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Modern photograph of the Arch of Caracalla, Djemila (ancient Cuicul) · Wikimedia Commons
Djemila
Numidia · Roman province·Algeria·Founded 96 CE by Nerva
Mountain colony of veterans (Roman Cuicul), contemporary with Timgad. Its stepped forum climbs the hillside.
Uninhabited UNESCO World Heritage Roman ruins on a mountain plateau, prized for their mosaics, near a small namesake village in northern Algeria.
Excavation history
1839
Expedition under Ferdinand Philippe (son of King Louis-Philippe of France) — A French military expedition first came across the ruins of ancient Cuicul.
1909 onward
French colonial excavation service — Site rediscovered during construction of a modern road, triggering sustained French excavation through the first half of the 20th century.
1942-1956
Yvonne Allais — Directed a long campaign of French excavation at Djemila; by the mid-1950s roughly 35 of the site's 75 hectares had been uncovered, leaving much still buried.
Notable finds
Legend of Dionysos Mosaic
Lifted from the House of Bacchus, this mosaic strings together four episodes of the god's myth — his infancy under the nymph Nysa, a ride on tiger-back, a winter cult offering, and an initiation rite.
Djemila Museum, Algeria
Colossal Head of Septimius Severus
This oversized marble head of Septimius Severus was unearthed inside the Temple of the Gens Septimia, a shrine to the emperor's own family dedicated in 229 CE, and now confronts visitors in the Djemila Museum's courtyard.
Djemila Museum, Algeria
Toilet of Venus Mosaic
Taken from the House of the Ass, this mosaic shows Venus crowned and enthroned in a shell borne by two tritons, with nereids riding sea creatures at each corner, laid in the late 4th or early 5th century.
Djemila Museum, Algeria
Asinus Nica Mosaic
A 10-by-4-metre wine-themed mosaic in Djemila's House of Asinus Nica wove vines, animals, and a toga-clad villa owner around its one named figure, a donkey labeled Asinus Nica — the Conquering Ass.
In situ, House of Asinus Nica, Djemila, Algeria
Bust of Julia Domna
A carved portrait bust of empress Julia Domna, wife of Septimius Severus, stands beside her husband's colossal head in the covered court of the Djemila Museum.
Djemila Museum, Algeria
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