Mopth

MOPTH[---I Algeria.

The settlement is on the top of a rocky hill, at the foot of a tall mountain, in a high valley of tributaries to the Oued el Kebir (ancient Ampsaga), on the road from Cuicul to Sitifis in Mauretania. Very probably it was founded by the emperor Nerva.

Partial excavations carried out on the site have brought to light a capitol, built by the res publica Mopth (ensium?) between A.D. 209 and 211. Nearby another building has been recognized. Both are in an enclosure with a portico on the inside. Also, there are stelae dedicated to Saturn in a style also found from Sitifis to Cuicul.

The presence of a bishop is attested in the 5th c. In the Byzantine period a fortress seems to have been built on the site.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

S. Gsell, Atlas archéologique de l'Algérie (1911) 16, no. 196; P. Ginther, Bull. de la soc. hist. et géogr. de la région de Sétif 2 (1941) 73-88; L. Galand, MélRome (1949) 35-91; P-A. Février, Les Cahiers de Tunisie 15 (1967) 51-64.

P-A. FEVRIER