Henchir-Bez

36.01617°N 9.530301°E / 36.01617; 9.530301

Vazi Sarra, Tunisia.

Henchir Bez is an archaeological site in Tunisia,[1] located at 36° 00′ 23″ N, 9° 32 in the hills overlooking the Oued Miliane river,[2][3] west of Tunis.[4][5][6] Identified by a recently discovered inscription,[7][8] it is the ruins of the Roman civitas of Vazi Sarra,[9][10][11][12] which include a Christian Basilica and a Byzantine/Roman fort.[13]

Ruins

The ruins at Henchir Bez have been identified as the remains of Vazitana Sarra Civitas (Vazi Sarara),[14] a civitas of the Roman province of Africa Proconsularis.[15][16] The remains at Henchir Bez include a Bascilica and a fort. The fort was originally a temple dedicated to Mercury Soberus.[17][18]

Etymology

The name Henchir Bez means the "ruins of Bez" where 'bez' probably derives from the ancient "Vaz[i]" through Linguisitic Fortition. The name Vazitana Sarra Civitas is supported by recent epigraphical finds[19]

Bishopric

The ancient Roman town of Vazi-Sarra was also the seat of an ancient Catholic Bishopric. It existed until the Muslim conquest of the Maghreb, and is now a titular see of the Roman Catholic Church.

Another ancient Bishopric, Marcelliana, was located nearby. However, its exact location is unknown.[20]

References
  1. Sarara, Naidé Ferchiou,Henchir Bez, l'antique Vazi Antiquités africaines (2002)Vol38,Num1, pp. 415-421.
  2. Vazi Sarra, Henchir-Bez.
  3. R.B. Hitchner ,R. Warner, R. Talbert, T. Elliott, sgilles, Vazi Sarra at pleiades .
  4. N. Ferchiou, Henchir Bez, l’antique Vazi Sarara, AntAfr. 38-39, 2002–2003, 415–421
  5. R. Cagnat - A. Merlin, Atlas archéologique de la Tunisie : édition spéciale des cartes topographiques publiées par le Ministère de la Guerre, accompagnée d'un texte explicatif (Paris 1914) Cat. no. 30.107
  6. A. Hanene, A propos de C. I. L., VIII, 23750 provenant de Henchir Bez/Vazi Sarra, CahTun 197/198, 2006, 69;
  7. Naidé Ferchiou , Henchir Bez, l'antique Vazi Sarara Antiquités africaines (2002) Volume 38 Numbér 1 pp. 415-421.
  8. Barrington Atlas: BAtlas 33 E1
  9. Naïdé Ferchiou, Henchir-Bez.
  10. Anna Leone, Changing Townscapes in North Africa from Late Antiquity to the Arab Conquest(Edipuglia srl, 2007 )p33.
  11. [layout=topographie_item&search[constraints][topographie][searchSeriennummer]=8007282 Vazi Sarara (Vazi Sarra).
  12. more formally Vazitana Sarra Civitas.
  13. Anna Leone, Changing Townscapes in North Africa from Late Antiquity to the Arab Conquest (Edipuglia srl, 2007)p271.
  14. Barrington Atlas, 2000, pl. 33 E1
  15. "Vazi Sarra: A Pleiades place resource". 20 October 2012.
  16. Ferchiou N., 2002-2003b, Henchir Bez, l'antique Vazi Sarara, Antiquités. Africaines 38-39, 415-421.
  17. Anna Leone, The End of the Pagan City: Religion, Economy, and Urbanism in Late Antique North Africa(OUP Oxford, 2013) p64.
  18. D. S. Robertson, Greek and Roman Architecture(Cambridge University Press, 1929 )p345&356.
  19. Naidé Ferchiou , Henchir Bez, the ancient Vazi Sarara. ( 2002)
  20. Titular Episcopal See of Marcelliana.
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