Tbessa / Tebessa

INFORMATION

FontID: 05641TEB
Country Name: Algeria
Location: Tbessa
Directions to Site: Its location is roughly 100-120 km equidistant of Sbeitla on the east and Khenchela on the west
Date: pre-439 A.D.
Century and Period: 4th - 5th century, Early Christian
Listed in Bond (1908) as an Early Christian baptistery built before 439 A.D. with a sunken piscina that "is 6 feet 7 inches broad, and about 2 feet 7 inches deep" [197.5 x 77.5 cm] and is surrounded by a surviving colonnade. Bond gives the location as "near Carthage" [cf. Directions (Geo)]. Described in Palol (1967: 174) as having descinding steps all the way to the bottom of the font. The bottom of the font is said to be altar-table shaped.

MEDIUM AND MEASUREMENTS

Notes on Measurements: Measurements of the piscina as 6'7" [197.5 cm] wide and 2'7" [77.5 cm] deep (a/p Bond..., p. 21)

REFERENCES

Bond, Francis, Fonts and Font Covers, London: Waterstone, 1985 c1908
Palol, Pedro de, Arqueología cristiana de la España romana: siglos IV a VI, Madrid, Valladolid: Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas, Instituto Enrique Flórez, 1967