Dougga
دقة; Thugga
Tunisia · Béja
In brief
It was an important Libyco-Punic center before Roman rule. The excavated urban fabric shows how a local settlement merged with a Roman urban layout.
What was found?
- 1Libyco-Punic mausoleum
A multistory mausoleum known as Atban. Its inscription in the Libyan and Punic languages is an important document for the architecture and written culture of the pre-Roman city.
- 2Roman theater
A performance building that makes use of the hillside. It is one of the large public buildings financed in the city by wealthy local families.
- 3Capitolium
A temple dedicated to Jupiter, Juno and Minerva. It documents how local benefactors commissioned a monumental building for Rome's guardian deities.
- 4Baths of Caracalla
Large public baths uncovered through excavations in the city. They show the resources that a small provincial town could devote to communal facilities.
- 5Multilingual inscriptions
A collection of inscriptions comprising Libyan, Punic, Greek and especially Latin texts. It contributed to the decipherment of the Libyan script and to understanding municipal life in Numidian society.
What does it point to?
Dugga's remains show Numidian, Punic, Hellenistic and Roman traditions coming together in the same city. Donations for temples and the theater document the role of local elites in public life, while inscriptions document the city's diversity of languages and institutions.
What did it teach us?
- Showed that Roman buildings were incorporated into the older Numidian urban fabric.
- Contributed to the decipherment of the Libyan script through bilingual inscriptions.
- Documented how large public buildings in a small provincial town could be financed through local donations.
Images




Record
- Culture
- Numidian; Punic; Roman; Byzantine
- Team / historical
- Joint research by Tunisia's National Heritage Institute and AOROC
- Coordinates
- 36.4236°, 9.2203°
Sources
Nearby excavations
- Bulla Regia 44 km
- Chimtou Ancient City and Marble Quarries 58 km
- Carthage 109 km
- Punic Town of Kerkouane 177 km
- Timgad 269 km
- Lambaesis 286 km
- —
- —
- 12.000
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Arkeofili ↗ · Excavation notebook
All excavation sites (395)
Türkiye
- Acemhöyük
- Aizanoi
- Alabanda
- Alacahöyük
- Amos
- Ani
- Aphrodisias
- Arslantepe Mound
- Aspendos
- Assos
- Ayanis Fortress
- Aşıklı Höyük
- Barcın Höyük
- Blaundus
- Boncuklu Höyük
- Can Hasan I
- Carchemish
- Claros Sanctuary
- Clazomenae
- Domuztepe
- Ephesus
- Euromus
- Gordion
- Göbekli Tepe
- Hadrianopolis in Paphlagonia
- Hattusha
- Hierapolis
- Iasos
- Kaman-Kalehöyük
- Karahantepe
- Karatepe-Aslantaş
- Kaunos
- Kibyra
- Knidos
- Kültepe-Kanesh
- Laodicea on the Lycus
- Letoon Sanctuary
- Limyra
- Magnesia on the Maeander
- Medieval City of Beçin
- Metropolis in Ionia
- Miletus
- Myra
- Nemrut Dağ
- Nysa on the Maeander
- Olympus in Lycia
- Oymaağaç Höyük — Nerik
- Patara
- Pergamon
- Perge
- Phaselis
- Priene
- Sagalassos
- Sanctuary of Apollo at Didyma
- Sanctuary of Labraunda
- Sapinuwa
- Sardis
- Sayburç
- Side
- Stratonikeia
- Tell Atchana – Alalakh
- Teos
- Tripolis on the Meander
- Troy
- Uluburun Shipwreck
- Xanthos
- Yenikapı – Theodosian Harbour Excavations
- Yeşilova Höyük
- Yumuktepe
- Zerzevan Castle
- Zeugma
- Zincirli Höyük — Sam'al
- Çatalhöyük
- Çavuştepe Fortress
- Çayönü
- Çukuriçi Höyük