Siga

The mausoleum of Syphax
Siga Shown within Algeria
Location	Algeria
Region	Aïn Témouchent Province
Coordinates	35°15′59″N1°27′00″W / 35.2663°N 1.4499°W /35.2663; -1.4499

Siga was aBerber andRoman port located near what is nowAïn Témouchent,Algeria. Under theRoman Empire, it was part of westernMauretania Caesariensis, borderingMauretania Tingitana.

Siga was a majorMediterranean port in the ancientKingdom of Numidia. It was located at the western border of the territory of theMasaesyli, aBerber tribe. Their traditional opponents were the Berber confederation of theMaesulians, who ruled the eastern portion.

In the course of theSecond Punic War,King Syphax of the Masaesyli allied himself with theRoman Republic and the armies led byScipio Africanus, while the Maesulians ruled byMasinissa sided withCarthage. With the defeat and capture of Syphax by Masinissa, the western tribes were conquered and gradually absorbed into a united kingdom under his rule. His successors minted coins at Siga withPunic script, in which its name appears asShigan (𐤔𐤉𐤂𐤏𐤍,ŠYGʿN).^[1]

Some remains of buildings (of Siga) can be seen on a hill with a flat top in the lower valley of the Tafna at a bend of the river. A milestone found nearby names the site... A part of a necropolis on the plain has produced material of the 1st to 3d c. AD.^[2]

After a temporary decline, the city got some importance inside the Roman Africa, especially with African emperorsSeptimius Severus andCaracalla. With the Arab conquest, during the second half of the seventh century, disappeared all references to Siga in documented history.

Number of visible or hidden monuments extend on both banks of the river Tafna (called "Siga" in Roman times) including the famous "Numidian mausoleum", the fortified acropolis and some Roman hydraulic and thermal facilities.

The currentRoman Catholictitular see of "Sigus" is probably based on this location, but there was another Sigus in western Numidia.^[3]

• Altava
• Mauretania Caesariensis
• Rapidum
• Rusaddir
• Tlemcen

• Bowna, Alan.The Cambridge Ancient History: Volume 12, The Crisis of Empire, AD 193-337. Cambridge university Press. Cambridge, 2005
• Grimal, P.Les fouilles de Siga, "MEFR", 54, 1937, p. 108-141.
• Head, Barclay; et al. (1911),"Mauretania",Historia Numorum (2nd ed.), Oxford: Clarendon Press, pp. 887–890.
• Vuillemot, G.Notes sur un lot d'objets découverts à Siga, "BSGAO" 1953, p. 1-9; Fouille de la nécropole du phare dans I'ile de Rachgoun,Libyca 1955, p. 7-76; Fouilles du Mausolée de Beni-Rhenane en Oranie, "CRAI" 1964, p. 71-95; Siga et son port fluvial,AntAfr 1971, p. 39-86.

35°15′59″N1°27′00″W / 35.2663°N 1.4499°W /35.2663; -1.4499

• Numidia
• Archaeological sites in Algeria
• Roman towns and cities in Mauretania Caesariensis
• Ancient Berber cities
• Berber populated places

• Pages using gadget WikiMiniAtlas
• Articles with short description
• Short description matches Wikidata
• Articles containing Punic-language text
• Coordinates on Wikidata