Listed 7 sub titles with search on: Various locations for wider area of: "MAURITANIA Country WEST AFRICA" .
MAURITANIA (Country) WEST AFRICA
Ampelusia or Cotes Prom. (hai Koteis, Strab. p. 825 ; Kotes akron,
Ptol. iv. 1. § 2: apparently also the Cotta of Plin. xxxii. 2. s. 6: C. Spartel,
or Espartel, a corruption of the Arabic Achbertil, or Chbertil; also Ras-or Tarf-esh-Shakhar),
the NW. headland of Mauretania Tingitana and of the whole continent of Africa;
about 10 miles W. of Tingis (Tangier). Cotes was its native name, of which the
Greek Ampelusia (vineclad) was a translation (Strab. l. c.; Plin. v. 1; Mela.
i. 5). It is a remarkable object; a precipitous rock of grey freestone (with basaltic
columns, according to Drummond Hay, but this is doubtful), pierced with many caves,
among which one in particular was shown in ancient times as sacred to Hercules
(Mela, l. c.); from these caves mill-stones were and still are obtained. Its height
is 1043 feet above the sea. Strabo describes it as an offset (propous) of M.Atlas;
and it is, in fact, the western point, as Abyla is the eastern, of the end of
that great NW. spur of the Atlas, which divides the Atlantic from the Mediterranean.
The two hills form the extremities of the S. shore of the Fretum Gaditanum (Straits
of Gibraltar), the length of the Strait from the one to the other being 34 miles.
The W. extremity of the Strait on the European shore, opposite to Ampelusia, at
a distance of 22 miles, was Junonis Pr. (C. Trafalgar). Mela is very explicit
in drawing the line of division between the Atlantic and the Straits through these
points (i. 5, ii. 6, iii. 10 ; his last words are, Ampelusia in nostrum jan return
vergens, operis hujus atque Atlantici litoris terminus; so Plin. v. 1, Promontorium
Oceani extimum Ampelusia). The erroneous notion of the ancients respecting the
shape of this part of Africa led them to make this promontory the W. extremity
of the continent. (Strab. l. c.) Scylax (p. 52, p. 123, Gronov.) mentions a large
bay called Cotes, between the Columns of Hercules and the promontory of Hermaeum;
but whether his Hermaeum is our Ampelusia, or a point further S. on the W. coast,
is doubtful. Gosselin (ap. Bredow, ii. 47, and Ritter (Erdkunde, vol. i. p. 336),
regard Ampelusia as identical with the Soloeis of Herodotus (ii. 32) and Hanno
(Peripl. p. 2).
This text is from: Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography (1854) (ed. William Smith, LLD). Cited October 2004 from The Perseus Project URL below, which contains interesting hyperlinks
Ancorarius mons (Jebel Ouanseris), a mountain of Mauretania Caesariensis, S. of
Julia Caesarea, belonging to the Lesser Atlas chain, and forming the S. limit
of the valley of the Chinalaph (Shellif). It was celebrated for the tree called
citrus (a species of cedar or juniper), the wood of which was highly esteemed
by the Romans for furniture. Pliny mentions several instances of the extravagant
prices given for it. (Plin. H. N. xiii. 15. s. 29; Amm. Marc. xxv. 5.)
Asama, a river of Mauretania Tingitana, falling into the Atlantic, in 32° N. lat. (Ptol. iv. 1. § 3), 30' S. of Port Rhusibis, and 20' N. of the river Diour. All along this coast, the positions may be safely determined by Ptolemy's latitudes (his longitudes are greatlyout); consequently Asaima is Wadi-Tensift, the river which,in its upper course, flows past Marocco: Portus Rhusibis is Saffee, and the river Diour is Wad-al Gored, which falls into the ocean by Mogador. (Comp. Rennell, Geog. of Herod. vol. ii. p. 16.) Pliny, who calls it Asana, places it, on the authority of native report, 150 M.P. from Sala (Sallee : it is nearly 200 in a direct line), and adds the description, marino haustu sed portu spectabile (v. 1. s. 1). It is thought by some to be the same as the river Anatis,. which Pliny mentions a little before, on the authority of Polybius, as 205 M. P. from Lixus ; but the distances do not agree. Some also identify it with the Anidus (Anidos) or, according to the emendation of Salmasius, Adonis of Scylax (p. 52, or p. 123; ed. Gronov.); but that river is much further N., between Lixus and the Straits.
This text is from: Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography (1854) (ed. William Smith, LLD). Cited October 2004 from The Perseus Project URL below, which contains interesting hyperlinks
Audus (Audos), a river of Mauretania Caesariensis (aft. Sitifensis), falling into the Sinus Numidicus (G. of Boujayah). It is placed by Ptolemy 10? W. of Igilgilis (Jijeli), a position which identifies it, according to Pellissier, with a river called Wad-el-Jenan, not marked on the maps. If so, the promontory Audum (Audon), which Ptolemy places 10' W. of the Audus, would be C. Cavallo. (Ptol. iv. 2. § § 10, 11). But, on the other hand, Ptolemy seems to make Audum the W. headland of the Sinus Numidicus (C. Carbon or Ras Metznkoub); and, if this be its true position, the Audus might be identified with the considerable liver Sumeim, falling into the gulf E. of Boujayah, and answering (on the other supposition) to the Sisar of Ptolemy. Mannert solves the difficulty by supposing that here (as certainly sometimes happens) Ptolemy got double results from two inconsistent accounts, and that his Sisar and Audus are the same river, and identical also with the Usar of Pliny. Perhaps the two names, Audus and Sisar (or Usar), may belong to the two great branches of the Sumeima, of which the western is still called Adous, and the other Ajeby. (Mannert, vol. x. pt. 2. p. 411; Pellissier, Exploration de l'Algerie, vol. vi, p. 356.)
This text is from: Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography (1854) (ed. William Smith, LLD). Cited October 2004 from The Perseus Project URL below, which contains interesting hyperlinks
Auza (It. Ant. p. 30), Auzea (Tac. Ann. iv. 25), Auzia (Auzia, Ptol.
iv. 2. § 31, vulg. Auzina: Colonia Auziensis, Inscr.), an important inland city
of Mauretania Caesariensis, on the high road from Caesarea to Sitifi, stood in
a small desert plain, at the N. foot of the Jebel Deira (Garaphi M.), and near
the sources of the river Adous (probably the ancient Audus). A tradition, quoted
by Josephus from Menander, ascribes its foundation to Ithobalus, king of Tyre,
the contemporary of Ahab, king of Israel. (Antiq. Jud. viii. 7. s. 13. § 2: houtos
ektise...Auzan ten en Aibie.) Its position exposed it greatly to the attacks of
the barbarians. In the reign of Tiberius, when it was the scene of Dolabella's
victory over Tactarinas, and the latter chieftain‘s death (A.D. 24), it is described
by Tacitus (l. c.) as a half-destroyed fort, which had been burnt by the Numidians,
shut in by vast forests on all sides; but its subsequent state, as a flourishing
colony, is attested by extant inscriptions, one of which records the defeat and
death of a rebel Moorish chieftain, Faraxes, who had led his cavalry into the
city's territory, by the praefect Q. Gargilius. This inscription concludes with
the date VIII. KAL. FEB. PR. CCXXI., which Orelli explains as the 221st year from
the establishment of the province of Numidia by Julius Caesar, in B.C. 46; this
would bring the date of the inscription to A.D. 176, in the reign of M. Antoninus.
The place is mentioned again in the war of Theodosius against Firmus, A.D. 373,
under the various names, in the corrupted text of Ammianus Marcellinus (xxix.
5), of municipium or castcllum Addense, Audiense, and Duodiense; and D'Avezac
refers the inscription just mentioned to the period of this war, identifying the
Faraxes of the inscription with the Fericius of Ammianus. (Afrique Ancienne, pp.
233, 234.)
The site of Auzia is marked by the ruins called by the Arabs Sour-el-Rezlan
(Sour Guzlan, Shaw), S. of the modern Hamza, which has been constructed almost
entirely of the ruins of the ancient city. Among these ruins are the inscriptions
copied by Shaw, and referred to above. Remarking on the accuracy of the brief
description given by Tacitus, Shaw says, Auzia hath been built upon a small plat
of level ground, every way surrounded with such an unpleasant mixture of naked
rocks, and barren forests, that I don't remember to have met with a more melancholy
situation. (Shaw, Travels, vol. i. pp. 80, foll., pp. 37-40, 2d ed.; Orelli, Inscr.
No. 529; Pellissier, Exploration Scientsfique de l'Algerie, vol. vi. p. 352.)
This text is from: Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography (1854) (ed. William Smith, LLD). Cited October 2004 from The Perseus Project URL below, which contains interesting hyperlinks
Zalacus (to Zalakon oros, Ptol. iv. 2. § § 14, 19), a mountain chain of Mauretania
near the river Chinalaph, the highest and most rugged branch of the Atlas in this
neighbourhood. Now the Wannash-reese or Gueneseris. (Cf. Shaw, Travels, i. p.
74.)
(Metagonites akron, Ptol. iv. 1. § 7), a headland of Mauretania Tingitana, W. of the Mulucha, now Cape Tres Forcas or Ras-ud-Dehir of the natives.
Receive our daily Newsletter with all the latest updates on the Greek Travel industry.
Subscribe now!
