Libyco-Punic Mausoleum of Dougga

Libyco-Punic Mausoleum of Dougga
	36°25′13″N 9°13′12″E / 36.420162°N 9.220131°E
Location	Dougga, Tunisia
Type	Royal Numidian Architecture
Completion date	2nd century BC
Dedicated to	Atban, son of Iepmatah son of Palu

The Libyco-Punic Mausoleum of Dougga (Mausoleum of Atban) is an ancient

architecture of Numidia, which is in a good state of preservation and dates to the second century BC. It was restored by the government of French Tunisia between 1908 and 1910.^[2]

As part of the site of Dougga, the mausoleum is listed by UNESCO as a World Heritage Site. On 17 January 2012, the Tunisian government proposed it be included in a future classification of the royal mausoleums of Numidia and Mauretania and other pre-Islamic funerary monuments.^[3]

History

The first Westerners to visit the site of Dougga arrived in the seventeenth century, becoming more frequent throughout the nineteenth century.^[4] The mausoleum was described by several of these tourists and was the object of early architectural studies at the end of the period.

In 1842, Thomas Reade, the British consul in Tunis, seriously damaged the monument in the process of removing the royal inscription which decorated it. The current state of monument is the result of a reconstruction of the pieces strewn through the surrounding area, carried out with Tunisian support by the French archaeologist Louis Poinssot [fr] between 1908 and 1910.^[4]^[5]

Description

The 21 m high mausoleum is divided into three levels, atop a five-step pedestal.

On the north face of the podium, the first of the three levels, an opening covered by a slab leads to the funerary chamber. The mausoleum's other faces are decorated with false openings, the corners with Aeolic pilasters.

The

sepulchre's second level consists of a colonnade in the form of a shrine (naiskos). The engaged columns on each side are of the ionic order. The third and final level is the most richly decorated: in addition to pilasters on the corners similar to those on the first level, it is capped by a pyramid. Sculptural elements have survived: griffons are perched on the corners and a quadriga

on one of the faces of the upper level.

Bilingual Punic and Libyan inscription

Punic-Libyan Inscription

of Dougga

The bilingual

Punic-Libyan Inscription now in the British Museum enabled the Numidian alphabet to be deciphered:^[6]

Here is the tomb of Atban, son of Iepmatah, son of Palu: the stoneworkrs were Aborsh son of Abdashtart Mengy son of Oursken, Zamar son of Atban son of Iepmatah son of Palu, and among the members of his house were Zezy, Temen and Oursken; the carpenters were Mesdel son of Nenpsen and Anken son of Ashy; the metalworkers were Shepet son of Bilel and Pepy son of Beby.

Interpretation

The Libyo-Punic Mausoleum has often been connected with the funerary monuments of

Asia Minor and necropolises of Alexandria of the third and second centuries BC.^[7]

On account of the inscription, the tomb is considered to be dedicated to Atban son of Iepmatah son of Palu. It has recently been determined that the inscription, which is located beside one of the false doors of the podium,^[8] was not unique. Another inscription, irreparably damaged, would have enumerated the titulare of the tomb's occupant.

According to recent studies, the names mentioned on the surviving inscription are merely the monument's builders: the architect and the various head artisans. The monument would have been built by the citizens of the city for a

Massinissa.^[9]

References

^ Quinn, J. (2013). Monumental power: 'Numidian Royal Architecture' in context. In J. Prag & J. Quinn (Eds.), The Hellenistic West: Rethinking the Ancient Mediterranean (pp. 179-215). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. doi:10.1017/CBO9781139505987.008
^ Poinssot Louis. La restauration du mausolée de Dougga. In: Comptes rendus des séances de l'Académie des Inscriptions et Belles-Lettres, 54^e année, N. 9, 1910. pp. 780-787. DOI : https://doi.org/10.3406/crai.1910.72733
^ (in French) Dossier des mausolées royaux de Numidie, de la Maurétanie et des monuments funéraires pré-islamiques (Unesco)
^ ^a ^b (in French) Historique de l'exploration du site de Dougga (Strabon)^{[permanent dead link]}
^ Louis Poinssot, « La restauration du mausolée de Dougga », CRAI, vol. 54, n°9, 1910, p. 781
^ (in French) Mausolée libyco-punique de Dougga (Institut national du patrimoine) Archived 2008-12-04 at the Wayback Machine
^ Pierre Gros, L'architecture romaine du début du III^e siècle av. J.-C. à la fin du Haut-Empire, tome 2 « Maisons, palais, villas et tombeaux », éd. Picard, Paris, 2001, p. 417
^ Mustapha Khanoussi, Dougga, éd. Agence de mise en valeur du patrimoine et de promotion culturelle, Tunis, 2008, p. 74
^ Mustapha Khanoussi, op. cit., p. 75