ANCIENT BATTLEGROUND

Wairarapa Times-Age, 27 April 1943, Page 4

ANCIENT BATTLEGROUND

TUNISIA AND ROMAN EMPIRE. RUINS OF OLD WALL STILL SEEN. (N.Z.E.F. Official News Service.) JERUSALEM, April 2. Tunisia is one of the world’s most ancient battlegrounds, and the high hills which the men of the Eighth Army saw beyond Medenine as they moved to their front line 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 Mamata Hills, north-east of the present positions. East and south of this wall were wild Arab tribes, the African equivalents of the Picts and Scots who also were kept at bay by a Roman Wall in Britain, but, as in Britain, with the crumbling of the powers of the empire, the wild men beyond the wall climbed over and round it and eventually dominated the country. The ruins of this old Roman wall can still be seen and may eventually be another of the historical milestones passed by the Eighth Army in an advance which has outflown 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 Luftwaffe bases 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, warlike founders of one of the dynasties which ruled over Egypt about the tenth century, after leading a march from the highlands of Tunisia to Cairo, a feat which Rommel would have liked to have emulated. Several of Cairo’s best-known mosques were built under the Fatamids and thus claim ancient kinship with those of Kairouan.

Almost due west of Medenine is Djerba Island, one of the most heavily populated areas in the world. According to legend Djerba was 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 great groves of olive trees. The people have been so identified with trading that the word “grocer” is of Djerba origin. Opposite Djerba Island on the mainland, is Bou Grara, the site of ancient Gigtlii, once the seat of Kings of Numidia. Here also are interesting Roman ruins. The population of this section of Tunisia is predominantly Arab, but in Douerat and Tamred, two settlements, the population is Berber. The Berbers were largely swamped by Arab invasions, but they still preserve their distinctive, difficult language. They are not nomadic like the Arabs. In ancient paintings they are shown with blue eyes, but they are now largely assimilated into the general Arab type, although distinctive racial characteristics still remain. They also had their own religion but in the course of time were converted to Islam. Medenine has few historical associations but was originally a depot for the movement of supplies and stores to the interior. This section of the country is subject to long droughts during which the wells around Medenine provide a refuge for the population. In the better seasons barley, olives and dates are cultivated in the wadis surrounding the settlement.