Thamusida

𐤕𐤌𐤃𐤏𐤕
Thamusida, Mauretania Tingitana, Morocco
Shown within Morocco
Location	Sidi Ayache,Kénitra Province,Rabat-Salé-Kénitra,Morocco
Coordinates	34°20′08″N06°29′22″W / 34.33556°N 6.48944°W /34.33556; -6.48944
Type	ancient town

Thamusida (Punic:𐤕𐤌𐤃𐤏𐤕^[1]) was aPunic river port that was in the present-day towns ofKénitra andMehdya inMorocco. Under theRoman Empire, it formed a part of theprovince ofMauretania Tingitana.

ThePunic form of the name wasTMDʿT (𐤕𐤌𐤃𐤏𐤕).^[1] Because the original name intended a hard, breathy /tʰ/ sound instead of the usual English /θ/, the same name is also sometimes writtenTamusida orTamusia.^[1] It is probably identical with theThymiateria^{[clarification needed]} mentioned byPseudo-Scylax.^[1]

It was used as aCarthaginian trading post and was about 48 kilometers (30 mi) fromShalat (the Roman Sala and modern Chellah).^[1] It issued its ownbronze coins.^[1] SomePunic inscriptions were found in the site.^[2]

It was occupied by Romans in the first years ofAugustus' rule. There were a military camp and a nearby little city, untilClaudius enlarged Thamusida.^[3] According to historianStefano Camporeale, the auxiliary unit that built theRoman camp in Thamusida was probably theCohors secunda Syrorum civium Romanorum in the second half of the first century (ceramic evidence confirms this chronology): this camp (with annexed "vicus") was one of the largest camps of the whole province of Mauretania Tingitana and measured about 2 hectares (4.9 acres). Under theAntonines, a temple was built to worshipVenus. Later the settlement grew progressively, and by the end of the second century or the early third century, it was surrounded by a wall that included a total area of about 15 hectares.^[4]

During the reign ofClaudius, strengthened structures multiply in Thamusida. It probably sheltered an active port to which testify the many remains of Amphoras, and became a point of unloading and a Roman supply centre. Under theFlavians, a Roman military garrison remained on the spot. The city gave signs of growth; a temple was raised (the Temple with embossing), as well as thermal baths and dwelling houses including one with a central court. UnderTrajan orHadrian, a new structuring of urban space seemed to take place by conferring to the city an orthogonal urbanism plan with thermal baths and a small temple dedicated to Venus-Astarte. The development and the enrichment of the city conveyed in the continuing enlarging and transformation of the river thermal baths, in the construction of new temples bordering the bank of Sebou river and in new dwellings such as the "House of Pavement" which adopted the plan of the rich residences of Volubilis and Spain. Modest houses, workshops and utility buildings occupied many districts. In addition to its commercial and industrial functions which are behind its development, the town of Thamusida was to play a significant military role. It was populated by veterans and underMarcus Aurelius was built the most imposing fortress of Tingitane so to ensure the protection of the civilian population. UnderCommodus orSeptimius Severus, an enclosure was built and which reemployed funerary steles and crushed a part of the pavement house, that indicated the fact that the work was dictated by the fear of a close or remote danger. In the 3rd century, the city was always active as showed the extent of the river thermal baths and the density of the ceramic founds is the spot until occurred the final abandonment which took place between 274 and 285, but it was not known if it was due to the departure of the Army or to a posterior cause. Scattered finds and some walls of Thamusida attested of a ephemeral occupation posterior to the date of evacuation.

— Mark Ellingham

In the third century, Thamusida become a mostly Christian city with a population of nearly 7,000 inhabitants. The site was abandoned around AD 285, whenDiocletian moved the Roman limes ofMauretania Tingitana to the north, nearLixus. There were some inhabitants—according to recent archeological discoveries^[5]—in Thamusida for another century after the Roman abandonment. But with theVandal invasion, the city disappeared around AD 425.^[6]

The site was excavated from 1913 by the French, then 1959 to 1962^[7] and since 1998. Many items found in Thamusida are today on display at theRabat Archaeological Museum. It occupies an area of 6.1 hectares (15 acres). Excavations have unearthed the walls of the docks and baths.

• Iulia Valentia Banasa
• Iulia Constantia Zilil
• Iulia Campestris Babba
• Tamuda
• Tingis
• Lixus
• Sala Colonia
• Volubilis
• Roman 'Coloniae' in Berber Africa
• Christian Berbers
• Mauretania Tingitana

• Callu, J.P.; et al. (1966), "Thamusida",Mélanges d'Archéologie et d'Histoire, vol. 43, No.1–2, Rome: École Française de Rome.
• Camporeale, Stefano (2011),"Military Building Techniques in Mauretania Tingitana: The Use of Mortar and Rubble at Thamusida",Comm. Hum. Litt., vol. 128, Siena: University of Siena Press.
• Gliozzo, Elisabetta; et al., eds. (2009),Sidi Alli ben Ahmed: Thamusida 2. l'Archéométrie. L'Archeometria, Roma: Quasar.
• Head, Barclay; et al. (1911),"Mauretania",Historia Numorum (2nd ed.), Oxford: Clarendon Press, pp. 887–890.

• Images of Thamusida in Manar al-Athar digital heritage photo archive resource

• Phoenician colonies in Morocco
• Mauretania Tingitana
• Roman towns and cities in Morocco
• Roman sites in Morocco
• Archaeological sites in Morocco
• Buildings and structures in Rabat-Salé-Kénitra
• Roman towns and cities in Mauretania Tingitana

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