Crich El Oued, also known as Qarish el-Wadi, is a village in Tunisia, Crich El Oued wiki. located between Bordj Toumi and Majaz al Bab Crich el Oued at mapmonde.org. (36° 41' 00" N 9° 40' 00" E) in Béja Governorate east of Tunis.Crich El Oued. The village is on the Medjerda riverBarrington Atlas: BAtlas 32 E3 at the confluence with the Oued el-Ahmar and the town has a mosqueGaston Vuillier, Tunisia (illustrated by the author) (1896).
Roman Ruins The ruins west of Crich-El-Oued are the remains of the Roman city of Thisiduo otherwise Thisiduum, Titular Episcopal See of Thisiduo at Gcatholic.org. a city of Africa Proconsularis Thisiduo at Trismegistos Geo.Victor Guérin, Archaeological Journey In The Regency Of Tunis (Рипол Классик ) p183-184.R.B. Hitchner, R. Warner, R. Talbert, T. Elliott, sgilles Thisiduo at Pleiades.stoa.org. which flourished 330 BC - 640AD.
Roman Name The original name of the town was probably Thisinduo / Thisinduum. Thomas,FW THOMASThe Classical Review, Vol.5, Issue 9 November 1891, pp. 434-438. reconstructed it thus, and recently found 8007490: Thisiduum/Crich el Oued. inscriptions which have confirmed this.M Kleijwegt, Beans, baths and the barber... A sacred law from Thuburbos Maius Antiquités africaines (1994)Vol30, Num1 pp. 209-220.R. Cagnat - A. Merlin - L. Chatelain u. a., Inscriptions latines d'Afrique (Tripolitaine, Tunisie, Maroc) (Paris 1923);
The town appears on the Tabula Peutingeriana,FW Thomas, The Classical Review, Vol.5, Issue 9 November 1891, pp. 434-438. Tabula Peutingeriana. and Ravenna CosmpographicaM. Pinder, G. Parthey, Ravennatis anonymi cosmographia et Guidonis geographica (Рипол Классик, 1962) p19. The name evolved following the Muslim conquest of the Maghreb from Thisinduo to Chisiduo.Duncan Fishwick, The Imperial Cult in the Latin West, Volume III:(BRILL, 2002) p169. and then Crich.
Roman History The history of Thisiduum is hardly known. The inscription CIL 14763 = ILS 6781 testifies to a municipium under Latin law, and to an aedile.Ludwig Heinrich Friedländer, Roman Life and Manners Under the Early Empire, Volume 4 (1909, Straßburg) Toulotte suspects in Bishop Tadduensis of the year 646 an origin from Thisiduum.http://arachne.uni-koeln.de/arachne/index.php?view[layout]=topographie_item&search[constraints][topographie][searchSeriennummer]=8007490 8007490: .
There are few remains meaningfully sited in the ruins because of reuse of the stone in the Middle AgesEdmond Pellissier de Reynaud, DESCRIPTION OF THE TUNIS REGENCE (Paris, Impr. Imperiale, 1853). and building over the former structures.E. Babelon – R. Cagnat – S. Reinach, Atlas Archéologique de la Tunisie. Atlas archéologique de la Tunisie : édition spéciale des cartes topographiques publiées par le Ministère de la Guerre. accompagnée d'un texte explicatif rédigé par Mm (Paris 1893); There are remains of a Roman bridge that crosses the Oued el HamarE. Babelon – R. Cagnat – S. Reinach, Atlas Archéologique de la Tunisie. Atlas archéologique de la Tunisie : édition spéciale des cartes topographiques publiées par le Ministère de la Guerre. accompagnée d'un texte explicatif rédigé par Mm (Paris 1893). and some temples are discernible, with a number of trunks of columns, some in stone, others in white marble, littering the town. Inscriptions bear witness to at least two templesJ. Poinssot, Archaeological trip to Tunisia. Period: 1882-1883 African Antiquities Bulletin (vol3. 1885).
There are also separate ruins nearby at Chouigui and Goubellat and 7 km away at Medjez el Bab.
Ancient Bishopric
During the Roman Empire this part of the Medjerda river valley had a high density of bishoprics Francois Decret, Early Christianity in North Africa (James Clarke & Co, 25 Dec. 2014) p85. with four other bishops resident within 10 kilometers of Crich El Oued.
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