Henchir-Mâtria

Henchir-Mâtria is an archaeological and prehistoric site in northern Tunisia.^[1][2][3] Henchir-Mâtria is at 36°31′23.4″N 9°13′11.1″E, between Béja and Dougga and elevation of 407 metres (1,335 feet).^[1][4] It is on the Oued el Beida River.

History

During the Roman Empire and late antiquity Henchir-Mâtria was a civitas in the Roman province of Africa Proconsolaris called Numluli.^[5][6][7]

Several structures have been uncovered there.^[8][9]

Bishopric

During antiquity Henchir-matria was also the seat of an ancient Christian Bishopric,^[10][11] suffragan to the Archdiocese of Carthage. History records two bishops of the town Aurelius a Catholic attendee at the Council of Carthage of 411, and the bishop Donatian who attended the anti monothetalism Council of 646. Today the diocese survives as titular see of the Roman Catholic Church. The Most recent Bishop was William Clifford Newman, of Baltimore, who died May 20th, 2017.

References

1. Henchir el-Matria at mapcarta.com.
2. Titular Episcopal See of Numluli at GCatholic.org.
3. Anna Leone, Changing Townscapes in North Africa from Late Antiquity to the Arab Conquest (Edipuglia srl, 2007) p347.
4. Henchir el-Matria at geoview.info.
5. "Numluli, Henchir Matria – Digital Atlas of the Roman Empire".
6. Anna Leone, Changing Townscapes in North Africa from Late Antiquity to the Arab Conquest (Edipuglia srl, 2007) p347.
7. Carte des routes et des cités de l'est de l'Africa à la fin de l'Antiquité, 2010, p. 188.
8. A. Mastino – V. Porcheddu, L'Horologium offerto al pagus civium romanorum ed alla civitas di Numluli, in: M. G. Bertinelli Angeli – A. Donati (Hrsg.), Misurare il tempo, misurare lo spazio. Atti del colloquio Aiegl - Borghesi 2005 (Faenza 2006), 123–162
9. EL MAATRIA (Numluli) THIBAR, TUNISIA.
10. Pius Bonifacius Gams, Series episcoporum Ecclesiae Catholicae, (Leipzig, 1931), p. 467.
11. Stefano Antonio Morcelli, Africa christiana, Volume I, (Brescia, 1816), pp. 247–248.