Babba

• a town in Mauritania, called, as a Roman colony, Julia Campestris, Plin. 5, 1, 1, § 5.

BABBA(Βάβα, Ptol. 4.1.14; Βαβαί: Eth. Βαβαῖος, Steph. B.), a colony in Mauretania Tingitana, founded by Augustus, 40 M. P. from Lixus. Its full name is given by Pliny in the form Babba Julia Campestris (5.1). Its coins, which are numerous, from Augustus downwards, have the inscriptions Col. I. B., i. e. Colonia Julia Babbensis, or COL. C. I. B. or C. C. I. B., i. e. Colonia Camnpestris Julia Babbensis. (Eckhel, vol. 4. p. 153.) Its site seems quite uncertain. Some place it at Naranja, which appears too far east; others at Bani Teude, in a beautiful plain on the river Guarga(a tributary of the Subur), where ancient ruins are still visible. (Leo Africanus, ap. Manner, vol. x. pt. 2, p. 489.) Possibly the true position may be at Baba Kelam, E. of Ksar-el-Kebir.