 Map of Ptolemy, showing Exilissa in the strait of Gibraltar | |
| Location | Morocco |
|---|---|
| Region | Mauretania Tingitana |
| Type | Settlement |
| History | |
| Builder | Phoenicians/Romans |
| Founded | two centuries BC (after 40 BC colonised by Romans) |
| Abandoned | 640 AD (disappeared 1 century later) |
| Site notes | |
| Condition | a few ruins |
Exilissa was an ancient city in northern Mauretania (in modern-day Morocco), facing the strait of Gibraltar and next to the Roman Septem (actual Ceuta). [1]
In antiquity, it was known by the names Lissa to Pliny the Elder [2] and Exilissa (Ancient Greek : Ἐξίλισσα) as mentioned by Ptolemy. [3] Pliny stated that it no longer existed at his time. Lipiński conjectured that it represented the survival of the Phoenician settlement's name Ḥiq or Ḥeq-še-Elišša ("Bay of Elissa"). [4] Note, however, that Pliny and Lipiński place the ancient settlement further east, closer to Benzú. [4] The Byzantine Greek name was Exilýssa (Εξιλύσσα).
In ancient times this site was perhaps occupied by a Phoenician factory.
Exilissa grew in importance during the centuries of the Roman Empire. Under Trajan and Hadrian reached top population when had nearly 10000 inhabitants, many descendants of Roman colonists settled there under Augustus.
In Roman times, the city and gardens of modern Bel Younech were called Exilissa. Travelers described monkeys roaming its hills like they do now in Morocco's Azrou near the Ifrane National Park [5]
Under the Romans, it was an important salting post. It would've been overrun by the Vandals in the 5th century and then reconquered by the Byzantines in the 6th.
Exilissa was an important christian center when was conquered by the Arabs in 640 AD.
With the Arab conquest of all Maghreb the city started to lose importance: Exilissa disappeared in the 9th century.
Ksar Mesmouda (actual Ksar es-Seghir) was established there, one century after the Umayyad conquest of the area in 708-709 AD.
Mauretania is the Latin name for a region in the ancient Maghreb. It extended from central present-day Algeria to the Atlantic, encompassing northern present-day Morocco, and from the Mediterranean in the north to the Atlas Mountains. Its native inhabitants, of Berber ancestry, were known to the Romans as the Mauri and the Masaesyli.
Mauretania Tingitana was a Roman province, coinciding roughly with the northern part of present-day Morocco. The territory stretched from the northern peninsula opposite Gibraltar, to Sala Colonia and Volubilis to the south, and as far east as the Mulucha river. Its capital city was Tingis, which is the modern Tangier. Other major cities of the province were Iulia Valentia Banasa, Septem, Rusadir, Lixus and Tamuda.
Cherchell is a town on Algeria's Mediterranean coast, 89 kilometers (55 mi) west of Algiers. It is the seat of Cherchell District in Tipaza Province. Under the names Iol and Caesarea, it was formerly a Roman colony and the capital of the kingdoms of Numidia and Mauretania.
Tingis or Tingi, the ancient name of Tangier in Morocco, was an important Carthaginian, Moor, and Roman port on the Atlantic Ocean. It was eventually granted the status of a Roman colony and made the capital of the province of Mauretania Tingitana and, after Diocletian's reforms, the diocese of Hispania.
Tamuda was an ancient Berber city and military camp in Mauretania Tingitana. It is located 6 km west of the present-day Tetouan in northern Morocco. Stone ruins from the site are found by the south bank of the Martil Valley. It was considered a city in accordance with the rules of urbanization of the time.
Berytus, briefly known as Laodicea in Phoenicia or Laodicea in Canaan from the 2nd century to 64 BCE, was the ancient city of Beirut from the Roman Republic through the Roman Empire and Early Byzantine period/late antiquity. Berytus became a Roman colonia that would be the center of Roman presence in the Eastern Mediterranean shores south of Anatolia.
Abyla was the pre-Roman name of Ad Septem Fratres. Ad Septem Fratres, usually shortened to Septem or Septa, was a Roman colony in the province of Mauretania Tingitana and a Byzantine outpost in the exarchate of Africa. Its ruins are located within present-day Ceuta, an autonomous Spanish city in northwest Africa.
Icosium was a Phoenician and Punic settlement in modern-day Algeria. It was part of Numidia and later became an important Roman colony and an early medieval bishopric in the casbah area of modern Algiers.
Rusadir was an ancient Punic and Roman town at what is now Melilla, Spain, in northwest Africa. Under the Roman Empire, it was a colony in the province of Mauretania Tingitana.
Phoenicia under Roman rule describes the Phoenician city states ruled by Rome from 64 BCE to the Muslim conquests of the 7th century. The area around Berytus was the only Latin speaking and Romanized part of Aramaic-speaking Phoenicia.
Altava was an ancient Romano-Berber city in present-day Algeria. It served as the capital of the ancient Berber Kingdom of Altava. During the French presence, the town was called Lamoriciere. It was situated in the modern Ouled Mimoun near Tlemcen.
Mogador Island is the main island of the Iles Purpuraires near Essaouira in Morocco. It is about 3 kilometres long and 1.5 kilometres wide, and lies about 1.5 kilometres from Essaouira.
Ksar es-Seghir, also known by numerous other spellings and names, is a small town on the Mediterranean coast in the Jebala region of northwest Morocco, between Tangier and Ceuta, on the right bank of the river of the same name. Administratively, it belongs to Fahs-Anjra Province and the region of Tanger-Tetouan-Al Hoceima. By the census of 2004, it had a population of 10,995 inhabitants.
Igilgili was a Berber town and a Phoenician, Carthaginian, and Roman colony in located in present-day Jijel, Algeria.
Iulia Campestris Babba is a Mauretanian city created as Roman colony around 30 BC by emperor Augustus. Its actual location is currently unknown, though its existence is confirmed by the literature.
Cartennae or Cartenna was an ancient Carthaginian and Roman port at present-day Ténès, Algeria. Under the Romans, it was part of the province of Mauretania Caesariensis.
The Kingdom of Altava was an independent Christian Berber kingdom centered on the city of Altava in present-day northern Algeria. The Kingdom of Altava was a successor state of the previous Mauro-Roman Kingdom which had controlled much of the ancient Roman province of Mauretania Caesariensis. During the reign of Kusaila, it extended from Volubilis in the west to the Aurès and later Kairaouan and the interior of Ifriqiya in the east. This Kingdom collapsed following Eastern Roman military campaigns to decrease its influence and power after Garmul invaded the Exarchate of Africa.
Ounga, also known as Younga and Jounga, is an archaeological site on the Mediterranean coast of Tunisia, located 45 km (28 mi) south of Sfax along the Mediterranean coast. The area is also known for its oil fields.
Rusazus was a Phoenician, Carthaginian, and Roman town located near Cape Corbelin, Algeria. Its ruins are near the town of Azeffoun.
Cotta or Cotte was an ancient town built by Romans in the 1st century AD, in the province of Mauretania Tingitana, intended to function primarily as a garum factory. The town was likely abandoned in the 3rd century AD. Its ancient ruins are now located on the Atlantic coast of modern-day Morocco a few kilometers south of Cap Spartel, and include the garum factory, an olive press, a temple, a villa and a bath complex.
