Majaz al Bab
| Medjezz El Bab Membrossa | |
|---|---|
|
Bridge over the Medjerda River | |
  Medjezz El Bab Location in Tunisia | |
| Coordinates: 36°38′37″N 9°36′15″E / 36.64361°N 9.60417°ECoordinates: 36°38′37″N 9°36′15″E / 36.64361°N 9.60417°E | |
| Country |
 Tunisia |
| Governorate | Béja Governorate |
| Population (2014) | |
| • City | 22,532 |
| • Metro | 41,749 |
| Time zone | CET (UTC1) |
Majaz al Bab (Arabic: مجاز الباب), also known as Medjez el Bab, or as Membressa under the Roman Empire, is a town in northern Tunisia. It is located at the intersection of roads GP5 and GP6, in the Plaine de la Medjerda.
Commonwealth war grave site
There is a Commonwealth war grave site at Majaz al Bab, that is largely dedicated to those who fell during the North African campaign, including Operation Torch and the Tunisia Campaign, during World War II.
The Medjez-El-Bab Memorial commemorates almost 2,000 men of the British First Army who died during the operations in Algeria and Tunisia between 8 November 1942 and 19 February 1943, and those of the British First and British Eighth Armies who died in operations in the same areas between 20 February and 13 May 1943, and who have no known graves. The memorial stands within Medjez-El-Bab War Cemetery where 2,903 Commonwealth servicemen of the Second World War are buried or commemorated. 385 of the burials are unidentified. Special memorials commemorate three soldiers buried in Tunis (Borgel) Cemetery and one in Youks-les-Bains Cemetery, whose graves are now lost. The five First World War burials in Medjez-el-Bab War Cemetery were brought in from Tunis (Belvedere) Cemetery or in Carthage (Basilica Karita) Cemetery in 1950.
Haouanet
.The haouanet , plural of the word " hanout ( حانوت )" which means "shop" in Arabic, are ancient sepulchral chambers hollowed out of the rock. Of approximately cubic form, and 1.25 to 2.50 meters long, with an entrance of almost constant dimension of 1.80 meters by sixty centimeters, they are present mainly in Tunisia.[1] as well as in the eastern regions Of Algeria. These burials with one or more funeral chambers sometimes had interior fittings (bench or pit). Presumably of Numidian origin, the haouanet was used until the Roman Empire. The Haouanet at majaz el-Bab areextensive.
Ancient Bishopric
During the Roman Empire Majaz al Bab was a civitas of the Roman province of Africa Proconsolare called Membressa.[4] Membressa was also the seat of a Christian Bishopric[5] a Bishop Victor attended the Concilium Lateranense in 649.
There was also a Roman settlement at Chaouach outside of Medjez-El-Bab was called Suas. During the Roman Empire this part of the merjdera river vally had a high density of Bishoprics [6] with four other bishops resident within 10 kilometers of the Majaz al Bab.
References
- ↑ Étienne Deyrolle, "The Haouanets of Tunisia", Bulletins and Memoirs of the Société d'Anthropologie de Paris , vol. 5, No. 5, 1904, p.395-404.
- ↑ Étienne Deyrolle, "Menhirs Cups and related Tunisian Haouanet" , Bulletin of the Prehistoric Society of France , vol.2, n°1, 1905,p. 27-31.
- ↑ Recherches documentaires sur Chaouach.
- ↑ http://www.trismegistos.org/place/17337 Membressa] at trismegstos.
- ↑ Membressa, at GCatholic.org.
- ↑ Francois Decret, Early Christianity in North Africa (James Clarke & Co, 25 Dec. 2014) p85.