10/04/2021 0:00:01
Read what they wrote about the history of this building in Tunisia.
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In a city that was called in ancient times “Ysidros,” and is currently called “Mahdia” on the Tunisian coast, the great Roman theater famous for the El Jem Palace or the El Jem Amphitheater, as some like to call it, stands tall despite the anomalies of man and nature.
Most accounts of its construction suggest that the Roman Emperor Gordian II, who led an uprising against the Emperor of Rome in that era, was the one who ordered the construction of the theater in the year 238 AD, to be a great Roman theater comparable in grandeur and area to its counterpart in the capital of the empire in Rome, and surpassing it in beauty and splendor, and it was given the name “Colosseum of Tisdros.”
During its construction, the designers addressed all the engineering errors that occurred in the construction of the previous Roman amphitheater in Rome, which explains why the El Jem Theater remains, in the eyes of archaeologists and historians, a first-class architectural and artistic creativity, attesting to the sophistication of the Roman city of Tisdros (El Jem).
This theater, which has formed throughout the ages and since the beginning of the Roman era, is considered a theater for great historical events, as many events took place in it that formed turning points in human history. It is one of the greatest Roman monuments in the world, and for its antiquity, great history, and unique beauty, this Roman theater was included in the year 1979. List of World Heritage Sites by UNESCO, adding this to the most ancient and beautiful sites in the world managed by the United Nations Cultural and Scientific Organization (UNESCO).
In addition to the name “Theatre of El Jem,” this Roman theater was also called in some ancient Arabic writings the name “The Palace of the Priestess,” because during the Islamic conquest of Africa (Tunisia) in the early eighth century AD, the Berber queen “Dumia,” nicknamed “The Priestess,” took shelter in it. “With its army for four years following its defeat in the second battle in front of Hassan bin Al-Numan Al-Ghassani, who requested supplies from Abdul Aziz bin Marwan following his defeat in the first battle, so it was called Al-Jem Palace.
Despite the passage of more than 1,800 years since its construction, this theater, which is considered a Roman masterpiece on the land of Tunisia, is still very much in its original form, had it not been for some events that led to the demolition of some of its parts, when the amphitheater was used as a fortress to take refuge in, and when the residents revolted against Muhammad II, the Bey of Tunis at the time, Al-Muradi (in 1695), fortified themselves in the theater and after he put down their revolution, the Bey ordered the demolition of the western side of the palace, so that no one else would be holed up in it in the future.
Unique architecture
The area of the palace, which has a high Roman façade, is 148 meters by 122 metres, while the dimensions of the arena are 65 meters by 39 metres. Its runways can accommodate approximately 35,000 spectators. Underneath its arena are two galleries that receive light from the central opening of the arena, in addition to two openings on either side of the arena that were used to raise… The monsters, including lions and tigers, and the wrestlers were prisoners of war. The wrestlers and monsters were captured in rooms under the ring to be released on huge holidays and occasions that witnessed a huge crowd of people and nobles who sat in the stands to watch the monster fights, the battles of the wrestlers from the prisoners of war, and the chariot races.
This Roman theater, which is unique in its kind today, contains many rare artifacts in the world
This architecture, which combined Eastern and Western trends, attracted the interest of Western and Levantine writers and historians who visited the theater in the past centuries. The theater also fascinated them with the harmony of its parts and components and the beauty of its color imitating the color of gold. They praised it abundantly and exalted its status, seeing in it a distinctive trace of Roman Africa.
This unique Roman theater today contains many rare artifacts in the world, some of which were transferred to the El Jem Museum and some to other museums, in addition to about 30 Roman sites that were discovered through excavations, most notably the House of Africa, which contains rare pieces of mosaic depicting… The daily life of the people of Rome and their ways of living. The theater has many rooms and basements. It is said that there are long basements that connect the palace to distant areas, but they have not yet been discovered. The residents used them during the wars to take refuge in Carthage and the sea.
During its founding, the Theater of El Jem was an arena for wrestling monsters and a bloody theater in which the bodies of slaves, prisoners of war, and major criminals who transgressed the law were torn apart. Its walls were also a witness to the Roman nobles who were addicted to bloody conflicts and devoted most of their time to watching them.
However, today it has become a meeting place for artists and a famous theater for the most important concerts in Tunisia and the world, as festivals and concerts for the most important international bands and jazz bands are held annually there. Its fame has increased even more since the establishment of the first symphonic music festival in the eighties of the last century, where candles are lit every summer. In its various corridors, a painting combines the magic of historical monuments and the creativity of contemporary art to announce the launch of a new session of the El Jem Symphonic Music Festival.