Lixus (ancient city)
 The ruins of Lixus | |
  Shown within Morocco | |
| Location | Larache, Larache Province, Tanger-Tetouan-Al Hoceima, Morocco |
|---|---|
| Coordinates | 35°12′00″N 06°06′40″W / 35.20000°N 6.11111°WCoordinates: 35°12′00″N 06°06′40″W / 35.20000°N 6.11111°W |
| Type | Settlement |
| History | |
| Founded | 7th century BC |
Lixus is the site of an ancient Roman-Berber-Punic city located in Morocco, just north of the modern seaport of Larache on the bank of the Loukkos River. The location was one of the main cities of the Roman province of Mauretania Tingitana.[1]
Geography[]
Ancient Lixus is located on Tchemmich Hill on the right bank of the Loukkos River (other names: Oued Loukous; Locus River). It lies just to the north of the modern seaport of Larache.[2] The site lies within the urban perimeter of Larache, and about three kilometres inland from the mouth of the river and the Atlantic ocean. From its 80 metres above the plain the site dominates the marshes through which the river flows. To the north, Lixus is surrounded by hills which themselves are bordered to the north and east by a forest of cork oaks.
Among the ruins are Roman baths, temples, 4th-century walls, a mosaic floor, a Christian church and the intricate and confusing remains of the Capitol Hill.[3]
History[]
Legends[]
Some ancient Greek writers located at Lixus the mythological garden of the Hesperides, the keepers of the golden apples. The name of the city was often mentioned by writers from Hanno the Navigator to the Geographer of Ravenna, and confirmed by the legend on its coins and by an inscription. The ancients believed Lixus to be the site of the Garden of the Hesperides and of a sanctuary of Hercules, where Hercules gathered gold apples, more ancient than the one at Cadiz, Spain. However, there are no grounds for the claim that Lixus was founded at the end of the second millennium BC.
Phoenicians[]
Lixus (Punic: