Chebba

For the song of the same name, see Chebba (song).

Chebba
Chebba Location in Tunisia
Coordinates: 35°14′14″N 11°06′54″E / 35.23722°N 11.115°E / 35.23722; 11.115
Country	Tunisia
Governorate	Mahdia Governorate
Population (2004)[1]
- Total	19,883
Time zone	CET (UTC1)

Chebba (La Chebba, Ash Shabbah, aš-Šābbah, Sheba) is a small city in the Mahdia Governorate of Tunisia in North Africa on the coast of the Mediterranean Sea.^[2]

History

Ruined tower of Bordj Khadidja at Ras Kaboudia

The city of Chebba derives its name from the headland 3 kilometres (1.9 mi) to the east, which was classically known as Caput Vada (headland above the shoals).^[3][4][5]

The Byzantine general Belisarius landed here in 533 and went on to inflict a devastating defeat on the Vandals.^[6] The town of Chebba was founded by Justinian about 534 CE after the defeat of the Vandals,^[3] and named Justinianopolis.^[7]

The headland (Caput Vada) is now known as Ras Kaboudia^[3] and is site of the ruins of the bordj (harbor fortress) of Bordj Khadidja, which was built upon Byzantine foundations.^[8] The fortress guarded the harbor entrance and was one of a chain of similar forts built by the Abbasids along the coast of North Africa in the 8th century. It was later renamed after Khadija Ben Kalthoum, a poetess of the eleventh century, who was born in Chebba.^[9]

Notes

1. ^ "Tunisia: largest cities and towns and statistics of their population" World Gazetteer
2. ^ Jacobs, Daniel and Morris, Peter (2001) The rough guide to Tunisia Rough Guides, London, page 235, ISBN 1-85828-748-0
3. ^ ^{a b c} Hannezo, G. (1905) "Chebba et Ras-Kapoudia: Notes Historique" Bulletin de la Société archéologique de Sousse 3(5): pp. 135–140; in French
4. ^ The shoals (Latin vada) refer to the shallows between the headland and the Kerkennah Islands, see Hannezo (1905)
5. ^ In a footnote Gibbons says The Caput Vada of Procopius (where Justinian afterwards founded a city — Da Ædific. l. vi. c.6) is the promontory of Ammon in Strabo, the Brachodes of Ptolemy, the Capaudia of the moderns, a long narrow slip that runs into the sea (Shaw's Travels, p. 111). Gibbons, Edward (1854) The history of the decline and fall of the Roman empire John Murry, London, volume 5 page 105, OCLC [1]
6. ^ Bury, J. B. (John Bagnell) (1923) "Chapter XVII: The Reconquest of Africa" History of the Later Roman Empire: From the Death of Theodosius I. to the death of Justinian: Volume 2 Macmillan, New York, page 130, OCLC 499411636
7. ^ Guérin, Victor (1862) Voyage archéologique dans la Régence de Tunis, Volume 1 Henri Plon, Paris, page 150, OCLC  23427230; in French
8. ^ Carton, Louis Benjamin Charles (1905) "Le Bordj Khadidja (Chebba)" Bulletin de la Société archéologique de Sousse 3(5): pp. 127–134; in French
9. ^ Sadiqi, Fatima et al. (2009) Women writing Africa: The Northern region Feminist Press at The City University of New York, New York, page 89, ISBN 978-1-55861-588-5

External links

• "Chebba Map — Satellite Images of Chebba" Maplandia World Gazetteer