Tebessa

Town in the department of Constantine, Algeria, 18 km/11 mi from the Tunisian border and north of the Bon Rouman mountains; population (1998 est) 156,600. There are important phosphate quarries at el-Kouif to the northeast of the town. Industries include carpet weaving and the production of cement and chemicals, and the town trades in sheep, esparto grass, and grain.

The town, which is contained within the walls of a Byzantine citadel, has a number of Roman ruins, including an enormous circus, a triumphal arch, and a great basilica, originally a temple of Minerva. It was a military and commercial centre in Roman times.

Roman Tebessa Tebessa's ancient name was Theveste. It is assumed to have been founded about AD 71. Situated at the junction of the roads to Carthage (near Tunis), Cirta (modern Constantine), Lambessa (now Tazoult), and Tacape (modern Gabès), it soon became a place of primary importance. It was probably one of the first towns to adopt Christianity after its introduction into Carthage, AD 150. Its period of greatest splendour was the beginning of the 2nd century when the construction of its finest monuments began. Later Tebessa was razed by the Vandals and disappeared from history until its restoration by the Byzantine armies.