Saying that the Jughurtha table is a titanic structure of 20 million m3, which extends over 80 hectares to nearly 1300 m from sea level and is only accessible by 150 steps cut into the rock will it give you a better idea about this miracle of nature?
Here, in addition to the mass, it is important to remember that humans have lived there, got married there, have had children, have celebrated the life and death … There they are protected and delivered battles in the face of invaders and to Mother Nature.
Visible traces of ash, snails and flint debris are still visible and show a sign of life that dates between 6000 and 2000 BC.
At the foot of the table, we find traces of dolmens of rock tombs and various buildings like the remains of a megalithic oil mill. On the plateau, we find remains of a pond, a mosque, the marabout Sidi Abdel Jaoued, a cave …
Remember that the Table of Jugurtha is also formerly called “Kalaat Mejjana”, “Kalaat Mergamenna” Kalaat Buchr “… The rock fortress was used and known to many battles between invaders, rebels and residents and masters of the country.
on the site kaalat.com, one of the most complete on the table and the region, transcribe the following history:
“In 533 the plain served as a refuge against the Byzantines Vandals . In 647 inhabitants, conquered by the Arabs, entrenched there. In 686 the Arabs continued the Berber king Koceila. In the Aglabides 908 troops, defeated in the plain by Shiites, could take refuge and were cut to pieces. Then it became a refuge site for the first Fatimids and Zirides. In 1283 the Hafside Abu Faris was defeated and killed in the plain by a usurper . But his uncle Abu Hafs took refuge on the table, it reconstituted its forces then recaptured Tunis. In 1352 the Hafside Abu Ishaq was defeated there by the rebels. In 1644 Hamouda Bey defeated the sheikh of Hanecha, whose table was the one of the strongholds. In 1694 Hussein Ibn Ali, suspected of treason by Mouradites, took refuge there. Later he became master of Tunisia.
In the 18th century. The Table would have served as a refuge to the Senane brigand , hence the name of the present town.
Until the 19th century an important cattle market stood on the table. The Mena (refuge village) occupying the summit was abandoned. In the twentieth century. the French established there a mine, now abandoned. ”
On the side of the legend, this is what the popular memory holds:
Assaulted by an invader, the local population is protected on the table, but the siege lasted a long time so that the water in the tanks and wheat in the granaries were beginning to run out. That’s when the ruse takes place. Women run the machine to make it seem that they still have water. Suffering from hunger and thirst, the attackers decide to leave convinced that there’s a fortress in the water source.
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