Turris Tamalleni
town was founded before
Carthage, when the Nybgenii Tribe established a fortified granary and a fortified residence for the tribal head. It was renamed in the 1st century C. Civitas Nybgenorium, and remained the center of the Nybgenii Tribe and the name
Turres is probably the indigenous name. It was originally a fort on the
Roman Limes, and linked by
Roman Road under
Domitian. Later it became a
municipium under
Hadrian(about 105AD) taking the name Turris Tamalleni. It is mentioned in the
Antonine Itinerary on the road on the borders of
Tripoli and
Leptis Magna. During the latter Roman era it was a
Bishop's seat and a center of resistance of the
Almoravids. The city was taken and destroyed by the
Almohads in 1205
AD. An
Arab town called Torrah or telmin was built from the rubble of the Roman town and is identified as the ruins of Oum-Es-Samâa. Today, nothing remains of the ancient city. All that remains of the ancient town is two large
irrigation basins separated by a wall, which were restored in 1780 by the
Bey of Tunis. They form a lake of one
hectare. ==Bishopric==