IN TUNISIA

Bay of Plenty Beacon, Volume 6, Issue 64, 13 April 1943, Page 6

IN TUNISIA

AN ANCIENT BATTLE GROUND

A BRIEF REVIEW

Tunisia is one of the world's most ancient, battle grounds, and the high hills which the men of the Eighth Army saw beyond Medenine j as they moved to their front line J positions have seen fighting through many centuries. The old, Roman . Wall which marked the limits; of the Roman Empire (now Tunisia) ■ ran between Djebel, Tebaga and the Matmata Hills, north-east of the j present positions. East and south ' of this Avail were wild Arab tribes, the African equivalents of the Picts and Scots who also were kept at baj' by a Roman wall in Britain, but, as in Britain, Avith the crumbling of the poAA*crs of the empire,, the Avild . men beyond the Avail climbed. o\ r er and round it and eventually dominated the country. The ruins of this old Roman Avail can still be seen and may eA'cntually be another of the historical milestones passed by the Eighth Army in an ad\ T ancc which has outllown even the eagles of Rome at the height of Rome's power. In the hills ahead of the Eighth Army is the. holy city of Kairouan, one of the main LuftAvalTe base's in Tunisia. Kairouan possesses some of the oldest and most, famous of the mosques under Islam. Many of the Kairouan mosques were built by the Fatamids;, Avarlike founders of one. of the dynasties which ruled OA r er Egypt about the tenth century, after leading a march from the highlands of Tunisia to Cairo, a l'eat which Rommel Avould have liked to have emulated.. Several of Cairo's best knoAvn mosques Avere built under the Fatamids and thus claim ancient, kinship Avith those of Kairouan. Almost, due AA-est of Medenine is j Djerba Island, one of the most heaA'ily populated areas in the Avorld. According to legend Djierba Avas the original island of the Lotus Eaters, immortalised by Homer, and given a Victorian version by Tennyson. The population is. 63,000 made up ; mainly of Arabs and Jews. It has 1 great groA'cs of oliA r e trees. The people haA'e been so identified Avith ► trading that the Avord "grocer"' is - of Djerba origin. Opposite Djerba ; Island on the mainland is Bou Grara, the site of ancient Gigthi, . once the seat of King of Numidia. t Here also are interesting Roman , ruins. The population of this se.c- . fion of Tunisia is predominantly ■ Arab, but in Douerat and Tamzre'd, tAvo settlements, the population is . Berber. The Berbers Avere largely . swamped by Arab invasions, but . they still preserve their distinctive. ~ difficult language. They are not. nomadic like, the Arabs, ltoi aneuent r paintings they are shown with blue , eyes, but tliey are iioav. largely assi-r milated into the general Arab type, although d.istinctiA'e racial cliarac- ; teristics still remain. They also ; had their own religion but in the ; course of time were converted to . Islam. Medenine has fcAV historical associations but Avas originally a depot for the moA'ement of supplies and [ stores to the interior. This section . of the country is subject to long ; droughts during Avhich the Avells around Medenine provide a refuge ; for the population. In the better . seasons barley, olives, and dates arlc cultivated in the wadis surrounding • the settlement.