Between the Sahara and the Mediterranean

Enlarge

The small fort of Vezereos (late antique: Bezereos) near Bir Rhezene is one of the most impressive military sites in southern Tunisia. It is located south of Djebel Tebaga between the present-day towns of Douz and Matmata on the edge of the Great Eastern Erg. The fort is one of the central structures at the western end of the Limes Tripolitanus. An extensive civilian settlement (vicus) and a large well system documented by the INP indicate that Vezereos was also of central importance for controlling the caravan and transhumance routes between the Sahara and the Mediterranean coast.

Enlarge

The cooperation project concluded in 2019 between the Institut National Du Patrimoine (INP) in Tunis and LMU addressed the urgent need for systematic field research and surveying in and around Vezereos. In a first short preliminary campaign in 2019, the fort hill and, above all, the area of the two to three-hectare civilian settlement were examined geophysically. However, the investigation, which was carried out with the aid of geomagnetics, did not provide any further information on the interior construction of the fort or the surrounding vicus buildings. Probably due to the heavy sand drifts, almost only the walls visible above ground were ultimately recognizable in the magnetic image. Deeper structures, on the other hand, hardly appear in the magnetic image.

In addition to the geophysical investigations, a four-day surface survey was the second focus of the 2019 campaign. Despite the short time available for the survey and its evaluation, initial results are already emerging. The pottery does not seem to contradict the initial dating of the fort to the late 2nd or 3rd century, as deduced from epigraphic sources. At the same time, the chronologically more sensitive terra sigillata also confirmed Michael Mackensen's recent postulate that the border post was abandoned in the first half of the 5th century.

Enlarge

During the first survey in November 2019, the first above-ground visible building structures in the fort and vicus area were located using GPS. The architectural elements scattered across the site were documented photographically. However, it was not possible to create a complete model (SFM) of the fort's fortifications due to gaps caused by sand drifts.

In 2022, a total station was used to record the visible wall structures of the fort and the immediately adjacent vicus buildings. Surface cleaning was carried out in advance to make the measurement and documentation of the walls more precise and easier. The area of the two gate structures in the south and north, which were added later, was measured and drawn. The long-debated exact size of the fort has now been clarified: 60 x 49 m.

Project Management

• Dr. Mondher Brahmi (INP)
• Prof. Salvatore Ortisi (LMU)

Project Staff

• Prof. Dr. J. Fassbinder
• Professor Mongi Nasr
• M. Belgacem Zarroug
• H. Birk
• Dr. S. Hüdepohl
• Dr. S. Schmid

Literature

M. Euzennat, Four years of research on the Roman frontier in southern Tunisia. In: Proceedings of the Academy of Inscriptions and Literature 116, No. 1, 1972, 7-27.

M. Mackensen, On the Late Roman Use of the Small Fort Vezereos on the Limes Tripolitanus (Southern Tunisia). In: P. Henrich / Ch. Miks / J. Obmann / M. Wieland (eds.), NON SOLUM ... SED ETIAM. Festschrift for Thomas Fischer on his 65th birthday (Rahden/Westphalia 2015) 259–270.

D. J. Mattingly, Tripolitania (London 1995) 80.

P. Trousset, Recherches sur le Limes Tripolitanus. Études d’Antiquités Africaines (Paris 1974) 75-77 no. 72 (Bir Rhezen).