TEBESSA (the Roman Theveste), a town of Algeria in the department of Constantine, 146 m. S.E. of Bona by rail and 12 m. W. of the Tunisian frontier, on a plateau 2,95o ft. above the sea. Pop. (1931) 11,550, 1,712 are Europeans. The modern town, which is within the walls of the Byzantine citadel, boasts nothing of interest save a church built out of the ancient ruins. The Byzantine walls, pierced by three gates, are in tolerable pre servation. They are strengthened by numerous square towers. One of the gates is formed by the quadrifrontal arch of Cara calla, a rare form of construction. The arch, erected A.D. 214, is in good preservation. A pair of monolithic columns, disengaged, flank each facade. The most important ruins are those of the great basilica. This building, one of the finest Roman monuments in Algeria, bears evidence of having been built at various epochs; the earlier portions probably date from not later than the beginning of the 2nd century A.D. The basilica was partially destroyed by the Berbers in the 5th century, and was rebuilt in A.D. 535 by the Byzantine general Solomon, who surrounded it with a wall about 25 feet high, still standing. The tessellated pavement which covers the basilica proper is in almost perfect condition. Next the basilica are the ruins of the forum.
Theveste was founded towards the close of the 1st century A.D. In the succeeding century it was connected with Carthage by a great highway. In the 5th century, under Vandal dominion, it declined in importance. Refounded by the Byzantines in the 6th century, the city disappeared from history at the time of the Arab conquest of the country in the 7th century. In the
16th century the Turks placed a small garrison of janissaries in the place, but Tebessa continued to be but a small village until the establishment of French rule. Near by are the phosphate quarries of Jebel Kouif, with annual output of 450,000 tons.
See Sir R. Lambert Playfair, Handbook for Travellers in Algeria and Tunis (1895), pp. Guides-Joanne, Algerie et Tunisie (1928) ; Abbe Kopp, Tebessa, gu;de historique (Tebessa, 1923) ; Pierre Castel, Tebessa, 2 vol.
TEBU ("Men of Tu," i.e., "of the rocks"), a nomad negro Berber race of the eastern Sahara. Their westernmost settle ments are the oases of Agram, Kawar and Jebado, their northern most the district of Gatron (Qatrun) within the Fezzan frontier, while south and south-east they merge in the negroid populations of Kanem, Bornu (Chad basin), Wadai and north-west Darfur. But the bulk of the nation is concentrated in Tibesti or Tu, hence their name. There are two main divisions—the northern Teda, or less negroid Tebu, and the southern Daza, or more negroid Tebu. Less closely connected are the Baele of the eastern and south-eastern oases and the Zoghawa (Zaghwa) of Darfur.
The Tebu are usually identified with the Garamantes of Herod otus (iv. 183), whose capital was Garama (Idrisi's Germa) in Phazania (Fezzan), and of whom Ptolemy spoke doubtfully as Ethiopians (Negroes ?). But Leo Africanus transfers them to the Berber connection, whose fifth great division he deals with under the names of Gumeri (Garamantes ?) and Bardaei or Bardoa, that is, the Teda of the Bardai oasis, Tibesti.