wall reuses forum.
Why it mattersFahs cereal-plain urbanism with aqueduct labour linkage and earthwork amphitheatre rarity.
Open questions
Mysteries & theories
Mysteries
- 01Amphitheatre earthwork dating
- 02Aqueduct feeder branch dating
Theories
- 01Hitchner olive-wheat rotation
- 02Rakob hydraulic labour theory
Theories are interpretations, not findings. The seal above tells you how much scholarly weight the place carries.
History
How it came to be
- Built
- Libyan settlement; municipium under Hadrian (c.120 CE)
- Period
- Roman (1st c. BCE–7th c. CE)
- Culture
- Roman (Africa Proconsularis)
- Builders
- Roman
- Purpose
- Wheat market and amphitheatre town servicing Fahs and Zaghouan aqueduct workforce
- Excavation
- Partially excavated
c.120 CE
Municipium under Hadrian
2nd–3rd c. CE
Forum, capitol, theatre-amphitheatre built
6th c. CE
Byzantine enceinte over forum
On the ground
Structures & features
36.1667° N · 9.7719° E · 200 m · 2 mapped features
Capitolium of Seressi
templePodium temple 24×15 m on forum north with gigantic column drums
36.1675° N · 9.7725° EZaghous Feeder Aqueduct
aqueduct800 m specus branch to main Zaghouan–Carthage aqueduct
36.1660° N · 9.7750° E